live rewatch

October 11, 2018 — Leave a comment

I’m only on 2×16 šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­ I thought I was farther. Why am I enduring this show why don’t I quit while I’m ahead

So, the episode is off to a great start with the very tedious “is it Katherine or Elena?” scene that’s taking more time than I felt like watching because by this point it’s gotten old. I will note that Damon was better at spotting which was the real Katherine which while most would say is a point in Delena’s favor, I think speaks more to the fact that Katherine fucks with Damon the most, and while he is really dumb a lot he is finally catching on and by the end of the episode he’s definitely caught on.

With Elijahā€™s compulsion on Katherine being erased, this episode made me think about Stefan in season 8 and the whole compulsion erasing when they turned human and all of the discourse around it and a) it actually makes sense given that compulsion goes away when they die and the cure “kills” them for a bit before bringing them back, b) they should have done this with Katherine, it would have been epic, and c) I’m tired of this “Stefan is the only one to face consequences” mentality because unlike some characters (i.e Bonnie and Tyler) he’s facing the consequences of HIS OWN ACTIONS. The issue isn’t that Stefan should have the same consequences as Damon (i.e none), but rather Damon and everyone should have to face THEIR OWN CONSEQUENCES. This is what’s always annoyed me about this fandom, Damon’s free pass doesn’t equate everyone’s free pass, but rather Damon’s free pass equates TAKING AWAY HIS FREE PASS along with everyone else’s because there needs to be consequences to everyone’s actions and they shouldn’t be paid for by the POC’s of the show.

It’s only the first 2 minutes of the episode and I’m already so annoyed with everyone especially the world’s most boring protagonist, Elena Gilbert. Yes sweetie, telling Katherine to leave worked the first time so it’ll definitely work this *insert sarcasm*. God, she’s a whiny bitch. Now I’m not really going to condemn her for wanting Katherine gone, if I were her I would want her gone too, what’s pissing me off is the level of entitlement she has ordering Stefan or Damon to get rid of her and the whiny voice isn’t helping.If you want her gone you should probably do more than whine about it. But of course she Elena, so what can she do about it other than whine which makes theĀ ā€œI can take care of myselfā€ mentality she had this season all the more annoying because she canā€™t–she can do absolutely fuck all so where is this confidence coming from. I honestly thnk sometimes she suffers from delusions of grandeur.Ā 

And another annoying thng this episode and now Iā€™m at leats 7 minutes in. Katherine’s around so we must get Bonnie’s powers asap to stop Katherine, not because they’re apart of her or her identity and she needs them for her šŸ™„. Although I was happy when she got her powers back, but didn’t tell anyone. Why didn’t it stay that way? She could have died 0 times had she done that, and I mean that because 2 episodes later is when she first dies for Elena.

Oh and then after that scene, secret Beremy, what a way to turn down the heat which wasnā€™t that high to begin with, but seriously, they have like no chemistry. And oh the cringe while Bonnie asks permission to date Jeremy. I sometimes think she hid it for so long because she felt the cringe from their relationship–giving herself an out.Ā 

I feel so so bad for the Martin family that they’re related to Greta, someone who not only left voluntarily but didn’t even bat an eyelash when her whole family was killed. It’s almost as bad as being related to Elena, at least Greta didn’t fuck the guy who murdered her family.Ā “You can trust us,” the phrase that gets every outsider who helps them killed, brutally, and in the same episode. RIP Doctor and Luka Martin. Although I guess this episode is a bit of an exception since not trusting is what got them killed but that’s equally as bad in TVD land because if you’re against the MFG you obviously deserve to be killed, and Jeremy even states that in the episode.Ā  “I know you feel bad but I don’t,” the main staple of The Vampire Diaries where killing someone has no meaning, and neither does their death, and if you care about their death youā€™re whiny and judgey (reference every phrase directed at Bonnie and even Tyler when someone gets killed because of them).

It was really weird when Elena was talking to Jenna about her relationship with Alaric. Why wasn’t she more alarmed that her adult boyfriend was talking to her teenage niece about their relationship problems. No red flags there??? Not a one???

