“Hey Rebekah, would you mind if we finish reenacting your favorite scene from Fifty Shades of Grey, later? I kind of have to pee.”
Greetings, Fangbangers! Our favorite vampire show has become quite the merciless tease, hasn’t it?
The promos promised us Open Season on Originals . . . a veritable Vampire Bloodbath . . . our heros, armed with more stakes than they had targets. “The odds ever in their favor.”
What we got was one lowly kill, of a character who’s claim to fame was literally being a Creepy Mama’s Boy. Also, dude couldn’t fight worth a sh*t. (Let’s face it, my grandma would have put up more of a fight than Finn did.) Then again, in his defense, if you had spent the last 900 years napping, you’d probably be a bit off your game too.
Additionally, the promos promised us intensely erotic Delena kisses.
What we got was a Dream Sequence . . .
. . . oldest trick in the book . . . And yet, I manage to fall for it Every Single Time.
Shame on me.
Petty frustrations aside, there WAS definitely some fun to be had during “The Murder of One.” For starters, we were treated to a rather clever twist on the concept of “Vampire Family.” (So, which Original do you think sired Rose?)
Mommy?
In related news, our Scooby Gang reached new levels of stupidity, when it willing ARMED the serial killer . . . again. (They really would have been better off hiding the stake in the soapdish . . .)
So, stroke . . . er . . . I mean sharpen your woody . . . and chain up your half-naked pet vampire. Because it’s time for another TVD-cap . . .
(As always, special thanks to my expert screencapper, Andre for the filled with awesomesauce screencaps you see here.)
“Shhh . . . be very, very quiet. We’re hunting Originals.”
“Elena, please stop hounding me for sex. You are starting to sound a little desperate.”
Truth be told, Damon is acting a little cagey, when Elena pops by the site of Alaric’s “house arrest,” to drop off the latter’s Breakfast of Psycho Killer Champions. The dark-haired vampire seems unusually eager for the love of his life to leave. In fact, he pretty blatantly rebuffs her attempts to cross the threshhold into the apartment.
(And we all know how much Damon and Elena generally enjoy their bedroom rendezvous.)
Something is definitely UP, but what could it be?
Perhaps, Bad!Alaric has gone on a rampage, and destroyed the house? Or, maybe the two bromantic buddies are having a dance-off. Maybe, Damon and Alaric are watching a Lifetime movie together. And they have just reached the part where Tori Spelling finally escapes her wife beating-shrew of a husband, and finds her way into the waiting arms of the mildly attractive B-list actor, who loved her all along . . .
“Funny . . . I always thought the most dangerous weapon in the world was in my pants . . .”
It isn’t until after Damon closes the door in Elena’s face, that we find out what he’s really hiding . . . It’s his morning wood . . .-en stakes, that is. That’s right, boys and girls! It turns out that Psycho Killer Alaric Saltzman is a whiz with a buzz saw! (Take that, crazy family from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.)
And Damon? Well, he can whittle like nobody’s business! Their Herculean efforts (combined with Stefan’s griping and complaining about his wood not being sufficiently erect) turn an old lame wooden bridge sign, into no less than TWELVE lean, mean, Originals- killing machines . . . (Though part of me thinks they could have had more, if they made them a little smaller. Silly men – always so preoccupied with the size of their sticks . . .)
Then, because five whole minutes have passed in the episode without anyone having done anything stupid, Damon and Stefan convince Psycho!Alaric to not only NOT turn himself in to the cops, but also to wear his “Jamaican Me Crazy” ring, for sh*ts and giggles. Then . . . they actually GIVE this lunatic a stake!!! Can you believe it?
Speaking of Psycho!Alaric, Elena tells Caroline that she should TOTALLY forgive him for murdering her father. After all, it’s not his fault that he has REALLY bad taste in jewelry!
“It could be worse, he could have a Jamaican Me Crazy Nipple Ring . . .”
Just like it’s not Caroline’s fault that she used to sometimes drink her favorite B Positive Blood from peoples’ necks, instead of using a straw, like the rest of us . . .
After all, everybody knows that if Elena chose to turn her back on her friends and lovers JUST because they were serial killers, she wouldn’t have any friends at all! (Plus, she’d pretty much never, ever get laid.)
Caroline is super impressed by Elena’s Mother Theresa-esque attitude toward supernatural murderers. So, she vows to be more tolerant of her father’s stake-wielding, cold blooded killer, in the future. All together now: Awwwww!
As it turns out, Elena and Caroline aren’t just frolicking in the woods for their health. They have a date with destiny! Stefan has gathered the entire Scooby Gang . . . and Matt . . . in order to indoctrinate them into Team Kill Originals.
“No, Damon! Everytime you make us play shirts versus skins, Vampire Killers, you always make us be skins. It’s not fair!”
“I can take off my pants, if that helps. (I’m not wearing any underwear.)”
And why shouldn’t everyone get to play? There are plenty of stakes to go around! Plus, since Mommy Original Witch’s spell has succesfully linked the family’s lives together, all the group needs to do is manage to kill ONE Original, and the rest of them will die shortly thereafter.
Now, surely, this stalwart crew of monsters, murderers and . . Matt . . . can manage to kill one measley vampire, right?
Well . . .
On one hand, I adored the lighthearted nature of this “training” scene. I smirked when Elena got to “roleplay” Klaus. And I smiled again, when Caroline, (a.k.a. Klaus Bait) got to roleplay Rebekah. My only gripe with this scene was that I thought there should have been a whole lot less planning, and a whole lot more . . . STABBING of things. Just sayin.’
Finn Mikaelson . . . you are The Weakest Link.
Little does the Scooby Gang know that an Originals-Killing opportunity is closer at hand, than they think. As it turns out, The World’s Most Self-Loathing Vampire (though, it could be argued that his vampire-eating, father hated himself more), did not actually leave town, as initially suspected. In fact, he’s wandering around the Mystic Falls’ town square, RIGHT NOW. It is here, where brother and sister dearest, Klaus and Rebekah corner him, and drag him back to their family lair.
“Check out those pects! Have you been working out?”
But Klaus and Rebekah are no dummies. They know, full well, that they can catch more flies with honey, than with Finn-egar. (See what I did there?) Knowing that Finn will not guard his life, to save his own siblings, they opt to offer him another reason to live . . . a.k.a. his lover girl, Sage . . . the boxing mind raper. (Well, we all know who wore the pants in THAT relationship.)
Personally, my impression of Finn has always been that the only woman he’s ever dreamed about being horizontal with, is the one who breast fed him. But hey, at least cares enough about Sage to put off whacking himself, long enough to accompany her to the Only Bar / Social Establishment in Mystic Falls for some bottom shelf tequila. Ahhh, true love!
“He always shouted out, ‘Mommy,’ whenever we had sex. I thought it was a cute pet name . . . until that time, when his mother tried to climb into bed with us . . .”
Well, hello, there, Bondage Damon!
Back at La Casa de Rich and Awesome, Damon and Alaric (Wait . . . they are letting the Psycho Killer out of the house now? What happened to house arrest?) . . .
Then again, maybe some fresh air wouldn’t hurt . . .
. . . are busy hiding their Originals-killing stakes. When Damon decides to hide his in the fire kindling, Alaric hilariously reminds him of the “Moonstone in the Soapdish” incident. Crazy Train is right, Damon.
Hiding valuable objects in plain sight might not be the best idea, in this instance. . .
Unfortunately, Damon is about to have bigger problems than merely choosing a poor hiding place for his surrogate weiner. Suddenly, Alaric has been knocked out cold, by an unseen force.
Alaric: “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”
Alaric’s alter ego: “Suck it up, loser! We’ve got people to kill!”
Next thing you know, Damon is being staked in the gut, to the point of unconsciousness. “Hello, lover,” coos Rebekah, as she drags her “ex boyfriend” out of the house. Well, that’s one way to let a guy know you are interested . . .
This is another . . .
Sometime during the commercial break, Rebekah, the sadist – who was none too happy to learn that Damon had used her body for sex, and then mind-raped her too boot (I don’t know, sounds like a pretty great time to me) has taken the opportunity to chain Damon to her ceiling.
Now, that’s a lot of heavy hardware to have just “lying around” your new mansion. In fact, it made me wonder where one goes to purchase such a contraption. (Something tells me an S&M sex shop wouldn’t do particularly good business in an old-fashioned town, like Mystic Falls. Then again, considering about ¾ of the people we’ve met who live there are bloodthirsty vampires, witches, and werewolves, perhaps some intrepid entrepreneur capitalized on what he saw as a good business opportunity.)
Question, fangbangers: Does the fact that I was turned on by the sight of an open-shirted Damon chained to the ceiling make me a bad person? I strongly suspect that it does. Then again, unless this is the first recap of mine that you are reading, you probably already knew I was a bad person, anyway, and have decided to withhold judgment against me for it. So, thank you for that.
You know what’s nifty about the Salvatores? (Yes, I just used the word “nifty.” 1954 has been calling me ever since I typed it, asking that I return the word to its proper decade.) They even bleed pretty. Back in “As I Lay Dying” the makeup department did a pretty awesome job of making the gorgeous Ian Somerhalder genuinely look like a sickly vampire, mere moments away from suffering the True Death.
But this time, Bondage Damon just looked like a gogo dancer at an S&M themed strip joint . . . one who’d been splattered with red body paint to accentuate his perfectly muscled abs.
Klaus must have noticed this too. Upon seeing Damon Salvatore, The Extra Large Christmas Tree Ornament Version, he suggested that Rebekah HANG HIM UPSIDE DOWN. Now, that is something I would have liked to have seen! (I suspect Ian and his agents would likely have disagreed to that though.) The implied method to Klaus’ awesomeness madness is that an upside down Damon can be bled for vervain much faster than one that is right side up, which would make him a quicker candidate for compulsion.
Rebekah balked at the idea . . . not necessarily because it was a bad one . . . but, more so because it was Klaus’ idea. And Rebekah can torture her ex boyfriends just fine, without his help, thank you very much. Also, I suspect, based that Rebekah was much more interested in torturing Damon and making him bleed, than actually . . . oh, I don’t know . . . making him do something useful for the Original’s cause. Such motivation (or lack thereof) is kind of consistent with who Rebekah is as a character, I think. She’s never really been one to concern herself with mundane things like “goals, plans, and . . . logic.”
In other words, it’s all “id” all the time, for this chick . . .
Mystic Falls, we have a problem . . .
Unlike Bonnie, who never seems to pick up her cell phone, or return anyone’s calls (It looks like someone got a bad cell phone plan at Witchmart), Damon is usually rather chatty.
So, when Alaric has no clue where Damon has gone, and the latter is not answering his phone, Stefan knows that something is drastically wrong. He tells Elena to hold off on staking Finn in the town square, because the Team is in trouble.
Upon hearing about that Damon might have been captured by the enemy, Elena immediately campaigns for a rescue mission. “Please Stefan,” she says “Rescue your brother, because I strongly suspect he is half naked, and, back when you were chained to a ceiling half-naked by older vampires, he dropped everything to go out in the rain and rescue you. Also, I’m in love with the guy, and would very much like to bone him” Elena says (more or less).
Stefan replies, “Meh, maybe later. Killing Originals is wayyyy more important than my brother’s life. He’ll understand” (failing to realize, of course, that because Damon has been captured BY AN ORIGINAL, this would be an excellent opportunity to kill two birds with one stake.)”
*clears throat*
Elena pouts in frustration. But will she defy her exes instrustions to rescue his brother? Only time will tell . . .
