There's no place like homecoming [3x09]
I HAVEN'T WRITTEN SINCE TWO EPISODES SO A LITTLE LIBERTY PLS? THIS SHOW, OMG.
Okay, so there wasn’t a whole lot of character development or anything, but I’m completely fine with episodes running at break-neck speed once in a while and just letting things happen, with no particular analysis or discussion.
IN SHORT, FUCKING INSANE, MAN, WHAT WAS THAT?
- LOLOLOL @ everybody getting taken out of commission one by one. Although if they keep Rebekah out for half as long as they’ve managed to keep Elijah, then I shall be VERY MAD.
- BONNIE/ELENA FTW. “Or…we could order takeout and overanalyze hieroglyphic thingies with Alaric!” WHY U SO PERFECT BONNIE? Also how hilarious is it that the two of them always attend every town event whatsoever because Caroline would be so mad if they didn’t? It’s like “seriously, why are we going to Events XYZ considering our track record at any gathering involving more than three people?” “BUT CAROLINE WOULD HATE US FOREVER D:” “…do you have earrings that match could match my red dress?” THAT’S NOT CONVENITENT AT ALL, SHOW. Also, Caroline would kill them. Awwww.
Anyhow, I’ve always said that TVD has had some really underdeveloped female relationships, as epic as their bromances are, and I love it when Bonnie, Caroline and Elena get a chance to interact. And this was just so good because Elena was genuinely concerned and yet Bonnie was right; there is no way she can sympathize objectively.
- AND I LOVE HOW ALL MY GIRLS TOOK CHARGE OF THEIR OWN LIVES SEPARATE FROM THE GUYS IN THEM. There was Bonnie with her Jeremy problems that weren’t automatically resolved because she has a . There was Rebekah betraying the brother she’s completely devoted to and assigning blame to her father in equal measure. Then Caroline, who’s attitude it’s possible agree or disagree with, but she has a perfect right to feel the way she does about Tyler; and she didn’t give in after his explanation because it’s not okay with her. Then Elena, of course, with “then we let him go”. WHICH, GUH. Everyone know “letting go” is the hardest thing for her; she doesn’t do it. She tries to fix things because she’s lost way too many people to stand losing any more. That’s a strong moment of character development there.
- Also, LOL@Elena’s interested “really, what is it” at Damon’s “I am formulating a secret contingency plan”. I’M PRETTY SURE THAT’S NOT THE RIGHT REACTION, ELENA. This is Damon formulating a secret contingency plan. Did you even notice the order of the words? MY BROTP. <3
- Man, the fire department got to the gym or wherever that fast because it was flooded? And a couple of students died last time and... nothing. LOL, THIS TOWN.
- OT3 WAS SO GOOD. SO GOOOOOOD. YOU SEE WHY THIS SHOULD BE ENDGAME? There’s Stefan casually being an ass and his deliveries. GUH, PAUL, STOP BEING HOT, “with my luck, you’ll get yourself murdered by the homecoming queen”. There’s Elena being amusingly passive-aggressive, “you could not go.” THAT FACE SHE MAKES SHOULD MARRY ME. And there’s Damon continuing to casually do…whatever he’s doing in that ‘kids plz’ sort of way. [Ian should marry me in general, js]
- “If I look back at our history of epic plan failures, it’s usually because one of us let our humanity get in the way”. Oh god, how perfect was it that the person who caused the entire plan to fail because they let their humanity get in the way was Katherine? I’m always and constantly afraid that TVD will try their “redeeming moment” shtick with her sometime, and I am NOT looking forward to that. Katherine is defined by all these traits, because, as I’ve said earlier, in my opinion, Katherine isn’t so much a person as she is a persona. But the handling of her character in this episode was brilliant.
For some reason, there’s a common perception that, because Katherine loves conditionally and puts herself first, she doesn’t love at all. Which, what? There is absolutely no requirement for love to constantly be Epic and Self Sacrificing and conform to the normative representation. Her strong survival instincts are shaped by experience, they aren’t something inherent. She’s the same person who’d once asked “but if we didn’t believe in love, why would we want to live?” Katherine loves just as deeply as any of the other characters; after all she’s kept tabs on her boys over a century. And honestly, all she’s done recently? Is try and protect them for absolutely nothing in return. The only difference being that she doesn’t make grandiloquent statements about sacrifice and love while doing it. She does it with snark and flair and with that air of granting a favor, so the crux of her actual action gets sidelined. She hasn’t tried to ‘steal them away’ from Elena; she hasn’t tried to make them ‘come back to her’, all the time helping under the guise of ‘only wanting Klaus dead’ because it benefits her. And even this overarching agenda? Was completely blown, because she had her chance and she let it go. Mostly, she’s just a girl who lost her mother too young.
