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butterflyI have now rewatched the episode twice and gotta say, it beats out 3x03 as favorite episode of the season. Everything in this episode was just perfect for me on the rewatch.
I will expand into additional speculative thoughts, divided by plotline.
a. Klaus finally loses patience with Stefan:
We got to see no-holds-barred Klaus this episode and it was amazing. He was intelligent (doesn't kill Elena straight off, because he wants to check to make sure that killing her will get him what he wants), vicious (poor Dana and Chad), and intense. He was also very well-rounded in this episode - his interactions with Rebekah were so natural and sibling-like, and the practical (yet fun-loving) cruelty of how he behaved with everyone else contrasted with how emotional he was with Stefan. He is incredibly invested in his relationship with Stefan (who made quite an impact on Klaus, that month back in the 1920s!). He's so disappointed by Stefan's lies that he spends an entire afternoon breaking Stefan's neck, over and over. He gives Stefan chance after chance to prove that Stefan has chosen Klaus's side. And he's so (murderously) hurt and angry when Stefan lies to him (again and again). He's angrier than Rebekah, who is pretty pissed off herself.
b. Elena finally loses hope about Stefan:
Yes, it's because Klaus compelled him, but Elena had just heard of someone fighting off compulsion in 3x04. Which means that she saw Klaus's compulsion work on Stefan right after she learned that compulsion is not impossible to fight. And she tries so hard and so does Stefan. And, in the end, it doesn't matter. All the love in the world doesn't matter if you don't have self-control. Stefan never learned how to control his bloodlust, only how to repress it. And that just meant that it was all waiting for him behind a dam that he kept building up higher and higher.
c. Mikael/Michael - the vampire vampire-hunter:
So, who else bets that waking him up is going to cause more problems than it solves? He was sealed away in the '90s by a witch and/or group of witches. From what Anna said, he appears to have a hate-on for all vampires (except himself? Or does he plan to kill himself after he kills the rest of the vampires?). Klaus, who can kick everyone else's ass, is scared to death of him. Well, I guess we'll find out!
ETA: Word of actor says the spelling of the hunter's name is "Mikael" (source: http://twitter.com/#!/sebroche/status/124854706353868800).
d. The ghosts plotlines are finally kicking into high gear:
Matt killing himself so that he could speak with Vicki was so well-done. I got chills. And then when Bonnie was telling him how reckless it was and his eyes lighten up as he says, "but it worked"... oh, Matt. I really love that Vicki is talking to Matt now. His smile when she said "Hi, Matty," just plucked at my heartstrings so hard.
And that means that the Anna-Jeremy stuff is more concentrated, which I loved. I do think that this episode showed that Anna and Vicki are there, though I think there's more to it than just them. Also, Vicki contrasted against Anna - Anna declared that she was 'all alone', while Vicki passed along a message from the original witch. Are the other ghosts shunning Anna or is she lying to Jeremy?
So, my general theory re: the way the ghosts work is the Bonnie opened a doorway with Jeremy last season. But the more the doorway gets used, the wider the wedge becomes. First, Jeremy was the point of contact. Now, a ghost that we've already seen contacts someone else. Will this continue to expand outward?
Bonnie didn't get to do any magic this episode, but she got to be a great friend, use practical skills to save someone's life, and generally was used terrifically. She got to be empathetic and emotionally strong.
e. Katherine underestimates Damon (again):
Which is really a continuation of their relationship arc. She didn't expect Damon to actually free 'her' from the tomb. And then, once she processed that he'd been obsessed with her for over a hundred years, didn't expect for him to get over her. Basically, for all that she created a lot (though not all) of what Damon is, she consistently underestimates him. It amuses me. Partly because she seems to have Stefan's number a bit better - she knows that he's a horrible planner and, yep, last episode Katherine had to save him from his own bad plan.
f. I really am looking forward to the upcoming Stefan-plots so much:
And not just because we all know that Paul Wesley will be having the time of his life. Once I adjusted to them taking a short-cut to get to the awesome, I'm content enough. Because, oh, ripper!Stefan is just so much fun. I don't know if he's going to re-establish his relationship with Rebekah or not (though, the part of me that adored them in "The End of the Affair" hopes so!) but it's going to be lots of fun watching him.