So, Kat has a career singing, and has never once sang on the show. Candice has brief period of time singing professionally, as backup, and has sang twice, two more than anyone on a teenage vampire show should have. Also added with the fact that it’s always the cheesiest songs and her voice reminds me why she never made it that far past backup singer–this show amazes me with itā€™s logical leaps.

Finale note as Iā€™m watching Elenaā€™s last scene, Nina Dobrev isn’t that great of an actress, the only difference in the way she plays Katherine opposed to Elena is the hair. Otherwise she saunters the same, speaks the same, does everything else the same which would mean something if Katherine was pretending to be Elena, but most of this episode she isn’t. I also reminds me of season 5 when she was outraged that no one caught on to it not being Katherine. 1) Katherine has never had issue impersonating her believably, 2) Elena does a lot of the same shit Katherine does (especially that season) just under the guise of being the ā€œniceā€ doppelganger so of course people let a lot of the shit she did while in her body slide–she was Elena after all, and 3) given how neglectful Elena had been since season 1 she wouldnā€™t have fared any better so I donā€™t understand that high horse she always be on–it ainā€™t cute.

Now off to 2×17 to figure out the logical leap from here to Bonnie sacrificing herself again for Elena after what happened with her Grams.Ā Ā 

August 14, 2018 — Leave a comment

TVD 2×13 Review: Getting annoyed again

I’m not going to quit just yet but it’s getting annoying. If I were to rename this episode I would call it “So Naive”. First with Caroline, then with Stefan, then with Elena, and then back to Caroline again. But before I get to that I would like to say I like that killing Mason is starting to blow up in their faces the icing on the cake would be that it gets brought to Damon which it never does because we know what show this is. I did like the confrontation between Tyler and Caroline and I like the development Tyler was showing by walking away when he was angry instead of hitting someone.

So back to the naivety of Caroline, she asks Stefan to talk to Tyler which I get the motivation, what I don’t get is a) why send Stefan, and b) what the fuck does she expect him to say that’ll convince him not to be angry about his uncle being murdered and everyone covering it up. That’s just stupid but the end of the episode kinda gives me the answer with her line, “you help your friends,” which I will get into why this annoys me later, but it all basically amounts to what I said in the 2×12 review which is that they don’t do family relationships well because they don’t find value in it which is a glaring issue.

Then there’s Stefan’s naivety. I get that he’s Stefan and willing to always help what I dont get is his approach which was a) very threatening and b) not empathetic at all which was both Caroline and Stefan’s issue from the jump when it came to Tyler. Caroline at least apologized but then immediately went to covering her ass more. All Stefan did was cover his, or more importantly, Damon’s ass, but what bothered me the most about it was he was quite apathetic throughout his whole encounter not to mention he basically trapped Tyler in a room with him.

Stefan is easily the better brother, but what this episode was showing me is that he wasn’t better by that much because he’s the one who is supposed to have more emotional maturity which he does in comparison to Damon, but there was no Damon for him contrast, so he seemed mostly self-centered and disinterested. All he did was tell Tyler to stay quiet while not answering a simgle one of Tyler’s questions which is almost a Damon move except he didn’t threaten or kill anyone. In any case I don’t understand what Stefan thought he could say to make it right especially with that approach. I also don’t understand how with Caroline or Stefan expected Tyler to listen to them when they haven’t explained shit to him and just keep telling him what to do, but I digress.

Then there’s Elena’s naivety which while annoyed me, annoyed me less because if there’s one thing she’s showed time and time again it’s that she doesn’t know any better, or better yet doesn’t want to know any better which is weirdly an argument for DE because he often suffers from the same syndrome.

I get that she’s wary of John, what’s annoying and naive about it is that she’s wary for all the wrong reasons which is basically an Elena trait. She’s mad at him for trying to kill Stefan and Damon in the season 1 finale which I get to a point but at the same time how does she not understand why he doesn’t give 2 flying fucks about Stefan and Damon, or why he thinks their dangerous and need to be killed. All they did in season 1 was get people killed or kill people, you’re the teenage girl who’s in love with them, so why would he take your opinion about them seriously in any sense when you ignore so much already. But again that’s Elena in a nutshell.

