TVD quick thoughts

[jedi_of_urth]

I doubt I'll do a full review, but I did want to get my immediate thoughts on the episode out there.


I can’t depressed or angry after this episode. I suppose the answer could be both.

At this point if the season DOESN’T end with Elena having a complete nervous breakdown I’m going to feel cheated. I don’t care how strong she is, you can’t pile this much crap on a character and not have a payoff to that story. This is my main concern.

I don’t know that I want to go into it a lot, but all the Stefan/Elena stuff felt WRONG this episode. Basically it felt like Caroline and the show were using the same logic, it was Stefan’s “turn.” Never mind the way he’s been written up til now, especially including the last couple episodes, it was his turn so all his reconciliation arc was crammed into one episode. But it felt completely false because it hasn’t had any lead up, it felt like we were supposed to pretend everything else away rather than being the climax of a redemption/reconciliation arc.

Why do I get the feeling the very same people who got mad at Elena for making Bonnie’s pain over her mom “all about Elena” are not going to throw the same accusation at Stefan? And FOR THE LOVE OF JEEBUS, WHY WAS STEFAN THE ONLY ONE WITH ELENA AT THE SCHOOL? It is totally unreasonable that Jeremy and Matt and Caroline and Bonnie ALL were like “later Elena, we’ll catch up one Ric’s dead everything cool.” If the writers actually cared about the Elena-Bonnie relationship it would have been the perfect time to address that, since it paralleled Abby’s death (and Bill’s for that matter, WHY WEREN’T THE GIRLS TOGETHER?).

I would like to point out that Elena has now been present for the deaths of every parental figure she’s ever had and that’s SIX of them now (for the moment counting Alaric is that frame even if he never really acted like it). Seriously, Stefan, if she wants to flip out for a bit I think you better let her. When KLAUS is allowed to have a better realized emotional reaction than Elena I cannot support it. (Although why didn’t Esther go and stab Rebekah with the stake as soon as she got it made? I’m not complaining, but that would have been logical.)

Yes I do feel bad for Alaric himself, but I’m really not sure what to say. I do like the implication that evil-Alaric wasn’t so much his dark side as the part of him that Esther groomed to be her weapon. And that actually works with the 1912 aspect of the story that what’s-her-name Gilbert was being groomed the same way around the time the white oak was originally cut down. I always thought there needed to be a stronger connection between them and I guess I can settle for this one.

Holey namedropping Batman. We got Jenna, Mikael, Elijah, Abby, reference to Rose though not by name. It also reminds me that Alaric got turned into a vampire exactly a season after Jenna did, though what exactly that says about the show’s pacing I’m not sure. If it does fallow pace with last season, the climax will be next week with the finale for a coda/set up for the start next season.

The other consequence of the name dropping is that I think Elijah is going to be back before the end of the season; and I can’t believe I’m going to say it but I hope I’m wrong about that. The first is that we’ve gotten Elijah namedrops two weeks in a row, which is about as many as we got before the last time he came back into the story. The second...I’m not sure what purpose he would serve in the climax except to die and I really don’t want that. If I had my way he’d only show up at the very end, to offer Elena the chance to get the hell out of MF for a while and they’d run off to Europe. They can take Jeremy I guess, he’s entitled to an emotional meltdown too I suppose, just not as much as I feel Elena is.

Because Elena NEEDS one at this point.

Comments

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

At this point if the season DOESN’T end with Elena having a complete nervous breakdown I’m going to feel cheated. I don’t care how strong she is, you can’t pile this much crap on a character and not have a payoff to that story. This is my main concern.

Seriously. She at least needs to scream at the sky for a few hours or something.

I don’t know that I want to go into it a lot, but all the Stefan/Elena stuff felt WRONG this episode. Basically it felt like Caroline and the show were using the same logic, it was Stefan’s “turn.” Never mind the way he’s been written up til now, especially including the last couple episodes, it was his turn so all his reconciliation arc was crammed into one episode. But it felt completely false because it hasn’t had any lead up, it felt like we were supposed to pretend everything else away rather than being the climax of a redemption/reconciliation arc.

I was getting such strong Dawson Leery-vibes off of Stefan tonight. He was controlling and manipulative and smirky and taking advantage of an orphaned brunette girl in a time of emotional vulnerability. Skeevy, very skeevy.

Why do I get the feeling the very same people who got mad at Elena for making Bonnie’s pain over her mom “all about Elena” are not going to throw the same accusation at Stefan? And FOR THE LOVE OF JEEBUS, WHY WAS STEFAN THE ONLY ONE WITH ELENA AT THE SCHOOL? It is totally unreasonable that Jeremy and Matt and Caroline and Bonnie ALL were like “later Elena, we’ll catch up one Ric’s dead everything cool.” If the writers actually cared about the Elena-Bonnie relationship it would have been the perfect time to address that, since it paralleled Abby’s death (and Bill’s for that matter, WHY WEREN’T THE GIRLS TOGETHER?).

