Nothing like a little change of scenery to shake things up a bit. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we all love getting wasted on whiskey at the Only Bar / Social Establishment in Mystic Falls . . .
And getting staked at Elena Gilbert’s house . . .
And getting chased by psychopaths down the hallway of Mystic Falls High . . .
And we DEFINITELY love getting wet in Damon’s shower . . .
But sometimes we all can use a break from the daily grind of getting our hearts ripped out of our chests . . .
. . . and hot no-frills sex . . .
. . . and drama with a capital D.
Sometimes, we just need to . . . go to Canada . . .
This week’s installment of TVD was a literal detour from week’s past, in that a good portion of it took place on a remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia . . . Lost Island Silas Island. So, strap on that backpack, hold your ancient headstone up high, and practice your “expression,” Fangbangers. Because it’s time to head . . . “Into the Wild.”
[As always special thanks to Andre, who photographs Steven R. McQueens pectorals more lovingly than Bonnie Bennett ever could . . .]
Bushy hair is whacked!
It’s Super Short Flashback Time! Professor Dumpy Dork is being chased through the forest by . . . wait . . . is that Johnny Depp’s character from The Lone Ranger?
I guess we can take this to mean the natives are on Team Dead Kol, when it comes to letting The Cure stay buried, right alongside other Discarded TVD Plotlines, like Damon’s Crow and Bonnie’s decision to date her sort-of brother?
“Now, where was Johnny Depp, last week, when I was getting my ass handed to me at Baby Vamp’s house?”
Back in the present day, our Scooby Gang (minus Caroline and Tyler) arrives on Lost Island Silas Island in their trusty canoes. (Who knew Mystic Falls had its very own Eastern Mountain Sports store?) Professor Dumpy Dork waxes poetic about the island, and makes some lame vampire sunscreen joke to Damon, who looks unamused.
“Are you sure? It smells like coconuts?”
Then, Rebekah and Elena try to stake one another in front of Stefan, who looks VERY amused, but has to pretend he’s not . . . you know, to protect his image as the Brooding Tortured One.
Hey . . . you know what . . . while we are waiting for something exciting to happen, let’s go ahead and give our Scooby Gang their Lost identities for the hour. After all, this is the Lost episode of TVD, after all. (For those of you who never watched Lost, feel free to skip down to the next section, as this part is going to make absolutely no sense to you.)
Professor Dumpy Dork, of course, is our Benjamin Linus. You know, the guy who fans new was bad news, the minute he appeared on screen. And yet the Losties took about a season to figure out the exact same thing . . .
=
Damon is that uber sexy snarky rascal, Sawyer (naturally) . . .
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Which, I guess makes Elena, the intrepid Kate . . .
And Stefan the serious minded doctor with daddy issues, Jack . . .
Depending on your personal feelings about her, Rebekah could either be the started-out-as-an-Other, but-turned-into-an-ally / plucky love interest blonde, Juliet . . .
. . . or the bratty, doomed-to-die blonde with brother issues, Shannon . ..
Our warrior Jeremy, will double as THEIR Warrior, Sayid . . .
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Also starring Bonnie Bennett as . . . the Smoke Monster . . .
X Marks Jeremy’s Nipple
Now, I like obligatory shots of Steven R. McQueen’s naked flesh as much as the next girl . . .
But could someone please tell me why they waited until the crew got to FREEZING COLD LOST ISLAND for Bonnie to start snapping pictures of JerBear’s hot bod?
They couldn’t have done that before they left . . . like, say, in Jeremy’s bed?
Because the way Bonnie was fondling that tattoo definitely seemed illustrate a bit more than “scientific interest” on her part . . .
And let’s be honest, as far as Maps To the Cure go, this one seems to pretty much be the Easiest One to Read EVER. I mean, we are pretty much talking about a straight line from Jer Bear’s right arm to his left nipple. Not much room for error, there . . .
As for the theory that JerBear’s hunter tattoo is not a map at all, but a “spell to awaken Silas,” that theory ends up pretty much being a dead end too. So, in other words, the Scooby Gang just had thousands of vampires, so that Jeremy could look sexier with his shirt off . . .
Makes perfect sense to me!
This is My Confession . . .
Damon Salvatore . . . He’s an enigma, wrapped in pain, wrapped in love, leather, and a nice behind . . .
He was a self-proclaimed monster, with a deep dark secret, one he couldn’t bare to share with anyone, who would live to tell it to anyone else. Damon Salvatore was a vampire, who missed his humanity . . .
And yet, unlike a certain other Salvatore, he was never ashamed of who he was. And when the woman he loved also turned into a vampire . . . well . . . it didn’t change how he felt about her, in the least . . .
So, he taught her to love herself, which, in turn, helped her to realize that she loved him . . .
Why am I recapping all of this for you? Well, basically, because I found Damon’s admission this week, that, not only did HE not want the cure, but he didn’t want Elena to take it either, a bit confusing.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I particularly enjoyed Ian Somerhalder’s acting this week. There was a certain wistfulness about him, that we haven’t seen in some time. I loved the resigned sadness on his face, as Elena fervently reassured him of her continued love for him, human or vampire.
It was quite obvious that Damon’s history wasn’t letting him believe her. Yet, he really WANTED to believe her. And, above all, he wanted her to be happy. So, he pretended to be happy too, even though, inside, he was miserable.
That made sense to me. What didn’t make sense was Damon’s sudden shunning of Elena . . . his assertion that he wouldn’t want to be with her, while she got old and died, and he stayed the same age . . . even though, for three seasons, the love unrequited Elder Salvatore seemed like he would have given the world for that opportunity.
Was Damon lying to himself? Was he subconsciously trying to make himself believe that he could no longer love a human Elena, so that it would hurt less, if she stopped loving him?
Then again, maybe, the writers are just doing a little ret-con to make the inevitable plot twist of DAMON dying and coming back as a human, while Elena stays a vampire, more epic.
And, while we’re on the subject, shouldn’t this so-called sire bond, have immediately caused Elena to shun the cure, once she realized that her taking it would displease Damon?
Whatever the reason, I cheered when Damon tried to beat the sh*t out of Professor Dumpy Dork. (A least someone has finally wised up to the idea that this guy is up to no good.) And I was kind of bummed, when Elena stopped him.
Speaking of the Shanester . . .
Fake Aztec Moonstone Curse 2: Electric Boogaloo
I don’t know about you guys, but for me, there was something about Shane’s flashback stories that struck me as a little bit . . . what’s the word I’m looking for here . . . oh yeah, FULL OF CRAP! Let’s review, shall we?
(1) This week we learn that Bonnie’s witch ancestor buried Silas alive, to punish him for planning to use HER cure for immortality spell on ONE other woman. And yet, the Scooby Gang somehow believes there’s enough of this cure for all the vampires in the world?
(2) Professor Shady Douche claims he got this entire idea for the Journey to Rescue Silas from a . . . hallucination he had of his Crazy Dead Witch Wife? And no finds that the least bit disturbing / odd?
(3) The “Good” Professor boldly admits that route to the cure involves THREE massacres, not the two he’s already brought about. And NONE of these people, who have just been brought to a deserted island . . . where no one can hear you scream . . . is the least bit worried, that they’ve been brought here not because they have some big rock in their pants, or a gnarly tattoo, or a nice ass, or a nosebleed problem . . . but because they are PIGS FOR SLAUGHTER?
And, finally (4) any plan that involves Poor Man’s Benjamin Linus protecting the increasingly volatile Bonnie Smoke Monster from erupting hot lava all over Canada, just seems doomed to fail from the get-go.
But hey, what do I know? I’m just the lowly recapper, right?
Two Vamps and a Stefan . . .
Damon’s Lady Troubles render him unusually incapable of snark this week. Fortunately, Rebekah hops right in to the role of comic relief, lobbing zingers, left and right, mostly at her favorite target . . . Elena. From her wry determination that Elena was the only one who brought nothing to the table, when it came to the Scooby Gang’s quest for the cure (though, it could be argued that, since carrying a headstone requires only one vampire, not two, Rebekah, herself was equally useless) . . .
. . . to her later insistence that she saved Elena from the flying spear of an angry native, because she wanted the perky brunette’s death to be EPIC, Rebekah had me chuckling multiple times throughout the episode.
Oh, and let’s not forget her wise recognition of Damon’s ASS-ets . . .
I also related very much to Rebekah’s obvious fear, as the group sat at the Blair Witch Campfire that night, of things going bump in the night. Many would argue that an All-Powerful Original Vampire shouldn’t fear lesser supernatural creatures, like ghosts and dumb natives.
But I’m personally terrified of spiders and cockroaches, so I certainly can’t fault her for that . . .
Plus, it gave her a nice excuse to cozy up close to Stefan, a union I fully support.
In addition to being funny, Rebekah also appears to be the Voice of Reason in this episode, when she reminds the rest of the Scooby Gang, that they are all just as evil murderous monsters as she is . . . killing anyone and everything that gets in the path of the people she loves. So, why don’t they all just cut the crap, and work together?
And work together is precisely what Stefan, Rebekah, and Elena ultimately decide to do . . . after Damon, JerBear and Bonnie disappear, and Wanna Be Ben Linus makes off with their precious headstone . . .
“Smell ya later, losers!”
Elena even offers Rebekah back her “Originals Take a Nap” Dagger, as a sort of peace offering.
I mean, it’s not like they have any other options. We interrupt the I GuessNOT Everybody Loves Elena After All Show, to bring you . . .
Klaus in a Box
Back in Mystic Falls, our loveable Box inhabitant gets his very first visitor, Tyler. (Welcome back, Tyler!) At first, they just growl and snarl at one another a bit, and exchange “I killed yo mama / yo brudda jokes.”
Tyler smugly notes that, once his Scooby pals get The Cure, they will use it to “humanize” Klaus, and break the sire line. This way, they can kill him, without subsequently murdering everyone in the cast. Look at you, Tyler. . . a few months as a hybrid, and already you are an Expert in Vampire Mythology And Other Things Completely Unknown to the Rest of the World.
(Except, a certain in-the-works spinoff tells us all, this isn’t actually going to happen. So, thanks for playing, Tyler. Better luck next time.)
Then, Caroline pops over to do a little happy house cleaning. I liked very much how her version of disposing of Kol’s dead corpse was putting a blanket over it. That’s how I handle most of the stains in my house, so I can relate.
When Klaus tries to appeal to Caroline’s good will for a Get Out of Box Free Card, she scoffs at the idea, insisting that Klaus “is not worth the calories she burns” yelling at him.
Huh? Since when does Vampire Barbie not like to burn calories? Don’t all girls like to burn calories? Are vampires even capable of burning calories, considering they are . . . you know . . . dead . . . and stuff?
So, many questions. Unfortunately, we won’t have time to answer any of them, because, the minute Caroline finishes speaking Klaus stakes Caroline, and bites her neck, rendering her unconscious, and, prospectively doomed to death by werewolf venom poison.
It looks like someone should have created a smaller Klaus Box . . . BONNIE!
So, now Caroline is dying . . . again . . . and it’s shades of the last time Caroline was dying from a werewolf bite. Except, this time, instead of sort of / kind of compelling Tyler to do it, this time Klaus “bites” the bullet, no pun intended, and does the dirty work himself . . .
“Now, that was well worth the calories,” Klaus jokes.
(Stupid boys and their fast metabolisms. They think it’s just soooooo easy to burn off a late night bite of Caroline . . .)
Tyler is horrified . . . Caroline is on the Gilbert fainting couch, looking really pretty for a near-death girl. Tyler begins to bargain out of desperation, “If you save her, I’ll be your b*tch again,” he pleads hopefully.
“Been there, sired that,” Klaus replies . . . more or less.
So, Tyler carries Caroline home to die in peace . . . annnnd then he brings her back.
(Now, that’s what I call a good workout!)
Tyler leaves Caroline to die in front of Klaus, which had to be a tough thing for him to do, on multiple levels. For one thing, there is no guarantee (at least in Tyler’s mind) that Klaus will save her. So, there’s a very good chance, he will return to the Gilbert’s house to find her dead. For another, Tyler is basically leaving the woman he loves in the arms of another man, hoping that THAT man’s love will be enough to allow her to continue living. AWKWARD!
From a character development perspective, I kind of wish the producers lingered on Tyler’s face for just a few brief moments, after he “dropped Caroline off.” I think it would have added an extra layer of poignancy to the scene. But unfortunately for Tyler, this storyline ended up not really being about him at all . . .
Like with Damon’s scenes this week, Klaus’ and Caroline’s “moment” was more notable for the brilliant acting displayed during it, than for the writing that made up the scene itself. I’ve never really considered myself much of a Klaus fangirl (waves at blogger pal, Amy / Imaginary Men). However, there’s just something about his Angry!Cry that just melts my heart to mush, every time I see it . . .
And Angry!Cry was in full force as the dying Caroline dangled the carrot of The Redemptive Power of Love in front of his face. “I’ve caught myself wishing I could forget all the horrible things you’ve done,” Caroline says, in one labored breathe. “Anyone capable of love, is capable of being saved,” she says in another.
Girlfriend is like a Life-sized Dying Hallmark Card . . .
But it worked . . . on Klaus, anyway . . . who Angry!Cried his bloody wrist to Caroline’s lips, just moments before she took her last breath . . .
Deja-vu?
Back at Lost and Found Island . . .
Jer Bear gets kidnapped by (I think) the axe murdering Johnny Depp, who tried to kill him, earlier in the episode . . .
“You’re not really Johnny Depp! Liar!”
Bonnie Smoke Monster makes some . . . wait for it . . . Black Smoke.
Damon wanders off to sulk, and gets temporarily killed by a (hot?) vampire hunter, as punishment for being overly broody . . .
Professor Evil drags new hostage Jer Bear and Bonnie off into the sunset to find Silas.
But at least he’s taken that ridiculous flashlight hat off his head . .
He looks like the forgotten cast member of The Village People.
Ruh-roh . . .
Next week, on The Vampire Diaries, meet Hot Vaughn: Vampire Hunter Extraordinaire. Here’s hoping he lets us see HIS Hunter Tattoo, before the hour is up . . .
Tune in next time to find out who! Until then, Fangbangers!
Greetings, Fangbangers, and welcome back! This week’s TVD installment may have been a bit low on romance, and grist for the respective Shipper Mills . . .
. . . but, boy, did it make up for that with unparalleled Original Family Hijinks (which, of course, is the new Doppelganger Hijinks)!
Julie Plec and Co., I beg of you . . . please give this family it’s own spinoff show . . . and while you are at it, you might want to make it a comedy. Because these guys are friggin hilarious!
So, slip into your favorite dinner wear, and, for heaven’s sake, hide your stakes! Because you have just been invited to the sexiest, wackiest, most jaw-dropping dinner party on this show, since . . . well . . . the last time they had a dinner party, on this show . . .
(As always, special thanks to my spectacular screencapper Andre, who is most definitely filled with awesomesauce! ;))
Cheap and Easy Ways to Renovate Your Home – starring Elijah
“This would make a marvelous tree ornament.”
Our bloody tale picks up, literally, right where it left off, prior to last week’s hiatus. Damon has returned the Original Family Coffins (except for one!) to Klaus. However, unbeknownst to the Original Hybrid at the time, one of those coffins contained a de-staked Elijah . . .
Now Klaus finds himself face-to-face with his undead brother, who is literally wearing his heart on his sleeve . . . well, someone else’s heart, actually. To say that Elijah got up on the wrong side of the coffin, after sleeping away half the season, is an understatement, to say the least . . .
Klaus is clearly surprised to see his brother, alive, kicking, and KICKING HIS ASS for that whole “murder and storage” thing. Now, as we all know, apologies have never exactly been Klaus’ strong suit. And while a simple, “I’m sorry I murdered you, and carted your rotting body around in a coffin for over 12 episodes,” would certainly have been in order . . . Klaus, instead, offers his very irate brother a cheeky, “Hey, at least I reunited you with your family, like you asked!”
But as jovial as Klaus might be, he has very limited patience for people who (1) don’t laugh at his jokes; (2) question his commitment to “family;” and (3) prefer other’s company to his own. When people disappoint Klaus in this way, he does what any rational human being would do in such a situation: DRIVE A STAKE THROUGH THEIR HEART . . .
However, since Damon currently has the stake that originally came out of Elijah, Klaus is forced to “recycle” the one currently enmeshed in his brother Kol.
“Tell the mortician to ease up on the face makeup next time. I look like a vampire. Oh . .. er . . . nevermind.”
Elijah then gently reminds his sibling that, since Kol has been dead at Klaus’ hand for over 100 years, there’s a good chance his wrath against the Original Hybrid will be even worse than Elijah’s. Klaus ultimately re-daggers Kol, and opts for a change in tactics . . .
You know what they say, “If at first you don’t succeed . . . try begging.”
Ultimately, Elijah decides to hear his brother out. It can’t hurt, right? After all, he does still want to be reunited with his family. And if Klaus tries to betray him again, Elijah can always go back to redecorating the mansion, by tossing his brother’s body into various parts of it . . .
Meanwhile, over at the Gilbert house . . .
Alcoholism: Because expressing your true feelings is hard. But it doesn’t have to be . . .
Alaric and his erstwhile foster kid, Elena, have very different ideas of what constitutes clean living. For Elena, clean living means waking up early for a morning jog, and having a bowl of fruit for breakfast. For Alaric, clean living means taking a shower, after you’ve polished off nearly an entire bottle of scotch.