What she should be angry with him about is lying about being her father and that’s what the focus of their tension should be which it does come back around to by the end of the episode which I’m proud of them for BUT I know it goes mostly nowhere until the season finale when he dies for her (who is honestly the only person I have ever understood dying for her).

And on the John Gilbert note I don’t understand why no one trusts John to help save Elena, he’s the one with the most vested interest in her survival due to being her father which circles back to TVD and their lack if value in family relationships including the ones the emphasize so much like Defan, and Klaus and [insert sibling].

There’s this friends first mentality that doesn’t make sense because they don’t build up the friendships enough for such devotion. They try to build this “choose your family” dynamic that never hits home because they don’t seem like that good of friends. They make sure there’s absent parents and family, but don’t replace it with anything sufficient for a friendship bond so strong they’re like family. Also they continue to call each other friends which just brings home the fact that they friends not friends that are like family. The best you get is Bonnie saying she and Elena are like sisters which makes sense from Bonnie’s end as she treats her like a sister but not Elena because it’s never reciprocal. Bonnie’s always there for Elena, but Elena continues to always be absent when Bonnie’s going through something (or more like Bonnie is because that’s when she’s shoved off screen) or she make it about her problems and that’s something that’s been going on since the beginning.

This entire episode is a glaring example of this tone deaf approach with their “friends first” mentality. It was so bad that when Caroline is yelling at Tyler at the end of the episode I couldn’t muster up much sympathy because she said the wrong things and Caroline went through something that was worth sympathizing. It kinda reminded me of 4×06 when she’s just as tone deaf when she gets Chris killed. In her mind your supposed to help your friends no matter what, she doesn’t realize that there are more important things like trust–something she broke, in both instances, and didn’t bother to repair, in both instances, so she’s baffled as to why he’s wary of her. I think this episode made me realize that not only was Elena the exact same season 4-6, but so was Caroline–there is no character assassination they were always this dense. (It’s also making me wish there was Tonnie this season because Bonnie is a way more empathetic character.)

Anyway Bonnie comes back for exactly one scene that honestly could have been a deleted scene. It added nothing to the episode or Bonnie’s development. Seriously, this is her most deus ex machina season because she goes missing and then can do a whole slew of advanced spells and this episode is part of the reason why–because they don’t bother to show her magic improving she’s either missing or having meaningless interactions. It was probably there just to build Beremy which makes sense since that’s the only way characters have value in this show. At the same time they suck at developing romantic relationships especially this one. Also when she and Elena come to Caroline’s to cheer her up I couldn’t help but think where was this for Bonnie when Damon bit her, when Ben kidnapped her, or better yet, when her Grams died. This is the season where Caroline’s character gets more prominent but also for no reason when Bonnie–the one who actually saves the day gets shoved more into the background.

Although weird sidenote: I did not realize how skinny Kat used to be back then, it almost made me worried about her health like get some food into you.

I’m not really going to talk about Damon other than he annoyed me most of the episode. Also, not a great episode acting wise for Ian, it’s almost as though he knew that he was speaking complete bullshit so he decided his emotions were going to look like complete bullshit. Honestly I didn’t realize until now that the only time I find his acting genuine is when he was on screen with Kat meaning it’s going to be a long time before his acting gets even remotely good because he doesn’t have many scenes with Bonnie.

I don’t know if I’ll continue to review every episode it’s just that they annoy me so much I have to talk about it. Also I’m really worried, this is the good season of TVD, the one where Kevin Williamson was still a show runner and yet I find it almost as awful as the later seasons where it’s just Julie Plec. Has this show just always been bad and I just didn’t notice? I’ll keep you posted.

