The Vampire Diaries: Series Three: Episodes 1 - 5

[bookgazing]

After finally settling down to watch my DVD box set of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ series three and burning through the first disc in a day, I discovered I might have quite a lot of opinions about this series. Amy and Iris both watch the show. And though they’re a series ahead of me, I want to share my feelings with them like I did when I watched the first two series. So every time I finish a disc I’m going to throw thoughts about those episodes up here. All TVD discussion encouraged :D



Episode One: ‘The Birthday’

• Time lapse series beginnings are always a bit of a gamble I think. They allow creators to skip straight to the most relevant part of the story, but they also risk distancing the audience from the characters’ development. It can feel like you’re being cheated out of the chance to watch that development and that you’re being forced to accept things that don’t feel like they’ve come about naturally. Although I love Caroline and Tyler together, I thought that Caroline’s sudden love for him felt really forced. Last season we saw chemistry and the beginnings of something forming between them, but having the show bring them together right at the start of series three just felt weirdly fast. I could have done with a few episodes of glances and tension before they got it on.

Rick’s transformation into ‘lost cause’ also felt hard to connect with, even though that development made total sense. I mean he lost one of the best ladies of all time and is basically a relationship jinx. Who wouldn’t think they were beyond redemption? It’s just that I missed seeing all his angst and sadness, which left me unable to really get what he had been through. I think I’m actually asking for additional man pain here…

• I know that everyone, including Damon, kept calling Andy Damon’s fake, compelled girlfriend, but when she says she’s not his slave and he gets out of the bath I wondered whether their relationship had changed slightly. Some form of compulsion is probably still in place, because she’s not running away screaming, but it looks like he’s dialled back his disrespect for her and she’s not wearing a scarf so I don’t think so perhaps he’s not using her as a perpetual feed bank any more. And he does seem upset when she dies. Which all means we can be less worried about her being in that toxic relationship than we were in series two, I guess.

Sidenote: None of the other characters are genuinely concerned about her are they? They treat her compulsion as a joke almost, which, just no. Compulsion removes free will and all agency; it is creeptastic. I feel like we’re supposed to accept that no one can stop Damon from doing anything, but no one ever even tries to free Andy, almost like Andy is the sacrifice they make in order to keep all other girls safe?

I am gutted about her death, because I think if they’d kept her alive that relationship could have raised some really interesting questions about Damon’s humanity. You can’t look at Andie and feel like he’s really a good guy, but the show obviously wants to paint him as a developing character who is slowly regaining his feelings/human aspect through his love for Elena. So, the direction of that relationship would have told us a lot about who Damon really is right now.

Also, Andie was the last older woman in the cast (aside from Katherine who is frozen in perpetual youth) which makes her death seems like part of a suspicious pattern. Issues with women’s age TVD?

• Can we talk about the brothers? I would have expected Damon to be just a little bit excited about Stefan going back to being a ripper. After all, now they can be drinking buddies! I know that when the program started, he wanted Stefan to drink because he hated him and I guess also wanted to show he was powerful enough to break his will, but I seem to remember that later on he seemed to want them to have a whole brotherly relationship, bonded by drinking together right? It makes sense that he would give up on Stefan so easily (he wants Elena to give up so he can swoop in and he’s a terrible, self-centred person in general) but I would have expected him to try and hang out with Stefan now he’s gone back to drinking. Perhaps he knows that if he takes that path Elena is lost to him? Perhaps he’s just too afraid of Klaus? Idk, it just seemed weird that he wasn’t a little bit pleased to see his brother go back to the dark side.

• Maaaaaan the scene where the dead girls who have been ripped and reassembled by Stefan, start to fall apart is really grisly. It looks like it was meant to be both absurd and horrific, with the absurd emphasising the horror. And it succeeded! I think bringing the meta of living in a culture where women are so often reduced to body parts in visual media to this scene made it feel especially bad to me.

