TVD: 1x19: Miss Mystic Falls
Feb. 29th, 2012 08:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gryfndor_godess1x19: Miss Mystic Falls
-I love how John is playing Damon as Damon is playing the Sheriff.
-Bonnie’s back! :)
-“My mom isn’t cut out for apologies.” “Well, I’m not cut out for forgiveness.” This show has such great dialogue! Also, Anna! :)
-“You’ve spent the last century being the poster child for Prozac.” The dialogue on this show can be just as witty as that on BtVS, which is no mean feat; it’s witty in a different way- more character-specific sarcasm and pop culture references compared to Whedon’s general wordplay- and both are excellent. Also, it’s so refreshing to watch a drama that is so funny.
-The Founders’ Court and Mrs. Lockwood’s BS about the dancing? This small town old-fashioned-ness and cultural inbreeding is really starting to annoy me.
-Ugh, I DISLIKE Bonnie’s new hairstyle.
-Alaric in a suit! Alaric in a suit! Alkfjldfaldfj.
-The exchange between Damon and Anna at the party is so great. Much as I enjoyed her with Jeremy, it’s nice to see her in her element and interacting with the brothers again. Also, I could definitely ship Damon/Anna in a Wes/Lilah sort of way- i.e., they get along (mostly by not getting along) and appreciate each other even if they don’t like each other (and then they actually slowly grow to love each other).
-Anna is gorgeous.
-Ha, Damon sounds so petty about not wanting John to get the artifact.
-Oh, Jeremy; when he’s talking to John about the diaries, it seems like he’s really desperate for someone to talk to.
-This Amber girl is super familiar. IMDB’d it! Cougar Town! Hello, Kylie!
-Aldkjfalkdfjad, Damon looks good in a suit, too.
-Um, Damon, shouldn’t you maybe stay in the room in case Stefan flies off the handle and hurts Elena?
-I seriously hate Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood.
-Aw, I love Caroline for encouraging Elena!
-IS DAMON GOING TO ESCORT HER?!
-AAAAAAAHHHHHH HE IS, I THINK MY HEART IS BEATING DOUBLE-TIME, ohmygiddygod.
-GUHHHHHHHH (the dancing scene).
-The Stefan and Amber scenes are legitimately freaky. Kudos to the actors and writers.
-Yay, Pearl and Anna are making peace!
-Also, what did happen to Jonathan Gilbert’s compass??
-I am relieved that Elena secretly had a plan to stab him with vervain because this scene was bordering dangerously on the “I’ll put up with my boyfriend’s anger issues, even if it means he might abuse me!” attitude.
-DAMON’S STAYING WITH HER AT THE END.
Overall Thoughts:
So…I feel like I’m done with Stefan/Elena? Obviously I’m not and my grumpy mood is temporary, but I’m really, really sensitive about relationships where the man has volatile, violent anger management issues and the woman stays with him anyway with little regard for her own well being. It’s a trope that’s easy to fall into when writing supernatural “heroes,” and while sometimes it makes a certain amount of sense (such as here, with bloodlust being a very specific catalyst), it still makes my skin crawl because the abusiveness itself is not unrealistic and fantastical characterization at all; it happens in the real world all too frequently.
(I should mention that I’m currently in the middle of a bestselling, critically acclaimed fantasy in which the romantic male lead is a vampire who’s extremely possessive and controlling and frequently warns his girlfriend how easily he could hurt her; the “heroine,” meanwhile, frequently worries how her actions and words will affect his temper. Did I mention that this was bestselling and critically acclaimed? UGH. ETA: as I wrote this review two and a half months ago, I should also mention that I GAVE UP on this atrocious book midway through, which I almost never do.
Anyway, so the scenes of Stefan yelling at Elena and telling her how much he could hurt her made me quite uncomfortable. If this attitude does prove to be highly temporary and she refuses to put up with it, I’ll probably still be able to ship them, but right now I’m pretty blah on the Stefan/Elena front. I’m in an awkward way where, logically, I understand why Elena loves Stefan, but emotionally, as an objective audience-member, I personally don’t see the point.
Now, Damon/Elena on the other hand… Aaldkfja;djfadjfladjflkadjflkadjflkajdflakjlfkajldfkjaldkfjlakdjflakdjflakdflkdajflkajdflkajdlfkjaldfkjladkfjl.
