Vampire Diaries wows me... again

[kattahj]

You know, I keep expecting The Vampire Diaries to hit its sophomore slump, and instead it insists on giving me rich, delicious episodes. Maybe it's because it started out so bad? That way, it had its sophomore slump in its first year and can skip it now.

Anyway, about the ep.

Comments

[taraljc]

TVD has, like, 5 years worth of plot packed into 30 episodes. I constantly marvel at them. Alaric & Jenna make me SO HAPPY, and I totally did not see Jenna getting hoodoo'd coming. OH NOES AUNT JENNA! Also, Jeremy and Damon amuse the fuck out of me. I kinda love that everyone is all "Damon is our pet monster" and then he does something monsterous, and everyone is all "DOOD! WTF!" and he is all "What part of 'I am a monster' did you miss?"

And yet... when Stefan was all bottom-lip-trembly "OH NOES MY GIRLFRIEND" and Elena is all "Suck it up. If Caroline could do it, so we can. Too much collateral damage, dude," it's Damon I actually kinda felt for, for his newly-grown conscience (which is, granted, Elena-specific) totally twinging at news of Jenna. I mean, yeah, Stefan loves Elena. But Damon got screwed by everyone in his life because he loved Kat. And now he's doomed in love with Elena. I kinda have a total bulletproof kink for unrequited love, even when he kinda sorta just ripped a guy's heart out minutes before

[kattahj]

TVD has, like, 5 years worth of plot packed into 30 episodes.

Hell yeah. I mean, for most shows, this ep could have lasted half a season.

I kinda love that everyone is all "Damon is our pet monster" and then he does something monsterous, and everyone is all "DOOD! WTF!" and he is all "What part of 'I am a monster' did you miss?"

*laughs* Yeah, guilty as charged! Somehow I get tricked every time. And I love that.

it's Damon I actually kinda felt for, for his newly-grown conscience (which is, granted, Elena-specific) totally twinging at news of Jenna.

Heh. I felt a little bit for him, but really, he needs to start considering actions and consequences. Which he's not very good at, even with Stefan nagging at him, but still.

I quite appreciated the way the breakup was handled on all sides.

But I can see Bonnie dealing (not dealing) with her part in it by claiming the moral high ground. I think some part of Bonnie still likes to believe that she can make all of the creepy stuff stop happening by disapproving of it. Which is not very

[sakuracorr]

I agree with all of this, minus having to warm up to Stefan, because I liked him enough in the books (if only because he wasn't Damon

[kattahj]

I agree with all of this, minus having to warm up to Stefan, because I liked him enough in the books (if only because he wasn't Damon).

Hee! I hadn't read the books. I expected him to be Dull Vampire Boyfriend, and he's... well, not.

I wish I could learn half the lessons this show has on pacing and dramatic tension.

Yeah, it's really brilliant that way. It never drags, and yet it doesn't feel crammed, just rich. I can't help wondering how long that can last, it feels almost wasteful in its generosity.

but I won't be hugely surprised if Matt does go.

I think the one thing that speaks in Matt's favor is that they've so clearly set him up to die and thus preparing the audience, and they never prepare the audience. So whatever's going to happen, I think it won't be the way we think it will.

[love2loveher]

I can't help wondering how long that can last, it feels almost wasteful in its generosity.

Every. Damn. Week. I find myself thinking "Oh - No - don't use up these fabulous stories, then you'll be out of stories!"

[kattahj]

Every. Damn. Week. I find myself thinking "Oh - No - don't use up these fabulous stories, then you'll be out of stories!"
Yes! Exactly! And yet somehow, they never are!

[likeadeuce]

Great episode, I agree!

I wish they had more PoC, though I wonder if the Bonnie situation is related to her contract because of Kat Graham's singing career? Which is not an excuse for the rest of the cast but would explain Bonnie's frequent absences. Which is too bad because Bonnie is awesome and brings a kind of moral certainty that none of the others really have --

[kattahj]

That's a point. I didn't even know she was a singer! The only cast members I've seen in other stuff, I've seen quite by accident. (Like Jeremy in Piranha 3D.) I don't even know most of their names. Don't know why...

Bonnie hasn't had much in the way of storylines for a long time, but I guess singing could interfer with a TV job quite frequently.

[likeadeuce]

I don't know that she's really a successful singer at this point, but her website suggests she's trying to launch that part of her career. (I've got no idea if this is actually related to her absence from the show, just speculating).

[kattahj]

Ah, okay. Well, I hope things go well for her, of course, though it's a bummer if it gets in the way of TVD.

[go_back_chief]

The thing with Matt is that he's the only one who doesn't know about the whole supernatural creatures yet, and that gets weirder and weirder the longer the show runs. At the same time, if he finds out what happened to his sister, it would be hard to keep him interacting most other characters, since they've to various degrees helped cover it up. So either killing him off, or turning him, makes sense.

[kattahj]

Yeah, it makes sense, but that doesn't mean I have to cheer it on. :-)

[go_back_chief]

I'm kind of hoping they're turning him.

[kattahj]

That's of course a nicer option, if they can vary it enough from Caroline's story.