[Worry not, Fangbangers! Your TVD-cap for Episode 2, “Memorial,” will be up in under 24 hours. Feel free to suck on some hot vampire’s hand, while you’re waiting . . .]
Don’t feel bad, Elena. I get grouchy during my “time of month” too . . .
Welcome back, Fangbangers! I’ve missed you . . .
After an interminably long hiatus, it’s finally time to sharpen those fangs, and head on back to Mystic Falls . . . a town where nobody gives two craps what your name is (unless it’s Elena Gilbert, of course), but everybody knows your blood type.
I can’t believe this show is already entering its fourth season! It seems like only yesterday that Stefan Salvatore compelled his way into Elena Gilbert’s high school history class, and nobody noticed that he looked about 27 . . .
So much has happened since that fateful day. Practically everyone from the original cast has died . . . and come back . . . multiple times.
Elena dated Stefan . . .
. . . and then broke up with Stefan . . .
. . . and then dated Stefan again . . .
. . . and then broke up with Stefan again.
There were Big Bads . . . and vampire sexcapades . . . and supposedly unbreakable curses that were magically broken by a woman who suffers from severe nosebleeds . . .
And yet, through it all, Stefan remained freaking hungry . . .
Damon stayed snarky (and continued to love taking showers) . . .
Tyler still hated wearing shirts . . .
Elena judged everyone (but only because she cared) . . .
Caroline kept getting kidnapped . . .
And we still could never figure out what Bonnie was mumbling, during all those ridiculous spells . . .
In a way, “Growing Pains,” is the start of a brand new chapter in TVD-verse. Elena, who has always been Mystic Falls most vulnerable damsel in distress, has finally become a supernatural creature capable of kicking some serious ass . . .
And yet, when you really stop to think about it, nothing has changed at all . . .
Let’s review, shall we?
To Feed or Not to Feed . . .
The episode begins with Elena waking up in her bedroom, where her two vampire love slaves are hovering over her, looking for signs of life . . . or lack thereof. Understandably, given the whole “drowning in a car” thing, our leading lady is a bit disoriented and distressed.
Since Elena clearly never watched last season’s TVD finale (nor did she read any of the spoilers for this episode), she has no clue what has happened to her. This means it’s up to Salvatore Squared to give her the bad news. In short, Elena has until the end of the day to either feed on human blood, and turn into vampire, or DIE . . . again . . . but for good, this time.
The fact that Elena is in this situation, because Stefan saved her ex-beau / buddy Matt from the drowning car first, thereby allowing Elena to die with Damon’s vampire blood in her system, is, more or less, brushed over, for the time being. But we’ll get back to that later. For now, Elena’s just seriously bummed about the whole, “destined to have pointy teeth, and a sometimes veiny face” thing . . .
But WAIT . . . there may be A CURE!!! And I bet you’ll NEVER guess who’s going to provide this cure . . .
I’ll give you a hint. It’s not Dr. Fell . . .
. . . or Sheriff Forbes . . .
. . . it’s not even the happy woodland creatures Stefan consumes on a daily basis.
Nope, the Finder of the Cure is . . . drumroll please . . .
BONNIE BENNETT!
No wonder today’s Mystic Falls weather forecast called for nosebleeds, with a chance of dramatic fainting . . . It all makes sense now.
There’s a new sheriff in town and he looks a lot like the Evil Priest in every single movie you’ve ever seen containing Evil Priests . . .
Who knew what a proverbial can of worms Bad!Alaric would open up, when he outed all of the town vampires to the supposedly, but not-so-much Vampire Killing Town Council? Now, this random guy named Pastor Young, who we have never ever heard of, or seen before and will probably never see again . . .
This douche . . .
. . . is suddenly all over, like a bad rash, firing vampire-friendly locals from their jobs (Sorry Dr. Fell and Sheriff Forbes!), including the MAYOR (?!), and kidnapping pretty much every vampire, who’s name is featured in the opening credits.
Wow . . . this town must be REALLY religious! Where I come from, the Pastors can barely get their congregations to fill the collection plates, let alone beat-up high school students!
Sigh! Poor Caroline! Girlfriend gets kidnapped and tortured on this show, more than she gets laid . . . well . . . on second thought . . .
Also on the kidnapping chopping block is Saint Stefan, and Rebekah-the-Original-Perpetually-Left-Behind . . .
In fact, the only vampires who escaped Pastor Young and Company’s wrath were Damon (well, of course he did!) and Klausi-Tyler. More on him, in a bit . . .
Newbie Almost-Vamp Elena, the second-most kidnapped person on this show, manages to escape Pastor Young’s wrath, at first. But it isn’t long before her true fangy colors start to show, i.e. she looks like she’s suffering from the Worst Hangover EVER! She also hates LAMPS! I mean, like, REALLY HATES THEM!
Wouldn’t it have been easier just to hit the light switch?
Elena tries to escape the wrath of Pastor Young, but ultimately gets decked by one of his (kind of hot) henchmen. Not cool, Hot Henchman . . . not cool at all . . .
But wait! I’m getting ahead of myself here. Before Elena’s newfound vampiness led to her undoing, it helped her accomplish the most AWESOME THING EVER . . .
Thanks for the Memories . . .
Ahhh, yes! It’s the moment us Delena fans have all been waiting for . . . the moment when Elena, eternally free from vampire compulsion, finally gets to watch one of my favorite scenes in the history of TVD. No, I mean, literally, she gets to watch it . . . as in, they replay the entire scene, right in front of Elena . . . in 3D. It just doesn’t get much better than that folks.
We’ll talk later about how Elena responds to the realization that Damon met her first, and sacrificed her love to Saint Stefan, long before Elena even became consciously aware of his feelings for her. (Hint: FRUSTRATINGLY!) But, for now, let’s just bask in the glory that is “The Very First True Declaration of Delena Love” . . .
Speaking of love interrupted . . .
In which Klausi-tyler cockblocks himself . . .
Now, I know a lot of folks out there put-off / disgusted by the concept of Klaus inhabiting Tyler’s body. But I, for one, was kind of excited about it. Basically, I was just interested in seeing whether Michael Trevino could pull it off . . .
When we first meet Klausi-Tyler, he’s harassing Bonnie to put him back inside his own body. This actually surprised, and disappointed, me a little bit. One would think that a devious villain-type like Klaus could think of all sorts of ways to put Hybrid-Boy’s Buff Body to naughty use. After all, we all remember how much fun Klaus had being Alaric, back in the day . . .
By comparison, what Klaus ended up doing with Tyler’s body was actually pretty tame. Though, I must admit, I giggled at Klausi-Tyler’s typical teenage reaction to having a mother who actually liked him . . . you know as opposed to his own mother, who tried to wipe his entire race from the face of the Earth . . .
When Klausi-Tyler finds out from his mother that Caroline’s been kidnapped, he ambushes the car carrying her and his sister, and stages a dramatic rescue . . . Let me rephrase that . . . he stages a dramatic rescue of Caroline. It looks like Poor Rebekah is going to have to tough it out with the crazy vampire hating cult for just a bit longer . . .
Caroline didn’t seem to notice though. To say the young blonde was appreciative of the man she thought was dead for springing her from the pokey is the understatement of the century . . .
