I'll admit that when the finale first aired, I was a mess. Annoyed at Elena being forced to choose. Grief-stricken from the loss of Alaric. Saddened that we've lost human Elena. I didn't really have time to analyze the events of the last fifteen minutes or so, and, to be honest - I didn't want to. Before I had the chance to really change my mind, someone in my family deleted the episode from my DVR and I never really thought about it again.
But, I bought the DVD series. I love the song that plays as the truck goes under the water, the visuals are so striking, I decided to give the finale another go.
So...JP's recent tweets still echoing in the back of my mind, I remembered her comment about Family Ties. It showed us the Damon who once was - and gave us a glimpse at the Damon we'd later see (my paraphrase).
As I was eating my pizza, I heard Damon's question to Alaric. "Is that all you've got?" He was challenging Ric - the new hunter. Unable to kill him, both because of Evilaric's physical strength and his tie to Elena's life, directly after the flashback, Damon taunts him....but why?
Just like so many other scenes in the show, this memory isn't about Damon and Elena's relationship - not really....it's about Damon and his choices.
Elena didn't realize that the choice she just made had the impact it did - no one told her about the brothers' agreement, of that I'm certain. She believes she'll see Damon in just an hour or so. She wouldn't have made the choice if she'd realized she'd lose Damon. In her closing words, she says the phrase that triggers Damon's later memory. "Maybe if I'd met you first."
Damon knows she did.
Somehow, in that brief moment, they connected - after all, she didn't end up as his dinner. For whatever reason, she intrigued him, but he couldn't let her remember him.
Damon's always had to live with the knowledge that he did meet her first. But he also knows that it'll always be Stefan (insert my "sloppy compulsion" theory here) - even if Elena's not ready for always....
The flashback was for Damon's benefit - one more example of when an action had an unintended consequence. If he'd left her memory intact, would she have been so easily swayed by Stefan's opinion of his brother? He doesn't have the answer, but he's already fallen for Katherine and Elena. He loves fully, completely, and recklessly....while I don't think he's trying to martyr himself, I do think he's aware he's about to die. The memory gave him a chance to say goodbye to the Elena he could have known.
Showing posts with label episode reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label episode reviews. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Our Town - TVD Episode 311 Commentary
First off, this is an abbreviated recap. I’m only focusing on four main scenes although I mention others.
Waking up -
The comparison between Damon’s attitude and Elena’s truly cracks me up. They’re both talking with family - with very different vibes going. Damon’s “singing in the shower” has definitely piqued Stefan’s interest. Lately, he’s been more in daydrinking mode. Here, he’s strutting around with a smile on his face. His non-answer about why he’s in such a good mood must leave Stefan with at least a hint as to what’s happened the night before.
Elena has every right to be frustrated. She’s having to send her one remaining family member out of town, but even though that seems to be what Alaric thinks has her worked up, her pause when Alaric mentions Damon cues us all in to exactly what her issue must be. She’s not going to share, but she seems to almost be expecting Damon to have talked with Alaric at some point. Since he still appears to be in the dark, she hides behind her coffee.
Witch Stuff Happens
Awkward Locker Decorating Moment
More Witchy House Stuff
Awkward Locker Conversations
Bonnie’s comment about “that’s exactly what Elena said” is so going to come back to haunt her. She didn’t clue Jeremy in to the compulsion deliberately, but I think Jeremy found it odd enough that he’s going to realize he was compelled - and arrive back in Mystic Falls in a few more episodes.
Dusty House of Renovations
Stefan wants the hybrids out of town. Wait....he wants revenge on Klaus. Wait...he’s mad that Klaus took his free will away.
I’m just confused about the Stefan storyline. I’m crossing my fingers that the question marks are deliberate by the writers - Stefan’s confused, so we’re supposed to be confused alongside him.
One point for later, this scene points out Klaus’ tendency for making rash decisions. He stakes his siblings when they anger him. He takes away Stefan’s free will. He tends to act first - think later....and Stefan knows that. More on this line of thought coming later.
It’s My Birthday...I’ll be Depressed if I Want To
I’ve gotta be honest, this is the first time I remember a song cue that seemed off to me. The “so it’s over” line seems a little heavy handed at trying to make us feel like this was supposed to be an extremely emotional scene.
Can You Really Throw A Vampire a Surprise Party?
Matt, Elena, and Bonnie have somehow snuck into the sheriff’s house and startles Caroline. (Honestly, that could have ended very badly. Two humans are in the room. If Caroline didn’t seem to be the vampire with the most control out of everyone else on the show, one of those humans would likely be dead in an accident with a startled vampire.)
Can’t We Ever Just Have a Council Meeting?
Alaric, truer words have never been spoken. Damon and Alaric’s interaction is one of the best points in this episode. And yet, Alaric still seems surprised that Damon truly cares about who lives or dies. Damon points out that it’s a short list, but there is one....Elena, Alaric, Caroline (saving her is how he got the wolf bite in the first place), Jeremy, Stefan, Liz....touch any of them, and you’re on Damon’s bad side.
Let’s Have a Birthday Funeral
Bonnie’s right - this is creepy, even for them.
Howdy, I’m a Founder Too
Unless Dr. Fell has been working somewhere else, why on earth hasn’t Alaric met her before?
We’re on Team Klaus
Heck, why is Damon even on the “keep Klaus’s family away from him” wagon? I don’t really understand what they’re doing with this - except that it’s Katherine’s plan (yep, I’m pretty sure that’s why she needed Stefan to get mad at the conclusion of Homecoming) - and her plans are normally pretty good.
Klaus is playing the townspeople like well-tuned violins. He saved Tyler from his curse, don’t you know. Suddenly, the mayor is on Klaus’ side.
Party at the Fell Tomb
Bonnie, so only one person in town gets to boss people around? (And...witches can’t be compelled, don’t you remember that?) Elena didn’t make this decision lightly, and she’s in charge of her brother - if he gets killed because of her, Elena won’t make it through that.
Drinking the Klaus Kool-aid
Sheriff Forbes doesn’t care whose side she’s on - as long as everyone stays alive. Pretty sure that’s why Klaus needs Caroline to be bitten.
Again, now we’ve discovered another council member that Alaric hasn’t met. Has he been skipping out on his duties as the Gilbert representative?
Nothing to See Here
In another moment of incredible lack of perception by the other residents of Mystic Falls, Stefan attacks a hybrid in the hall and no one notices - except for Damon.
The brothers argue....that’s not new, but the fact that Stefan makes certain Damon knows that all the responsibility for keeping Elena safe falls on him now is.
Stefan leaves, knowing there’s one person in town that’s likely more important to Klaus than his family.
And, since I have enough issues with the bridge scene, I think I’m going to stick this point here - Damon’s right. Stefan’s switch is messed up, but it isn’t off. Stefan knows how unstable Klaus is. Right now, Klaus is extremely ticked off at Stefan - and he’s going to get more upset as Stefan increases the pressure. Stefan needs to remind Klaus that, while Elena at least once was important to Stefan, she’s even more important to Klaus. His later threat to Klaus is as much to remind Klaus how important Elena is to Klaus as it is to threaten the creation of his second family of hybrids.
Conversations by a Coffin
Matt and Elena lament the lives they once had - back when it was simple.
Making out in the Woods
Really, Caroline, last time you were making out with a guy against a tree, it didn’t go so well either. Now Tyler realizes how strong his tie is to Klaus. Even when he thinks he’s going to be able to resist - he can’t.
Let’s Go on a Car Trip
After teasing about Matt being followed by the Fell ghost, something frightening does appear in the night - Stefan.
Stefan has set the whole experience up to freak her out. I’m not saying that she’d willingly go with him, but I think the jumping out at her - knocking Matt to the ground - was all part of the mood Stefan was trying to set to make sure her fear was going to be palpable through the phone.
Stefan answers Elena’s phone. (Why was Damon calling Elena in the first place? Was he just checking in or was he going to warn her that Stefan was unstable even for his current state of mind?)
Damon doesn’t know how far Stefan’s willing to go, and he’s as honestly concerned as I remember seeing him. Stefan is threatening to end Klaus’ ability to create hybrids, and Damon can’t predict where Stefan will stop.
Stop the Car Stefan
Elena’s angry at Stefan...and she doesn’t really understand how far Stefan’s apparently willing to go.
He calls Klaus (and I’m assuming Damon must still be within ear shot of the conversation, otherwise I don’t know how he picks her up later.)
Stefan feeds Elena his blood. Now, even if Stefan never intended to turn Elena, I don’t think there’s anything he could have done to violate Elena more deeply. Yes, Damon’s fed her his blood twice - once when he was still “season one Damon” and a second time to try to keep her alive. But it’s different with Stefan.
He was with her on that hill.
He knows how violently opposed to turning she is. He’s seen the tears at the thought of having that potential for a normal life taken away from her.
The fact that he’d take a risk of her accidentally turning (because...Elena doesn’t have the best track record in town) after his attempt to push Klaus to his breaking point - that shows how far Stefan has gone.
Unless....well, we’ll get back to that in a second.
I have to pause and say how much Nina knocked this scene out of the park.
I wanted someone to come wrap Elena in a hug after this moment.
Gah! How cruel was Stefan here? He fed her his blood...he threatened to kill her...by driving her off the bridge where her parents died.
Is there ANYTHING that could have hit her that deeply?
Stefan wants revenge over Klaus - for what Klaus took from him. But that’s just not adding up. Klaus didn’t take everything, except for Stefan’s self-control he’d worked so hard to refine. After that, all the people Stefan killed...the relationships he’s ruined....that’s all on Stefan.
“Destroying Klaus is all I have left.” Stefan’s words - present tense.
“You had me.” Elena’s words - past tense.
Elena’s single word here confirms it. For the first time, Elena signals that her ever-present desire to wait for him is gone.
He had her.
The words she spoke to Damon were true. While she may be confused as to whether or not Stefan’s humanity is resurfacing, she’s left Stefan behind.
“Are you trying to make me hate you?” I’m reminded of the conversation between the brothers that seems so long ago. Damon said he’d even make Elena hate him if that’s what took to keep her safe.
Stefan’s learned a few tricks from his brother.
Stefan thinks he’s too dangerous for Elena. He wants to make certain that any remaining feelings she had for him are gone.
My commentary - while Nina amazed me with the level of emotion she brought to this scene, I really think this was one break up too many. Because that’s what this scene was... Stefan wasn’t trying to kill her. He wasn’t trying to turn her. He was trying to make certain Klaus was reminded of how special and important Elena is, but most of all, he wanted to ensure Elena had no more romantic feelings about him.
I think we may have played that card too many times. Elena’s words in Ghost World were enough for me. Stefan couldn’t break through and feel for her. She said she was done with him...and she meant it.
I expected more reviewer-enthusiasm for this scene, but I think we’ve been here...done this one too many times. Sad. It was a great scene for Nina, but Stefan’s oh-so-barely-there trembling of his voice as he turned away really kind of took the impact out. We were able to see that he really never intended to do it. And it lessened the impact greatly.
I agree with Dianne Sylvan’s recap here - THIS is where we needed the Damon/Elena moment. Not every important scene between the pair needs to happen on the porch. We needed to see Damon’s immediate reaction to finding Elena here - on the bridge, Stefan’s blood still streaming from her face. We were cheated out of what could have been an amazing scene.
Instead....we got....
Not on Your Birthday
Klaus got in the house. He thinks Caroline’s cute.
It’s Right, Just not Now
Unless Wickery Bridge is amazingly close to their house, the timing of this scene feels off. Damon’s just now asking her if she’s going to be ok?
“I’ll survive. I always do.”
No more we....
After his conversation with Alaric at the Founder’s Event, Damon knows he moved too fast for Elena.
(I’m going to ignore the fact that Damon seems to be endorsing Stefan’s plan - there’s nothing right about this section of conversation between the pair of them. Stefan violated Elena’s safety, after Damon promised he’d never let his brother hurt her again. Damon had to be more affected by what just happened than he’s showing. He might not be mad AT her, but he’d be mad.)