• I loved the fact that Stefan was still holding on to his feelings, even though he’s doing so much horrific stuff. When later on Damon says he’s a martyr, I was like ‘Yes, that’s exactly right’, because he won’t willingly deny himself the pain of feeling and remembering. Stefan, you are an excellent role model for reforming vampires thrust into complicated situations. I mean apart from the dismemberment…

Actually though, that’s a really interesting reaction now that I think about it. I’m placing such strong emphasis on Stefan holding on to his feelings and maybe allowing it to obscure the fact that he’s busy killing a lot of people (including a lotta, lotta ladies) despite knowing it’s wrong. Which is kind of what Elena does too, as while she remains convinced that Stefan still feels she kind of allows herself to blot out how many he’s murdered until she’s confronted with his victims. Even then, as long as he feels, she can kind of let all the dead people go. Does the fact that he knows what he’s doing is wrong and holds on to the fact that he’s evil, really make his actions better than if he just embraced the ripping? I mean, those people are still dead. Does repentance really deserve forgiveness, if you keep on murdering while repenting?

And how many people will he sacrifice for the individuals he cares about? His storyline brings up that scary moral question about whether the life of one is worth the lives of many.

• But the phone call erases my interest in all of that, because So. Many. Feelings!

• I remember hearing that the show runners started backing the Jeremy/Matt ship over the Jeremy/Tyler ship/bromance in this series, which…stop trying to make Fetch happen guys; it’s never going to be a thing! I can see the change in bromantic focus happening (Jeremy seeing shirtless Matt at the Mystic Grill, getting stoned together and eating ice-cream, the subtext behind their conversations about ghosts) and I am uninterested.

• I am so glad Anna and Vicky are back for a while, even if they are ghosts. But I am suspicious, because I grew up with a feeling that ghosts are never to be trusted. ‘Ghost Whisperer’ did nothing to change my feelings on this issue. And it seems like the program wants Anna to seems like she’s the one to be trusted, but this is TVD so I am automatically convinced that this is a red herring and Anna can’t be trusted at all. She was so devious when she wanted the journal, after all.



Episode Two: ‘The Hybrid’

• Amy, I agree, this episode was really dull. It was all just repeated werewolf death and people trekking through the woods looking for someone they never find *snore*. It feels like a filler episode that just provides someone with the opportunity to pump out meaningless, eye bleeding and slaughter. Also, yes, not enough Caroline!

• I guess, the relationship between Klaus and Stefan, is interesting in this episode. I love how even though they’ve spent so long palling around together killing people, Stefan has no interest in being friends, which reminds me a lot of Angelus and Spike. The characters aren’t comparable, but the relationship dynamic is similar (acquaintances that are thrown together and have a lot in common, but hate each other with a passion).
Shall I move on to a more exciting episode?



Episode Three: ‘The End of the Affair’

• Oh vampires in period settings, I will never be over you! I just love these kinds of episodes, although they’re usually full of very selective history. I always liked the past-Angelus episodes of ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’.

• And flashback structures are my favourite, whether they hand over teasing little glimpses of the past or lots of big revelations. TVD goes the big revelation route and the biggest is about Stefan and Klaus being as close as brothers, which :O I was suitably shocked by.

• Katherine is back and I am intrigued! Why was she at the club in Chicago back in the 20s? Was she following Stefan? Was she keeping abreast of Klaus’ movements? Did it just kill her to see Stefan and Rebekah together? I’m still so impressed that Nina Dobrev manages to believably maintain two totally different characters.

• Rebekah seems excellent and British (go British lady vampires). I like how Klaus has this particular, flawed vision of what his sister is like, which I would guess is based on all the history they have together. I think it’s pretty common for siblings to find it hard to let go of what their sibs were like earlier in their life, which causes conflict (no one likes it when their self-image is contradicted). I feel like the comment that she will inevitably get tired of Stefan because that’s the kind of person she is, comes out of that kind of place. And then when they’re escaping she proves him wrong by waiting for Stefan *hearts*, although that ultimately comes to nothing because Klaus exerts his whole uber-powerful, big brother knows best strength.

• Dorky fannish moment: Caroline’s father is Clare’s father from 'Heroes'. Save the cheerleader, save the world! How interesting that he’s reprising the role of a father whose daughter has a supernatural secret.

• Can we talk about how Caroline’s father’s treatment and beliefs feel like they have a broad link to that weird (and totally ineffective) ‘therapy’ bigots try to push on LGBTQ people? You can train the mind into not wanting blood? Oh rlly? Caroline remains adamant that he can’t change her... It all seems to connect to a certain kind of LGBTQ coming out narrative (where the parents are less than supportive. I think this subtext comes out more in the next episode when Caroline talks to her mother and again in her last conversation with her father. Ok so, question – why do you think the program had the only gay character administer sub-textually homophobic treatment? And will there ever be an actual LGBTQ romance on TVD?