That’s right, Forwood / Karoline fans, our favorite little Vampire Barbie rode that sexy body snatcher harder than a jockey at the Kentucky Derby . . .
Now, I know what most of you are thinking. This has gotta be Klausi-Tyler’s dream come true, right? I mean, hasn’t Klaus been trying to get his “stake” inside Caroline, ever since that fateful day when he made Tyler almost kill her, so that he could save her life? I mean, we’re not honestly supposed to believe that Klaus drew those pictures of Caroline with the pony just because he’s a “nice guy,” are we?
And yet, moments into the scene Klausi-tyler STOPS Caroline from screwing him, by complaining that he’s using the “wrong equipment,” and by calling her Klaus’ telltale nickname, “Love.”
I’m confused. “Wrong equipment?” What exactly does Klaus think Tyler has between his legs . . . a baseball bat . . . a vajayjay? Seriously!
I don’t know. I just find it hard to believe that Klaus, the same guy who’s killed his parents and siblings multiple times over was simply too “honorable” to pork Caroline under false pretenses . . .
And Caroline . . . since when has she become so perceptive, that she could ferret out a body snatcher through the use of a single word? In the finale, Klausi-tyler made an entire cheesy speech about how glorious life is, that Tyler wouldn’t be caught dead uttering. And Caroline didn’t suspect a thing!
Meanwhile, back in the “witch” portion of our program . . .
Mumble, mumble, nosebleed, mumble . . .
Blah, de blah, dark magic, blah . . . Bonnie is busy trying to kill herself, so that she could bring Elena’s human soul back from the great beyond. Jeremy, who’s soul purpose lately, has been to hold Bonnie’s hands, and look mildly concerned, while she does this, is dubious. I mean, don’t get me wrong, JerBear HATES vampires, and certainly doesn’t want his sister to become one.
But all those bloody noses! Gross! Surely, there must be another way . . . right?
Meanwhile, back at the cattle farm, where Crazy Vampire Cult is storing our main characters . . . no I’m not joking about this . . . they really used a cattle farm . . .
Stefan and Elena are declaring their undying love for one another through jail bars, while Elena death rattles dramatically, having not fed on blood for nearly a day now. In a nearby cell Rebekah watches the lovebirds, alternating between nauseated annoyance, and jealousy that nobody seems willing to tell Rebekah how awesome SHE is, even when she’s looking like total crap . . .
Suddenly, DarkMagic!Bonnie appears in the cell, and grabs Elena’s hand, ready to save the day, once again. Until her grandma randomly pops up (remember her?), and tells her dark magic is WRONG!
So, Bonnie just leaves . . .
Damn! You mean to tell me, I had to watch all those disgusting nosebleeds for nothing? I’m pissed . . .
Back in her hole and under duress, Bonnie calls upon dark magic again to put Klaus and Tyler back in their own bodies . . . even though we were led to believe that the only reason Klaus was in Tyler’s body, in the first place, was that his was burned to a crisp, in the season finale.
Of course, grandma is pissed again . . .
“Sorry Grams! It’s been two whole seasons since I accidentally killed you, while servicing vampires. Time to pay the piper . . .”
But then the dark magic takes her soul, so we don’t have to listen to her lectures anymore. Sorry Bonnie! It looks like you’re going to be eternally cursed, DESPITE having doomed Elena to a life of either death or vampirism . . . Oh well! Can’t win em all . . .
But hey, at least the British guy is back in his own body. I was really missing that delicious accent . . .
Blood . . . it’s finger-licking good . . .
Back at Vampire Alcatraz, Damon is storming the gates outside, using Whipping Boy Matt as bait.
You see, Damon’s been playing a bit of the blame game with Matt for the whole “surviving” when Elena didn’t thing . . . which, I guess is a sort of reversal on the whole concept of “survivor’s guilt.”
Inside the jail, Hot Henchman has his hands full with Stefan and Rebekah, who have decided to join forces and go on the attack. Sorry, Hot Henchman, it looks like your destined to become Elena Food. Not a bad idea, Stefan and Rebekah . . . but couldn’t you have killed Hot Henchman closer to Elena’s cell? Poor dying girlfriend, had to practically pry the bars open with her hands, just to get a taste off of the dirty cattle poop floor. (FIVE SECOND RULE!)
But taste she did . . .
Mmmm . . . tastes like a dead guest star . . .
It was a scene that was both beautifully shot, and painful to watch at the same time. And, while I understand how ultimately Elena’s vampire instincts kicked in, and played a role in her choice, I would have liked to see her struggle just a bit more with her ultimate decision, especially considering how dead-set against becoming a vampire she’s been, since day 1 . . . so much so, that she’s, multiple times, chosen death over sprouting fangs . . .
In the very next scene, Damon, who has disposed of his own “Hot Henchman,” is about to kill a rather pathetic looking Matt for having the audacity to be saved first, when this happens . . .
“Great. Now it’s official. All of my ex-girlfriends can kick my ass.”
Don’t ask me how Elena got out of her cell . . . just go with it OK.
It looks like Mystic Falls has a new damsel in distress, and it’s not Elena.
But back to Elena, she and Damon have a bit of a heart-to-heart about those precious compulsion memories we saw her regaining earlier on in the hour. She now knows she met him first . . . that he sacrificed his love for her . . . that he’d always put her life before anyone elses . . . especially Matt and Bonnie . . . that if Damon had been on that bridge on that fateful night, she wouldn’t have ever had to make the choice to become a vampire . . .
And she doesn’t give a sh*t . . .
Wait . . . that’s a bit harsh . . . For the record, I do think Elena was touched by the memories she regained about Damon. And I do think that they’ve changed the way she views him, and feels about him. But, for now, too much in her life has changed, for her to suddenly swap Salvatore Brothers too.
So, for now, Elena commits herself to Stefan . . . the guy who always respects her choices . . . no matter how stupid they might be . . .
Sibling Stakery . . .
Back at Klaus house, Rebekah is mad hurt at her brother for leaving her to rot in cow jail with the World’s Most Nauseatingly Sweet Couple. When she tells him that, through the centuries, she has truly been the only one to support him through thick and thin, she has a point.
And I think her words really do touch Klaus’ heart, in a way he wasn’t quite expecting . . .
But then she uses Klaus’ last vials of Elena’s hybrid making blood as spray cans, and all bets are off . . .
He stakes her ass . . . well . . . actually he stakes her back . . . but, you know what I mean . . .
So much for brotherly love . . .
Now, that I wasn’t expecting . . .
Elsewhere, in Cult-Hate-a-Vampire, Pastor Young declares a “new beginning” to his followers quest to end vampirism, seconds before he blows up himself and all his minions, with a lit match and some gas . . .
“Oooh, fire pretty . . .”
Wait, WHAT?
Welcome to the world of underwhelming “Big Bads,” who die, after just one episode, Pastor Young . . .
And they all live bloodily ever after . . .
Back on the rooftop, Elena and Stefan are having a “moment,” that’s highly reminiscent of all those sweetly sappy scenes they shared together, in early Season 1 . . . you know, back before the series got really good. They just WUV eachother so much . . . and Elena is suddenly thrilled with the idea of spending an eternity with Stefan, even if she has to eat people, in order to do it.
Yes, Elena has chosen Stefan. Klaus has chosen himself. Caroline has chosen Tyler. Bonnie has chosen to bloody her nose. And Damon, well he’s understandably pissed off about the whole thing . . .