Words elude me. Lucille can explain my feelings best:
Holy mother of whatever, that was heart melting the way he hurried to escort her when he realized that Stefan was AWOL. Phwoar. Okay. Moving on.
There were lots of other nice relationships and character interactions in this episode. It’s great to have Bonnie back and even better to see that things are not all well and good between her and Elena. It’s sad, mind you, that their once beautiful friendship has become so strained, but it’s great writing. I’d feel betrayed and angry, too, if I were Bonnie.
Jeremy and Anna make for much more fun viewing. It was great to see them hash out their issues and to learn that they both still care for each other. I’m really glad that Anna isn’t vindictive and vengefully bitter. And as I said above, she looks gorgeous at the party, and I adore the way she holds her own against Damon. I like her so much!
Some random thoughts about the Lockwoods: Why isn’t Tyler at the party? Okay, yes, I realize the secondary high school characters don’t have much of a place in this episode, but from a Watsonian perspective, he should be there (it would make sense for him to be Caroline’s backup partner, as his mother is running the thing). I guess it’s wankable that he was in disgrace and exiled by his parents after the fight with Matt. As for his parents...I guess the upside of having a psychopath for a main character is that he can kill the awful people.
Lastly, I have mixed feelings about the human-blood-as-addiction world building. On the one hand, it seems almost too convenient and like it could easily be used to excuse the brothers’ actions, a la the soul for Angel/Angelus (I’m already getting the sense from fandom osmosis that there’s a certain mount of fandom discontent related to this issue in S3). On the other hand, I personally really do want an explanation for how normal, non-violent humans can so easily become ruthless killers after being turned, not only because it makes the characterization better but also because I couldn’t *comfortably* root for someone who just up and decided to be kill people. That’s one of the reasons I love the soul dichotomy in BtVS (if rarely the execution of it) so much; it enables/encourages me to root for Spike (souled and unsouled), Angel(us), Harmony, Darla, etc., because to a very slight extent, they didn’t have a choice in becoming monsters (i.e., although they had a choice in whether to stay monsters/become more monstrous, I think the first few kills were probably pretty instinctive and uncontrollable).
The intensely addictive potency of human blood explains Stefan’s Jekyll and Hyde behavior; it explains how Vicki could so quickly and violently turn on people she cared for. Basically, the actions of newly turned vampires are understandable and that makes me remain sympathetic to them, even though they’re, you know, killers. I think the addiction metaphor makes for good characterization and world building, even if it has to be used carefully to avoid framing the vampires as not responsible for their actions. I get the feeling the addiction trope is going to be vital in how much I like/forgive/ship certain characters later in the series, so I’m glad it exists.
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no subject
Date: 2012-03-01 02:16 am (UTC)!!
!!!!!!
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Date: 2012-03-01 02:35 am (UTC)This show is such a Delena show. It may pretend it's a Stelena show at times, but LOL TO THAT.
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Date: 2012-03-01 02:36 am (UTC)YES. YES YES YES.
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Date: 2012-03-01 09:32 am (UTC)But oh man, I was COMPLETELY THE OPPOSITE with Stefan/Elena. That scene at the end is actually one of my all-time favourites. Because you're totally right, Stefan has serious problems and is a danger to Elena, and Elena persistently priorities his wellbeing over her own, and it makes me DDDDDD: SO MUCH on Elena's behalf. BUT. It is fucking amazing writing? It's heartbreakingly consistent with Elena's character and her desire to save/fix her loved ones. And like you said - it's chillingly true to real life abusive patterns.
... Which is actually why I'm 100% in favour of the writing decisions there? (This is gonna sound weird, but bear with me.) My biggest hurdle with S/E generally is that it's mostly presented as a healthy relationship. And you can't refute that it's a mostly healthy relationship. But the thing is - IT SHOULDN'T BE. I mean. It's a romance between: a 150+ y.o. vampire with massive addiction issues and a history of mass-murder, and a good-hearted teenage girl. It SHOULD BE colossally fucked up. To be frank, the power imbalance has been glaring from day one. But most of the time, Stefan is portrayed as a "good" vampire (as opposed to Damon, who is overtly painted as an abuser). And there's something SO disingenuous about Stefan's role as a "romantic hero". You know?
