TVD - Tyler thoughts, and 3x06 recap
Obviously I got sucked in after watching those first couple of episodes and am now doing a full re-watch. And though it’s just fundamentally changed and I don’t really expect the metaphor to hold, I’m really struck by how perfect the werewolf metaphor is this time around. We talk a lot about how the show deals with the way abuse replicates itself in different ways - Damon and the way he externalizes the destabilization caused by Guiseppe’s and Katherine’s undermining; Stefan and the way he replicates his pattern of favored submission with his father, then Katherine, and now Klaus. But oh, it's brilliantly done with Tyler, too.
Here is a thing I love about this show: that for all the violence and status issues and psychological damage, there was exactly one alpha male douchebag, and he was (a) not romanticized, but not so demonized that his hold over his family was ignored, (b) called out by the BAMF nerd Ric, and best of all, (c) actually KILLED WITH FIRE by one of the show's decent fathers. Mayor Lockwood is a charmer, brilliant at putting on enough of a face to maintain his position in society, but he lashes out violently enough that he’s the top dog not to be questioned. But nobody knows, or wants to care, just how bad he makes things for Tyler. And he wants to exercise his control over Tyler, both as a threat while he’s alive, and then to ensure his influence after he passes away and leaves Tyler in a position of authority.
And Tyler, especially at the beginning, is a dick. He lashes out violently. He toys with Vicki and attempts to rape her and, like his father, everyone knows he’s a jerk, but he’s the king of their little domain and can’t really stop him. The ”you have to kill someone” clause is a fantastic metaphor for this, that to turn abuse into power, the way we always tell people to, they have to escalate and become what they abhor. And it turns them into something dangerous; something that chips away at their humanity, something that much harder to fight against. We (wrongly, of course) romanticize this sometimes, but it really is a curse, isn’t it?
Tyler lashes out even though he doesn’t consciously want to. I don’t know why I get like this! I don’t want to be like this! Because he doesn’t want to use his power to hurt, but he only understands this violent, vertical type of status. And he’s like that until his father dies. He couldn’t live under his father’s influence. But now he’s got to live with the fact that he needed his father’s death to let him be a better person, and that’s painful, too.
His odd bond with Mason is beneficial to him, even if they don’t get along as such. Mason doesn’t trust anyone; he’s been set entirely into the pattern of abuse and become both hostile and untrustworthy. But, he does understand, and because he and Tyler both know they’ve gone through the same thing, he doesn’t have to hide it. It’s crucial for Tyler because a part of the whole abuse phenomenon s gaslighting, conditioning and poisoning someone’s understanding of reality so they don’t have the mental perspective to challenge the assault on themselves. The fact that he and Mason can talk about “it” lets Tyler deal with the fact that “it” actually happened, which is necessary to dealing.
Mason wanted a life outside of Mystic Falls, where everyone is complicit to some extent. But it’s already inside of him, and when he takes the gamble of leaving it all behind, he happens upon Katherine, who enchants him almost as thoroughly as Klaus will to Tyler. And ah, Tyler’s vulnerability to Klaus does make a lot of sense in this context, as much as Stefan’s does. He feels grateful to Klaus, rather than angry, because becoming a vampire was just so easy in comparison to the terrible experience of finding out about and becoming a werewolf.
I feel like it would be an easy, cheap shot to roll my eyes and say it’ll *probably be dropped* and Tyler becoming a hybrid *ruined it all* and the writers *will probably just forget.* But really, I want this storyline “dropped” in some ways. I want Tyler to break the cycle, really, to acknowledge his past as formative but to move beyond it, to survive and grow stronger by choosing to become something a little bit different. You know, like a hybrid.
And! onto the episode. FALALALALA, I love when the narrative validates my interpretation.
