100 Reviews: 52
Oct. 7th, 2012 02:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedi_of_urthTo say I have mixed feelings on this episode is putting it mildly and only partially accurately. Rambling ahead...
TVD: 3x18: The Murder of One
Ultimately this episode makes me angry, most of the time the characters are in character they’re doing things I dislike, and then I’m mad at the writers for the massive amount of OOC behavior and attitudes. However I’ll say a couple good things about this episode before I get down to the complaining.
On an objective level I appreciate that this episode being about the main cast vs. the Originals. It’s more like a plot from a different show where you have good guys vs. bad guys because that’s how it’s treated here. I can recognize that in part this episode would have worked for me if I didn’t love the Originals more than most of the main cast. Some of the choices within the story they were telling here are weird, but we’ll come back to that.
Selfishly I have to sort of like this episode for inspiring my eventually epic TVD fic series (I’m working on it but it’s still slow going). Without the things that happen in this episode my series wouldn’t have struck such a cord with me or most of the readers I suspect. Yes this is the second best thing I can say about the episode.
Actually there are a few scenes that work, the problem is they’re the ones about Alaric and not what the episode was actually about. For once THAT story works for me while the rest of the story doesn’t, go fig. Oh, and Bonnie’s scenes worked for me. Maybe there was some more okay stuff and I just want to get to complaining...
Now let’s talk about the bad in character stuff:
The beginning makes me ANGRY. Aside from the fact that my Elena/Alaric shipping side enjoys Elena in this scene everything else is awful. It’s nothing new in the Salvatores excluding Elena, it’s just concentrated in a way that makes me even more angry that usual. Or maybe it’s that I’m so mad at what they’re doing that I am extra mad at the way they treat Elena where normally I would just be mad I’m super mad.
The Alaric “tries” to turn himself in bit was a mixed bag actually. I’m inclined to agree with Damon that Alaric told them so they would talk him out of it which works with the complicated reaction I expect Ric to be having to what’s happened to him (he thinks he should take responsibility but doesn’t actually want to and isn’t sure he needs to since it still doesn’t feel like *him* that did it even though he accepts that it was...ish). But for carrying a fairly complex bit of characterization that scene is really glossed over.
I’ve more or less fanwanked myself to being able to accept that Elena would go along with the plan to kill all the Originals; that she basically shut off the part of her that cares about Elijah (and to a lesser degree Rebekah) and focused on killing Klaus, the same way she did when she went along with the binding ritual in the first place. But I really wish we saw her struggling with it more, because we DID see her struggling with her part in the binding spell, but nothing here. Then again we never really see Elena around anyone who wouldn’t tie her up to prevent her from having another attack of conscience on the subject so I can continue to fanwank it into a shape that says she was hiding her actual mixed-feelings around the others.
Somewhere between just OOC and angry making but in character is Stefan in the end (Stefan in the middle is just OOC so we’ll come back to that). This is where Stefan’s story truly goes off the rails because nothing he’s saying makes any kind of damn sense. ESPECIALLY in the larger context of the episode, since you’d think his attitude in that scene might be a reaction to Klaus’s “I made you hate me so you don’t have to hate yourself” sentiment, but it really makes no sense then. Yeah Stefan’s arc has had problems all the way through, but it mostly held to its own kind of internal consistency was torn between giving in to his darker nature and letting himself care enough to not give in, but knowing that if he cared he’d be faced with feelings for all the things he’s done (cue The Killers). Here he just can’t seem to make up his mind what he feels but he sure as hell doesn’t seem racked with guilt for what’s happened, just angry that there’s actual consequences for it (and the most minor f consequences that oh no Elena might have feelings for Damon). This is the exact moment when I stopped giving a shit about Stefan, up until now I’d held out hope his story could be salvaged because it hadn’t fallen so far, or at least I hadn’t realized how far (if it wasn't so late this might need another Paint masterpiece to illustrate, but basically it's the opposite of my Elena/Elijah feelings), yet but this moment ruined everything. It ruined the arc leading to this point (as my comments through this rewatch have probably made clear) and it sure as hell ruined it going forward because the rest of the season is just gross from Stefan.
Okay, let’s discuss the really OOC bits:
I may have fanwanked it into a position I could accept but Elena’s attitude doesn’t work for me until I put all that work in to make it make some kind of sense. I shouldn’t have to do that much work to make her character motivations work. And the fact that it took Caroline to remind her that Tyler was sired by Klaus, that’s just bad writing. Again I can fanwank that she was so consumed by “Please let them be of Elijah’s bloodline so we don’t have to kill him” that she didn’t stop to think about that, but that’s stretching it and even I know that.
Stefan choosing a spot of Original killing over saving Damon. Um, no. Not if were supposed to believe this is the same Stefan we’ve been watching all season. This could have been saved easily by having him state that Finn’s death would obviously free Damon from Rebekah since they’re linked, but he’s presented as if it’s all about killing him some Originals and not even worrying about Damon; which again, doesn’t work for this character.