This is likely one of the reasons that he and Damon get along so very well . . .
Damon’s a big fan of drinking and nakedness personal hygiene, as well!
In addition to clearly being a “morning person,” Elena get some props for keeping her judgy side at bay, even after Alaric admits to (1) being massively hungover; and (2) having drunk dialed his new Doomed-to-Die-a-Very-Painful-Death girlfriend, Crazy Nanny Carrie, the night before . . .
This super cute exchange is interrupted by a knock on the door. It’s Lizard Forbes, a woman who’s idea of clean living is putting a bloody murder weapon in a plastic baggy, before returning it to its rightful owner.
“In addition to murder weapons, I also sell bibles!”
That’s right, Fangbangers! Remember that adorably dead medical examiner from a couple week’s back?
“Hi!”
Well, apparently, he was killed by a stake from Alaric’s collection . . . one that conveniently contained only Elena’s prints on it. (Or Vampire Katherine’s . . . isn’t it conceivable that the two Petrova Doppelgangers would have identical fingerprints? Just a theory.) Of course, Lizard doesn’t suspect Alaric or Elena, which makes her a very understanding person, but also a Really Sh*tty Cop.
OK . . . I take back the “understanding” part . . .
If this was Law and Order, both Alaric and Elena would be dragged down to the station for questioning faster than you could say, “Is that a stake in your chest, or are you just really happy to see me?”
Elena the Vampire Founder’s Council Slayer?
In which it was finally revealed that Damon Salvatore is actually Gossip Girl . . .
Those of you who read my Gossip Girl recaps, know that I am still not entirely convinced that Georgina Sparks is actually Gossip Girl. To be honest, she simply doesn’t seem adept enough at snarky wordplay to pull it off. Damon Salvatore, on the other hand, is a spectacular wordsmith!
(By the way, Elena really shouldn’t put Damon on speaker phone. It vastly increases the chance that Alaric will learn the truth about the couple’s budding phone sex relationship.)
“I love it when you talk dirty.”
Elena doesn’t think the Mystic Falls Murderer is Alaric’s girlfriend . . . but only because she’s been too busy running away from Klaus, and making out with Damon to watch One Tree Hill or Pretty Little Liars.
Brush up on your pop culture, girlfriend. It might just save your life . . .
Elena actually thinks the murderer might be Stefan, despite the fact that her ex has absolutely no rational motive for staking a perfectly good meal, which the medical examiner clearly was despite the formaldehyde smell, of course, and leaving it completely uneaten.
Oh, Mr. Former Bunny Muncher . . . how the mighty hath fallen . . .
Speaking of Mighty, Damon cuts his flirty phone conversation with Elena and Alaric short, to meet with one of the most powerful vampires in the world. Of course, I’m referring to the newly awakened Elijah. Honestly, if I were Elena, I’d be a bit concerned, because the sexual tension between these two men is fierce! I mean, Damon is already leaving flirty Gossip Girl style messages in Elijah’s underwear clothing, signed with hugs and kisses. . .
“I’m here. Let’s talk,” says Elijah gruffly, as he moves in mere inches from Damon Salvatore’s chiseled face, and dreamy crystalline blue eyes. “Talk” . . . is that what the kids are calling it, nowadays? 😉
DAMON: “Just so you know, I am a VERY good ‘talker.’ In fact, just last night, Elena was complimenting me VERY LOUDLY about what a good ‘talker,’ I am.”
Speaking of “talking,” Elena kindly confronts Stefan, with her theory that he’s a serial killer, which, clearly he IS . . . He’s just happens not to be the one running around plopping Alaric’s stakes in people’s chests. (Eating off their heads, and gluing them back on to their bodies, is much more his style.)
Stefan, of course, is super offended by the notion that a bloodthirsty vampire like himself would do something as evil as KILLING HUMANS. *clears throat* Even more offensive to Stefan is the fact that Elena is accusing him, as opposed to . . . you know . . . the other vampire with whom she sometimes plays tonsil hockey . . .
The Bennett Family: Witches or Locksmiths of the Dead?
“Bippity Bobbity Boo?”
So, was I the only one having Bad Flashbacks of Poor Dead Grams, when Bonnie and Abby were holding hands and doing the whole “let’s open a coffin with our minds” thing? In the past “communal spells” meant people DIED . . .
. . . and “solo spells” meant nosebleeds for Bonnie.
Now, it seems like both of those things are plot lines of the past . . . which, I guess, is a good thing, if you like Mama Bennett / want her to stick around for awhile, and a bad thing, if you don’t . . .
*whistles uncomfortably*
Poor Mama Bennett wasn’t having a particularly great life episode. Both Stefan and Bonnie were riding her ass to “just buck up and BE MAGICAL ALREADY, dammit.”
“The old lady did it, so why can’t you, you lazy ass!”
Bonnie even added a fresh layer of guilt to her judgment. “You clearly suck as a mom, and a human being. So, please try not to suck at this too,” she said . . . more or less.
Cue more creepy chanting, and flickering candles in Fourth Coffin’s New Hiding Place: The Tomb of the Damned. “It’s working!” Bonnie exclaims, excitedly about the new “Family Unbinding Spell” the two are testing out. “This would be a really good time for me to go call Damon, and leave you alone with the thing that is SO dangerous, the Biggest Baddest Super Villain on this show decided it needed to be locked up.
“I’ll be right baaaaaaaaack.” Hopefully, by then, you will be as dead as our relationship, Mommy Dearest.” Bonnie adds, before skipping up the steps, joyfully.
(Does no one on this show watch horror movies?)
Of course, it should surprise positively no one that the coffin bursts open, the minute Bon-Bon exits stage left. Be afraid, Mama Bennett! Be VERY afraid . . .
Come to Mystic Falls: It may only have one bar / social establishment, but it has multiple serial killers. So, SUCK IT, VEGAS!
“Y’all come back from the dead now, ya hear?”
Caroline’s at the hospital making small talk with Crazy Nanny Carrie, who’s bedside manner is for sh*t . . .
The purpose of this conversation is two-fold. For starters, she wants to pick up her now vampire-blood infused, vampire hating daddy. For finishers, she wants to investigate the extent of Crazy Nanny’s sanity, on her bestie, Elena’s, behalf.
“So, have you ever played a character who actually WASN’T a murderer?”
Caroline comes to the conclusion that Crazy Nanny is normal, which only shows that becoming supernatural has done nothing to improve Caroline’s judgment regarding humans.
But Caroline’s vampire mojo DOES have it’s perks. Using her super sensitive vampy hearing, Caroline picks up the sound of her father’s phone. And this, in turn, allows her to find her father lying dead in the medical supply closet at the hospital . . . wait for it . . . staked in the heart with one of Alaric’s weapons.
“So, THAT’S why my stomach’s been killing me!”
I know it probably makes me seem like a heartless b*tch to say this . . . especially in light of what happened later in this storyline. But I thought it was pretty funny that Elena had to explain to Caroline that her father (who had died with vampire blood in his system) was now turning into a bloodsucker. Whereas, Caroline . . . the actual bloodsucker, was completely clueless. I mean, I guess you could argue that she was in shock, and couldn’t think straight. But still . . .
Cue the gasps, wheezes and hacking coughs, as the man who hates vampires so much that he was willing to burn his own daughter to excise the “evil creature” from her body, comes back from the dead, craving blood. Ahh, irony . . . gotta love it. Papa Douche . . . wait . . . sorry, he’s dead, so I can’t bad mouth him anymore Forbes ultimately decides that he would rather not feed and commit suicide than become like his kid.
Awww . . . a father / daughter bonding moment. How sweet!
Meanwhile, Elena heads home to tell Alaric how they almost became suspects to another murder. Alaric soon realizes that Crazy Nanny Carrie had access to and knowledge of both of the murder weapons. In other words, it’s time to bust this murderous b*tch!
Or is it?
In which Caroline Forbes makes us cry . . . again.
Poor Caroline! Just because your dad can be a toolbox, doesn’t mean you won’t miss him when he’s gone . . . particularly when you feel like, you, personally could prevent his death. “I’ll force him to feed,” says Caroline resolutely to her bestie Elena.
Well, as you might have suspected, Elena has something to say about that . . .
Hey Elena, did you ever think that, perhaps, JEREMY might feel the same way you do about issues of “personal choice?” Just a thought . . .
Elena then brings up the absentee Tyler, which kind of seems like adding insult to injury. I mean, come on, it’s not bad enough that the girl is about to be father-less, you want to remind her that she’s boyfriend-less too?
That said, it seems surprising, not to mention, more than a bit unrealistic, that Tyler wouldn’t respond to Caroline’s calls regarding a parental death. For one thing, Tyler, who, not too long ago, lost his own morally ambiguous father, could absolutely relate to the conflicting feelings the person expresses, following the death.
For another, you would think, considering how much Tyler loves Caroline, that he would come running to her, the minute she showed signs of breaking her silent treatment with him.
But alas . . . he didn’t. (Perhaps, he’s off trying to master that whole “wolfing out without pain,” thing . . . you know . . . the one CAROLINE’S DAD taught him how to do? If so, why haven’t we at least seen him shirtless this week? HUH? HUH?)
Anyway, of course, now Caroline is wondering if her ex is the murderer. She reasons that, perhaps, Tyler had done it as one of his sire’s orders. But Elena disagrees. “I’m the only one who can accuse MY ex boyfriend of unspeakable acts,” says Elena, more or less.
Then, there’s some heartfelt talk between Caroline and Elena, about what it’s like to be in the “Dead Dad’s Club.” (Elena is club president!) Cue the entrance of Matt, who’s character I’ve been enjoying so much more, ever since he lost the Judgy Personality Chip.
Weed . . . it makes you more likeable . . .
That said, I’m starting to feel like Matt’s whole function as a character has recently been reduced to Resident Hugger, and Cheerleader for Team Ex Girlfriend . . .
“Haha, he thinks now that Tyler is gone, he actually has a chance. But I’m the one who installed a honing device on her panties . . . .”
Speaking of Caroline’s panties, she really grows some balls (not that she necessarily lacked them, in the first place.), when she confronts her now, clearly, dying father with a simple, but gut-wrenching, plea that he not leave her . . .
When “tears and emotions” don’t convince Papa Forbes to fight for his life, Caroline tries a few other tactics: (1) first flattery. (“You can do this. You are the strongest person I now”); (2) then guilt (“Do you really hate me [and what I’ve become] that much?”) Caroline wonders.
I’ve long admired Candice Accola as an actress. But she really blew me away, in this episode. Her raw reactions to her erstwhile absentee dad’s untimely passing were both heartbreaking, and refreshingly real. In fact, Candice’s acting ability elevated a story line that had the real potential to be boring and maudlin into a captivating dramatic piece.
But back to the story, I’m really glad, for Caroline’s sake that she got her father to admit that he loved her, was proud of her, and thought she was a good person, despite the fact that she was an “icky vampire.” Had Papa Forbes not said this to Caroline, I suspect it would have haunted her for the rest of eternity. At least. this way, she can begin down the long and windy path of “closure.”
Adios, Papa Douche . . . as it turns out, you weren’t nearly as big of an asshat as we initially assumed you were . . .
Bloodsucker, Party of Four . . .
Back at La Casa de Rich and Awesome, Damon tells a shirtless, and recently showered Stefan, that it’s time to put a big ole smile on his face, and play nice with the Originals, in order to buy Bonnie some time to open Coffin Number Four with her mind. Stefan and his recent perma-scowl face don’t want to attend. He’d much rather stay home and mope over the fact that Damon and Elena recently exchanged smoochies, thank you very much.
Stefan also doesn’t trust Elijah, who ended up MAJORLY screwing the Scooby Gang over, during their first round of Kill Klaus Games.
The massive role reversal between these two brothers is highly apparent, in this scene. Last season, it was Damon perma-scowling and Elijah distrusting (with good reason, as it turns out). Meanwhile, Season 2’s kinder, gentler more boring, Stefan was begging his brother to keep the peace, for Elena’s sake.
As for the kiss in question, Damon reminds Stefan that HE, Damon, is not the enemy in this situation. Rather, it’s Klaus’ fault is for making Stefan Bad!Stefan, thereby tossing Elena right into Damon’s arms, in the first place.
Touche, Damon Sexy Pants! And yet Delena fans well know, that even without Stefan’s newfound douchiness, Elena’s mouth would have found her way onto Damon’s, anyway. After all, it wasn’t exactly the first time the two of them kissed . . .
So, off the Salvatore Brother’s head to Klaus’ newly renovated, and now slightly banged-up, home, for a sit down dinner. And I’ve gotta say, I was shocked that he served actual food! (Though, of course, I wasn’t the least bit surprised that he devoured one of the blonde barbie types waiting by the table for dessert. We all know how much Klaus likes his blondes . . .)
Speaking of eating people, Grumpy Stefan childishly made a point to remind everybody at the party that HE didn’t want to break bread with the Originals. He’d much prefer to negotiate some terms, and leave, as soon as possible. And to this rudeness, Klaus offers the Best Comeback, EVER!
“We can sit and eat, or I can reach down your throats, and pull out your insides. The choice is yours.”
Ahhh, cannibalism jokes on vampire shows. They just never get old, do they?
I mentioned earlier that Damon and Elijah illustrate their latent sexual attraction to one another, through personal space invasions, sexy smiles, winks, and oh-so-obvious eye f*&king. But Klaus and Stefan have a much longer history with one another. (You just KNOW something had to have gone down between these two during that long hot Ripper Summer!) So, of course, their sexual tension comes in the form of saucy verbal jabs, and naughty teases.
Klaus and Stefan definitely know how to push one another’s buttons. Stefan begins the game by inquiring after Rebekah, who Stefan knows full well is still staked, despite the fact that Elena returned her body to Klaus weeks ago. “She’s still daggered, because you couldn’t face her,” Stefan observes viciously. (Stefan Salvatore would make an EXCELLENT mean girl.)
Oddly enough, it’s Damon who attempts to put this verbal jousting to bed, with this hilarious remark . . .
Elijah definitely approves, and so do I. Stefan has been off the hook way too long for eating his father, in what might very well have been one of the most disturbing and nauseating flashbacks in TVD history.
It’s high time someone called him out on that little “performance.” And who better to do that than his own brother?
Speaking of insults, Elijah unintentionally shoots one Stefan’s way, by inquiring after Elena, who, last time Elijah checked, was still Stefan’s lover.
AWK-WARD! Klaus is just loving the crap out of this exchange. And once again, Damon is forced to try and keep the peace, by deeming the topic of Elena not appropriate for meal time . . .
But just because Elena is off limits, doesn’t mean ALL Petrova Doppelgangers are. Elijah, ever the gracious host, entertains the table with the tale of “Tatiya” i.e. NotCharlotte, a girl who lived in their village, and despite being deemed a bit slutty, for already being “with child” was loved by all, most notably Klaus and Elijah. And, much like the Salvatore Brothers, the pair fought viciously over the little chicky who resembled Nina Dobrev.
ELIJAH: “I should win her heart, I have better hair.”
Not surprisingly, it was their fighting that prompted Mikael to kill Tatiya, and force the brothers to drink her blood, when being turned into vampires. It was also Klaus’ love for Tatiya that prompted Klaus’ mother to include her essence in the binding spell of Klaus’ hybrid nature. Talk about history repeating . . .
But for me, the most interesting part of this dinner party, was the negotiation session, in which both sets of brothers made offers to the other to ensure a “lasting peace.” Damon’s offer was much what we would have expected: the Fourth coffin, in exchange for Elena no longer being a blood bag.
Klaus said “no deal.” After all, he needs Elena’s blood to make hybrids, and without hybrids, Klaus, adorable as he might be, has no friends . . .
But Klaus’ offer was interesting, to say the least. He argued that what would ultimately be best for Elena would be for Klaus to ensure her a “normal” human life . . . married to someone like Matt, wherein she would pop out a bunch of puppies, thereby ensuring the continuation of the Petrova Doppelganger line . . . Klaus further conjectured that the alternative would result in Elena either dying very young, or being turned into a vampire relatively soon . . .
The significance of the statement is not lost on the two brothers, both of whom, above all, want Elena to be happy. And while most TVD fans would not prefer an endgame, in which Elena was compelled to forget about vampires, and live out a dull Stepford life in Mystic Falls, with the sweet, but not overly exciting Matt, this was actually a notion Elena herself had considered back when Damon had force fed her his blood in “The Last Day.” Plus, if Elena’s words to Caroline, regarding her father are any indication, the new Petrova Doppelganger’s feelings regarding becoming a vampire have not yet changed.
And when Stefan rises to shake Klaus’ hand, symbolically accepting his offer, there’s a split second, wherein I actually believe he is being genuine. But Klaus, is apparently, more savvy than I am, because he doesn’t believe it for one second . . .
Damon immediately moves to his brother’s aid, as Klaus pushes him frighteningly close to the fire, his fingers already beginning to burn. But Elijah holds the Elder Salvatore back . . . in a show of brotherly solidarity . . . or just as part of the overall plan? We’ll find out soon enough . . .
Either way, it seems for the moment, that Klaus, once again, has the upper hand . . .
Speaking of hands . . .
Because Useless Aunt Jenna (R.I.P.) isn’t the only one capable of inviting super villains to the Gilbert House . . .