“You going to be ok?” I don’t want Damon to become wishy washy, but I love that fact that when he needs to be...he can be gentle. Elena’s on his “short list” of people he cares about.
One thing I hadn’t noticed on first (or second) viewing is the fact that the tears don’t really become evident until she says he can’t kiss her. Her voice shakes. She’s so upset.
And the basis for that is because of shadows of another conversation they’ve had on this porch. She doesn’t want to be Katherine.
She knows how much she’s attracted to Damon, and that’s killing her just as much as everything else that’s going on in town. He’s become the better man just like she asked him to be...and now she can’t give in to her feelings.
It’s Right, Just Not Right Now
Damon waited for over 100 years for who he thought was his true love.
He can wait for Elena now.
You Going to Jump
Matt’s a very important part of Elena’s life. Her only friend who isn’t supernatural in some way. He’s one of her last “real” links to her old life.
She can be honest with Matt, even when she doesn’t realize it.
“The girl who had a normal life and didn’t fall in love with vampires.”
Plural.
Elena knows she’s in love with Damon.
And she doesn’t know what to do with that. She doesn’t want to disappoint her parents. She doesn’t want to disappoint herself.
Matt’s funeral to her old life gives her the chance to move on. The Elena that fell in love with Stefan was part of that old girl...the simple girl who didn’t know about the supernatural.
This is a different Elena now. Hopefully, Matt’s words will give her the strength to move on.
Waking up -
The comparison between Damon’s attitude and Elena’s truly cracks me up. They’re both talking with family - with very different vibes going. Damon’s “singing in the shower” has definitely piqued Stefan’s interest. Lately, he’s been more in daydrinking mode. Here, he’s strutting around with a smile on his face. His non-answer about why he’s in such a good mood must leave Stefan with at least a hint as to what’s happened the night before.
Elena has every right to be frustrated. She’s having to send her one remaining family member out of town, but even though that seems to be what Alaric thinks has her worked up, her pause when Alaric mentions Damon cues us all in to exactly what her issue must be. She’s not going to share, but she seems to almost be expecting Damon to have talked with Alaric at some point. Since he still appears to be in the dark, she hides behind her coffee.
Witch Stuff Happens
Awkward Locker Decorating Moment
More Witchy House Stuff
Awkward Locker Conversations
Bonnie’s comment about “that’s exactly what Elena said” is so going to come back to haunt her. She didn’t clue Jeremy in to the compulsion deliberately, but I think Jeremy found it odd enough that he’s going to realize he was compelled - and arrive back in Mystic Falls in a few more episodes.
Dusty House of Renovations
Stefan wants the hybrids out of town. Wait....he wants revenge on Klaus. Wait...he’s mad that Klaus took his free will away.
I’m just confused about the Stefan storyline. I’m crossing my fingers that the question marks are deliberate by the writers - Stefan’s confused, so we’re supposed to be confused alongside him.
One point for later, this scene points out Klaus’ tendency for making rash decisions. He stakes his siblings when they anger him. He takes away Stefan’s free will. He tends to act first - think later....and Stefan knows that. More on this line of thought coming later.
It’s My Birthday...I’ll be Depressed if I Want To
I’ve gotta be honest, this is the first time I remember a song cue that seemed off to me. The “so it’s over” line seems a little heavy handed at trying to make us feel like this was supposed to be an extremely emotional scene.
Can You Really Throw A Vampire a Surprise Party?
Matt, Elena, and Bonnie have somehow snuck into the sheriff’s house and startles Caroline. (Honestly, that could have ended very badly. Two humans are in the room. If Caroline didn’t seem to be the vampire with the most control out of everyone else on the show, one of those humans would likely be dead in an accident with a startled vampire.)
Can’t We Ever Just Have a Council Meeting?
Alaric, truer words have never been spoken. Damon and Alaric’s interaction is one of the best points in this episode. And yet, Alaric still seems surprised that Damon truly cares about who lives or dies. Damon points out that it’s a short list, but there is one....Elena, Alaric, Caroline (saving her is how he got the wolf bite in the first place), Jeremy, Stefan, Liz....touch any of them, and you’re on Damon’s bad side.
Let’s Have a Birthday Funeral
Bonnie’s right - this is creepy, even for them.
Howdy, I’m a Founder Too
Unless Dr. Fell has been working somewhere else, why on earth hasn’t Alaric met her before?
We’re on Team Klaus
Heck, why is Damon even on the “keep Klaus’s family away from him” wagon? I don’t really understand what they’re doing with this - except that it’s Katherine’s plan (yep, I’m pretty sure that’s why she needed Stefan to get mad at the conclusion of Homecoming) - and her plans are normally pretty good.
Klaus is playing the townspeople like well-tuned violins. He saved Tyler from his curse, don’t you know. Suddenly, the mayor is on Klaus’ side.
Party at the Fell Tomb
Bonnie, so only one person in town gets to boss people around? (And...witches can’t be compelled, don’t you remember that?) Elena didn’t make this decision lightly, and she’s in charge of her brother - if he gets killed because of her, Elena won’t make it through that.
Drinking the Klaus Kool-aid
Sheriff Forbes doesn’t care whose side she’s on - as long as everyone stays alive. Pretty sure that’s why Klaus needs Caroline to be bitten.
Again, now we’ve discovered another council member that Alaric hasn’t met. Has he been skipping out on his duties as the Gilbert representative?
Nothing to See Here
In another moment of incredible lack of perception by the other residents of Mystic Falls, Stefan attacks a hybrid in the hall and no one notices - except for Damon.
The brothers argue....that’s not new, but the fact that Stefan makes certain Damon knows that all the responsibility for keeping Elena safe falls on him now is.
Stefan leaves, knowing there’s one person in town that’s likely more important to Klaus than his family.
And, since I have enough issues with the bridge scene, I think I’m going to stick this point here - Damon’s right. Stefan’s switch is messed up, but it isn’t off. Stefan knows how unstable Klaus is. Right now, Klaus is extremely ticked off at Stefan - and he’s going to get more upset as Stefan increases the pressure. Stefan needs to remind Klaus that, while Elena at least once was important to Stefan, she’s even more important to Klaus. His later threat to Klaus is as much to remind Klaus how important Elena is to Klaus as it is to threaten the creation of his second family of hybrids.
Conversations by a Coffin
Matt and Elena lament the lives they once had - back when it was simple.
Making out in the Woods
Really, Caroline, last time you were making out with a guy against a tree, it didn’t go so well either. Now Tyler realizes how strong his tie is to Klaus. Even when he thinks he’s going to be able to resist - he can’t.
Let’s Go on a Car Trip
After teasing about Matt being followed by the Fell ghost, something frightening does appear in the night - Stefan.
Stefan has set the whole experience up to freak her out. I’m not saying that she’d willingly go with him, but I think the jumping out at her - knocking Matt to the ground - was all part of the mood Stefan was trying to set to make sure her fear was going to be palpable through the phone.
Stefan answers Elena’s phone. (Why was Damon calling Elena in the first place? Was he just checking in or was he going to warn her that Stefan was unstable even for his current state of mind?)
Damon doesn’t know how far Stefan’s willing to go, and he’s as honestly concerned as I remember seeing him. Stefan is threatening to end Klaus’ ability to create hybrids, and Damon can’t predict where Stefan will stop.
Stop the Car Stefan
Elena’s angry at Stefan...and she doesn’t really understand how far Stefan’s apparently willing to go.
He calls Klaus (and I’m assuming Damon must still be within ear shot of the conversation, otherwise I don’t know how he picks her up later.)
Stefan feeds Elena his blood. Now, even if Stefan never intended to turn Elena, I don’t think there’s anything he could have done to violate Elena more deeply. Yes, Damon’s fed her his blood twice - once when he was still “season one Damon” and a second time to try to keep her alive. But it’s different with Stefan.
He was with her on that hill.
He knows how violently opposed to turning she is. He’s seen the tears at the thought of having that potential for a normal life taken away from her.
The fact that he’d take a risk of her accidentally turning (because...Elena doesn’t have the best track record in town) after his attempt to push Klaus to his breaking point - that shows how far Stefan has gone.
Unless....well, we’ll get back to that in a second.
I have to pause and say how much Nina knocked this scene out of the park.
I wanted someone to come wrap Elena in a hug after this moment.
Gah! How cruel was Stefan here? He fed her his blood...he threatened to kill her...by driving her off the bridge where her parents died.
Is there ANYTHING that could have hit her that deeply?
Stefan wants revenge over Klaus - for what Klaus took from him. But that’s just not adding up. Klaus didn’t take everything, except for Stefan’s self-control he’d worked so hard to refine. After that, all the people Stefan killed...the relationships he’s ruined....that’s all on Stefan.
“Destroying Klaus is all I have left.” Stefan’s words - present tense.
“You had me.” Elena’s words - past tense.
Elena’s single word here confirms it. For the first time, Elena signals that her ever-present desire to wait for him is gone.
He had her.
The words she spoke to Damon were true. While she may be confused as to whether or not Stefan’s humanity is resurfacing, she’s left Stefan behind.
“Are you trying to make me hate you?” I’m reminded of the conversation between the brothers that seems so long ago. Damon said he’d even make Elena hate him if that’s what took to keep her safe.
Stefan’s learned a few tricks from his brother.
Stefan thinks he’s too dangerous for Elena. He wants to make certain that any remaining feelings she had for him are gone.
My commentary - while Nina amazed me with the level of emotion she brought to this scene, I really think this was one break up too many. Because that’s what this scene was... Stefan wasn’t trying to kill her. He wasn’t trying to turn her. He was trying to make certain Klaus was reminded of how special and important Elena is, but most of all, he wanted to ensure Elena had no more romantic feelings about him.
I think we may have played that card too many times. Elena’s words in Ghost World were enough for me. Stefan couldn’t break through and feel for her. She said she was done with him...and she meant it.
I expected more reviewer-enthusiasm for this scene, but I think we’ve been here...done this one too many times. Sad. It was a great scene for Nina, but Stefan’s oh-so-barely-there trembling of his voice as he turned away really kind of took the impact out. We were able to see that he really never intended to do it. And it lessened the impact greatly.
I agree with Dianne Sylvan’s recap here - THIS is where we needed the Damon/Elena moment. Not every important scene between the pair needs to happen on the porch. We needed to see Damon’s immediate reaction to finding Elena here - on the bridge, Stefan’s blood still streaming from her face. We were cheated out of what could have been an amazing scene.
Instead....we got....
Not on Your Birthday
Klaus got in the house. He thinks Caroline’s cute.
It’s Right, Just not Now
Unless Wickery Bridge is amazingly close to their house, the timing of this scene feels off. Damon’s just now asking her if she’s going to be ok?
“I’ll survive. I always do.”
No more we....
After his conversation with Alaric at the Founder’s Event, Damon knows he moved too fast for Elena.
(I’m going to ignore the fact that Damon seems to be endorsing Stefan’s plan - there’s nothing right about this section of conversation between the pair of them. Stefan violated Elena’s safety, after Damon promised he’d never let his brother hurt her again. Damon had to be more affected by what just happened than he’s showing. He might not be mad AT her, but he’d be mad.)
“You going to be ok?” I don’t want Damon to become wishy washy, but I love that fact that when he needs to be...he can be gentle. Elena’s on his “short list” of people he cares about.
One thing I hadn’t noticed on first (or second) viewing is the fact that the tears don’t really become evident until she says he can’t kiss her. Her voice shakes. She’s so upset.
And the basis for that is because of shadows of another conversation they’ve had on this porch. She doesn’t want to be Katherine.
She knows how much she’s attracted to Damon, and that’s killing her just as much as everything else that’s going on in town. He’s become the better man just like she asked him to be...and now she can’t give in to her feelings.
It’s Right, Just Not Right Now
Damon waited for over 100 years for who he thought was his true love.
He can wait for Elena now.
You Going to Jump
Matt’s a very important part of Elena’s life. Her only friend who isn’t supernatural in some way. He’s one of her last “real” links to her old life.
She can be honest with Matt, even when she doesn’t realize it.