• Argh the whole bit with Matt and Tyler, where he offers to help him at the full moon even though you know that would totally freak him out. Aw. But presumably they will never be BFFs again? I’m not sure; Matt has proven extremely forgiving in the past - the whole mother make out situation.

• But my favourite Tyler related thing has to be the way his mum reacts to finding out he’s a werewolf. Considering that she’s only ever seen an evil supernatural world, she’s so quick to accept him and to promise she’ll try to help Caroline. I liked her unconditional love here, which really contrasted with the way both of Caroline’s parents reacted to finding out she was a
vampire.



Episode Four: ‘Disturbing Behaviour’

• Another black, female witch is dead. Great job TVD. This is the worst trend in the whole show.

• I hated that ‘all women now dress like prostitutes’ line from Rebekah when she’s trying on clothes. It’s reasonable to say that a historical woman transported to the future might say something like that (although the last time she was awake was the 20s when fashion was changing dramatically, so there’s that) but *sigh* let’s say it again – it’s a problematic line considering the culture we live in. Also there are these things called jeans now and tops that cover more than that dress does. Considering that she says she wore trousers back in the day, we might expect her to pick up some jeans. I guess we should assume that the boys picked that dress for her, because she seems surprised by how little the dress covers. All that taken together, this is a huge moment of female objectification by the creators of the show. She seems to adapt to the style of dress remarkably quickly anyway – how convenient. Good to know that male gaze never dims.

And the choice of such a sexy dress is a little bit of a creepy choice, considering that Klaus is her brother, y’know, just by the way.

• I’m excited to see how Rebekah’s character development progresses. I would say she’s going to be yet another romantic rival for Elena to navigate, which, ugh please stop making the vampiric ladies be all about competing for the vampiric dudes TVD writers. But she’s different from Katherine, or Isabel, in that her power doesn’t seem to be aligned with her sexuality yet. She isn’t using her powers to compel people to be her sex slaves, or to trick men into things through her womanly wiles. Instead she is a supernatural lie detector and it’s going to be nice to see a female antagonist whose sexuality isn’t tied to her evil.

• I felt so sorry for Anna when Jeremy shut her out. Also, good going program - giving a male character control over whether a female character can appear and make herself heard; nothing problematic about that at all.

• Caroline’s whole bit with her mother after she’s rescued = coming out subtext to me. Seriously this program feels like it is full of stuff that can be interpreted as GLB subtext this series. ‘We grew up with certain beliefs’, ‘I really thought he was the one who got me’, all smack of a coming out conversation gone badly. Even though we still don’t have any main characters who are LGBTQ, I’m glad that we now have lesbian subtext as well as gay subtext (although the lesbian subtext doesn’t yet contain any of the eye-flirting with characters of the same sex, the way the gay subtext does). Knowing that TVD is a show which actively shapes itself around fan response sometimes, I do wonder how much of what I’m seeing is down to me projecting traditional criticism onto the program and how much is being put in to catch the viewer’s eye.

• It’s interesting that Damon is so offended by Elena trying to turn him into Stefan. I mean…does he really think she’s going to be into him as he is? She disapproves strongly of the murder of innocents, as any good girl should. I know that ‘love does not alter what it finds’, but there are some obvious limits on that. And it was weird how the program seemed to endorse the idea that Elena was being unkind to try and ask him to change. Sure, it’s unrealistic, as Caroline points out. And it is kind of weird to try and make someone into their brother because you fancy them but don’t want to be in love with someone whose morality is so non-existent. But, it’s perhaps not as big a deal as oh I don’t know, being a psychopathic murderer.

• Alaric stepping forward to stand up for the mortals in town, after Damon kills him is so interesting! I really hope they’re going to take that thread some places and can’t wait to see how he represents/how this draws him into conflict with Damon.



Episode Five: ‘The Reckoning’

• This is easily my favourite episode so far. I like the ones that are set in the high school, because those episodes provide such an explicit mix of supernatural and contemporary. It really forces the bizarre nature of being a teen and dealing with the supernatural into the viewer’s face. Senior prank day and murderous vampires in the gym!