“Hey Alaric. How many times do I have to tell you to wash your hands before touching the walls? I’m not your MAID!”
Elena and Matt arrive home to an eerily dark apartment covered with bloody hand prints and footprints. It’s a truly disturbing scene.
And since Matt is one of those character’s whose fate is never entirely safe on this show, it’s one of those few times on TVD, when you are really worried about something bad happening. And then it does . . .
It’s not long before Elena finds Alaric . . . wait for it . . . stabbed in the stomach, likely because the serial killer knew he turned the weapons over to Lizard Forbes, along with evidence against Meredith Fell, who was “in surgery at the time.”
An obviously dying (Seriously, this guy must die EVERY OTHER EPISODE) Alaric explains, just as Bill Forbes did before him, that never saw his assailant. Of course, this is odd, considering the fact that, if the bloody footprints and hand prints are any indication, the pair fought their way throughout the entire house. Something stinks here . . .
The problem, of course (aside from the obvious), is that Alaric’s on-the-blink Ugly Ass Ring of Immortality only works when Alaric is killed by a supernatural creature. And since Alaric isn’t sure who did this to him, there’s a good chance he might bleed out and die, before he ever gets to the hospital So, there’s only one thing for the “supernatural” Petrova Doppelganger to do . . . kill Alaric, herself . . .
I must say, I’m impressed! The Elena we used to know would have hemmed, hawed and cried about this for about twenty minutes, and Alaric probably would have died, while he waited for her to grow some balls. But New Warrior Princess Elena, stabs Alaric with a surprising amount of gusto. Poor Matt looks horrified, as he should be . . .
Just realized that every single solitary character on this show is capable of kicking his ass . . .
Then, the murderous Elena tearfully asks Matt to wait with her, while Alaric decides whether he’s going to come back to life this time. “I can’t lose any more family,” exclaims Elena, finally breaking down, for the first time in the hour.
Matt agrees to wait with Elena, rather than comforting Caroline, who’s father, as we just learned is Definitely Dead. Seriously? Everybody . . . chooses Elena, except Tyler and Klaus, of course . . . or a doppelganger, who looks like her. It’s actually rather frustrating, sometimes . . .
Ultimately, Alaric awakens at the last minute, Phew! But hey, if he’s going to keep dying every week like this, he should really get a tune-up on that ring . . . not to mention, invest in some life insurance. Can you imagine if the kindly history teacher received a payout for EACH time he died? The dude would be richer than Klaus! 😉
Because watching attractive people beat the crap out of one another never, EVER, gets old . . .
So, for a while there, it was looking like Elijah screwed over our Salvatore Brothers TWICE in a row, didn’t it? But remember that Elijah did what he did the first time around, for the opportunity to see his family. And now that he knows they are all just a stake pull away from being a live and well . . . well, all bets are off.
In what very well might have been my favorite scene in the entire episode, Elijah and his new boyfriend return to the Klaus House, not with the Magical Fourth Coffin, as previously promised, but, rather, with . . . dessert . . .
And by “dessert,” of course, I mean the daggers previously immobilizing not one, not two, but THREE of Klaus’ and Elijah’s dear siblings: the newbies (to us anyway) Kol and Finn, and, of course, the recently daggered Rebekah. To say the sexy threesome is displeased with their brother for . . . umm . . . keeping them imprisoned for, in some cases, as many as 1,000 years, is the understatement of the century. Cue the Familial Ass Kicking!
We’ve seen Klaus pout, and cry, and rage before, when things didn’t go his way. But this was really the first time we got to see him truly, and completely BEATEN UP AND REJECTED. That’s right, fangbangers, Elijah and Co. are not exactly down with a Klaus Family Reunion that will most certainly end with one or all of them, back in their safe little boxes, once they do something to displease their Alpha Male brother.
“You are free to go,” says Elijah — ever the gracious host — to his new boyfriend and Stefan. “This is family business.”
Why yes, Elijah . . . indeed it is . .
Speaking of family business, Stefan and Damon have some of that of their own to do. Walking home from Klaus House, Stefan actually COMPLIMENTS Damon for a job well done on the whole de-staking the Originals thing . . . and, of course, the whole “saving his life” thing. Damon is only slightly smug in his response. After all, he still feels he owes Stefan for all HIS life saving of Damon . . . most notably, the “life-saving of Damon” thing that ended with Stefan temporarily becoming Klaus’ b*tch, and possibly permanantly becoming Bad!Stefan.
Oh, but lest you think our sexy vampire brothers are ready to kiss and make up, this happened . .
It was such a short, quiet, exchange between too men, with a loooooong history of loving the same women. Two men who haven’t exactly adopted the “bros before hoes” / “Family above all” maxim. (Not that it exactly seemed to help those guys all that much. After all, there are plenty of other things brothers can fight about, aside from women.) And yet, as vampires, they certainly understand the importance of having someone by your side for the rest of eternity.
In the past, I think Damon would have probably heard Stefan’s declaration of love for Elena, and backed off . . . cow towing to the so-called “Good Brother,” as he has so many times in the past. But despite the fact that Damon still thinks he “owes” Stefan for certain sacrifices the latter has made on his behalf, things have changed now between them. They have changed. And it is very clear that, although the two may form temporary truces between one another, in furtherance of a common interest, Elena will likely always come between them.
Back at Klaus house, a mutiny is being played out amongst the ranks of the Original Family, and Klaus is on the losing end. His brothers and sisters have decided to seek vengeance against him in the most effective way they know how, through ABANDONMENT. After all, Klaus has purportedly done all of this, simply out of a fear of being alone. So, for Klaus ,the thought of finally having his family reunited with one another, while he is still left to his own devices is just about the worst thing that can happen to him. “I’ll hunt you down,” Klaus threatens, his eyes filled with tears.
“And then you will become the thing you hate the worst,” retorts Klaus. “Father.”
Oooh! Now, that one had to hurt.
But lest you think all is lost for Klaus, he is about to get a hail Mary. Back at the tomb, Stefan and Damon find an open Magical Fourth Coffin, surrounded by an unconscious Abby and Bonnie. The coffin, of course, is empty.
So, who was inside? Why the Original Mother / Original Witch -Turned-Vampire, of course! I guess Klaus didn’t kill her at all. Rather, he turned her and kept her in storage, along with the rest of his siblings. How very thoughtful of him!
Why hasn’t her dress biodegrated yet?
So, of course, when Mommy Dearest enters stage left, all of the Originals along with, I suspect, a majority of the viewing public are preparing for the most excellent of Mommy / Son smackdowns. After all, if there is any instance at all, in which child abuse is warranted, this is probably it. Am I right?
“Awww, Klausipoo, do you need a diaper change?”
But NOPE! Mommy Dearest is all about hearts, flowers, forgiveness, and family reunions.
To be honest, I’m a little disappointed, as I was really looking forward to more, good old fashioned Vampire Fight Club-esque ass kicking.
But hey, if it weren’t for Mommy, we probably wouldn’t be treated to next week’s BALLROOM DANCE EXTRAVAGANZA, now would we?
It WOULD be rude not to dance, Delena . . . especially when you are both so incredibly good at it . . .
Are a fan of Delena? Stelena? Klaroline? Pretty dresses? Hot men in suits? Perhaps, you just have a “Cinderella Fetish?” If you answered yes to any of these questions, something tells me you are going to adore next week’s TVD installment, entitled “Dangerous Liaisons.” If you haven’t seen them already, you can check out the extended trailer here . . .
. . . the Canadian trailer here . . .
. . . and the new love triangle-y webclip, here . . .
And that’s all I’ve got for this week. But something tells me, you and I are going to have PLENTY to talk about between now and next Thursday. See you soon, Fangbangers!
Greetings, Upper East Siders! And welcome to the game show, Stop That Wedding. During this Game Show, a number of contestants will try to stop Blair Waldorf’s wedding to the evil, and often incomprehensible, troll cyborg, Louis-bot.
Meanwhile, viewers at home will try to guess which contestant will ultimately be successful in stopping this wedding. Since this IS the 100th episode of Gossip Girl, we have a special prize today for the viewer at home, who correctly guesses which contestant stops the wedding. Tell them what they will win, Bob!
It’s . . . LIMO SEX with Chuck Bass!
Haha! Just kidding! Everyone knows that if Blair Waldorf’s wedding is successfully stopped, the only person who will be having limo sex with Chuck Bass, for the rest of eternity, will be . . . of course . . . Blair Waldorf. But hey, if you win, I’ll be sure to give you a nice big hug. OK?
So, grab your buzzers, boutineers and bridal bouquets, because it’s time to play STOP . . . THAT . . . Wedding!
It looks like our first contestant of the evening is none other than Blair’s best friend and maid of honor, Serena van der Woodsen. When the episode begins, she is dreaming that she’s Marilyn Monroe, with a REALLY BAD WIG! In the dream, she’s singing “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” in an oddly-accented voice, while Chuck Bass, Donut Dan, Nate, Louis-bot, and a bunch of never-to-be-seen-again male extras dance around her, attempting to win her favor. Then, Blair arrives as Audrey Hepburn and takes Chuck Dan away.
(Interestingly enough, in most of Blair’s dream sequences, she is also Audrey Hepburn. But in those dreams, it usually tends to be Serena taking sh*t from her. Go figure!)
Well, clearly this dream has turned into a nightmare . . . both for our first contestant, Serena, who, for some inexplicable reason, has decided she’s madly in love with the Donut again . . . and for viewers at home, who know that the only person Blair should be “taking away” is Chuck. Under the circumstances, can we really blame Serena for waking up in a cold sweat?
Now, dream sequences are super cheesy and kind of annoying adorable. And this one ended with Blair running off with someone other than her robot betrothed. So, that’s good, right? However, dreams, unfortunately, cannot stop weddings. And so, our first (unconscious) attempt of the hour at stopping Blair’s wedding is met with a LOSER BUZZER . . .
Awakening Serena, is none other than Blair’s trusty housekeeper / erstwhile sidekick / notorious Chair shipper, Dorota. Could she be our second contestant, folks?
Nope! Unfortunately for Dorota fans, the writers seem to have lobotomized Dorota, in honor of Blair’s wedding day. Because our normally feisty maid is as excited about Blair’s impending nuptials as . . . well . . . actually no one . . . because no one else really seems to want it to happen, including Blair, herself. Now, even though Dorota technically isn’t playing the game, I’d say this definitely deserves a LOSER BUZZER!
Meanwhile, father and son, Humpty Humphrey Squared, are enjoying a scrumptious breakfast of Cynicism and Gloom (a Humphrey Specialty). Rufus wants to know if the Donut is planning to pull a Graduate, i.e. stop the wedding and runaway with the bride. Donut responds that everyone knows that Blair loves Chuck. Why on Earth would she run away with me? such shenanigans seem more up Chuck Bass’ alley, than his own. From your lips to the Lord’s ears, Donut . . .
Forgive me, Father, for I have Montezuma’s Revenge . . .
Over at the Empire Hotel, Chuck and Bad!Priest are also enjoying a healthy breakfast, while they jointly plot the demise of Blair’s wedding. This would make them Contestants 2 and 3, respectively, in our exciting game. Bad!Priests gives Chuck some choir boy garb, which he claims will help him get into the wedding unnoticed. Riiiiiight . . . because, once Chuck is wearing a black robe, no one is possibly going to be able to recognize HIS FACE.
Where exactly did this guy get his Seminary School degree? Sesame Street?
Bad!Priest also apparently plans to put a sleeping pill in another priest’s food, so that he, himself, can replace him, in the performance of Blair and Louis-bot’s wedding ceremony. Then, when Bad!Priest asks if anyone contests the marriage, Chuck will rise and tell the world that he heard Blair CONFESS that she is actually in love with him.
OK, I’m confused, why exactly does this plan require drugging the other priest? Wouldn’t the other priest also ask if anyone contests the marriage, especially since it’s . . . oh, I don’t know PART OF A TRADITIONAL WEDDING CEREMONY ?
This whole drugging the other priest thing just seems unnecessarily mean. So, now, of course, I’m rooting for Contest 3, Bad!Priest to lose this game . . . well, as long as someone else stops the wedding, of course. (If no one else can do it, I’m Team Bad!Priest, all the way . . .)
But worry not, Upper East Siders, it’s Chuck Bass to the rescue! You see, all this time, he’s been serving Bad!Priest water from Mexico. And you know what happens to people who drink water from Mexico, who don’t actually live there, right? MONTEZUMA’S REVENGE! Been there, done that, sent the postcard . . . And I wouldn’t wish it any Priest, no matter how Bad!
Yep, Bad!Priest now has the squirts, and is apparently out of the game. Thanks for playing, Bad!Priest. You won’t be going home, empty handed, however. As a consolation prize, we’d like to offer you a box of Immodium and a gas mask . . . And, hey, for what it’s worth, the Church would probably frown on your having limo sex with Chuck Bass, anyway . . .
Elsewhere, Georgina Sparks is walking through the park dressed like the Dowager Countess from Downton Abbey.
She blames Blair Waldorf for basically ruining her life. So, of course, she desperately wants to stop the wedding, not realizing that this would actually be a REALLY good thing for Blair. Georgina meets up with Bad!Priest on the way to the port-a-potty, and begins plotting with the Flatulent Father. In doing so, she picks up the much-coveted title of Contestant Number 4 . . .
“Jesus owes me one,” Georgina explains, as she finishes explaining her plans to bone Louis-bot, just moments before the wedding is set to take place.
WOAH! Talk about taking one for the Team . . .
(By the way, I guess we are supposed to assume that Louis-bot has “working anatomy,” because he, like, apparently, knocked Blair up, and stuff. But the jury’s still out for me. I also can’t help but wonder what an “O” face must look like, on a guy who’s completely incapable of showing any form of human emotion, whatsoever . . .)
“Those sparks coming from between my legs mean I must be aroused.”
Speaking of the android groom . . .
Lucky Louis-bot
“Iyyy em the lookiesth mienn een the wuryild,” says Louis-bot (Translation: I am the luckiest man in the world.)
Note that he says this line, with about as much excitement as most of us would say, “I have to go pick up my dry cleaning.”
Serena smiles graciously, while, on the inside she would very much like to cut Louis-bot’s bot-head off with a meat cleaver. (That would be ONE way to stop the wedding!) Stepford Dorota reminds Serena that, one day, she too will find someone who loves her, as much as Chuck Louis-bot loves Blair. Well, that’s aspirational!
Personally, I think Serena could find household appliances, who love her more than Louis-bot loves Blair. But I digress. Elsewhere Louis-bot and his mother are slow dancing. Will SHE be a contestant in our game? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time she tried to stop her son’s nuptials . . .
Apparently, not. You see, Mama Bot is now super excited about this union. And why not? That good ole car accident that murdered Blair’s baby, and nearly killed Chuck sure was great for publicity! She figures that the fact that Louis-bot is still willing to marry this “damaged goods” woman will make him a martyr, in the eyes of the public.
Wow, step aside Bad!Priest. Evil has a new name, and it rhymes with Mother Chucker . . .
“I kin beleef yuuu errr sayink theez, moderr” scolds Louis-Bot. (Translation: I can’t believe you are saying this, Mother.)
And if I understood one word he was saying, I suspect I might actually agree with him . . .
Oh, did I mention that Donut Dan is going to step in as Louis-bot’s best man and Serena’s escort, because Louis-bot has no human friends ‘s real best man got “called away at the last minute?”
Congratulations, Serena! You might not win this game, but your chances of getting laid on Blair’s wedding night, just increased, tenfold . . .
But wait . . . Blair has just arrived at the Waldorf manse, wearing what looks like a cupcake on her head.
(Seriously, the hats people were wearing throughout this episode were positively ridiculous. Just because Fergie’s kids wore toilet bowls and balloon animals on their heads for the last royal wedding, doesn’t mean EVERYONE has to do it. Just sayin . . .)
Blair drags Serena into her room, in hopes that Serena will help her chase away some of the butterflies and nausea that come along with making the WORST DECISION OF YOUR LIFE. Serena complies with the most prophetically awful words anyone on a TV show could say: “What could possibly go wrong?”
Sneaky Serena . . . you might win this contest, yet . . .
In which everyone who isn’t Blair wonders why they are still single . . .
It should come as no surprise to you long-time Gossip Girl fans that Nate Archibald’s storyline for this week, is entirely self-serving, and completely disconnected from the actual plot of this episode. Slutty boy that he is, Nate tries to hit on the catering girl, who, unbeknownst to him, just so happens to be the REAL Charlie Rhodes.
“My plan is to bang all the relatives of every cast member on this show . . . and their pets, of course . . . Monkey.”
Of course, he loses major points by not remembering her name. But “Lola” really shouldn’t take that too personally. Here are some other things that Nate often forgets: (1) his own name; (2) his address; (3) how to add and subtract; (4) to put on underwear, before leaving the house . . .
Anywhoo . . . Lola gets points for being spunky, and calling Nate out on his crap. It’s just too bad she has to be wearing an unflattering tuxedo, while she’s doing it . . .
Moments later, Donut Dan emerges from the rehearsal breakfast. So, Nate starts griping to him, about how he once thought he’d be married to Blair. But now he’s been single for an entire episode. So, clearly his life must be over.
NATE: “I heard this rumor, that if you go over a week, without having sex your weiner shrivels up and falls off.”
DAN: *whistles uncomfortably*
“Maybe that’s my problem,” Nate muses. “I pay too much attention to the wrong guest starwoman old enough to be my mothersupervillain girl.”
