TVD - Graduation

May 18, 2013 20:29

First order of business: if I put up a friending meme for people who are excited about The Originals, is it just going to be me kissing my own ass ( Read more... )

tvd: elena gilbert will cut a bitch, tvd: bonnie bennett is a goddess, tvd: stefan salvatore is growing on me, tvd, tvd: kat doesn't need a reason, episode review

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Comments 18

lynnenne May 19 2013, 01:51:12 UTC
First order of business: if I put up a friending meme for people who are excited about The Originals, is it just going to be me kissing my own ass?

I will friend every person who comments! Although I probably have most of them friended already.

And for the first time ever, Katherine needs Damon. Nobody else is selfish enough and crazy enough to turn her.

WHOA, I totally had not thought of that. I mean, I don't know why I didn't, because it's SO OBVIOUS. What a great conflict that would set up between Elena and her other half.

Bonnie has defined herself by her ability to DO, and to make The Hard Choices and do The Right Thing

In many ways, Bonnie is on the classic hero's journey - the only one of the cast following such a path.

STEFAN-SILAS THE BEST THING

IT IS.

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pocochina May 19 2013, 03:11:02 UTC
YES COOL EXCELLENT SEND THEM TO ME it's here.

In many ways, Bonnie is on the classic hero's journey - the only one of the cast following such a path.

She really is! And even then, she'd be a "morally ambiguous hero" at best in most narratives, and probably a straight-up anti-heroine. <3333

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waltzmatildah May 19 2013, 02:36:32 UTC
I guess I disagree (from my point of view) with your declaration that WHY THE FUCK NOT? works for TVD as a legitimate writing style because, for me, it totally doesn't. I get that it does from your POV (and probably from other POVs too), but it's certainly not a universal declaration of truth. I watched four episodes this season, and maybe half of last. And that wasn't just because there was pretty much no Kat, or because it made me rage. It was mostly because I didn't give a shit about/understand 3/4s (at least) of the WHY THE FUCK NOTs they were giving us. Depending on what they do with Katherine, I might watch some next season but I whether I do or not isn't really something I care about anymore so. Yeah. Considering the aim of television shows is to make money entertain people, from my point of view its writing style/storyline choices failed badly. I personally see WHY THE FUCK NOT? as pretty lazy and cheap, not clever and beautiful (in this instance). It probably COULD work well, and I'm not saying it's never a legitimate ( ... )

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pocochina May 19 2013, 03:35:23 UTC
I get that it does from your POV (and probably from other POVs too)

Well, I doubt I'm the only one in the world it's working for, since it's a network flagship show and I don't even live in a Nielsen house!

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waltzmatildah May 19 2013, 04:35:27 UTC
No idea what a Neilsen house is but... I'm pretty sure it doesn't change my point.

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pocochina May 19 2013, 03:17:09 UTC
Doppelganger-Stefan is....I could not care less if it's a bizarre left-field ass-pull, it's brilliant.

I'm just not sure if we're meant to see it that way because I felt like the reprogramming was framed as a positive thing.

I mean, I didn't see it that way at all. But even if it arguably was, I think Jeremy being pissed at being forced to *live* was a pretty intense condemnation of any other choices that have been made for him.

But can we agree that they don't care about Caroline?

I am admittedly not as in tune with Caroline as much as other characters? And I would agree that her arc this season wasn't as meticulous as Bonnie's or Jeremy's. But it's hard for me to say that a character who's so consistent, and so frequently allowed to be flawed while still being clearly easy to love, is *disliked* by the narrative? I just...can't get my head around it.

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pocochina May 19 2013, 03:47:46 UTC
this is actually something I disagree on with the majority of fandom in that I LOVED it, heh

....yeah, I'm not sure that we even are in the minority on this one? I mean, I'm sure there are people whining that "I didn't predict it and I am obviously the GOD OF TELEVISION, so it must SUCK!" but the responses I've seen have ranged from "amused and surprised" to "stoked."

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wheatear May 19 2013, 13:25:40 UTC
if I put up a friending meme for people who are excited about The Originals, is it just going to be me kissing my own ass?

I will post a link to it, for sure! \o/ You could post it on one of the TVD comms too if you wanted to reach more people.

I totally agree with you about Bonnie, btw. I thought her arc this season was great and I cared a lot more about her than I have done previously.

Also Stefan as a Silas doppelganger cannot not be hilarious, I mean how else could you react? :P

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pocochina May 19 2013, 18:38:51 UTC
EXCELLENT! Bring me any Originals fans who wish to be found!

Bonnie's arc was great this season. I just...I liked everyone this season, for whatever values of "like" these characters deserve. But Bonnie has always been a favorite of mine and her arc this season was so true to what's been so interesting about her.

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anonymous May 20 2013, 00:33:13 UTC
I just want to say that I've been enjoying your reviews and the fact that you've given me an interesting perspective on the Bonnie storyline for S4. I tend to hang around the tumblr portion of the tvd fandom that's centered on Bonnie and most of the comments from that side of the fandom is centered on extreme disappointment with her death in the finale and feeling cheated, despite the fact, that to me, S4 was the best season for Bonnie in terms of an actual story-line arc.

I would love to hear more about your thoughts on the effectiveness of Bonnie's arc for S4, despite what is generally seen by some of her fans as her lack of screen-time and the consistent loss of her POV in comparision to say Elena or Caroline, with the exception of 4x19 and the S4 finale, and what you think might happen for her in S5 in terms of the hero's journey.

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pocochina May 20 2013, 06:16:51 UTC
Thank you for commenting, and I'm glad to hear you've been enjoying.

I know tragic arcs aren't for everyone's tastes, and that the social context makes this one really questionable, but it was a hell of a story, that's for sure.

I haven't thought too far ahead for Bonnie so far - I'm fairly sure she'll be back around in some capacity next season, because that didn't feel like an end to her arc, but I don't know what they'll do with that. As long as she's around I expect to enjoy it. But I want to do a LOT of meta-writing over the summer, and that sounds like a great prompt, so thank you! I hope I'll have an answer sometime.

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