(it's a vampire show, which means that I enjoy watching the vampires be vampires. If it were a vampire hunter show (like Buffy), I would have vastly different expectations for it; though I should perhaps note that I did enjoy watching Angelus be a cheerfully horrible person. Sometimes horrible people make for awesome characters. I also adored Victoria on due South. It's a thing.)
g. There are some show-specific tropes that TVD has established and I actually really enjoy them:
h. Caroline, Rebekah, Tyler, and Klaus:
Just things to make me go 'hmm'. Rebekah spent a lot of time babysitting Caroline. She only spent a moment or two with Elena (though they were priceless moments of petty jealous vampireness). She had an actual conversation with Caroline. And Klaus was somewhat gentle with post-neck-snap Tyler, when he was coaxing him to drink Elena's blood. Tyler feels so good afterwards, which makes Caroline nervous. Tyler now has the 'good parts' of being a werewolf and a vampire, possibly without the bad parts. Depending on how you look at things.
i. Damon as a classic romantic hero:
Devotion, tenderness, selflessness, ruthlessness in service of those that he loves... man, Katherine really threw away a goldmine, just saying. Damon is one of those larger-than-life characters who would be way too much in reality but in fiction - especially supernatural fiction - you need a larger-than-life hero because you have larger-than-life problems.
Not everyone likes the romantic hero tropes, but I am a total sucker for them.
j. I loved how the symbol of the necklace was used in this episode:
Damon offering it to Elena and her showing no interest in having it back.
And I loved the words Elena used - "after everything that we went through to get- to help him" - because at first, the 'everything we went through' sounds like she's talking about her and Stefan as the 'we', but as the sentence continues, it becomes clear that the 'we' is her and Damon - after everything they went through as a team to try to recover Stefan, they failed and he's lost to both of them for now. This is part of why her question to him - "where were you, Damon?" - feels so natural to me in that scene. They're a team, they were in this together, and he wasn't there when Stefan was finally lost to them. She had to go through that alone and it was so much more painful and scary because of that.
Now that Elena has abandoned the necklace, I wonder if we're going to see Rebekah re-claiming it.
I will expand into additional speculative thoughts, divided by plotline.
a. Klaus finally loses patience with Stefan:
We got to see no-holds-barred Klaus this episode and it was amazing. He was intelligent (doesn't kill Elena straight off, because he wants to check to make sure that killing her will get him what he wants), vicious (poor Dana and Chad), and intense. He was also very well-rounded in this episode - his interactions with Rebekah were so natural and sibling-like, and the practical (yet fun-loving) cruelty of how he behaved with everyone else contrasted with how emotional he was with Stefan. He is incredibly invested in his relationship with Stefan (who made quite an impact on Klaus, that month back in the 1920s!). He's so disappointed by Stefan's lies that he spends an entire afternoon breaking Stefan's neck, over and over. He gives Stefan chance after chance to prove that Stefan has chosen Klaus's side. And he's so (murderously) hurt and angry when Stefan lies to him (again and again). He's angrier than Rebekah, who is pretty pissed off herself.
b. Elena finally loses hope about Stefan:
Yes, it's because Klaus compelled him, but Elena had just heard of someone fighting off compulsion in 3x04. Which means that she saw Klaus's compulsion work on Stefan right after she learned that compulsion is not impossible to fight. And she tries so hard and so does Stefan. And, in the end, it doesn't matter. All the love in the world doesn't matter if you don't have self-control. Stefan never learned how to control his bloodlust, only how to repress it. And that just meant that it was all waiting for him behind a dam that he kept building up higher and higher.
c. Mikael/Michael - the vampire vampire-hunter:
So, who else bets that waking him up is going to cause more problems than it solves? He was sealed away in the '90s by a witch and/or group of witches. From what Anna said, he appears to have a hate-on for all vampires (except himself? Or does he plan to kill himself after he kills the rest of the vampires?). Klaus, who can kick everyone else's ass, is scared to death of him. Well, I guess we'll find out!
