1. Nina Dobrev is a gift. I'd be remiss not to make this
priority one on the things-to-discuss list. Who knew that "Degrassi's"
most annoying teen mom ever would grow up to do
this? From her
stubborn resolve as she waited for Jeremy to wake up, to her crumpled
face and horrified wailing as she finally let the news sink in, Elena
was laid bare tonight. Nerve endings exposed, Dobrev brought Elena's
emotional rollercoaster to life so vividly that it was impossible not to
ride it with her; I felt positively battered by the time the credits
rolled. If major awards showed acknowledged The CW, this would be a
performance of note for them.
2. Elena turns off her humanity. Even
as a vampire, Elena has been the humanity of the show. While her
earnestness can be irritating at times, her bleeding heart and
undeniable compassion has kept the rest of her friends from steering too
far off course. With Katherine back on the prowl, Elena's disconnect
from the core of her character will be especially interesting, and will
undoubtedly present a new challenge for Dobrev. It's also interesting
because, presumably, a vampire without humanity might not be capable of
the same love, at least not to the same depths, as a vampire with
humanity. This might be pretty crippling to her romance with Damon.
3. That pesky sire bond.
There's been a lot of discussion amongst "TVD" fans this season about
Elena's agency or lack thereof. Her lack of control over certain aspects
of her life doesn't necessarily pose a problem for me as a viewer,
though; I appreciate it as a metaphor for what love can do to a person,
particularly a young person experiencing personal turmoil. In this case,
it's a pretty brilliant storytelling device. It prevents us from
needing a time-jump in order to get Elena past being completely
paralyzed with grief.
4. Brothers. Seeing Elena lose
Jeremy reminded Stefan and Damon that, through everything, they're lucky
-- because they still have each other. Stefan has been holding a grudge
against Damon for presumably taking advantage of the sire bond; Damon
has been holding a grudge against Stefan for not being the comrade he
wants him to be. But they still have each other, and their unspoken
appreciation for that was a pivotal moment in their relationship. It
doesn't mean they're going to get bunk beds and start a book club
together, but it does mean that they're back on solid ground, allies
instead of competitors.
5. Tyler remains gone, for now. It
was absolutely heartbreaking to listen to Caroline plead with Tyler to
get in touch while he ignores her calls. He promised to forget about her
if they couldn't find a way to get rid of Klaus -- not ignore her
immediately and stop trying to find a way within 24 hours. Bummer. I do
have a
little good news for Forwood shippers, though. The outcry over Michael Trevino's understated, anti-climactic exit
seems to have had an impact on the writers of the show. They've changed
their minds! I can reveal that he will be back to share one more
pivotal moment with Caroline this season. Your voices have been heard!
6. Silas is Shane!
Kind of? We've seen witches do some
blood-magic body-swapping on "The Vampire Diaries" before, but we've
never seen someone completely shift into the image of another person
before. It's a nice way to show off Silas' incomparable power right off
the
bat, and also to put David Alpay's talents to better use. Here's hoping
that Rebekah manages to get that particular piece of information back to
Mystic Falls ASAP.
7. Bonnie is bad news.
Sigh. If I had one gripe about the episode, Bonnie was it. I'm hoping
it's soon revealed that Silas used some sort of magic persuasion to turn
Bonnie into such a brainwashed follower, because this season we've
watched her become stronger and more intelligent, and it was frustrating
to watch her backpedal so much. Even Elena managed to immediately
accept that sacrificing 12 people and raising all the dead monsters to
save Jeremy wasn't an option; why was Bonnie so easily convinced
otherwise? It felt rushed. That said, I am intrigued by the idea of a
darker Bonnie, and I do see how Jeremy's death could be the trigger.
8. Matt Donovan, ladies and gentlemen. I've been crowing about how awesome Matt Donovan is
for years, so I felt particularly vindicated tonight. One of my
favorite moments of the series was when Matt fell apart in Elena's arms
upon learning of Vicki's death. Tonight was a perfect mirror of that as
he went to great lengths to keep her propped up in the wake of
devastation. Their little trip to the stoner pit and his subsequent
breakdown, alone in his truck, drove home the human side of the tragedy.
A teenage boy died. A kid who liked to draw and occasionally smoke pot
and play X-Box, who had
just managed to patch his life up, who
video-chatted with girls and dug the batting cages. Matt was there to
remind us that at his core Jeremy wasn't a powerful hunter; Jeremy was a
kid.
9. The Gilbert house is gone. Losing the house
marked the end of an era for "The Vampire Diaries." Elena literally
can't go home again. It probably wasn't a bad idea to char the place;
after all, literally all of the people who have lived there have died at
some point or another. That's a lot of bad vibes. I hear Elena will
officially be moving in to the Salvatore house... again. Even though
Stefan and Damon have had a bro-bonding moment, having Elena living down
the hall probably won't make things particularly easy on Stefan.
10. Goodbye, Jeremy.
Kudos to Steven R. McQueen for a heck of a performance over the course
of four years. Jeremy has changed and grown beautifully. We've seen him
experience love and loss, sacrifice and triumph, and we've seen it take a
toll and make him stronger. The work that McQueen put into this season
definitely showed -- and I'm not just talking about his arms. (But I am
talking about his arms a little bit.) We'll all miss him.
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