The Vampire Diaries 4x02 Review
Oct. 24th, 2012 12:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaMemorial
There was one thing that really irritated me but overall I really enjoyed this ep.
Top 3 Scenes
1) Caroline helping Elena with April. ♥ It was EVERYTHING I wanted. I love that it was Caroline who ended up helping Elena the most. She helped Elena get control, she offered advice and support, and stood there in case something went wrong. "The only way you're going to learn is if you do it yourself." Caroline was wonderful and I loved Elena's look of pleased pride. I knew she would be the best person to help Elena and it was just perfect.
2) Last five minutes of the episode: the lantern scene and especially Damon ranting to Alaric. The lantern scene was lovely. The idea was perfect and it was just really sweet and desperately needed. Damon's complaining at Alaric's grave was so him and great. Alaric's ghost being there was completely unexpected and such an excellent surprise. "I miss you too, buddy." Sniff. It, and Alaric listening the whole time, was perfect but heartbreaking. Oh, I miss them. I really hope Alaric keeps popping up now and then.
3) "He’s the one who made me understand how important it is to be a part of a team, a community.” - Tyler ♥ This was great for two reasons. One, because it was a wonderful Tyler moment of him stepping up to protect his pack. He took a bullet to protect everyone! He has grown so much as a person since season one. Two, the Mystic Falls group as a made-family is my favourite thing ever and Tyler basically affirming that in front of everyone was wonderful.
Liked
• "Vampires eat people. It’s part of the natural food pyramid." - Damon
• Elena feeding from Damon. It was hot. Based on their reactions it is very pleasurable and based on Stefan's reaction it's very personal. I want to know more.
• Everyone communicating in the church. Separated but talking normally as they debate what to do because they're vampires and have super hearing. Working together as a group. I loved it. That scene was fabulous and I want more like it.
• Elena and Matt being awesome. Matt letting Elena feed on him and not making a sound, Elena feeding on a live person for the first time (while starving!) and keeping control enough to not hurt him and to only take as much as she needed.
• The Bonnie/Stefan scene. I've always liked their friendship but for understandable reasons that disappeared last season. I thought it was an interesting choice to have Bonnie open up to him.
- "Hmm, that’s bad timing." - Bonnie Lol just the way she said that. It's sad because she is just so rundown right now but it was also hilarious. It's like at this point anything could happen and it'd be like "oh, is it Thursday?"
• April. I like her. The Elena/April scene was nice.
• I loved Damon with Liz. I miss their friendship. Plus Damon amused me: "I always take credit for killing people." and "If I was going to kill twelve people I wouldn’t blow them up. I’d have a dinner party." Heee.
• Elena mentioning herself when she was listing the people who'd died.
• I'm definitely intrigued by what we've seen of Connor thus far.
Hated
I am choosing to blame TPTB instead of the characters for my biggest issue with the episode. The way the Elena/Caroline/Bonnie friendships were handled, or rather mostly ignored, made me pretty angry. This actually should have been a really big episode for the girls' friendships and producers/writers completely dropped the ball on it. Elena is struggling with having just been Turned into a vampire, Bonnie just watched her dead grandmother die again apparently because of choices she made. Both of them seriously needed their BFFs.
Sadly it's Caroline characterisation that suffers the most here since both Elena and Bonnie are going through serious emotional shit right now so they get some leeway.
Bonnie now has the chance for a do-over with Elena for her reaction when Caroline Turned but right now she's in serious emotional turmoil. She knows Elena is surrounded by people who want to help her so for me she gets a pass on not being there for Elena.
Elena, meanwhile, gets a pass on not being there for Bonnie not because of her recent transition and the turmoil it's brought into her life (because enhanced empathy should make it more likely for her to be there for Bonnie regardless of other distractions) but rather because I think she honestly doesn't know what happened with Sheila. Stefan didn't know about it when he went to visit Bonnie so I can buy Elena not knowing either.
Caroline unfortunately doesn't have anything to excuse away her lack of support for most of the episode. In fact her first scene is in bed with Tyler worrying about having sex being insensitive/wrong because of the tragedy. Uh, no. People keep living, it's human nature and there is nothing wrong with it. What is a problem is the fact that she is hanging out with boyfriend when both of her best friends are currently having serious issues.
Unlike Elena Caroline was there when Sheila died and even though she didn't see what happened she knows that Bonnie was really broken up. Yet we get nothing from her about or with Bonnie. She knows that Elena is now a vampire and having just gone through the same thing last season - so a couple months ago? - you'd think she'd be more involved in helping her and would have her own opinion on the whole blood issue.
There are ways this can all be fanwanked (and I am): Caroline visited Bonnie at home the same night as the spell and comforted her. Maybe she spent the night. Bonnie sent her away telling her that she simply wants to be alone right now. Caroline was there for Elena when the Salvatore's brought her back to their place and Stefan assured her that he was taking care of Elena. Stefan mentored Caroline, they are both older and there's the romantic ties between the three so it would make sense for Caroline to leave Elena to them.
