The Vampire Diaries 2x11 Review
Dec. 11th, 2010 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaBy the Light of the Moon
This was a good episode, certainly it had a lot less things happening that aggravated me then the previous episode, but overall it felt - calm? It didn’t feel like something happening every second like usual. We also didn’t really get a cliffhanger ending. I like Rose, so it worked okay for me, but it still wasn’t 'OMG no' like it would have been if it was Caroline who was in danger of death (or we'd gotten longer to know Rose).
• I did not like Bonnie locking Elena in the house. Actually I think it was just that scene where Elena figures it out. As an idea I understand why they did it and I even agree with it but that first scene really made me irritated with them all. I think it was Elena right there helpless and once again having her choices taken away from her but this time by two of the people most important to her that made it aggravate me so much. Plus while Bonnie seemed sorry if resolute in her decision, Jeremy came off smug and smirking to me and it made me want to smack him.
• I really loved the Elena/Damon/Jeremy scene. This is exactly what I want to see more of. I found the whole sequence – Jeremy flopping down onto the couch with his head resting in Elena’s lap, Damon’s teasing “You should get out, enjoy the sun. Oh, wait you can’t!”, Elena throwing a pillow at Damon, Jeremy laughing and then Elena pushing him off the couch – completely adorable. It made me smile and left me feeling happy.
• “I don’t know what makes me more upset – that I showed you how to channel or that you almost killed me.” ... five seconds later ... “I forgive you.” – Luca. So not really all that upset after all then? See this should make Bonnie suspicious. I mean she almost killed him, they’re barely more than strangers and he forgives it without an explanation or any begging? Really? That is so suspicious! When this scene happened I was all ‘wait, that’s all the reaction we’re getting, seriously?’ She used him and almost killed him! That’s a big freaking deal! I would have expected some grovelling at the least. The fact that Bonnie accepted being forgiven by him so easily after what she did makes me shake my head at her but if it turns out to be the right response I am going to shake my head at TPTB.
In the following Bonnie/Luca scenes, he seems to interact with her very easily and to genuinely enjoy her presence. Then we have his short scene with his father – where he is abrupt, short and very unenthusiastic. What I am getting from his scenes this episode is that he genuinely likes Bonnie and doesn’t want to deceive or use her, and is not pleased with his dad. And I would totally be great with this as the storyline if she hadn’t just betrayed and almost killed him. Seriously, I don’t care how awesome he thinks she is there is something wrong there. Is the above thirty seconds all we’re ever going to get on that? Because it really disturbed me and if Luca is going to be all ‘Bonnie’s number one’ I’m going to need something more at this point. Of course I could be reading him wrong and he is angry at her, I guess we’ll see.
• The Martin’s collecting grimoires makes me wonder if Jonas wants the Bennett grimoire? Considering the lack of daylight jewellery for vampires it would appear that there are probably a couple powerful and unique spells in it. I mean clearly it’s not their main reason for being there but if I were Bonnie I would keep mine hidden. I wonder if we’re supposed to wonder if all those grimoires were lost when Jonas found them?
• Elijah just standing there behind the door was pretty cool. And yet another glaring hint that they should tell Jenna the fucking truth already and then keep her up to date on what’s happening. OMG. At this point the Gilbert’s need to seriously just move the hell out of their house. Yeesh.
• “You’re negotiating now?” – Elijah I love this aspect of Elena. Even when she is totally powerless and the odds are against her she still negotiates and tries to help herself and her people. She doesn’t just accept things as they are.
• It’s been a while since Damon and Alaric have teamed up so I was looking forward to it but honestly it didn’t work for me. In fact I kind of fast-forwarded through some of their scenes. It was just so awkward and it felt kind of painful to watch. Also it was really stupid. I mean it was a Damon plan, so it goes without saying, but I really don’t understand what they were hoping to accomplish. I don’t know why they even needed to talk to Jules or interact with her at all. If they were that curious as to if she was a werewolf they could have kept an eye on her from a distance. Trying to antagonise her, which feeding her wolfsbane would do, makes no sense to me especially, as she pointed out, it was on a full moon. Then for Damon to basically admit to her that he killed Mason? God, Damon, so dumb. That whole plotline was so stupid. The smart thing would have been to just ignore Jules, and not act suspicious or as if they had anything at all to do with Mason. Honestly, it might actually be better for everyone if they just let Katherine out and put her in charge of them all.
- “Don’t risk it” – Alaric. Aw, Alaric’s all worried about Damon. But he’s being sensible and this is Damon so really it’s a waste of breath because it is going to go in one ear and out the other. Or at least that’s what I was sure of during that scene but then Damon did go home, and he locked his door and was all cautious so... he can be taught?