ETA: Word of actor says the spelling of the hunter's name is "Mikael" (source: http://twitter.com/#!/sebroche/status/124854706353868800).
d. The ghosts plotlines are finally kicking into high gear:
Matt killing himself so that he could speak with Vicki was so well-done. I got chills. And then when Bonnie was telling him how reckless it was and his eyes lighten up as he says, "but it worked"... oh, Matt. I really love that Vicki is talking to Matt now. His smile when she said "Hi, Matty," just plucked at my heartstrings so hard.
And that means that the Anna-Jeremy stuff is more concentrated, which I loved. I do think that this episode showed that Anna and Vicki are there, though I think there's more to it than just them. Also, Vicki contrasted against Anna - Anna declared that she was 'all alone', while Vicki passed along a message from the original witch. Are the other ghosts shunning Anna or is she lying to Jeremy?
So, my general theory re: the way the ghosts work is the Bonnie opened a doorway with Jeremy last season. But the more the doorway gets used, the wider the wedge becomes. First, Jeremy was the point of contact. Now, a ghost that we've already seen contacts someone else. Will this continue to expand outward?
Bonnie didn't get to do any magic this episode, but she got to be a great friend, use practical skills to save someone's life, and generally was used terrifically. She got to be empathetic and emotionally strong.
e. Katherine underestimates Damon (again):
Which is really a continuation of their relationship arc. She didn't expect Damon to actually free 'her' from the tomb. And then, once she processed that he'd been obsessed with her for over a hundred years, didn't expect for him to get over her. Basically, for all that she created a lot (though not all) of what Damon is, she consistently underestimates him. It amuses me. Partly because she seems to have Stefan's number a bit better - she knows that he's a horrible planner and, yep, last episode Katherine had to save him from his own bad plan.
f. I really am looking forward to the upcoming Stefan-plots so much:
And not just because we all know that Paul Wesley will be having the time of his life. Once I adjusted to them taking a short-cut to get to the awesome, I'm content enough. Because, oh, ripper!Stefan is just so much fun. I don't know if he's going to re-establish his relationship with Rebekah or not (though, the part of me that adored them in "The End of the Affair" hopes so!) but it's going to be lots of fun watching him.
(it's a vampire show, which means that I enjoy watching the vampires be vampires. If it were a vampire hunter show (like Buffy), I would have vastly different expectations for it; though I should perhaps note that I did enjoy watching Angelus be a cheerfully horrible person. Sometimes horrible people make for awesome characters. I also adored Victoria on due South. It's a thing.)
g. There are some show-specific tropes that TVD has established and I actually really enjoy them:
1) If a woman is proclaimed 'lost'/'trapped' by some guy who loves her... she probably isn't.
2) Oh, there will be town-sponsored events. There will be events every week.
3) Elena's enemies inevitably end up on 'her side' in some fashion (though not necessarily in a way she'd like!) - think about it. The big bad of the first half of S1, Damon, fell in love with her. The BBs of the second half of the season, John/Isobel, ended up being her biological parents who actually wanted what they believed to be 'the best' for her (lol). The BB of the first half of S2, Katherine, wanted her alive as leverage against Klaus and has teamed up with her on occasion. The BB of the middle of S2, Elijah, ended up working with her to try to defeat Klaus. And now Klaus also wants to keep Elena alive, because her blood is the key to him making more hybrids.
h. Caroline, Rebekah, Tyler, and Klaus:
Just things to make me go 'hmm'. Rebekah spent a lot of time babysitting Caroline. She only spent a moment or two with Elena (though they were priceless moments of petty jealous vampireness). She had an actual conversation with Caroline. And Klaus was somewhat gentle with post-neck-snap Tyler, when he was coaxing him to drink Elena's blood. Tyler feels so good afterwards, which makes Caroline nervous. Tyler now has the 'good parts' of being a werewolf and a vampire, possibly without the bad parts. Depending on how you look at things.
i. Damon as a classic romantic hero:
1.When he hears that Elena's in danger, he immediately turns his back on the plan to help Katherine kill Klaus. It doesn't matter to him that he could very well die in the process of returning to Elena. If Elena is in danger, he must go to her. It's not even a choice.
2. He holds no real cards, but manages to bluff his way past the villain.
3. The music coming up as he enters the hospital to rescue her. And, yes, he didn't manage to get there in time to stop any of the horror from happening, but he got there in time to stop it from continuing - he scared Klaus off for at least enough time for them to try to think up more plans (because Klaus was originally planning on taking Elena and Tyler with him when he left).
