TVD: 1x07: Haunted
Nov. 17th, 2011 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gryfndor_godess1x07: Haunted
-Aw, okay, Tyler gets nice guy points for trying to take care of Vicki.
-I think it's a bit odd that Matt is in school instead of looking for his sister. He has more of a reason to skip than Jeremy.
-The whole exchange in the foyer between Elena and Damon? She is so brave!
Overall Thoughts:
This episode was SO GOOD. I LOVE ELENA. Adlfja;dkf
RIP Vicki. I think the episode did a very poignant, believable job of showing Vicki’s descent into vampiric madness, not only on a character, plot-driven level, but also on a world-building level. I always feel a bit guilty for liking vampire characters when there isn’t a soul/soulless dichotomy that can explain their evilness, but I can buy the hunger of just being turned making you do crazy, terrible things that you wouldn’t do once you had grown accustomed to the transformation. Vicki’s aggression toward Elena and threat to kill her threw me briefly (because there’s a difference between impulsive anger and threatening murder), but with Matt and Elena’s history, I can actually completely buy that Vicki would harbor a hell of a lot of resentment toward our lovely protagonist. It probably just hadn’t come up before because they haven’t had much screen-time together. I can also understand why Vicki would interpret Elena’s protection of Jeremy as an insult about not being good enough for him.
The only thing I didn’t understand was why she wasn’t angrier with Damon for killing her. She was so upset in the last episode about what had been done to her that I would have liked and expected her to take out some of her blood-lust-fueled aggression out on Damon. But other than that, the sad denouement of Vicki’s life and death worked for me. It was bittersweet when she wanted Jeremy to run away with her, believable when she could no longer keep from trying to bite him, and more-or-less understandable when she turned on Elena. Also understandable that Stefan staked her. Her death was visually shocking and gut wrenching with the way she withered and cried tears of blood, and Jeremy’s reaction was heartbreaking (in fact, all of the actors have particularly excelled at scenes of heartbreak; Elena, Vicki, Jeremy, Stefan). Now that I know all of Vicki’s story, I’m much more intrigued by Jeremy seeing her ghost in the S2 finale.
I felt so bad for Matt and Jeremy. Matt’s combination of worry/anger/frustrated helplessness seemed just right. Jeremy’s sobbing at the end in Elena’s arms was so moving and sad. The poor boy has lost almost everyone he loves. If Damon hadn’t mind-wiped him, I wouldn’t blame him if he returned to drugs.
I like how fast the plot is moving and that the mysteries are growing instead of getting stagnant (and that we're getting small answers instead of only more questions). Mrs. Lockwood’s revelations are intriguing, and in addition to it always being great to see Damon thwarted, it was nice characterization to see that his powers aren’t a crutch and he can be successfully manipulative without them, too. I’m less interested in Bonnie’s witch arc, but how great was it when she told Damon to stay away from Caroline? These friends are so fiercely protective of each other, and it’s wonderful.
I also like the technical elements of this episode. The interplay between the crazy Halloween party and Vicki’s “high” at the end was very well done.
ELENA. She didn’t hesitate to take on a crazed vampire when Vicki tried to bite Jeremy. She tries so hard to be what Jeremy needs, even though she knows it’s not enough. She slapped Damon!! She didn’t hide what she thought of him, even though she’s scared of him. She is so great. Her meltdown in the car was very sad, but I’m actually glad it happened. How could anyone witness so much horror and not break down? It’s refreshing to see such a realistic reaction.
I really like that she had Damon mind-wipe Jeremy at the end. I’m not sure it was a good thing to do, but I can completely understand why she did it (and I’m not sure I wouldn’t make the same choice in her position). If I were her I’d be afraid of Jeremy killing himself at this point, so it makes sense that she would make the morally ambiguous decision.
The only Elena-thing I wasn’t satisfied with (in addition to the can’t-live-without-my-feelings-for-you-blah-blah stuff that made me want to roll my eyes) is that she didn’t once bring up killing Damon. And…well, I can fanwank it that she implicitly knows killing him isn't an option because she can’t really ask Stefan to kill his own brother, but considering how much she despises Damon at the moment and that she knows he’s a remorseless, cold-blooded killer, I think it's unrealistic that she doesn’t at least bring up the question of ‘what is Stefan going to do about Damon.’ Surely she sees Damon as a problem that needs to be put down, not put up with. Maybe we’ll get more next episode…
Ooh, almost forgot: I loved the scene between Damon and Elena on the porch when she came to see what was happening with Vicki. Her fear of him is palpable, but she doesn’t back down. You can also see him wanting to kill her at the end after she slaps him and deciding not to, and it’s adlfkajd;flk SO GOOD. Their scenes are the best of the series, IMO.