Yes, this! Bonnie tells Jamie that her friends are the most important thing to her, so why did she leave Elena alone with Stefan (who she explicitly doesn't trust)?

[jedi_of_urth]

I really want to yell at Stefan a lot for this episode. But then I've wanted to knock the Salvatores out, lock them in the vervain room and make them stay away from Elena for the better half of this season so it's really nothing new. But this week my ire was focused on Stefan in new but not really interesting ways. He just feels like he reset himself a a season and a half ago and we're supposed to go along with it, THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS BUILDING A NEW, BETTER BALANCED PERSONALITY.

...I think I'm out of the depressed stage and settling in on anger.

I also think I want Elena to be allowed to feel even a little of the anger I feel on her behalf most of the time. Hence my commitment to Elena saying 'screw all y'all I'm getting out of this shit' SOON.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Right, Stefan seems to think that because he's declared himself 'all better now', everyone is just supposed to treat him the way that they used to. And Elena is going along with it instead of being justifiably mad at him. He took the worst moment of her life (her parents' death) and used it to terrify her, and yet the 'fall-out' from that has all been about Stefan's feelings about it and not Elena's. It just feels like Elena's feelings are being treated as secondary to Stefan's in this whole thing.

[jedi_of_urth]

Elena's feelings are treated as secondary to the boys' all the time and it's really frustrating. It's just gotten so much worse in the back half of this season, or maybe it's just that I care so much more now that I notice it ALL THE TIME. It's not even that I blame Elena for wanting to bury the last season and act like she could have old Stefan back I just want the story to be about HER when she does that kind of thing.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I kept thinking, "they'll get around to Elena! She's one of the main characters! They're not going to ignore her point of view!"

*sigh*

I'm not thinking that so much anymore.

[wheatear.livejournal.com]

At this point if the season DOESN’T end with Elena having a complete nervous breakdown I’m going to feel cheated.

Yeah, it's just... trauma after trauma.

all the Stefan/Elena stuff felt WRONG this episode.

All the Stefan/Elena stuff WAS wrong. Easily the worst thing about the episode. Horrible.

WHY WAS STEFAN THE ONLY ONE WITH ELENA AT THE SCHOOL?

Personally, I think that scene should have been Elena and Jeremy. He's her brother; Alaric is their parental figure. But no, of course the show consistently ignores those dynamics in favour of propping up the love triangle in the grossest possible way.

The other consequence of the name dropping is that I think Elijah is going to be back before the end of the season; and I can’t believe I’m going to say it but I hope I’m wrong about that.

You're traumatising me here. HE CAN'T DIE. NO. But yeah, I think the name-dropping is an indication that he'll be back soon. As long as he survives, I think I can take whatever happens at the end of the season.

[jedi_of_urth]

The S/E stuff felt like it was leftover scenes from last season. Like maybe it should fit in after the Katherine caused break in their relationship, not after everything they've gone through this year. But from the moment Caroline decided Elena needed to go to the dance with Stefan it was a steady stream of wrongness.

BTW, why was Caroline so insistent Elena have a date for the dance? She wasn't expecting Tyler to be there so why not just go with the girls?

But no, of course the show consistently ignores those dynamics in favour of propping up the love triangle in the grossest possible way.

It should have been Jeremy yes. I brought up the girls because I was ranting about how EVERYONE decided to let Elena go off alone and it's just not in character for any of them If it had been the girls I could have forgiven the fact that it wasn't Jer, because in that case I could fanwank that Jeremy was more committed to getting drunk after everything he's had to go through and he'd have known Elena was with her friends.

As long as he survives, I think I can take whatever happens at the end of the season.

It's probably not fair to Ric that I spend so much time focused on the Elijah factor but damn it, I can't deal with losing any more characters I love this year so Elijah just has to live.

(And preferably get Elena out of MF for a while.)

[threerings.livejournal.com]

Yes, everything you said. I was too upset by it to write anything.

[jedi_of_urth]

I was upset to, so I have to think I left a lot of stuff out, but I hit the high points at least...I think. Lots of frustration/anger, further commitment to the Elena gets the hell away from this shit team, and worry about Elijah. And somewhere in there I'm sad about Alaric, but I'm not ready to actually deal with that feeling yet.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

all the Stefan/Elena stuff felt WRONG this episode.

It was weird. And I knew there'd be some flip-flopping after the previous episode, but I wasn't expecting quite that much. At this point, I just want Elena to get the hell out of town without either Salvatore. Although I vastly prefer Elena/Damon at this point, I really think Elena just needs some time way the hell out of town and away from both of them to figure out what she wants/needs.

I just don't even know anymore.

[jedi_of_urth]

You'll get no argument from me about getting Elena away from Mystic Falls/the Salvatores, but then, that's been my endgame wish since I started watching the show. These days I want it to happen NOW though instead of someday. But then I don't ship her with either of them and am rooting for Team Girls Do Europe (while crashing at Elijah's many houses), and Team Elena/college or Elena/humanity however you prefer.