The Vampire Diairies 4x23 Review
Jul. 29th, 2014 11:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaWow, it's been so long since I last watched this show. I didn't intend to take such a long break from it but I was just really unenthused by the show and I'm easily distracted. Today I decided to at least finish season 4 so I watched some clips of 4x22 on YouTube and read my review for it.
Graduation
... and it may have been exactly what I needed because I enjoyed this episode. There was a lot less emotional connection to the characters but that may be for the best because I could also just sit back and enjoy it. I may actually try watching season 5.
LOVED/LIKED
• The end Katherine/Elena fight was awesome. My favourite moment of the episode. It was exactly what I wanted and what I expected from a fight between them. Which just makes their 'fight' in the previous episode more perplexing and kind of dumb. Anyway - Katherine starting the fight, Elena fighting back, the back-and-forth, Katherine having the upper hand and kicking Elena's ass (but Elena not giving up], snarkiness [ "Kicking someone while their down, classy till the end, Katherine." ♥], and neither of them begging for anything. It was great. And then when it looks like Elena has no hope - fierce, brave Elena - she saves herself and gets the better of Katherine. I loved it. This was entirely the Elena I love. "Have a nice human life, Katherine." ♥
• I really loved the Elena/Jeremy/Alaric scene. I miss their little made-family a lot.
• Alaric was fabulous. I've missed him too and he just adds something wonderful to the show. I really wish they'd bring him back permanently. I don't really care how, tbh. Great stuff: him taking out Connor and saving "his" bar; his 'oops' after throwing Vaughn off the cliff; his pride about Elena (he showed her how to break someones neck! "Yeah, I taught her that swing." - so proud!); his friendship with Damon. He's awesome.
• "Look, Elena, you're my sister and I love you. No matter what you choose." - Jeremy. ♥ They were also really lovely. I am so glad that he's alive for her sake.
• I really liked how Damon/Elena finally got together. Them refusing to apologize, them both acknowledging that Damon has done horrible things and that this is a bad idea all around, them yelling at each other, Elena's confession of love and the kiss - I loved it all.
• Bonnie was wonderful but also made me sad. She is such a caring and giving person and that's great but she can take that too far. I love how determined she was to do the right thing. Her whole speech to Kol was great. I also really liked the Jeremy/Bonnie scenes.
• Stefan was pretty great. Drunk Stefan is always fun. I love his bitter commentary. "Hero hair", lol. Also liked him ripping the heart out of Vaughn mid-speech. I loved his attitude towards the triangle - a sort of resigned what happens happens. He was honest (to Lexie and himself) that if Elena wanted him he'd get back together with her in a second but that if she'll chose Damon it'd be what he needed to finally move on. All the Stefan/Lexie stuff was great.
- I loved his little moment with Damon at the end and him being 'not not happy' for Damon and telling him so. He was hurting for himself but he was also glad that Damon was happy and made sure to tell him.
• I liked Lexie a lot. I can vaguely remember getting more and more annoyed at her before my break but I thought she was great here. Her gentle support of Stefan throughout the episode, her dancing, and I always enjoy her threatening Damon.
- She gave Stefan some actual really great advice. So good that I'm going to quote it: "She was, and she will always be an epic love. Contrary to popular belief, there are actually multiple ones. Especially for a vampire. The only way to find another is to let go and move on." Yes! Thank you, Lexie.
• I also loved the Lexie/Alaric interactions. I thought their conversation was lovely. They had unexpected chemistry and if they were both on the show I could see myself shipping them. They should definitely be Other Side ghost buddies. They can bond more over their stupid best friends and offer snarky peanut gallery commentary on the current crazy stuff happening in Mystic Falls. I would totally watch that show.
• I liked Klaus. His entrance was great. I loved him saving everyone by decapitating the witch with a graduation cap. And then being all menacing in his Klaus way. I liked him letting Tyler return because he's wants Caroline to be happy. I even really liked his line about Tyler being her first love and him intending to be her last no matter how long it took. It gave me a small amount of Caroline/Klaus feelings. I remember that he is a horrible person in so many ways and yet it didn't bother me at all. (Though to be fair he didn't do anything actively horrible this episode.)
• I liked Elena giving Stefan the cure because he hated being a vampire and was worse even then her* at being one and that he deserved "whatever he wanted out of life".
- *I disliked how Elena-as-a-vampire played out because I actually never really bought that she would be so horrible at it. If all her family hadn't been dead I think she could have been a really good vampire. This episode felt like her choosing to be a vampire without having to really acknowledge that. She had the cure but refused to take it and three times she tried to give it away - to save Mystic Falls, to save Damon, to Stefan and each time it was rejected she still refused to take it. Because she didn't want it. That actually makes it all the better when she uses it to save herself and turn Katherine human. I really hope that season 5 actually let's her be a vampire and enjoy it.
GENERAL
• I refuse to believe that Bonnie is really dead and gone. In fact I don't think that she's only going to show up again as a ghost to Jeremy. They are going to find a way to save her.