The more things change, the more they stay the same . . .
Next week on TVD, Elena learns about the joys of vampire sex, cannibalism, and making out with Damon Salvatore’s hand . . .
Something tells me I’m going to like next week’s episode way more than I liked this one . . .
Until next time, Fangbangers!
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TV Recappers Anonymous 
Hey that first comment was me Sassyfran, Jewls can you delete that one please. The recap was awesome as usual, I missed it and Scandal. I look forward to more of these , welcome to Fall 2012!!
Hey Sassyfran! It’s great to see you back on the blogosphere. Now that the TV season is back in full swing, I’m sure we will have plenty of shows to discuss, not to mention the PLL Halloween special. I’m super psyched. 🙂
Hey Sassyfran! It’s great to see you back on the blogosphere. Now that the TV season is back in full swing, I’m sure we will have plenty of shows to discuss, not to mention the PLL Halloween special. I’m super psyched. 🙂
I know what you mean about Nanowrimo 😉 I feelthe same. I love that idea you have about Matt so much 😀 I’m impressed since I know you dislike him. 😛 do you mind if I steal it to put in an alternate season 4 fic I’m writing? Klaus/Tyler might have to appear there as well, because the more I think about it the more shocked I am that the writers didn’t take that oppurtunity.
Where can your fic be found? I a curious about your idea.
Wow, this recap really showed how exciting and full of joy and magnificence this first episode of TVD was. I am sure I am gonna watch it again now.
But to be serious, your recap was good but based on this and what a friend of mine told me, this episode seemed to have sucked major ass.
Seriously, it had exactly the same stuff I didn’t like about TVD all the time and so chances are still zero that I will watch it again.
These two were so right about Elena becoming a vampire, and about Jeremy and Tyler:
I personally object to their term vagina-man but I understand why they would be annoyed with the characters. The difference is that I blame the writers and not the characters.
The best example was Bonnie again. A convenient plot tool if there ever was one and you know I noticed that despite the fact that she has more power than any other female on this show she is not only in the background all the time, no, the writers actually managed to chain her to the only way a good woman can gain power in this show: self-sacrifice.
What you wrote about her role in this episode fits perfectly:
1) Suddenly she can provide a way for Elena to become human. But then why didn’t she try that with her mother? I mean based on your recap all this happened just a day or so after last season (kind of weird why Elena woke up in her bad when she already did in the morgue in last season, I mean did she fall to sleep again?) so her mother transitioned when… a few weeks ago? Or are we supposed to believe that this is part of the supposed “revenge line” of Bonnie?
2) She ultimately sacrifices by making a pact with dark powers and possibly sacrificing her grandmother, thereby giving something up. Also no matter what vampires did to her and her family she nonetheless sucks it up (like every good woman in the current vampire trend would do) and simply helps the main character.
Wow, I just can conceive why people would watch this show because of Bonnie, or better because they hope the writers will use Bonnie’s potential and give her more to do. If they wanted that, they would have done it already, but they didn’t. Bonnie is still just a plot device, a bad plot device as both of us pointed out several times towards the end of last season.
I don’t get why people are hoping for something in this case? Is the situation for what Americans call POCs in television so bad that they have to stick to such crap?
And what do you mean with bringing back Elena’s human soul from the great beyond? Did they state it like that in the show?
Perhaps Bonnie and Jeremy should do a round of this:
Or maybe it’s enough if Bonnie does a sound like that:
Let’s face it if Jeremy would be gay now at least McQueen would have something to do. There is surely enough hot and hungry ass around in Mystic Falls.
Speaking of the time that this show is still running. Seriously, what is it with these writers? Why can’t they have people graduate? Half of the cast was already far too old for their roles in season 1 and now they are still only seniors? They are seniors right?
Even Glee replaced some of its highschool cast after 3 years and considered the nature of Glee in that show it would have been more forgivable than for TVD. Seriously, what is the point of it all? Are they too stuck with highschool and small town stuff? I mean think about it, this show has been running for more than 3 years, many fans will be adults now, if they weren’t adults already at the time of the start.
Oh yeah, Elena and her “caring.” Pah, she cared about herself and someone should tell her that, but not on this show. Her such glimpses of realism and necessity are only distraction from the next “love and angst” episode.
You know what we need?
“And then Buffy staked Elena.
-The End”
“In a way, “Growing Pains,” is the start of a brand new chapter in TVD-verse. Elena, who has always been Mystic Falls most vulnerable damsel in distress, has finally become a supernatural creature capable of kicking some serious ass.”
Come on, do you really belief that? I think it will all rather go the way it did with her “slayer training” in season 3, one hit and than it’s gone her supposed toughness. Or it will be like with Caroline when people think that she is suddenly super woman and don’t find this weird, not to mention that they will never associate her “confidence” with her vampirism.
And why do you put any stock in the promos? They have been misleading and overdramatizing ever since season 1. You know this, so why do you still fall for it? What they show in the promo is surely just a bunch of short scenes that will have barely any impact on the show.
So really, don’t put your hopes high. I know I told you this time and again and I will continue to do so.
And of course nothing has changed, why should it? The writers had success with the same crap for three seasons, so why should they change it now?
If you are Delena, Stelena, Klaroline or Forwood, this show is the right thing to watch. Because it is just consumerism (seriously William’s claims that he wanted everybody to be represented in the show have failed big time), geared towards that and does nothing else.
I think this show is successful because it basically builds on the current seemingly fool-proof model for financial success in movies and shows:
White people + good looking people + teenagers + small American town + past denial + unquestioned wealth + vampires + love triangles = financial success
Now about that pastor: I remembered Vicky stating something about a pastor back in season 1 (the episode when she was “asked” by Tyler to his parents party [you know the one where she had to ask him first]). Well thanks to the internet I found it:
“Maybe I should just strip naked and give Pastor Bill a lap dance.”
So it seems you are totally right here. No one ever heard of that Pastor Young. Had they called him Bill there would at least have been some sort of non-Elena related consistency but apparently they cannot even manage that.
Now, I don’t know about American systems, but how can a pastor get a sheriff, a doctor and a mayor fired? Isn’t there something like separation of state and church in the USA?
And I guess if there was a smart way on how this Pastor and his crownies managed to get all vampires except two you would have written about it, so I assume it was just the same old vervain stuff. In that case: damn even the older vampires are idiots. And if it was vervain, shouldn’t Stefan have more resistance against it?
And this Rebekah…. Supposedly Michael hunted them for centuries, so why could she be caught so easily now? Is Pastor Young a new body of Michael or what? If yes, what difference does it make? It’s not as though that guy seems competent on anything.
Now don’t worry, either the pastor will be back or his death will be part of a new plan that will last until the middle of the season, max, and then disappear. Maybe he will rise from the dead or forms a ghost army or something else. Maybe he and his followers were sacrifices or maybe, in one of those rare moments in the show, their actions as vampire hunters in not killing the vamps right then (as opposed to Alaric’s hesitance and little speech in season 3 which clearly only served to point Elena as the heroine) are part of a bigger plan of someone else. Wouldn’t be surprised if a new sort of vampire appears, kinda like this:
Or a vampire/witch/werewolf hybrid, or those foxes from the books, I mean does anyone here think that TVD-writers have any knowledge about history and/or mythology? I doubt it after the vampire origin story.