“The girl who had a normal life and didn’t fall in love with vampires.”
Plural.
Elena knows she’s in love with Damon.
And she doesn’t know what to do with that. She doesn’t want to disappoint her parents. She doesn’t want to disappoint herself.
Matt’s funeral to her old life gives her the chance to move on. The Elena that fell in love with Stefan was part of that old girl...the simple girl who didn’t know about the supernatural.
This is a different Elena now. Hopefully, Matt’s words will give her the strength to move on.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Kleenexes at the Ready? - 221 Recap
This episode also tore me up like no other. Please forgive my tardiness with the recap. I honestly couldn’t handle trying to write about it for a few days past watching.
Let’s also establish this at the outset. I love Caroline. I adore the changes in her character this season. BUT, I think the Matt/Tyler/Caroline stuff brought the intensity of the episode to a halt (even DH shared this opinion). I appreciate that it apparently sets up a lot of what happens in the finale, but this ep is better without this secondary subplot.
SO....Matt shot Tyler. Matt can’t accept Caroline. Caroline knows her mom knows about her. Caroline cuddled with Tyler (who was naked under that blanket) on the couch. Let’s move on.
145 Years and No Last Goodbye - There’s no scene that has more clearly established the changes in Damon along with his lack of feelings for Katherine than this scene. He doesn’t think she’s worthy of a goodbye. She says that she had to make the call to lure out Jenna. He stresses that yes, she had the choice, and she owed it to him to protect Jenna. But she’s still Katherine - looking out for herself. When Damon says that he hopes she enjoys an eternity alone, I honestly think that she may have had a moment where he got through to her. I sense this may mean bad things for one of the characters I’ve developed a strange fondness for this season.
The second I walked out of the house, someone grabbed me - Poor confused Jenna. Obviously, Elena knows exactly what’s going on, but she has to help Jenna clue in to the fact she’s now a vamp. I wonder what would have happened if Elena had really quickly said not to drink the blood... Of course, Jenna’s alternative would just have been to be dead then too, but she couldn’t have been the sacrifice.
Title Card and my stomach was already churning. This is going to be one of THOSE episodes.
And now we have multiple handy visits from the Exposition Fairy. We now know that Jeremy and Bonnie have been seeking out a “changed our mind, don’t want to be a vampire” spell and Elijah’s making sure Stefan’s clear on the concept of what all’s about to happen.
Of course, we have our obligatory “Bonnie’s going to be okay” moment. Is it alright that she’s honestly last in my line of “characters I’m worried about” tonight. Let Bonnie die killing Klaus...he’s killed a ton of people. Y’all need to make sure he’s dead as in REALLY dead. If that takes losing Bonnie, then we’ll all deal. No, Elena wouldn’t want that, but I don’t think she was ready for Jenna to go either. (I think everyone was assuming it would be Katherine.)
Now, I’ve seen a lot of comments asking why Damon was at the boardinghouse drinking in this next section of the scene. Well, they hadn’t done the locator spell yet. No one knew where he was supposed to go to stop the sacrifice. (That, and Damon probably needed a stiff drink to get him through the rest of the night.)
Damon has to tell Stefan about Jenna. Suddenly the stakes have been raised exponentially.
I Feel Like Myself, Only Not - Can I say poor Jenna again? Not only is she transitioning into a vampire, she’s doing it knowing that she’s going to be sacrificed in a matter of hours. Elena tries to pull a “witchy honor” speech with Greta. Sadly, I think Greta really was doing all this of her own free will... the excitement of the whole “new order” reminds me a bit of Hitler Youth.
You Do Not Want To Mess With Me Right Now - Damon’s really already feeling the results of the wolf bite. He does an amazingly good job of hiding what’s going on from everyone else. He’s come to terms with his death sentence, now it’s time to keep Elena and Jenna from being sacrificed. Interesting here that we see that John really was counting on Damon protecting Elena. I think hearing that Damon was willing to take vervain (despite the pain it caused) to protect Elena showed John how much Elena really meant to Damon. He’d trusted Damon with his daughter’s life...and Damon knows he failed. He tries to make light of it, but he’s done everything he can up until this point to keep his impulsive act from impacting Elena’s eternity.
I’ve Got The Moonstone - Yep, here’s where it starts to get freaky and really sad. I hadn’t realized that Jules and Elena had never met. Too bad they did so under the circumstances. Sara Canning really “sold” Jenna’s fear in this whole scene. I think one of the reasons I was so impacted by Jules’ death (perhaps the only character who’s below Bonnie on my “characters I could live without” scale) was the look of utter horror on Jenna’s face.
Ooooh, Interesting Spells - Bonnie and Jeremy continue their spell research. I think this “bring back to life” spell that wasn’t clearly explained will be important in the finale. Someone arrives. Alaric comes downstairs to talk to Jeremy. Interesting that it isn’t Stefan. He’s there. I’ve always said that I felt a “fatherly vibe” between Alaric and Elena. Knowing she’s his wife’s daughter is the closest thing to a child he has, but I think that also impacts his relationship with Jeremy.
One of my main points - Stefan explains that Klaus took Jenna as retaliation for Damon rescuing Caroline. I don’t think that’s right, though. Klaus had Katherine “do something for him” immediately after she stood in the sunlight. Klaus took Jenna after he thought Elena had left. Jenna was ALWAYS the vampire Klaus intended to use - that’s why she was with Greta, the witch performing the spell. Caroline was the backup.
A little fuzzy here - Why is Stefan so convinced that Klaus wants Stefan more? Does he think Klaus would be impressed by the Romeo and Juliet quality of lovers as sacrifices or is it something else? I’m still convinced that Stefan has somehow encountered Klaus in the past.
Isn’t There Someone Else Who Can Do This? - Let’s all take a deep breath. It’s about to get very sad very quickly. As soon as Jenna went all reflective, I knew she was truly a goner. Jenna believes she’s totally failed Elena and Jeremy, but Elena says it’s her fault. At this point, it’s far too late to assign blame. They’ve already watched Jules die. As much as Elena tries to reassure Jenna (and then begs her to run when she has the chance), Jenna knows that she just has a few minutes left.
Insert appropriate eye-welling here.
You’re Very Honorable - This scene inserted the doubt I’d been feeling all season. Seriously, someone should have listened to Damon. (I’ll get back to this in a bit.) Stefan and Elijah have a heart to heart. While Elijah is impressed that Stefan intends to take Jenna’s place, Stefan questions Elijah once again. Stefan’s tried to kill his brother - more than once. He’s never been able to. If Stefan’s about to offer himself in Jenna’s stead, then he wants to make certain his death means something. He needs to know that Elijah has truly prepared himself for the implications of killing his brother. Elijah says that he owes it to the rest of his family. He doesn’t just hate his brother; he’s seeking revenge.
I Did Everything You Asked - Elena doesn’t seem to grasp just how unhinged Klaus is. She says she did everything he asked (honestly, I’ve apparently blocked something out along the way. I don’t remember her ever making a deal with Klaus - just Elijah. Please, if you remember when she worked out a deal with Klaus, remind me of that scene in the comments so I don’t drive myself insane) and she doesn’t understand why Jenna’s still on the list of tonight’s victims. In the midst of her pleas, something unexpected turned up.
You Weren’t On the Guest List - Once again, I get the feeling here that Stefan and Klaus have met in the past...even if Stefan didn’t know who Klaus was at the time. Stefan wants to talk.
A Parent’s Love - We learn more about one of the spells (still not sure if it’s the resuscitation spell mentioned earlier) where a mother bound her life force to that of her child. For the moment, we see a level of respect between John and Damon that I haven’t seen before. Neither may fully trust the other’s tactics, but they’re both doing all they can do to save the most important person in their world.
Three Goddesses on Nature’s Altar - Stefan explains to Klaus that he wants to trade places with Jenna. Klaus isn’t buying. He likes the idea of three women dying for him. (Which is one reason I think Tyler/Caroline were the backup vamp and werewolf.)
Locked In - After Bonnie does the binding spell with John, she kisses Jeremy (and knocks him out). Damon, Elijah, and Bonnie have work to do. Alaric thinks he’s going to help, but Damon (I think) has made the call to keep his friend locked in the house. The sacrifice has been going on long enough that I think Damon was aware that by the time they got there, no one was going to be able to help Jenna (or Stefan if he was successful at taking Jenna’s place). Personally, I believe Damon completely understood what would happen to John if the spell was successful. He needed to ensure that someone would be left to take care of Elena. They couldn’t take the risk of letting Alaric go with them.
Who’s It Going to Be? - Elena has the choice between an awful decision and a horrible decision. Her boyfriend or her aunt? Thankfully, Klaus takes the choice away as soon as he makes it. Stefan’s not on the list tonight. Klaus drives a stake through his spinal cord, leaving him unconscious on the ground. He makes some sort of vague “I have other plans for him” comment which really makes me cringe. Klaus is one twisted dude. You don’t want to be on the list of people he finds interesting.
I Know What I Have to Do - Like I said, if Jenna and Damon had been working together, I don’t know if this sacrifice would have ever gone down. Jenna knows what she has to do, and despite Elena’s wishes (Bonnie, are you listening here?), it will come at the cost of her own life. Rather than running away as Elena wanted, Jenna has come to the correct realization that if she can kill Greta, Klaus won’t be able to hurt her niece. She felt as if she’d failed Elena and Jeremy in her job of raising them this past 6 months or so. She’s not going to do that again. Like any parent, she gives her own life to try to protect Elena. Of course, Klaus steps in and stakes Jenna first in the side. Rather than ending her life quickly and neatly, he wants to see the terror in Jenna’s eyes as he kills her.
Just so you know, on my first viewing, this is where my son decided to come in and start talking to me. Apparently, my sobbing had made him curious.
Elena’s cries for Jenna to turn off her emotions so she wouldn’t be scared totally left me in a puddle. Nina is likely the most realistic crier on television. Filming this episode must have been beyond exhausting for her. Elena’s pain is so very, very real.
Shh! - Stefan wakes just as Jenna is truly dead. Something has changed in Elena’s eyes. While tears stream down her cheeks, she shushes Stefan as he tries to comfort her. She just wants to know one thing....are they ready to kill Klaus? When he answers yes, she changes into a very dark Elena. Klaus offers his hand and she looks totally frightening as she marches to her impending death. I think at this moment she’s welcoming death since it will be the first step in taking Klaus out. Interesting ... she has no “I love yous” or tearful goodbyes to Stefan. This isn’t the Elena we’ve known for two seasons. Watching her aunt die was the final straw. I’m going to be interested in seeing Season 3 Elena. Klaus steps up and wraps his arms around Elena. Klaus is a distinctly different vampire in way of biting. We’ve seen Damon’s enjoyment of biting, but Klaus takes it to a whole new level. There is an intimacy here that really creeps me out. He cradles her to his chest (while his hands get more than a little personal). There’s not a hint of regret in Elena’s face as he quickly drains her until she’s lying dead on the ground.
You Were Dead - Lightning, wind, chanting in Latin...Bonnie arrives and is more than a little scary. Damon finishes the job Jenna started and kills Greta before she even knew what hit her. After sweeping the mostly-dead Elena into his arms, he carries her to Stefan’s side where he removes the stake from Stefan’s spinal cord. Stefan doesn’t want Damon in the battle...he wants Damon to get Elena to safety. Interesting. The book fan in me really loved this battle - if only Elijah had lived up to his end of the agreement. In Elijah’s defense, though, he was only doing this so that he could get revenge on Klaus for his family members’ deaths. Elijah would never have forgiven himself if he’d killed Klaus while dooming his family members for eternity. Of course, they should have just listened to Damon and never trusted Elijah in the first place.
Elijah and Klaus get away making Jenna’s death totally meaningless.
Did You Read All of This? - John’s writing a letter. Yeah, he’s totally about to die. He hands the letter and his ring to Jeremy with instructions to take care of his sister. He nods to Alaric, echoing his wishes. (I totally think Alaric is the most likely candidate for guardian next season.) There’s a noise upstairs. They all look at each other. Who’s coming “home?” Obviously they’d be deluded to believe that everyone made it out of the night’s events. I can’t imagine their fear at going up the stairs to see just who came back.