4. I believe that is the fourth time that Damon has done the 'romantic hero carry' of Elena in his arms.
5. He promises that he'll never leave her again.
6. He does it all with no expectation for himself and his own desires.
Devotion, tenderness, selflessness, ruthlessness in service of those that he loves... man, Katherine really threw away a goldmine, just saying. Damon is one of those larger-than-life characters who would be way too much in reality but in fiction - especially supernatural fiction - you need a larger-than-life hero because you have larger-than-life problems.
Not everyone likes the romantic hero tropes, but I am a total sucker for them.
j. I loved how the symbol of the necklace was used in this episode:
Damon offering it to Elena and her showing no interest in having it back.
And I loved the words Elena used - "after everything that we went through to get- to help him" - because at first, the 'everything we went through' sounds like she's talking about her and Stefan as the 'we', but as the sentence continues, it becomes clear that the 'we' is her and Damon - after everything they went through as a team to try to recover Stefan, they failed and he's lost to both of them for now. This is part of why her question to him - "where were you, Damon?" - feels so natural to me in that scene. They're a team, they were in this together, and he wasn't there when Stefan was finally lost to them. She had to go through that alone and it was so much more painful and scary because of that.
Now that Elena has abandoned the necklace, I wonder if we're going to see Rebekah re-claiming it.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-14 11:01 pm (UTC)a. Again, how funny is it that Stefan is the liar.
b. Elena finally loses hope about Stefan:
Yes, for her that was a huge moment, because Elena fights, even when she doesn’t make the right decision – sacrificing herself, she is not one to say ‘well, that’s just the way things are.’ She is a ‘work in progress’ and isn’t ready to give up on life, her family, or fate. Sure, if it will save her loved ones, she will go to the knife, but you can be sure she didn’t do it right away.
Stefan is not even fighting at this point. Klaus was BREAKING HIS NECK ALL DAY AND HE COULD NOT FIGHT THE COMPULSION? >.<
c. Mikael/Michael - the vampire vampire-hunter:
Of course introducing a new and entirely unpredictable, powerful vampire is a brilliant idea. Like that hasn’t backfired before.
Wait a minute.
*is amused*
Here comes trouble. Or Mikael.
d. The ghosts plotlines are finally kicking into high gear:
Matt, so messed up.
Bonnie, awesome.
Jeremy, very much okay with talking to dead people.
<3s.
e. Katherine underestimates Damon (again):
Katherine is a survivor, but she is not made of the same honed will that Damon is. She has been running virtually her whole life.
Damon has left, and walked away, but he will also stand and fight and only retreat when he has to.
While Katherine had to survive her horrible past, and proved herself in so MANY ways, she forgets that Damon has had to do much the same thing, only he often could not be so open about it.
She didn’t have anyone to look after growing up, not the way Damon had Stefan. They were everything to each other, and so Damon is much more familiar with the bond that brings, as well as the pain.
So he knows what he is in for – Elena loves Stefan, still, and there are no promises, but Damon protects his people. Even if, as I have said before, what he does upsets them and they scream and hit him later. The point is, he won’t walk out of the wreckage alone.
f. I really am looking forward to the upcoming Stefan-plots so much:
You can TELL Paul Wesley is gleeing so HARD over all of this. Moreover, Damon isn’t frightened of him, but he has definitely let Stefan know that ‘hi, this is my town, and if you aren’t with me, then you might just be the problem I have to solve and that leads to vervain poisoning and being locked in basements. REMEMBER, BROTHER?’
This is another instance where Damon knows that he has to mop up after Stefan and he is just so very over Stefan’s inability to handle his issues. Plus, the hypocrisy inherent in all of that.
I always wanted Fraser and Victoria to run off together and have terrifying adventures (and Jenn wrote that, for which I am overjoyed) but yes, vampires are not NICE. They can be friendly and companions, and family, but never. Ever. Forget. They are predators.
There is nothing about women not needing saving that I do not love. Granted they may end up in trouble, but they made choices.