- And her face at “kaboom” and the happiness radiating off her at having totally fooled Mikael and Klaus? AWW, MY BB GIRL IS SUCH A HBIC.
- Speaking of. SHE WENT BACK TO MIKAEL AFTER WHAT HE DID TO HER? That girl has nerves of steel. And I’m side-eyeing Mikael not realizing she wasn’t Elena. #original fail
- Caroline with her insecurity and all her issues is SO LOVELY. I prefer the Caroline you have to work to like, rather than the one who’s completely and utterly awesome on her own and can handle a million vampires and be the best friend ever and completely understanding and everything in between. This is the Caroline who’s so realistic and heartbreaking. And here, it’s just impossible to take sides, because Tyler is so realistic too. For him, all the free-will stuff is useless intellectualization because all he wants is to be free of the pain of turning. It is ghastly and horrific and tears you from the inside out. I loved how brutally honest he was; it feel good and he feels in control and that’s all that matters.
But then again, neither is Caroline at fault for not wanting to accept it. I totally thought she was going to, after his heartfelt speech and “don’t turn your back on me now”, but she didn’t because she’s not okay with this. This isn’t about her and her relationship and her boyfriend at all. This is about people she loves. This is about Tyler giving Klaus his house to host a bloodbash or whatever, because he can’t help himself. This is about never being sure that he won’t give them all up to Klaus. Even as a vampire, she’s still seventeen, she still has those fixed notions of right and wrong that all of them do and in her eyes, they’re the good guys. Caroline earlier used to gain self-definition from the men in her life, and made her decisions according to how much she wanted them to stay and now my bb’s coming into her own and it is stunning.
But ngl, his completely self-aware “if I’m sired to anybody, it’s you” was hilarious; DUDE U NO U SO WHIPPED.
- Also, Caroline didn't inquire about anybody after explicitly being told they'd been in danger all the while she'd been drugged? Show, I wish you'd remember you don't have to stick to the triangles and clearly demarcated storylines the entire freaking time. :s
- ALL THE BEST HYBRIDS HAVE DADDY ISSUES. How amazing was Klaus in that scene? He actually cried and I didn’t go “duuuuuude”. And since the show hasn’t exonerated him of anything as yet, all the sympathy I felt towards him was totally on me. Because that’s what this show has always been about. It’s shown us some of the strongest family bonds and some of the worst families. And families always have that power to keep you going or break you. Klaus is so affected, not only because this is exactly what he fears so much, but because, despite everything, this is his father talking. He might not be blood-related, he might have been running away from him, but something he’s always wanted is his approval. “You’ve always underestimated me” might have been threatening, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a tragic dimension to it.
And oh maaaan, his reaction at Stefan saving him? Glorious. Because, at that moment he actually thought Stefan did it for him. “Thank you, my friend”. He’s not the man of his word, that’s Elijah. He’s a man of impulses and his setting Stefan “free” was testament to that, not only because he’d “promised” it. And then of course, Stefan totally went and stole his family, ouch. HE JUST WANTS TO BE BFFS, STEFAN, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT D:
But, he is also a manipulative, self-serving sociopath and Stefan’s random revenge plan was the best ever :D
- R.I.P. Mikael D: I actually liked him and I honestly didn’t think he’d be out of the picture that early, not to mention his explanation for feeding on vampires was pretty amazing.
- And Stefan. Oh man, PAUL, I LOVE YOU SO. OF COURSE HE DID IT FOR DAMON, OF COURSE HE DID. Yeah, it’s a total repetition and it can feel a bit like they’re hammering the theme into our heads (which, btw, yes show, we get it), but I’m always receptive to any Salvatore loving. And that fact that he doesn’t want to let it all back in, because there is no way he can deal with all he’s done. But seriously, that’s the only thing that would change his mind, make him do what he did. Salvatore, as in savior. And it’s so interesting that this is the moment where Damon completely gives up hope.