GAH for the Ric and Elena training session! And YES for Elena…stepping in to fight back a little. I mean, she can’t actually take Stefan in a fight no matter what, and I like that Damon won’t let her think she can. Her empowerment is not about some physical power she can’t have. But she is taking all her guile and manipulativeness and Kat-like doe-eyes to manipulate herself into a situation where she can strike a blow, if only to show herself that she can; that Stefan's drama doesn't dictate her emotional state. And that’s really what the whole farce was about this week. There was no way they were going to be able to make him do anything, and even if they could, it wouldn’t change the way Klaus would show up sooner rather than later to kill them all if they’d succeeded. This was about showing Stefan and themselves that they weren’t going to give up on him without a fight.
I love Stefan throwing Damon’s Damon-ness in his face. His SICK sense of humor asserts itself again with those grotesque Twister gladiatrices. I also think he’s…faking most of it, the way both Damon and Elena admit to having done throughout the episode.At the end there, he’s doing the one thing nobody in=-universe has ever done to Elena - throwing her attachment to him in her face as a weakness. And she reclaims it and - OH MY HEART - it makes me strong. Yes it does. Elena Gilbert, YOU. BETTER. WORK. But! Stefan was partially trying to push her away, pushing the one button that’s never been pushed for her. But I think he’s also telling the truth a little bit? Because if he hates himself SO MUCH (and he does) then what does it say about everyone who loves him? Damon, it’s okay. Because they’re brothers, because Damon has always positioned himself as WORSE THAN Stefan, and because he’ll always push back. Elena won’t give him limits and so he’s testing for them now.
STEFAN BACK AT SCHOOL. This is EXCELLENT. Because Stefan is doing exactly what he did back in S1. REMEMBER, when I was like, THIS IS ALL SCARY AND POTENTIALLY ABUSIVE AND CONTROLLING DICKERY DISGUISED AS CUTENESS? REMEMBER? AND NOW THAT’S WHAT IT IS. I can hardly contain myself at how these flaws are being drawn out and recognized. Compelling people at will, showing off his brute strength, telling Elena how dangerous and baddy bad bad he is, actually making himself useful against Vicki just enough to make them admit they still need him - but always there, lurking around and poisoning the day-to-day stuff he used to help her cling to so desperately. Even BtVS did not go here, making the threat so very low-level and banal and just there every moment. (Less importantly, did anyone else giggle forever at stoned-Stefan all snuggling Alaric while the car was blowing up? Ric is like the Swiffer of evil vampires. THEY CLING TO HIM.)
And Elena is still insisting on her fantasy. HE’S DEFINITELY NOT STEFAN. But nobody believes that anymore; not even her. POP QUIZ: is there any story I love more than a male romantic archetype getting yanked off his pedestal? SHOW YOUR WORK.
The witches are, after all, always right. They’re the guardians of balance; they’re an actual force of nature. It sucks to be Bonnie, because she’s the only one around who on some level gets that based on what they know (though I do kind of expect to find something out that’ll change that) Elena should totally die. The doppelganger is simply too powerful a weapon, tailor-made for the wrong hands. But nobody wants to kill her. Possibly the way everyone is so easily enchanted by Katherine and Elena is some doppelganger power, charming people into devotion so nobody can act on the ugly truth. Maybe that’s why Elena always says the right thing!; why Katherine had both the smart, kind Salvatore boys after her. The object position could really be a power they might be able to harness to their own ends, but can’t turn off.
So…I am kind of hoping the Rebekah/Caroline competitive dynamic is a setup for us to meet the Original Petrova by the end of the season? Also I would be down with Bonnie teaming up with the Original Witch, preferably in a face-off with Stefan and Klaus. Which, TYLER, things were going too well with you there! I adore Caroline, though; it's a testament to how good she and Tyler are for each other that she can see he's off, pinpoint what's wrong about him, bring him home and tell him he's a d-bag. I don't want this relationship to go as dark as Stefan/Elena clearly is, but it's nice that they're getting some interesting storylines.