And what was that about Elena and her breaking that lamp? I mean none of the transitioners before her showed anything like that.
Oh gosh, I hope she isn’t a special vampire now.
By the way, with all transitioners so far it was stated that smell, hearing and emotions where heightened by vampirism. But according to the promo for next week’s episode the same goes for touch, smell and sight. Why that all of a sudden? Are the writers not capable of using what they have? Ok, that was a stupid question, of course not.
The Vampire Diaries seems like one of those long running comic book series where writers simply forgot what was previously stated and do something entirely different that directly contradicts earlier happenings and character developments.
And I knew you would be thrilled about the “big” Delena moments. Not that I will ever understand why. Seriously, why do you want this impulsive serial killer to be a love interest?
This is sick. I admit that. Just plain sick.
And you know this; you stated time and again how that character is, so why are you hooked to that?
I wasn’t surprised that Klaus had already left Tyler’s body. It was Esther all over again. The same with the siring, Michael’s cannibalism, Gloria’s slowed aging, werewolf aggression, changing at will of the hybrids etc. etc.
It seems to me as though every now and then some writer in that crazy hen house manages to get to swim against the tide and introduce a good idea which then gets swept away by the others, probably because it is a good idea.
Maybe that is the reason it is really there.
And Klaus… seriously, of course it’s not the same guy. They changed him from the big bad to a whiner baby prone to hissy fits and diva attitude and then to a love sick creeper. Seriously, you cannot expect them to be any different here. It was the same with Tyler. He started as a potential rapist with anger management problems and suddenly he was Mr. Supersensitive. Yeah, Klaus is Tyler now in my eyes. The development is the same.
And sure Caroline would never be so perceptive to realize that Klaus is in Tyler’s body so quickly. But I have to remind you that a certain recapper, whose name shall remain Unspoken, also didn’t notice anything back then before it was revealed. This unspoken recapper simply took this as a sign of Tyler’s character development and that he had come so far when compared to the start of the season. Not even suspecting that it was already Klaus in Tyler’s body at the time 😉
Now back to the show:
A cattle farm? Seriously? How should a cattle FARM hold a bunch of super-powered vampires?
And what is Rebekkah’s problem? Why does she hate Elena so much? Klaus did much worse to her than Elena and she still stuck with him? Is Elena some sort of release for Rebekah for her repressed anger?
And now that I write this: Where is Elijah suddenly? Wasn’t he there just the other day?
And Klaus’ body… why is that one still around? Isn’t even the stake working now? And if yes, shouldn’t all hybrids have an extra weakness due to the whole balance thing? I mean those spirits did that back in the days when the vampires were created but now they do nothing. Man they are as unreliable as witches aren’t they?
And now to your darling Damon: so he blames Matt? Wasn’t it Elena’s decision that Matt is saved first and then her? But Damon blames Matt? What is Damon? The male version of Rebekah?
And why do they bother with saving Matt anyway? He is as much a tool and background now as Bonnie and Jeremy are. And even if he killed him, Elena would forgive Damon after a few days anyway, hey she did it when he killed her brother, so an ex-lover surely won’t cause a stronger reaction. Just let Matt die and give Roehrig the chance to do some actual acting.
Speaking of her. Why in all hell was Elena suddenly so accepting of being a vampire? I’ll tell you, because making her a vampire was the only way these stupid writers could get the “triangle” going again, that is why she had to become a vampire fast. No other reason in my eyes.
And she will not stay angry at Damon for long, this little, faaaaaaarrrrrr too late, taste of realism (let’s face it he is abusive as they come) in the show is surely just another distraction for the viewers, its impact won’t last. It is the same as with Caroline’s “Elena is too maternal” speech in season 2 or Dr. Fell’s “you are dating vampires” talk in season 3. The same as with the werewolves, Michael’s disgust for his son, Tyler’s father’s anger with his son etc. etc. All just distractions, like I said, they won’t have an impact that lasts longer than two episodes. If they have any at all.
And her choosing Stefan:
She chose the bloodthirsty junky over the impulsive serial killer. Really not much of an improvement in my eyes.
Now this whole stuff with Rebekah:
She finally got it, after centuries she got it. And Klaus was pissed when the blood got spilled. So he can’t make any more hybrids. The same hybrids he discarded without ever mentioning again after his family got destaked? Yeah him being upset makes so much sense.
You know, remember the 1920s bar scene back in the beginning of season 3? When Klaus stated that his siblings think of him as an abomination of the like? Well, what is this based on? Their behavior later on didn’t seem to be any indication for that? And now that I write this: Didn’t Elijah state that they found out about Klaus’ hybrid status when they became vampires and his werewolf side was awakened (probably when he killed someone)? At least Rebekah and Elijah didn’t seem to have abandoned him back then and Finn seemed to have his own reasons, completely unrelated with Klaus. And Cole … he was just a psycho anyway.
Well that was my comment for now.
And at the end, a nice little video, you are probably going to like:
Hey Andre! I’m kind of bummed that you and TVD “broke up” with one another. But I’m thrilled we will still get to snark over it, and discuss all the little plotholes and inconsistencies that are becoming more apparent as the show progresses. I’ve always been of the mindset that, once a show hits its third season, they should hire a continuity expert, whose main function is to familiarize themselves with past episodes, in order to ensure that plotlines, and character developments are relatively consistent from episode to episode.
Though Elena’s waking up and not knowing she was a vampire in the first scene of the episode was casually explained by Stefan explaining she had been “in and out” of consciousness for hours, after her initial death, other plotholes, like Bonnie’s sudden discovery of the “magic cure for vampires in transition” (which she never even considered trying on her own mother) and Elena’s “magical” escape from vampire jail should theoretically have merited a little retcon / explanation. Sometimes I think the main source of difficulty, when it comes to small details like this, is that shows like TVD have so many writers, each different styles and knowledge bases, that sometimes its hard to maintain a “unified feel” within the context of the series. This is why sometimes even a relatively solid series, will have a “dud” of an episode. (See for example, this past week’s installment of New Girl . . .)
As for my optimism regarding the promos, a number of critics who reviewed the first two episodes admitted that they preferred the second episode to the first, in that it truly showcased Elena experiencing the heightened sensations and emotions of newfound vampirism. And while it’s possible that the clips we saw were, in fact, the naughtiest aspects of the episode, just those 30 seconds alone, for me at least, were sexier than the entire hour of “Growing Pains.” So, until proven wrong, I choose, for now, at least, to stay positive.
By the way, Andre, what shows are on your TV viewing schedule this season, aside from Glee? Are you planning on giving American Horror Story a try, by chance?
So far there is only Glee and I have to catch up on that one again. I heard about American Horro Story, but I have lots of things to do.
Also the smut stories my fans like so much have to be finished especially the Danny Chronicles (you will like the new Teen Wolf trilogy that will come up after that, the title is “Under the Pink Moon”). 😀
This little trailer here will give you a hint on to the direction it will go:
Not the same but same basic line, you will see 😉
And by the way, I added a new Teen Wolf related picture to my deviantart gallery titled “What Teen Wolf didn’t show.”