Damn you, promo makers. DAMN YOU!
Rebekah may not be her brother’s equal, when it comes to Concocting Plans of World Domination / Vampire vervain draining, but she can definitely hold her own, when it comes to psychological torture. Later on in the episode, we see a fully drained and rather pale Damon, still chained alone in the grand hall area, when a “mysterious female figure” approaches him. It’s “Elena.” “Elena” looks at Damon with obvious concern, as he weakly motions for her to free him from his chains.
“If you wanted to be kinky, Damon, a pair of fuzzy handcuffs would have been much cheaper.”
Damon’s body collapses into Elena’s, as the two stumble dramatically toward the exit, calling to mind a similar situation that occurred back in “As I Laying Dying.” But Damon is too weak from loss of blood, and he falls to the floor, zapped of strength. “I’m not leaving you,” Elena says heroically, cupping her lover’s face in her hands, as she offers him her wrist. “Drink, she says.”
And drink he does. It’s so sweet and erotic, that you really can’t blame the pair for wanting to make out, afterwards, despite the fact that they are minutes away from being discovered and killed by ORIGINAL VAMPIRES. (What can you do? The tongue wants what it wants.)
Then, Damon awakens to a triumphant looking Rebekah, who clearly planned the entire hallucination.
Well . . . that BITES! I throw my shoe at the television, in disgust . . .
Between a Rock and a Klaus Place
Damon may not be having the best day, but it might give him comfort to know he isn’t the only Team Scooby, who’s stuck being an Original’s b*tch, this week. Klaus has Bonnie, who he has been holding under duress to perform the spell that will unlink the Original siblings lives. When Bonnie claims not to know any such spell, Klaus threatens Jeremy’s life (via Kol, who’s secretly watching the future serial killer), and the life of her errant mother.
This recap has been brought to you by Apple iPhone . . .
Suddenly, Bonnie’s memory returns to her. (It’s a miracle!) She mumbles a bit over the blood of the Originals, and it starts to escape in separate directions. And, just like that, the spell has been completed. Well, that was easy . . .
How many friggin candles does this chick have? Seriously, she must light about 30 in every episode. And they are always these boring white ones too. A little color wouldn’t hurt, ya know?
On the way out of Klaus House, Bonnie catches sight of Bondage Damon, and opts to leave him there rotting, when Klaus reminds her of what he did to her sorry excuse for a mother.
Clearly, someone hasn’t been attending the Elena Gilbert School of Supernatural Forgiveness. Once Bonnie is outside the house, she calls Elena to let her know that Klaus still has her lover boy.
After that, the stresses of the day overtake Bonnie, and she cries until snot pours out of her nose . . . literally. I guess this means that snot and tears are the new nosebleed. Look on the bright side Bonnie, it will save you a lot of money on dry cleaning. And hey, life could be worse: SOMEONE COULD HAVE LEFT YOU CHAINED TO THE CEILING, HALF NAKED, AND ON THE VERGE OF DEATH!
The Wild and Wacky World of Vampire Genetics
It’s too bad the Scooby Gang doesn’t watch The Vampire Diaries. If they did, they would have known about the whole separation spell having already been completed. It would have saved them a stake . . .
Over at The Only Bar / Social Establishment in Mystic Falls, lovebirds, Sage and Finn, are enjoying shots of tequila. Apparently, the 1,000ish year old Finn was a “tequila virgin,” up until this point. (Yikes. What a way to live! No wonder he was always wanting to die!)
“The more of these I drink, the more you look like my mother.”
A few shots later, Finn has decided to save his own life . . . which, of course, means he’s about to get shanked . . . That’s just how this show works. But before Finn can be killed, we have to endure a discussion between Finn and Sage about how many people they’ve each turned. Finn seems to suggest he turned ONLY Sage, and did so out of loooooooove.
Sage, on the other hand, was a vampire-turning slut, converting humans left and right, whenever the mood hit her. She even recently turned some dude in the bar, on the way to the bathroom . . .
With the help of Plot Device Matt, Stefan slips some vervain into Sage’s and Finn’s tequila. When they go outside to investigate. Stefan stakes Finn, and he goes kablooey. Sage cries, and snots, like Bonnie did earlier.
“Listen honey, I know you’re hot for me, but this is just ridiculous.”
And Stefan leaves, triumphant, thinking he’s just killed Klaus. Sucks to be him . . . But hey, it could be worse, he could be CHAINED TO THE CEILING HALF NAKED . . . or . . . even worse than that . . . he could be Finn . . .
“One tequila, two tequila, three tequila . . . floor.”
Who will save YOUR soul?
When Stefan learns from Elena, via Bonnie, that Klaus is not-so-much-dead, he’s furious, and finally ready to retrieve his brother, so that he can personally kill Klaus. (Well, it’s about damn time!) Shortly thereafter, Sage arrives to avenge her loverboy Finn’s death, along with that random vampire she turned in the bar. Fortunately, for Stefan, the pair start coughing up blood, and die, before they can do any real damage.
This looks like the before picture in a Botox commercial.
Maybe she died of a broken heart, mused Caroline “B Positive” Forbes, who was there for moral support. Nahh, if vampires could die of a broken heart, all the vampires on this show would have been dead a long time ago . . .
Eventually, Elena and Caroline figure out the “loophole” to their little plan. Apparently, when an Original dies, he takes his entire bloodline along with him. Well, hello BIG TWIST!
Of course, this means that ONE of the Original’s holds the key to the Salvatore Brothers’ and Caroline’s mortality. After all, these three vampires come from the same “bloodline.” Damon’s blood turned Caroline. Katherine’s blood turned Stefan and Damon. And Rose’s blood turned Katherine.
The question is . . . which Original turned Rose? Because that’s the one our Scooby Gang can’t kill. Personally, my money’s on Elijah, the Original, who’s continued existence for all eternity is the least likely to have a negative impact on the Salvatore Brother’s lives. (If you recall, both Rose and Trevor were working for Elijah, during their first appearance on the show.) This also gives Daniel Gillies, a “get back on the show” free card for the rest of the program’s run, which makes me very happy.
In other news, Tyler clearly comes from Klaus’ bloodline, which kinda sucks for Caroline, who’s pretty much destined to lose two love interests in a single episode. But hey, at least she’s not CHAINED TO A CEILING, HALF NAKED. 🙂 Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Meanwhile, over at Klaus House, Stefan comes to rescue Damon. “This went much differently in my head,” the Elder Salvatore brother jokes.
It went differently in my head too . . .
Stefan admits to killing Finn, and offers to make a deal with the Devil. Eight Original Killing Stakes in exchange for Damon. (Sounds like a good deal to me!)
But Klaus is smarter than I am, and knows there must be more than eight stakes left over. So, he evilly compels Damon to try to break free from his chains, causing the poor guy excruciating pain . . . scratch that . . . MORE excruciating pain.
Someone needs a nap . . .
It really has not been a good episode for Damon. Has it? He then compels Damon to tell him the actual number of stakes remaining, which, as we know, is eleven (since the stake in Finn is gone, gone, gone).
Interestingly enough, it’s actually scorned lady Rebekah, who ultimately shows Damon mercy, offering up Damon’s freedom as a sign of good faith, while Stefan retrieves the remaining stakes, and brings them back to Klaus. Drats, foiled again, Scooby Gang. But hey, look on the bright side, Klaus might end up being your “daddy,” and then you’ll be glad you didn’t kill him / commit suicide.
Heart-to-Bloody Heart
In the aftermath of this twist of fate in Kill Klaus games, Rebekah balks at Klaus’ complete inability to mourn his brother’s passing. Klaus calls Finn pathetic, and better off dead. (Well, we certainly won’t be having HIM speak at the funeral.) Rebekah notes sadly that, for all their manipulations the Salvatore brothers are willing to risk their lives for one another, whereas the Mikaelsons only seem to give two craps about one another, when they are magically linked.
Klaus pouts, promising Rebekah that he will make his own family, who are magically inclined to love him, no matter how many people he kills, or cheesy horse pictures he draws. That’s the spirit Klaus! Everyone knows there’s no better friend than a love slave . . .
Speaking of love slaves, Stefan’s kind of bummed that he can no longer focus all his life energy on killing Klaus, anymore. This means, he’ll have to finally cope with what a douchenozzle he’s been to everybody this season. That makes Stefan sad.
Stefan is also finally going to have to cope with the consequences of his recent actions . . . and one consequence in particular . . . the fact that his departure paved the way for Elena to fall in love with Damon.
“Look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t feel something for him,” says Stefan solemnly to his lady love.
Elena claims she doesn’t know what she feels. But everyone else in Mystic Falls does . . .
Bad!Alaric strikes again.
Earlier on in the episode, Caroline had an awkward, “It’s OK that you killed my dad,” conversation with Alaric, who was supposedly “cured” from being a serial killer by some of Bonnie’s magic “Serial Killer Be Gone” soup.
“It’s OK, Alaric. My father will always live on in my memories. We shared so many good times together.”
During that conversation she talked about the folks that she killed, back when she first turned vamp . . . like that random high school kid Connor, and her mom’s police boy partner . . . “We all have blood on our hands,” Caroline mused. sympathetically.
“Was it as good for you, as it was for me?”
But Alaric’s got bigger problems now than “blood on his hands.” He’s also still got psychopath on the BRAIN. (Bonnie Soup = FAIL!) Alaric comes to THIS painful realization, when Damon comes to collect his Originals killing stake, and Alaric learns that he’s stolen it . . . from himself. (Don’t you just hate it when that happens?)
Maybe it’s hidden in your Chunky Monkey.
Two weeks from now, on TVD, Elena will finally admit her feelings for Damon on a Vampire Road Trup. Then, the two will share a bed together, and have “finger sex.” *sigh*
(This better not be another dream sequence, or someone’s going to get a stake up their ass, courtesy of one very angry TV Recapper.)
Dead Rose will also appear, thanks to Ghost Whisperer/ Future Psycho Killer Jeremy. In other news, Tyler’s back. And he’s wasted no time reuniting his tongue with Caroline’s.
But is he still Gay for Klaus? Only time will tell . . .You can check out the trailer for that episode here:
Until next time, Fangbangers!
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TV Recappers Anonymous 
Hi Jules, great recap as always. I never had a chance to comment last week but I did read your recap of course. With all the hype over The Hunger Games I decided to read the books and so devoted all my spare time to that.
As for your recap this week, I once again enjoyed the incest jokes between Finn and mommy. The interesting thing (okay not really interesting, boring may be a better adjective) about Finn is that he is most like his parents. Vampire-hating mommy and vampire-eating daddy both tried to kill their children because they thought vampires were abominations and Finn appears to be just like them whereas all the other children seem to enjoy their vampire existance. It’s probably because mommy Original only had eyes for Finn. I laughed out loud at your joke that Klaus shouldn’t speak at his funeral.
I suspected that killing an Original would have some consequence for the Scooby gang. Back when Esther linked the family together, I at first thought it had linked all vampires together and killing one would mean killing all vampires. In hindsight I guess it would if they had killed one when they were still linked. But I like the killing an original, kills the entire bloodline he/she created scenario better. Of course Esther would want all vampires dead. Like you, I suspect Elijah to be the Salvatore’s “daddy”. At least I hope so anyway.
I think Rebekah will end up becoming an ally to the Salvatores. She hinted at staying behind when/if Klaus leaves.
Next week’s episode looks promising but knowing this show, Elena will undoubtedly do something to push Damon away or vice versa. Another hellatus to endure until then.
