Ten Things about TVD: The Five

Ok.  So....welcome to what will likely be the last TVD recap/reaction post you'll see on this site.  I have to say that I'm really disappointed.  I've always felt I was more of a show fan, and "shipping" was just a fun side activity.

But then we had tonight's episode.

1 - If my book's cover copy was as misleading as the promotion for this week's episode, I doubt any of my readers would ever trust me enough to buy a book again.  Over and over, we heard teases of how "steamy" and "fun" the scene between Damon and Elena would be.  The promo talked about Damon teaching Elena...and he did.  But then judgement from Bonnie and the lingering comments from Stefan took their toll and what we watched was simply a plot line that could have been recycled from any number of earlier episodes.

2 - Once again, we see Stefan being put in a situation where he's mirroring a scene that was very popular when Damon did a similar activity.  Stefan's trying to show Elena how to survive an attack from a hunter.  (Hmmm....hints of finding a way to a vampire's heart anyone?  Damon did it better.)  Even after Elena explains (thank you, writers) that she literally can't consume blood that isn't fresh - Stefan's still making sure she feels as badly about feeding from people as possible - giving her an epic guilt trip while the pair fails at appearing sexy and romantic.

3.  Sorry Elena, continuing in the pattern of "wrong assumptions about your fellow vampires," Elena comments that Caroline can't teach her how to feed because she's "too controlled."  Caroline hasn't established control either.  She feeds from blood bags.  We have no way of knowing if she could control herself feeding from people or not.

4.  Did I mention Stefan giving Elena grief over feeding from people....when it's the only way she can eat?  That's like telling a baby to feel bad about needing milk from a bottle.

5.  I'm going on record here.  I didn't like the vast majority of the Damon/Elena interaction during the dance.  BUT - I loved Elena going after "roofie dude."  She might have felt badly about feeding on a co-ed with a little sister, but surely there are enough jerks in the world that she'd be happily fed for quite a while.

6.  I didn't like the dance scene.  Elena and Damon were too out of it.  Yes, we were supposed to be seeing that Elena was having fun, but having THAT much fun was going to push her right over the edge, especially when they have Bonnie in tow to provide judgement at a moment's notice.

7.  Have I mentioned that Stefan made Elena feel guilty about the only way she eat?

8.  Bonnie.  She was in the episode.  That's enough for me.  Y'all know how I feel about Bonnie.  She was at her ultimate-most-judgy here.

9.  Exactly how many times are we going to watch Rebekah get staked?  Yes, I saw the tears in both Stefan's and Klaus' eyes.  But the writers have gone to this plot line one too many times.  I didn't feel anything when Rebekah dropped into Klaus' arms.

10.  Damon was right.  The only way Elena's going to survive being a vampire is by not letting the guilt get to her.  For that, she needs to embrace the fact that she's not just like Damon - she's like Katherine.  She has the Petrova fire.  Now she's a vampire.  If she allows the guilt to weigh on her each time she feeds, then she'll turn into Stefan - a mindless Ripper who doesn't care who or what she kills.  She was happy at that party (arguably, maybe a little too happy).  She was proud of being able to feed on someone, leave them standing, and compel him to leave without remembering what happened.  All of that self-assurance disappeared in an instant with one look in Bonnie's direction.

And one more thing.....

I called this whole "let's turn Elena human again" thing.  I said it way back in the middle of season three.  While I love spunky-vampire Elena, the Elena we met at the end of tonight's episode was no better than the lackluster human Elena we've seen in countless other episodes.

Stefan's at his best when he's not with Elena (he actually was kind of amusing with Rebekah and Klaus).

Elena's at her best when Stefan's at least a half-hour's drive away - the next state is probably better.

But sadly, I don't know if we're going to ever see these two at their best.  The show just seems to be recycling old storylines, giving them just enough of a twist that they can call them "new" while trying to find ways for Stefan to overshadow Damon.

It's getting boring and tired - and that's really sad for me since this season got off to such a great start, at least where episode 402 was concerned.

On a 1 to 10 scale - this one probably deserves to be ranked in the negatives.  I'll settle with giving it a 1.

I'd love to see a few comments on this post.  I'd happily chat with y'all.