Yay! I was so hoping to see a TVD finale reaction post from you, and seeing two super long posts was even better.
Awesome break down of the episode and of Damon/Elena, and also their individual characters, just a fantastic read.
Your description of Elena and who she is and what goes through her mind is particularly fantastic. YES TO ALL OF IT. Elena is my hero.
Also, I especially loved your thoughts on flashback Damon, which are pretty much my exact flashback Damon thoughts, especially the bits about him not having anyone around to put on a show and play a role for. I said something pretty similar in my own reaction post.
And AGREED on the crazy foreshadowing from 3x11, I just wrote a whole post about that and Wickery bridge on my journal. So nuts.
Just an amazing analysis, so thanks for your incredible recaps :)
Choosing Damon is selfish. It would be just for her. And Elena can't do that.
OMFG LIZ. YES. YES. I think we discussed this at some point prior - that of all the "choices" Elena has, the only person she'd ever really be choosing out of pure WANT, is Damon. Because she's unable to rationalise her feelings at all.
She will choose Stefan, whether that's really what she wants or not. And she can't keep Damon anymore, not like this. So she lets him go, because they're both ruined by this thing between them, miserably, irrevocably, but this is the best she can do.
UGHHHHHH YES. And it utterly baffles me the amount of criticism Elena's getting for doing this. I mean, when does she not, but. SHE DID THE RIGHT THING. She recognised that she's not able or willing to give Damon what he wants from her, and that it's unfair to expect his unconditional devotion when she can't return the same - SO SHE DID THE RIGHT THING. She let him go, set him free, blah blah, because it's all that she can give.
Meanwhile, welcome to my Official Defense of the D/E Flashback Scene.
I AM READY
Firstly, A-FUCKING-MEN to your defence of Damon's characterisation. THANK YOU X39483904832. I wish I could agree in size 36 blinky font.
There is no one around to perform for. It's just Damon and Elena. And he doesn't even realize it yet, but it makes a difference - he doesn't perform for her, because he can't.
Y E S. This is what they are. He can't perform for her, and she can't perform for him. They see through each other effortlessly. ("You looked miserable"/"Oh you saw that?")
Though, I can understand people's complaints about Damon not being so fussed about Elena looking like Katherine. I can buy him accepting it for the reasons you mention, but it is admittedly odd to me that he just drops the resemblance issue straight away. I think that was dodgy execution.
She might look a bit wary, but she's still so damn friendly. Oh, Elena, you were always doomed to form inappropriate friendships with monsters. LEGIT LOL'D. OH ELENA
( ... )
That is the core of the ridiculous Epic Love business in early season 1. It's not that S/E is actually epic. It's that Elena wants them to be.
I don't know. I think more than anything, Elena is looking for safety. After her parents' deaths? She certainly is not looking for "adventure" and "danger". She was punished cosmically for wanting that. She's drawn to Stefan at first because he's novel (and she's desperately seeking to be "someone new"), and later because he ~understands her pain. She wants to be fixed. So, I disagree on that point.
She understands that Stefan is the love she 'should' have, and Damon is the stuff of novels and fantasies and fairy tales. Damon is the kind of love she wanted when she was 17, waiting for her parents on a deserted road. And you know the very best part? Here, at the end of season 3, after everything - she doesn't want it.
What is fascinating to me is that Damon and Elena's relationship is nothing like a fairy tale. It's really Elena/Stefan that pays homage to fairytales within the text.
( ... )
I do so love and agree with your interpretation of the flashback. I love every part of it and it feeds into my insane love for their interaction in 1x03. It all fits, it goes together, TADA! They are so perfect, I love them so much.
So what I want is for everyone to be miserable next season, basically. I want Stefan to be effused with self-loathing and regret and horror. I want Damon to be enraged and judgmental and guilt-ridden. I want Elena to struggle, REALLY struggle, with vampirism.And yes, if this is not what we get for S4, I will be *headdesking* myself into a lobotomy. For reals
( ... )
the scene got a lot more interesting the second time around, knowing that it was actually Klaus. The actual implications of Klaus being in Tyler's body are gross and unsettling to the extreme, but at least it gave me something to think about upon rewatch, whereas the first time, I was sure I was supposed to feel something...but I just didn't.
YES. I was a little surprised not to have had my heart somewhat intact during that scene because, you know, all things Tyler just gut me. So then when we find out that's because it WASN'T TYLER, I was pretty blown away by the subtlety of it. Which, Klaus absolutely belongs to Joseph Morgan, but I do take that scene as an encouraging sign for Trevino's handle on the character.
We're going to do the whole 'the villain warns our hero of her nefarious plot so he can swoop in and save the girl' thing? Ok, I know, Stefan doesn't actually manage to save the girl, but still. STUPID. Rebekah is smarter than this, and I resent the show for making her act so ridiculously.heh, yeah, I thought that was odd
( ... )
Unbelievable. I'm pretty sure no one in TVD fandom writes more material on the show than you, including the writers themselves. Why aren't you famous? You should recommend yourself to Julie Plec on Twitter, tbh.
I loved all your thoughts, especially the DE ones. I think you and I must read the show in a very similar way because I found myself nodding to almost everything you wrote.
I was one of those people who didn't like the flashback, but your explanation does make sense. My main issue with the scene is not that it's OOC but simply that it's just cheesy and over-the-top. It felt a bit too ~epic~ for Damon and Elena, and also dangerously close to scenes that have taken place in fanfics.