OMG, were Delena just sexy there for a moment? I think they were sexy. Which is a shame, because this episode highlights the way they would be terrible for each other. I dislike the idea of one or the other brother being *good enough* to *deserve* the love of a good woman, and for all its failings, this show is so much better than that lazy nonsense. But it would also be the worst thing possible for Damon. Because: it’s always gonna be Stefan! Unless Stefan decides to go out there and be THE ACTUAL WORST, then you can be the consolation prize! Because then - then “not being as bad as Stefan” becomes the standard, and Damon likes to raze and burn standards before he gets a chance to fail to uphold them. So he would lose it again anyway.
Then it wouldn't even be worthwhile for him in a lot of ways. Stefan is doing what he’s doing at least in part because of Damon, in this way that Damon himself would definitely do, so he can’t claim any high ground there. (In fact, Damon probably gives Stefan entirely too much credit, because he doesn’t like submitting the way Stefan does.) And he wouldn’t give up on Stefan, so it would still all be about Stefan. And he’s still trying to protect her from knowing about how Stefan is even though he knows she knows it’s all bullshit. Damon and Elena can never be about Damon and Elena; they will always be about Stefan.
DAMON,THOUGH. He INSISTS on FILLING MY HEART WITH LOVE. DERIPPIFY. BEFORE HE DESTROYS MY HOUSE. And the façade has worked thus far - he’s been enough of a pissy, petty tool that people sort-of-but-not-entirely let him have the lie that he’s doing it all for himself. He could start saving kittens from trees and everyone would play along with and half-believe him when he insisted it was to PROVE HIS DEDICATION TO HIS EVOL PLAN. WHICH IS TO RESTORE STEFAN’S HUMANITY! SEE, EVIL! And AHAHAHA, YES, IT IS SO UNUSUAL for vampires to be freakishly dedicated to the vampire who made them! NOT LIKE ANYONE HERE HAS BEEN OBSESSED WITH HIS SIRE FOR 150 YEARS. GIVE OR TAKE. Awww, baby boy, YOU FOOL NO ONE. AND HE IS A BUFFY AND XENA FAN. AS IF HE DID NOT ALREADY HAVE MY HEART. (Um.)
Mikael is fabulous upon a foundation of crazy-awesome already. A vampire so badass he survives on OTHER VAMPIRES. Yet more fodder for my crack-theory that he is the Originals’ father. I doubt he actually killed Kat, though; I doubt a vampire can bleed out like a human. Especially since the show can’t even really bring itself to kill off Mason. Who I am pretty excited to see, given my newfound appreciation of the werewolf metaphor.
Here is a thing I love about this show: that for all the violence and status issues and psychological damage, there was exactly one alpha male douchebag, and he was (a) not romanticized, but not so demonized that his hold over his family was ignored, (b) called out by the BAMF nerd Ric, and best of all, (c) actually KILLED WITH FIRE by one of the show's decent fathers. Mayor Lockwood is a charmer, brilliant at putting on enough of a face to maintain his position in society, but he lashes out violently enough that he’s the top dog not to be questioned. But nobody knows, or wants to care, just how bad he makes things for Tyler. And he wants to exercise his control over Tyler, both as a threat while he’s alive, and then to ensure his influence after he passes away and leaves Tyler in a position of authority.
And Tyler, especially at the beginning, is a dick. He lashes out violently. He toys with Vicki and attempts to rape her and, like his father, everyone knows he’s a jerk, but he’s the king of their little domain and can’t really stop him. The ”you have to kill someone” clause is a fantastic metaphor for this, that to turn abuse into power, the way we always tell people to, they have to escalate and become what they abhor. And it turns them into something dangerous; something that chips away at their humanity, something that much harder to fight against. We (wrongly, of course) romanticize this sometimes, but it really is a curse, isn’t it?
Tyler lashes out even though he doesn’t consciously want to. I don’t know why I get like this! I don’t want to be like this! Because he doesn’t want to use his power to hurt, but he only understands this violent, vertical type of status. And he’s like that until his father dies. He couldn’t live under his father’s influence. But now he’s got to live with the fact that he needed his father’s death to let him be a better person, and that’s painful, too.