I’ll Stake You Myself - Damon carries Elena into the house in what I think is the second most beautiful scenes in the episode. He looks at her with such tenderness - mixed with such regret. He couldn’t bear for her to die, but he also doesn’t want her angry with him for the rest of eternity. For now, though, it only matters to him that she’s hopefully about to be breathing again. Damon senses the other men in the room. He looks at Alaric and shakes his head. He doesn’t need words. Jeremy does, though. I do think Damon really is sorry here. He wanted to take Jenna’s place just as much as Stefan did. No one wanted Jenna to be a victim. John takes one last look at his daughter and steps outside. Elena gasps as John drops. I firmly believe that the house could fall down around them right now and Damon wouldn’t have looked away from Elena’s face. She says she feels fine, and all is right with Damon’s world.
Pass the Tissues - No, no one really says that (unlike the rest of my little headers this time...hope you liked those transitions), but someone should. Seriously, Kleenex tissues could have been the product placement for this episode since I know I went through about a box in watching, rewatching, and writing this recap (the things I do for y’all....)
Only Dumbledore’s death in HP has hit me as hard as this scene. From the moment in Elena’s room to the cemetery, Nina Dobrev had me in a puddle of grief. (And, I have to say that she looked AMAZING in this segment of the episode).
Watching the little band of survivors walk through the graveyard where Damon has compelled gravediggers to give Jenna and John a swift burial was so intensely gut-wrenching.
Stefan attempted to place a comforting hand around Elena, but she shrugged out of it and stepped to Jenna’s grave alone. While John’s heartfelt last letter is heard in the background, Elena sobs as she places roses on the graves of all the parental figures (save Isobel) she’s lost in just a matter of a few months. The camera focus on everyone else as they take their turn in mourning (mainly) Jenna’s loss. Finally we see Damon. He’s stepped away from everyone else. He’s aware how much he’s angered Elena. but when she’s at her most overwhelmed by her grief, she looks up and locks eyes with Damon. There’s no anger or bitterness there.
I have to say I wonder if anyone’s told Elena Klaus is still alive at this point. Would that push her completely over the edge?
Damon stays apart from the group as the memorial service comes to an end. Stefan steps to his brothers side saying Elena needs all of them now. Damon needs to know his brother’s plan for tracking down Klaus. Stefan looks confused for a moment until Damon reveals that he’s not going to be around to help. He reveals the wolf bite and Stefan is beyond shocked. While reassuring Damon they’d fix this, Damon only has one request - Elena can’t find out about Damon’s injury. She’s already mourning enough people.
With one of the most visually striking scenes in the episode (if not the series), Damon nods his goodbye to his brother (entrusting Elena to him) and walks through the graveyard in a silent farewell.
(Honestly, I think this should have been the finale. That last scene was agonizingly beautiful.)
Let’s also establish this at the outset. I love Caroline. I adore the changes in her character this season. BUT, I think the Matt/Tyler/Caroline stuff brought the intensity of the episode to a halt (even DH shared this opinion). I appreciate that it apparently sets up a lot of what happens in the finale, but this ep is better without this secondary subplot.
SO....Matt shot Tyler. Matt can’t accept Caroline. Caroline knows her mom knows about her. Caroline cuddled with Tyler (who was naked under that blanket) on the couch. Let’s move on.
145 Years and No Last Goodbye - There’s no scene that has more clearly established the changes in Damon along with his lack of feelings for Katherine than this scene. He doesn’t think she’s worthy of a goodbye. She says that she had to make the call to lure out Jenna. He stresses that yes, she had the choice, and she owed it to him to protect Jenna. But she’s still Katherine - looking out for herself. When Damon says that he hopes she enjoys an eternity alone, I honestly think that she may have had a moment where he got through to her. I sense this may mean bad things for one of the characters I’ve developed a strange fondness for this season.
The second I walked out of the house, someone grabbed me - Poor confused Jenna. Obviously, Elena knows exactly what’s going on, but she has to help Jenna clue in to the fact she’s now a vamp. I wonder what would have happened if Elena had really quickly said not to drink the blood... Of course, Jenna’s alternative would just have been to be dead then too, but she couldn’t have been the sacrifice.
Title Card and my stomach was already churning. This is going to be one of THOSE episodes.
And now we have multiple handy visits from the Exposition Fairy. We now know that Jeremy and Bonnie have been seeking out a “changed our mind, don’t want to be a vampire” spell and Elijah’s making sure Stefan’s clear on the concept of what all’s about to happen.
Of course, we have our obligatory “Bonnie’s going to be okay” moment. Is it alright that she’s honestly last in my line of “characters I’m worried about” tonight. Let Bonnie die killing Klaus...he’s killed a ton of people. Y’all need to make sure he’s dead as in REALLY dead. If that takes losing Bonnie, then we’ll all deal. No, Elena wouldn’t want that, but I don’t think she was ready for Jenna to go either. (I think everyone was assuming it would be Katherine.)
Now, I’ve seen a lot of comments asking why Damon was at the boardinghouse drinking in this next section of the scene. Well, they hadn’t done the locator spell yet. No one knew where he was supposed to go to stop the sacrifice. (That, and Damon probably needed a stiff drink to get him through the rest of the night.)
Damon has to tell Stefan about Jenna. Suddenly the stakes have been raised exponentially.
I Feel Like Myself, Only Not - Can I say poor Jenna again? Not only is she transitioning into a vampire, she’s doing it knowing that she’s going to be sacrificed in a matter of hours. Elena tries to pull a “witchy honor” speech with Greta. Sadly, I think Greta really was doing all this of her own free will... the excitement of the whole “new order” reminds me a bit of Hitler Youth.
You Do Not Want To Mess With Me Right Now - Damon’s really already feeling the results of the wolf bite. He does an amazingly good job of hiding what’s going on from everyone else. He’s come to terms with his death sentence, now it’s time to keep Elena and Jenna from being sacrificed. Interesting here that we see that John really was counting on Damon protecting Elena. I think hearing that Damon was willing to take vervain (despite the pain it caused) to protect Elena showed John how much Elena really meant to Damon. He’d trusted Damon with his daughter’s life...and Damon knows he failed. He tries to make light of it, but he’s done everything he can up until this point to keep his impulsive act from impacting Elena’s eternity.
I’ve Got The Moonstone - Yep, here’s where it starts to get freaky and really sad. I hadn’t realized that Jules and Elena had never met. Too bad they did so under the circumstances. Sara Canning really “sold” Jenna’s fear in this whole scene. I think one of the reasons I was so impacted by Jules’ death (perhaps the only character who’s below Bonnie on my “characters I could live without” scale) was the look of utter horror on Jenna’s face.
Ooooh, Interesting Spells - Bonnie and Jeremy continue their spell research. I think this “bring back to life” spell that wasn’t clearly explained will be important in the finale. Someone arrives. Alaric comes downstairs to talk to Jeremy. Interesting that it isn’t Stefan. He’s there. I’ve always said that I felt a “fatherly vibe” between Alaric and Elena. Knowing she’s his wife’s daughter is the closest thing to a child he has, but I think that also impacts his relationship with Jeremy.
One of my main points - Stefan explains that Klaus took Jenna as retaliation for Damon rescuing Caroline. I don’t think that’s right, though. Klaus had Katherine “do something for him” immediately after she stood in the sunlight. Klaus took Jenna after he thought Elena had left. Jenna was ALWAYS the vampire Klaus intended to use - that’s why she was with Greta, the witch performing the spell. Caroline was the backup.
A little fuzzy here - Why is Stefan so convinced that Klaus wants Stefan more? Does he think Klaus would be impressed by the Romeo and Juliet quality of lovers as sacrifices or is it something else? I’m still convinced that Stefan has somehow encountered Klaus in the past.
Isn’t There Someone Else Who Can Do This? - Let’s all take a deep breath. It’s about to get very sad very quickly. As soon as Jenna went all reflective, I knew she was truly a goner. Jenna believes she’s totally failed Elena and Jeremy, but Elena says it’s her fault. At this point, it’s far too late to assign blame. They’ve already watched Jules die. As much as Elena tries to reassure Jenna (and then begs her to run when she has the chance), Jenna knows that she just has a few minutes left.
Insert appropriate eye-welling here.
You’re Very Honorable - This scene inserted the doubt I’d been feeling all season. Seriously, someone should have listened to Damon. (I’ll get back to this in a bit.) Stefan and Elijah have a heart to heart. While Elijah is impressed that Stefan intends to take Jenna’s place, Stefan questions Elijah once again. Stefan’s tried to kill his brother - more than once. He’s never been able to. If Stefan’s about to offer himself in Jenna’s stead, then he wants to make certain his death means something. He needs to know that Elijah has truly prepared himself for the implications of killing his brother. Elijah says that he owes it to the rest of his family. He doesn’t just hate his brother; he’s seeking revenge.
I Did Everything You Asked - Elena doesn’t seem to grasp just how unhinged Klaus is. She says she did everything he asked (honestly, I’ve apparently blocked something out along the way. I don’t remember her ever making a deal with Klaus - just Elijah. Please, if you remember when she worked out a deal with Klaus, remind me of that scene in the comments so I don’t drive myself insane) and she doesn’t understand why Jenna’s still on the list of tonight’s victims. In the midst of her pleas, something unexpected turned up.
You Weren’t On the Guest List - Once again, I get the feeling here that Stefan and Klaus have met in the past...even if Stefan didn’t know who Klaus was at the time. Stefan wants to talk.
A Parent’s Love - We learn more about one of the spells (still not sure if it’s the resuscitation spell mentioned earlier) where a mother bound her life force to that of her child. For the moment, we see a level of respect between John and Damon that I haven’t seen before. Neither may fully trust the other’s tactics, but they’re both doing all they can do to save the most important person in their world.
Three Goddesses on Nature’s Altar - Stefan explains to Klaus that he wants to trade places with Jenna. Klaus isn’t buying. He likes the idea of three women dying for him. (Which is one reason I think Tyler/Caroline were the backup vamp and werewolf.)
Locked In - After Bonnie does the binding spell with John, she kisses Jeremy (and knocks him out). Damon, Elijah, and Bonnie have work to do. Alaric thinks he’s going to help, but Damon (I think) has made the call to keep his friend locked in the house. The sacrifice has been going on long enough that I think Damon was aware that by the time they got there, no one was going to be able to help Jenna (or Stefan if he was successful at taking Jenna’s place). Personally, I believe Damon completely understood what would happen to John if the spell was successful. He needed to ensure that someone would be left to take care of Elena. They couldn’t take the risk of letting Alaric go with them.
Who’s It Going to Be? - Elena has the choice between an awful decision and a horrible decision. Her boyfriend or her aunt? Thankfully, Klaus takes the choice away as soon as he makes it. Stefan’s not on the list tonight. Klaus drives a stake through his spinal cord, leaving him unconscious on the ground. He makes some sort of vague “I have other plans for him” comment which really makes me cringe. Klaus is one twisted dude. You don’t want to be on the list of people he finds interesting.
I Know What I Have to Do - Like I said, if Jenna and Damon had been working together, I don’t know if this sacrifice would have ever gone down. Jenna knows what she has to do, and despite Elena’s wishes (Bonnie, are you listening here?), it will come at the cost of her own life. Rather than running away as Elena wanted, Jenna has come to the correct realization that if she can kill Greta, Klaus won’t be able to hurt her niece. She felt as if she’d failed Elena and Jeremy in her job of raising them this past 6 months or so. She’s not going to do that again. Like any parent, she gives her own life to try to protect Elena. Of course, Klaus steps in and stakes Jenna first in the side. Rather than ending her life quickly and neatly, he wants to see the terror in Jenna’s eyes as he kills her.
Just so you know, on my first viewing, this is where my son decided to come in and start talking to me. Apparently, my sobbing had made him curious.