Also, that again, some of the villains and darkest characters are so PARTICULAR about choice. We have seen it with Damon, and Klaus to some degree. Whereas Katherine was happy to compel Stefan to do what she said, and Stefan would be happiest if everyone just forgot what happened five minutes ago if it made him look bad.
The events – they crack me up so MUCH. I mean, vampires and other supernatural beings can just plan their own feasts around those handy events. How thoughtful of the humans.
Elena is not a Mary Sue, not by any means, but is instead, a good person, who will not stomach anybody messing with her people and one whose morality is steadily shading from black and white to a nice and soothing gray.
h. Caroline, Rebekah, Tyler, and Klaus:
Yes, Caroline and Tyler are two of the ‘kids’ of the groups, as betas they are valuable people, and I am sure that Rebekah and Klaus considered that it might be good to have some loyal and not entirely stupid flunkies.
Sadly for them, Tyler and Caroline are spoken for.
i. Damon as a classic romantic hero:
Damon is REALLY good at thinking on his feet. He had nothing on Klaus, but he was prepared to walk THROUGH him. I mean, he knew he was there, but when Damon is on a mission, he does what he has to in order to complete it. Klaus was incidental, you saw that on his face. To be handled and moved aside.
I loved that scene with them in the hospital, because he looked at the tubing – figuring it out, and all the while he is getting her loose and she is just – glad that her partner showed up. <3s.
And I agree about Elena and Tyler – Damon scared Klaus off and saved the pack, or at least gave them some breathing room.
GAH. Yes, Damon does all of this without EXPECTING anything of her but hoping for loyalty. Their relationship is founded on trust and honesty and it’s great to see that gradually build.
Katherine was so shortsighted. I cannot believe it. There were certainly hints of what he would be, even back then, and if she had shaped him? More than she did? The two of them teamed up is bad, but them teamed up and utterly united? *shivers* That would be something.
Something I may have to WRITE.
They really have built a family in Mystic Falls, and Damon is proving that he will come BACK. He will do the hard jobs, and he will help people try to get what they want, but he is also realistic and won’t let them pin their hopes on false dreams. *grins* It is utterly wonderful to watch.
IDK, Rebekah may consider the necklace ‘tainted’ now. That remains to be seen.
part 1
Date: 2011-10-14 11:54 pm (UTC)Deception, thy name is Stefan. lol
Yes, for her that was a huge moment, because Elena fights, even when she doesn’t make the right decision – sacrificing herself, she is not one to say ‘well, that’s just the way things are.’ She is a ‘work in progress’ and isn’t ready to give up on life, her family, or fate. Sure, if it will save her loved ones, she will go to the knife, but you can be sure she didn’t do it right away.
Yes. And they made a point of saying how strong Stefan's love for Elena was... but it's not strong enough and Elena did see that. Stefan has been trying to keep himself under control for decades longer than Bill Forbes has been alive, but he couldn't resist Klaus compelling him to let go.
Stefan is not even fighting at this point. Klaus was BREAKING HIS NECK ALL DAY AND HE COULD NOT FIGHT THE COMPULSION? >.<
It really kinda laid bare the fact that Stefan's only method of control is complete purging and repression of all hope of desire. And he was already one step back into Klaus's world because of all the people he'd been killing over the summer.
Katherine is a survivor, but she is not made of the same honed will that Damon is. She has been running virtually her whole life.
Exactly. Katherine kinda has blinders on - she's showing herself to be similar to Elena in that when she sees The Solution, she refuses to admit that there might be some minor problems with it. She's so busy trying to 'fix' the problem of Klaus that she's not thinking that Mikael may not end up being someone who is healthy for her to have around in the long-term.
Re: part 1
Date: 2011-10-15 05:48 am (UTC)And yes, Katherine CAN be so single minded that while she tells Damon he isn't thinking of the big picture, it's her that isn't thinking ten steps ahead.
part 2
Date: 2011-10-15 12:21 am (UTC)Yes. Katherine will run out on the people she cares about in order to save her own life. Damon will not. That's probably the biggest difference between the two of them. Katherine has been on the run for hundreds of years; that's a hard habit to change (as Rose also showed us).
This is another instance where Damon knows that he has to mop up after Stefan and he is just so very over Stefan’s inability to handle his issues. Plus, the hypocrisy inherent in all of that.