His odd bond with Mason is beneficial to him, even if they don’t get along as such. Mason doesn’t trust anyone; he’s been set entirely into the pattern of abuse and become both hostile and untrustworthy. But, he does understand, and because he and Tyler both know they’ve gone through the same thing, he doesn’t have to hide it. It’s crucial for Tyler because a part of the whole abuse phenomenon s gaslighting, conditioning and poisoning someone’s understanding of reality so they don’t have the mental perspective to challenge the assault on themselves. The fact that he and Mason can talk about “it” lets Tyler deal with the fact that “it” actually happened, which is necessary to dealing.
Mason wanted a life outside of Mystic Falls, where everyone is complicit to some extent. But it’s already inside of him, and when he takes the gamble of leaving it all behind, he happens upon Katherine, who enchants him almost as thoroughly as Klaus will to Tyler. And ah, Tyler’s vulnerability to Klaus does make a lot of sense in this context, as much as Stefan’s does. He feels grateful to Klaus, rather than angry, because becoming a vampire was just so easy in comparison to the terrible experience of finding out about and becoming a werewolf.
I feel like it would be an easy, cheap shot to roll my eyes and say it’ll *probably be dropped* and Tyler becoming a hybrid *ruined it all* and the writers *will probably just forget.* But really, I want this storyline “dropped” in some ways. I want Tyler to break the cycle, really, to acknowledge his past as formative but to move beyond it, to survive and grow stronger by choosing to become something a little bit different. You know, like a hybrid.
And! onto the episode. FALALALALA, I love when the narrative validates my interpretation.
GAH for the Ric and Elena training session! And YES for Elena…stepping in to fight back a little. I mean, she can’t actually take Stefan in a fight no matter what, and I like that Damon won’t let her think she can. Her empowerment is not about some physical power she can’t have. But she is taking all her guile and manipulativeness and Kat-like doe-eyes to manipulate herself into a situation where she can strike a blow, if only to show herself that she can; that Stefan's drama doesn't dictate her emotional state. And that’s really what the whole farce was about this week. There was no way they were going to be able to make him do anything, and even if they could, it wouldn’t change the way Klaus would show up sooner rather than later to kill them all if they’d succeeded. This was about showing Stefan and themselves that they weren’t going to give up on him without a fight.
I love Stefan throwing Damon’s Damon-ness in his face. His SICK sense of humor asserts itself again with those grotesque Twister gladiatrices. I also think he’s…faking most of it, the way both Damon and Elena admit to having done throughout the episode.At the end there, he’s doing the one thing nobody in=-universe has ever done to Elena - throwing her attachment to him in her face as a weakness. And she reclaims it and - OH MY HEART - it makes me strong. Yes it does. Elena Gilbert, YOU. BETTER. WORK. But! Stefan was partially trying to push her away, pushing the one button that’s never been pushed for her. But I think he’s also telling the truth a little bit? Because if he hates himself SO MUCH (and he does) then what does it say about everyone who loves him? Damon, it’s okay. Because they’re brothers, because Damon has always positioned himself as WORSE THAN Stefan, and because he’ll always push back. Elena won’t give him limits and so he’s testing for them now.
STEFAN BACK AT SCHOOL. This is EXCELLENT. Because Stefan is doing exactly what he did back in S1. REMEMBER, when I was like, THIS IS ALL SCARY AND POTENTIALLY ABUSIVE AND CONTROLLING DICKERY DISGUISED AS CUTENESS? REMEMBER? AND NOW THAT’S WHAT IT IS. I can hardly contain myself at how these flaws are being drawn out and recognized. Compelling people at will, showing off his brute strength, telling Elena how dangerous and baddy bad bad he is, actually making himself useful against Vicki just enough to make them admit they still need him - but always there, lurking around and poisoning the day-to-day stuff he used to help her cling to so desperately. Even BtVS did not go here, making the threat so very low-level and banal and just there every moment. (Less importantly, did anyone else giggle forever at stoned-Stefan all snuggling Alaric while the car was blowing up? Ric is like the Swiffer of evil vampires. THEY CLING TO HIM.)
