Vampire Diaries: 2x20 - The Last Day

[butterfly]

Around the three minute mark, I became just as annoyed and frustrated as Damon was. Elena says, "then I guess I'll just be dead," Damon sputters in disbelief and looks at Stefan, who shrugs. What? What? Damn, Stefan really does feel like passively agreeing to everything Elena says - to the point of sanctioning her suicide - is the only way to keep the relationship, doesn't he?

I don't know if any of the Stefan/Elena people who are on my flist read my reviews but... what the actual fuck? If that's love, I don't want it. Hell, if that's an ideal relationship and I'd had it when I was Elena's age, I'd be dead ten years ago because I was suicidal at that age. I officially declare the S/E relationship completely beyond my understanding. Because WTAF. I do not understand how this relationship is healthy in any way. Elena could be having a relationship with her bedroom mirror and it would be giving her just as much as Stefan does (smile and nod!).

Okay, so hopefully the rest of the episode isn't as infuriating as the pre-credit part.

Yeah, Klaus's witch-guy (don't remember his name) just threw Carol Lockwood off the freaking stairs. Not getting less pissed off, show!

Okay, check out this conversation about Elena's instincts. You know, I love Elena. I do not think she has good instincts. She's been wrong several times in her instinctual trust of someone, especially when it comes to making deals. And I'm glad that Damon, at least, remembers this. Since Stefan seems to have the memory of a goldfish tonight (last night).

Oh, hey, Tyler! I remember that you were an idiot in the last episode (leaving with Jules, wtf?) but hopefully you've gotten better!

Aw, see, I knew that Matt wasn't evil. He has doubts; he just can't reconcile the whole vampire thing. Yet. But there's a chance he might. Try, Matt!

*sigh*

And so he decides to blame Damon.

Ah, when I read about Damon needing forgiveness from Elena, part of me wondered if he would give her vampire blood to try to save her life.

So, will Elena feel less happy about the ritual when she realizes that it would involve sacrificing Caroline and Tyler, too? Well, she's unhappy now. But, you know, she seemed pretty calm about it pre-vampire blood. I guess she just assumes that Klaus would kill off a vampire and a werewolf she didn't know. Very cynical/vampire of her - 'two random people can die as long as I can save my loved ones'.

This Alaric-Damon-Klaus scene is really great. Alaric! I'm so glad you're okay!

Katherine is so hard-core. Standing in the sunlight so that Klaus doesn't guess about the vervain.

Awww. Tyler-Caroline conversation! She doesn't hate him!

Damon showing his soft side and saving Tyler on Caroline's say-so. Aw. All the Matt stuff is... yeah. He's obviously incredibly conflicted.

Ah, Stefan and Elena are having an honest conversation. Elena says that she's not sure if she knows what love is and then tells Stefan that she knows she loves him. That's... amusingly contradictory, thanks, Elena. I feel like I should be getting emotional in this conversation for Elena. Maybe my bad mood and lack of sleep is what's keeping me from it because I'm... not feeling it.

"No one needs to get hurt," Elena says, but she already knows that two (currently unknown to her) people are supposed to die in this ritual in addition to herself, so I don't know what bullshit she's smoking.

So, Stefan 'lets Elena make up her mind' but then he calls Damon, who tells him that he'll 'take care of it'. Ugh, this is yet more 'Damon is the designated bad boy brother' that does all the hard work while Stefan sits back and enjoys the results (or insults Damon for not doing it well enough).

"I wasn't lost," Greta tells Elena. Familiar words for the women on this show. Few of them are lost.

He turned Jenna into the vampire sacrifice. Ah. How do you feel about killing off a 'random' vampire now, Elena?

And Damon's been bitten - I guess when he was helping Tyler escape.

In conclusion - my sympathies lie with Damon, Caroline, Jenna, Tyler, and Matt right now. And Alaric, though he doesn't need my sympathies so much. I'm kinda pissed at Elena for... various reasons that I already covered. And Stefan was basically completely pointless. Elena could have been walking around with a volleyball all day instead of Stefan and things would have gone exactly the same.

