Wherein I ramble a lot about TVD
So, I'm supposed to be asleep and/or cramming, but I suddenly realized the new TVD would have been uploaded already.
I almost decided to just wait until the end of the season again and watch it all at once, just to spare myself the suspense. I... can't decide if to be really happy or really unhappy that I decided to go with watching.
I loved so many things here!
1. Bonnie blowing the doors open - I loved Bonnie in this episode in general, that she's smart and capable and knows it, that she knows when to be afraid but tries anyway, but that moment, together with Katherine's reaction, was the best part. Also, I like that she isn't warming up towards Damon; I assume it's inevitable that she will, but as long as I can have it - damn it, I love Damon as a character, but it's nice to have someone around who remembers there's a reason we don't play with homicidal wannabe sociopaths, even if they're woobies.
2. In the same way, I love so much that Elena isn't being torn-between-two-brothers, that the soap opera element hasn't come in yet. I know it will, but I'm glad of it for now - Damon (with Stefan's help) is really providing enough dysfunctionality for me; it's interesting and can be compelling, but sometimes it's nice to have people fully choosing what they've got. That's another reason I'm happy Katherine's stopping by - more balls to juggle on this means the Damon/Elena might be put off for longer.
3. Speaking of which, Katherine is an awesome villain, I'm pretty impressed with the actress, and comparing Katherine and Damon might become my favorite part of this show. They're both so childish in different ways, and have such similar views of the world in some ways, but with Katherine I'm finding it impossible so far to tell which parts are an act for whatever plot she's got going, and how much is... personality/baseline act. Whereas Damon is SO BAD at it, even when he manages to pull everyone in. He has no chance against anyone who has the first idea that there's a game on. Which bodes well for the rest of the season.
4. More things I loved: Elena in the way I always love her, consistent and smart and brave and sensible, though she didn't have much to do this time; Elena and Jeremy at the end, and Stefan by their side - the show's focus on families is still my favorite; Stefan in general, being scary and competent and adult by turns, caring about Damon when he most and least should, refusing to play any games, and also mysteriously becoming (just that little bit) even hotter; Damon trying to resist Katherine, and her playing him with no effort at all; Damon crossing all possible lines again, while still getting the possible out that'll make it easier for me to forgive them if they forgive him too soon; both Elena's and Stefan's reactions; Sheriff Liz, and the reminder that even after all that, most people STILL don't know who Damon is; and, just because it made me laugh a lot, Katherine swooning over Matt's eyes.
5. And one (two) things I didn't love at all. When Jeremy dropped to the ground, I gasped and flailed and demanded to know how this show was STILL managing to shock the hell out of me, and also, when the fuck are you going to stop killing characters off at every turn, show? You'll run out! So basically, between Damon and the complete surprise of it, they managed to do something very effective there. And it wasn't even damaged much by realizing Jeremy was going to live - it was an extra surprise without ruining the first shock.
But killing Caroline (if she's dead) doesn't feel the same way at all. I get that her recovery was a fake out, and Jeremy was a fake out, but seriously: doing shit to Caroline doesn't have any shock value left. It just feels like she's being fridged over and over again, and I'm pretty tired of it. (It isn't really fridging, I guess, since it's more for the sake of the plot than anything else, and a lot of people die for the plot. But the way her storyline is done, again and again, still feels that way after a while. She's the silly blond obvious victim - and she's a victim over and over again. While Matt, who serves pretty much the exact same purpose in the show, comes to almost no harm.)
Which has to do with another thing that pissed me off about the end - the way they used Jeremy was, again, fabulous, and we didn't really spend enough time on him to know what he was thinking, but two female characters I was really interested in have already been straight-up fridged for this guy's emotional arc; I'd really like to at least see some payoff. Which is, I guess, part of why Caroline 'taking his place' as the surprise victim pissed me off.