That we never see Matt react to the fact that he just KILLED SOMEONE. Maybe this isn’t so much OOC as a grievous oversight, but this is worse for me than Matt just being ignored by the story, because it’s Matt being ignored by the story having JUST KILLED SOMEONE. Sure we can assume that he, like Elena, had pretty much turned off his conscience as far as killing the Originals went but he does have some vague nebulous feelings for Rebekah it seems, and Finn and Sage were just innocently getting drunk at the Grill and they all went and killed Finn for no good reason outside of their gang war with the Originals. I’m sorry but Matt should have had a reaction to that.
Klaus’s reaction to Finn’s death. Rebekah’s too to an extent but not *quite* as much. The fact that Stefan isn’t dead as soon as the news comes out means his main character shields are operating at full force, because there’s no way either of the Originals should have stood for that, no matter how much they both may kind of still love Stefan. Rebekah’s reaction is at least back to in character in the later scene, but Klaus’s isn’t. He carted Finn around in a coffin for 900 years, no way does anyone walk away from that if we’re supposed to take Klaus seriously as a villain or even as a character.
And just because I may not have said it plainly enough earlier, Stefan is a grade A douchebag at the end. He knows Elena never stopped loving him (so they both say) but the only thing stopping them from being together is that she might have feelings for Damon. Not even if she might have more feelings for Damon than him, the fact that she has any feelings for Damon is enough to make Stefan reject her. Not the fact that he damn well ought to know she deserves better than him (both of them for that matter) and the fact that she still believes in him sort of enables his dark behavior not to mention his abusive behavior to her specifically. Not the trail of bodies he left up and down the Eastern Seaboard that he ought to feel some guilt for and not be a very good boyfriend material until he can look at himself in the mirror again. Nope, only issue is that she might have *some* feelings for Damon that have yet to take any real shape for her, that they’re there means the deal is off.
Okay, I just need to close this out with a moment of silence for Finn. I could have loved you, you crazy emo suicidal weirdo, if only the show had given you the chance to really shine. As is I’ll have to content myself with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
turtle_goose’s fanfic where you will live on because I really don’t think she has the heart to kill you. One day I’ll get around to giving you more backstory in my saga too, even though you will have to remain dead (unless I can come up with a way to change that).
Finn Mikaelson: some of us remember:
Next time:
Hmm, I’ll probably be baseballed out by dinner time tomorrow so I can probably fit in another one of these. I’m not really looking forward to it though, the next episode SUCKS (aside from Kol, Kol is a delightful little shit).
I may need something less angry making soon
TVD: 3x18: The Murder of One
Ultimately this episode makes me angry, most of the time the characters are in character they’re doing things I dislike, and then I’m mad at the writers for the massive amount of OOC behavior and attitudes. However I’ll say a couple good things about this episode before I get down to the complaining.
On an objective level I appreciate that this episode being about the main cast vs. the Originals. It’s more like a plot from a different show where you have good guys vs. bad guys because that’s how it’s treated here. I can recognize that in part this episode would have worked for me if I didn’t love the Originals more than most of the main cast. Some of the choices within the story they were telling here are weird, but we’ll come back to that.
Selfishly I have to sort of like this episode for inspiring my eventually epic TVD fic series (I’m working on it but it’s still slow going). Without the things that happen in this episode my series wouldn’t have struck such a cord with me or most of the readers I suspect. Yes this is the second best thing I can say about the episode.
Actually there are a few scenes that work, the problem is they’re the ones about Alaric and not what the episode was actually about. For once THAT story works for me while the rest of the story doesn’t, go fig. Oh, and Bonnie’s scenes worked for me. Maybe there was some more okay stuff and I just want to get to complaining...
Now let’s talk about the bad in character stuff:
The beginning makes me ANGRY. Aside from the fact that my Elena/Alaric shipping side enjoys Elena in this scene everything else is awful. It’s nothing new in the Salvatores excluding Elena, it’s just concentrated in a way that makes me even more angry that usual. Or maybe it’s that I’m so mad at what they’re doing that I am extra mad at the way they treat Elena where normally I would just be mad I’m super mad.
The Alaric “tries” to turn himself in bit was a mixed bag actually. I’m inclined to agree with Damon that Alaric told them so they would talk him out of it which works with the complicated reaction I expect Ric to be having to what’s happened to him (he thinks he should take responsibility but doesn’t actually want to and isn’t sure he needs to since it still doesn’t feel like *him* that did it even though he accepts that it was...ish). But for carrying a fairly complex bit of characterization that scene is really glossed over.
I’ve more or less fanwanked myself to being able to accept that Elena would go along with the plan to kill all the Originals; that she basically shut off the part of her that cares about Elijah (and to a lesser degree Rebekah) and focused on killing Klaus, the same way she did when she went along with the binding ritual in the first place. But I really wish we saw her struggling with it more, because we DID see her struggling with her part in the binding spell, but nothing here. Then again we never really see Elena around anyone who wouldn’t tie her up to prevent her from having another attack of conscience on the subject so I can continue to fanwank it into a shape that says she was hiding her actual mixed-feelings around the others.