-Aw, okay, Tyler gets nice guy points for trying to take care of Vicki.
-I think it's a bit odd that Matt is in school instead of looking for his sister. He has more of a reason to skip than Jeremy.
-The whole exchange in the foyer between Elena and Damon? She is so brave!
Overall Thoughts:
This episode was SO GOOD. I LOVE ELENA. Adlfja;dkf
RIP Vicki. I think the episode did a very poignant, believable job of showing Vicki’s descent into vampiric madness, not only on a character, plot-driven level, but also on a world-building level. I always feel a bit guilty for liking vampire characters when there isn’t a soul/soulless dichotomy that can explain their evilness, but I can buy the hunger of just being turned making you do crazy, terrible things that you wouldn’t do once you had grown accustomed to the transformation. Vicki’s aggression toward Elena and threat to kill her threw me briefly (because there’s a difference between impulsive anger and threatening murder), but with Matt and Elena’s history, I can actually completely buy that Vicki would harbor a hell of a lot of resentment toward our lovely protagonist. It probably just hadn’t come up before because they haven’t had much screen-time together. I can also understand why Vicki would interpret Elena’s protection of Jeremy as an insult about not being good enough for him.
The only thing I didn’t understand was why she wasn’t angrier with Damon for killing her. She was so upset in the last episode about what had been done to her that I would have liked and expected her to take out some of her blood-lust-fueled aggression out on Damon. But other than that, the sad denouement of Vicki’s life and death worked for me. It was bittersweet when she wanted Jeremy to run away with her, believable when she could no longer keep from trying to bite him, and more-or-less understandable when she turned on Elena. Also understandable that Stefan staked her. Her death was visually shocking and gut wrenching with the way she withered and cried tears of blood, and Jeremy’s reaction was heartbreaking (in fact, all of the actors have particularly excelled at scenes of heartbreak; Elena, Vicki, Jeremy, Stefan). Now that I know all of Vicki’s story, I’m much more intrigued by Jeremy seeing her ghost in the S2 finale.
I felt so bad for Matt and Jeremy. Matt’s combination of worry/anger/frustrated helplessness seemed just right. Jeremy’s sobbing at the end in Elena’s arms was so moving and sad. The poor boy has lost almost everyone he loves. If Damon hadn’t mind-wiped him, I wouldn’t blame him if he returned to drugs.
I like how fast the plot is moving and that the mysteries are growing instead of getting stagnant (and that we're getting small answers instead of only more questions). Mrs. Lockwood’s revelations are intriguing, and in addition to it always being great to see Damon thwarted, it was nice characterization to see that his powers aren’t a crutch and he can be successfully manipulative without them, too. I’m less interested in Bonnie’s witch arc, but how great was it when she told Damon to stay away from Caroline? These friends are so fiercely protective of each other, and it’s wonderful.
I also like the technical elements of this episode. The interplay between the crazy Halloween party and Vicki’s “high” at the end was very well done.
ELENA. She didn’t hesitate to take on a crazed vampire when Vicki tried to bite Jeremy. She tries so hard to be what Jeremy needs, even though she knows it’s not enough. She slapped Damon!! She didn’t hide what she thought of him, even though she’s scared of him. She is so great. Her meltdown in the car was very sad, but I’m actually glad it happened. How could anyone witness so much horror and not break down? It’s refreshing to see such a realistic reaction.
I really like that she had Damon mind-wipe Jeremy at the end. I’m not sure it was a good thing to do, but I can completely understand why she did it (and I’m not sure I wouldn’t make the same choice in her position). If I were her I’d be afraid of Jeremy killing himself at this point, so it makes sense that she would make the morally ambiguous decision.
The only Elena-thing I wasn’t satisfied with (in addition to the can’t-live-without-my-feelings-for-you-blah-blah stuff that made me want to roll my eyes) is that she didn’t once bring up killing Damon. And…well, I can fanwank it that she implicitly knows killing him isn't an option because she can’t really ask Stefan to kill his own brother, but considering how much she despises Damon at the moment and that she knows he’s a remorseless, cold-blooded killer, I think it's unrealistic that she doesn’t at least bring up the question of ‘what is Stefan going to do about Damon.’ Surely she sees Damon as a problem that needs to be put down, not put up with. Maybe we’ll get more next episode…
Ooh, almost forgot: I loved the scene between Damon and Elena on the porch when she came to see what was happening with Vicki. Her fear of him is palpable, but she doesn’t back down. You can also see him wanting to kill her at the end after she slaps him and deciding not to, and it’s adlfkajd;flk SO GOOD. Their scenes are the best of the series, IMO.