If you are interested you can check it out here:
http://fav.me/d5hypre
I think if TVD would hire a “continuity expert” that person might get a shock from all this. Remember Plec stated herself two years ago that the writers don’t care about the timeline. And apparently about a lot of thinks neither.
There is a basic line in the show: Elena is the center. And personally saying that this show is about her to justify all the other crap is the same as justifying these lame werewolves and hybrids by saying that this is a vampire show. It is not an argument or anything, it is just a lame excuse for bad writing.
As for the promos and the critics decision:
Personally I cannot share your optimism, not with this show. Just because the critics said that they enjoyed the second episode more doesn’t mean that it is good, after all, what did they think about the episode in general.
And why is it that no critic seems to point out the many inconsistencies and plotholes?
I just don’t get it, it is so obvious.
Hey 😛
I’ve taken to replying to your comments simply because they’re so fascinating.
That video of Two Black Geeks? Hilarious. I laughed so hard, especially with the bits about Bonnie’s random black boyfriend who obviously has to date Bonnie… because… er… he’s black. Even though she’s a witch, and her mum tried to eat his face, and her best friend’s boyfriend beat him up, oh and all her friends are VAMPIRES (or werewolves, or dead)! Yup, it must be some political correctness thing. The answer? Next time they need a new character, hire an ethnic minority actor.. but not JUST because they’re from a minority, because they can act well, instead of having ‘black’ parts which they need to hire black people for so they can feel good about themselves.
As for Elena being the problem of the entire show: well obviously! The show is ABOUT her and her never ending sob story love triangle. That’s a given. I’ve said it before: Don’t like, don’t watch. Oh, and I know you will never understand Delena because Damon, yes, is a mardy abusive serial killer with anger issues. But it’s TV. Suspension of disbelief is a prerequisite of letting it entertain you. I mean, fundamentally the very fact that the age gap is over 140 should be making us be sick anyway, before we even start considering the personalities involved. He’s hot. She’s hot. When they come in the room with eachother it’s like ZING! unlike Stelena which is like *farting noise*.They’re hot for eachother. They both know it. THEREFORE: I ship it. 😉
As for all the plot holes, I just ride with them and don’t let them bother me. Because otherwise I would find the show UTTERLY infuriating. Again, suspension of disbelief! I am unashamed to enjoy it for the ridiculous bag of cheesy melodrama it is, because it has many fantabulously funny moments (usually involving Damon) badass fight scenes (again, Damon) and brilliant chemistry between characters (yeah you guessed it… Damon).
🙂
Well it is always good to know that other people like my statements. Does that make me self-centered? ^^
Never mind.
You know what you wrote about minority characters again remembered me of what Williamson once stated. He said that he wanted everybody to be represented in the show and although the efforts in the first season were quite ridiculous (the vampires were often drawn from human societies, but they have no racism in them and a single Chinese mother manages to charm a married white town “elder”?) at least it was tried, but ever since that… nothing. Quite the contrary, the story of the origin of the vampires was totally historically incorrect and possibly racist. Not only is there no evidence for horses in North America at the time, neither could someone looking like Joseph Morgan be the son of a North American native of the time, nor would it be conceivable that Elijah would know these people only as Indians, despite the fact that they apparently had close ties to the village (otherwise his mother couldn’t have cheated on her husband [something also glossed over in the show]), instead of their actual names. Also connecting the werewolves with Native Americans screams of Twilight copy and the old noble savage stereotype (you know the statement that there apparently everyone was healthy and blessed with speed and strength, interestingly the spirits left the part with the agonizing transformation and murderous rampages [which would decimate local fauna] out).
So far every character with some role was either white or a rather light-skinned African American and even then whites were in the majority. So if they would bring in new characters, chances are high that they will be white. Or rather that they will be Anglo-American, since this is what usually seems to be meant in US media when someone is referred to as white.
Quite frankly right now every character that is not a witch and anything different then an Anglo-American is just tokenism in the show. And the witches themselves are just slaves to the vampires. At least in my eyes.
Now your explanation for Delena is just… no, I cannot overlook the personalities. And quite frankly I do wonder why anybody can just overlook that. Had Damon done to my sister what he had done to Elena’s brother I would have… well:
I don’t like Damon’s comments, I don’t think he is funny or anything. He just plain gets on my nerves.
Yay!!! You’re back and just as hilarious 🙂 As for me, I hope we get the cheeSE all squeezed out of the show in next few epi’s so we can finally learn about things we really care about –like how Matt will get to work without his truck and who’s teaching history now, and yes okay I demand DE sexy times, not that I’m a fangirl or anything…ahem.
Anyway, I think the season looks pretty promising. Looking foward to reading your recaps!
Not wanting to sound like a pessimist or to interrup kjewls but I think chances are high that you will never know the answer to the question regarding Matt. He is just background now and in no way in a love triangle so there will probably not much covering of him.
Hey Andre 🙂
I was joking about wanting to know about the scope of Matt’s vehicular challenges but I can’t say I don’t agree with you…You’re right, in the past Matt hasn’t been a particular favorite of the writers for sure…BUT! BUT! You know what happens after Damon tries to kill you? You become his drinking/whittling buddy that’s what. The two of them at the bar, rolling their eyes at the lack of brilliance around them while bitching about Elena and her crappy choices? Well that would be kinda awesome actually.
Well you could have merit there. It would make sense, since Alaric seems to be gone now , the show needs the next idiot who drinks with Damon, makes friends with him and then is shocked at the sociopaths violent behavior. I mean Elena cannot cover all the idiocy of the show right? Not even the writers would… scratch that, of course they would do stuff like that. Hey this is the Elena show anyway.
Hey JenSteph! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recap. Squeeze out the cheese, indeed. 🙂 I’ve definitely had enough of Stefan and Elena tearfully declaring their undying love for one another for an entire season. And I too am curious about the new History teacher. I’m starting to think that teaching History at Mystic Falls High merits you the same death sentence as teaching Dark Arts at Hogwarts. 😉
Personally, I’d like to see Matt buy a motorcycle, and join a biker gang. 😉 But since TVD seems to enjoy torturing the kid, I predict he’ll end up riding the bus, with all the freshmen . . .
The idea of Matt in a biker gang or being Damon’s new buddy? Oh PLEASE YES! 😀 The most interesting thing he’s ever got to have done on the show is that time a couple of seasons ago when the Sherriff told him vampires were evil, he took a crossbow to Damon, I was like ‘Whoopee, Matt’s a badass and can have interesting story lines now… oh.’ And nothing happened. He’s just a tool atm…just like Jeremy…and like Bonnie. (Seriously the way the writers abandon that woman!)
😉
I don’t think Elena’s vampire instincts took over as much as when, when the moment started to arrive, she suddenly realized she *didn’t* want to die. From what the show has already established, not feeding isn’t exactly a non-painful way to go. And there was just that one agonizing moment, where you could see the agony Elena was going through, when she finally blurted out the truth, “I don’t want to die!” It was obvious that she’d come to that realization, despite her previous attitude toward it, and I believe it was because she’d never really had to face that before. Not even when Uncle Daddy Snark gave up his soul for her. Before, she could reason that she was sacrificing herself for her friends, a good, noble, honorable thing to do. But when she was faced with the actual awful, nasty truth that the end wasn’t anywhere near as romantic as she’d still managed to delude herself into thinking it was, she copped out. And I think all of that was wonderfully acted by my namesake.