ETA: And since it's after three and all, and I was almost approaching normal hours for a while there, why not check out the flist for a bit? Like something about those other vampires, for example.
I almost decided to just wait until the end of the season again and watch it all at once, just to spare myself the suspense. I... can't decide if to be really happy or really unhappy that I decided to go with watching.
I loved so many things here!
1. Bonnie blowing the doors open - I loved Bonnie in this episode in general, that she's smart and capable and knows it, that she knows when to be afraid but tries anyway, but that moment, together with Katherine's reaction, was the best part. Also, I like that she isn't warming up towards Damon; I assume it's inevitable that she will, but as long as I can have it - damn it, I love Damon as a character, but it's nice to have someone around who remembers there's a reason we don't play with homicidal wannabe sociopaths, even if they're woobies.
2. In the same way, I love so much that Elena isn't being torn-between-two-brothers, that the soap opera element hasn't come in yet. I know it will, but I'm glad of it for now - Damon (with Stefan's help) is really providing enough dysfunctionality for me; it's interesting and can be compelling, but sometimes it's nice to have people fully choosing what they've got. That's another reason I'm happy Katherine's stopping by - more balls to juggle on this means the Damon/Elena might be put off for longer.
3. Speaking of which, Katherine is an awesome villain, I'm pretty impressed with the actress, and comparing Katherine and Damon might become my favorite part of this show. They're both so childish in different ways, and have such similar views of the world in some ways, but with Katherine I'm finding it impossible so far to tell which parts are an act for whatever plot she's got going, and how much is... personality/baseline act. Whereas Damon is SO BAD at it, even when he manages to pull everyone in. He has no chance against anyone who has the first idea that there's a game on. Which bodes well for the rest of the season.
4. More things I loved: Elena in the way I always love her, consistent and smart and brave and sensible, though she didn't have much to do this time; Elena and Jeremy at the end, and Stefan by their side - the show's focus on families is still my favorite; Stefan in general, being scary and competent and adult by turns, caring about Damon when he most and least should, refusing to play any games, and also mysteriously becoming (just that little bit) even hotter; Damon trying to resist Katherine, and her playing him with no effort at all; Damon crossing all possible lines again, while still getting the possible out that'll make it easier for me to forgive them if they forgive him too soon; both Elena's and Stefan's reactions; Sheriff Liz, and the reminder that even after all that, most people STILL don't know who Damon is; and, just because it made me laugh a lot, Katherine swooning over Matt's eyes.
5. And one (two) things I didn't love at all. When Jeremy dropped to the ground, I gasped and flailed and demanded to know how this show was STILL managing to shock the hell out of me, and also, when the fuck are you going to stop killing characters off at every turn, show? You'll run out! So basically, between Damon and the complete surprise of it, they managed to do something very effective there. And it wasn't even damaged much by realizing Jeremy was going to live - it was an extra surprise without ruining the first shock.
But killing Caroline (if she's dead) doesn't feel the same way at all. I get that her recovery was a fake out, and Jeremy was a fake out, but seriously: doing shit to Caroline doesn't have any shock value left. It just feels like she's being fridged over and over again, and I'm pretty tired of it. (It isn't really fridging, I guess, since it's more for the sake of the plot than anything else, and a lot of people die for the plot. But the way her storyline is done, again and again, still feels that way after a while. She's the silly blond obvious victim - and she's a victim over and over again. While Matt, who serves pretty much the exact same purpose in the show, comes to almost no harm.)
Which has to do with another thing that pissed me off about the end - the way they used Jeremy was, again, fabulous, and we didn't really spend enough time on him to know what he was thinking, but two female characters I was really interested in have already been straight-up fridged for this guy's emotional arc; I'd really like to at least see some payoff. Which is, I guess, part of why Caroline 'taking his place' as the surprise victim pissed me off.
ETA: And since it's after three and all, and I was almost approaching normal hours for a while there, why not check out the flist for a bit? Like something about those other vampires, for example.