Donut Dan surmises that Nate has many worse problems than that. But Donut Dan isn’t exactly Casanova, himself. So, he really shouldn’t be talking right now. Nate notes how weird things have become on the Upper East Side, when the most honest man they know is Chuck Bass. (Well, actually, it’s not so weird . . . especially, when you consider the fact that Nate and Donut don’t seem to know any other men, aside from eachother and Chuck Bass . . .)
“Sometimes, I wear this mask, so Nate will think I’m someone else . . .”
Speaking of Chuck, Nate and Dan call him to make sure he’s not going to stop the wedding. STOP THE WEDDING! STOP THE WEDDING! STOP THE WEDDING! Chuck calmly tells Nate that he has no intention of stopping Blair’s wedding, and would much prefer spending the day walking his dog. (Unfortunately, this is not a euphemism for sex or self-pleasuring. What a fun scene THAT would be!)
Of course, if you believe that, I have a bridge I can sell you in Brooklyn, right outside Humpty Humphrey’s apartment . . .
In which, Blair’s mother redeems herself for five seasons of absentee parenting, in one single AWESOME gesture . . .
As Blair settles into her wedding gown (but never brushes her hair, which has oddly started to take on a sort of Insane Mountain Woman look), she tries to play matchmaker with her Maid of Honor, instructing Serena to buck up and tell Dopey Donut how she really feels about him. (Ahh . . . honesty. Blair might want to start taking her own advice, for a change.)
A time of self-reflection?
But when Blair’s mother arrives to bid her daughter the best of luck, Blair suddenly suffers a panic attack, and begs to be removed from her wedding dress. Her daughter’s seemingly allergic reaction to the thought of marrying the Cyborg Prince prompts a realization in Elinor Waldorf.
“Usually when a bride yells, ‘Get it off. Get it off,’ on her wedding night, it’s for another reason, entirely . . .”
Apparently, she had the same reaction to her doomed-to-fail marriage to Blair’s gay dad, but not to her nuptials with the adorably dorky, Cyrus Rhodes.
“I have a last minute errand to run,” say Elinor, before promptly exiting, stage left.
The next time we see Mama Waldorf, she is standing in Chuck Bass’ open doorway . . . Before Chuck can protest, Mama awesomely gulps down his glass of mid-afternoon scotch in a single gulp. “I don’t want my daughter to wait to be happy. When I was in the church, I kept feeling like there was something I had forgotten. Than, I realized what it was . . . you . . .”
That’s right, Upper East Siders. It seems Dark Horse Contestant, Elinor Waldorf has just moved herself to the front of the fray. Will SHE be the one to stop her daughter’s wedding? Only time will tell . . .
A Head for Scheming, and a Body for Screwing
At the Church, Lily is wearing a toilet bowl cleaner on her head.
Meanwhile, Georgina slips out of her choir boy robes, and into a slutty dress. She requests a meeting with Louis-bot, in private, so that she can show that dumb hunk of metal what it’s like to screw a real trainwreck.
“Come and get me, Bot Boy!”
So, while Louis-bot give in to temptation? Are robots even capable of experiencing arousal? Unfortunately, we will never get to find out, because Lily and Rufus locate Georgina, and kick her out of the church, before Louis-bot even gets a chance to see her in her whorish dress. Well, I know at least two people who are going to LOSE this game . . .
But Georgina isn’t about to go down without a fight. She still has one more ace up her sleeve. And she’s not afraid to use it . . .
“Don’t marry him.”
“Don’t be mad at me,” Elinor Waldorf says plaintively, as she leaves the always-dapper-looking Chuck Bass in Blair’s bridal suite, as she takes her exit.
(And in that moment, Chair fans around the world let out a collective cheer, and then began to hold their breath, in synchronization.)
All Chuck and Blair scenes are beautiful in my eyes, but this one was particularly so. We are clearly looking at the New Chuck Bass, here. He is calm, collected, and confident that what he is doing is the right thing. But he is also gentle, and earnest. Chuck is speaking to Blair from a place of pure love, without judgment or manipulation.
He speaks to her about wanting her to be happy. He wants to run away with her, and spend the rest of his life with her, just as they had planned to do in “Riding in Town Cars with Boys.” “It should be us up there, and you know it,” he says determinedly.
And there is Blair, confirming Chuck’s suspicions, and expressing her love in return. “Of course, I love you, Chuck. I have always loved you. I love you more and more every day if it is even possible to love someone that much.”
Sounds great right? So, what’s the problem? The problem is Blair still wants to go through with this sham of a wedding, and is still hiding behind that ridiculous “Pact with the Man Upstairs” to do it. “Not living with you is the hardest thing I’ve ever done . . . I can’t be with you. You should find someone who loves you too.”
Given the insanity of what Blair is saying, surely no one would fault Chuck for throwing up his hands in frustration, tossing over a few chairs, and storming out of the room. But he doesn’t. Instead, Chuck just smiles and says, “I have. She’s standing right in front of me.”
And with that statement, Chuck became the man to beat in this competition. But then Serena entered the room, and brought the conversation to an abrupt end. Bad timing, or clever strategy, inspired by her desire to win “Stop the Wedding,” for herself?
You can examine the entire gut-wrenchingly glorious exchange here . . .
Georgina and Serena each up their game . . .
After Serena kidnaps Blair for some much-needed pre-weddding girl talk, Georgina enters stage right demonstrating the much-over used Slow Clap. That’s right, boys and girls, Contestant Number 4 got the entire Chair exchange ON VIDEO (possibly the same video you just watched). But Georgina surprises everyone with a hail mary. Instead of keeping the video for itself, she shows it to Chuck. It’s a win-win move. Now, no matter who stops the wedding, she wins the prize. (Because Chuck can’t very well have sex with himself, can he? Well . . . actually he can . . . see self pleasuring discussion above . . .But that’s neither here, nor there.)
Elsewhere, Serena throws her hat back in the ring with her classic, “Don’t enter into a false life, because you are afraid to enter your real one,” speech.
Lest we forget how eloquent Serena has become, since two episodes ago, when she started blogging. (More on that, in a bit . . .)
But Blair is determined to be miserable, dammit! She’s going to have her robot marriage, if it kills her. You know, because the car crash, didn’t . . .
Poor taste?
But Serena’s not done, she also takes time to tell Chuck about the infamous (read MORONIC) PACT WITH THE LAWD that Blair is using as her excuse for entering into a lifetime of boredom, misery, and “Domo Arigato, Mr. Louis-bot,” sex . . .
Ahh, but has Serena shot herself in the foot? Armed with Georgina’s video, Serena’s intel, and Bad!Priest’s confessional secrets, Chuck officially has EVERYTHING he needs to leave his competitors in the dark and . . . wait for it . . . STOP THAT WEDDING.
“Please, save the applause until after the show.”
But will he?
iPhone now or forever hold your peace . . .
Most of us were hoping it wouldn’t get this far. And yet, there’s Blair walking down with her two dads, the hot gay one (remember him?) and the adorable little muppet that is Cyrus Rose (I’m just glad he didn’t bring that lame son of his.)
Everyone is watching, and no one (except Stepford Dorota) seems particularly happy about what’s going on. Louis-bot, in particular, looks like he needs his batteries recharged.
Then comes the moment we’ve all been waiting for, when the Priest says those iconic words, “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
And heeeeeeeeereeeeee’s Chuckie . . .
“Good lord, what are you WAITING FOR? Do I have to give you a personal invitation? STOP THIS THING, LOVER!”
Buuuuuut . . . he says nothing. (You know I love you, Chuck. But I have to do this: LOSER BUZZER!)
I hope we can still be friends . . .
Oh, but wait a minute, apparently someone didn’t see the sign outside the church that said “silence your cell phones, during the ROYAL WEDDING.” Suddenly, the whole entire chapel is a buzz with iPhone vibrations. It’s Gossip Girl. She apparently has the Chair LOVE footage, and has decided to send it to all Blair’s wedding guests.
Doesn’t ANYBODY turn off their cell phone at a wedding?
Blair runs out in tears, her unbrushed hair flapping in the breeze behind her.
“You’re FREEEEEE! Run for your life!”
Louis-bot still looks like he’s about to fall asleep. But the rest of the congregation is shocked. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner. Then again, WHO IS GOSSIP GIRL, ANYWAY?
It’s clearly, Veronica Mars, DUH!
Georgina takes a moment to gloat, explaining to the rest of the cast, Scooby Doo style how any of them could have easily been the one who sent the video to Gossip Girl, thus single-handedly ruining Blair’s wedding. (Honestly, I’m more interested in knowing which one was dumb enough to keep the volume up on their phone, during the ceremony.)
Oh, but here’s an interesting tidbit. Georgina is pretty sure Chuck Bass is innocent. After all, he’s not the kind to write stories. He has stories written about him. Remember?
Blair thinks Chuck did it, though, despite his protestations to the contrary. She tries to explain to him her whole “I found religion” thing. “You were dead,” she says. “I saved your life.”
Well . . . Blair . . . ummm . . . I’m going to have to disagree on both of those fronts. But you get an “A” for effort, and, of course, angst. What you get an “F” for is telling Louis-bot that you are still willing to go through with this sham of a wedding. And you get a double “F” for not thinking it’s the least bit weird tha Bot’s first words, upon hearing this “great news” are, “Let me talk to my Mommy, first.”
In which Louis-bot shows more emotion then we’ve seen him emote the entire season . . .
Fortunately, we are spared the nausea of having to suffer through Louis-bot’s most unintelligible translation of Donut’s vows to Blair, as well as their, about as sexy as your grandma kissing a moose, marital kiss. Next stop, reception!
Things happen kind of fast, from this point forward. Nate waddles off to hit on Lola. And by “hit on her” I mean, he tells her he remembers her name, and where she goes to school. Now that’s romantic! Elsewhere, Serena tells Dan she’s in love with him . . .
“You don’t have to respond now,” says Serena pitifully, as every last shred of dignity leaves her body in search of wedding cake . . .
Blair is slow dancing with Louis-bot, and telling him, how happy he should be about being her seventh choice for a life partner, behind Chuck, Nate, Dan, Rufus, Serena (I can see it, can’t you?), and Chuck’s dog’s Monkey. But Louis-bot shocks everyone by growing a pair of balls, and the kind of blackened soul one can only get from out-staying your welcome about eight episodes too long on the Upper East Side (See e.g. Vanessa, and basically any of Blair’s and Serena’s boyfriends, who weren’t part of the main cast, with the notable exceptions of Carter Baizen and Drug Dealing Damien).
“Do I smell fish? Ick, Robot Breath . . .”
“Theerrr ees nothink betwin us boot a contrect. When we errr alowyn, we will be stranjursh. My muzzer tol me loof has nothink to do with mayerieg. Now I know she ees righth.” (Translation: Their is nothing between us but a contract. . . When we are alone, we will be strangers. My mother told me love has nothing to do with marriage. Now, I know she is right.)
And he says it all with a big fat smile on his face. Classic. Since no one ended up winning Stop that Wedding, I may actually have to give the robot the prize of limo sex with Chuck . . . Sad, but true. Louis-bot also admits that Dan wrote those so-called epic vows we never got to hear. Ouch!
Now, do I feel bad for Blair, at this point, despite some of the terrible choices she made to bring this fate upon herself. Absolutely! But hey, if Blair goes along with this, she could get to be a REAL princess, AND NOT have to actually sleep with, or spend time, with Louis-bot. She can also have limo sex (and any other kind of sex, with Chuck on the side. So, it’s kind of win-win, right?
NOOOO. Blair wouldn’t do that, Upper East Siders. She’s “honorable” and “newly religious.” And she certainly isn’t this TV Recapper. So, she makes a Secret Phone Call, and dashes off into the night.
Meanwhile, Chuck is at home drowning his sorrows (Fortunately, being Good Chuck hasn’t curbed his rampant alcoholism.)
. . . when we see him call for a car, to head back to the wedding. Did Blair call him?
We wish . . . She actually ends up getting into the Just Married Mobile with the Donut. *sigh*
Well, at least it wasn’t a stretch limo. If it was a stretch limo, I might have broken my television. And, as you know, I reallllly love my television.
Oh, and did I mention that GEORGINA signs off the episode as Gossip Girl??!!!
I definitely wasn’t expecting that! Though, she HAS been around since ALMOST the beginning of the show . . . well when she wasn’t in Belarus or Bible Camp, at least. And yet, something about the website on which Georgina was posting, kind of gave me pause. For one thing, it looked suspiciously like The Spectator Blog Site Serena used to use.
Remember a few episodes back, when people stopped sending blasts to GG, and started sending them to Serena instead? Well, what if Georgina is NOT Gossip Girl, at all, but rather a mere hacker imposter. She did, after all, make a reference to being “reborn.”
As much as I loved the shock value of this twist ending, part of me hopes that Georgina is NOT Gossip Girl. I don’t know. I just always kind of liked the idea of the Real Gossip Girl being an outsider . . . someone sort of on the fringes of this elite society, as opposed to one of its chief villains . . . someone like Lola . . .
But there you have it folks, that was “G.G.” in a nutshell. So, what did you think, Upper East Siders? Will the episode live Happily Ever After with you? Or are you already counting on some hefty alimony payments from the inevitable divorce? As always, I’m eager to hear your thoughts . . .
Greetings Upper East Siders! This week on Gossip Girl I got to witness some things I never EVER thought I would see . . . (1) Blair Waldorf fist pumping . . . (2) Chuck Bass going to church for reasons other than his own inevitable wedding to Blair . . .(3) Serena van der Woodsen becoming a “talented writer” . . . and (4) Nate Archibald outsmarting someone.
I must admit, I’m a bit worried. These events might very well signify the Four Non Judging Breakfast Club of the Apocalypse. What’s next? Louis-bot and Donut Dan joining a Book Club, together?
Uh oh! I might as well bend over and kiss my ass goodbye! But, before I do that, let’s review. Shall we?
Unholy Alliances . . .
When the episode begins, bromantic buddies Nate and Chuck are drowning their sorrows in their breakfast of choice: espresso and tears. (Of course, Chuck puts some scotch in his.) Nate can’t figure out who on earth would hate him enough to want him dead. And yet, I could immediately think of about three or four psycho ex-girlfriends of his, who might fit the bill.
Example 1
Example 2
As for Chuck, he’s been keeping himself busy by stalking Blair, and paying others to do it for him, when he can’t.
His faithful companion Monkey was noticeably absent thoughout the episode. I choose to believe that this is because the adorable mutt has taken a Puppy Lover. Talk about adding insult to injury! Even Chuck’s dog is getting more tail lately, than him . . .
Though there have been some exceptions that neither Chuck, nor Monkey seem particularly willing to talk about . . .
Speaking of tail, Nate admits to Chuck that he is uncomfortable allying himself with the Eeeeevilll Gossip Girl, in order to get information about the cause of Chuck’s and Blair’s accident. To this, Chuck responds, “Meh! Do it. She’s got a sexy voice. And knowing your track record, she’ll probably end up being your next guest star girlfriend . . . Ooh, gotta go. Blair’s taking her royal morning pee in five minutes, and I don’t want to miss it.”
Persuaded, Nate immediately contacts Gossip Girl, to see if she might be interested in XOXO-ing with him, in the near future . . . She agrees.
Also bonding over morning cups of over-priced cappuccino are Dan and Serena . . .
“Kiss me, you Donut!”
So this is what they decided to do, in order to make it look like they’re dating? Walk around Manhattan with Starbucks cups in their hands at 8:45, in the morning. That might work if they’re pretending to be a 75-year old retired couple. But if Serena really wants to look like she’s dating Donut Dan, she should try stumbling out of his Brooklyn apartment at a quarter after 11, wearing last night’s clothes, and a serious case of sex hair . . .
Then again, aside from that one time when he engaged in a threesome, Humpty Humphrey never quite struck me as the “randy” type. So, perhaps this “date” is more suitable to his style or lack thereof.
Date or no date, Serena is all over Dan like those ugly flannels he wears all the time. She’s clutching his arm, leaning into his chest, sniffing his Ode de Donut cologne, and cooing kittenishly about how their “fake date doesn’t seem so fake to her.” She briefly tells Dan about an article she’s writing for the Spectator Blog about . . . SURPRISE . . . her relationship with him. Serena might as well be dropping a ten-ton brick on Dan’s head that says, “I want to bone you, for real.”
“Why must you insist on looking me in the eye, when I clearly want you to look lower?”
But alas, the Donut is entirely clueless. And here I thought novelists were supposed to be insightful . . .
At another breakfast table on the Upper East Side, Blair is breaking bread with Louis-bot’s sister, Beatrice-bot.
“Tell me Beatrice-bot, how exactly do robots become siblings? Do they just have to be made in the same factory, or is there some requirement that they have interchangeable parts?”
Blair used to rightly think Beatrice-bot was a social climbing sociopath. But ever since she became engaged to the Cyborg, the portion of her brain labeled “common sense” seems to have shut down entirely. So now, Blair thinks Beatrice-bot is just a doll (which being a robot, and all, she kind of is . . . )! And, since the hasty departure of Charlie / Ivy / Call Me Serena has left an opening in her Bridal Party, she even goes as far as to invite Beatrice to be her bridesmaid.
Somewhere in another dimension, Season 1 Blair Waldorf is rolling her eyes at the idiocy of her future self . . .