Hey Veronica! So, what did you think of the Hunger Games books? 🙂 I was a little frustrated with the way Mockingjay ended. But I adored the series overall, particularly the first book, which remains my favorite of the three. I was also pleasantly surprised by the film, which, though not perfect (I might actually have to write a post on this one day . . . though I’m sure there are hundreds of posts already out there), I thought did a really nice job of bringing the excitement of the book, and the world created therein, to the big screen.
Ahhh . . . back to TVD 🙂
Excellent point about Finn being the product of self-loathing, vampire hating parents. I know he’s supposed to be the “good Original,” but I just found something off about him. I attributed this “off-ness” to the fact that he’d been sleeping for most of his life, and to his unhealthy relationship with his mother. But your suggestion that some of his weirdness might come from Daddy Original too, also makes a lot of sense.
Papa Mikaelson may have reserved a lot of his ire for Klaus, due to the fact that the latter was the product of his wife’s affair. But something tells me, he also probably had some issues with Finn, due to the guy’s reserved nature being easily interpreted as weakness, and, of course, the fact that his own wife seems to loooooove Finn more than she loves him. Man, a show based on the Originals really does have a lot of potential, doesn’t it?
It does make sense that Mama Original would have known that killing her children would put an end to all vampires. Awful as it might be, it at least makes her rationale for killing her own children, much more “sensible.” I wonder if she clued Finn in to this aspect of her plans? If so, his ambivalent actions during this episode, seem a little nonsensical. If the guy is so convinced that all vampires don’t deserve life, why would he be so willing to scrap that logic, just for another roll in the hay with Sage?
I agree with you about Rebekah ultimately joining Team Scooby (which I suspect will end tragically, when Alter-Ego Alaric kills her . . . just a hunch I have. Rebekah has a real need to feel included, and loved. It drives many of her more impulsive actions, and explains why she’s stayed by Klaus’ side for so long, despite his terrible and repeated mistreatment of her.
Given who Rebekah is, I think she’s actually quite jealous of the relationship the Scooby gang shares with one another. The Salvatore brothers represent the brotherly love she’s never felt in her own family. Elena is the golden girl, who everyone desires, in a way that no one has ever desired her. And Matt is the “nice boy” she wishes she could “settle down” with, if she wasn’t such a “bad girl.”
Her release of Damon at the end of the episode illustrated a softening on her part, toward this crew, I think. While I’d prefer Elijah as the Salvatore Brothers’ “daddy dearest,” I wouldn’t mind Rebekah sticking around, and possibly getting into a relationship with Matt. It could work, right? 🙂
I feel the same way about The Hunger Games series. The first was my favourite and I was disappointed with the ending of Mockingjay. It seemed really anti-climatic to me and out of nowhere, everything was resolved with a nice red bow packaging it. I felt like there was this big build up to nothing. I was also disappointed with how the love triangle was resolved. It’s not that I didn’t understand her choice. All of a sudden, the other choice just disappeared without any final scene. I imagine fans of that pairing were less than impressed. (I am trying to make this spoiler-free so sorry if it seems like I am being cagey.) As for the movie, I haven’t seen that yet but I plan to soon. I think it could have been better with an R or NC-17 rating. Okay, that sounds bad haha. I’m just having difficulty imaging them killing one another or parading around half naked with a PG-13 rating.
Back to the Vampire Diaries. You make a good point about Alaric possibly killing Rebekah. As you mentioned in another comment, it wouldn’t make much sense for the Scoobies to want to kill the other Originals now but crazy Alaric would have no qualms about it. I’m becoming quite fond of her of late so I hope that doesn’t happen. A Rebekah-Matt pairing would at least make Matt look a little less useless.
Interesting twist, an original dies his entire bloodline dies with him or her. I suspect the vampire race will be near extinction by the end of this season with only our heroes and any vampires they have ever turned which I suspect is many and those turned some. Though I hope Elijah is the source of our heroes vampirism that way Daniel can come back to the show many times in its eventual run.
Love Stefan such dedication that he will not rescue his brother in order to fight the bad guys though he is taken by the bad guys.
I do suspect you are right about a good portion of the vampire population dying out, by the end of the season. Mikael likely never turned a vampire using his own blood, which was why his death had little impact on the vampire world. Ditto for Finn, but since Sage has been around turning (mostly men, I suspect) for centuries, the death of that line was probably a significant loss to the vampire community.
I suspect the Scoobys will “whack” Kol, at somepoint this season, who probably turned his share of lovely vampire ladies. (Also, he’s at the bottom of my list, in terms of the Salvatore brother’s bloodline initiator. We just haven’t learned enough about him, for him to be truly important.)
But the real emotional character deaths will come from Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah, regardless of which one of them initiated the Salvatore bloodline. It could be argued that the Salvatores really have no need to kill Rebekah, Elijah, or Kol at all, now that they are no longer linked to Klaus. However, they probably will do it anyway, just to further the story, and to heck with the lives that are lost in the process. It’s kind of sad, when you think about it.
Elijah is still my top choice as the Salvatore’s “sire,” with Rebekah as a close second. I don’t think it will be Klaus, simply because he’s been the Big Bad for 1.5 seasons now. And I doubt they will keep him as the chief villain for Season 4. Elijah and Rebekah pose less of an immediate threat to the Scoobys and, therefore, could be kept alive on the show for the long haul.
Hey 🙂
your hilarious recap has brightened up what I thought was a very disappointing episode.
Good points:
Alaric and Care’s cute little bonding. I was all AWWW! 😀 Also, topless Damon. Though my heart ached for him, shallow me was not complaining, so I guess I’m just a bad person like you 😛 😛 But Rebekah, how much of an idiot IS she?! You’d think being one of the original undead and clearly not a virgin she’d be a LITTLE less naive when it comes to men, and her, in bed. I was genuinly surprised that she thought Damon actually liked her, I mean, er, D’oh! He’s in love with Elena moron! It was clearly just sex, and I thought she knew that (since it was blatantly obvious) what a desperate pathetic girl she is. Most of my sympathy for her for being needy and stuff is mostly evaportated after her being an utter cow but she’s kinda cool, in a bitchy way. I’ll be sad to see her go, which she undoubtably will at some point. Klaus on the other hand, I can’t wait for him to die. His death is LONG overdue. What other good points were there? Oh yeah, Alaric using a wood cutter to make stakes was funny. And yep, that’s it. The rest of the episode sucked.
Crap points (if not just ‘The Rest of the Episode’):
Firstly, I was just starting to like Finn, and Sage was cool! And then they only had to go all mummified and dribbly on the floor. (Also that guy, what was his name, Trevor? Tony? Random Creepy Male Hench-Vampire #347? My heart bleeds for him. Yet another minor-vampire-character-who-is-destinied-to-die-within-two-episodes. I think the one who lasted the longest was that black hot guy ‘Carter’ in Season One from the tomb, who kept rambling about ‘Mistress Pearl’. He was around so long I actually thought the writers had something planned for him!!! And then he just died!!! I was very disappointed!!) Despite the fact that Finn’s ‘accent’ was absolutely agonising I was sad to see him go , though I guess, having lived in a coffin for most of a millenium is a good excuse for sounding like an utter weirdo. But wait, if that’s his excuse, how on earth can he speak modern english? Continuity failure. For goodness sake, if one of the originals had to cop it, why couldn’t it have been Paedo Mommy?! I don’t like her. She’s annoying.
Secondly, despite all my efforts to the contrary, I’m starting to dislike Bonnie. Dammit woman, how did she just walk out on Damon? Does she want to lose ALL of her (daily shrinking yet still alarmingly and radically hardcore) fanbase?! I just don’t understand how she’s become such an utterly irritating and unsympathetic character, when I used to really love her. (The only good thing about this is that maybe it’ll FINALLY convince the Bamon fans that their ship is non-existant…though knowing them they’ll claim that Bonnie’s subsequent sobfest is sign of her undying love for Damon and guilt for leaving him there. Or something else stupid and annoying.)
Thirdly, where the flying frick are Elijah and Katherine??!!
Fouthly, why was the plot line suddenly all ‘kill originals’ again? They’ve been gone for a few weeks now, am I the only one who thinks the plot lines this season are starting to go round in circles to nowhere? At first, it seemed to be building to something: Stefan was kidnapped, and Delena had to save him. Now, nothing is happening!! It’s all: Try to kill orginals, and fail. Try again, and fail. Originals leave because everyone’s bored to the back teeth with them. Oh no, thinks Julie Plec, we’ve run out of plot ideas! Quick! Ship all the originals back in! Originals strut around cackling with fake british accents. Scooby gang try to kill them, and fail horrendously. FOR THE 3244534 TIME. Grrrr. I’m so bored!
Fifthly, oh my God, Damon’s dream has me FURIOUS. I’ve never been so angry because of a fictional story, I actually had to pause the show, and run around the room screaming and throwing pillows at the wall, (much to the alarm of my little bro, who weirdly, really enjoys the show and watches it with me, despite having to put up with all my fangirling whenever Damon appears) . ARGH! I AM SO ANGRY! For gods sake I am now SICK of them STRINGING OUT THE ROMANCE!! At first, I was prepared to put up with it for the sake of some juicy angst and a good long term result, but pie jesu, I am SICK of it now! It is NOT GOOD of them to tease their fans like that! Jeepers creepers, even Stelena are having better scenes than us at the moment! I also was happy at first that DE were fighting so that we got a whole lot of Series One!Damon, and Elena had to address her feelings, BUT SHE ISN’T, AND I’M BORED!
Sixthly, ELENA! In the name of GOD, ‘I don’t know what I feel for him’??!!!! AAAaaaaarrrgh *kills self* I am SO tired of her constant denials… why the heck did she not go and rescue Damon? That made no sense! Delena is not going anywhere except round in circles because of her pathetic behaviour! At this rate, Damon’s going to have to come back to her, and that CANNOT happen! Elena needs to fall down apologising to him for being an irritating little heroine, and BEG him to take her back. Then, after lots of deliberation, Damon can say yes if he feels like it. Their relationship, which I thought was going to reach a really major crisis point after the fight of 3×14, has literally just stagnated, and it’s driving me up the wall!
Seventhly, possibly even worse, is the fact that while this is going on (ie. lack of DE), they’re trying to rebuild Stelena! Noooo! I mean, I knew it would happen because the show is a love triangle but it’s ridiculous – I can’t take it seriously. Beware, I’m now going to rant, Stefan fans, I’m sorry, please don’t read the rest of this. It was written in fury, I don’t normally hate Stefan quite this much.
And St Stefan is such a loser at the moment, he’s been a total ass to Elena (and everyone) for weeks because he’s too pathetic to face the fact that it’s HIS fault that EVERYONE now hates him, except the girls down at the We Love Stefan Club. And then he’s all angsty ‘Oh no oh no this is all my fault, that Damon is far superior to me because he’s not a total jerkass, as well as being drop dead sexy, and amusing, things which I am not, and my ex girlfriend who I have continually been pushing away and been a total jerk to might possibly now prefer him to me, since I have tried to drive her off bridges and given her the cold shoulder for months whereas he has been there for her at every single possible oppurtunity! Oh no, could it possibly be, that the reason there are only four people left who ship Stelena, is because I AM A MORON?’ *big silence while audience shifts awkwardly in their seats*
TOO RIGHT IT IS! Idiot! He’s an idiot! Grrr! I have NO sympathy for his pathetic machinations whatsoever, because the fact he has been behaving like a douchebag is entirely down to HIMSELF! Is he under compulsion to be a self righteous, cold hearted moron? No! Therefore, the conclusion that I must draw from this is that HE, STEFAN, IS A MORON!