• I really loved the Caroline/Tyler this episode especially the scenes of her holding and comforting him. Caroline gently brushing his hair/face, her holding him and refusing to leave (“Not yet.”), and then reassuring him at the end as she held him “You’re okay” and he brokenly responding “No, I’m not” was excellent. I am so on board with Caroline/Tyler, and after this episode I really don’t think that Matt has a chance. I wonder if Caroline being there and holding him helped him at all. Did it make his experience less painful than Mason’s or less traumatic?
• Poor Tyler. That was pretty horrifying. I’m really glad he has Caroline to be there for him. One of my favourite moments was actually him apologizing for snapping at her even though he was still in a lot of pain.
• Caroline sitting outside the door, crying, reminded me of Elena (and Damon) sitting outside the room Stefan was detoxing in last season. The scenes had a very similar feel.
• Once Tyler grew teeth and gained strength, and basically started his transformation into a werewolf, he immediately tried to attack Caroline. Is this because he lost his human thinking abilities/memory and didn’t know who she was or was it because she was a vampire and it’s instinct? I really want to know how much of himself he remembers as a wolf.
• While I do love Caroline/Tyler enough is enough. I want Caroline back to interacting with her best friends and her new vampire family and actually being a part of the main plot. It’s been a couple episodes now and I think the only people she’s interacted with are Tyler and Matt, and that is just not acceptable. Also – why the hell haven’t we had a Rose/Caroline scene yet? That needs to happen!
• The Elena/Stefan reunion and make out was nice. I wonder if this means they’re back together? I think the separation and the fact that Elena has just made a deal to protect her family means that the answer if probably yes.
• When Rose showed up my reaction was ‘Crap. She is so dead isn’t she?’ I mean they had two werewolves running around, one who hated Damon and had threatened him and so clearly a vampire had to get bitten and die. It just had to happen. I was not pleased. In fact nothing had even happened but I was already swearing at the show. Sure enough – pissed off werewolf gunning for Damon shows up and Rose gets bitten in his place. However they did surprise me when she didn’t immediately die in his arms. Pleasantly but suspiciously surprised.
• “Oh my god, I thought a werewolf bite was fatal, I thought...” – Rose, crying. So, okay, I do find Rose very emotional, I think because of how I first heard her described which isn’t how she turned out to be, but she certainly has reason to cry tears of relief here. I, however, am cynical. Or perhaps I just know this show because I was all ‘she’s still totally going to die. It’ll probably be slow acting.’ I guess I just really don’t trust TPTB at this point when it comes to female characters.
• As a defensive/offensive measure a werewolf bite being fatal to a vampire doesn’t actually work very well if it’s so slow acting. I mean if there was a werewolf/vampire fight a werewolf bite killing immediately would be a lot more useful.
• Interesting here – Rose thought that a werewolf bite was fatal and yet she still interceded and saved Damon’s life. I think this scene has just made Rose firmly one of his people – she cared enough to save him and put her life on the line in the process, plus she was all vulnerable and needed his comfort, plus she’s older than him so she is stronger and capable of pushing him around, plus she is very loyal (see Trevor) and that is definitely something that Damon craves. She is just like hitting all of Damon’s triggers here (he needs to be needed, he needs loyalty, he needs people to want/like him... he’s attracted to woman who push him around...) If Rose survives the bite I can totally foresee Rose and Damon becoming BFF forever and I am totally there! Please show, let it be.
• I loved the final Damon/Rose scene a lot. It was exactly what I’ve wanted both from Rose and Rose/Damon. It just made me really happy. They were all flirty and friendly and their interactions just felt very warm. I so want Rose to be Damon’s best friend with occasional benefits. Aw, Rose wants to be ‘special’ friends and Damon ‘thinks he likes her’. More specifically on that scene:
- Rose: “Save Elena. Protect Elena, all things Elena.” LOL. Plus it makes me a little hopeful that we might actually get some more Rose/Elena interaction. I want them to be friends. I want Rose to unexpectedly end up caring about saving Elena for Elena’s sake not Damon’s.
- Rose: “Because I like you. I believe in friendship. I happen to have a vacancy in that department and you could use all the friends you can get.” Rose actually has several friends vacancies (Trevor, Slater, Lexie) so I’m hoping that we’ll also be getting some Rose friendship/interaction with others as well – like Elena, Caroline and Stefan.
- Rose: “I don’t love men who love other women. I think more of myself than that. But it doesn’t mean that I can’t be your ‘special’ friend.” ♥ You know that really could be taken as a dig against Damon who has now done exactly that twice himself.
• The final Damon/Rose scene was very tense for me. I spent the entire scene at the edge of my seat waiting for something bad to happen to Rose, because of the bite, and even when it seemed as if the show wasn’t going there as the seconds of the episode ran out I still thought it. And sure enough – that’s exactly what happened in the last fourteen seconds of the episode. There is one positive about it though – Rose is injured and it’s undoubtedly serious but she isn’t dead, and so I have some hope that she might still live.