Elena’s cries for Jenna to turn off her emotions so she wouldn’t be scared totally left me in a puddle. Nina is likely the most realistic crier on television. Filming this episode must have been beyond exhausting for her. Elena’s pain is so very, very real.
Shh! - Stefan wakes just as Jenna is truly dead. Something has changed in Elena’s eyes. While tears stream down her cheeks, she shushes Stefan as he tries to comfort her. She just wants to know one thing....are they ready to kill Klaus? When he answers yes, she changes into a very dark Elena. Klaus offers his hand and she looks totally frightening as she marches to her impending death. I think at this moment she’s welcoming death since it will be the first step in taking Klaus out. Interesting ... she has no “I love yous” or tearful goodbyes to Stefan. This isn’t the Elena we’ve known for two seasons. Watching her aunt die was the final straw. I’m going to be interested in seeing Season 3 Elena. Klaus steps up and wraps his arms around Elena. Klaus is a distinctly different vampire in way of biting. We’ve seen Damon’s enjoyment of biting, but Klaus takes it to a whole new level. There is an intimacy here that really creeps me out. He cradles her to his chest (while his hands get more than a little personal). There’s not a hint of regret in Elena’s face as he quickly drains her until she’s lying dead on the ground.
You Were Dead - Lightning, wind, chanting in Latin...Bonnie arrives and is more than a little scary. Damon finishes the job Jenna started and kills Greta before she even knew what hit her. After sweeping the mostly-dead Elena into his arms, he carries her to Stefan’s side where he removes the stake from Stefan’s spinal cord. Stefan doesn’t want Damon in the battle...he wants Damon to get Elena to safety. Interesting. The book fan in me really loved this battle - if only Elijah had lived up to his end of the agreement. In Elijah’s defense, though, he was only doing this so that he could get revenge on Klaus for his family members’ deaths. Elijah would never have forgiven himself if he’d killed Klaus while dooming his family members for eternity. Of course, they should have just listened to Damon and never trusted Elijah in the first place.
Elijah and Klaus get away making Jenna’s death totally meaningless.
Did You Read All of This? - John’s writing a letter. Yeah, he’s totally about to die. He hands the letter and his ring to Jeremy with instructions to take care of his sister. He nods to Alaric, echoing his wishes. (I totally think Alaric is the most likely candidate for guardian next season.) There’s a noise upstairs. They all look at each other. Who’s coming “home?” Obviously they’d be deluded to believe that everyone made it out of the night’s events. I can’t imagine their fear at going up the stairs to see just who came back.
I’ll Stake You Myself - Damon carries Elena into the house in what I think is the second most beautiful scenes in the episode. He looks at her with such tenderness - mixed with such regret. He couldn’t bear for her to die, but he also doesn’t want her angry with him for the rest of eternity. For now, though, it only matters to him that she’s hopefully about to be breathing again. Damon senses the other men in the room. He looks at Alaric and shakes his head. He doesn’t need words. Jeremy does, though. I do think Damon really is sorry here. He wanted to take Jenna’s place just as much as Stefan did. No one wanted Jenna to be a victim. John takes one last look at his daughter and steps outside. Elena gasps as John drops. I firmly believe that the house could fall down around them right now and Damon wouldn’t have looked away from Elena’s face. She says she feels fine, and all is right with Damon’s world.
Pass the Tissues - No, no one really says that (unlike the rest of my little headers this time...hope you liked those transitions), but someone should. Seriously, Kleenex tissues could have been the product placement for this episode since I know I went through about a box in watching, rewatching, and writing this recap (the things I do for y’all....)
Only Dumbledore’s death in HP has hit me as hard as this scene. From the moment in Elena’s room to the cemetery, Nina Dobrev had me in a puddle of grief. (And, I have to say that she looked AMAZING in this segment of the episode).
Watching the little band of survivors walk through the graveyard where Damon has compelled gravediggers to give Jenna and John a swift burial was so intensely gut-wrenching.
Stefan attempted to place a comforting hand around Elena, but she shrugged out of it and stepped to Jenna’s grave alone. While John’s heartfelt last letter is heard in the background, Elena sobs as she places roses on the graves of all the parental figures (save Isobel) she’s lost in just a matter of a few months. The camera focus on everyone else as they take their turn in mourning (mainly) Jenna’s loss. Finally we see Damon. He’s stepped away from everyone else. He’s aware how much he’s angered Elena. but when she’s at her most overwhelmed by her grief, she looks up and locks eyes with Damon. There’s no anger or bitterness there.
I have to say I wonder if anyone’s told Elena Klaus is still alive at this point. Would that push her completely over the edge?
Damon stays apart from the group as the memorial service comes to an end. Stefan steps to his brothers side saying Elena needs all of them now. Damon needs to know his brother’s plan for tracking down Klaus. Stefan looks confused for a moment until Damon reveals that he’s not going to be around to help. He reveals the wolf bite and Stefan is beyond shocked. While reassuring Damon they’d fix this, Damon only has one request - Elena can’t find out about Damon’s injury. She’s already mourning enough people.
With one of the most visually striking scenes in the episode (if not the series), Damon nods his goodbye to his brother (entrusting Elena to him) and walks through the graveyard in a silent farewell.
(Honestly, I think this should have been the finale. That last scene was agonizingly beautiful.)
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
It's All A Matter of Trust - "The Dinner Party"
Elena reading journal flashback -
Elena is beyond surprised at what she learns from the journal. Apparently Stefan took out Honoraria Fell, Thomas ____ (Fell?), and the original Jonathan Gilbert. Jonathan already had his ring of anti-death at this point. Wonder if that’s why the Salvatores don’t get invited to the Founding Family stuff anymore (“Family Ties” reference)?
Stefan at the dock -
Stefan pensively looks back at Elena reading in the lakehouse. He knows she’s reading a Gilbert journal. Does he know what she’ll find?
His phone rings....Damon’s calling. One of this episode’s strengths is the way it looks at the relationship between the brothers. Stefan continues to watch Elena (is he judging her reaction?) while Damon brings him up to speed on his plan. (Just have to take a moment - Damon and I have the same phone - that is all.) I’ve seen a lot of comments scattered about Damon’s irresponsible plan. I do think we need to point out that Stefan is very much aware of what Damon’s planning to do. He only reminds Damon to be careful, though, he doesn’t try to talk him out of attempting to kill Elijah. He might not have been one to formulate the plan, but Stefan doesn’t disagree with what Damon’s about to do.
Jenna, Elijah, and Alaric -
This seems very random, but I believe this info about the witches coming to town earlier than the Founding Families will prove to be really important the the second half of the season. The werewolf chapter may be over, but the witch chapter is just beginning.
Love the interaction between Ric and Elijah here. Elijah points out to Ric that he’s on Elena’s list. Elijah’s so at ease with who he is...I’m really going to hate losing him.
Bonnie/Jeremy ... I don’t “do” witch stuff. This might be a long series of episodes for me.
Elena/Stefan -
Elena practically jumps out of her chair when Stefan comes in. You can cut the tension in the room with a knife. Stefan’s still angry about what he’s learned about Elena’s deal with Klaus. Elena’s equally upset, but she’s reacting to the information she’s learned from the journals.
It is interesting that Stefan has waited until this point to fill her in on “his side” of the story. Elena is so disappointed here. I think she’d assumed that Stefan had already filled her in on the truly important details of his life. Yes, she knew he had done some things he regretted - he hasn’t always been a non-HB vampire, but I don’t think she realized that he’d known the people he’d killed.
If he’d truly only wanted her to hear the story from him, why did he wait until she brought it up after reading the journal? My POV - I think he was waiting to see if he’d been mentioned in the journals. If he hadn’t been mentioned, I don’t think Elena would have ever gotten this section of the story. His wording was interesting here - “We were angry at the founding families....” Only one brother seemed to be eating them. One fact that really shows the depths that Stefan has descended to - he’s killing the people he’s known all his life - not just random people.
The brothers’ roles are reversed here. Stefan is killing with abandon. Damon is the brother trying to take the morally correct path - telling the girls to run and not think of the place again. I hope we get to see the moment that Damon shatters at some point. He’s still a reluctant vampire here. How does he become the monster we see in the pilot episode?
Back to the lakehouse -
Elena compares early Stefan to Damon. I DON’T think she means the “current” version of Damon. She’s using past tense here to describe Stefan, but I think she’s also going with the Pilot Version of Damon in her comparison. A year hasn’t passed in Mystic Falls since the opening of the series (or at least I can’t tell that a year has gone by). The “monster” Damon is still fresh in her mind. Yes, she’s aware how much he’s changed - we saw that in “Daddy Issues.” She wouldn’t still think of him now as the monster Stefan is describing.
Interesting that Stefan describes himself as “worse” than Damon. Stefan killed friends - people he knew all his life until that point.
Mystic Grill -
Alaric is having jealousy issues with Elijah’s relationship with Jenna. Interesting how far his relationship has come with Damon. He’s sitting there with the compelled Andie and Damon - he mentions it is weird, but he doesn’t say it is wrong.
I can’t help but wonder if Damon had already compelled her to suggest a dinner party if Elijah happened to show up.
The Tomb -
I had to laugh at Damon bringing Katherine a change of clothes. He thinks he knows her so well. Sadly, she knows him even better....
Her word choice is so specific here. Damon “can’t do it.” It would be a “suicide mission.” I haven’t figured out if Kat knew Damon would die if he used the stake. (I’m holding out for no - I think she has a plan for the brothers, but she almost seems to be trying to give Damon a message here. I truly don’t know if she was aware he’d die. If she’s getting part of her information from Uncle John - and the Gilbert journals - I can see where he might have kept that little piece of information to himself.)
Jenna will later mention what seems to be the “theme” for this episode - trust. If Damon is the heart of the series (and if he’s not, we wouldn’t always go “visit” him during every episode since the true main character is Elena), this episode highlights what is one of Damon’s big personality traits.
If everything is magnified when someone becomes a vampire, Damon’s rash decision making isn’t his only “big” trait. Damon is also EXTREMELY trusting. He might fight it, but blindly trusting people is a part of who he is.
- He truly believed Katherine loved him - despite watching her interact with Stefan.
- He doesn’t question Katherine’s fear of being stuck locked in the tomb.
Elena and Stefan have both said they don’t trust UJ. Damon believes UJ is there to protect Elena, and he doesn’t question why UJ gave HIM the dagger.
Elena was able to “play” Damon so early in the season to find out about “the ring” issue.
Back to lakehouse -
If Damon’s trusting, Elena’s forgiving.....
Elena’s really, really calm now. I’ll admit that I find her perspective on the whole “Stefan used to be really bad” kind of questionable. It is nice to see Lexi again, though.
Dinner Party -
Please don’t let a John/Jenna/Alaric triangle happen. There are too many triangles (or wanna be triangles) going already.
Love the fact that Andie makes the “Damon tells me everything” comment. Honestly, he really does. He just then compels her to forget what he told her.
Alaric seems to realize that something’s off with the dinner party. He’s been around Damon long enough to know that Damon has to have another motive for the party. He is trying to minimize the risk to Jenna and Andie, though. He’s planning on Andie keeping Jenna out of harm’s way.
Gilbert house - sorry, more witch stuff...
Elijah’s entry -
I have to stop and comment here because it ties in with the question I’ve seen raised about whether or not Damon was on Elena’s list. Every person in that house (except for Andie) is on Elena’s list. And yet, Elijah says he’ll kill them all if there’s any plan to hurt him that night. Elijah was very careful with his wording in his deal with Elena. His witches would protect the friends from the werewolves and Klaus. He never said a word about not hurting the friends and family himself. (Elena seems to realize this later during her re-negotiations.) He can make the comment about keeping Damon alive because he’s useful because HE hasn’t chosen to kill Damon yet either... He’s already injured Damon once. Elijah’s actions weren’t part of the deal - even though he does have to follow through and keep Damon safe when he’s threatened by the werewolves.