- Speaking of, Ian acted the hell out of that scene. The despair, the anguish, the utter inability to comprehend what had happened. And it’s not only Elena who lost Stefan, he lost his brother. This wasn’t some compulsion-trick, this was straight up betrayal. AND THEN ELENA COMFORTS HIM? As an inversion to and a parallel of… uh, every scene ever? Because Damon is always the one offering sympathy, giving, and never taking (okay, he can also be a psychotic bastard, but let’s avoid that for a moment) and this time he completely lost control, and Elena was the one to comfort him. She stayed in control throughout and then her holding him? Is a parallel to so many scenes where he’s held her in the same ‘I won’t let anything happen to you’ way. It was adorable because it wasn’t about them and their sexual tension and their bff-ness and everything, this was all about Stefan, “we’re never getting Stefan back, you know that, don’t you?” “then we’ll have to let him go.” I find it fascinating that Damon believes that he’s never getting Stefan back. Considering that all this while he’s constantly been trying to get Elena to understand that she can’t get him back; not in her lifetime, not as a human. And he’s lost hope so completely that this time he’s including himself in that category, even though he has an eternity. Oh, Damon. D:
- I've said it before; Stefan/Elena is a relationship based on respect and Damon/Elena is a relationship based on trust. And the latter was reiterated throughout this episode. I loved how instinctive Elena's affirmation was to Damon's "do you trust me"? Because maybe she shouldn't, but she does anyway and she can't help it. Aww.
- Also, NOW TELL ME MY MIRROR THEORIES WERE WRONG. There were four separate mirror scenes within the first thirteen minutes. Damon/Elena, OT3, Rebekah, and Elena. Rebekah was the best ever, AND IF YOU’RE NOT SHIPPING REBEKAH/ELENA, YOU OBVIOUSLY DIDN’T WATCH THIS EPISODE. How good were they? Rebekah was completely vulnerable and beautiful and understated and seriously, all she’d wanted to do was go to a high school dance. It’s almost tragic how willing she is to talk, because nobody else is pretty much willing to listen. And her complete break-down, because she does love Klaus, despite everything (be still by Rebeklaus shipper heart) and it kills het to imagine she might be the one to hurt him. “I’ve spent my whole life loving and hating my brother with equal measure.”
- AND THAT SCENE? Was totally a parallel to the Damon/Elena scene from the first episode. And I’m not even saying this because of the necklace-tying thing (which was so, so lovely, oh my god). I’d been thinking about if from the very moment when Rebekah was looking into the mirror and Elena appeared at the door. Something about the angle to the camera, the way Rebekah turned, and the way Elena stood was very familiar (as was the slow song, haha) and I was all “IT’S THAT SCENE” and then later Elena took out the necklace and I was all “you’ve got to be kidding me”. Elena can be an absolutely amazing friend, btw, we just don’t see these moments enough D:
-AND THEN ELENA LOOKING INTO THE MIRROR AFTER STAKING REBEKAH? Absolutely, utterly fantastic. Because you can totally see she's wondering who the person in the mirror is. At that moment she sees herself as Katherine.
- And then Damon reiterated her feeling with his “very Katherine of you”, heh. And the best part of that scene was how much on the defensive Elena is. Because she knows she’s changed and she doesn’t want to accept it; Damon’s the one being all “you just daggered someone, you’re gonna be fine” and she makes all these comments about how it was absolutely necessary and how she would screw the plan up because she “feels bad about it” and “cares too much”. She really does think this, but the truth is that this is also a way of distancing herself from Katherine and that moment in front of the mirror. Which, my girl, why so adorable? *hearts*
- AND THEN DAMON BASICALLY TELLS HER THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING KATHERINE, sort of. YES, THANK YOU. THIS IS WHAT I’VE ALWAYS BEEN SAYING. Elena has the potential to be Katherine. EVERYBODY has the potential to be Katherine. She’s made up of certain specific experiences, and now that they’re all facing something similar, each of them is starting to realize how strong survival instincts are, and how much it takes to fight instead of just giving up.
- Ngl, characters should not be allowed to say dialogues like “I care too much” even if they’re true because it immediately makes me roll my eyes and think ‘o rly, Elena?’
- GIVE ME ALL THE STEFAN/KATHERINE MOMENTS, SHOW. ALL OF THEM. I’ve been waiting for them to properly interact since SO LONG. But Damon and Elena were right; they need to let Stefan go. At least for a little while. Because this is his moment; he needs to figure out who he is now that he doesn't have to be someone. And I think it's going to be an amazing struggle to watch.
TL;DR WHY ISN’T IT JANUARY ALREADY? I WANT TO KNOW WHO ARE THE PEOPLE IN ALL THOSE COFFINS. But we'll survive, we always do /clutches
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Feel free to write me fic till Jan, you guys. #things you should be doing.