• "We could get a triple room!" - Caroline. That made me so sad because it is never going to happen. But it should! There was not near enough Caroline/Bonnie/Elena. Caroline demanded that it be a 'friends day' and yet we didn't get even one scene with the three of them together. There is a lot the three of them need to talk about, serious stuff, and I can understand why the show didn't want to go there in this episode but damn it I want those scenes!
• I think Bonnie kept her death secret partially so her friends graduation wasn't ruined and that they could have a happy day but also because she just couldn't deal with saying bye or with their reactions. Which is completely understandable while also being the totally wrong choice. Elena and Caroline are going to be super pissed, and rightly so, that she didn't tell them or say goodbye.
• While it's great that Jeremy is back he's pretty officially dead at this point, no? That's going to make living in Mystic Falls pretty awkward.
• Human Katherine is kind of a mind-boggling idea. She is really not going to be happy about that. She's going to be powerless and that is going to be the worst for her. I'm torn between wanting her to stick around so we can see the consequences and wanting her to run away to a new life so she doesn't get killed.
NEGATIVE
• For a moment there when Silas looked like Elena and it seemed like Silas could be the original original doppelganger I was actually really excited. The many Petrova doppelgangers caused as a balance to Silas's immortality - actually kind of awesome. It could have been amazing! Silas then turning into Stefan was a serious disappointment.
• "You got the girl." - Alaric. This bothered me. It's treating Elena an object that Damon can win or get. As if she's just a reward. It especially bothers me because it's Elena who is arguably as important to Alaric as Damon.
• The lack of any mention of Jenna really bothered me. The group huddle per-graduation made Tyler's absence prominent but I felt Jenna's absence throughout the entire episode. Jenna was a vampire when she died so she should have been on the other side which in turn means she should have turned up after the veil went down. But even more than her physical absence the lack of any mention of her sticks out as wrong. You'd think that Elena would ask about her or that either Alaric or Jeremy would mention seeing her on the other side. The show just ignoring it does not work for me.
• I still have no idea what was going on with the whole sire bond situation. Was it real or wasn't it? But apparently it's no longer an issue so, whatever, moving on.
• Katherine's attitude/reasoning for her antipathy towards Elena this episode was a little - perplexing to me? Her refrain, to Elena and earlier Bonnie, about how Elena "has everything" and a better life than Katherine and especially that Elena stole Katherine's life was just strange. 1) It's Rebekah who wanted the whole modern teenager life, never Katherine. Katherine has never cared about prom or grad, what? 2) Elena's life is not that great. Sure, she has friends but Katherine doesn't really like them. She has Damon but at this point I don't think Katherine wants him either. All of her family is dead. I get why Katherine hates Elena but the reasons given this ep during her rants were not them.
Graduation
... and it may have been exactly what I needed because I enjoyed this episode. There was a lot less emotional connection to the characters but that may be for the best because I could also just sit back and enjoy it. I may actually try watching season 5.
LOVED/LIKED
• The end Katherine/Elena fight was awesome. My favourite moment of the episode. It was exactly what I wanted and what I expected from a fight between them. Which just makes their 'fight' in the previous episode more perplexing and kind of dumb. Anyway - Katherine starting the fight, Elena fighting back, the back-and-forth, Katherine having the upper hand and kicking Elena's ass (but Elena not giving up], snarkiness [ "Kicking someone while their down, classy till the end, Katherine." ♥], and neither of them begging for anything. It was great. And then when it looks like Elena has no hope - fierce, brave Elena - she saves herself and gets the better of Katherine. I loved it. This was entirely the Elena I love. "Have a nice human life, Katherine." ♥
• I really loved the Elena/Jeremy/Alaric scene. I miss their little made-family a lot.
• Alaric was fabulous. I've missed him too and he just adds something wonderful to the show. I really wish they'd bring him back permanently. I don't really care how, tbh. Great stuff: him taking out Connor and saving "his" bar; his 'oops' after throwing Vaughn off the cliff; his pride about Elena (he showed her how to break someones neck! "Yeah, I taught her that swing." - so proud!); his friendship with Damon. He's awesome.
• "Look, Elena, you're my sister and I love you. No matter what you choose." - Jeremy. ♥ They were also really lovely. I am so glad that he's alive for her sake.
• I really liked how Damon/Elena finally got together. Them refusing to apologize, them both acknowledging that Damon has done horrible things and that this is a bad idea all around, them yelling at each other, Elena's confession of love and the kiss - I loved it all.
• Bonnie was wonderful but also made me sad. She is such a caring and giving person and that's great but she can take that too far. I love how determined she was to do the right thing. Her whole speech to Kol was great. I also really liked the Jeremy/Bonnie scenes.
• Stefan was pretty great. Drunk Stefan is always fun. I love his bitter commentary. "Hero hair", lol. Also liked him ripping the heart out of Vaughn mid-speech. I loved his attitude towards the triangle - a sort of resigned what happens happens. He was honest (to Lexie and himself) that if Elena wanted him he'd get back together with her in a second but that if she'll chose Damon it'd be what he needed to finally move on. All the Stefan/Lexie stuff was great.