Dinner party again -
Elijah’s giving us more info on the plot for the rest of season 2. Book nerd moment - I love the idea of ghosts - thanks Uncle John. I’m sure Damon DOES know the location of these witch burnings. I think he talked more with Emily than we know about. Andie may very well prove helpful for the next little while - she probably has killer research skills.
Back at the lakehouse - again
Elena’s doing some more reading. Uncle John is trying to off Elijah and Damon at the same time. Now we know why UJ showed up at the party - he doesn’t want to miss the show.
Elena doesn’t look pleased that Stefan left her out of the loop again.
Dinner party -
Alaric and UJ - the person who once slept with Jenna and Isobel (and IS Elena’s dad) is facing off with the person who was married to Isobel, IS sleeping with Jenna (and acts like Elena’s dad). The writer in me loves the irony here.
Damon and Elijah are having a moment in the study/library. I think Damon could actually be helpful here. He knows more about the witches than he’s letting on. Way to go Alaric - glad you answered your phone so that Damon didn’t end up dead.
John/Damon/Elijah - Elijah’s comments confuse me a little bit here. Elijah is a man of his word, but does he only consider other vampires worthy of making a real agreement with. I know people have picked up on the “I only allow you to live” comment to Damon, but what about the “I let Elena live here as a courtesy” statement. He’d also said that when she made the agreement that she’d be allowed to go on living her normal life. I think he left his own actions out of the agreement. (Yes, I kind of contradicted myself here, but Elena’s agreement - and who/what is covered confuses me.) I totally believe that Damon’s on her “friends and family plan” since Tyler seemed to be as well.
Go Alaric! Really, words can’t describe how proud of him I was at that moment. He’s well aware of the threat to Elena. He also is afraid for Jenna, since she’s spending so much time with Elijah. He’s eliminating the threat when he has the opportunity to do so. (And yes, I love Damon’s surprised expression here.) Too bad Elena hadn’t had the chance to read on before this point.
Lakehouse part 4
I really do love annoyed Elena. In fact, I’m going to say she’s beyond annoyed and is outright mad. Yes, I realize she’s lumping Damon in with Stefan on the “lie to me” thing. I think she’s angry at the plan Damon set in motion that Stefan didn’t tell her about. She’s treating them as a unit here because they were working together in a way.
Yes, Elena, yes...I think Stefan was trying to distract you here - but not from what you think. Stefan is telling you the story to distract you from how angry you were at him that he didn’t tell you about his past with Mystic Falls before.
Lexi and Stefan -
I love this section of the flashback because it mirrors Stefan’s “in the woods” conversation with Caroline.
Back to the present -
Stefan wants Elena to fight for her life just like he fought for his humanity. I understand - I totally don’t want to lose Elena as a character. I adore her. Even though they’re not yelling at each other at this point, their relationship is clearly not back to normal. He kisses her head, and she doesn’t meet his eyes. When he walks away, tears are forming in her eyes, but I can’t really decide if they’re from frustration, confusion, or something else.
Salvatore dungeon -
Damon’s trying to make light of the fact he lied to Alaric. Alaric grabs his arm and challenges him. They truly are friends. Alaric isn’t afraid of Damon here. I love seeing them together.
Elena’s reading again -
Boy, that paragraph would have been so important about 30 minutes earlier. Once again, Stefan is truly freaked out at what’s potentially about to happen to Damon. (Also, I think it is interesting that Elijah didn’t immediately kill everyone at dinner party, despite what he told Damon. His priority is getting Elena into his hands.)
Jeremy/Bonnie
More witchy stuff, but this is actually really pretty important. Jonah shows up...throws Jeremy against the wall, and takes Bonnie’s powers. I think this is a big deal that it happens AFTER the agreement has apparently been violated. Jonah is now free to deal with people on Elena’s list....
Elijah visits the lakehouse
Elena’s proving to be a very good liar. Even though she’s desperately trying to renegotiate, she knows her plan is just to get close enough to stake him. (In her renegotiation, I think she’s adding some things in here. She wants him to honor his original agreement but also is adding the clause that HE won’t harm anyone on the list. I don’t think he was part of the original plan.)
Elena remembers her conversation with Katherine a little too well - she does the stomach stab - which is very effective, but not immediately fatal. Once she has his word, she seizes her opportunity. (I can’t help but wonder if the deal’s still in place after he’s unstaked...come on, you know that’s coming. She was very clear about not harming anyone who’s tried to hurt him.)
Elena stakes Elijah (the only part of the episode that surprised my husband). The plan works much more effectively when Elena’s actually “in” on what’s going on. No, Stefan didn’t vamp out when Elena was bleeding everywhere. He was totally freaked out by how close Elena came to dying. (Interesting that they’ve now had Elena voice the idea of turning herself as a way of defeating the curse.) There is also no make-out scene here. Stefan is holding Elena, but that’s to give her support since she was just almost passed out on the ground.
Gilbert house -
PLEASE someone let Jenna in on what’s going on. (Personally, I’m hoping that person is Isobel who clues her in....)
No! Alaric must not give up the ring. I can’t wait to see what Damon and Isobel think about Alaric being ring-less. I don’t think either of them want Alaric unprotected.
Salvatore dungeon
Elena wants to be in charge. Must be a Petrova thing. Stefan wraps his arm around her, but in the next shot, she’s pulled away. She may have decided to fight like Stefan wanted, but I don’t think their issues are over.
I hate this next section, although I think it is realistic. It hasn’t been that long since Damon killed Lexi - at least not in show time. They haven’t really dealt with the issue.
I wish Stefan knew that Damon asked Lexi to help Stefan. The brothers were too much at odds with each other for Lexi to try to work with Damon too. Damon made the choice to separate himself from Stefan. His issues weren’t about control, though, he seems to have been doing alright with that. He’s still dealing with the issue that Katherine turned Stefan as well. He wasn’t prepared for that.
Damon’s bathroom
As much as I hate the fact that Damon got played by Katherine, I love the fact that she knows the brothers so well. She knew Damon would trust her - his desire to protect Elena and kill Elijah would keep him from questioning anything she said.
She knows Stefan just as well. At some point, he’s going to trip up. Those feelings for Katherine are there - and they’re very, very real. I want Elena to see Stefan interacting with Katherine.
I have no problem with the fact that Katherine knew Elijah compelled her. He didn’t take the memories away. He just told her to “stay.”
I know there wasn’t a lot of DE in this episode, but I still really enjoyed it. I think Katherine will prove to be SE’s downfall. If Isobel is able to help them defeat Klaus, Stefan will have to deal with the fact that Katherine told him the truth in the tomb. That will have an impact on him - whether or not he wants to deal with it is another story. Elena will have to sort out the fact that Stefan, despite all the times he told Elena that Katherine is a liar, actually trusted Katherine enough that he did what she told him to.
I’m still content to look at the long story arc. KW described Damon’s journey to be a 100 episode arc. TVD is very much Damon’s story just as much as it is Elena’s. It is slow for us (but not when you look at time passing in Mystic Falls).
This week’s episode all boiled down to trust:
Jenna doesn’t think she can trust Alaric.
Damon trusted both John and Katherine.
And the million dollar question...has Stefan broken Elena’s trust? Yes, she listened to him. Yes, she was disturbed by Lexi’s loss. But will she remember what he DIDN’T tell her after their “no more secrets” discussion from last season? While it may not have come into play this week, I think we’ve seen another hint at what will eventually break Stefan and Elena apart. He trusted Katherine enough to go find Isobel. He didn’t trust Elena enough to think she could handle his past.
I liked this episode, but that’s mainly for what’s been set in motion for the future.
Elena is beyond surprised at what she learns from the journal. Apparently Stefan took out Honoraria Fell, Thomas ____ (Fell?), and the original Jonathan Gilbert. Jonathan already had his ring of anti-death at this point. Wonder if that’s why the Salvatores don’t get invited to the Founding Family stuff anymore (“Family Ties” reference)?
Stefan at the dock -
Stefan pensively looks back at Elena reading in the lakehouse. He knows she’s reading a Gilbert journal. Does he know what she’ll find?
His phone rings....Damon’s calling. One of this episode’s strengths is the way it looks at the relationship between the brothers. Stefan continues to watch Elena (is he judging her reaction?) while Damon brings him up to speed on his plan. (Just have to take a moment - Damon and I have the same phone - that is all.) I’ve seen a lot of comments scattered about Damon’s irresponsible plan. I do think we need to point out that Stefan is very much aware of what Damon’s planning to do. He only reminds Damon to be careful, though, he doesn’t try to talk him out of attempting to kill Elijah. He might not have been one to formulate the plan, but Stefan doesn’t disagree with what Damon’s about to do.
Jenna, Elijah, and Alaric -
This seems very random, but I believe this info about the witches coming to town earlier than the Founding Families will prove to be really important the the second half of the season. The werewolf chapter may be over, but the witch chapter is just beginning.
Love the interaction between Ric and Elijah here. Elijah points out to Ric that he’s on Elena’s list. Elijah’s so at ease with who he is...I’m really going to hate losing him.
Bonnie/Jeremy ... I don’t “do” witch stuff. This might be a long series of episodes for me.
Elena/Stefan -
Elena practically jumps out of her chair when Stefan comes in. You can cut the tension in the room with a knife. Stefan’s still angry about what he’s learned about Elena’s deal with Klaus. Elena’s equally upset, but she’s reacting to the information she’s learned from the journals.
It is interesting that Stefan has waited until this point to fill her in on “his side” of the story. Elena is so disappointed here. I think she’d assumed that Stefan had already filled her in on the truly important details of his life. Yes, she knew he had done some things he regretted - he hasn’t always been a non-HB vampire, but I don’t think she realized that he’d known the people he’d killed.
If he’d truly only wanted her to hear the story from him, why did he wait until she brought it up after reading the journal? My POV - I think he was waiting to see if he’d been mentioned in the journals. If he hadn’t been mentioned, I don’t think Elena would have ever gotten this section of the story. His wording was interesting here - “We were angry at the founding families....” Only one brother seemed to be eating them. One fact that really shows the depths that Stefan has descended to - he’s killing the people he’s known all his life - not just random people.
The brothers’ roles are reversed here. Stefan is killing with abandon. Damon is the brother trying to take the morally correct path - telling the girls to run and not think of the place again. I hope we get to see the moment that Damon shatters at some point. He’s still a reluctant vampire here. How does he become the monster we see in the pilot episode?
Back to the lakehouse -
Elena compares early Stefan to Damon. I DON’T think she means the “current” version of Damon. She’s using past tense here to describe Stefan, but I think she’s also going with the Pilot Version of Damon in her comparison. A year hasn’t passed in Mystic Falls since the opening of the series (or at least I can’t tell that a year has gone by). The “monster” Damon is still fresh in her mind. Yes, she’s aware how much he’s changed - we saw that in “Daddy Issues.” She wouldn’t still think of him now as the monster Stefan is describing.
Interesting that Stefan describes himself as “worse” than Damon. Stefan killed friends - people he knew all his life until that point.
Mystic Grill -
Alaric is having jealousy issues with Elijah’s relationship with Jenna. Interesting how far his relationship has come with Damon. He’s sitting there with the compelled Andie and Damon - he mentions it is weird, but he doesn’t say it is wrong.
I can’t help but wonder if Damon had already compelled her to suggest a dinner party if Elijah happened to show up.
The Tomb -
I had to laugh at Damon bringing Katherine a change of clothes. He thinks he knows her so well. Sadly, she knows him even better....
Her word choice is so specific here. Damon “can’t do it.” It would be a “suicide mission.” I haven’t figured out if Kat knew Damon would die if he used the stake. (I’m holding out for no - I think she has a plan for the brothers, but she almost seems to be trying to give Damon a message here. I truly don’t know if she was aware he’d die. If she’s getting part of her information from Uncle John - and the Gilbert journals - I can see where he might have kept that little piece of information to himself.)
Jenna will later mention what seems to be the “theme” for this episode - trust. If Damon is the heart of the series (and if he’s not, we wouldn’t always go “visit” him during every episode since the true main character is Elena), this episode highlights what is one of Damon’s big personality traits.