This was a good episode, certainly it had a lot less things happening that aggravated me then the previous episode, but overall it felt - calm? It didn’t feel like something happening every second like usual. We also didn’t really get a cliffhanger ending. I like Rose, so it worked okay for me, but it still wasn’t 'OMG no' like it would have been if it was Caroline who was in danger of death (or we'd gotten longer to know Rose).
• I did not like Bonnie locking Elena in the house. Actually I think it was just that scene where Elena figures it out. As an idea I understand why they did it and I even agree with it but that first scene really made me irritated with them all. I think it was Elena right there helpless and once again having her choices taken away from her but this time by two of the people most important to her that made it aggravate me so much. Plus while Bonnie seemed sorry if resolute in her decision, Jeremy came off smug and smirking to me and it made me want to smack him.
• I really loved the Elena/Damon/Jeremy scene. This is exactly what I want to see more of. I found the whole sequence – Jeremy flopping down onto the couch with his head resting in Elena’s lap, Damon’s teasing “You should get out, enjoy the sun. Oh, wait you can’t!”, Elena throwing a pillow at Damon, Jeremy laughing and then Elena pushing him off the couch – completely adorable. It made me smile and left me feeling happy.
• “I don’t know what makes me more upset – that I showed you how to channel or that you almost killed me.” ... five seconds later ... “I forgive you.” – Luca. So not really all that upset after all then? See this should make Bonnie suspicious. I mean she almost killed him, they’re barely more than strangers and he forgives it without an explanation or any begging? Really? That is so suspicious! When this scene happened I was all ‘wait, that’s all the reaction we’re getting, seriously?’ She used him and almost killed him! That’s a big freaking deal! I would have expected some grovelling at the least. The fact that Bonnie accepted being forgiven by him so easily after what she did makes me shake my head at her but if it turns out to be the right response I am going to shake my head at TPTB.
In the following Bonnie/Luca scenes, he seems to interact with her very easily and to genuinely enjoy her presence. Then we have his short scene with his father – where he is abrupt, short and very unenthusiastic. What I am getting from his scenes this episode is that he genuinely likes Bonnie and doesn’t want to deceive or use her, and is not pleased with his dad. And I would totally be great with this as the storyline if she hadn’t just betrayed and almost killed him. Seriously, I don’t care how awesome he thinks she is there is something wrong there. Is the above thirty seconds all we’re ever going to get on that? Because it really disturbed me and if Luca is going to be all ‘Bonnie’s number one’ I’m going to need something more at this point. Of course I could be reading him wrong and he is angry at her, I guess we’ll see.
• The Martin’s collecting grimoires makes me wonder if Jonas wants the Bennett grimoire? Considering the lack of daylight jewellery for vampires it would appear that there are probably a couple powerful and unique spells in it. I mean clearly it’s not their main reason for being there but if I were Bonnie I would keep mine hidden. I wonder if we’re supposed to wonder if all those grimoires were lost when Jonas found them?
• Elijah just standing there behind the door was pretty cool. And yet another glaring hint that they should tell Jenna the fucking truth already and then keep her up to date on what’s happening. OMG. At this point the Gilbert’s need to seriously just move the hell out of their house. Yeesh.
• “You’re negotiating now?” – Elijah I love this aspect of Elena. Even when she is totally powerless and the odds are against her she still negotiates and tries to help herself and her people. She doesn’t just accept things as they are.
• It’s been a while since Damon and Alaric have teamed up so I was looking forward to it but honestly it didn’t work for me. In fact I kind of fast-forwarded through some of their scenes. It was just so awkward and it felt kind of painful to watch. Also it was really stupid. I mean it was a Damon plan, so it goes without saying, but I really don’t understand what they were hoping to accomplish. I don’t know why they even needed to talk to Jules or interact with her at all. If they were that curious as to if she was a werewolf they could have kept an eye on her from a distance. Trying to antagonise her, which feeding her wolfsbane would do, makes no sense to me especially, as she pointed out, it was on a full moon. Then for Damon to basically admit to her that he killed Mason? God, Damon, so dumb. That whole plotline was so stupid. The smart thing would have been to just ignore Jules, and not act suspicious or as if they had anything at all to do with Mason. Honestly, it might actually be better for everyone if they just let Katherine out and put her in charge of them all.
- “Don’t risk it” – Alaric. Aw, Alaric’s all worried about Damon. But he’s being sensible and this is Damon so really it’s a waste of breath because it is going to go in one ear and out the other. Or at least that’s what I was sure of during that scene but then Damon did go home, and he locked his door and was all cautious so... he can be taught?