Indeed. Now, Damon has to be the 'good brother' and yet still be the person getting things done. He can't win, in that way, really, because he's always going to be Stefan's big brother.
I always wanted Fraser and Victoria to run off together and have terrifying adventures
Fraser would have ended up so broken (and scary) if he'd actually managed to run off with Victoria at the end of VS. He was so vulnerable in his interactions with her.
vampires are not NICE. They can be friendly and companions, and family, but never. Ever. Forget. They are predators.
Exactly. People can choose to be what they choose to be, but they still have to operate from a center that they have not chosen - Damon, Stefan, Caroline... they are vampires now, not humans. They can be 'good' vampires but they can never again be good humans. And that's where Stefan tripped up. Instead of trying to learn how to be a good vampire (like Lexi apparently was), he instead tried to stuff it all back instead and do his best to be a good human again. Doomed to failure. He was like a bird that was tying his wings to his back in an attempt to be a squirrel - he made it so that he couldn't fly like a bird but he still couldn't climb like a squirrel.
There is nothing about women not needing saving that I do not love. Granted they may end up in trouble, but they made choices.
Exactly.
Also, that again, some of the villains and darkest characters are so PARTICULAR about choice. We have seen it with Damon, and Klaus to some degree. Whereas Katherine was happy to compel Stefan to do what she said, and Stefan would be happiest if everyone just forgot what happened five minutes ago if it made him look bad.
Oh, yes. It's fascinating. Katherine doesn't form permanent bonds that she's actually willing to risk anything for, so she compels. She became a vampire out of desperation. Klaus doesn't seem to enjoy compelling people to choose his way - he wants them to pick - but he will do it if he feels like his hand has been forced (or he'll stab them). Klaus was born to be a werewolf at least, and possibly always to be a hybrid (I don't know if the Original vampires worked the same way as our regular vampires; the brothers/sisters aspect implies genetics being involved). Damon, who chose to embrace the vampire lifestyle, is big on wanting things to be real when they really matter to him.
Elena is not a Mary Sue, not by any means, but is instead, a good person, who will not stomach anybody messing with her people and one whose morality is steadily shading from black and white to a nice and soothing gray.
Yes, seeing the way Elena's morality has been shading darker and darker is one of the (many) fascinating aspects of the show.
Damon is REALLY good at thinking on his feet. He had nothing on Klaus, but he was prepared to walk THROUGH him. I mean, he knew he was there, but when Damon is on a mission, he does what he has to in order to complete it. Klaus was incidental, you saw that on his face. To be handled and moved aside.
Yes. Damon is clever and does not give up. He will do whatever it takes.
And I agree about Elena and Tyler – Damon scared Klaus off and saved the pack, or at least gave them some breathing room.
They have a little more time now before the next crisis inevitably hits!
GAH. Yes, Damon does all of this without EXPECTING anything of her but hoping for loyalty. Their relationship is founded on trust and honesty and it’s great to see that gradually build.
The slow build is just so fantastic there.
Katherine was so shortsighted. I cannot believe it. There were certainly hints of what he would be, even back then, and if she had shaped him? More than she did? The two of them teamed up is bad, but them teamed up and utterly united? *shivers* That would be something.
If she'd taken him with her, that long-ago night, Klaus would probably be dead by now.
They really have built a family in Mystic Falls, and Damon is proving that he will come BACK. He will do the hard jobs, and he will help people try to get what they want, but he is also realistic and won’t let them pin their hopes on false dreams. *grins* It is utterly wonderful to watch.
Very wonderful. Damon's family-building is another of those awesome little things.
IDK, Rebekah may consider the necklace ‘tainted’ now. That remains to be seen.
She was pretty miffed, yeah.
Re: part 2
Date: 2011-10-15 08:12 am (UTC)Yes, at this point, Katherine doesn't know how NOT to run.
Indeed. Now, Damon has to be the 'good brother' and yet still be the person getting things done. He can't win, in that way, really, because he's always going to be Stefan's big brother.
Sadly, yes, he cannot be the perfect brother, in part because he is who he is, and also because he IS the one who steps up.