If everything is magnified when someone becomes a vampire, Damon’s rash decision making isn’t his only “big” trait. Damon is also EXTREMELY trusting. He might fight it, but blindly trusting people is a part of who he is.
- He truly believed Katherine loved him - despite watching her interact with Stefan.
- He doesn’t question Katherine’s fear of being stuck locked in the tomb.
Elena and Stefan have both said they don’t trust UJ. Damon believes UJ is there to protect Elena, and he doesn’t question why UJ gave HIM the dagger.
Elena was able to “play” Damon so early in the season to find out about “the ring” issue.
Back to lakehouse -
If Damon’s trusting, Elena’s forgiving.....
Elena’s really, really calm now. I’ll admit that I find her perspective on the whole “Stefan used to be really bad” kind of questionable. It is nice to see Lexi again, though.
Dinner Party -
Please don’t let a John/Jenna/Alaric triangle happen. There are too many triangles (or wanna be triangles) going already.
Love the fact that Andie makes the “Damon tells me everything” comment. Honestly, he really does. He just then compels her to forget what he told her.
Alaric seems to realize that something’s off with the dinner party. He’s been around Damon long enough to know that Damon has to have another motive for the party. He is trying to minimize the risk to Jenna and Andie, though. He’s planning on Andie keeping Jenna out of harm’s way.
Gilbert house - sorry, more witch stuff...
Elijah’s entry -
I have to stop and comment here because it ties in with the question I’ve seen raised about whether or not Damon was on Elena’s list. Every person in that house (except for Andie) is on Elena’s list. And yet, Elijah says he’ll kill them all if there’s any plan to hurt him that night. Elijah was very careful with his wording in his deal with Elena. His witches would protect the friends from the werewolves and Klaus. He never said a word about not hurting the friends and family himself. (Elena seems to realize this later during her re-negotiations.) He can make the comment about keeping Damon alive because he’s useful because HE hasn’t chosen to kill Damon yet either... He’s already injured Damon once. Elijah’s actions weren’t part of the deal - even though he does have to follow through and keep Damon safe when he’s threatened by the werewolves.
Dinner party again -
Elijah’s giving us more info on the plot for the rest of season 2. Book nerd moment - I love the idea of ghosts - thanks Uncle John. I’m sure Damon DOES know the location of these witch burnings. I think he talked more with Emily than we know about. Andie may very well prove helpful for the next little while - she probably has killer research skills.
Back at the lakehouse - again
Elena’s doing some more reading. Uncle John is trying to off Elijah and Damon at the same time. Now we know why UJ showed up at the party - he doesn’t want to miss the show.
Elena doesn’t look pleased that Stefan left her out of the loop again.
Dinner party -
Alaric and UJ - the person who once slept with Jenna and Isobel (and IS Elena’s dad) is facing off with the person who was married to Isobel, IS sleeping with Jenna (and acts like Elena’s dad). The writer in me loves the irony here.
Damon and Elijah are having a moment in the study/library. I think Damon could actually be helpful here. He knows more about the witches than he’s letting on. Way to go Alaric - glad you answered your phone so that Damon didn’t end up dead.
John/Damon/Elijah - Elijah’s comments confuse me a little bit here. Elijah is a man of his word, but does he only consider other vampires worthy of making a real agreement with. I know people have picked up on the “I only allow you to live” comment to Damon, but what about the “I let Elena live here as a courtesy” statement. He’d also said that when she made the agreement that she’d be allowed to go on living her normal life. I think he left his own actions out of the agreement. (Yes, I kind of contradicted myself here, but Elena’s agreement - and who/what is covered confuses me.) I totally believe that Damon’s on her “friends and family plan” since Tyler seemed to be as well.
Go Alaric! Really, words can’t describe how proud of him I was at that moment. He’s well aware of the threat to Elena. He also is afraid for Jenna, since she’s spending so much time with Elijah. He’s eliminating the threat when he has the opportunity to do so. (And yes, I love Damon’s surprised expression here.) Too bad Elena hadn’t had the chance to read on before this point.
Lakehouse part 4
I really do love annoyed Elena. In fact, I’m going to say she’s beyond annoyed and is outright mad. Yes, I realize she’s lumping Damon in with Stefan on the “lie to me” thing. I think she’s angry at the plan Damon set in motion that Stefan didn’t tell her about. She’s treating them as a unit here because they were working together in a way.
Yes, Elena, yes...I think Stefan was trying to distract you here - but not from what you think. Stefan is telling you the story to distract you from how angry you were at him that he didn’t tell you about his past with Mystic Falls before.
Lexi and Stefan -
I love this section of the flashback because it mirrors Stefan’s “in the woods” conversation with Caroline.
Back to the present -
Stefan wants Elena to fight for her life just like he fought for his humanity. I understand - I totally don’t want to lose Elena as a character. I adore her. Even though they’re not yelling at each other at this point, their relationship is clearly not back to normal. He kisses her head, and she doesn’t meet his eyes. When he walks away, tears are forming in her eyes, but I can’t really decide if they’re from frustration, confusion, or something else.
Salvatore dungeon -
Damon’s trying to make light of the fact he lied to Alaric. Alaric grabs his arm and challenges him. They truly are friends. Alaric isn’t afraid of Damon here. I love seeing them together.
Elena’s reading again -
Boy, that paragraph would have been so important about 30 minutes earlier. Once again, Stefan is truly freaked out at what’s potentially about to happen to Damon. (Also, I think it is interesting that Elijah didn’t immediately kill everyone at dinner party, despite what he told Damon. His priority is getting Elena into his hands.)
Jeremy/Bonnie
More witchy stuff, but this is actually really pretty important. Jonah shows up...throws Jeremy against the wall, and takes Bonnie’s powers. I think this is a big deal that it happens AFTER the agreement has apparently been violated. Jonah is now free to deal with people on Elena’s list....
Elijah visits the lakehouse
Elena’s proving to be a very good liar. Even though she’s desperately trying to renegotiate, she knows her plan is just to get close enough to stake him. (In her renegotiation, I think she’s adding some things in here. She wants him to honor his original agreement but also is adding the clause that HE won’t harm anyone on the list. I don’t think he was part of the original plan.)
Elena remembers her conversation with Katherine a little too well - she does the stomach stab - which is very effective, but not immediately fatal. Once she has his word, she seizes her opportunity. (I can’t help but wonder if the deal’s still in place after he’s unstaked...come on, you know that’s coming. She was very clear about not harming anyone who’s tried to hurt him.)
Elena stakes Elijah (the only part of the episode that surprised my husband). The plan works much more effectively when Elena’s actually “in” on what’s going on. No, Stefan didn’t vamp out when Elena was bleeding everywhere. He was totally freaked out by how close Elena came to dying. (Interesting that they’ve now had Elena voice the idea of turning herself as a way of defeating the curse.) There is also no make-out scene here. Stefan is holding Elena, but that’s to give her support since she was just almost passed out on the ground.
Gilbert house -
PLEASE someone let Jenna in on what’s going on. (Personally, I’m hoping that person is Isobel who clues her in....)
No! Alaric must not give up the ring. I can’t wait to see what Damon and Isobel think about Alaric being ring-less. I don’t think either of them want Alaric unprotected.
Salvatore dungeon
Elena wants to be in charge. Must be a Petrova thing. Stefan wraps his arm around her, but in the next shot, she’s pulled away. She may have decided to fight like Stefan wanted, but I don’t think their issues are over.
I hate this next section, although I think it is realistic. It hasn’t been that long since Damon killed Lexi - at least not in show time. They haven’t really dealt with the issue.
I wish Stefan knew that Damon asked Lexi to help Stefan. The brothers were too much at odds with each other for Lexi to try to work with Damon too. Damon made the choice to separate himself from Stefan. His issues weren’t about control, though, he seems to have been doing alright with that. He’s still dealing with the issue that Katherine turned Stefan as well. He wasn’t prepared for that.
Damon’s bathroom
As much as I hate the fact that Damon got played by Katherine, I love the fact that she knows the brothers so well. She knew Damon would trust her - his desire to protect Elena and kill Elijah would keep him from questioning anything she said.
She knows Stefan just as well. At some point, he’s going to trip up. Those feelings for Katherine are there - and they’re very, very real. I want Elena to see Stefan interacting with Katherine.
I have no problem with the fact that Katherine knew Elijah compelled her. He didn’t take the memories away. He just told her to “stay.”
I know there wasn’t a lot of DE in this episode, but I still really enjoyed it. I think Katherine will prove to be SE’s downfall. If Isobel is able to help them defeat Klaus, Stefan will have to deal with the fact that Katherine told him the truth in the tomb. That will have an impact on him - whether or not he wants to deal with it is another story. Elena will have to sort out the fact that Stefan, despite all the times he told Elena that Katherine is a liar, actually trusted Katherine enough that he did what she told him to.
I’m still content to look at the long story arc. KW described Damon’s journey to be a 100 episode arc. TVD is very much Damon’s story just as much as it is Elena’s. It is slow for us (but not when you look at time passing in Mystic Falls).
This week’s episode all boiled down to trust:
Jenna doesn’t think she can trust Alaric.
Damon trusted both John and Katherine.
And the million dollar question...has Stefan broken Elena’s trust? Yes, she listened to him. Yes, she was disturbed by Lexi’s loss. But will she remember what he DIDN’T tell her after their “no more secrets” discussion from last season? While it may not have come into play this week, I think we’ve seen another hint at what will eventually break Stefan and Elena apart. He trusted Katherine enough to go find Isobel. He didn’t trust Elena enough to think she could handle his past.
I liked this episode, but that’s mainly for what’s been set in motion for the future.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The Descent - my take
I ended up having to trash my original review, because my “timeline-style” wasn’t working for this episode. Instead I’ve gone with a relationship-based outline for this episode. I think it worked better this way (at least for me). I do have a few general comments at the end that didn’t really tie into the rest of the review very well.
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Jules - I have to say that this opening scene was really unexpected. We’ve seen Mason as he tried to control himself, but she is totally not bothered at what she’s done overnight. (I’d be interested to find out if allowing herself to roam is her normal style or if she just did that to try to bite Damon.) I think because of the coolness that she killed the police officer, that’s her normal full moon style.
Elena and Stefan - If I had to pick a single scene that felt out of place in this episode, this was it. From the “good morning” (Really, is it morning? In just a few minutes, we’ll see Jules eating salad at the Grill...and Alaric’s drinking....I think it is much later in the day.) to Elena’s “I don’t want us to ever be apart” to the fact that Elena’s even out of her house, this section feels like a couple of days have passed post-Stefan-gets out of the tomb rather than the hours we discover during the Tyler/Caroline scene.
I don’t think Elena’s the “I don’t want us to be apart” kind of girl (this hints to a book scene in my opinion, but I don’t see Elena as clingy as book Elena was) - especially since they still have a lot of issues to work through. Also, when did they discuss all the Elijah compelling, Elena’s deal, the plan to drink vervain? Maybe they had a really long night and that’s why Stefan just called it morning? Who knows....
I think this whole scene exists to show the conflict between Elena and Stefan and his plan to go find Isobel. I wish they hadn’t rushed past it, but Stefan is TRUSTING KATHERINE HERE. After all the times he’s called her a liar and manipulative and told EVERYONE (including Damon and Elena) not to trust her...he is. That’s HUGE. I hope the writers build on this. (I know I did in my fanfic.)
Alaric and Stefan - Not too much to say here except for the fact that it is clear that Alaric is becomingly increasingly close to Elena. Even if he doesn’t want to, he’s becoming more fatherly to her. He wouldn’t look for Isobel’s number to help Rose, but when Stefan mentioned Elena, Alaric couldn’t say no. I can’t help but wonder if that will make things easier or harder when working with Uncle John....
Tyler/Caroline/Matt - My husband said it best...this trio was in this episode to break up the tension. Each scene was just long enough to give us a break from the sheer terror of Elena trying to escape Rose’s dementia (or the utter bleakness of later in the episode) before ending in some type of sweet or funny line. (I do have to say thank you to the writers, though, for giving us the “morning after” scene since it helped me keep my timeline straight.)