But, goddamn it, I wish we could have seen any of that. We should have seen some of that if those relationships really were as important. At the very least Caroline could have mentioned in her talk with Tyler about feeling helpless about not being able to help either Bonnie or Elena. Or they could have just cut the first Tyler/Caroline scene, which was nice enough but not essential, and instead given us a much needed Caroline/Bonnie scene.
Meh or Didn't Like
• Tyler interrupting Carol’s meeting with Connor annoyed me. She's the mayor, having what is apparently a meeting with another adult, she didn't scream or call for help. The way Tyler came down and immediately started acting... aggressive? It just felt very 'strong man protecting woman' and it annoyed.
• I was also annoying by how long it took Caroline to get downstairs after the gunshot. She's a vampire!
• Bonnie once again not being at a group gathering was irritating. Grief/depression/tired, I totally get from her POV why she wouldn't go. From a Doylist POV it's TPTB once again ignoring/isolating Bonnie.
• As always with Damon I find myself torn - I loved the blood sharing scene with Elena but at the same time it was really wrong. She clearly had no idea what blood sharing meant for vampires, nor did she realise how much it meant to Damon or how it would affect him. It was creepy.
• There were several noticeable names that were left out during the memorial. The one that stuck out most was Jeremy leaving out John. They had problems but there was a time they were close and he was family. Elena also didn't mention him, nor Isobel. I realise that they weren't close but they were her biological parents, their loss was more about the potential. Also Elena/Alaric was amazing last season and it felt wrong that she didn't mention him even though he'd already been mentioned.
Other
• Oh, Matt. I wish he would stop feeling responsible for Elena's dying. Of everyone involved he's the one with the least responsibility.
• I understand why they had Matt be the first person Elena would feed on, and why he volunteered, but I really wish it had been Jeremy instead. I think that would have been far more interesting.
• Interesting that Jeremy first tried to pass the lighter to Damon.
• Why wasn't Tyler at the lantern memorial? I realise he was taken to the hospital and is playing hurt to maintain his cover and I realise that it would be smart for him to stay there instead of sneaking out but since when has that ever stopped anyone in this group? After taking a bullet for his people he deserved to be there too.
• I liked Caroline mentioning Tyler's dad but if she was speaking for Tyler as well shouldn't she have mentioned Mason? Also I was kind of expecting Bonnie to mention Luka.
There was one thing that really irritated me but overall I really enjoyed this ep.
Top 3 Scenes
1) Caroline helping Elena with April. ♥ It was EVERYTHING I wanted. I love that it was Caroline who ended up helping Elena the most. She helped Elena get control, she offered advice and support, and stood there in case something went wrong. "The only way you're going to learn is if you do it yourself." Caroline was wonderful and I loved Elena's look of pleased pride. I knew she would be the best person to help Elena and it was just perfect.
2) Last five minutes of the episode: the lantern scene and especially Damon ranting to Alaric. The lantern scene was lovely. The idea was perfect and it was just really sweet and desperately needed. Damon's complaining at Alaric's grave was so him and great. Alaric's ghost being there was completely unexpected and such an excellent surprise. "I miss you too, buddy." Sniff. It, and Alaric listening the whole time, was perfect but heartbreaking. Oh, I miss them. I really hope Alaric keeps popping up now and then.
3) "He’s the one who made me understand how important it is to be a part of a team, a community.” - Tyler ♥ This was great for two reasons. One, because it was a wonderful Tyler moment of him stepping up to protect his pack. He took a bullet to protect everyone! He has grown so much as a person since season one. Two, the Mystic Falls group as a made-family is my favourite thing ever and Tyler basically affirming that in front of everyone was wonderful.
Liked
• "Vampires eat people. It’s part of the natural food pyramid." - Damon
• Elena feeding from Damon. It was hot. Based on their reactions it is very pleasurable and based on Stefan's reaction it's very personal. I want to know more.
• Everyone communicating in the church. Separated but talking normally as they debate what to do because they're vampires and have super hearing. Working together as a group. I loved it. That scene was fabulous and I want more like it.
• Elena and Matt being awesome. Matt letting Elena feed on him and not making a sound, Elena feeding on a live person for the first time (while starving!) and keeping control enough to not hurt him and to only take as much as she needed.
• The Bonnie/Stefan scene. I've always liked their friendship but for understandable reasons that disappeared last season. I thought it was an interesting choice to have Bonnie open up to him.
- "Hmm, that’s bad timing." - Bonnie Lol just the way she said that. It's sad because she is just so rundown right now but it was also hilarious. It's like at this point anything could happen and it'd be like "oh, is it Thursday?"
• April. I like her. The Elena/April scene was nice.
