Damon and Stefan. Any time they talk, I just love them. I love their brotherly love. I particularly enjoyed how in this episode they were totally on the same page and were conspiring to keep the truth from Elena. Some memorable quotes about the two of them. I love the trust that they have in one another, even when others try to break it. Klaus suggests that Elena and Damon are getting in on in New York, and Stefan replies "my brother knows what he's doing." Later, Damon calls Stefan his "baby bro." Well, isn't that just precious. Any time they use the word "brother" in a non-sarcastic way, it just melts my heart. I also loved when Damon says that he has to "pretend" he's having a good time to trick Elena, and Stefan says "and you're not?" Or what about "And that, brother, is why you're the better boyfriend." I just love it.
Lexi! I love Lexi! I was so excited to see her in this episode. And she did great. Lovely. But I actually had some problems with this plot in the episode. It didn't feel like the writers had decided on this until very recently. Lexi trying to help Damon flip the switch was fine, but for her to fall for him? It felt out of character for her. I appreciated the attempt to tie this back in with the incident in which Damon... ahem... ruthlessly slaughtered her, but it felt forced. It was also a fairly pointless flashback plot, because it didn't help us learn anything new or different about Damon other than that he feels guilty for what happened. Doesn't he feel guilty for a lot of stuff? Isn't that the point? Ah well. Some good stuff still came out of this angle, like the lectures from Lexi about how much Damon and Stefan care about each other. If you couldn't guess, I'm big on the Salvatore brother love.
Okay, now I'll talk about one of the weaker plot points. Bonnie. I like Bonnie a lot, but I'm getting really sick of seeing her being manipulated by Shane/Silas. She's a powerful character and it would be nice to see her acting of her own volition for once. I was not at all excited to see another scene with Shane (now Silas) and Bonnie, talking about the massacre and about expression and my goodness I'm getting bored just writing about it. The whole witch thing has never been my favorite part of The Vampire Diaries. I will say, however, that I was glad to see our over-arching plot moving forward with such a great leap this week.
I'm actually pretty impressed with the forethought they put into this concept of the three massacres. Usually this show is a little all over the place with its mythology, but the massacres and Silas' plan and how it all ties together was actually really nicely set up. It brought in the separate plot lines of the cure, of Bonnie's new dark magic, etc. etc. It's a plot that every character has some sort of a stake in. I really enjoy that because it forces everyone in on the conflict.
Although I was annoyed with Bonnie's plot this week, the pay off was pretty good, I'll say. Not only did it push the plot forward, but Caroline killed twelve people. Wow. That's a little dark. I liked the way this was handled. I was at first a little disturbed by the connection I was sensing between Klaus and Caroline in this episode, but their conversation was really amazing and chilling. Klaus basically told Caroline that he only cared for her, and her response was to tell him that at one point she kinda liked him back. But not anymore. I gotta say, I get why people ship the two of them, but I'm glad Caroline isn't getting over Tyler that easily. She really loved him. And Klaus is the reason he's gone, so it stands to reason that she wouldn't fall for him. I hope that the show sticks to its guns in regards to this.
Speaking of Klaus... he was at his snippy sarcastic best this week. I loved it when he gave us reminders of his old friendship with Stefan - anything that ties the characters to past events is a win in my book (side tangent - that's why this show is ten thousand times better than Twilight - the vampires are old, but they actually have complex and detailed stories of what happened to them in their past lives, and they are actually influenced by these past events. Okay, tangent over.) I loved Klaus' line: "We evil villains usually use minions to pick up our dry cleaning." I always enjoy it when Klaus his forced to play nice to serve his own purposes. He's pretty damn entertaining. I also loved how we saw Klaus in real danger at the end. I don't want him to die, no matter how evil he is. He's just too interesting. But it was so intense to see a real threat to his life come into the picture. A totally invincible Klaus is no fun. Silas is making things interesting!
Okay, one last thing: Rebekah. She was hilarious this week! I love her so much. When she knocked over the guy and said "excuse you," I laughed out loud. Seeing her party with Elena and Damon was pretty hot. She also accurately expressed one of my biggest problems this week in a line that I never thought I'd hear Rebekah say: "You just made me miss the old Elena." It was so interesting to hear her say that.
But here's the thing: I miss the old Elena too. A lot. The show needs her as a moral center. Given that the show's protagonist is effectively not herself, the show is still going strong. But I'm worried that if they spend too much time with Elena like this, we're going to lose a lot of what makes this show so great. I'll keep coming back for more, because I really do think this show is great. Now that Bonnie is done being mind controlled, I hope the next step is getting Elena to flip the switch back.
So... lots of great stuff, but I thought that the Lexi/Damon thing was strange and out of nowhere; I was getting bored with some of the Bonnie stuff, and I miss the real Elena. Still, excited to see next week!
7.5/10
Although I was annoyed with Bonnie's plot this week, the pay off was pretty good, I'll say. Not only did it push the plot forward, but Caroline killed twelve people. Wow. That's a little dark. I liked the way this was handled. I was at first a little disturbed by the connection I was sensing between Klaus and Caroline in this episode, but their conversation was really amazing and chilling. Klaus basically told Caroline that he only cared for her, and her response was to tell him that at one point she kinda liked him back. But not anymore. I gotta say, I get why people ship the two of them, but I'm glad Caroline isn't getting over Tyler that easily. She really loved him. And Klaus is the reason he's gone, so it stands to reason that she wouldn't fall for him. I hope that the show sticks to its guns in regards to this.
Speaking of Klaus... he was at his snippy sarcastic best this week. I loved it when he gave us reminders of his old friendship with Stefan - anything that ties the characters to past events is a win in my book (side tangent - that's why this show is ten thousand times better than Twilight - the vampires are old, but they actually have complex and detailed stories of what happened to them in their past lives, and they are actually influenced by these past events. Okay, tangent over.) I loved Klaus' line: "We evil villains usually use minions to pick up our dry cleaning." I always enjoy it when Klaus his forced to play nice to serve his own purposes. He's pretty damn entertaining. I also loved how we saw Klaus in real danger at the end. I don't want him to die, no matter how evil he is. He's just too interesting. But it was so intense to see a real threat to his life come into the picture. A totally invincible Klaus is no fun. Silas is making things interesting!
Okay, one last thing: Rebekah. She was hilarious this week! I love her so much. When she knocked over the guy and said "excuse you," I laughed out loud. Seeing her party with Elena and Damon was pretty hot. She also accurately expressed one of my biggest problems this week in a line that I never thought I'd hear Rebekah say: "You just made me miss the old Elena." It was so interesting to hear her say that.
But here's the thing: I miss the old Elena too. A lot. The show needs her as a moral center. Given that the show's protagonist is effectively not herself, the show is still going strong. But I'm worried that if they spend too much time with Elena like this, we're going to lose a lot of what makes this show so great. I'll keep coming back for more, because I really do think this show is great. Now that Bonnie is done being mind controlled, I hope the next step is getting Elena to flip the switch back.
So... lots of great stuff, but I thought that the Lexi/Damon thing was strange and out of nowhere; I was getting bored with some of the Bonnie stuff, and I miss the real Elena. Still, excited to see next week!
7.5/10
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