And Elena is still insisting on her fantasy. HE’S DEFINITELY NOT STEFAN. But nobody believes that anymore; not even her. POP QUIZ: is there any story I love more than a male romantic archetype getting yanked off his pedestal? SHOW YOUR WORK.
The witches are, after all, always right. They’re the guardians of balance; they’re an actual force of nature. It sucks to be Bonnie, because she’s the only one around who on some level gets that based on what they know (though I do kind of expect to find something out that’ll change that) Elena should totally die. The doppelganger is simply too powerful a weapon, tailor-made for the wrong hands. But nobody wants to kill her. Possibly the way everyone is so easily enchanted by Katherine and Elena is some doppelganger power, charming people into devotion so nobody can act on the ugly truth. Maybe that’s why Elena always says the right thing!; why Katherine had both the smart, kind Salvatore boys after her. The object position could really be a power they might be able to harness to their own ends, but can’t turn off.
So…I am kind of hoping the Rebekah/Caroline competitive dynamic is a setup for us to meet the Original Petrova by the end of the season? Also I would be down with Bonnie teaming up with the Original Witch, preferably in a face-off with Stefan and Klaus. Which, TYLER, things were going too well with you there! I adore Caroline, though; it's a testament to how good she and Tyler are for each other that she can see he's off, pinpoint what's wrong about him, bring him home and tell him he's a d-bag. I don't want this relationship to go as dark as Stefan/Elena clearly is, but it's nice that they're getting some interesting storylines.
OMG, were Delena just sexy there for a moment? I think they were sexy. Which is a shame, because this episode highlights the way they would be terrible for each other. I dislike the idea of one or the other brother being *good enough* to *deserve* the love of a good woman, and for all its failings, this show is so much better than that lazy nonsense. But it would also be the worst thing possible for Damon. Because: it’s always gonna be Stefan! Unless Stefan decides to go out there and be THE ACTUAL WORST, then you can be the consolation prize! Because then - then “not being as bad as Stefan” becomes the standard, and Damon likes to raze and burn standards before he gets a chance to fail to uphold them. So he would lose it again anyway.
Then it wouldn't even be worthwhile for him in a lot of ways. Stefan is doing what he’s doing at least in part because of Damon, in this way that Damon himself would definitely do, so he can’t claim any high ground there. (In fact, Damon probably gives Stefan entirely too much credit, because he doesn’t like submitting the way Stefan does.) And he wouldn’t give up on Stefan, so it would still all be about Stefan. And he’s still trying to protect her from knowing about how Stefan is even though he knows she knows it’s all bullshit. Damon and Elena can never be about Damon and Elena; they will always be about Stefan.
DAMON,THOUGH. He INSISTS on FILLING MY HEART WITH LOVE. DERIPPIFY. BEFORE HE DESTROYS MY HOUSE. And the façade has worked thus far - he’s been enough of a pissy, petty tool that people sort-of-but-not-entirely let him have the lie that he’s doing it all for himself. He could start saving kittens from trees and everyone would play along with and half-believe him when he insisted it was to PROVE HIS DEDICATION TO HIS EVOL PLAN. WHICH IS TO RESTORE STEFAN’S HUMANITY! SEE, EVIL! And AHAHAHA, YES, IT IS SO UNUSUAL for vampires to be freakishly dedicated to the vampire who made them! NOT LIKE ANYONE HERE HAS BEEN OBSESSED WITH HIS SIRE FOR 150 YEARS. GIVE OR TAKE. Awww, baby boy, YOU FOOL NO ONE. AND HE IS A BUFFY AND XENA FAN. AS IF HE DID NOT ALREADY HAVE MY HEART. (Um.)
Mikael is fabulous upon a foundation of crazy-awesome already. A vampire so badass he survives on OTHER VAMPIRES. Yet more fodder for my crack-theory that he is the Originals’ father. I doubt he actually killed Kat, though; I doubt a vampire can bleed out like a human. Especially since the show can’t even really bring itself to kill off Mason. Who I am pretty excited to see, given my newfound appreciation of the werewolf metaphor.