• I loved Damon with Liz. I miss their friendship. Plus Damon amused me: "I always take credit for killing people." and "If I was going to kill twelve people I wouldn’t blow them up. I’d have a dinner party." Heee.
• Elena mentioning herself when she was listing the people who'd died.
• I'm definitely intrigued by what we've seen of Connor thus far.
Hated
I am choosing to blame TPTB instead of the characters for my biggest issue with the episode. The way the Elena/Caroline/Bonnie friendships were handled, or rather mostly ignored, made me pretty angry. This actually should have been a really big episode for the girls' friendships and producers/writers completely dropped the ball on it. Elena is struggling with having just been Turned into a vampire, Bonnie just watched her dead grandmother die again apparently because of choices she made. Both of them seriously needed their BFFs.
Sadly it's Caroline characterisation that suffers the most here since both Elena and Bonnie are going through serious emotional shit right now so they get some leeway.
Bonnie now has the chance for a do-over with Elena for her reaction when Caroline Turned but right now she's in serious emotional turmoil. She knows Elena is surrounded by people who want to help her so for me she gets a pass on not being there for Elena.
Elena, meanwhile, gets a pass on not being there for Bonnie not because of her recent transition and the turmoil it's brought into her life (because enhanced empathy should make it more likely for her to be there for Bonnie regardless of other distractions) but rather because I think she honestly doesn't know what happened with Sheila. Stefan didn't know about it when he went to visit Bonnie so I can buy Elena not knowing either.
Caroline unfortunately doesn't have anything to excuse away her lack of support for most of the episode. In fact her first scene is in bed with Tyler worrying about having sex being insensitive/wrong because of the tragedy. Uh, no. People keep living, it's human nature and there is nothing wrong with it. What is a problem is the fact that she is hanging out with boyfriend when both of her best friends are currently having serious issues.
Unlike Elena Caroline was there when Sheila died and even though she didn't see what happened she knows that Bonnie was really broken up. Yet we get nothing from her about or with Bonnie. She knows that Elena is now a vampire and having just gone through the same thing last season - so a couple months ago? - you'd think she'd be more involved in helping her and would have her own opinion on the whole blood issue.
There are ways this can all be fanwanked (and I am): Caroline visited Bonnie at home the same night as the spell and comforted her. Maybe she spent the night. Bonnie sent her away telling her that she simply wants to be alone right now. Caroline was there for Elena when the Salvatore's brought her back to their place and Stefan assured her that he was taking care of Elena. Stefan mentored Caroline, they are both older and there's the romantic ties between the three so it would make sense for Caroline to leave Elena to them.
But, goddamn it, I wish we could have seen any of that. We should have seen some of that if those relationships really were as important. At the very least Caroline could have mentioned in her talk with Tyler about feeling helpless about not being able to help either Bonnie or Elena. Or they could have just cut the first Tyler/Caroline scene, which was nice enough but not essential, and instead given us a much needed Caroline/Bonnie scene.
Meh or Didn't Like
• Tyler interrupting Carol’s meeting with Connor annoyed me. She's the mayor, having what is apparently a meeting with another adult, she didn't scream or call for help. The way Tyler came down and immediately started acting... aggressive? It just felt very 'strong man protecting woman' and it annoyed.
• I was also annoying by how long it took Caroline to get downstairs after the gunshot. She's a vampire!
• Bonnie once again not being at a group gathering was irritating. Grief/depression/tired, I totally get from her POV why she wouldn't go. From a Doylist POV it's TPTB once again ignoring/isolating Bonnie.
• As always with Damon I find myself torn - I loved the blood sharing scene with Elena but at the same time it was really wrong. She clearly had no idea what blood sharing meant for vampires, nor did she realise how much it meant to Damon or how it would affect him. It was creepy.
• There were several noticeable names that were left out during the memorial. The one that stuck out most was Jeremy leaving out John. They had problems but there was a time they were close and he was family. Elena also didn't mention him, nor Isobel. I realise that they weren't close but they were her biological parents, their loss was more about the potential. Also Elena/Alaric was amazing last season and it felt wrong that she didn't mention him even though he'd already been mentioned.
Other
• Oh, Matt. I wish he would stop feeling responsible for Elena's dying. Of everyone involved he's the one with the least responsibility.
• I understand why they had Matt be the first person Elena would feed on, and why he volunteered, but I really wish it had been Jeremy instead. I think that would have been far more interesting.
• Interesting that Jeremy first tried to pass the lighter to Damon.
• Why wasn't Tyler at the lantern memorial? I realise he was taken to the hospital and is playing hurt to maintain his cover and I realise that it would be smart for him to stay there instead of sneaking out but since when has that ever stopped anyone in this group? After taking a bullet for his people he deserved to be there too.
• I liked Caroline mentioning Tyler's dad but if she was speaking for Tyler as well shouldn't she have mentioned Mason? Also I was kind of expecting Bonnie to mention Luka.