Beatrice-bot really plays up her other species worldliness, by fussing over how exciting it will be to attend a REAL American Bachelorette Debauchery Extravaganza. (Why? What exactly do girls do in Monaco to celebrate their impending nuptials? Eat croissants and snarl at people, who are passing by?)
“Don’t knock eeyt, until you’ve tried eeyt.”
Unfortunately, Blair explains to Beatrice-bot that Serena has planned a “tasteful” Bachelorette Party in her honor. And by tasteful, I mean “dreadfully boring.”
Forgive me if I find this a bit unbelievable. When has Serena van der Woodsen ever done anything “tasteful?” How soon we forget that this is the girl who spent most of her early high school years drunk, and once got blissfully coked-out in a hotel room with Georgina Sparks, while some junkie OD’d, just inches away from her.
But hey, I guess people can change . . . and, even if they can’t, television writers can pretend that they do . . .
Let your conscience be your guide (if you still have one . . .)
In the confessional, Blair admits to having dirty dreams about Chuck. (Dammit, the one time I actually would WANT to see a dream sequence from Blair. And we get nada . . . squat . . . bupkiss. The GG writers are such shameless teases! Blair describes Chuck as the “Devil on her Shoulder.” But I suspect in her dreams that ‘devil” resides on another part of her body, entirely . . .
Not one to waste time, even while making confession, Blair helpfully tells her priest that she wishes to keep him around as her spiritual advisor, as opposed to that slimeball priest who is currently acting as Louis-bot’s advisor. So, of course, absolutely none of us are surprised to learn that Blair was making her confessions to that very same slimeball. No explanation was given as to what happened to Blair’s usual priest, that he wasn’t available to provide her with spiritual guidance, during this important time. My theory? Slimeball Priest ate him . . .
“Tastes just like Heaven . . .”
Anywhoo . . . apparently, Slimeball Priest and Beatrice-bot are plotting to stop the Blouis-bot wedding, by getting Blair wasted, and reuniting her with Chuck . . .
Oh . . . wait . . . you mean I’m NOT supposed to be rooting for the Devil in Priest’s Clothing and his Android Girlfriend? Talk about a spiritual crisis . . .
We know that Beatrice-bot wants to do this, so that she might become Queen, one day. But Slimeball Priest’s motives are a bit more murky. He claims he’s going to “lose his job,” because Blair is bringing her own Personal Pocket Priest to Monaco. What . . . Monaco is only allowed to have one Priest inside its borders at a time? Even if Slimeball Priest isn’t Blair’s spiritual advisor, wouldn’t he still be Louis-bot’s (assuming robots actually go to Church)?
There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned takedown . . .
Delivering on her promise to help Nate find out who tried to kill him, Gossip Girl texts him a picture of Max McPoorPerson taken at the time of the accident . . .
Seriously, are ALL guest stars on this show evil?
Nate immediately rushes to tell his boy toy, Chuck about this. Good ole Chuck, despite all the anguish in his personal life, he is willing to take time out of his busy schedule of Blair-stalking, and helping old people across the street to research this nefarious non-New Yorker . . .
See, Blair? Chuck’s still a REALLY good guy. You should totally dump the Bot, and go back to boning him . . . (You know you want to . . .)
In return for her services, Gossip Girl has a favor to ask of Nate. I bet you can guess what that favor is . . .
Oh, that’s cold! Taking down Serena’s site, and not telling her about it until after she’s made a total ASS of herself in front of about twenty reporters. That’s at least $50 in the Douchebag Jar for you, Nate!
On second thought, make that $5,000, because we all know how filthy rich you are . . .
(By the way, why are we suddenly talking about the “launch” of Serena’s blog, when, last week, they were referring to her as a Famous Blogger, who surpassed even Gossip Girl? Sometimes, I wonder whether the folks who write this show actually watch it . . .)
When Serena confronts Nate, wondering what the f*&k happened to her blog, he claims he took it down, as part of a “marketing strategy.” Nate, I’m sorry. I like you, and all. But you wouldn’t know a “marketing strategy,” if it bit you in the nipple . . .
Shameless of me . . . I know.
Donut Dan clearly bathed in pheremones this morning. Because, minutes later, we find him strolling down the street with yet another woman who wants to inject herself into him, like jelly filling. I mean, why else would she possibly support Dan’s ridiculous idea to write a WESTERN novel. Humpty Humphrey, I hate to break it to you, but riding the F train from Brooklyn to Manhattan doesn’t make you a cowboy . . .
“Oh Donut, you can lasso me, anytime . . .”
In other opportunistic news, Dan’s agent thinks it would be “better for his sexlife career,” if he stopped screwing associating himself with and/or fake dating Serena. Riiiiight . . . and that helpful advice wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you’re trying to free up space in the Donut’s pants for yourself, now would it, Alessandra?
“When did I become such a stud?”
Fortunately for Alessandra, Dan’s humongously inflated sense of self worth, enables him to eat every morsel of horse crap she shovels into his mouth. And so he calls Serena to engage in the most Awkward Conversation Ever . . .
“Heyyyyyy . . . Serena. So, remember that article you wrote about our relationship . . . and how great it is . . . because we can always be TOTALLY honest with one another, even if things that one of us says might hurt the other one’s feelings?”
“Oh, you mean the one where I declared my undying devotion to you, and vowed to love you forever and ever, and debase myself in the most pathetic ways possible to show you that love . . . even though we’re sort of kind of related . . . and lately, I’ve seen you look at cheese with more passion than you look at me . . .”
“Yeah that’s the one. Listen, could you . . . like . . . not publish that. It’s not that I don’t totally appreciate your undying devotion and all. It’s just that I don’t want to be associated with you and your writing, because my readers don’t find you particularly intelligent. And boning you would lower my credibility as a writer. It would be like the New Yorker having sex with the National Enquirer. Also, it’s kind of preventing me from having sex with other women, which, for the first time in my life, I actually seem to have multiple opportunities to do.”
“Sure, honey. No problem. I’ll take that column down, right away. Listen, I’d love to sit and chat with you, but I have an oven I’d very much like to stick my head inside, right now. Toodles!”
(To add insult to injury, throughout this conversation, Serena was wearing an outfit I distinctly remember Betty White wearing on a rerun of The Golden Girls, I watched on Nick at Nite . . .)
Meanwhile, Blair finds herself doing what she always does, whenever she’s sexually frustrated from a lack of Chuck . . . eating lots, and lots, of chewy, CHUCK-Y macaroons . . .
As sexy as Chuck looked in this scene, and as sexually tense as his moment with Blair was, during it. I think Chuck actually made a bit of a boo-boo here. By telling Blair exactly where she planned to be, at each stage of her bachelorette party, Chuck pretty much demanded that Blair change her plans at the last minute (basically, because she can’t bare being so close to him for any extended period of time, without ripping his clothes off and ravaging him). And, of course, as we know, this was exactly what Beatrice-bot and Slimeball Priest wanted . . .
“Hold me back, Beatrice-bot, or I swear I’ll hump him . . .”
If I was Chuck, I’d probably just lie and tell Blair I WAS looking to purchase a pink velour tracksuit. They’re very comfy, you know . . .
Meanwhile, back at the Spectator, Serena takes it upon herself to plop down at Nate’s computer, which, of course, is not password protected . . . genius that he is. So, of course, she immediately finds those tell-tale e-mails from Gossip Girl that are as helpfully labeled as can be . . . (You would think someone who valued her anonymity as much as Gossip Girl would know enough to use code words, or something.)
“Golly gee, I wonder what ‘In return for Serena’s article’ means. Darn Gossip Girl! Always so cryptic!”
As has become habit on this show, Serena takes it upon herself to publish something on the Spectator that Nate doesn’t want published. We’ve seen this now three times, already. The security at the New York Spectator is so lax, I’m surprised I’m surprised the homeless guys outside haven’t jogged in and stolen all the computers, by now. I also love how Nate’s trusty assistant SEES her do this, but doesn’t try to take the post down (which, considering it’s a blog, should be as easy as clicking the “Move to Trash” button).
In Trusty Assistant’s defense, perhaps, she couldn’t get to the computer, as a result of the massive poisonous snake-like object dangling from her neck. Seriously, that thing must weigh at least half her body weight . . .
Over at Dan’s Book Meeting, his “Western” idea, gets shot down faster than you can say “Quick Draw McDonut.” So, does his “Book of the Future” idea.
“OK. . . so it’s like Hunger Games meets Mean Girls meets Star Wars, and I’m like Hans Solo / Katniss, and Blair is a cross between Princess Leia and Regina George. And, in the end, we have glorious intergalactic sex on an obscure planet called Humphreyon.”
“So, basically, it’s an alternate universe Dair fanfiction . . .”
Basically, the book sellers want Dan to write Inside 2: Electric Boogaloo, about his newfound relationship with Serena. You know since, as of five minutes ago, when Serena published her article about the GREAT AND LIFE-ALTERING love of Dan Humphrey, she’s like totally the most popular blogger ever . . . again.
You know what that means? Darena fanfiction. So suck it, Alessandra . . .
“Can I at least play Serena, in the movie version? I’d totally be willing to dye my hair blond, and not brush it for a few weeks . . .”
Back at the Spectator, Nate puts on his Big Boy Pants and tells Serena she’s “fired.”
Then, the pair fight a bit about how, by screwing Serena, Nate found out from Gossip Girl that his own cousin (and one of Serena’s many ex-lovers) Tripp was the one who tried to murder him. Serena defends the honor of the man she’s once known in the biblical sense (even though she’s known Nate . . . and most of Manhattan, that way too). But when she leaves, Trusty Assistant sends a video of the firing to Gossip Girl. I smell a SCHEME!
I must admit, I was super disappointed about how ridiculously quickly and carelessly, they wrapped up the plot about how SOMEONE ALMOST KILLED CHUCK BASS, and ACTUALLY KILLED BLAIR’S BABY!
Look, I get the fact that we all knew it was Tripp trying to sabotage Nate, from the outset. So, the reveal was going to be anti-climactic, no matter what. But the way Trippster just blurted out a five-minute long (complete with cheesy flashbacks) monologue confession of his crimes, the minute he was ambushed by Serena, Nate and Grandpoppy was so completely ridiculous, it was almost laughable.
Even the actors look bored by this scene . . .
Why bother telling everyone that YOU were the one who cut the brakes. Tripp? Why not just let Max continue to take the blame for that part, of this whole disaster? It was his idea, and he did take your money, after all . . .
Tripp trips up . . . and gets trapped.
Let’s put aside for a second the fact that we’re supposed to believe that CONGRESSMAN would sabotage his cousin’s car . . . putting his entire career and freedom at risk . . . because he was jealous that the latter got invited to a party that he didn’t. He claims he “didn’t think it would be that bad.” What exactly does this guy think happens when you cut someone’s breaks. The car does a little dance, pops a wheely, and goes right back to normal?
I guess we are supposed to be happy at the end, that Tripp’s probably going to go to jail (It seems like a family trait for those Archibalds.), his wife is leaving him (another family trait), and his career is pretty much in the toilet (And, we’re three for three.). But NONE of these things are going to bring back Blair’s baby. Oh, and did I mention that Tripp is responsible for breaking up CHAIR?
Now, I’m generally not an advocate for the death penalty, but I would be willing to make an exception here . . .
“I’d rip out your heart, Tripp, if you had one . . .”
Oh, and I guess Nate finally stood up to his Grandpoppy, or something . . . So, um, yay for that . . . I guess? Elsewhere, Slimeball Priest stops by Chuck’s house to give him directions to Blair’s NEW Jersey Shore cast-approved Bachelorette Party. It’s interesting how GG was so very religious, last week. And, this week, is giving us the worst representation of Catholicism, EVER. In fact, if I was much more religous than I am, I’d probably find this a bit offensive . . .
Jesus would like to remind all Upper East Siders that not all priests are cut from the same cloth . . .
Then again, all this Priest’s talk about “Divine Intervention” actually makes a pretty good argument as to why the Lord ships Chair . . .
Of course, he’d have a lot more credibility saying this, if he WASN’T, going against his vows, by hooking up with Beatrice-bot . . .
In what was, hands down, my favorite part of the episode, Blair attends her bachelorette party at Panchitos, and proceeds to get rip-roaring wasted, thanks to a cleverly fixed drinking game, courtesy of Beatrice Bot.
The game involved naughty acts of Blair’s exes. And the only one I distinctly remember was something about Carter Baizzen wearing women’s underwear . . . Still, it was pretty awesome.
You know who else is awesome? Drunk Blair! I don’t think I’ve seen her have this much fun, since she stripped for Chuck, and made sweet, sweet love to him for the very first time, in the limo, back in season 1 . . .
Sober Blair is prim, proper, and often calculating. Drunk Blair is bubbly, happy, carefree, and VERY friendly . . . she’s also a surprisingly good dancer . . .
You could tell Leighton Meester had a lot of fun exercising her comedy muscle, and displaying this rarely seen side of Blair. Part of me wishes Chuck was inside to see it to. Something tells me he would have enjoyed it . . . a lot . . .
“Papa LIKE!”
You know who else would have enjoyed Drunk Blair? Serena . . . if she actually SHOWED UP! FRIEND FAIL!
Sure, ditch me for Grandpa Archibald, and the psycho serial killer Congressman. See, if I care?
Had Serena been at the party, she might have prevented Blair from making this drunken confession to Beatrice-bot . . .
Interestingly enough, I think it was Blair’s confession of her star-crossed love for Chuck to Beatrice-bot that actually convinced her NOT to try and sabotage her wedding (BOO). After all, as Blair so astutely reminded Beatrice-bot, these two actually have a lot in common: forbidden loves, daddy issues, scheming psyches . . . a love of macaroons. Best friendships have been built on way less . . .
Speaking of lovers and friends, when Blair finally leaves the bar, her lover (Chuck) and her friend (Dan) are waiting for her. But she doesn’t notice either of them, because she’s too busy getting arrested for handling a joint, someone just happened to toss her way, and fondling a police officer (appropriately named “Weiner”), who just happened to try and take it from her. Oops!
Anti-Blouis fans (including Chuck, Dan, Beatrice-bot, Slimeball priest, and 99.99% of the world couldn’t have planned it better) if they tried! After all, what Prince would marry a “drug addict?”
“Robots don’t do drugs. It causes them to prematurely rust.”
Surprisingly enough, given all that, Blair seemed to have luck (and friends) on her side. Moments after she landed in jail, Serena finally dragged her ass away from Golden Girls reruns to bail her out. And Blair was too drunk to even be pissed off about it . . .
Even more surprising was the fact that Beatrice-bot actually purchased all the cameras off bar patrons who photographed Blair, so that news of her cop humping, and ganja smoking antics wouldn’t get out? Well, except for the fact that her cop humping and ganja smoking antics were probably uploaded to YouTube and Facebook by at least ten people about five seconds after it happened . . .
And Blair lived happily ever after . . . well . . . except for a massive hangover . . .
. . . and the fact that she’s still marrying a lame ass cyborg . . .
“Please, S. Make this nightmare end . . . I was having such good sex dreams about Chuck. And then you had to go and wake me up to my REAL life.”
Becoming the villain . . .
Speaking of Chuck, he came to visit Blair at her home the night of the Bachelorette Party. But she was too wasted and busy having sex dreams about him to come to the door . . . He did vow to keep fighting for her, though . . .
. . . even if that means forming a VERY unholy alliance with the same Slimeball Priest, who, apparently, got his supposed lover Beatrice-bot shipped off to a missionary in Africa, when he heard she wasn’t going to scheme with him against Blair anymore . . . (Nice guy, right?) Does it make me a terrible person, that, as awful as Slimeball Priest is, I STILL hope he will succeed in helping Chuck stop this travesty of a wedding?
Oh well . . . You can’t be good all the time, right?
Speaking of no good, even though Blair explicitly told Serena that she didn’t have to pretend to date Dan, anymore, Serena lied to Dan, and said that they DID, just to give her a better chance at getting in his pants. It’s kind of pathetic, I’m not going to lie . . .
I’m starting to think that this guy has hypnotic powers. He probably hides them in his hair . . .
Why is Blair suddenly OK with Serena not fake dating, Dan, you ask? (Because that whole Serena fake dating Dan thing was a stupid idea to begin with). Because she and Louis-bot are in a “good place.” And why are they in a “good place.” Because Louis-bot apparently wrote Blair some REALLY good vows.
Oh, I’m sorry . . . did I say Louis-bot wrote some really great vows? I meant DAN wrote them . . .
(It’s important to note that Louis-bot chose to insert his little thank you note in a copy of Camus’ “The Stranger,” a book about a guy who lacks emotion and a personality, so he kills someone, more or less, in an effort to FEEL something. Hmmm . . . no emotions . . . no personality . .. Sound like anyone we know?)
Next week’s 100th episode of Gossip Girl, entitled GG promises a wedding . . . maybe . . .
. . . a Chuck Bass intervention . . .
. . . and, of course, the return of the deliciously evil, Georgina Sparks . . .
It’s been a good year for us Delena fans on TVD, hasn’t it? (And, judging by where things left off, next year promises to be EVEN BETTER! YIPPEE!)
After an admittedly shaky start (Jeremy Neck Snap Incident, anyone?), us stalwart D&E fans fans were eventually rewarded for our patience, with a Season 2 Smorgasbord of Tasty Delena goodness. Within just the first 10 episodes of the Season, we were treated to multiple phallic encounters . . .