Good point, Nina. Saying you would are ready to die, and actually refusing to fight for your life, in those crucial final moments are definitely two different things. I can definitely see how some of Elena’s experiences during the day, i.e. her recalled memories with Damon, her *mutters under breath* loving conversations with Stefan, caused her to realize just how much she wanted to live, fangs or no fangs.
And I did love the way the scene was shot. I guess my only issue with the plot development was that we’ve already seen Elena head “fearlessly” toward death on multiple occasions. When she allowed herself to be the doppelganger sacrifice in Klaus’ ritual, she had no clue whether or not she’d survive, and yet she was so horrified by the notion of being a vampire, that she willingly allowed Klaus to drain her dry. Then, in the season finale, Elena’s survival instincts seemed practically nil in that drowning car, when she, not only insisted that Stefan save Matt first, she never even really struggled or tried to save herself.
I guess I would have just liked to see a bit more internal turmoil, before she started reaching for that blood. Or, conversely, I would have liked to have seen some sort of explanation for her sudden about face.
I look forward to your reviews for this new season of TVD. ^_^ I won’t be writing more. I laughed aloud, per usual. The evil priest who looks like every evil priest especially got me. And the end, what on earth? I presume this is part of a plan. Someone mentioned ghosts, but I’d prefer zombies. And I don’t even like zombies. But hasn’t the ghost ship sailed already?
I plan to mostly ignore the inconsistencies that bother me about this show. (Some don’t bother me at all.) Otherwise, I will just stop watching. There are still aspects that I like, so I’ll just go along with it. I suppose the most troublesome thing to me is that Bonnie and Rebekah have lost a lot of physical power, in spite of what Bonnie keeps saying. In season ONE.she could stand up to a vampire, now does she even try? And Rebekah is one of the strongest creatures on the planet, but would we ever see Elijah in a similarly weak situation? One more question: why didn’t this crazy council just kill all the vampires? What good will hiding them do?
Still, it was surprisingly comforting getting back to some of my beloved characters. Delena shippers, I’m pretty sure Elena will come around in time. I thought of you when Bonnie’s nose started bleeding. I know you missed those. Regarding Klaroline, and this is coming from someone who absolutely cannot stand their relationship (they feel like totally different people when they share “moments”), I didn’t think Klaus was so much chivalrous as just not too keen on having sex with this lady he’s trying to possess in another dude’s body. He wants to get her for his Klaus body self.
I liked it when Elena drank the blood (if not her pointlessly long struggle to reach it–we all know she’ll drink). TVD vamps (and any, I imagine) are always SWEET JESUS THAT’S GOOD whenever they taste that delicious blood, especially for the first time. In conclusion: it’s good to be back.
Hey Noelle! I’m definitely going to miss your TVD-caps. But I’m thrilled your still writing movie reviews. I always enjoy reading your takes on films I’ve seen, and getting your insights into ones that I haven’t.
I do think we will ultimately find out that Evil Priest’s seemingly ridiculous ploy to blow up every anonymous vampire hating asshat in Mystic Falls was part of some Malevolent Master Plan. However, I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what it might be. Zombies would be fun. Though, wouldn’t be ironic if the Council tried to cure Mystic Falls’ bloodsucking problem, by replacing it with a brain-eating one? 😉
I agree with you that Elena will come around to her feelings for Damon in time. I’m just getting so frustrated with her repeated rejections of him, that I fear that by the time those two actually get together, I won’t want Damon to give her the satisfaction. I mean this has become the most lopsided love triangle of all time, right? 🙂
I’m definitely with you on the fact that, since we knew that Elena was going to drink blood anyway, a good portion of the episode was kind of pointless. I think I might have preferred the episode began with Elena as a full blown-vampire, and illustrated, through flashbacks, how she got there. But, hey, what do I know? I’m not Julie Plec.
Anyway, I’m definitely psyched to begin a new season of TVD with all my fellow fangbangers. Damon Salvatore, I just can’t quit you . . . 🙂
Glad I’m not the only one who finds Klaroline creepy. Half of me was glad Klaus got the heck out of Tyler’s body pretty sharpish, but the other half of me was like SERIOUSLY? Yet another massive plot oppurtunity which they just chucked away!
Yeah and I wonder what is going to happen to the pastor’s victims. They really, really can’t pull the zombie card out… can they? Maybe he fed them all vampire blood so they can be super powerful and then kill the other vampires and then… kill themselves… er…
Personally I wouldn’t put either option past thm, even if both would be bad copying again. I mean zombies are overdone and the whole blood stuff is also not new, albeit if they use that they probably either do the same thing as with the sireing (that it is “rare”), add some new ingredient in it or say nothing at all.
“No wonder today’s Mystic Falls weather forecast called for nosebleeds, with a chance of dramatic fainting” This is why I love your recaps!
LOL Amy. I love watching TVD with you. I can always count on you to be as perpetually perturbed by Nosebleed Bonnie as I am. 😉
You guys can add me and my two besties…”Would somebody PLEASE get the girl a hankie for all her bloody boogers before they go into her mouth? Just once… Sincerely, grossed out.”
Hello Jewls, its that time of the year again. I look forward to discussing the episodes from now until May with you like the years before. So let´s start.
Great episode. I still wonder how the Council is even relevant, they are inept as shown in this episode, they are idiots as shown in this episode and they are useless but they don´t know it yet most vampires they catch think to highly of themselves. They would have been wiped out if it wasn´t for the gang.
So Elena is a vampire hmm…should help the story and hinder it as well.
I did not like Damon in this episode he acted like an immature little brat, I thought: Its over Damon, stop picking on poor Matt, stop being such a petulant little child. But I hate what they´ve done with the brothers I hate it when they fight but its Julie´s attempt at creating yet more tension to keep the ”story” going. And this stupid triangle? Its fizzling out people are hating it, I get its a triangle but its getting stupid I think this vampire sex next episode will get only boost Stelena just a bit. I heard people will find the wrist sucking scene with Delena hotter than that.
And Stefan, our resident hero. Did you know Paul Wesley criticized the ending of S3? He asked the writers about and they told him Stefan wasn´t strong enough but he´s a vampire and 163 years to boot, he´s certainly strong enough but Paul did not criticize the writers and I understand they do sign his paychecks.
I want the writers to explore more of Stefan´s past. Has he ever turned anyone? Will he ever? And Katherine…she´s missing. She is needed and I think she is still better than Elena who is now a vampire.
I heard they might do a Dark Bonnie saga but I don´t see that. Dark Magic is not something to be messed with.
Hey East Coast Captain! That’s interesting that Paul Wesley was frustrated by Stefan’s inability to rescue BOTH Matt and Elena from the drowning car, during the Season 3 finale. You’re right. We’ve seen Stefan rip hearts out of people’s chests, and toss around heavy pieces of furniture, like they weighed nothing. He’s carried Elena multiple times over long distances, and tossed men around like they were rag dolls. And now, we are supposed to believe that he couldn’t lift both Matt and Elena, both of whom, together probably total under 300 pounds?
