100 Reviews: 70
Jul. 21st, 2013 11:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedi_of_urthAnd now let’s go back to TVD (I’m on a roll with this review stuff, probably going to come to a screeching halt soon).
TVD: 1x03: Friday Night Bites
I have to say, I like this one a lot more in theory than I do in reality. There’s a lot here that I should like but it never quite works even on its own, once you consider it with hindsight there’s a lot that’s really wrong.
I’m actually going to have to talk about Damon in this one aren’t I? Sigh, but at least Matt’s awesome, I can come back to him once I’ve dealt with the Damon points.
Mainly that Damon’s Katherine angst is showing, which is probably why I bother to pay attention to him at all. Damon’s epic Katherine angst is easily his most interesting quality and I am kind of looking forward to watching it implode as revisiting this season progresses. And that does still work with hindsight, what doesn’t work is Stefan’s reaction to it; Stefan pokes Damon’s Katherine angst and is surprised when Damon does something to retaliate and mess up Stefan’s life. The reason this doesn’t work is two fold; that Stefan would be so blind to why Damon lashed out and that it actually proves Stefan’s point about how Damon *does* care seems to lack any understanding; and building on that, Stefan really doesn’t have the moral high ground to call Damon out on this and denounce him as a lost cause. I do think the writers had in mind that Stefan was much more stable when they were writing this, rather than his repeated cycles of on and off the wagon we have come to see, but that’s why hindsight has turned this confrontation into something even more bitter and awful than it was at the time. Also add in the what we learn about how Stefan made Damon turn because he couldn’t bear to let his brother die and Stefan damned well knows that Damon doesn’t kill him for the same reason, and that whole talk feels really...lacking in having the subtext one now needs to read into it.
As far as the Damon/Elena stuff goes...well I enjoy her slapping him. I guess I feel like I should have something to say about them, but I feel that 99% of things that happen with them are either about messing with Stefan, being a temporary Katherine surrogate, or both. Even the very small amount of things I could at least see an argument for don’t work for me. I also feel like I should have something to say about how the kitchen scene kind of could relate to their more recent relationship substituting Stefan for cheerleading, she wants to hold on and he thinks she should move on, but noting the semi parallel is about as far as I got.
Particularly the last act or so really felt like someone threw Friday Night Lights and Buffy in a blender and got this puree that...kind of works. It’s one of the things I really like in theory, that there just this normal high school stuff going on with paranormal stuff happening in the shadows, which as I’ve said is one of the things I miss about the later show and really most of the smallish problems I have with this section are with the paranormal elements rather than the high school drama. Although saying that the high school drama works on a CW show seems kind of like it should be a given, but saying it works for this show is something I think I need to note.
I haven’t really talked much about the Jeremy/Vicky/Tyler triangle, and I kind of feel like I need to. This triangle has some of the problems of the main Triangle, but they stand out differently since it’s a minor side plot rather than a major factor of the show. I do think at this stage Vicky is probably the most dynamic of the characters involved, not by a lot and kind of by default but the problem is that we’re never given much clue why she’s with either of these guys. She’s not enough of a character for us to get why she’s so set of making things work with Tyler (who’s really just a jerk at this point) or why she has so many issues with the idea of being with Jeremy or if she even wants to be and is feeling put off by his advances. It does feel very high school and it’s treated like that’s what it is. Although knowing the end I think is really helping out, I’m pretty sure I rolled my eyes at it all the time the first time I watched it, but knowing that it ends unpredictably kind of helps the hindsight factor.
You know, I mostly really like Elena in the episode, but ND seems to still be figuring the character out (though not nearly as bad as KG seemed to be struggling to work Bonnie out in this ep). Most of what she says and does works for me, and sometimes the acting is adorable, but other times it’s really not helping things.
So here’s the thing; I love Matt, Matt was basically the first character on the show I loved, and I’ve never stopped. But these are the kinds of episodes that remind me why I respect Matt. He struggles with his feelings regarding Elena moving on, there’s a part of him that wants to get in on Tyler’s plans, but that’s ultimately not who he is and he learns to let it go. The fact that he still sometimes thinks of Elena as his girlfriend actually makes his willingness to respect her decision even more sympathetic; he loves her enough to let her do what she needs to do even if she does it with someone else. He buries the hatchet with Stefan and calls Tyler out on what he’s been stirring up (also, is Tyler on his wolfy cycle, I didn’t notice the moon anywhere in the night shots but he seems extra pissy and aggressive in this episode; but then o did Jeremy so it might just be writers figuring things out still) . It also doesn’t hurt to be able to compare all that behavior to certain other people on the show, while in a normal person most of that would just be maybe slightly better than expected of a teenage boy, on this show it’s like he’s the most wonderful specimen of perfection around.
But I’m pretty sure that first time through I was really expecting something awful to happen to him. Clearly he wasn’t going to have a long term place in love triangle drama and he kept almost stumbling into the bad shit that keeps going down so I figured they’d just dispose of what I expected to become a loose end. I’m still kind of surprised he’s lasted as long as he has, but that is because they largely just ignore his character so they did kind of take him out of things by and large.
Hmm, for not thinking I had a lot to say, I have rambled a decent amount. I was going to include a gif of the Damon slap to enjoy but it way trying my patience to find it in my collection so we'll have to do without.