. . . passionate exchanges . . .
. . . near kisses . . .
. . . and, of course, one VERY SPECIAL (but equally frustrating) declaration of love . . .
Having experienced the joy of all that, who would have thought that the scenes I just described would ultimately end up being just a precursor to all the FABULOUS Delena Decadence that was to come?
And it is for this reason that, while I had already crafted a list of the Top Ten Delena Moments of Season 1 . . . and followed that up with a SECOND list, featuring the Top Ten Moments of the FIRST half of Season 2 . . . I simply couldn’t resist writing a THIRD article, focusing on the Top Ten Delena Moments of the SECOND half of Season 2. After all, far be it for me to deny my fellow Delena fans, the opportunity to relive the ecstasy of THE FIRST KISS . . .
What follows are my favorite Damon and Elena scenes from the last eleven episodes of TVD’s second Season, starting from “The Descent,” and ending with “As I Lay Dying.” So, without further adieu, let Sweet, Sexy, and Swoon-worthy Nostalgia BEGIN!
10. “Be the Better Man, Damon.”
Episode: “Daddy Issues” – 2 X 13
Setting the Scene:
Team Save Elena (a.k.a. The Scooby Gang) has been making some questionable decisions lately. And it’s been trying Damon’s already-limited patience, BIG TIME. First, Stefan comes up with the “brilliant idea” of inviting Known Vampire Hater Uncle/Father John, and Elena’s Evil Bio Mom Vampire Isobel back to town, so that they could “join the team.” Damon and Elena don’t trust either of these two sorry excuses for parents, as far as they can throw them. However, both recognize that John might have information the two could use to defeat Klaus. “Be the better man,” Elena cautions Damon for the first time that evening, before Damon meets John at the Only Bar / Social Establishment in Mystic Falls to exchange a few words.
Damon DOES, somehow, manage to hold his tongue, when speaking to John (just barely). Not long after, however, Elena gets a call from Stefan, informing her that the werewolves (Jules and Wereoaf Brady) are holding Vampire Caroline hostage. As a condition of Caroline’s safe release, the werewolves wish to “strike up a deal.” They will return Caroline, in exchange for resident werewolf, Tyler Lockwood.
Upon hearing this, Damon, (who, up to this point, had been completely kept out of the loop, regarding the whole “Tyler is a werewolf” thing) is FURIOUS about this recent turn of events. And he is not at all shy about sharing these feelings with Elena . .
Potent Quotables:
Damon: (about Tyler) “He’s a werewolf. He needs to die. I’m willing to kill. It’s win/win!”
And later . . .
Damon: “You need to stop doing that . . . assuming I’ll play the good guy, because it’s YOU who’s asking.”
Elena: “Be the Better Man, Damon.”
And still later . . .
Damon: (to Uncle/Father John) “First Dad Duty? Ground your daughter . . . keep her here.”
Elena: “I’m coming with you!”
Why it made the list:
“Daddy Issues” was an important episode in the Delena canon, because it, in effectively introduced us to a completely different character, one who we hadn’t seen up to this point. Ladies and gentleman, meet Ponytail Elena. (She will appear again in “The Last Dance,” home to TWO MORE of our Top Ten Delena Moments. Coincidence? I think not!)
While Hair Down Elena might not be sure, at this point in the game, of her feelings for Damon, Ponytail Elena already has a pretty good idea she wants him BAD! (Remember that look of jealously flashing across Ponytail Elena’s eyes, when Andie hit on Damon for the first time? Or the look of triumph on Ponytail Elena’s face, when Damon initially rejected her?) Not unlike Katherine, Ponytail Elena knows EXACTLY what she needs to do to get her way . . .
It was interesting seeing THIS scene back -to-back with the earlier one in the episode, in which Elena instructs Damon to be “kinder and gentler” in his discussion with Uncle/Father John. In both scenes: (1) Elena pleads with Damon to be “good.” (2) He balks. (3) She asks him to be the “Better Man.” (4) He balks AGAIN, but reluctantly agrees. (5) She demands to follow him whereever he is going.
However, the DIFFERENCE between these two scenes is why this one made the list, and the previous one didn’t. Unlike in the first scene, this time, Ponytail Elena is more brazen with her manipulation of Damon. Observe how the Petrova Doppelganger gently places both of her hands on Damon’s arms affectionately, and looks up at him with her puppy dog eyes, when she asks him not to kill Tyler.
Also different from the first scene, is Damon’s reaction. All Damon has to do is take one look at Elena’s hand positioning, and he knows EXACTLY what she’s trying to do. “You need to stop doing that,” he demands, eyes blazing.
I love how Elena, naively, acts as if she isn’t aware of her manipulation of Damon “Doing what?” She asks innocently.
However, the minute he makes mention of it, Elena guiltily removes her hands from his arms. She’s no dummy, that Ponytail Elena! Damon’s response to Elena “(Assuming I’ll play the Good Guy, because it’s YOU who’s asking”) is the closest we’ve come to seeing Damon admit his feelings for Elena directly to her, ever since he told her he loved her, and compelled her to forget it, during “Rose,” back in episode 8.
And yet, the fact that Elena is behaving this way, to begin with, illustrates that she probably already has a pretty good idea of Damon’s feelings for her. When affection doesn’t work, Elena falls back on her catchphrase, “Be the Better Man, Damon,” she tells him, for the second time that evening. The phrase almost acts as a hypnotic trigger for Damon, working on him instantly. Damon will always obey this command of Elena’s, no matter how much he may hate doing so.
And why not? After all, it’s Damon’s incorrect belief that Stefan is a “Better Man” than he is, that keeps him from more actively pursuing Elena, in the first place! At this point in the series, Damon still believes he doesn’t DESERVE Elena. We see this at the end of the episode when the “Better Man” line makes it’s third appearance. “I’m in love with a woman I can’t have,” Damon tells Andie, during the pseudo-couple’s infamous Bathtub Scene. “I have to stay together (read “in control of my emotions”) to protect her, which means, I can’t be who I AM!”
As the series draws to a close, Damon will gradually come to learn how wrong he is in this assessment. But, for now, the elder Salvatore Brother will just have to rejoice in the mini victory of having let Ponytail Elena know that he has her number.
And, hey, she DID want to “come with him” to rescue Tyler, didn’t she? Only this time, Damon said “NO!”
“Nice try, Sweet Cheeks! It’s called ‘playing hard to get.’ Get used to it!”
So, you might be wondering why I included this scene at the top of my list, especially since it seems to show more of a manipulation of Damon on Elena’s part, than actual affection. Well . . . I don’t think that’s ALL it shows.
In “Daddy Issues,” more than any episode we had seen in Season 2 (at least up to THIS point in the season), Damon and Elena are relating to one another in that same super-close, married couple, type way, we witnessed during KEY Season 1 Delena episodes, like “Bloodlines,” and “Blood Brothers.” And, don’t forget, this is POST Jeremy Neck Snap Incident! So, that’s saying a lot!
Yes, they are bickering . . . and arguing . . . and Elena seems to be getting on Damon’s nerves a bit. But beneath all that, are two people who are on the same page. They understand how eachother think. And they subconsciously take comfort in eachother’s company. Why else would Elena keep following Damon around for the ENTIRE first half of the episode? Where was STEFAN during all that time? HMM?
9. Damon asks for Elena’s forgiveness
Episode: “As I Lay Dying” – 2 X 22
Setting the Scene:
Having been bitten by Teen Wolf Tyler, during his werewolf transformation, Damon believes himself to be doomed to die a painful and ugly death by were-rabies. If Rose’s rapid disease progression is any indication, Damon has a few days to live at most, and just hours, before he begins showing signs of dementia. Despite all this, Damon has made the selfless, but tragic, decision not to inform Elena of his impending death. “The last thing [Elena] needs is another grave to mourn,” Damon tells Stefan, when his younger brother first learns of the fatal bite.
And yet Damon has one dying wish: that Elena forgive him for going against her wishes, and force-feeding her his blood, prior to The Sacrifice. (He did this, so that if Klaus, in fact, killed her, she would at least return as a vampire.)
Thanks to Uncle/Father John sacrificing his soul . . . and his life, for Elena’s, Elena was revived following the Sacrifice, and was able to retain her humanity. And yet, Elena has still not verbally forgiven Damon for his actions. In this scene, Damon arrives at Elena’s house, the morning after John’s and Jenna’s funeral, in hopes of obtaining the absolution he so desperately needs from the woman he loves more than life itself.
Potent Quotables:
Damon: “I want to apologize . . . please . . . Elena feeding you my blood, I was wrong. And I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I need it.”
Elena: “And I need some time . . . maybe a lot of time.”
Damon: “Sure . . . of course . . . take all the time you need.”
Why it made the list:
This short simple scene is important, in that it functions as the first step in the journey Damon and Elena take toward mutual forgiveness, acceptance, and possibly much more, during the final episode of the series. The tragedy of this scene, as mentioned above, is that Elena doesn’t know that Damon is dying. Yet, he refuses to tell her.
Damon “needs” Elena’s forgiveness, so that he can die in peace. And yet, he doesn’t want that forgiveness to come from a place of PITY (Take THAT, Pity Kiss THEORISTS!), or guilt. In the epic words Damon himself used last season, in explaining the reason he didn’t compel Elena during the pair’s trip to Georgia, “I wanted it to be real.”
The OLD Damon might have become frustrated with Elena’s stubborness, and refusal to forgive him. (I mean, it’s not like she actually turned into a VAMPIRE, or anything!) Remember how quickly Damon started to pout and complain, when Elena refused to forgive him for the Jeremy Neck Snap Incident, earlier on in the season? But this is a different Damon from the one we knew back then. This Damon truly is “a Better Man.”
Notice how, throughout the scene, even though Damon is obviously going through a TON of personal sh*t, his focus is always on Elena. Watching her linger over Aunt Jenna’s room in the morning, Damon IMMEDIATELY knows the anguish Elena is feeling, upon seeing that bed empty. “It will get easier,” he tells her comfortingly. “Then again, you already knew that.”
And even when Elena refuses to forgive Damon, and he realizes that there is a good chance he will die without receiving that forgiveness, Damon still considers Elena’s feelings to be of the utmost importance. He even manages to smile at her, and say, “Take all the time you need,” when deep down, he knows that his own time is slowly running out . . .
The fact that Damon and Elena started the episode in THIS sad place, however, makes where they end up, by the end of the episode, all the more miraculous . . .
8. Elena rescues Damon . . . from himself!
Episode: “As I Lay Dying” – 2 X 22
Setting the Scene:
Damon’s time is running out. His were-rabies has now set in at full force. He’s feeling weak, is in an incredible amount of pain, and is beginning to have difficulty distinguishing his flashback hallucinations (featuring Katherine) from reality. That’s the BAD news.
The good news is that Damon’s hallucinations have been oddly therapeutic for him. He finally sees that he was personally responsible for his decision to turn vampire, back in 1864. Neither Stefan, nor Katherine forced him to do it. He has to find Elena, and tell her this (as well as FINALLY confess his true feelings for her), before it’s too late.
Elena needs to find Damon too. She found out about his werewolf bite from Stefan, and feels terrible about the way she treated him earlier that day. (See scene above.) Elena wants to let Damon know that she forgives him for feeding her his blood prior to the Sacrifice. She also knows that Caroline’s AWFUL mother Lizard Forbes wants Damon dead. And Elena wants badly to rescue Dying Damon from that b*tch.
Eventually, Damon and Elena do find one another. But Damon just so happens to be in the throes of one of his most vivid hallucination, when the reunion occurs . . .
Potent Quotables:
Elena: “Damon . . . come on . . . come on . . . We need to get you out of here. We have to hide you.”
Katherine: (in flashback, after puncturing her neck, and allowing blood to drip from it) “If you want it, take it. It is your choice to make.”
And later . . .
Elena: (as Damon bites Katherine / Elena) “Damon, you don’t have to do this.”
Why it made the list:
This scene works on two levels. On one, we have Damon, just hours away from death, finally coming to the realization that he is personally responsible for his decision to become a vampire. On another, we have Elena, who, after two seasons of being rescued repeatedly by Damon, finally has the opportunity to put her own life and safety on the line, to rescue him right back.
On some level, Damon and Elena have been searching for one another, the entire episode. It was Damon’s instinctive knowledge that Elena was looking for him outside, that prompted Damon to send Alaric for blood, knock out Lizard Forbes, and escape his makeshift cage in the basement of La Casa de Rich and Awesome. Likewise, it was Elena’s need to find Damon, and comfort him, during his final moments, that prompted her to break through the glass of the police station with that chair. (I wonder who’s going to end up having to pay for THAT!)
Of course, once Damon finds Elena, he shifts right back into hallucination mode, and can only see Katherine. In the hallucination, Katherine’s words to Damon are direct. She tells him that the decision to become a vampire is his choice to make. And by biting down on Katherine’s neck, and taking her blood, he makes that choice. Yet, in the present day, Damon is biting on Elena’s neck. Her words to him are symbolic too. She tells him, “You don’t have to do this.”
And though she’s referring to BITING HER, Elena’s words also apply to biting KATHERINE back in 1864. Damon didn’t HAVE to do that. He didn’t have to become a vampire. And he WOULDN”T have become one, if he hadn’t made that choice. The anguish on Damon’s face, upon waking from his reverie, and realizing that he has bitten and hurt the woman he loves, is truly heartbreaking.
But what is sweet about the scene is Elena’s reaction. Yes, Elena is in pain. Yes, Damon hurt her. But Elena isn’t angry at Damon for what he did, or worried for her own safety.
Like Damon’s actions at the beginning of the episode, Elena’s actions here are completely selfless. All she cares about is protecting Damon, and getting him to safety. The way Elena holds and comforts Damon in this scene, you can tell just how much she truly cares about him. And this show of affection is only a precursor of what’s to come later on in the episode . . .
7. Elena Comforts Damon after Rose’s Death
Episode: “The Descent” – 2 X 12
Setting the Scene:
Damon earned the ire of Big Bad Wolf Jules, when she began to (correctly) suspect that he had killed her werewolf buddy, Mason Lockwood, a.k.a. Tyler Lockwood’s Hot Uncle.
The elder Salvatore brother moved even further up Wolf Girl’s Poopy List, when he and Alaric cornered her in the Only Bar / Social Establishment in Mystic Falls, and (under the guise of hitting on her) were-rufied her drink with Wolfsbane.
Fast-forward to the next Full Moon. Jules, in werewolf form, barges into La Casa de Rich and Awesome, intent on chopping on some Salvatore skin. (Can you blame her? YUMMY!)
However, instead of sinking her teeth into Damon, Jules’ pointy choppers land smack dab on the backside of Damon’s most recent Screw Buddy, Vampire Rose.
As a result of the bite, Vampire Rose contracts some bizarre form of were rabies. (Then again, isn’t all were rabies, by definition bizarre?). Shortly thereafte, Rose, pretty much, starts going apesh*t. (She looks pretty hideous too.) Rose uses her Sick Time, constructively, by chasing Elena around La Casa de Rich and Awesome, and trying to eat her. (Personally, I prefer to spend MY sick time watching bad daytime television. But, that’s just me . . .)
When that fails, a wacked-out Rose breaks free from La Casa de Rich and Awesome, and starts chowing down on innocent Mystic Falls residents. Damon eventually finds Rose, and brings her back to the house. However, Rabies Rose’s days of eating the Good People of Mystic Falls are numbered. And Damon knows it.
Using his vampiric powers of dream walking, Damon sits Rose down in her lap, like the unruly baby she has become. Being the Generous Mercy Killer he is, Damon creates for Rose a warm fuzzy (read “extremely cheesy”) dream, in which she and he are frolicking through the meadow.
When Rabies Rose is feeling sufficiently blissed out, he stakes her, but not before shedding a few tears, on her behalf.
In THIS sweet and poignant Delena scene, Elena, having learned of Rose’s death, arrives at La Casa de Rich and Awesome to check up on Her Future Lover . . .
Potent Quotables:
Elena: “I came back to make sure you are OK.”
And later . . .
Elena: “Damon I’m your friend.”
Damon: “I’m well aware of that.”
Elena: “And a friend usually knows when their friend is hurting.”
Damon: “What do you want to hear? That I cared about Rose? That I’m upset? Well, I didn’t. And I’m not.”
Elena: “There you go, pretending to turn it off, pretending not to feel. Damon, you’re so close. Don’t give up.”
Damon: “I feel, Elena, OK? And it sucks! What sucks even more is that it was supposed to be me. Jules was coming after ME.”
Elena: “You feel guilty.”
Damon: “That would be human of me, Elena, and I’m NOT HUMAN! You’re one to talk about giving up. That’s all you’ve done is give up! Go home! There’s been enough doom, gloom, and personal growth for one night.”
Why it made the list:
You’ll notice that in this scene, unlike the ones that preceded it, I transcribed practically the ENTIRE conversation between Damon and Elena in the “potent quotables” section. That’s because every line of this scene is heavily laden with meaning. In fact, with the exception of the final scenes of “As I Lay Dying,” Damon’s and Elena’s exchange during “The Descent” is probably the most honest exchange they have with one another the entire season.
Just as, in the earlier scene I posted from the finale, where Damon instinctively knows what Elena is going through, when she stares at Jenna’s empty room, Elena, having experienced Rose’s demise along with him, knows exactly how hard it was for Damon to ultimately end her life.