Comments

[scy]

Yes, I agree. How does saying 'well, unknown people can die and I am FINE with it' make Elena have good judgement? You need to be thinking about stopping KLAUS (if you don't want the world to end) instead of ignoring things when they don't directly impact you.

Elena's plans are often good, but her judgement in this case is way off - young love and sacrificing oneself are only romantic when you are young and in the throes of such. Romeo and Juliet STILL DIED. Come on, people, if she wants to grow old then she should get on thinking about ways to SURVIVE, instead of trying to put this out of her mind.

And, I am really fed up with Stefan needling Damon, then asking him for help and letting him take the blame. It's a really unpleasant personality trait and one that I cannot ignore.

Also: being willing to let somebody make their own choices is GREAT. Telling them that they are great and wonderful and NEVER WRONG is not helpful, it is, no pun intended, sucking up. It might get Stefan laid, and have Elena's love, but it's going to also get a lot of people killed.

Everybody else is TRYING to survive. Damon is having plans (not always great ones, but STILL) and he goes and RESCUES PEOPLE. Seriously, he is not the 'good one' but he does a damn sight better at protecting the family. And he freed Tyler and wasn't going to hurt him - and got in the way of the werewolf bite so Caroline wouldn't get bitten.

Basically I agree with you and was mightily frustrated with Elena and Stefan.

[butterfly]

Yes, I agree. How does saying 'well, unknown people can die and I am FINE with it' make Elena have good judgement? You need to be thinking about stopping KLAUS (if you don't want the world to end) instead of ignoring things when they don't directly impact you.

I know, right? I mean, I don't hate Elena for selfishly only caring about protecting the people she loves, but the show shouldn't pretend that she's a saint for it.

Her judgment when it comes to trusting people is so off! She's too trusting, frankly. And it's nearly gotten them killed a couple of times now.

And, I am really fed up with Stefan needling Damon, then asking him for help and letting him take the blame. It's a really unpleasant personality trait and one that I cannot ignore.

Ugh, yes. It's a very ugly characteristic of Stefan's.

Also: being willing to let somebody make their own choices is GREAT. Telling them that they are great and wonderful and NEVER WRONG is not helpful, it is, no pun intended, sucking up. It might get Stefan laid, and have Elena's love, but it's going to also get a lot of people killed.

Yep. Stefan is acting like he has no mind of his own right now.


Everybody else is TRYING to survive. Damon is having plans (not always great ones, but STILL) and he goes and RESCUES PEOPLE. Seriously, he is not the 'good one' but he does a damn sight better at protecting the family. And he freed Tyler and wasn't going to hurt him - and got in the way of the werewolf bite so Caroline wouldn't get bitten.

Yeah - while Stefan and Elena were out looking at waterfalls, Damon was the one who ended up rescuing people.

[scy]

Her judgment when it comes to trusting people is so off! She's too trusting, frankly. And it's nearly gotten them killed a couple of times now.

Yes, she is tough and spunky, but that doesn't mean she is ALWAYS RIGHT. Nobody is correct 100% of the time.

Ugh, yes. It's a very ugly characteristic of Stefan's.

And I like that Damon let Stefan know he was onto him - that was terrific, but I wish some other people would say 'well, how come Damon is always the bad guy?' As in: noticing how things get DONE and so on. Damon may not get it RIGHT all the time, but he thinks it's better to make the attempt than simply hang out and stare at a landscape...or a waterfall. How does that help ANYTHING?

Honestly, I think some of this is - Stefan has always been taken care of, and Damon has not (and at least went to war and fought, etc) so their mindsets and priorities are completely different.

It's just so galling that even if Damon is nuts, which is a given, he is the guy who will save your ass and do the things that have to be done. *hands*

Stefan's superiority over not having bloody hands irks me something fierce.

ep. Stefan is acting like he has no mind of his own right now.

