TVD FINALEEEEEE
I'm a little intrigued by the decision to make the big threats to Elena's agency be the human guys who she trusts the most, Matt and Jeremy. I certainly didn't see that coming, even if it was probably tipped off early in the episode. Bad enough that Stefan struts around congratulating himself about how he "lets" Elena make her own decisions, but Matt is the one who takes it upon himself to suggest substituting his own judgment for hers: "even if she's wrong." (I did feel for him when he flips his shit over Tyler dying, though.)
This is my problem. The first half of the act in the Gilbert house is all about Elena! gets! to make! her own decisions! And I'm down with that obviously. But then it makes a big show about everyone kicking a decision to Elena THAT IS NOT JUST HER DECISION. Even leaving aside, oh, THE ENTIRE WORLD because this isn't Buffy and that's totally cool, letting Klaus loose is something that affects all of them at least as much as it affects her. In fact, it affects her a lot less than them, because Klaus wants her alive? (I swear, even before the reveal at the end, I was still like IF ANYONE GETS TO DECIDE THIS, IT'S TYLER.) It's really not her less-than-promising Mensa candidacy that's keeping me from being all about supporting! Elena's! decisions! It's the misleading conflation of two totally different issues: "either you support Elena's right to unilaterally make decisions for everyone else, OR you don't support Elena's right to make decisions for herself."
Possibly that's why I'm less annoyed with Jeremy's double-crossing her at the end there, than I am with Matt's complicity in it. Jer's just doing exactly what she has done to him, time and again, but to a much lesser extent (he didn't actually reach into her head and fuck with her mind) and with a decision he has exactly as much legitimate right to as she does, that is to say, pretty much none at all.
So as usual - I'M SORRY, I JUST HAVE STARS IN MY EYES - Damon is totally right, even if for the totally wrong reasons. YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE IS HER CALL, EVERYTHING BAD EVER. ha ha, my evil twin strikes again. This season might have sidelined Damon's development, but what we did get was spot-on, so I'll take it. Damon really does care about Elena, as comes through in the phone call - but it's really not just about Elena. He saw her and thought she was Katherine, and projected his own Katherine-ness all over her (correct assessment, but still, by chance and for all the wrong reasons); he's at least as worked up over Ric's death as Elena's. Even Elena's eventual rejection of him wasn't really about them, and he gets that and is cool with it. Matt's taking me home. Not just to Stefan. To Tyler, to Caroline. Everyone but him is home. Damon is the perennial outsider.
I'm not sure I buy that Stefan couldn't have saved both Matt and Elena in one trip? It's not even like he actually had to carry them! They're in the water! I'm really hoping S4 starts with Stefan realizing that and coming to the conclusion that he should never listen to Elena's dumb plans ever again.
MEREDITH. I mean, of course she should have given Elena the blood rather than letting her just die. But not telling her or Jeremy was so deliciously unethical. (Be funny if she ended up having used Damon's blood, intentionally or not? After S2.)
Just you and maybe a curling iron! Care-bear, you are perfect. awwww, Liz and Carol teaming up to help Caroline and Tyler. I'm hoping that Ric has set stuff into motion with the Council that'll be picked up next season: you'd be amazed at how competent law enforcement is when it's not corrupted by vampires.
Rebekah seriously just has to show up to grab me emotionally. The classical horror movie shot of her walking around the storage unit is genuinely scary; that last beat with her and Elijah is absolutely heartbreaking. And in-story, all she has to do is show up to throw a big wrench into things!
BONNIE DID SOMETHING BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO. SPIRITS DON'T GET TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO ANY MORE. Because the spirits are the ones who have been pushing her around this far? Or not. Whatever, Bonnie did her own thing and Abby survived, and she's got some fascinating stuff set up with her reluctant alliance with Klaus. And how much is the narrative on board with Bonnie/Damon?!
(EDIT wait now I'm worried reading everyone's reactions: did we actually see Klaus's body burn? I thought Bonnie preserved him? Everyone seems to think JoMo is gone gone gone? I thought the coffin closed, which would've stopped the fire.)
NOOOOOO NOT TYLER NOOOOO. As if he wasn't fucked around by Klaus enough! Thematically it's perfect; emotionally it's crushing. I'm kind of blown away by that last scene between "Tyler" and Caroline? Because it was painful but felt a little more OTT than I usually expect from them, which I was willing to go with because it was such an emotional moment, but then it's even better in hindsight, knowing it was KLAUS being a big drama llama over Caroline the way he always is, and using Tyler to get at her in the way he never could. God, is Ty still alive in there, or did Bonnie give him up as a lost cause (OMG MY HEART, Klaus just said exactly what Tyler already believed at least sometimes on some level) and sacrifice him for all their other friends? I don't even know which would be worse. TYLER. TYLER. NOOOOOOO.
I love how this is the exact replay of the S2 finale. Sage instead of Rose; Ric/Klaus being the agent of the death instead of Tyler. Tyler possessed by Klaus instead of Ric. Jeremy seeing his dead. And Elena dies, again, but becoming a vampire this time, completing the thing John gave his life to prevent at the end of S2.
AND NOW ELENA IS A VAMPIRE WHAT THE FUCK. calling it now, though: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.