Somewhere between just OOC and angry making but in character is Stefan in the end (Stefan in the middle is just OOC so we’ll come back to that). This is where Stefan’s story truly goes off the rails because nothing he’s saying makes any kind of damn sense. ESPECIALLY in the larger context of the episode, since you’d think his attitude in that scene might be a reaction to Klaus’s “I made you hate me so you don’t have to hate yourself” sentiment, but it really makes no sense then. Yeah Stefan’s arc has had problems all the way through, but it mostly held to its own kind of internal consistency was torn between giving in to his darker nature and letting himself care enough to not give in, but knowing that if he cared he’d be faced with feelings for all the things he’s done (cue The Killers). Here he just can’t seem to make up his mind what he feels but he sure as hell doesn’t seem racked with guilt for what’s happened, just angry that there’s actual consequences for it (and the most minor f consequences that oh no Elena might have feelings for Damon). This is the exact moment when I stopped giving a shit about Stefan, up until now I’d held out hope his story could be salvaged because it hadn’t fallen so far, or at least I hadn’t realized how far (if it wasn't so late this might need another Paint masterpiece to illustrate, but basically it's the opposite of my Elena/Elijah feelings), yet but this moment ruined everything. It ruined the arc leading to this point (as my comments through this rewatch have probably made clear) and it sure as hell ruined it going forward because the rest of the season is just gross from Stefan.
Okay, let’s discuss the really OOC bits:
I may have fanwanked it into a position I could accept but Elena’s attitude doesn’t work for me until I put all that work in to make it make some kind of sense. I shouldn’t have to do that much work to make her character motivations work. And the fact that it took Caroline to remind her that Tyler was sired by Klaus, that’s just bad writing. Again I can fanwank that she was so consumed by “Please let them be of Elijah’s bloodline so we don’t have to kill him” that she didn’t stop to think about that, but that’s stretching it and even I know that.
Stefan choosing a spot of Original killing over saving Damon. Um, no. Not if were supposed to believe this is the same Stefan we’ve been watching all season. This could have been saved easily by having him state that Finn’s death would obviously free Damon from Rebekah since they’re linked, but he’s presented as if it’s all about killing him some Originals and not even worrying about Damon; which again, doesn’t work for this character.
That we never see Matt react to the fact that he just KILLED SOMEONE. Maybe this isn’t so much OOC as a grievous oversight, but this is worse for me than Matt just being ignored by the story, because it’s Matt being ignored by the story having JUST KILLED SOMEONE. Sure we can assume that he, like Elena, had pretty much turned off his conscience as far as killing the Originals went but he does have some vague nebulous feelings for Rebekah it seems, and Finn and Sage were just innocently getting drunk at the Grill and they all went and killed Finn for no good reason outside of their gang war with the Originals. I’m sorry but Matt should have had a reaction to that.
Klaus’s reaction to Finn’s death. Rebekah’s too to an extent but not *quite* as much. The fact that Stefan isn’t dead as soon as the news comes out means his main character shields are operating at full force, because there’s no way either of the Originals should have stood for that, no matter how much they both may kind of still love Stefan. Rebekah’s reaction is at least back to in character in the later scene, but Klaus’s isn’t. He carted Finn around in a coffin for 900 years, no way does anyone walk away from that if we’re supposed to take Klaus seriously as a villain or even as a character.
And just because I may not have said it plainly enough earlier, Stefan is a grade A douchebag at the end. He knows Elena never stopped loving him (so they both say) but the only thing stopping them from being together is that she might have feelings for Damon. Not even if she might have more feelings for Damon than him, the fact that she has any feelings for Damon is enough to make Stefan reject her. Not the fact that he damn well ought to know she deserves better than him (both of them for that matter) and the fact that she still believes in him sort of enables his dark behavior not to mention his abusive behavior to her specifically. Not the trail of bodies he left up and down the Eastern Seaboard that he ought to feel some guilt for and not be a very good boyfriend material until he can look at himself in the mirror again. Nope, only issue is that she might have *some* feelings for Damon that have yet to take any real shape for her, that they’re there means the deal is off.
Okay, I just need to close this out with a moment of silence for Finn. I could have loved you, you crazy emo suicidal weirdo, if only the show had given you the chance to really shine. As is I’ll have to content myself with
turtle_goose’s fanfic where you will live on because I really don’t think she has the heart to kill you. One day I’ll get around to giving you more backstory in my saga too, even though you will have to remain dead (unless I can come up with a way to change that).Finn Mikaelson: some of us remember:
Next time:
Hmm, I’ll probably be baseballed out by dinner time tomorrow so I can probably fit in another one of these. I’m not really looking forward to it though, the next episode SUCKS (aside from Kol, Kol is a delightful little shit).
I may need something less angry making soon