Meanwhile, Damon is having pretty much the worst day ever
Did you mean: Every Episode Ever.
I mean, Damon is Damon. He lives to suffer. It's just how things go, you know? He's used to it by now.
The thing is, her love for Stefan? Is not the kind of love that Damon described. Not sure if I agree. I actually thought that Damon's describition of
( ... )
Comments 14
Awesome break down of the episode and of Damon/Elena, and also their individual characters, just a fantastic read.
Your description of Elena and who she is and what goes through her mind is particularly fantastic. YES TO ALL OF IT. Elena is my hero.
Also, I especially loved your thoughts on flashback Damon, which are pretty much my exact flashback Damon thoughts, especially the bits about him not having anyone around to put on a show and play a role for. I said something pretty similar in my own reaction post.
And AGREED on the crazy foreshadowing from 3x11, I just wrote a whole post about that and Wickery bridge on my journal. So nuts.
Just an amazing analysis, so thanks for your incredible recaps :)
Reply
OMFG LIZ. YES. YES. I think we discussed this at some point prior - that of all the "choices" Elena has, the only person she'd ever really be choosing out of pure WANT, is Damon. Because she's unable to rationalise her feelings at all.
She will choose Stefan, whether that's really what she wants or not. And she can't keep Damon anymore, not like this. So she lets him go, because they're both ruined by this thing between them, miserably, irrevocably, but this is the best she can do.
UGHHHHHH YES. And it utterly baffles me the amount of criticism Elena's getting for doing this. I mean, when does she not, but. SHE DID THE RIGHT THING. She recognised that she's not able or willing to give Damon what he wants from her, and that it's unfair to expect his unconditional devotion when she can't return the same - SO SHE DID THE RIGHT THING. She let him go, set him free, blah blah, because it's all that she can give.
But it just kills me that Elena does ( ... )
Reply
I AM READY
Firstly, A-FUCKING-MEN to your defence of Damon's characterisation. THANK YOU X39483904832. I wish I could agree in size 36 blinky font.
There is no one around to perform for. It's just Damon and Elena. And he doesn't even realize it yet, but it makes a difference - he doesn't perform for her, because he can't.
Y E S. This is what they are. He can't perform for her, and she can't perform for him. They see through each other effortlessly. ("You looked miserable"/"Oh you saw that?")
Though, I can understand people's complaints about Damon not being so fussed about Elena looking like Katherine. I can buy him accepting it for the reasons you mention, but it is admittedly odd to me that he just drops the resemblance issue straight away. I think that was dodgy execution.
She might look a bit wary, but she's still so damn friendly. Oh, Elena, you were always doomed to form inappropriate friendships with monsters. LEGIT LOL'D. OH ELENA ( ... )
Reply
I don't know. I think more than anything, Elena is looking for safety. After her parents' deaths? She certainly is not looking for "adventure" and "danger". She was punished cosmically for wanting that. She's drawn to Stefan at first because he's novel (and she's desperately seeking to be "someone new"), and later because he ~understands her pain. She wants to be fixed. So, I disagree on that point.
She understands that Stefan is the love she 'should' have, and Damon is the stuff of novels and fantasies and fairy tales. Damon is the kind of love she wanted when she was 17, waiting for her parents on a deserted road. And you know the very best part? Here, at the end of season 3, after everything - she doesn't want it.
What is fascinating to me is that Damon and Elena's relationship is nothing like a fairy tale. It's really Elena/Stefan that pays homage to fairytales within the text. ( ... )
Reply
So what I want is for everyone to be miserable next season, basically. I want Stefan to be effused with self-loathing and regret and horror. I want Damon to be enraged and judgmental and guilt-ridden. I want Elena to struggle, REALLY struggle, with vampirism.And yes, if this is not what we get for S4, I will be *headdesking* myself into a lobotomy. For reals ( ... )
Reply
YES. I was a little surprised not to have had my heart somewhat intact during that scene because, you know, all things Tyler just gut me. So then when we find out that's because it WASN'T TYLER, I was pretty blown away by the subtlety of it. Which, Klaus absolutely belongs to Joseph Morgan, but I do take that scene as an encouraging sign for Trevino's handle on the character.
We're going to do the whole 'the villain warns our hero of her nefarious plot so he can swoop in and save the girl' thing? Ok, I know, Stefan doesn't actually manage to save the girl, but still. STUPID. Rebekah is smarter than this, and I resent the show for making her act so ridiculously.heh, yeah, I thought that was odd ( ... )
Reply
I loved all your thoughts, especially the DE ones. I think you and I must read the show in a very similar way because I found myself nodding to almost everything you wrote.
I was one of those people who didn't like the flashback, but your explanation does make sense. My main issue with the scene is not that it's OOC but simply that it's just cheesy and over-the-top. It felt a bit too ~epic~ for Damon and Elena, and also dangerously close to scenes that have taken place in fanfics.
Meanwhile, Damon is having pretty much the worst day ever
Did you mean: Every Episode Ever.
I mean, Damon is Damon. He lives to suffer. It's just how things go, you know? He's used to it by now.
The thing is, her love for Stefan? Is not the kind of love that Damon described. Not sure if I agree. I actually thought that Damon's describition of ( ... )
Reply
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