Elena and Rose - Rose hit this one on the head. Why is Elena being so nice to Rose? (Elena said it was because she was human.) That’s not why. Elena’s being nice to Rose because Rose is important to Damon. Right now, Elena may have misinterpreted Rose’s importance to Damon, but Damon asked her to take care of his friend...so she is. And, at her core, Elena’s a generally nice person. She wants to help. She has good intentions - even when they’re missing the point.
I like the fact that Rose is also challenging Elena here. Rose has pushed Damon to come to terms with the fact that he’s in love with Elena. I wish we’d had the “it’s ok to love them both,” but I think it may still be too early for that. Right now, the issue at the top of Elena’s issue list is the fact that she is prepared to sacrifice herself for everyone else (although she seems to think that once she’s bait, she’s going to be able to walk away unscathed...I’m thinking that’s a really bad assumption on her part). Rose is pushing Elena to fight - both for her life and her humanity.
Elena, Damon, and Rose - Watching the three “people” interact has given Elena a new insight on Damon and vice versa. Damon watched Elena reach out to someone she should be angry at in order to ease her pain. Elena saw a side of Damon that he desperately wanted to hide (so much so he made her leave at the end). She also heard some incredibly important words. “You went on a killing spree - it happens.” (Yes, I messed up the quote, but you remember the line.) That’s a fact of being a vampire. No matter how careful, how much they DON’T want to kill, sometimes it is going to happen. She’s seen the brutality of Katherine and Damon early in the series. If Damon and Bonnie hadn’t stepped in, Aimee Bradley would be dead as well due to Stefan’s actions. Vampires kill - especially when they’re out of control. (I hope Elena is able to remember this when she’s dealing with the implications of Damon’s actions.)
I wish we were able to see the conversation between Elena and Damon when she told him about Rose’s home. Somehow, I think she might have been nervously prattling on when they were on their way to the high school..but I don’t know.
When Damon made Elena leave, I truly believe she knew what he was about to do - that’s why she came back to check on him.
Damon/Rose - Wow. I’ll admit that the level of emotion Damon was dealing with confused me at first, but then I stopped to think about it. Rose really did seem to be Damon’s friend. She’d told him she’d help him protect Elena. In some odd way, she could see Damon as he truly was when so many others couldn’t. If she’d lived, I think she could have truly been his Lexi.
He felt guilty for her situation. His actions with Mason - and his carelessness with his words now had dire consequences for Rose (just like they did with Jenna).
He hated to see her suffering. She pleaded with him to make it stop (or something like that), my mind still blocks out some of those scenes. I think this shows the sweet, compassionate Damon that Katherine knew. When the time came, and he couldn’t stand by and watch Rose suffer any longer, he couldn’t let Elena see him at his most vulnerable. He was protecting both of them at that moment - not making Elena watch as Rose died but not letting her see his truest self....the one that he doesn’t like to admit exists because it causes him too much pain.
When Damon came back to discover Elena in the house, I like the fact she already had his drink ready for him. She knew he’d be having trouble dealing with the situation. Just like she was the one to get through to him in the tomb, his words seemed to be the only ones who’ve gotten through to her on the “sacrifice” issue. She constantly calls him on “giving up,” but he told her that’s what she was doing as well. For the first time, I think a hint of that began to sink in.
She was reaching out to him, but he’d already gone far beyond his emotional capacity for the evening. I think she almost kissed his cheek but caught herself in time.
Damon alone: Watching him break down in front of the random girl was heart-wrenching. For so many years, he was a monster because that was the antithesis of being human - his biggest regret. Now he’s trapped - he’s let people he cares about into his life. Potentially losing Elena (as in...she dies, not that she’s truly his to lose) is shaking him to his very core. He’s willing to make the biggest sacrifice - not acting on his feelings for her - because it would weaken his alliance with his brother and make her even more vulnerable.
Assorted musings:
-Elena must have talked with Bonnie at some point before arriving at the Salvatore house. She knows about Bonnie and Luka potentially breaking the moonstone curse. She’s smart enough not to believe it happened. (And, Bonnie had to let her leave the house.)
-Here’s my biggest area of speculation. Who did Elena call when Rose was freaking her out? My theory - Stefan.
If Damon had realized Elena was freaked out, he would have gone home. When he arrived, he seemed surprised that anything was out of the ordinary. She couldn’t have called him.
When Damon and Elena were at the school trying to find out-of-control Rose, Elena’s still trying to reach Stefan. She’s confused as to why he isn’t calling her back. She thinks something may have gone wrong while he’s looking for Isobel.
And then Elena goes home...fresh off what is probably one of the most emotional days she’s had since her parents died...and there’s Stefan. He hadn’t returned her calls. She needed him, and he ignored her.
She’s concerned about Damon and Rose. She KNOWS what Damon’s doing right now, and she’s worried that he’s there alone. And what has Stefan done? Brought home her dad - totally not the person she wants to see.
Well, that’s it. If you made it this long, congratulations!
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Jules - I have to say that this opening scene was really unexpected. We’ve seen Mason as he tried to control himself, but she is totally not bothered at what she’s done overnight. (I’d be interested to find out if allowing herself to roam is her normal style or if she just did that to try to bite Damon.) I think because of the coolness that she killed the police officer, that’s her normal full moon style.
Elena and Stefan - If I had to pick a single scene that felt out of place in this episode, this was it. From the “good morning” (Really, is it morning? In just a few minutes, we’ll see Jules eating salad at the Grill...and Alaric’s drinking....I think it is much later in the day.) to Elena’s “I don’t want us to ever be apart” to the fact that Elena’s even out of her house, this section feels like a couple of days have passed post-Stefan-gets out of the tomb rather than the hours we discover during the Tyler/Caroline scene.
I don’t think Elena’s the “I don’t want us to be apart” kind of girl (this hints to a book scene in my opinion, but I don’t see Elena as clingy as book Elena was) - especially since they still have a lot of issues to work through. Also, when did they discuss all the Elijah compelling, Elena’s deal, the plan to drink vervain? Maybe they had a really long night and that’s why Stefan just called it morning? Who knows....
I think this whole scene exists to show the conflict between Elena and Stefan and his plan to go find Isobel. I wish they hadn’t rushed past it, but Stefan is TRUSTING KATHERINE HERE. After all the times he’s called her a liar and manipulative and told EVERYONE (including Damon and Elena) not to trust her...he is. That’s HUGE. I hope the writers build on this. (I know I did in my fanfic.)
Alaric and Stefan - Not too much to say here except for the fact that it is clear that Alaric is becomingly increasingly close to Elena. Even if he doesn’t want to, he’s becoming more fatherly to her. He wouldn’t look for Isobel’s number to help Rose, but when Stefan mentioned Elena, Alaric couldn’t say no. I can’t help but wonder if that will make things easier or harder when working with Uncle John....
Tyler/Caroline/Matt - My husband said it best...this trio was in this episode to break up the tension. Each scene was just long enough to give us a break from the sheer terror of Elena trying to escape Rose’s dementia (or the utter bleakness of later in the episode) before ending in some type of sweet or funny line. (I do have to say thank you to the writers, though, for giving us the “morning after” scene since it helped me keep my timeline straight.)
Elena and Rose - Rose hit this one on the head. Why is Elena being so nice to Rose? (Elena said it was because she was human.) That’s not why. Elena’s being nice to Rose because Rose is important to Damon. Right now, Elena may have misinterpreted Rose’s importance to Damon, but Damon asked her to take care of his friend...so she is. And, at her core, Elena’s a generally nice person. She wants to help. She has good intentions - even when they’re missing the point.
I like the fact that Rose is also challenging Elena here. Rose has pushed Damon to come to terms with the fact that he’s in love with Elena. I wish we’d had the “it’s ok to love them both,” but I think it may still be too early for that. Right now, the issue at the top of Elena’s issue list is the fact that she is prepared to sacrifice herself for everyone else (although she seems to think that once she’s bait, she’s going to be able to walk away unscathed...I’m thinking that’s a really bad assumption on her part). Rose is pushing Elena to fight - both for her life and her humanity.
Elena, Damon, and Rose - Watching the three “people” interact has given Elena a new insight on Damon and vice versa. Damon watched Elena reach out to someone she should be angry at in order to ease her pain. Elena saw a side of Damon that he desperately wanted to hide (so much so he made her leave at the end). She also heard some incredibly important words. “You went on a killing spree - it happens.” (Yes, I messed up the quote, but you remember the line.) That’s a fact of being a vampire. No matter how careful, how much they DON’T want to kill, sometimes it is going to happen. She’s seen the brutality of Katherine and Damon early in the series. If Damon and Bonnie hadn’t stepped in, Aimee Bradley would be dead as well due to Stefan’s actions. Vampires kill - especially when they’re out of control. (I hope Elena is able to remember this when she’s dealing with the implications of Damon’s actions.)
I wish we were able to see the conversation between Elena and Damon when she told him about Rose’s home. Somehow, I think she might have been nervously prattling on when they were on their way to the high school..but I don’t know.
When Damon made Elena leave, I truly believe she knew what he was about to do - that’s why she came back to check on him.
Damon/Rose - Wow. I’ll admit that the level of emotion Damon was dealing with confused me at first, but then I stopped to think about it. Rose really did seem to be Damon’s friend. She’d told him she’d help him protect Elena. In some odd way, she could see Damon as he truly was when so many others couldn’t. If she’d lived, I think she could have truly been his Lexi.
He felt guilty for her situation. His actions with Mason - and his carelessness with his words now had dire consequences for Rose (just like they did with Jenna).
He hated to see her suffering. She pleaded with him to make it stop (or something like that), my mind still blocks out some of those scenes. I think this shows the sweet, compassionate Damon that Katherine knew. When the time came, and he couldn’t stand by and watch Rose suffer any longer, he couldn’t let Elena see him at his most vulnerable. He was protecting both of them at that moment - not making Elena watch as Rose died but not letting her see his truest self....the one that he doesn’t like to admit exists because it causes him too much pain.
When Damon came back to discover Elena in the house, I like the fact she already had his drink ready for him. She knew he’d be having trouble dealing with the situation. Just like she was the one to get through to him in the tomb, his words seemed to be the only ones who’ve gotten through to her on the “sacrifice” issue. She constantly calls him on “giving up,” but he told her that’s what she was doing as well. For the first time, I think a hint of that began to sink in.
She was reaching out to him, but he’d already gone far beyond his emotional capacity for the evening. I think she almost kissed his cheek but caught herself in time.
Damon alone: Watching him break down in front of the random girl was heart-wrenching. For so many years, he was a monster because that was the antithesis of being human - his biggest regret. Now he’s trapped - he’s let people he cares about into his life. Potentially losing Elena (as in...she dies, not that she’s truly his to lose) is shaking him to his very core. He’s willing to make the biggest sacrifice - not acting on his feelings for her - because it would weaken his alliance with his brother and make her even more vulnerable.
Assorted musings:
-Elena must have talked with Bonnie at some point before arriving at the Salvatore house. She knows about Bonnie and Luka potentially breaking the moonstone curse. She’s smart enough not to believe it happened. (And, Bonnie had to let her leave the house.)
-Here’s my biggest area of speculation. Who did Elena call when Rose was freaking her out? My theory - Stefan.
If Damon had realized Elena was freaked out, he would have gone home. When he arrived, he seemed surprised that anything was out of the ordinary. She couldn’t have called him.
When Damon and Elena were at the school trying to find out-of-control Rose, Elena’s still trying to reach Stefan. She’s confused as to why he isn’t calling her back. She thinks something may have gone wrong while he’s looking for Isobel.
And then Elena goes home...fresh off what is probably one of the most emotional days she’s had since her parents died...and there’s Stefan. He hadn’t returned her calls. She needed him, and he ignored her.
She’s concerned about Damon and Rose. She KNOWS what Damon’s doing right now, and she’s worried that he’s there alone. And what has Stefan done? Brought home her dad - totally not the person she wants to see.
Well, that’s it. If you made it this long, congratulations!
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