Ergo, THAT'S why I love all the S/E business here. Because the show is brutally upfront about the dark, abusive elements of their relationship, and I just… approve of that so much? (It's the same reason I can completely love Damon as a character. As incredibly problematic as his character can be... the writers still never pull their punches with him. They're totally honest about his complete unfitness as a romantic hero. D/E has its good points, but overall it's never portrayed as an ideal relationship - and that's a GOOD thing. Because Damon is a textually abusive person, and the show never tries to pretend like that's not an issue.)
I should mention that I’m currently in the middle of a bestselling, critically acclaimed fantasy in which the romantic male lead is a vampire who’s extremely possessive and controlling and frequently warns his girlfriend how easily he could hurt her; the “heroine,” meanwhile, frequently worries how her actions and words will affect his temper.
Ugh, what the fuck is this series.
Lastly, I have mixed feelings about the human-blood-as-addiction world building. On the one hand, it seems almost too convenient and like it could easily be used to excuse the brothers’ actions, a la the soul for Angel/Angelus
Totally feel you. Generally, the show is pretty murky with Stefan's character tbh.
On the other hand, I personally really do want an explanation for how normal, non-violent humans can so easily become ruthless killers after being turned, not only because it makes the characterization better but also because I couldn’t *comfortably* root for someone who just up and decided to be kill people.
Heh, I have to differ here. One of my favourite things about the TVD verse is that vampires actually have zero excuse for their evil actions. The vampires are your protagonists, and you're supposed to identify with them, and they're supposed to shine a light on your own moral depravity.
BUT TO BE FAIR - the switch is a pretty good "explanation". When you become a vampire, you can ~flip the switch~ on your emotions (at least for a time), and that allows you to escape… things. It's still your CHOICE to flip that switch, but if you've just become a vampire after various traumatic experiences (like, say, Damon), it's a pretty understandable choice. (Though not excusable.) Also, new vampires often have little control over their urges, as you noted.
THIS GOT LONG, LMAO. Sorry about that.
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Date: 2012-03-02 05:36 am (UTC):D
Which is actually why I'm 100% in favour of the writing decisions there?
Oh, I'm not against the writing decisions. I'd rather the writers portray the disturbing aspects of their relationship than sugarcoat it, for all the reasons that you mention. I just don't feel like shipping it at the moment because it creeps me out. Which is a good thing that it creeps me out- means they're doing their jobs right...
Ugh, what the fuck is this series.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. It's an obnoxious book not only because of the content but also because it's actually well-written, so part of you wants to keep reading it. The prose is very enjoyable, but everything else about it is HIGHLY OFFENSIVE. Eurgh.
Heh, I have to differ here. One of my favourite things about the TVD verse is that vampires actually have zero excuse for their evil actions.
Hmm, well, the way I see it, the blood addiction is not so much an excuse as a reason. Their intense bloodlust upon being turned explains how a loving son like Stefan could gorge himself on his own father (that's a disturbing sentence to write...) or how Caroline could kill Carter. The bloodlust doesn't fully excuse them for their actions, but it makes them understandable and makes the characters remain sympathetic. It's not the same as a newly turned vampire (who doesn't feel intense bloodlust) who decides to kill simply because it's now a step up the food chain and it can. That, I would call evil. I'm not sure I would call Caroline killing Carter or Vicki attacking Jeremy evil (terrible, horrifying, and sad, yes, but I'm not sure about evil).
After the bloodlust had been sated (assuming it can be once a vamp has acclimated) and if the vamp continued killing is when I would start to have zero understanding/sympathy for the vampire in question and when it would lose any pretense at having an excuse.
The switch is...interesting. I like it in theory (it inspires really fascinating ethical questions), but I'm not sure I fully understand it; I think I have to get a better feel for how it's been used so far and by whom.
The vampires are your protagonists, and you're supposed to identify with them, and they're supposed to shine a light on your own moral depravity.
I do appreciate how the show makes you think about how you'd react in similar situations- and the answer is usually pretty depressing to think about! This point really struck me during 2x02 when Caroline was spiraling. One day she's a normal, healthy, completely non-murderous girl and the next she can't stop herself from killing someone, no matter how much her rational mind doesn't want to. I like how we're shown a variety of characters' reactions to being turned (the brothers versus teenagers like Caroline and Vicki, etc.); it emphasizes the fact that the bloodlust is uncontrollable and that probably most of the audience would react the same way.
THIS GOT LONG, LMAO. Sorry about that.
NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR TALKING TO ME ABOUT TVD. I think you're my TVD mentor, LOL.