We’ve seen many scenes in which Elena has pushed Damon away, for one reason or another. However, this time, it is Damon trying to do the pushing, and Elena vying for closeness.
Ahem?
But Elena makes a mistake, when she calls Damon “her friend.” Of course, she’s trying to be helpful. However, reminding Damon of their “just friends” status, during this difficult time in Damon’s life, is like rubbing salt in the wound.
(Then again, perhaps, this is a case of thou doth protest too much? Maybe Elena is already starting to feel a closeness to Damon beyond friendship, and needs to reiterate the “just friends” nature of their relationship to convince herself that this is the case? Wishful thinking on my part? Maybe . . . but maybe not. ;))
When Damon denies having any feeling about Rose’s death, however, Elena goes for the “Better Man,” card again. Though she doesn’t use those exact words, by telling Damon that he is “so close” to humanity, that is, in effect, what she is saying. And Elena is right. Rose’s death did cause a sort of emotional breakthrough of sorts in Damon.
But these emotions scare Damon, because, as he admits to Andie, in the following episode, they make him feel out of control. They also cause him to remember how much he misses being human. “That would be human of me, Elena. And I’m NOT human,” he argues. (Talk about a case of “Thou doth protest too much!”)
But even though Damon commands Elena to leave for a third time, during the scene, Elena refuses to go, without giving Damon the comfort she so desperately knows he needs. She hesitates as she turns to leave, looking at him intently for a few beats before pulling him in for a deep Full Body Hug. Elena’s show of affection surprises Damon, and, eventually moves him to tears.
But Damon isn’t the only one who needed to feel closeness in that moment. While Elena may have decided to hug Damon, in a friendly and comforting way, the look she gives him, when she pulls back from the hug, hints that she might have felt something deeper during it, than she initially expected.
For a few moments before she leaves, we see Elena stare pointedly at Damon’s eyes and lips. She does this so intently, that, the first time I watched this scene, I really did think that she might kiss him. But, alas, our first Delena kiss was still quite a few episodes away . . .
6. “I’ve got moves you’ve never seen!”
Episode: “The Last Dance” – 2 X 18
Setting the Scene:
Though he has not yet shown his “true face” to the Scooby Gang, Klaus has not been shy about expressing his desire to “capture” Elena, and use her in his Wacky Sacrifice Ritual. By compelling one of her classmates, Klaus delivers a creepy message to Elena that she should expect to “meet” him at the sixties-themed dance being held at the high school. Rather than avoid the dance (which, to be honest, would have made a heck of a lot more sense), the entire Scooby Gang, Elena included, decides to attend. Their plan is to draw Klaus out, and then kill him . . . somehow.
Needless to say, tensions are high. And no one is more tense than Elena. That is, until . . .
Potent Quotables:
Why it made the list:
Damon: “How you doin?”
Elena: “Umm . . . freaking out a bit. You?”
Damon: “Cool as a cucumber. Come on . . . remember the last Decade Dance. The vampires were all ‘Arrrghhhh’ and you were all ‘Ahhhhh!”
Elena: “Right . . . and . . . we won.”
Damon: “Yes, we did.”
Elena: “You’re good at this.”
Damon: “I’ve got moves, you’ve never seen.”
You know what I actually just noticed about this scene? (And it’s something that I had never picked up on, in the 20 or so times I watched it before hand.) There’s this little moment, before Stefan leaves to go talk to Caroline, that he gives Damon a bit of a head nod, actually ENCOURAGING him to dance with Elena!
Dear old Selfless Stefan . . . you have no idea what you are getting your “girlfriend’ into! Doesn’t Baby Salvatore know that no girl can resist a Dancing Damon?
Least of all . . . Elena . . .
Still, you might be wondering why this scene ranks so high on my list, when the ones preceeding it are so much more “emotionally intense.” But, actually, the fact that this scene WAS SO LIGHTHEARTED AND SIMPLE is precisely why it earned such a high ranking.
The Delena Dance of Season 2, much like the one in Season 1 that preceded it, allowed us a glimpse into what Damon and Elena will be like as an ACTUAL COUPLE. In just a few short seconds of grooving together, Damon and Elena, illustrate all the fun, sex appeal, wit, good humor, and understanding that is going to make Delena such a force to be reckoned with in season 3.
I love the look of shock and arousal that crosses Elena’s face, when Damon first whirls her into his chest. As we’ve seen often with Elena, when she comes in close contact with Damon, she often seems mesmerized, by his mouth in particular.
And, though Damon is trying to play it, “cool as a cucumber” (his words, not mine), we can see that he isn’t exactly immune to Elena’s charms either. There’s a brief second where Damon loses himself in the movement of the dance, and forgets all about Klaus, the Sacrifice, and all his schemes. In that moment, these are just two beautiful people who are insanely hot for one another.
That being said, when Elena openly admits to Damon that she is “freaking out a bit,” Damon immediately becomes refocused on the task at hand: Operation Cheer Up Elena! And Cheer Elena up he does, through a combination of fun, un-self-conscious goofiness . . .
. . . good humor, and logical reasoning. Damon immediately is able to set Elena at ease, and make her smile, in a way, few members of the Scooby Gang are able to do. But in addition to being really funny, Damon’s “The vampires were like Arrrgh, and you were like Ahhh,” was also a wise and reassuring statement. In other words, “We beat the bad guys before, and we will beat them again.”
Of course, once Damon has sufficiently calmed Elena down, and converted her from Brooding Damsel in Distress to Giddy High Schooler Dancing with Hot Boy, Damon ramps up the charm, dipping her, pulling her close to his body and face, and whispering seductively in her ear, “I’ve got moves you’ve never seen.”
“You’re good at this,” Elena admits breathlessly, looking very much like she wants to makeout with him right there on the dance floor.
Well, isn’t that the Understatement of the Year . . .
5. “I can’t lose you.”
Episode: “The Last Day” – 2 X 20
Setting the Scene:
Not willing to accept that Bonnie’s death (through the exhaustion of all her witch powers) is the ONLY way to kill Klaus, Elena defies the wishes of the ENTIRE Scooby Gang, by de-staking Elijah, and bringing him back to life.
Elijah claims to have a plan to save Elena’s life, while still allowing Klaus to proceed with the Sacrifice Ritual. Then, once Klaus is in the throes of a werewolf transformation, and is in a weakened state, ELIJAH will stake KLAUS with the same dagger Elena used to stake HIM in “Crying Wolf.”
The problem is that Elijah’s Big Plan to “save” Elena seems . . .what’s the right word . . . oh yeah . . . LAME! It involves some sort of Romeo and Juliet-esque elixir he cooked up, that would make Elena APPEAR to be dead, throughout the Sacrifice Ritual, when, in fact, she is really alive. Having never used the elixir before, Elijah can’t guarantee that it will work.
The idea of taking such a gamble with Elena’s life sickens Damon. So, he stalks off to his room to sulk. Elena (who LOVES Damon’s bedroom, more than any other room in La Casa de Rich and Awesome, including, apparently, Stefan’s room) immediately follows Damon there, so that the two can screw like bunny rabbits “talk.”
Potent Quotables:
Elena: “You disappeared.”
Damon: “I don’t want to hear anymore.”
Elena: “I need you to understand why I’m doing this.”
Damon: “Why? It clearly doesn’t matter what I think.”
Elena: “I’ll be FINE, Damon. I’ll drink the elixir. Bonnie will kill Klaus, and all of this will finally be over.”
And later . . .
Damon: “You think it will work . . . You WANT it to work . . . Why am I the only one who’s convinced it WON’T. There has to be another way.”
Elena: “There isn’t.”
Damon: “You are going to die, Elena.”
Elena: “And then, I’ll come back to life.”
Damon: “That is not a risk I am willing to take.”
Elena: “But I am . . . it’s my life, Damon. My choice.”
Damon: “I can’t lose you.”
Elena: “You won’t.”
Why it made the list:
I’m just full of controversial picks today, aren’t I? Here’s the scene where Damon FORCE FEEDS Elena his blood, and stakes Stefan, and I’ve got it as number 5 on my Delena list. But, hopefully, after you rewatch the scene, you will see why. You see, I feel like there’s a real parallel between this scene, and the scene that takes place between Damon and Elena at the end of “The Last Dance,” right before Elena decides to stake Klaus. (See #3 below.)
Both scenes, begin with Elena entering Damon’s room. Both scenes involve a discussion between Damon and Elena, regarding the best way to go about saving her life, during the Sacrifice.
In “The Last Dance,” Elena REFUSES to put Bonnie’s life on the line to save her own. Here, Damon refuses to put Elena’s life on the line for Elijah’s harebrained scheme. “There HAS to be another way,” each party says to the other, more or less. Both scenes climax (see what I did there?), during a moment of intense intimacy between the couple. And, just when it seems like the two are finally in agreement with one another, there’s a moment, where you see one of them making the decision to do something they know the other person will HATE.
As I mentioned earlier, Elena LOVES Damon’s room, and adores his bed. And whenever he is upset, she loves to go and find him there, so that she can “reach out and touch him.” There’s an interesting dichotomy in the scene between how close Damon and Elena come to one another, and how far away their ideas as to the best course of action remain. Throughout the scene, though Damon and Elena, both take physical steps toward one another, psychologically, they remain more far apart than ever.
Using her “Be the Better Man” trick, Elena attempts physical contact with Damon, to bring him back from the brink, when he is at his most heated. Damon is angrily and accusatorily pointing a finger at Elena, when Elena affectionately grabs his hand in both her own, bringing it closer to her face, and massaging it, as she speaks.
There’s a moment where Damon looks down at his and Elena’s now clasped hands. He knows EXACTLY what Elena is trying to do. And yet, he loves her so much, that he can’t resist her. His pointed finger relaxes into Elena’s embrace. His body posture softens, as he appeals to Elena’s obvious care and concern for his well being, “I can’t lose you,” he tells her, in all honesty.
“You won’t,” she assures him, eyes widened and dilated.
Elena really believes at this point that she has reached Damon . .. and that he will go along with whatever she says, just like he has so many times in the past. Except, sometime between Elena’s grasping of his hand, and her final promise to him, Damon comes to his decision to force-feed Elena his blood. But even as he is making this decision, a part of him knows he will live to regret it.
“Oh crap! I’m really about to f*ck up now, aren’t I?”
4. Damon revives Elena
Episode: “The Sun Also Rises” – 2 X 21
Setting the Scene:
As far as Klaus is concerned, the Sacrifice Ritual was a success. Aunt Jenna and Jules each gave up their lives as the vampire and werewolf sacrifices, respectively. As the Petrova Doppelganger, Elena also gave her “life” to Klaus, when he bit into her neck, and drained her of a significant portion of her blood.
After snapping the neck of the witch performing the ritual, Damon picks up an unconscious Elena and carries her to Stefan. But Stefan does not wish to take Elena home just yet. He wants to stay and make sure that Bonnie and Elijah defeat Klaus, once and for all.
So, Damon carries Elena back to La Casa de Rich and Awesome in his arms. At this point, her fate is still unknown. Is she dead? Will she come back a vampire, and spend eternity hating Damon for the role he played in her transformation? Or has the Scooby Gang somehow managed to find some way for Elena to return to life as a human? Damon is about to find out . . .
Potent Quotables:
Damon: “Come back as a vampire, and I’ll stake you myself. So, DON’T. Because I can’t stand the idea of you hating me forever.”
Why it made the list:
It’s hard not to see this scene as blatant foreshadowing for a future Damon and Elena union, in the truest sense of the word. I mean, who can ignore the symbolism, of Stefan asking Damon to take Elena home, himself, so that HE can stay and make sure Klaus is dead. (Shades of Stefan’s choice in the season finale, much?)
And then, watching Damon literally carry Elena through the darkness and the fire, to the safety of the home SHE owns, which is also his. Then, of course, Damon CARRIES ELENA ACROSS THE THRESHOLD of the mansion. It doesn’t get much better than that, folks!
The look of love and affection on Damon’s face, as he hovers over Elena’s unconscious body, gently running his hand across her face, and through her hair — unable to take his eyes off her for even one second — is as beautiful, as it is heartbreaking. Who WOULDN’T want a guy to look at them like that? And though the words Damon says to Elena, as he awaits her fate, might seem callous on the surface, they are actually the most romantic words he’s uttered throughout the entire episode.
Contrast these words to Damon’s “I can’t lose you,” in the earlier scene. Damon force fed Elena his blood, because HE couldn’t bear the idea of living without her. That gesture, and the thought process behind it, while romantic, is also somewhat selfish.
Here, Damon’s thoughts are ONLY for Elena. He now knows that SHE would rather die than be a vampire. And even though it would literally KILL Damon to live on Earth for even a moment without Elena, he would be willing to stake her himself, if he knew that was what she truly wanted.
Of course, there’s another aspect to Damon not wanting Elena to become a vampire. He “can’t stand the idea of [her] hating him forever.” This is also a departure from the Damon we’ve grown to know and love for two seasons. In “The Last Dance,” Damon was heard telling Stefan, that he didn’t care whether Elena hated him, as long as he was able to keep her safe.
Now, we see that this isn’t the case at all. Elena’s thoughts and feelings matter to Damon. And from now on, he will fight just as hard to protect them, as he will to protect her life.
The other part of this scene that I loved was the intimate and powerful expression on Elena’s face when she awakens from “death” to find Damon hovering over her. A commenter on my recap of this episode wisely noted that Elena died staring at Stefan, during The Sacrifice, and awakened staring at Damon. There is certainly something poetic about that.
Additionally, there lies within the meaninful look Elena gives Damon the possibility that she remembers his confession of love for her during the “Rose” episode. After all, were it not for John’s sacrifice, which, as you can see, happens AFTER Elena awakens, not before, Elena, having died with Damon’s blood in her system, would have reawakened a vampire. And VAMPIRES remember all instances of compulsion from their lives, as Caroline taught us, following HER vampiric reawakening . . .
So, does Elena remember Damon’s compulsion of her to forget that she loves him? It’s indeed possible. In fact, that very knowledge is hinted at, during the finale, and in my NUMBER 1 Delena moment of the Second Half of Season 2.
3. “I will always choose you.”
Episode: “The Last Dance” – 2 X 18
Setting the Scene:
Damon may have saved Elena’s life the night of the sixties dance, but he did it by breaking her heart . . . albeit temporarily. When Damon and the rest of the Scooby Gang learned that Klaus was possessing Alaric’s body, they determined, to their chagrin, that they had unwittingly provided him with information on their secret Klaus-Killing Weapon: Bonnie and Her Awesome Witchiness. Now AlarKlaus was after Bonnie. He wanted her out of the picture, to ensure himself a “Stress Free Sacrifice.” And he wasn’t going to let up, until she was dead . . .
So, Bonnie and Damon came up with a devious plan. Bonnie would pretend to exhaust her witchy powers, during a faux attempt at defeating Klaus at the dance. Then she would play dead . . . kind of like a dog. But the scheme had a complication: in order for KLAUS to believe that Bonnie was dead, Elena had to believe it too. And in order for ELENA to believe that Bonnie was dead, Gossip Boy Stefan couldn’t be let in on Bonnie’s and Damon’s plan either.
When Elena found Bonnie’s “dead” body in the school snack room, she was inconsolable. And when Damon arrived back at La Casa de Rich and Awesome, seeming not the least bit upset about Bonnie’s so called “loss of life,” an enraged Elena slapped him across the mouth . . . HARD. It wasn’t until after Elena almost took off his BEAUTIFUL face that Damon finally decided to come clean to the woman he would do literally ANYTHING to protect.
Damon admitted that Bonnie wasn’t really dead. She was just hanging out in a tomb with Elena’s brother “resting her eyes.” This made Elena feel like a bit of an idiot. It also gave her a good excuse to enter Damon’s room AGAIN, under the guise of “apologizing” . . .
Potent Quotables:
Elena: “I understand why you did what you did. I mean, Klaus was fooled and . . . Bonnie’s alive.”
Damon: “Here’s to duplicity.”
Elena: “Let’s get one thing straight, Damon. Bonnie will not die for me. I will not let that happen . . . We’ll find another way [to kill Klaus].”
Damon: “I hope so.”
Elena: “Look, I shouldn’t have hit you.”
Damon: “Apology accepted.”
Damon: “Let me be clear about something, if it comes down to you and the witch again, then I will gladly let Bonnie die. I will always choose you.”
Why it made the list:
Earlier, I showed you the scene in which Damon made the decision to force feed Elena his blood to save her from certain death. In my analysis of that scene I told you that it directly paralleled the scene from “The Last Dance,” in which Elena, after having an equally emotional and honest conversation with Damon, made the (as it turns out, not so hot) decision to de-stake Elijah. Like the first scene, this one worked on two levels. On one hand, it was yet another romantic bedroom scene for Damon and Elena, in which the pair let one another understand just how well they understood one another, and how much they cared for eachother. On the other, it was a deceptive scene, because, at the very moment when it seemed like the couple had come to an understanding, one of its members was plotting to do something very stupid.
It was interesting watching Damon’s and Elena’s reactions to one another throughout the scene. For instance, when Elena comes into Damon’s room, he clearly expects her to lecture him on not telling her his plans regarding Bonnie’s fake death. Aim when Elena admits that she understands exactly why he did what he did, Damon is a bit taken aback. But he is also clearly impressed by the object of his affections foresight, and understanding that sometimes the ends DO justify the means.