Fraser would have ended up so broken (and scary) if he'd actually managed to run off with Victoria at the end of VS. He was so vulnerable in his interactions with her.
Fraser was bare in front of Victoria, and the twisted thing is that she really did love him, but it was so twisted up in all these other things that she would have had to break him down and rebuild him for it to truly work.
Exactly. People can choose to be what they choose to be, but they still have to operate from a center that they have not chosen - Damon, Stefan, Caroline... they are vampires now, not humans. They can be 'good' vampires but they can never again be good humans. And that's where Stefan tripped up. Instead of trying to learn how to be a good vampire (like Lexi apparently was), he instead tried to stuff it all back instead and do his best to be a good human again. Doomed to failure. He was like a bird that was tying his wings to his back in an attempt to be a squirrel - he made it so that he couldn't fly like a bird but he still couldn't climb like a squirrel.
Yes, Stefan doesn't understand, somehow, that vampire=permanent, and he has to learn how to live within those bounds.
Damon has always had to find his own way of bending or breaking rules and rewriting his role, so he is adaptable, Stefan has been the one that people accept, and it's made him very lazy because all he has to do is show the right face, and they let him get away with anything.
Oh, yes. It's fascinating. Katherine doesn't form permanent bonds that she's actually willing to risk anything for, so she compels. She became a vampire out of desperation. Klaus doesn't seem to enjoy compelling people to choose his way - he wants them to pick - but he will do it if he feels like his hand has been forced (or he'll stab them). Klaus was born to be a werewolf at least, and possibly always to be a hybrid (I don't know if the Original vampires worked the same way as our regular vampires; the brothers/sisters aspect implies genetics being involved). Damon, who chose to embrace the vampire lifestyle, is big on wanting things to be real when they really matter to him.
Klaus is much more werewolf than he is vampire.
Damon is, as we have seen, very good at being a vampire, and is picky about how he uses compulsion, it's not just so he can HAVE something, it's for other reasons. And, when he wants to have a person to interact with, he wants honesty, even if it's 'do not be scared, because I want to talk, okay?' He values the truth more than most people would believe, even if he makes people bleed with it.
Yes, seeing the way Elena's morality has been shading darker and darker is one of the (many) fascinating aspects of the show.
She is much darker than she used to be, and it's been a slow but steady journey.
Yes. Damon is clever and does not give up. He will do whatever it takes.
I just loved the way he would have walked right over Klaus if he had to – and only when Klaus presented himself as an obstacle did he fire back.
They have a little more time now before the next crisis inevitably hits!
Just a bit of time to recharge!
The slow build is just so fantastic there.
And it's deliberate, and some of it's happenstance, but this last declaration was very much Elena realizing yes, she has a partner, and him saying 'okay then, if we're in this, then I will BE your partner.' All without asking for one single thing for himself. Flails
If she'd taken him with her, that long-ago night, Klaus would probably be dead by now.
Oh man. Damon would have found out all he could about Klaus, etc, and then FIGURED SHIT OUT. Katherine, you run so fast you run into walls that you've built yourself. I mean, goldmine, as you said. He was so primed to be trained and honed, and instead she let him go and he did the work himself and now she can't claim him.
Very wonderful. Damon's family-building is another of those awesome little things.
Uh huh. And although Stefan is more LIKEABLE at times, and plays at the social niceties, people are certainly appreciative that although Damon can be a bit, oh BLUNT, he does what he says. And follows through. Always.
She was pretty miffed, yeah.
Understandably, I'd want to break his neck all day too. And the biting Elena thing was just an emotional reaction, that was so perfect.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-14 11:23 pm (UTC)This is really what gets me. My buttons, they are PUSHED. My key pairing buttons are [a] selfless love, wanting the object of their affections to be happy without expectation for themselves and [b] willingness to toss away all mores and morality in service of the people they love. So, pretty much Damon/Elena and the OT3 are like ping ping ping ping to me. lol.
(god, like that scene with Pacey/Joey from the Dawson's Creek finale where he's like, I'm letting you go, don't feel any obligation to me, it's fulfilling enough just to be in love with you and I want you to go out and be happy even if it's not with me. aaaaaaaaaaaah SO MUCH LOVE.)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-14 11:46 pm (UTC)