I definitely call BS on that one. 🙂
I do think it would be interesting to see Katherine the Vampire facing off against Elena the Vampire. I’ve read that Nina Dobrev has had some trouble differentiating the two, now that they are vampires. Given that, I would love to see her take on that challenge head on, by putting the two ladies in the same room. If nothing else, it would be a great acting exercise for her. 😉
Ugh, this episode had me scoffing the whole time. I was so excited to see if we’ll get to see Delena or at least some semblance of Elena having a hard time now that she remembers but nope, nothing at all. I know not to expect but damn you TVD! Huhuhuhu.
Anyway, Hot Henchman is hot! Heehee. And yes, I was wondering how the hell Elena got out of the cattle jail because even Original Rebekah can’t. So much for logic!
I found this episode SOOOOOO underwhelming in that I don’t think it deserves to be the first episode of the season. I was pretty bummed by Elena being a vampire by the end of Season 3 because then I can’t see the plot. As much as I hate Elena’s being a damsel in distress forever, that has been the plot ever since so I felt like I don’t know which direction the show will go. And now I see that it’s going nowhere! It’s like Season 1 all over again except Elena’s a vampire and we all know Season 1 isn’t the best season, don’t we? Ugh. I might be like this because I didn’t get any Delena, even crumbs, but seriously, it didn’t make me excited for the next episode. And what’s with Pastor Young?
Still, Klaus is ever the gentleman. Well, with Caroline. Heehee. You weren’t able to comment on how Michael Trevino did as Klaus? Did you find him believable? Well, I actually did though it wasn’t great. I mean, it was okay. 🙂
I felt bad for Rebekah, for being trapped with ~the lovers~ because bleh. And for Klaus leaving her. Aaaaww. And Bonnie and Jer are useless. At least Matt knows where Pastor Young lived and that he has a cattle farm. Haha! Please get Anna back so Jer can be a little bit interesting. HAHAHA!
Anyway, thanks for the great and hilarious recap as always! I miss commenting here, been so busy with school!
Hey whoopeyoo! 🙂 I felt the same way you did. I wasn’t sure if the lack of Delena was to blame for my ambivalence toward the episode, or if it was something more . . . practical. I’m also glad I wasn’t the only one who thought Hot Henchman was sexy. Looks like I’m destined to marry a very bad man. 😉
Hmm . . . I thought Trevino did a pretty solid job mimicking Klaus. (The scene where his mother called was classic.) On the other hand, I would have actually liked to see Trevino try out a semblance of Klaus’ accent. I feel like that would have really clinched the transformation moment. In Trevino’s defense, he didn’t actually get to be Klaus for that long. So, it was hard to judge, either way.
As for the direction the series is going this season, I guess it’s too early to tell. When you really think about it, the season premiere actually have us very few hints of what was to come. Hopefully, this Big Bad Vampire Hunter we keep hearing about so often won’t be yet another disappointing, dead-in-three-episodes, villain. Hey, I hear Sarah Michelle Gellar is out of work. Maybe they could bring in Buffy! 🙂
Ooh, and I almost forgot, are you planning on doing Nanowrimo this year? 🙂
I was sad to see Hot Henchman die! His facial angles are to die for! (pun intended haha!)
Anyway, I’m not much of a writer so I don’t think I’ll be doing Nanowrimo. I don’t know what to write and I don’t know how so yeah. I can only write rants about my favorite TV shows. Hahaha!
Hi Julie! So glad to be back, because that means new TVD episodes 🙂 and your recaps to make me smile after!
I haven’t yet had time to read all the previous comments, so I might repeat things already said, but here goes.
LOL for the lamp commentary! She really hated that lamp, didn’t she? I’m totally with you: why not just hit the light switch? Or are we supposing that becoming undead means that your brain suffers some kind of very specific amnesia so you get thrown back into the middle ages, technologically speaking? How very inconvenient!
I too loved the replay in 3D of Damon’s confession of love in ‘Rose’. Even though I found it odd that she would be seeing it as if she were a third party. Wouldn’t she have been herself, living that experience? That would have been way more confusing still… As it was, I think she figured out pretty quickly that it was only a memory. I’d already heard somewhere that Julie Plec said that while Elena doesn’t immediately react to those memories resurfacing apart from discussing them with Damon, they will eventually influence the way she sees him. Both of those memories fit what she said to him in 3×19: why don’t you let people see the good in you? He actually does something good, but doesn’t want her to know (when people see good, they expect good? I guess he didn’t want to live up to her expectations then?). Ironically, he calls them selfish. Just as he says he ‘selfishly’ wanted her to live, because that’s what SHE wanted. I think he knows what she wants better than she does herself. Which is kind of daunting, come to think of it… An understanding guy who reads between the lines! Run, Elena, Run 😉
Did you notice cattle farms are getting immensely popular in vampire shows these days? TB used a pig farm to store Sookeh and Hoyt; TVD uses a cow farm ‘because it takes a lot to hold a vampire’. IDK… all it seems to take normally is vervein-soaked ropes…
And yeah. How DID Elena AND Stefan get out of those cells? Maybe Jailbait number one had the keys on him? Although, with his body so far away, I don’t see how they got to those keys either…
Bonnie’s nosebleeds? I’m hoping she loses her magic for a while. That’ll give her a chance to visit her MD, get a prescription for those nosebleeds. And free us from them, hopefully! BTW, I was not really in agreement with JerBear this week either. I know he’d prefer his sister human, but risking her life rather than having her become fanged? Kind of extreme, especially if you think he dated a vampire and a witch.
And. Stefan got of very lightly IMO. I’d have figured that Damon would give him hell for not saving Elena first… but he was actually rather tame about it. He seemed more pissed towards Matt and Rebekah than towards his brother. BTW, I did finally post that one-shot (for the time being), right before the premiere. It’s called Thursday Is Indigo Blue, if you’d care to check it out. Damon is seriously more pissed at Stefan there… although it probably wouldn’t be fitting for the CW lol.
And the end of the episode? Boom. HUH? WTF happened there? In what world is it a good idea to fight by blowing yourself and your crew to kingdom come (I hope for them it’s where they ended up anyway lol)? The only thing I can see is that he wants to make it appear that the vampires did it. Kind of lame, if you ask me. I’d already guessed that Pastor Young wouldn’t survive all that long, since it seems we get his daughter April next week, come to mourn a relative, so that kind of gave the game away.
Like you, I’m hoping that this was a bit of a filler episode, to solve some fall out of season 3 (Elena becoming a vampire, the activated council), and that they will really get started next week. The preview looks promising… Elena making out with Damon’s hand? Hell yeah!
Talk to you next week, Jules!
Hey Serendipity! Ooh, Indigo Blue. What an awesome title for a fanfiction! I can’t wait to read it.
I definitely would have liked to have seen Stefan get a bit more flak for letting Elena “die,” not just from Damon, but from JEREMY. I mean, that’s his sister, after all! It definitely seemed like Damon sublimated his anger toward his brother, into rage against Matt, for some reason. Perhaps, he did this, because raging at Stefan would serve as a painful reminder that he wasn’t Elena’s “chosen one.” Either way, I’d like to see some of those unresolved feelings bubble to the surface in the episodes to come.
Speaking of unresolved feelings, I do think Elena once again doth protest too much, when she shrugged off her new compulsion free memories of Damon. She may be able to hide all that lust now, but wait until “heightened vampire senses and emotions” take over. If I recall, in the books, blood drinking (when Elena was a vampire) and blood exchange were always highly sexually charged experiences for Damon and Elena, much more so than between Elena and Stefan. So, I’m hoping the writers take note of that, and use it to their advantage.