- I loved his little moment with Damon at the end and him being 'not not happy' for Damon and telling him so. He was hurting for himself but he was also glad that Damon was happy and made sure to tell him.
• I liked Lexie a lot. I can vaguely remember getting more and more annoyed at her before my break but I thought she was great here. Her gentle support of Stefan throughout the episode, her dancing, and I always enjoy her threatening Damon.
- She gave Stefan some actual really great advice. So good that I'm going to quote it: "She was, and she will always be an epic love. Contrary to popular belief, there are actually multiple ones. Especially for a vampire. The only way to find another is to let go and move on." Yes! Thank you, Lexie.
• I also loved the Lexie/Alaric interactions. I thought their conversation was lovely. They had unexpected chemistry and if they were both on the show I could see myself shipping them. They should definitely be Other Side ghost buddies. They can bond more over their stupid best friends and offer snarky peanut gallery commentary on the current crazy stuff happening in Mystic Falls. I would totally watch that show.
• I liked Klaus. His entrance was great. I loved him saving everyone by decapitating the witch with a graduation cap. And then being all menacing in his Klaus way. I liked him letting Tyler return because he's wants Caroline to be happy. I even really liked his line about Tyler being her first love and him intending to be her last no matter how long it took. It gave me a small amount of Caroline/Klaus feelings. I remember that he is a horrible person in so many ways and yet it didn't bother me at all. (Though to be fair he didn't do anything actively horrible this episode.)
• I liked Elena giving Stefan the cure because he hated being a vampire and was worse even then her* at being one and that he deserved "whatever he wanted out of life".
- *I disliked how Elena-as-a-vampire played out because I actually never really bought that she would be so horrible at it. If all her family hadn't been dead I think she could have been a really good vampire. This episode felt like her choosing to be a vampire without having to really acknowledge that. She had the cure but refused to take it and three times she tried to give it away - to save Mystic Falls, to save Damon, to Stefan and each time it was rejected she still refused to take it. Because she didn't want it. That actually makes it all the better when she uses it to save herself and turn Katherine human. I really hope that season 5 actually let's her be a vampire and enjoy it.
GENERAL
• I refuse to believe that Bonnie is really dead and gone. In fact I don't think that she's only going to show up again as a ghost to Jeremy. They are going to find a way to save her.
• "We could get a triple room!" - Caroline. That made me so sad because it is never going to happen. But it should! There was not near enough Caroline/Bonnie/Elena. Caroline demanded that it be a 'friends day' and yet we didn't get even one scene with the three of them together. There is a lot the three of them need to talk about, serious stuff, and I can understand why the show didn't want to go there in this episode but damn it I want those scenes!
• I think Bonnie kept her death secret partially so her friends graduation wasn't ruined and that they could have a happy day but also because she just couldn't deal with saying bye or with their reactions. Which is completely understandable while also being the totally wrong choice. Elena and Caroline are going to be super pissed, and rightly so, that she didn't tell them or say goodbye.
• While it's great that Jeremy is back he's pretty officially dead at this point, no? That's going to make living in Mystic Falls pretty awkward.
• Human Katherine is kind of a mind-boggling idea. She is really not going to be happy about that. She's going to be powerless and that is going to be the worst for her. I'm torn between wanting her to stick around so we can see the consequences and wanting her to run away to a new life so she doesn't get killed.
NEGATIVE
• For a moment there when Silas looked like Elena and it seemed like Silas could be the original original doppelganger I was actually really excited. The many Petrova doppelgangers caused as a balance to Silas's immortality - actually kind of awesome. It could have been amazing! Silas then turning into Stefan was a serious disappointment.
• "You got the girl." - Alaric. This bothered me. It's treating Elena an object that Damon can win or get. As if she's just a reward. It especially bothers me because it's Elena who is arguably as important to Alaric as Damon.
• The lack of any mention of Jenna really bothered me. The group huddle per-graduation made Tyler's absence prominent but I felt Jenna's absence throughout the entire episode. Jenna was a vampire when she died so she should have been on the other side which in turn means she should have turned up after the veil went down. But even more than her physical absence the lack of any mention of her sticks out as wrong. You'd think that Elena would ask about her or that either Alaric or Jeremy would mention seeing her on the other side. The show just ignoring it does not work for me.
• I still have no idea what was going on with the whole sire bond situation. Was it real or wasn't it? But apparently it's no longer an issue so, whatever, moving on.
• Katherine's attitude/reasoning for her antipathy towards Elena this episode was a little - perplexing to me? Her refrain, to Elena and earlier Bonnie, about how Elena "has everything" and a better life than Katherine and especially that Elena stole Katherine's life was just strange. 1) It's Rebekah who wanted the whole modern teenager life, never Katherine. Katherine has never cared about prom or grad, what? 2) Elena's life is not that great. Sure, she has friends but Katherine doesn't really like them. She has Damon but at this point I don't think Katherine wants him either. All of her family is dead. I get why Katherine hates Elena but the reasons given this ep during her rants were not them.