If he from now on starts a crash course on being extremely guilty, apologetic, and and begging Elena for forgiveness, I may in five years time no longer be moved to vomitting by the sight of his squirrel munching face.
Rant is over.
Eighth and last complaint: whyyyy is there another hiatus, why? I mean, what is the point? The next episode looks like it might actually put me out of my angry misery, but noooo we have to wait WEEKS to watch it. God dammit lkasd;kasjtoieokldkfd rhuabarb rhubarb rhubarb. And knowing Stupid!Elena, she’ll just be like ‘Oh no Damon, I don’t have feelings for you, because I am blind as a slug with no eyes, and am in as much denial as the pope would be if he’s claiming he’s actually muslim, and now I have pushed you and my dwindlling supply of fans away AGAIN oh woe is me, who is very beautiful and has two men in love with her, one of whom is a total sex god and any woman in her right mind would marry on the spot hint, it isn’t Stefan, and yet I act like I’m all alone, ohhh my life is so hard!’
Oh but Rose is back in ghost form, yay I loved her 😀 I hope Jer is useful though, he has a habit of being useless and annoying, though if he can reveal to the world that Rose ships Delena, and then leave Elena and Damon left awkwardly together locked in a bedroom naked, I may become his biggest fan.
Okay sorry for the long post. It was cathartic though, believe me I’m nowhere near as mardy a person as this makes it sound like I am, I just was annoyed with this episode. I’m in a better mood now 😀 😀
MADDY xx
Hey Maddy! I’m glad to see I’m not the only “bad person,” who was turned on by open-shirted Damon in bondage mode. 🙂 (Being bad is alway better with company.)
And while I think Caroline was a bit super human in her forgiveness of Alaric, I did like that the two of them had the opportunity to share a scene together. Because I’m pretty sure that has never happened, in the entire history of TVD, which is odd, considering they are both on the same “team.” I do wonder about which version of Alaric she was with at the time. (Do Bonnie’s herbs not work? Does the ring render them ineffective? Or has Alaric only been pretending to take them, in which case he’s been his Sly Alter Ego self this whole time?)
I remember Carter from Season 1! I liked him. He had dreamy eyes, and was the only tolerable tomb vampire, in my opinion. It’s a shame the writers didn’t make better use of him.
Excellent point about Sage’s henchman. Poor guy! I’m just trying to think of things from his perspective. You’re just hanging out in a bar, minding your own business, when some hot red head comes up to you and says, “Hey wanna be immortal? Here’s a shot of tequila with my blood in it.” And then she compels you not to be afraid, as she breaks your neck.
You wake up with this hot girlfriend, all your senses heightened, and the belief that you are never ever going to get old or die. And then, about an hour later, you’re dead. Sucks to be you! Then again, the same can probably be said for about 80% of Klaus’ hybrids . . . though at least those guys got to spend some time as werewolves first, and were probably pretty used to the whole supernatural thing, by then.
And this:
‘I don’t know what I feel for him’??!!!! AAAaaaaarrrgh *kills self*
Full of win! 🙂 It did seem kind of inconsistent of Elena’s character for her to just accept Stefan’s decision not to rescue Damon. Isn’t this the same Elena, who’s put her own life on the line, time, and time again, ignoring EVERYONE’S advice, to rescue the Salvatores? What about that time in “The Hybrid,” when she went out into the woods alone with the hungry wolves? Or that time in “As I Lay Dying,” when she threw the chair through the window of the courthouse, to get to Damon when he had were rabies? Or when she woke up Elijah, because he seemed to have the only solution to defeating Klaus, without Bonnie having to die?
Stefan says, “Don’t save, Damon,” and suddenly, Elena just says, “OK?”
It just doesn’t make sense. Because of course she loves Damon. Stefan knows that. Caroline knows that. Matt knows that. Bonnie knows that. Jeremy knows that. Klaus knows that.
Everyone knows THAT! Even Elena, once she takes her head out of her ass long enough to see it. Her “I’m in love with vampires,” and “I can’t shake him,” comments revealed as much. Again, I attribute her waffling on the issue to inconsistent writing.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for slow burn relationships. But sometimes, if a relationship burns too slow, the fire snuffs out before it can really catch on. I sincerely hope that won’t be the case here. The next episode does look promising though. Come on writers! Throw us Delena fans a bone, we’ve been as patient as saints!
PS. I forgot to say…. is it just me or have all the characters become quite cold and callous? I don’t blame them much, it’s just an observation. It’s quite sad in a ‘loss of innocence’ way. Firstly, Elena has no qualms with going on a mission to kill a whole family, be it a family of evil vampires (she said ‘Let’s kill Klaus’ which I don’t think is an admission she’s explicitly made before.) But I was very disappointed in her and Care for the fact that they had NO moral problems with potentially killing ALL vampires other than Care, Tyler and the Salvatores! That was very cold. Surely, thousands of vampires would die, many of whom are good people with friends and family, and that would be their fault? Yet it didn’t even occur to them that they might have any sort of conscience problems with commiting this genocide! When Care went all shocked realising Klaus had turned Tyler (DAMMIT! I wanted Klaus to die! Tyler wouldn’t be a great loss either, Gay for Klaus and annoying as he is atm) I thought what she’d realised was that they’d be commiting mass murder, and this was why she was distressed. But no…all she cared about was her wolfie boyfriend. :L Girls, I’m disappointed in you.
Hey again, Maddy. You bring up a really good point about Elena’s and Caroline’s willingness to murder any Original who didn’t sire their lovers, seeming inconsistent with their earlier attitudes of forgiveness towards individuals who were turned into “monsters” by circumstances beyond their control. If we stick with the premise that Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Tyler, Alaric, and Bonnie’s are “good” individuals, who’s bad acts are merely a result of circumstance, then its logical to believe that there are many other vampires out there who are equally “good.” By being so very willing to kill all these inviduals, Elena and Caroline are really no better than Original Mommy.
Another point to consider is the fact that, initially, the only reason, Elena agreed to killing the Other Originals was that they were linked together. So, she rationalized that it was worth it to kill Elijah, Kol, Finn and Rebekah, because Klaus was so evil, and his death would make the world a better place. (“The end justifies the means.”)
But now that Klaus is not linked to his siblings, why bother killing them at all? What has Elijah done to Elena that merits his death? Or Kol for that matter? Or even Rebekah? None of these individuals would ever kill Elena, because Klaus wouldn’t allow it. And I strongly suspect that, given the fractured nature of their family, if the Scooby Gang DID succeed in killing Klaus, the rest of the Originals probably wouldn’t retaliate, anyway. So, to me, their deaths now seem nearly as senseless as the “innocent” vampires to whom they are linked.
Hopefully, subsequent episodes will illustrate Elena and Caroline at least considering these issues, before they go out on their next vampire killing spree.
Hey, Julie, have I mentioned how much I love your TVD recaps? They’re probably my favorites of the ones I read. (I like your Glee ones, too, when you do them).
I’m wondering how many times you watch each episode before/while writing them, though. There were a couple things you missed in this episode. First, Finn *wasn’t* still in Mystic Falls. I’m not sure where he was, but Klaus and Rebekkah were there to take him “back to Mystic Falls”. That’s a minor detail, though.
The major one: Stefan didn’t stake Finn. Matt did. Sage tackled Stefan, who dropped the stake down the Grill’s back steps. Finn went to get it, Elena opened the door and shot him with a crossbow bolt (why that didn’t have a WO stake in it I don’t know), then Matt rushed out from behind her and staked Finn. Then they both slipped back inside the Grill and closed the door. When Sage saw what happened, she let go of Stefan and rushed to Finn’s side.
Other than those two things, it was, as usual, a great recap. I saved this one for last of the ones available (yours, Price Peterson, and Thomas Galvin) and it seems most people think Elijah’s the one who turned Trevor and therefore, Rose. They were more afraid of him than they were of Klaus. I am leaning this way myself, as was pointed out elsewhere it’d make Caro a very conflicted member of the Scooby gang, since Tyler was sired by Klaus. What I’m wondering is, if Klaus dies, would Tyler’s werewolf genes save him?
And what about all those vampires Sage turned in the past 900 years since Finn was daggered? They probably turned others, so are we going to have a bunch of unhappy relatives/lovers show up in Mystic Falls because their SO just started foaming blood at the mouth and dropped dead?
Oh, and one last thing, I have to say that one of the things I like best about your recaps is that you have the promos for the next show, and usually you’re able to get the Canadian ones as well, which sometimes add to the intrigue. Since I have to watch the show online on Fridays, I don’t get to see the promos, and I’ve always liked promos. In fact, this episode I wasn’t able to watch the last 45 seconds or so, but judging from all the recaps it doesn’t look like I missed anything super important; I picked up that Psycho Alaric had probably gotten the other stake. What I *did* miss/completely space was that he was supposed to have been cured by Bonnie. So, did the act of putting the ring back on negate the spell? Or was it just as someone else commented, that Bonnie’s ability to do magic is in direct correlation to whether or not the spell will aid or foil the Scooby gang?
Oh, and someone claimed that Damon took Alaric’s ring off his finger and put it on Ric’s. Did you catch that? Because I didn’t. Have a fab weekend!
Hey Nina! Thanks so much for your kind words and support! I’ve read Thomas Galvin’s and Price Peterson’s recaps a few times, and think they are excellent and insightful, not to mention hilarious. So, I’m truly honored to be compared with the likes of them.
I do apologize about being a bit late in publishing my recaps lately. My day-to-day schedule has just changed a bit, and I’m still trying to get adjusted to everything. Hopefully, in about a month or so, things will be back to “normal.”
I always try to incorporate the extended promo and Canadian promo at the end of my recaps, because I think it adds to the conversation about the episode, and what’s to come. Unfortunately, this week, I haven’t been able to locate the Canadian promo on YouTube yet. This is unusual since CTV is usually the first to air TVD episodes (usually at 7 p.m. EST), and therefore their promos are usually the first to hit the internet.
It’s possible that the reason we haven’t seen a Canadian promo yet, is that CTV didn’t air one, due to the upcoming hiatus. I’ll keep on the lookout though. And once I find the promo, I’ll add it to the comment section, so subscribers to that portion of the blog can have it in their inbox. In general, I often like the Canadian promos, because they tend to be more romance centric, and spoilery than the U.S. promos. But the U.S. promo for Heart of Darkness will be tough to beat, in that regard.
As for my recapping process, as you might have guessed, I do only watch the episode once, and in real time (no DVR . . . yet), before recapping. However, I do take notes during the episode, and tend to seek out, and rewatch, scenes that I really enjoyed on YouTube shortly after the episodes air. (This usually means the Delena scenes.) I’ll also spend a little lurking time on Tumblr and imdb, after the episode airs, to collect gifs, and gage fans’ perception of the episode. This will tend to color which aspects of the episode I spend more time on, in addition to my own personal preferences, which I’m sure are no secret to anybody here.
To the extent I miss things or mispreport them, it’s not intentional, but I know it does happen. And typically, when I learn of a mistake like that in my recap, I won’t change it, because I want the writing to reflect my first impressions of the episode, even if they happen to be wrong. (I also don’t have that much time. :() One of the cool things about television, for me anyway, is how watching the same hour long program can be such a unique experience for each individual viewer. We all focus on different aspects of the show, when we are watching, and therefore, will pick up, and miss different things. So, in that sense, beyond the basic outline of the story, there’s really no “right or wrong” answer, when it comes to someone’s indiviual perceptions. Pretty cool, right?