Yes, 'Elena made her choice.' Okay, great, and then you can say 'and I think it wasn't a great idea, so let's have a few contingencies.' She is his girlfriend and he loves her, that means he should be looking out for her too, not simply saying 'well, she'll put her throat out for the knife and that is FINE, because SHE WANTS TO.'

....

Yeah - while Stefan and Elena were out looking at waterfalls, Damon was the one who ended up rescuing people.

And how much did I love that he was a teeny bit PEEVED at Caroline about not sharing information (because that is what family DOES) but he wasn't MAD, and he came to save her (and her little werewolf too) because that is ALSO what family does. They stick it out and don't have picnics while at war.

*facepalms*

I don't dislike Elena or Stefan, but I think that they are so unhealthy for each other. Also that Damon and Elena could not get along, because it would be a lot of fighting and Damon may like a strong woman, but that doesn't mean he takes the word of the person he loves as a celestial edict.

[silviakundera]

One thing I started thinking over later last night after writing my review:
I get why everyone in fandom/on the show is all furious with Damon for taking away Elena's choices/her agency (though [a] I already admitted myself in my journal that I would have done the same as Damon, morally dubious or not and [b] I think that the fact that it was Damon is influencing people's reactions and some might have responded differently if it had been Stefan or Bonnie).... but it seems like no one takes seriously Damon's very legitimate concerns about Elijah's ~magical potion. Damon has some excellent points there: Elijah could be lying -- he's not invested in Elena's safety on the same level as the rest of them - and even if he isn't, this is a potion that they're unfamiliar with, don't know the expiration date, don't know the side effects, don't even know if Elijah wasn't sold a false bill of goods by a vengeful witch.

It doesn't matter if the truth ends up being that Elijah's 100% on the level and the potion is perfect. They had no proof of that and good reasons to question hinging a plan on something they don't understand.

[butterfly]

Precisely. There is a middle-ground between reckless, impulsive action and sitting around doing nothing.

And trusting a magic potion from 500 years ago that Elijah conveniently didn't mention the first time Elena made a deal with him... it just seems stupid to me to trust that without question.

[scy]

Yes, and why is Elena trusting Elijah? Because he has a reason not to want Klaus to destroy the world? Um, so do MANY people. That does not mean there should be automatic 'hey, 'let's be friends' on her part.

I think what Elena needed right there (because she has decided that Damon is IRRATIONAL ABOUT MY SPECIAL SACRIFICE, OMG?! is a Bonnie (who is off hanging out with Jeremy, and hopefully having sexytimes) Because Bonnie is making her OWN choices, and at least her potential sacrifice would be one that would DO. SOMETHING. And she is one that stands up and says 'HEY, MORON, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!' And perhaps point out that it's dumb to trust people that have murky priorities.

Yes, Damon is doing it too, but he is being overruled because he's 'DAMON.' In addition I find it hilarious that Bonnie and Damon? Will totally fight if they have to, but when it comes to family? They will END. YOU. They are TEAM BADASS WHO ARE NOT DOWN WITH MEANINGLESS SACRIFICES.

[threerings]

Totally. Like, ok, Damon just insured that you would survive, no matter what. Ok, so part of that sucks, but now you have a 99% chance of surviving instead of a unknown-but-probably-low-chance. If it were me, I'd be glad, even though I wouldn't want to be a vampire. But, IDK, I'm very Not There when it comes to Elena's thought processes this season.

[butterfly]

Yeah, people keep comparing it to assault but to me... it's more like forcing CPR on someone who has, I don't know, a religious objection to life-saving techniques. He's trying to keep her alive, whether she wants it or not.

(it's kinda weird to me that I live in one of the only states - possibly the only state? - that allows doctor-assisted suicide, but it seems like I keep having to argue against assisted suicide. But it's those important details like "healthy young woman with a martyr complex" vs. something like "person with painful and terminal illness" that make a little bit of a difference when it comes to these things)