August 14, 2018 — Leave a comment

TVD Episode Review: Got through 2×12

Honestly it was meh, but it didnā€™t make me want to pull my hair outā€¦most of the time. There was actually a SE moment I did enjoy at the beginning and Elena wasnā€™t annoying until the end with Damon when she was stating out loud Damonā€™s feelings and doing that thing she does where she inserts herself into peopleā€™s problems without being self aware enough to know sheā€™s being hypocritical which is why I had to take a break from season 2.

No Bonnie again but not surprising. It wouldnā€™t be a TVD season if Bonnie wasnā€™t missing from a bunch of episodes. Oh, and to add to that, the only black character in the entire episode, an extra with a speaking role, is killed because it also wouldnā€™t be an episode of TVD if the only black characters werenā€™t brutalized.

I do not like Jules which is weird since I prefer werewolves as they are the underdogs, but she was a little too flippant about murdering an entire camp and an officer. For me, in order for a character to have the moral high ground they need to better than who theyā€™re criticizing. Itā€™s why Elena annoys me so much and why I latch on to Bonnie and Tyler so muchā€“they criticize but theyā€™re coming from a position where they can. The only anomaly I guess is Matt, but my issue is that he just criticizes but never takes any action. Heā€™s often so passive that he makes Elena look like an action star.

Watching Tyler learn the truth was nice and almost made me excited to see the havoc he and the werewolves were going wreak on the MFG for Mason until I remember itā€™s TVD and theyā€™re all just going to die uneventfully as though they never existed because thatā€™s how werewolves are treated on this showā€“theyā€™re they Native Americans of the show.

I remember being a lot more interested in Carolineā€™s love life when I first watched the show but right now Iā€™m just bored and wondering why Iā€™m watching Caroline instead of Bonnieā€“someone actually useful to the plot.

And on that note I also remember this episode being a lot more emotional with Roseā€™s death but again I found the episode a little short and it also bored me. And back to Bonnie, as much as I hate how much they use Bonnie Iā€™m also curious as to why they didnā€™t try to use her in this episode to help with the werewolf bite. Hell, she would have been more qualified to watch Rose than Elena which is another instance where Bonnieā€™s more important to the plot than the main character to the point Iā€™m always wondering why she isnā€™t the main character.

I donā€™t remember how long ago it was but I remember reading some Damon stanā€™s comment on how they felt so bad for Damon at the end of this episode while he murdered that woman. I always knew they were delusional by default but I donā€™t know how someone can be so delusional as to feel bad for Damon as he unnecessarily murders someone. And hereā€™s the weird thing, it was kinda hot for a second to me which isnā€™t surprising as a Bonkai fan, especially dark Bonkai fan, I find dark murderous men sexy, but it stopped being hot the moment he started whining about his man pain because that was also the moment it stopped being dark and turned into a temper tantrum, something heā€™s had many of. Nothing turns me off more than a temper tantrum, itā€™s why Iā€™m rarely attracted to Damon and Klaus.

I lied when I said that was the only time Elena annoyed me, there and the end with Stefan. I honestly never thought she could annoy me in a new way but I found itā€“she narrates the plot which would be all fine and well if was a voice over or something (And even then Iā€™d be a little annoyed) but itā€™s not. In that moment with Damon and later in that moment with Stefan sheā€™s explain the plot to me instead of letting disern that my self. I donā€™t need Elena to explain to me that Damon has feelings and is feeling guilty in that momentā€“I want watch it. I donā€™t need Elena and Stefan actually to explain that he called Isobel when I watched a 2 minute discussion about it in the beginningā€“ already know. Plec, stop explaining your plot to me! Just show it! And with that in mind the John Gilbert reveal could have been so much better but due to this explain the plot to me nonsense before it was just utterly underwhelming.

So those are my thought on the episode. For something that I felt meh about there sure are a lot of things I dislike. Iā€™ll keep you guys posted for the next episode which Iā€™m kinda excited about because Iā€™m one of those rare few actually likes John Gilbert. But I know Iā€™ll be disappointed TVD does not do family relations well and thatā€™s actually the only capacity I find Elena interesting in, but I so rarely get to see it. Iā€™m hoping there are enough Elena and John interactions to tide me through the episode. Also I hope they bring back Bonnie because I miss her as well.