I think one of the reasons I might have missed Matt staking Finn, and assumed it was Stefan, was because the idea of Matt making the kill seems really odd to me. So, maybe my mind didn’t comprehend it. We learned from Alaric’s training sessions with Elena, how very difficult it is to stake someone in the heart, particularly without practice. It requires strength, cunning, and a knowledge of vampire anatomy that Matt lacks. And assuming Stefan planned out this kill, it seems odd that he would leave the job to Matt, in the first place.
Also, I think Matt would probably have a hard time with the ethical implications of killing a vampire he didn’t know (We all know how he dealt with Tyler’s and Caroline’s supernatural natures, at first). And that was never addressed in this epsiode. Third, after Finn died, Sage sought vengeance on Stefan, when, you would think she would have went after Matt first, since he was the easier target, and Finn’s actual killer.
This doesn’t mean that Matt didn’t stake Finn. But it might give you some insight into why someone like me, might watch the scene and assume that Stefan made the kill . . .
Interesting point about Damon “wearing” Alaric’s ring for safekeeping. I didn’t notice it in the scene. But I guess it makes sense, considering Damon has been the one babysitting him, throughout this whole ordeal. I also kind of like the underlying homoerotic message inherent in such an action. 😉 I may have to watch that part again. :0
Thanks again for your insights, and support. And, thank you for talking TVD with me. You enjoy the rest of your weekend too!
Great recap..though the episode left me fuming about the dream sequence..okay, the preview was hazy and i was thinking that maybe they are not going to give us a Real Delena Scene..But Still I was Hoping..but when it turned out to be a dream, I was MAJORLY PISSED..
And Stefan..It should “never” be Stefan..i mean common stop being a coward and face upto the fact that he did what he did and Elena can love someone else..In fact she had said that she doesnt know what love is in the previous season and then had gone onto declare that she loves stefan..quite a contradiction anyway..So, her recent state of “confusion” though a major buzzkill is understandeable and even Stefan shud not try to be pathetic..Not when he made an uttery cool ripper..
The episode also got me thinking..Bloodlines and all huh!
Wasnt Michael responsible for killing Klaus and the rest of his children and feeding him and the rest Tatia’s blood and making them into “Original Vampires”. So with Michael’s Death, shouldnt the rest of the Michaelson Vampire family be dead already if u go by the logic thats been recently introduced in this episode.Just Thinking..
And If they stick to this logic, I hope that Elijah be the one to turn Rose..I love Elijah..Want him to get back..and where in the world are Kat and Elijah?I want them to be more than mere plot devices on the show since the characters are AMAZING..and for Daniel Gillies, all that hair doesnt hurt either..;)
Hey Kroy! I think many of us Delena fans share your frustration with the Dream Sequence issue. As you mentioned, it’s not so much that the trailer didn’t at least present us with the possibility that it might be a dream, but more that, us Delena fans are getting tired of being jerked around by the writers in this way.
As shippers, we all fully understand the nature of love triangles, and slow burn relationships. But I think, given the bolster our ship was given in late Season 2, and in the first ten episodes of Season 3, most of us thought we’d have seen a bit more progress on the Delena side of things, by this point . . . especially considering how close we are to the end of the Season. I understand that the writers don’t want to alienate their Stelena fan contingent. But I kind of feel like character development and plotlines should override loyalty to certain fanbases. And given all that Damon and Elena endured together during early Season 3, the fact that Elena STILL hasn’t come clean to herself about her feelings for Damon, is pressing the limits of believability.
If Delena fans can endure two full seasons of Stefan and Elena, Stelena fans can endure SOME time spent on the Delena relationship. It’s not just “fair,” in term of fanbase pandering, it also makes good sense, in terms of the storyline.
That said, I do agree with you that Stefan should be more understanding of Elena’s feelings for Damon, and a bit less “black and white” about the whole thing. Damon has long accepted that a portion of Elena’s heart will always belong to Stefan, even if the two of them ever get together as a couple. I think Stefan needs to accept the same about Damon. And if Stefan truly loves Elena, he will accept her for all that she is, including the part of her that has grown to love his brother.
Regarding the whole bloodline scenario, you bring up a good point about Mikael being the one who technically started the Original vampire line. That said, I think the reason his death, didn’t bring about the death of all vampires, is that his BLOOD has never been used to create any new vampires. Mikael and his children were all turned into vampires by a combination of their mother’s spell and the blood of a HUMAN. Thus, the real bloodlines didn’t begin, until the Original children started turning vampires, by making them drink their own vampire blood.
By way of example, consider this: If anyone is responsible for turning Caroline into a vampire, it’s Katherine, since Katherine knew that Caroline had Damon’s blood in her system, when she smothered her with the pillow. However, Caroline is technically DAMON’S sire, because it was his blood, and not Katherine’s that turned her. Likewise, Katherine is responsible for her own turning, since she willingly killed herself, knowing she had vampire blood in her system. However, she is still considered Rose’s sire, because Rose’s blood was what enabled her to make the transformation.
Of course, in these instances, none of this matters, since Caroline, Damon, Rose and Katherine are all part of the same line. But I suspect such technicalities will matter, when it comes to which Original turned Rose (or which Original turned the person who turned Rose, if the line goes back farther than we suspected.)
Another interesting aspect of this scenario is how Elena’s blood comes into play. Since all the Originals were turned using Tatia’s blood, would the TRUE death (as in, not the vampire death) of Elena or Katherine, who, presumably have the same blood running through their brains that Tatia did, end up ridding the world of vampires entirely? If so, Elena has to watch out for the Original Mommy, in a big way. Also, if this was the case, ironically enough, had Klaus succeeded in killing Elena during the sacrifice, last season, he would have also killed himself.
Just some more food for thought . . .
Good Point about Elena’s blood..Makes me wonder about Mother Original’s Original Plan to send Vicki over to the other side to kill elena..It would make sense..it wud stop Klaus from making hybrids and quite possibly kill him..but then if thats the case..Mother original didnt stick to the former plan and bring elena for sacrifice to the huge circle she drew to sacrifice her children once she joined the originals..or even kill her at the party after joining the originals when the two of them were alone with Finn playing Night Watchman..
Oh the Complexities of Vampire Plotlines!!..;)
I did not watch this episode or the previous 2-3.I am just tired of the “circle the wagon” thing that the writers are pulling with Delena and the Original storyline.
At least show some progress and not stagnate or regress.
We know they have to fill a whole season with fresh new stories but at least have a plan waaaaaay before hand before you write.
It’s like they are reacting instead of planning.
Who knows.
Anyway I have just read recaps, blogs etc..
The lighting of the DE scene in this episode made me think it was a dream so I wasn’t excited or fooled to watch.
I hope next weeks epi with DE being on their own and their scenes show some progress.
Elena saying she doesn’t know what she feels for Damon is a cop out by the writers and Elena.
Dragging it out because if the other characters on the SHOW can see that she loves Damon and we the audience can see too then who are they fooling?
Not anyone.
Anyway I like bad Klaus much better than soft Klaus, but he can go. Bring back and keep Elijah though and make him the “father” of Rose/Salvatores.
Rebekah is alright though she has to get a clue about guys, especially dealing with Elena. All the guys love Elena, doesn’t she know that?
LOL
Stefan deal is that he needs to take care of and acknowledge his problems. Stop looking for sympathy and a get out of jail free card from Elena and everyone else. No wonder he can “talk” with Klaus. Damon has a lot of Elijah qualities/thought processes and Stefan has a lot of Klaus qualities. I have always thought that.
I don’t know how Elena can even think about getting back with Stefan or even still love him as he is right now. I would, if I was Elena, feel a type of “pity love” for him and feel like his mother because she is seeing his many failures to control himslef, be truthful about his issues, being obsessed with the Klaus thing over his bro welfare etc..
Anyway I will be happy to see/hear Rose next epi. I may even live watch that epi instead of read recaps.
I love Rose because she was a true lover/ friend/confidant to Damon even though she knew he loved Elena. She was even nice to Elena after the fact, to a certain extent. I wish she had stayed.
Hey Tricus. I had no idea you hadn’t been watching TVD live. I guess reading blogs and recaps is a good way to judge whether or not an episode is worth watching. I have noticed a lot of growing dissastisfaction with the series on the message boards, of late. This has been accompanied by some dwindling ratings. I’ve even noticed a decrease in the number of readers I get on my recaps. Though, admittedly, that could be my own fault, and not the fault of the show. 🙂
Many shows experience a sophomore slump. But perhaps TVD is having a bit of a “junior” one . . .
I do agree with you that it is time that the writers, for lack of a better expression, “pee or get off the pot,” with respect to the Delena coupling. I don’t need the two of them banging one another, every episode. But I would like to see some continuing forward motion in each episode, however small it might be, just to give me something to anticipate. I suspect, if nothing else, next week’s installment will offer us some forward motion on the Delena front. The question is, what will happen in episode 20. Will the progression we saw in episode 19 continue, or will the writers conveniently forget it’s existence until next season.
I guess, only time will tell . . .
I do like the parallel you drew here between Klaus and Stefan. It was interesting, this week to see Klaus actually admit to the weird symbiotic/parasitic nature of their relationship. They hate one another, want to kill eachother, and yet, oddly enough, need eachother, in order to feel complete as vampires. Because, without Klaus to hate, Stefan will have to look at what he’s done this past season, and likely end up hating himself. And without Stefan as a nemesis, Klaus will feel lonely and adrift, since all he ever really seems to want is someone to respect him without the benefit of compulsion or siring. And, whether he likes it or not, Stefan DOES respect Klaus, even amidst all his hatred for him.
I was never really a fan of Rose. But I am looking forward to her return, if only because I want to know who turned her, and because, in the end, she seemed surprisingly wise about the nature of Damon’s relationship with Elena, and could offer him some tough love, in that respect.
But for now, it’s all speculation, and another two week hiatus. *sigh*
In spite of the logical inconsistencies and stupidity of our heroes, I found this episode to be emotionally heavy. Damon’s torture got progressively worse (though no judgment about the initial turn on – even Damon pretended to be turned on; maybe he actually was). The scene when Klaus tried to make him rip his hands off was one of the grimmest in TVD for me. Afterwards when he fell to the ground, he looked so broken.
The dialog in the Stefan and Elena scene was not stellar, but I thought Paul Wesley really sold it. Bonnie’s breakdown after everything she had done and feared was heartrending. Caroline’s speech about how every character was basically a serial killer or an enabler was interesting if disturbing. (And, no, Caroline and Elena, the best you can do is not to hope everyone can be redeemed. It is to actually stop the murderers. But that will never happen.)
I liked that Damon indicated Rebekah’s vulnerability is a result of her relationship with her twisted brother Klaus (and her entire crazy family). It finally dawned on her how self-centered Klaus was. And I was distraught that they killed Finn! I loved him and Sage together, and, as I mentioned, always found him to be an intriguing character. (I’m pretty sure the actor who plays Finn is British, so, in response to the commenter who said his accent was abominable, I think his accent is actually real, haha.) He was able to reconcile loving the bad girl with being a good person, er, vampire. He was indeed most like his parents. I liked a little variety from the usual blood happy vampire. The writers consoled me slightly with that intense Klefan scene. Will Klaus ever give up? I think not. He helped Stefan come to his self-realization. What a crazy bf, constantly telling Stefan, “I’m doing this for you!!!”