“Here’s to duplicity,” Damon says. (As in, “YAY, I don’t have to apologize anymore, for doing something that I don’t think was wrong at all, and would do again in a second.”)
Elena again uses her trusted tactic of initiating physical closeness with Damon to make her point about not wanting Bonnie to die. And though Damon does seem to bend a little, to Elena’s wishes (“I hope so,” he offers doubtfully, when Elena assures him that they will find another way to kill Klaus), we know that Damon’s position on the subject remains essentially the same.
Now comes the time for Elena to apologize for the Face Slap Heard Round the World . . . Elena clearly feels terrible about doing that to Damon, and wants him to know this. When just moments ago, Elena was stalwart and strong in ensuring Bonnie’s continued livelihood, suddenly she seems shy, contrite, and a smidge coquettish. As Elena apologizes, she dips her head downward, and self-consciously runs her hand through her hair.
Of course, this works. Damon can never stay mad at Elena for long. And he accepts her apology almost immediately. But then he makes the statement, that, while incredibly romantic, seals both of their fates, “I will always choose you.”
Upon hearing this, we see Elena go through a wide range of emotions in a very short amount of time. There is awe at the grandness of Damon’s remark, flattery, at the extent of his feelings for her, a deep affection for the man willing to do whatever it takes to keep her safe. It’s a powerful experience for Elena. But then . . . she SIGHS . . .
For me, the above-illustrated facial expression of Elena’s mimics the one Damon made, when he realized that he was going to force feed Elena his blood, and, in doing so, jeopardize his relationship with her. Likewise, Elena realizes that there is no way she will ever be able to convincce Damon to save Bonnie’s life over her own. And so, in this moment, she decides to de-stake Elijah.
Three times, before Elena leaves Damon’s room, we see her hesitate and turn back toward him, wanting to admit what she is about to do. There’s a big part of Elena that knows that de-staking Elijah could end up being a huge mistake. And that part of Elena wants to confess her plans to Damon, so that he can talk her out of them. But, ultimately, Elena’s desire to protect her friends . . . well . . . at least to protect Bonnie . . . wins out. And so, she leaves Damon’s room with a firm sense of purpose.
Examining this scene, side by side with the scene from “The Last Day,” even the casual viewer can see how truly alike Damon and Elena are in their way of thinging, their fierce protectiveness of others, and their courage in the face of all opposition. One thing is for sure, as a couple, these two will be unstoppable!
2. The Cuddle
Episode: “As I Lay Dying” – 2 X 22
Setting the Scene:
Having finally found a were-wolf bitten Damon, just hours away from death, Elena rushes him to the comfort of La Casa de Rich and Awesome. Huddled together in Damon’s bed, Damon and Elena silently vow to make every last minute between them count. Now is not the time for secrets.
No words can be left unsaid. No apologies can be left unspoken. No emotions can be left unburdened. But will these two intimately linked individuals — who have shared so much together, during the short time they have known one another — be able to confess their true feelings for one another, before it is too late?
Potent Quotables:
Elena: “It’s OK, Damon. I’m right here.”
Damon: “Elena, get out of here. I can hurt you.”
Elena: “No, you won’t. I’m here until the very end. I’m NOT leaving you . . . It’s OK . . . It’s OK”
Damon: “It’s NOT OK. All those years, I blamed Stefan. And no one forced me to love her. It was my own choice. I made the wrong choice . . . Tell Stefan I’m sorry, OK?”
Elena: “I will.”
Why it made the list:
As you might have noticed, Damon and Elena have been dancing around true displays of affection for one another, all season. There have been forehead kisses, hugs, hand and shoulder grabs, and even a little grinding on the dance floor. But it took Damon being moments from Death, for Elena to really give herself to him completely.
It is no accident that again, in the final moments of the Season 2 finale, Damon and Elena are huddled together in Damon’s bed. Watch as Elena lovingly holds Damon in her arms, cradling his body close to her with one arm, as she delicately blots the sweat from his brow with another.
Elena saw what Rose went through in her final hours. She recognizes the possibility that Damon, in this sickened state, could be a real danger to her. But Elena cares for Damon so much, that she is willing to put his needs before her own. And despite Damon’s pleas that she go, for her own good, Elena refuses to leave Damon’s side, even for a moment.
For Damon’s part, we can see in his eyes, how much he NEEDS Elena to be near him. And the fact that he asks her to leave, shows just as much selflessness on his part, as Elena’s staying does on hers. Because Damon has a lot to say to Elena. He has come to the realization that he is to blame for his own situation, and he needs Elena to know this before he dies. He also needs Stefan to know this.
Such is their honest relationship with one another that Elena never lies to Damon, and tells him that he’s going to survive this. She doesn’t sugar coat things for him. When Damon asks her to apologize to Stefan, she doesn’t tell him, “You can do it yourself, because you are going to live.” Rather, she just pulls him closer to her, and tells him that she will.
It’s tragic that it took a lethal illness to bring Damon and Elena to this place. Yet, it is somehow fitting. After all, Damon’s and Elena’s relationship has always been one built on intense emotions and extreme situations. And, sometimes it takes the threat of losing something to finally force you to realize that you can’t live without it.
1. THE KISS!
Episode: “As I Lay Dying” – 2 X 22
Setting the Scene:
[See description for #2 above. THIS spectacular scene takes place just one “commercial break” after THAT one. ;)]
Potent Quotables:
Damon: “This is even more pitiful than I thought.”
Elena: “There is still hope.”
Damon: “I’ve made a lot of choices that have gotten me here. I deserve this. I deserve to die.”
Elena: “No, you don’t”
Damon: “I do, Elena. And it’s OK. Because if I would have chosen differently, I wouldn’t have met you. I’m so sorry. I did so many things to hurt you.”
Elena: “It’s OK. I forgive you.”
Damon: “I know you love Stefan. And that it will always be Stefan. But I love you. You should know that.”
Elena: “I do.”
Damon: “You should have met me in 1864. You would have liked me.”
Elena: “I like you now. Just the way you are.”
Damon: “Thank you.”
Elena: “You’re welcome.”
Why it made the list:
I don’t think it was a surprise to any of you, that this ended up being my number one scene. I mean, really, could Delena fans have asked for anything more. I mean, I couldn’t have been happier, if Damon and Elena stripped naked and had their way with one another, as the final credits were rolling (which is totally how Season 3 is going to end, by the way).
Season 1 ended with Damon kissing Elena . . . except it ended up NOT being Elena, but Katherine. So, it was extremely fitting that Season 2 would end with a REAL Delena kiss. The kiss itself was beautiful. The way that Elena snuggled up close to Damon, looked lovingly at his face, and leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the lips. While it was happening, Damon awoke from unconsciousness, a real life Sleeping Beauty, with a small but beautific smile on his face. His eyes fluttered, and his mouth opened into a slight “O” shape. He wasn’t expecting this. And then, he THANKED HER, for giving him the greatest gift she could ever give him.
And yet, for many fans, there was just as much of a gift in the words that preceded the kiss, as in the kiss itself. Damon has never been much for apologies. And yet, he is able to apologize twice to Elena in this episode, once at its beginning for the force-feeding, and here, for ALL of his wrong doing throughout the two seasons. So, when Elena FINALLY gives Damon the forgiveness he has been waiting for, it is a total and complete forgiveness. Completely gone are the grudges of seasons past. Elena and Damon are finally, once again, on an even playing field.
And it is because Damon and Elena are in this open and honest place, that Damon can FINALLY admit to Elena that he loves her, and allow her to REMEMBER it, thereby completing the circle started in Rose.
Back then, Damon made Elena forget his love, because he deemed his confession, “The most selfish thing he ever did.” But Damon’s new confession of love is not in the least bit selfish, because he doesn’t expect Elena to love him in return. Heck, he doesn’t even expect to live out the hour! Damon repeats Elena’s words to him from the Season Premiere. “I know you love Stefan . . . it will always be Stefan,” but he says them with no bitterness or ire. He’s made peace with his little brother, and Elena’s love for him. He simply believes that Elena has a right to know that he loves her more than life itself. Because that kind of love is a gift to be cherished, even if it cannot be returned.
Except . . . maybe it can, because Elena’s cycle of always pushing Damon to be the “Better Man” is closed in this scene too. That ends with Elena’s declaration that she likes him now, just the way he is, troubled, headstrong, impulsive, and deeply worthy of someone’s love. The threat of losing Damon has caused Elena to realize just how much she needs him in her life. And though Damon IS in fact a Better Man than the one we met in the pilot, he is still a flawed character.
But it are these flaws that bond Damon and Elena, and will undoubtedly continue to bond them throughout Season 3, as they cope with the guilt of their growing bond with one another, in Stefan’s absence, and struggle to ascertain what they mean to one another. In many ways, “As I Lay Dying,” was an end. An end of the Season, an end of the Sacrifice, and end of a very important period of personal growth for Damon. But in many other ways, it is a turning point.
And when Damon sits up in his bed at the end of the episode, and looks at Elena with new and healthy eyes, some would say his new life is just beginning . . . and so is hers.
So, there you have it, folks: my picks for the Top Ten Moments from the final 11 episodes of Season 2 of TVD. Which ones were YOUR favorites?
P.S. Has the TVD hiatus left you hungry for more SHIPPER-friendly Top Ten Lists? If so, be sure to check out my super talented, and often hilarious, blogger pal Cherie’s analysis of the Top Ten FORWOOD moments from Season 2. Trust me, you won’t regret it! The post is made of awesome. 🙂
OK. Confession Time! Before this episode aired, I had NEVER HEARD A JUSTIN BIEBER SONG. Not one . . . ever. I’m not sure why this is, exactly. But I strongly suspect it might have something to do with his hair. Simply put, it frightens me.
Yeah . . . remember that Chucky doll, they used to make all the horror movies about, back in the 90’s? (I’m not even going to post a picture of him here, because I plan on getting some sleep tonight. Thank you very much!) Well, Bieber’s hair . . . it kind of reminds me of that freaky doll.
So, when I heard Glee was doing a Bieber-themed episode, I was skeptical to say the least. “Would Justin himself be making an appearance?” I thought to myself. “Would I (gasp) have to stare at THE HAIR for AN HOUR?”
The answers to those questions ended up being “No” an “YES,” respectively. And while this wasn’t exactly my favorite Glee installment, it did offer some genuinely funny moments. It also gave me a minor appreciation for The Biebster. (His hair still scares me though . . . A LOT.)
Let’s take a Bieb-alicious look back, at “Comeback,” shall we?
Meet Sam . . . and Sam’s Hair
It’s officially been half a season, since Sam Evans first became a member of Glee club, and since Chord Overstreet joined the cast, as a series regular. Since then, the Glee writers haven given Sam a few solos, his own love interest, and more shirtless scenes than ANY CHARACTER ON THIS SHOW, including (unfortunately) Puck . . .
But what they haven’t really given him is much of a personality. And this week’s episode, while not going all the way, definitely took some strides toward remedying that oversight.
When the episode begins, we learn that, in the wake of her firework-inducing, mono-giving, makeout session with Finn (or, as I have taken to calling him, recently, Finndouche, Quinn has grown bored with Sam and his “mad choosing skills.”
Quinn openly scoffs at Sam’s suggestion that the pair go to “Color Me Mine” for Date Night. Now, as far as hot dates go, “Color Me Mine” probably falls somewhere between “McNugget Happy Meal at McDonalds” and “private jet to the Bahamas.” But we all know that PUCK got in Quinn’s pants, with nothing more than a few cheap beers, and some mildly kind words . . .
So, yeah, Sam, it’s safe to say that it’s not the POTTERY that’s to blame for your Dating Slump, it’s YOU! Or maybe it’s not Sam, so much as his TOTAL LACK OF BACKBONE. When Quinn tells Sam that she got mono, not from kissing Finn, but from giving him mouth-to-mouth when he CHOKED ON A GUMBALL (not the Heimlich, mind you, MOUTH-TO-MOUTH!) . . .
. . . and Sam pretends to believe it, out of fear of losing his Ho-bag Barbie of a girlfriend, we all can see our blonde friend is just a smidge lacking in the cajones department, if you catch my drift.
That may not have been a GUMBALL, Quinn was carrying in her mouth, in the earlier picture. Just sayin’.
But our Sam is optimistic! He believes he can do what it takes to win back Ho-bag Barbie! He’s ready to make . . . wait for it . . . a COMEBACK. And that comeback starts with combing his hair into a creepy sidepart, and singing to a bunch of 13-year olds at what was probably LAMEST BAT MITZVAH EVER!
Seeing as Sam’s foray into being a one-man Justin Bieber Cover Band was SO successful with the Training Bra Crowd, he decides to bring his talents to an audience that DOESN’T make him look like a total pedophile when he performs in front of the — namely, Glee club. So, off Sam heads to the front of the class to perform, Justin Bieber’s “Baby.” To be honest, I found I couldn’t pay much attention to the song itself, because I found Sam’s (Bieber-esque (?)) dance moves, which were somewhat of a cross between the Robot, a Monkey in Heat, and Every Bad Line Dance You’ve Ever Seen, so oddly mesmerizing . . .
Just . . . cant . . . look . . .away.
Sam’s Scandalously Bad Dancing clearly hypnotizes the Glee Girls too, because the minute he starts performing, they are suddenly fawning all over the guy, and clinging to him, like a bunch of wet rags. So, of course, Artie, Mike, and Puck want in on The Bieber Experience too. After all, all three guys have found themselves in a Post V-day slump. And they are in desperate need of some Bieb Street Cred to get back into their respective ladies’ panties.
(OK, this is where I cry B.S., MIKE CHANG! Last week, your girlfriend was so desperately in love with you, that the mere sight of you made her BURST INTO TEARS OF JOY. NOW, just a few weeks later, you honestly expect me to believe that she has become immune, not just to you, but to YOUR ABS too?)
Did I MISS the episode where Tina went blind?
Unlike the rest of the Glee boys, Finn has no interest in Bieberizing himself (at least, at first). After all, who needs Bieber Moves, when you’ve got Gassy Infant ones?
So, the rest of the Glee guys perform YET ANOTHER Bieber song for the Glee girls (and Schue). This time, it’s “Somebody to Love.” Again, the dance moves are bizarre (and, strangely enough, involve . . . chalk? Or maybe that was massive amounts of dandruff, the boys were playing with on stage? I couldn’t really be sure). But unlike with Sam’s first performance, this time, it wasn’t the dance moves that kept me from focusing on the music. It was Puck and his reappearing / disappearing “Bieber Head,” which seemed to switch places with his Mohawk, on and off, throughout the musical number.
Hairy Puck issue aside, the second performance was an especially big hit with Ho-Bag Barbie, Quinn, who IMMEDIATELY decides to dump Finn cold turkey, and go back to her now-Bieberized boyfriend, Sam. Unfortunately for Quinn, Santana has already dug her claws into that ridiculous mop top head. Pulling Sam aside, she forces him to admit that he knows about his girlfriend’s affair with Finn. She also “delicately” offers the Macauley Culkin double her “services”. “I wants on them Froggy Lips. And I wants on them NOW,” she coos . . .
Not surprisingly, Sam dumps Ho-Bag Barbie’s ass, ASAP. And in the character’s final scene, we watch him get “up close and personal” with Santana and “the two rambunctious twins that live on [her] ribcage.”
Personally, I CAN’T WAIT until she gives HIM Mono . . . or whatever Fun Variety Pack of STDs she is currently carrying
Sue-icide is Painless
Sam wasn’t the only Glee cast member in need of a comeback, this week. After her earth-shattering Cheerios cheerleading championship loss, which resulted in the Glee club getting ALL of the school’s extracurricular club money, Sue is SO depressed, that she actually tries to KILL HERSELF by OD-ing on Gummy vitamins! When that doesn’t work, she tries BEATING UP GLEE CLUB MEMBERS. (Can someone tell me how this woman is STILL A TEACHER?)
Emma, being the annoyingly GOOD person that she is, sympathizes with Sue’s plight, and really wants to help. So, she offers her the MOST AWESOME SELF-HELP PAMPHLET IN THE HISTORY OF SELF-HELP PAMPHLETS!
But when that doesn’t work, she flashes her tits puppy dog eyes at Schue. And, this somehow convinces him to let Sue join Glee club.
WILL: If I do this for you, will you divorce Jesse from Full House, and have white-gloved, compulsively-clean, insanely boring sex with me in the Choir room?
EMMA: DEAL!
So, of course, Sue uses this opportunity to try and sabatoge the Glee Club, using the oldest trick in the book: pit the members against one another. (Zzzzzzzz — Honestly, Sue, I expected something a little more creative from YOU!) And, so, Sue tells resident divas, and new found besties, Rachel and Mercedes, that each has said that the other has “no talent.” The result is a “Diva Off” to “Take Me or Leave Me” from the musical Rent.
It is also, by far, my favorite performance of the episode . . . which is weird for me, seeing as the pieces that come from musicals typically tend to be my least favorite on the show. (I guess I’m just “uncultured” like that.)
You can check out Rachel and Mercedes, and their fabulous DIVA OFF, right here:
As you may have noticed, Sue’s plan here fails MISERABLY. And the act of singing, which was initially meant to divide Rachel and Mercedes, actually ends up bringing them EVEN CLOSER . . .