Next time:
Well, next TVD gets a fair number of things kicked into high gear, but we’ll see
Suggestion box
TVD: 1x03: Friday Night Bites
I have to say, I like this one a lot more in theory than I do in reality. There’s a lot here that I should like but it never quite works even on its own, once you consider it with hindsight there’s a lot that’s really wrong.
I’m actually going to have to talk about Damon in this one aren’t I? Sigh, but at least Matt’s awesome, I can come back to him once I’ve dealt with the Damon points.
Mainly that Damon’s Katherine angst is showing, which is probably why I bother to pay attention to him at all. Damon’s epic Katherine angst is easily his most interesting quality and I am kind of looking forward to watching it implode as revisiting this season progresses. And that does still work with hindsight, what doesn’t work is Stefan’s reaction to it; Stefan pokes Damon’s Katherine angst and is surprised when Damon does something to retaliate and mess up Stefan’s life. The reason this doesn’t work is two fold; that Stefan would be so blind to why Damon lashed out and that it actually proves Stefan’s point about how Damon *does* care seems to lack any understanding; and building on that, Stefan really doesn’t have the moral high ground to call Damon out on this and denounce him as a lost cause. I do think the writers had in mind that Stefan was much more stable when they were writing this, rather than his repeated cycles of on and off the wagon we have come to see, but that’s why hindsight has turned this confrontation into something even more bitter and awful than it was at the time. Also add in the what we learn about how Stefan made Damon turn because he couldn’t bear to let his brother die and Stefan damned well knows that Damon doesn’t kill him for the same reason, and that whole talk feels really...lacking in having the subtext one now needs to read into it.
As far as the Damon/Elena stuff goes...well I enjoy her slapping him. I guess I feel like I should have something to say about them, but I feel that 99% of things that happen with them are either about messing with Stefan, being a temporary Katherine surrogate, or both. Even the very small amount of things I could at least see an argument for don’t work for me. I also feel like I should have something to say about how the kitchen scene kind of could relate to their more recent relationship substituting Stefan for cheerleading, she wants to hold on and he thinks she should move on, but noting the semi parallel is about as far as I got.
Particularly the last act or so really felt like someone threw Friday Night Lights and Buffy in a blender and got this puree that...kind of works. It’s one of the things I really like in theory, that there just this normal high school stuff going on with paranormal stuff happening in the shadows, which as I’ve said is one of the things I miss about the later show and really most of the smallish problems I have with this section are with the paranormal elements rather than the high school drama. Although saying that the high school drama works on a CW show seems kind of like it should be a given, but saying it works for this show is something I think I need to note.
I haven’t really talked much about the Jeremy/Vicky/Tyler triangle, and I kind of feel like I need to. This triangle has some of the problems of the main Triangle, but they stand out differently since it’s a minor side plot rather than a major factor of the show. I do think at this stage Vicky is probably the most dynamic of the characters involved, not by a lot and kind of by default but the problem is that we’re never given much clue why she’s with either of these guys. She’s not enough of a character for us to get why she’s so set of making things work with Tyler (who’s really just a jerk at this point) or why she has so many issues with the idea of being with Jeremy or if she even wants to be and is feeling put off by his advances. It does feel very high school and it’s treated like that’s what it is. Although knowing the end I think is really helping out, I’m pretty sure I rolled my eyes at it all the time the first time I watched it, but knowing that it ends unpredictably kind of helps the hindsight factor.
You know, I mostly really like Elena in the episode, but ND seems to still be figuring the character out (though not nearly as bad as KG seemed to be struggling to work Bonnie out in this ep). Most of what she says and does works for me, and sometimes the acting is adorable, but other times it’s really not helping things.
So here’s the thing; I love Matt, Matt was basically the first character on the show I loved, and I’ve never stopped. But these are the kinds of episodes that remind me why I respect Matt. He struggles with his feelings regarding Elena moving on, there’s a part of him that wants to get in on Tyler’s plans, but that’s ultimately not who he is and he learns to let it go. The fact that he still sometimes thinks of Elena as his girlfriend actually makes his willingness to respect her decision even more sympathetic; he loves her enough to let her do what she needs to do even if she does it with someone else. He buries the hatchet with Stefan and calls Tyler out on what he’s been stirring up (also, is Tyler on his wolfy cycle, I didn’t notice the moon anywhere in the night shots but he seems extra pissy and aggressive in this episode; but then o did Jeremy so it might just be writers figuring things out still) . It also doesn’t hurt to be able to compare all that behavior to certain other people on the show, while in a normal person most of that would just be maybe slightly better than expected of a teenage boy, on this show it’s like he’s the most wonderful specimen of perfection around.
But I’m pretty sure that first time through I was really expecting something awful to happen to him. Clearly he wasn’t going to have a long term place in love triangle drama and he kept almost stumbling into the bad shit that keeps going down so I figured they’d just dispose of what I expected to become a loose end. I’m still kind of surprised he’s lasted as long as he has, but that is because they largely just ignore his character so they did kind of take him out of things by and large.
Hmm, for not thinking I had a lot to say, I have rambled a decent amount. I was going to include a gif of the Damon slap to enjoy but it way trying my patience to find it in my collection so we'll have to do without.
Next time:
Well, next TVD gets a fair number of things kicked into high gear, but we’ll see
Suggestion box