Now that Finn is dead, I don’t have much desire for spoilers which have indeed spoiled me for the past few episodes. Alaric’s the killer? Vampires will die when Originals die? Finn will die? All painfully obvious with clues, but I might not have figured it out if it weren’t for interviews saying “the Mystic Falls killer is EXTREMELY SURPRISING,” “there is a BLOODLINES TWIST,” and “Sage loves Finn,” with a photo of Sage crying with firelight on her face. Anyone could see it a mile away with those giveaways! I should have known, but I thought the actors and writers would be a bit cagier.
Hey Noelle! I do think the scene where Damon was compelled to try and break free from his chains was well done. What was interesting about it, was how much it depended on the actor’s facial expressions for emotional impact, since we saw very little of the pain Damon was enduring. In some ways, this made the scene more excruciating than the earlier ones, in which you actually see Rebekah cut Damon, because the extent of Damon’s pain is limited only by your imagination.
I thought Ian Somerhalder did a nice job of displaying the frustrating disconnect of vampire compulsion. As opposed to human compulsion, in which the victim has no clue he is being made to act against his will, and simply assumes what he is doing is his own choice, vampires KNOW when they are being compelled, and, yet can’t do anything to stop it. You can see the anguish in Damon’s face, as he realizes, “This is going to cause me incomprehensible pain. And yet I’m going to do it anyway, because I lack the control to stop myself.” You can just imagine what a terrifying and awful experience that would be.
You bring up a good point about the Stelena scene. Of all the actors on the show, Paul Wesley is probably the best and most believable crier. It’s funny, I have a gif of the single tear Damon sheds when he compels Elena to forget his love for her, back in season 2. I call the gif, “soulful crying,” and I use it all the time. It’s just so pretty . . . like Ian himself. 🙂
Paul Wesley isn’t a pretty crier like Ian. But when he cries, you feel it in your gut, like no one else. So, even though I didn’t agree with much of what Stefan did, during this episode, I felt for him, in that scene with Elena. And that, I think, has much more to do with Paul Wesley’s acting abilties than with the writing.
Bonnie is another story. 🙂 I won’t elaborate on it, because I don’t want to incur the wrath of her very vocal fanbase. But suffice it to say, her tears had less of an impact on me than Stefan’s did, or than Damon’s, Elena’s or Caroline’s have had in the past.
In the actress’ defense, this may have been largely due to the fact that I am such an unapologetic Damon stan. And what she did to him in this episode irked me to no end. I would have respected the character more, if she DID save him, and then, afterward, said something like, “I didn’t do this for you. I still hate you for what you did to my mother. I did this for Elena and Stefan,” or something like that.
Because I can’t let go of the fact that, had Bonnie taken Stefan out of the Originals house, Stefan never would have had to relinguish the stakes . . .
I think Rebekah is a really interesting character, because she is so immature, naive, and vulnerable, despite her advanced age. The fact that she is so desperate to be loved, that she’d be willing to ignore all the signs that Damon was using her, is quite pitiable, despite how ruthless she was throughout the episiode. I know a lot of people were put off by how stupid she was to fall for Damon’s obvious manipulations. But I think we’ve all been there, with a crush or significant other, at one time or another. And that, to me, makes her relatable.
I do agree with you (and Damon) that Rebekah’s constant seeking of approval from Klaus, and, earlier in life, from her parents, is largely responsible for making her the person she is today. She’s also a perpetually hormonal teen, which certainly can’t help matters. In a way, she reminds me of True Blood’s Jessica, the baby vamp destined to be a teenage virgin for all eternity, no matter how many times she has sex, because that was what she was when she died. We’d be hormonal and bratty too, I think, if that was us . . .
I have to admit, I missed the allure of Sage and Finn coupling that many fans found, mainly because I think the characters weren’t as well developed as they could have been. From Finn’s perspective, I found it hard to believe that the religious extremist vampire, who was willing to let himself, and all the vampires in the world die (assuming he understood all aspects of his mother’s plan) , because he saw them all as abominations, would be so willing to give up his firmly held beliefs for a woman he fell in love with 900 years prior, and hasn’t seen since.
From Sage’s perspective, beyond the challenge of snagging a buttoned up male, and the allure of an opposites attract relationship, I couldn’t figure out what she saw in Finn as a mate, that would make her risk everything to be with him, after 900 years. The way she fawned over him, seemed inconsistent with the vampire we met in the “1912” episode. And I felt like their relationship was a shorthand for actual character development. A few flashbacks might have remedied this issue, but we got none.
That said, I read somewhere that Finn once had an encounter with Katherine. So, it’s possible we haven’t seen the last of this character. And might get more understanding of him, yet . . .
I do agree with you about the spoilers though . . .they do make some of the plot twists on this show quite obvious. 😉 And yet, I still can’t manage to avoid getting my hands on them, whenever I see them. 🙂
Wel, Julie, I’m beginning to think we’re going exactly nowhere here, and I’m not just talking about Delena. I have to agree with one of your other commenters: it’s starting to frustrate me 😦
It feels too much as if this show is running around in circles: we have to kill Klaus. We found a weapon. Oops, we failed. And then we can’t kill him anymore, for one reason or another. Now it’s the bloodlines thing. Okay, I have to admit that this at least means that mommy Original’s plan, however twisted, did make sense. Remember when we said that she couldn’t exactly restore the balance of nature by just killing her kiddos, since there were lots more vampires running aroun? We knew she was keeping something from Elena, because she would never have agreed to give up her blood if she’d known about this implication. So, as it usually turns out in the end, Damon was right. She’d been better off staying away from Esther.
The ending of Finn, not exactly a surprise. I knew one was going to be murdered – the title of the ep was kind of a giveaway there – and Finn was kind of obvious. The resulting end of Sage was logical, but still, this bit of storyline left me feeling disappointed. Her connection to Damon didn’t make much sense to me (but I’ll not go there again, since I ranted about that last week, and the week before), but they hinted at a whole backstory with Sage and Finn and the Originals, and then just killed it off, which I found kind of sad.
Don’t even get me started on Delena…. Yes, I know that we said last
week that it was highly possible that it would be a dream or some such thing, because Elena wasn’t exactly in the right mindset to go running about kissing Damon, but honestly! This took the cake again. She’s accusing Stefan of not dropping everything to go save his brother (which is totally what Damon would have done – just like you, the tomb vampire parallel came to mind 😉 ) and I thought that she would then at least follow her own advice and do something (however silly) about it. But no. Next we see her going along with Stefan’s let’s-all-stake-one-original-and-kill-the-lot-plan instead of rushing headlong into the save-Damon-games. Not that Stefan isn’t right about what Damon would have wanted. Remember when they had their brotherly heart-to-heart after Homecoming? Damon was angry that Stefan had chosen to save him once again, and told him not to do it anymore. But since when does any TVD-character ever listen to somebody else on that score? It’s not like Damon ever listened to Elena, or Stefan, for that matter. I’m totally going to have to write another spin on the thing, just for therapy.
And so, instead of being rescued by Elena the Warrior Princess, Damon gets stood up by Sabrina, who’s just effectively put a wrench in Stefan’s
let’s-all-stake-one-original-and-kill-the-lot-plan. You gotta love the irony that she, vampire-hater-extraordinaire, by unlinking them, inadvertently saved most of the vampires in existence, as it turned out 😉 I get where Bonnie was coming from, but still, it was kind of harsh of her to leave Damon being tortured. Not a pretty statement for forgiveness. I was laughing over a previous remark about Bamon shippers. I’ve never seen any sparks between them at all, but I guess it’s LJ Smith’s fault for suggestion ‘a thing’ between book- Bonnie and Damon. And what did she expect? Klaus threatening Jeremy and Abby? She can’t have been very surprised… It’s not like he doesn’t know how to put the psychological thumbscrews on. After all, he did it with Elena and the Salvatores. Why would Bonnie be any different?
I wonder if the Originals themselves know that they are vital to the existence of all vampires in history? Like you, I’m crossing my fingers for Elijah being the origin of the Salvatore bloodline. Gosh, this suddenly feels very Buffy, with all the sires and grandsires and bloodlines… Pity for Tyler though, being turned by Klaus. Still, I think the whole hybrid army creation plan that Klaus has got going, with all the dangers it poses to Elena, will last into next season, meaning that Klaus will probably not snuff it just yet…
LOL for your remark that “because five whole minutes have passed in the episode without anyone having done anything stupid, Damon and Stefan convince Psycho!Alaric to not only NOT turn himself in to the cops, but also to wear his “Jamaican Me Crazy” ring, for sh*ts and giggles. Then . . . they actually GIVE this lunatic a stake!!!” True, that! So I guess that either wearing the ring nixes the power of the witches’ brew (do witches ever brew anything that doesn’t taste foul?) OR Ric neglected to drink it… Either way, Damon made another stupid mistake that, of course, came right back to bite him in the ass…
Okay. So what did I like about this episode? Let me sort through all the rubbish for a moment.
Damon whittling, even though Stefan accuses him of not doing it right, which reminded me of Damon telling Jeremy (when he tried to kill him) that at least they’d learned how to whittle…
Caroline was in fine form. She did make me laugh when she said that Rebekah must have been desperate because she’d slept with Damon. Well, she should know, I guess 😉 Just imagine, if Rebekah should be on the origin of their bloodline, then Damon would actually have slept with every female vampire of said bloodline (that we know), going up and down: Caroline, Isobel, Katherine, Rose, Rebekah LOL
Guilty pleasure: Rebekah stringing up Damon from (oh irony) a wolf trap! On where she got it? She said she’d found it in ‘the shed’. Admittedly, I was surprised that a mansion like the Original Crib even has such a lowly thing as a gardening shed, but if it has, then just the fact that we’re in Mystic Falls must mean that there are wolf traps in it. Of course. Did she check it for rust at all? And did Damon even get his tetanus shot?
“Question, fangbangers: Does the fact that I was turned on by the sight of an open-shirted Damon chained to the ceiling make me a bad person?” Well, Julie, if you are, then I’m right up there with you 😉 It might just be why I love your recaps 😉 But you’re right. He bleeds pretty. Just like he’s pretty lying in bed, getting wasted, getting beaten up to within an inch of his life, in short, doing just about anything at all, including breathing (and he shouldn’t even have to do that) 😉 Thank you, Ian Somerhalder 😀
And you know, Damon torture notwithstanding, I actually feel sorry for Rebekah. Poor thing is looking for love and companionship just as much as her brother does, but gets blown off at every turn. As old as she is, she actually wanted to believe that Damon was genuinely interested in her, even knowing that he loved Elena? And the Klaus-Rebekah conversation at the end was quite painful, poor girl…
Two weeks hiatus again. I’m getting quite sick of these interruptions. They are starting to bug me just as much as Elena again saying she doesn’t know what she feels. Am I silly for again getting my hopes up, based on the preview for next ep?
Hey Serendipity! I’m with you about the constant interruptions. Sometimes it feels like the show is on hiatus more than it is actually on air. I know this is largely due to Sweeps Week scheduling. (i.e. for advertising purposes, most shows must put out a new show every sweeps week period. So, if they run out of episodes early, these series are pretty much screwed). However, if I was a showrunner for a series like TVD, that only had 22 episodes, as opposed to the usual 24, I would probably start it later in the fall (perhaps, in mid November, as opposed to early September), so that I could afford to run the series, straight through (only pausing for holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas), and still comply with Sweeps week scheduling. But, of course, I don’t actually run the show, so . . .