• I really loved the Caroline/Tyler this episode especially the scenes of her holding and comforting him. Caroline gently brushing his hair/face, her holding him and refusing to leave (“Not yet.”), and then reassuring him at the end as she held him “You’re okay” and he brokenly responding “No, I’m not” was excellent. I am so on board with Caroline/Tyler, and after this episode I really don’t think that Matt has a chance. I wonder if Caroline being there and holding him helped him at all. Did it make his experience less painful than Mason’s or less traumatic?
• Poor Tyler. That was pretty horrifying. I’m really glad he has Caroline to be there for him. One of my favourite moments was actually him apologizing for snapping at her even though he was still in a lot of pain.
• Caroline sitting outside the door, crying, reminded me of Elena (and Damon) sitting outside the room Stefan was detoxing in last season. The scenes had a very similar feel.
• Once Tyler grew teeth and gained strength, and basically started his transformation into a werewolf, he immediately tried to attack Caroline. Is this because he lost his human thinking abilities/memory and didn’t know who she was or was it because she was a vampire and it’s instinct? I really want to know how much of himself he remembers as a wolf.
• While I do love Caroline/Tyler enough is enough. I want Caroline back to interacting with her best friends and her new vampire family and actually being a part of the main plot. It’s been a couple episodes now and I think the only people she’s interacted with are Tyler and Matt, and that is just not acceptable. Also – why the hell haven’t we had a Rose/Caroline scene yet? That needs to happen!
• The Elena/Stefan reunion and make out was nice. I wonder if this means they’re back together? I think the separation and the fact that Elena has just made a deal to protect her family means that the answer if probably yes.
• When Rose showed up my reaction was ‘Crap. She is so dead isn’t she?’ I mean they had two werewolves running around, one who hated Damon and had threatened him and so clearly a vampire had to get bitten and die. It just had to happen. I was not pleased. In fact nothing had even happened but I was already swearing at the show. Sure enough – pissed off werewolf gunning for Damon shows up and Rose gets bitten in his place. However they did surprise me when she didn’t immediately die in his arms. Pleasantly but suspiciously surprised.
• “Oh my god, I thought a werewolf bite was fatal, I thought...” – Rose, crying. So, okay, I do find Rose very emotional, I think because of how I first heard her described which isn’t how she turned out to be, but she certainly has reason to cry tears of relief here. I, however, am cynical. Or perhaps I just know this show because I was all ‘she’s still totally going to die. It’ll probably be slow acting.’ I guess I just really don’t trust TPTB at this point when it comes to female characters.
• As a defensive/offensive measure a werewolf bite being fatal to a vampire doesn’t actually work very well if it’s so slow acting. I mean if there was a werewolf/vampire fight a werewolf bite killing immediately would be a lot more useful.
• Interesting here – Rose thought that a werewolf bite was fatal and yet she still interceded and saved Damon’s life. I think this scene has just made Rose firmly one of his people – she cared enough to save him and put her life on the line in the process, plus she was all vulnerable and needed his comfort, plus she’s older than him so she is stronger and capable of pushing him around, plus she is very loyal (see Trevor) and that is definitely something that Damon craves. She is just like hitting all of Damon’s triggers here (he needs to be needed, he needs loyalty, he needs people to want/like him... he’s attracted to woman who push him around...) If Rose survives the bite I can totally foresee Rose and Damon becoming BFF forever and I am totally there! Please show, let it be.
• I loved the final Damon/Rose scene a lot. It was exactly what I’ve wanted both from Rose and Rose/Damon. It just made me really happy. They were all flirty and friendly and their interactions just felt very warm. I so want Rose to be Damon’s best friend with occasional benefits. Aw, Rose wants to be ‘special’ friends and Damon ‘thinks he likes her’. More specifically on that scene:
- Rose: “Save Elena. Protect Elena, all things Elena.” LOL. Plus it makes me a little hopeful that we might actually get some more Rose/Elena interaction. I want them to be friends. I want Rose to unexpectedly end up caring about saving Elena for Elena’s sake not Damon’s.
- Rose: “Because I like you. I believe in friendship. I happen to have a vacancy in that department and you could use all the friends you can get.” Rose actually has several friends vacancies (Trevor, Slater, Lexie) so I’m hoping that we’ll also be getting some Rose friendship/interaction with others as well – like Elena, Caroline and Stefan.
- Rose: “I don’t love men who love other women. I think more of myself than that. But it doesn’t mean that I can’t be your ‘special’ friend.” ♥ You know that really could be taken as a dig against Damon who has now done exactly that twice himself.
• The final Damon/Rose scene was very tense for me. I spent the entire scene at the edge of my seat waiting for something bad to happen to Rose, because of the bite, and even when it seemed as if the show wasn’t going there as the seconds of the episode ran out I still thought it. And sure enough – that’s exactly what happened in the last fourteen seconds of the episode. There is one positive about it though – Rose is injured and it’s undoubtedly serious but she isn’t dead, and so I have some hope that she might still live.