Hmmm, perhaps one of the reasons Elena regained her memories of Damon as a bystander, rather than as a participant, was to show the delineation between her human life, and her vampire life. Her memories are all of things she experienced as a human. But since her human mind technically never experienced this situation, she can only experience it as a bystander vampire. Another reason it might have gone down this way, is to keep viewers in the dark as to Elena’s true feelings about the event. If Vampire Elena was standing in human Elena’s place, she might have tried to speak to Damon, or change the situation, or react in some way. And I think, for now, the writers are intentionally keeping Elena’s thoughts about Damon’s sacrifices for her ambiguous.
Then again, maybe it was just, as you said, to keep fans from getting confused. 🙂
You know, the whole hand sucking thing kind of reminds me of that sort of awesome scene between Jeremy and Anna during Season 1. Something tells me that this one is going to be even more erotic. All fingers crossed. 😉
Hey Julie 😀
I was so excited to be able to return to my little weekend TVD watching/blogging bonanza! Yippee, my life feels whole again. 😛
Okay I’m going to cut to the chase, this episode was not as exciting as it could have been and I think I know why. They didn’t explore enough the interesting concepts which we were really looking forward to at the end of last season:
1) Klaus’ posessiong of Tyler
2) The founders council getting over the shock of discovering all the vampires and then trying to do something about it (they just went straight in with the creepy pastor before we’d seen any planning or whatever)
3) Caroline being on the run (that ended quickly)
4) Damon being angry at Stefan (major douche points for taking it out on Matt, seriously that guy needs a BREAK his life SUCKS)
5) the fact that ELENA DIDN’T WANT TO BE A VAMPIRE! I mean what happened to that after the first five minutes? I thought the whole episode would be really tense and angsty and panicky, Elena maybe getting angry at Stefan, having rages, crying, inner turmoil over whether to go ahead with the transition or not… but NO. Thanks a lot, script writers. The one, most IMPORTANT thing about this season…*other that Damon’s showers* you ignore.
Irritatingly, they seemed to let ALL of these points go! Grrr! They do this a lot (eg. Michael dying suddenly without having a proper story line…Fin dying suddenly without having a proper storyline …EVERYONE just dying suddenly before they’ve had a chance to do all the awesome things they have the potential to do…) and frankly it’s not good. The writers need to pick some good ideas and run with them, not abandon them every episode. Otherwise we just stop being excited any more. It’ll get to the point where we’re like, who cares this episode is a ‘gamechanger’ cos we no nothing will change! You were right in your point that ‘everything has stayed the same’ because it has, and the show is really going to lose steam if it continues to do so in the next episodes. Hopefully the episode next week lives up to the promo. 😉
Oh and where was Bonnie’s random boyfriend? Oh I forgot… he’s just another plot device. Like Bonnie. And remind me what the purpose of Jer is in the show again apart from to look hot? 😉 Kid does nothing and can’t act either.
Michael Trevino did a GREAT job of being Klaus. I was loving that (even though I find the concept gross.)
So for me, the ONLY emotional, pointful moment of the episodes was (apart from obviously the amazing memory recovery scene) Rebekah’s fit at Klaus at the end (you go girl)! Apart from that, it was UTTERLY underwhelming. Even Damon’s ridiculous hotness all the way through (he really had the glares on this week) was not enough to make me totally happy.
On the plus side, rumour has it that The Ultimate Badman Elijah is going to be more important in this season. 😀 PLEASE yes!
Despite all my complaining obviously I loved it. I even drew out an appreciative ‘aww’ for the mushy Stelena scenes. Already two minutes into the episode and we discover what we ALL hoped for – Elena got turned with Damon’s blood and the score was STELENA: 0 DELENA: 10! Yippee! Also how funny is it that Elena’s wrist biting of Damon is going to excite most of the audiences far more than any amount of sex with Stefan. STELENA: 0 DELENA: 50 Not forgetting the amazing romantic tragic beautiful heartbreaking memory scene STELENA: 0 DELENA: 400 I mean did you notice that when they were in the ranch Elena didn’t tell Stefan she loved him back? STELENA: 0 DELENA: 6000 Maybe I’m reading in too much but she avoided the topic. And is it just me but whenever she talks about the choice she made, woman looks like she’s having major doubts. STELENA: 0 DELENA: 900 SQUILLION. As each episode goes by I become more and more confident that Damon is gonna be the one and only. 😉
Oh, I’m going to do nanowrimo again this year. Just not sure what on…
Maddy x
“Otherwise we just stop being excited any more.”
I already did that months ago.
And I think the problem with the show is the focus on the “tension” between the main three. Plec herself said that the show is all about those three and at most they would be in the background (haven’t seen much of that haven’t we?). Sure she stated the stuff with Bonnie and the dark path, but this show blows this stuff up all the time. You know Mason was supposed to be an older brother for Tyler, but he was gone after a few episodes (and in show th two haven’t seen each other for years), the same with Jeremy’s absence (or his many losses), Elena’s slayer carreer, etc etc
That is probably why they skip all the interesting parts.
But apparently peopl are not quitting and just overlook it. And so far none ofthem could tell me why.
You are absolutely right, Maddy. Although the episode was entertaining, there were definitely a lot of missed plot opportunities here. Imagine how much fun Michael Trevino and Joseph Morgan could have had, if their “Freaky Friday” scenario, carried itself out over two or three episodes. I personally would love to have seen “Klaus” impersonating Jock Tyler in class, or on the football field. And what about the reverse? How awesome would it be to see Joseph Morgan mimic Trevino’s “confused face,” or attempt to engage Rebekah in conversation as TyleriKlaus?
I also think a lot more could have been done with Elena’s struggles over her impending vampirism, rather than just watching her get headaches, and wax poetic about Stefan for twenty plus minutes. Personally (and this is odd, because I’ve never been a huge Matt fan), I always wanted resident human Matt to ultimately be the one who convinced Elena to complete the transition, by drinking his blood. In my head, I envisioned this poignant scene in which a tearful Matt told Elena how much their friendship meant to him, and yelled at her for not fighting for her own life, after she had fought so hard for the lives of her friends. He could make mention of Vicki, and tell Elena that her fate doesn’t have to be the same. Then finally, he could appeal to her guilt, by saying that, if she allowed herself to die, Matt would never forgive himself, and she would be dooming him to life as an effective “walking dead.” Then, the dying Elena would drink from Matt and complete the transition, allowing him to “save” her, the way she “saved” him.
Given how last season played out, I was fairly certain the writers would go this route, and was kind of surprised that they didn’t.
Oh yeah, and Jeremy really has to stop being the Flying Monkey to Nosebleed Bonnie’s Not-So-Wicked Witch of Mystic Falls. I mean, at this point, all he needs is the goofy hat and some wings. (But hey, at least as a flying monkey, he’d be shirtless.) 🙂
I’m 95% positive I’ll be doing Nanowrimo this year too. I have a plotline, general character analyses, and everything. And yet, for some reason, I’m a lot more anxious about it than I was last year. I guess it’s because I “won” last year. And if, for any reason, I couldn’t repeat the feat, I’d feel even more like a failure than if I couldn’t do it the first time. Does that make any sense?