I do think the notion of “Here’s the reason why we can’t kill Klaus” this week, is getting a bit redundant. Perhaps, the show is worried about getting rid of Klaus, because it’s still not sure who it’s next big bad is going to be. After all, it’s hard to find a vampire that will be more powerful than Klaus. (Mikael would have been a good option, but they scrapped that idea.) My impression is that TVD’s next big bad will probably not be a vampire or werewolf at all, but, rather, another supernatural creature entirely.
As much as I was bugged by the kitsune storyline in The Vampire Diaries’ series, because of what it did to Damon’s character, I think the kitsune would be a good candidate for the series’ big bad. After all, it’s SO different than anything we’ve seen our Scoobys battle in the past. In a sense, the enemy that you can’t see is so much more dangerous than the one that you can. And the “infestation” aspect of the whole thing, would garner some genuinely creepy moments. Plus, if you think about it, the already established concept of these immortality rings possessing their owners would dovetail quite nicely with the kitsune concept . . .
All that said, I think you bring up a good point about the possibility that Klaus might very well survive the season, and live on as the big bad throughout season 4. If the writers do that though, they will have to make the hybrids more menacing. Because, so far, they are a bit underwhelming. (Perhaps, their high mortality rate has something to do with that.) But, I do think the sire of Damon and Stefan will ultimately end up being Elijah, because he’s the least of a threat to our main characters, and therefore, the most conceivable candidate for NEVER DYING ON THE SHOW . . . even if Daniel Gillies’ pilot gets picked up, and he’s never around . . .
LOL, good point about Caroline dissing Rebekah’s taste in sexual partners. How soon us females forget our own sexual indiscretions, when we are judging others. 😉
Also god catch on Rebekah’s contraption for Damon being a wolf trap. Now that you mention it, it does look like what Tyler and Mason used to endure their monthly transformations. I believe it as a WEREWOLF trap. But as a regular wolf trap, it stretches the realm of credibility for me. I mean, why would anyone string up a real wolf to their ceiling, martyr style. If you want to hunt a wolf, just snap a little trap on it’s hind quarters and shoot it. The only reason you would need to string it up like that, is if you were making a sculpture of it . . . 😉
Thanks again for your awesome insights, and for sticking with my recaps. By the way, can I be expecting another Delena fanfiction from you soon? No pressure, of course. I just really need some more Delena in my life. 🙂
Oh, I really love your recaps and your snarky comments on the show, so sticking with you is not exactly a hardship 😉
On the wolf trap thing: I think they aren’t meant to be used for hanging from the ceiling. That was just Rebekah’s angle for Damon torture. As far as I know, they are just laid out on the ground, covered in leaves, left lying open to snag the wolf and then snapping shut. I do know they have jagged teeth like those on the show did, so the wolf can’t get out (just like Klaus demonstrated when he made Damon try to ‘go home’). But hey, I’m no expert 😉
I agree with you that they will probably not go for a vampire baddie next season; they’ve kind of exhausted that with Katherine and Klaus, so a kitsune/possession thing could be interesting. I hadn’t thought of the ring that way. But if they do go down that road, I just hope it won’t be Damon who gets to be the possessed one, like he does in the books. His self-control is one of the things I love about him (as opposed to Stefan’s lack of same when he goes ripper), so it would be extremely painful if he were to lose that. But it would make for an interesting villain very close to home, and who is Elena to trust if it’s not Damon? Besides, isn’t it par for the course that if you’ve exhausted regular out-of-town villains, you can just make someone go evil who used to be good? They did that with Willow on Buffy too, and Alaric’s psycho alter-ego could just be the first step. How about Jeremy? He too has that nifty ring… Or perhaps Bonnie can turn to black magic like Willow did…LOL Witches going bad was after all the story line of TB season 4 as well (wiches going bad AND possessing vampires: two birds with one stone 😉 )… And they are human, so lots more moral ambiguity about killing them off, especially if they are friends, since there seems to be no moral ambiguity anymore about killing vampires who are not your lovers or their sires…
On the fanfic front… I know it’s been awhile, but I’ve been a bit off my writing… I will soon post the few remaining chapters for Elena’s Anger though, if you still remember about that story? 😉 Yes, that fic about the doppelganger hijinks that I abandoned so I could write my magnum opus Shadowdancing… Apart from that, a few ideas, but not much put to paper (well, PC screen)…
” Between a Rock and a Klaus Place” I ❤ you Julie ;-))
Ok, before I start commenting on what you wrote, here is my reason I was so busy the last two weekends. I finally managed to get this video.
However I must warn you, this video deals with intense cuteness and if your CAbs (Cuteness-antibodies) are low you should not watch it:
Ok, now to the less dangerous part of my comment, your recap:
So the next episode will be next week and not this one. Nah, who cares…
I must ask, why you actually fell for the promo again. I can understand that to some degree since usually promos on other shows are not so misleading but on this show they totally are. They have been like that at least since season 2 (I never watched them before season 2 so I don’t know about season 1) so why do you still get caught? Are you looking for something and hope that it will be happening? To be honest I suspected something like that already (e.g. when you constantly referred to things outside of the US-American gender norm which were simply not there).
Personally I don’t care who sired Rose since this whole thing is just another stupid reason to keep the Salvatores around. I still have a small flicker of hope that Tyler will not survive the season because this show needs a death that actually affects the viewers.
Now to the new level of stupidity of the Scoobies, as you call them, there is not much to it. The writers simply needed a tool to have some suspense and actually have some “danger” and let some naive fans think that the Salvatores might die. Not that this would ever happen anytime soon but should it happen in this season I would do this:
By the way, that buzz saw they used. These things aren’t that difficult to handle believe me. At least not the ones I came across. And I know it’s a joke but I also wondered why they didn’t make more stakes out of the sign. I mean they got staked with stakes not even half the thickness.
Now the Caroline-Elena scene:
Would it be misogynistic of me if I want to slap Elena several times? Seriously, do these writers/producers or whoever is responsible for this really stress the whole “be a powerful woman by self-sacrifice” thing so much or are they really that dumb or don’t care about reality? Not only have they make Elena do her whole forgiveness stuff again they also portray her as a role model for good behavior in this scene. But that is not forgiveness, that is stupidity, or at least a huge deal of it is stupidity.
Speaking of stupidity: Did the writers just don’t care or did they let Damon have that stupid “I grab an original from behind” statement on purpose? Then again, considered that they had Elena escape Rebekah’s grip by simply backwards headbutting her I guess they probably didn’t care.
Not to forget the stupidity of trusting witch-magic as though that never failed on this show. Idiots.
And no, I doubt that Finn was in Mystic Falls, he was definitely somewhere else. The narrow street and the houses do not fit Mystic Falls. But I am more interested where Mommy Dearest (pun intended) was.
And damn that Rebekah gets Damon scene was predictable. Anybody disagree?
Your question regarding you being turned on my Damon’s chained self:
It makes you a very weird person at least. But it didn’t surprise me that it turned you on.
Your statement regarding Rebekah shows to me, again (I know I repeat myself), how shallow the backgrounds are here. Even in Charmed they showed at least once how the character Cole, when he was invincible, tried to kill himself several times to show that it couldn’t be done but on TVD nothing so far. It was just stated that the Originals can only be killed via the magic stakes but never shown. Seriously, these Originals are easy to fool and to take advantage of when you think about it. Of course considered how their parents are this probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody. So in reality they at least would have all been bound already.
And I wanted to slap Elena again. One hint that Damon might be in danger and the idiot is practically 90 % there to bail on the plan even though that is the best chance to actually rescue him. Since Mystic Falls is rather small and it’s most likely he would be held captive in the mansion anyway. You know what, I don’t want to slap her, I want to do this:
(Wasn’t the blue demon played by the same guy who played the vampire boss in the show pilot?)
What is it with you and calling bloodsucking erotic? Seriously, what is so great about that?
And are you telling us that you didn’t realize the whole scene to be a hallucination/dream right away?
And I agree the whole reverse the spell was way too easy. Doesn’t that Esther have at least one contingency plan or a safety measure?
And now we know why Jeremy was introduced back, as a tool and helpless little victim. Isn’t that original of the writers?
And I liked it that Bonnie left Damon where he was. At least some bit of realistic behavior and not all this forgiving attitude. Of course she should turn her wrath more on Elena and not Damon in that regard.
And Sage turning lots of people fits into her role as the manipulative vixen, the classic female scapegoat and Finn is the better man (literally) and therefore only gave in to temptation once while Sage, as a classic descendent of Eve (who in my eyes was the smarter one in the story because she actually had to be persuaded while Adam took the fruit immediately after it was presented to him), “sinned” several times. Wow lots of vampires should fall dead now, but of course they will be no reaction of the local vampire community anytime soon. You know, if Finn’s death lets the other vamps of his line die as well shouldn’t they become torpored at least when he got staked by the daggers?
I guess you guessed by now that this whole stuff was no “BIG TWIST” for me, just another lame excuse to keep the vamps and hybrids around. *barf*
And not even original, old movie and literature crap in fact. I guess that is the reason why they had it shortly mentioned as a myth back in Underworld, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines or Soul Reaver 2:
Actually now that I think about it… another similarity with Underworld (just like war, the underdog theme of the werewolves, the lack of female werewolves, the aristocracy of the vampires etc.)!!!???
What do you think:
a) Coincidence?
b) Good copy?
c) Bad steeling?
Let’s just hope the writers don’t have Klaus as the ultimate sire of all the undead characters native of Mystic Falls (other than his family of course) because that would just be… I have no word to describe that MAYOR CLUSTER FUCK UP!!!!
And damn Stefan was stupid again. What good is being a 163 year old vampire if you are still that stupid?
And Rebekah’s speech: intense and unhealthy focus on family again. Of course the bad guys don’t care about “blood-ties” but the good guys do. Hey never mind that such a thing has consequences as well and who knows how many people died and got tortured due to the Salvatore’s family bond. This is all not so important as long as family sticks together.
Tell me, does that not bother you?
And I think you are wrong. Caroline only mused about killing one guy, I guess the one at the fair. The other ones were forgotten.
And you know my stand on Alaric and the stake already from my other comment, so no point bringing that up again.
And why can Jeremy, if that is what the promo implies, suddenly talk with Rose? He didn’t even know her. Not even randomly and didn’t they state earlier in the season that a mutual pushing is necessary? At least that is what the whole Anna thing suggested. Of course this is TVD so what de heck right?
Yeah, my comment wasn’t as long and elaborate as usual but there really wasn’t much to say about the show right now that wasn’t said already.
First, I must offer you my sincerest and most humble of apologies. Unfortunately, I haven’t been on the blog much this week (“life stuff”). And I could have SWORN, I had already replied to your comment. But then, I popped by the blog today, and realized that I hadn’t. *bangs head on table repeatedly . . . passes out . . . wakes up to type again* How rude of me, particularly, when the awesomeness of your screencaps were what saved this recap from a complete lack of funny.
Anywhoo . . . better late than never, right? 🙂
First, the DINGOS! Why don’t we have them in my country, and where can I get one as a pet? Are they importable? Will they get along with my cat? 🙂 I WANT ONE!!!!
Second, the Happy Dance and the Buffy video . . . both were full of win. Were you a Buffy fan? I don’t remember discussing that with you before. As I mentioned to another commenter below, I didn’t watch the show, when it firt aired, because it kinda creeped me out. All those ghoully looking people that Buffy used to fight, each week with the weird makeup, and slimy face masks, would give me nightmares. (The nice thing about new vampire shows like TVD, True Blood, and Being Human is that all the ghouls are still hot . . . and largely human looking, save for some black eyes, fangs, and popped out veins.)
However, recently I’ve caught a bunch of episodes in syndication and have developed an appreciation for the show. (As you might have guessed, it was the Buffy / Spike storyline – relationship arc that really drew me in. Yes, I’m THAT predictable.)
Which brings me to my next point . . . yes, I fall for the TVD Delena-centric promos each week, out of hope and desire, however naive it might be. I mean, here’s a show that was largely promoted as “a girl in love with two vampires, but has lately seemed more like a show about, “a girl who dicks around Damon, and moons over Stefan, while everyone tries to save her from Klaus.” I just keep feeling like, eventually, the writers are going to have to explore the other side of the triangle, if for no other reason than to appease a substantial portion of their fanbase. And they WILL do it, I’m sure. It’s just taking a lot longer than we all would have hoped . . .
Coincidentally, this also falls in line with your point about wanting to blow up Elena with a bazooka. I know you aren’t a “shipper,” when it comes to this show. But, suffice it to say, that I suspect there are a lot of Delena fans out there who can commiserate with your desire to cause bodily harm to the show’s main protagonist. I’m not quite there . . . yet. I still believe Elena can turn all this around. But talk to me again, after the finale, and we’ll see if that has changed . . .
I DID notice that Caroline only mentioned killing one person, which was why I made a point to reference them both. It seemed odd that the writers would be so quick to forget their own story. So, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. But when Caroline mentioned that the person she killed might have been a dad, I figured she probably wasn’t talking about her REAL first kill, Connor, the high school student. He also wasn’t a stranger to her, like she suggested as he was one of her classmates. Presumably, she was talking about her mother’s partner, who was a bit older . . . and who she killed an episode or two later, to save the Salvatores. And yet, you would think that, in such a small town, someone who worked that closely with your parent also wouldn’t be a stranger.
Hmmm . . .
You bring up a good point about the Salvatore’s seeming so uncaring about the rest of the world’s vampires, focusing instead, only on their immediate circle of family and friends. You would think, having been on Earth for that long, Stefan and Damon would have come across other vampires, who’s lives might be worth saving, whether or not they came from the same bloodline, as the Salvatores.
That said, I could kind of understand Rebekah’s focus on family, above all else, since, it seems like she really never made any other friends, aside from Stefan and her brothers. As a human, Rebekah was isolated from the werewolf community, due to her vampire status. Then, for years, she traveled alone with Klaus, who was extremely protective of her, and never let her meet anyone else. When she finally met Stefan, he staked her, and she slept until the present day. Rebekah never really learned to care for anyone aside from her family, which is why she’s so needy around the Scooby Gang. It’s also why she keeps giving her brother more chances, no matter how many times he betrays her, and is frustrated that he isn’t willing to give up his life for her, in the way the Salvatore Brothers are.
At least, that’s how I interpret the character.
Again, I’m sorry about taking such a long time to reply to your comment. It wasn’t intentional. As you know, I always adore our weekly TVD discussions and debates. That reminds me, what did you think of the Game of Thrones premiere?
Well I was wondering what was going on but yesterday I noticed the reply. And no I haven’t seen the premiere of Game of Thrones yet, the whole Internet connection thing (looks like I will have to bite into the bitter apple and order a new one and be stuck with the old one as well).
Ok first on the dingoes:
Many Australian dingo enthusiasts will probably tell you that they are
a) Not suitable to life with humans
b) Not dogs but wolves
As far as I know morphological data, genetic examination, behavioral data and basically everything else says that these canines are dogs, meaning they are not more wolves than a Dachshund is, it is simply that among the more popular dogs they are the ones less influenced by human regulated selection.
Normally people who say that they are not dogs seem to say that they don’t bark (ok, you saw the video so nothing needs to be said there [except maybe that some might say that this is not barking, or not the same as “dog-barking”]) and that they breed only once per year. Now this annual breeding cycle is not exclusive to dingoes but definitely appears among Basenjis (they are an often cited example of this phenomenon), Indian Pariah dogs, West Siberian Laikas and as far as I know supposedly among Akita Inus and Tibetan Mastiffs. And while some say that Basenjis and Indian Pariah dogs are dingoes the same cannot be said from the other three forms of dog. Of course stating the differences between dingoes and other dogs is first and foremost hampered by the fact that “dingo” refers to a type (with different definitions to be honest) while “domestic dog” refers to several types of dogs with a big range of physical characteristics. Furthermore annual breeding cycles (even if two times per year) can occur even after a few generations of natural selection as was proven in a study in Italy and at least under the conditions of Middle European captivity female dingoes can have two heat cycles per year (albeit the second ones usually do not result in pregnancy).
Ok now to keep them as pets. As far as I know they can be kept as companions, however if you expect what most people in Western culture seem to term “pet,” I can only say forget it. I don’t know as what the dingo is regarded in the US, whether you need a special license to have one of not and in Australia it’s different per state. So I basically I don’t know whether you could get one legally but I think the chances are very slim.
Anyway I would advise you against it. If you need some there might be mongrels available but whether legally I don’t know either. A dingo is even less suitable as a simple pet than working dogs are. Just like them they will be very active and energetic and most of them will not bond easily with humans they don’t know, albeit there are clear individual differences. They are very intelligent and will test your intelligence even more so than other dogs do.
Either way you would at least need a big yard and enough exercise for them. Or maybe a really big enclosure and you would need expert knowledge to handle their hunting drive as well as knowledge on the variability of dog behavior. The “seen one seen them all” credo is even more dangerous with them then it is in general. Basically the average dog-owner would not even have the basic knowledge to handle one of them.
I was a Buffy fan once but I doubt I would be today; especially the last season was not just feministic in my eyes but downright on a spiral to becoming against men with its portrayal of the wizards who created the first slayer and the whole speech of Buffy about how they treated her. If you ask me, taking some innocent girl to create a slayer of demons is about as smart as eating soup with chop sticks. For such an endeavor you would need someone who is already a fighter and does it voluntarily. However the Primal slayer was portrayed as a victim and all this “this woman [Willow] is much more powerful” and the whole several slayers at once thing (not to mention that secret order of women who wanted to protect the slayers [took them pretty long to do that])… Seriously why should the creators of the Slayers not have done that as well already? That didn’t fit with the way magic was presented in the seasons before.
And I saw it in German so I probably saw it a few years after it first aired.
So it seems I was right about you looking for something. Perhaps the writers will come up with something new but currently I doubt it. And I don’t want to wait that long, even if they do it someday I would not forgive that. They could have done that a long time ago and didn’t do it. So basically they will do it, if they do it, because they are forced to do it and that is not the same as actually wanting to do it.
It is the same with their bad guys, they are whimps and they need to give them such a level of super strength to get them to be somewhat dangerous some of the time and even then they do not even manage to get some suspense. You probably remember the whimpy werewolves and hybrids. Sure some people would say that the show is called the Vampire Diaries but in my eyes that is just a very weak excuse because it is the enemy that defines the hero of a story and to have a good and significant victory you need a good and significant adversary and currently they never managed to provide that, not even with Katherine when you think about it and she came as close to it as it could get. Not to mention that her sudden disappearance from the show is just as weak and stupid as Tyler’s and Jeremy’s.
By the way there will be another dance episode. Yippyyyyyy
*barf*
And considered the nature of this show so far, not to mention the weak finale of last season, I think you probably will want to blow up Elena with a bazooka as well. I mean, her level of forgiveness is really unhealthy.
As for Caroline’s speech, they probably did forget. I no longer seriously give the writers the benefit of doubt, not with that many inconsistencies and general shallow background.
I wasn’t really surprised about the Salvatores only caring about the people directly around them, especially not Damon. What I was rather referring to was that if Sage had sired many vampires, and those probably sired others, then a lot of vampires should have died at the same time as she and the current henchman of the week. And that should at least cause some concern among the vampire community. Albeit you are right of course, e.g. Rose’s comment in season 2 suggests that she knew a vampire that knew Stefan (the one who did the matchmaking) so Stefan would know at least some other vamps obviously but seemingly no concern whatsoever. Which would basically mean that both brothers are invariably selfish. Albeit concerning the writers lack of background skill this was probably not intended. The greater vampire community is like so much else on this show simply a tool for them to use or discard as they please and they basically don’t care about that just like they don’t care about the rules they themselves created. This season I think had more obvious examples of that than the others. The first was the fact that the leader of that werewolf “pack” in the second episode knew of Klaus and that he was a hybrid (we both asked ourselves why as you remember) and there was no reaction from either vampires, werewolves or witches (and especially the latter case is extremely weird considered all these turmoil they had in the witches not wanting the hybrids to even exist in the first place). The second was that Gloria knew of Klaus’ new status so obviously word had reached her but still absolutely no response whatsoever, I guess if Katherine hadn’t killed her no witch would ever have done anything to punish her. I guess they would have waited for the spirits to do it (Interestingly they didn’t give the hybrids or Klaus any extra weaknesses did you notice that? According to Rebekah’s story that should have been the case but nonetheless there was nothing. The third big one was of course the whole story with Sage and Finn stating that Finn had met Rebekah in the same place he was born and she was turned about 100 years after Finn so the place must have existed back then and considered that they already had metal weapons at least something must have been found over the centuries either in connection with the settlement or at least or with the “Indians.”
Before I come to my final point there is the thing with Rebekah:
What were you talking about when regarding her?
You wrote:
“As a human, Rebekah was isolated from the werewolf community, due to her vampire status.”
Why was she isolated as a human? And what vampire status at the time? When she was a human the family had plenty of neighbors. If at all they got isolated, to some measure after they became vampires. Now that I think about, I guess we could expect no less from a show like this to do any different than show Rebekah to be the Original to lose control in their origin story and feed on that one guy in front of everybody. Of course Klaus and Elijah were not tempted and I can’t help to think that this is not due to their age and thereby some level of restraint (especially Klaus’ portrayal is pretty inconsistent with that) but because they were male and she female. I mean do you really think that you live in a postfeminist society? Correct me if I am mistaking but being male is still generally regarded as being better than being female or is it not? Not to mention that being female means that you are invariably weaker than being male. Or do you know an actual positive explanation why you would be able to hit me but I would not be allowed to hit you back?
In either case her “giving her brother more chances” suggests an inability and dependency that even surpasses that of Elena.
Furthermore I remember something I momentarily forgot:
Sage’s story on her meeting place with Finn. Supposedly that was 100 years after Finn became a vampire. So did he return? And when exactly did the Original family return to the old world, not to mention when did Klaus learn Aztec?
Ok now to my last point:
You should give up the hope regarding this show. You are not a teenage girl, you are a grown woman and so I have my doubts that you cannot see where this hope will lead you.
In my eyes it is only fed by a wish that things will one day become better and by a desire to see more variation in the portrayal of society, gender and magic. Not to mention a desire to see realism.
But I think that this is a false hope and one I discarded already about the turn of season 2. Look back on the show and ask yourself how many times did the writers actually managed to create real suspense or a danger where you did not know that it would not be happening. How many times were their bad guys and adversaries actually dangerous in a realistic way? And how often did they actually have realism on the show? How often did they follow the rules for the supernatural they themselves created? How often did they use the abilities they gave their vampires and how often did they really write the script fitting to that? How often did they revise what they had previously introduced?
This show is basically about a romantization of the past, an unhealthy focus on forgiveness and family and about having the main three around.
If you are looking for anything different than the constant up and down between the main three and a portrayal of “traditional values” than you will not find it in this show.
For your own good you should abandon this false hope I thing because it will bring you only disappointment.
Try True Blood for that, they might have a better chance but not this show.