• The main plot is about the creation of a hybrid and the whole Stefan/Elena sad times, but I probably enjoyed the sub-plot about Matt and Vicky more. This is the second, obvious suicide attempt on TVD (I know, I know Matt is just trying to reach the ghosts, but don’t you feel like there’s something hopeless about him this series, like he could be going under?) and I kind of wish they’d examine depression more deeply on this program, not just use it as a plot device. Jeremy was really sad when he tried to take his own life. And Matt, like I said, seems like he’s been broken a little by his sister’s death and what he sees as desertion by everyone in his life. The whole bit where Tyler says he probably doesn’t have anyone to talk to brought home for me just how alone he must be. These issues should be explored, not just swept away when these characters attempted deaths have served a plot purpose. Everyone on this show has reason to be seriously depressed, or traumatised, but like most supernatural programs TVD isn’t interested in focusing on that for more than a few episodes because it gets in the way of the plot.

• Vampire road trip :D I like that this is a recurring plot device, because it amuses me no end to think of vamps going road tripping. I still like Katherine and Damon, I ship them, but I wish Damon didn’t have quite so much of the power in their relationship now. He just keeps casting Katherine aside, because he truly is over her and has Elena to obsess moodily over. I get the feeling that she’d go there again if it could just be for fun and giggles, no strings, physical stuff, but he blocks it in a way he would never have been able to a few series ago. It feels like he’s in control, when we all know Katherine should be in control (she’s just such a damn awesome queen vampire).

• Poor Jeremy, he is so abused by Damon and the other vamps. He has had a rough life, please be kinder to him for a little while program.

• Ok, really Tyler, you think everything is going to be fine now that you’re a hybrid? And you have no other questions about this new state of yours? There are no other hybrids beside Klaus and he is not exactly providing a great example of hybrid living. Do you even know if you’ll have to start drinking blood? No, you don’t care about any of that? Just happy to feel so physically amazing? Ok then.

• And on a related note, is this ‘I make monstrous hybrids because I am lonely’ going to be the key to Klaus’ sympathetic development? I don’t think it’s going to fly with me, because…it is psychopath logic. And it’s consistent that Klaus might feel this way and justify making hybrids because he is sad, ignoring that he has imprisoned his whole family – he’s a psychopath; his logic is screwed up. However, if the program starts to ask us to agree that this logic is reasonable and we should empathise with Klaus because his situation is genuinely sad…I’m not going to like that.

• Wow, Elena gets over the whole privacy of diaries issue fast. But compared with other characters’ crimes, it’s a relatively small lapse.

• Gah, everyone keeps mentioning Lexy this series : ( Still not over it. Why did she die so fast? OMG imagine a Lexy/Mason partnership. Why are so many of my favourites dead : (

• I need some clarification on this whole ‘flip the switch’ issue. I thought that last series it was established that vamps couldn’t really switch off their emotions totally. Doesn’t Isabel mention that it can’t be done in the way Damon says he does it? But this series Klaus compels Stefan to turn off his human emotions. It’s time for a ruling on this part of the world building.

• Also, I still find it fascinating how much free will these vamps have compared with the vamps of the Buffy verse. It’s really interesting to think about how the writers keep their favourite vamps sympathetic in this program, compared with the way they did it in Buffy.

• Elena waking up to find her blood being taken by compelled nurse was
creeeepy. Can we all agree that compulsion is the worst?
On a side note: why is everybody’s blood magical? What is the biology behind this? Is this one of those times I should just let it go and be like ‘because magic’?



My ships this series so far

It goes without saying that I’m backing Caroline/Tyler right? And Bonnie/Jeremy is another obvious one. As for the whole Salvatore conundrum, I think I want Damon/Katherine as always, or Damon/Alaric (although the power balance there would be scary unequal) and I’m still into Stefan/Elena. I don’t care what happens to Klaus romantically and I want Rebekah to escape his clutches, which she can’t do if she’s distracted by romance.

On to the next five episodes I go.

Comments

[myfriendamy]

lol we share a lot of the same thoughts!!!!!!

I love Tyler/Caroline, they are the only couple I've really shipped shipped on TVD, but you are sooooo right about how they rushed it. The writing for them was a huge disappointment in Season 3, but I still love them.

Ia ia about the LGBT subtext in ep 3 and 4. And it was kind of strange since Caroline's dad is gay! Ideas about free will and choice were just crawling all over this season, too.

Idk, it just seemed weird that he wasn’t a little bit pleased to see his brother go back to the dark side.

I think that Damon and Stefan have a thing about keeping the status quo, like Stefan as the good brother and Damon as the wild one and it kind of upsets that balance and pushes Damon into this other role he doesn't necessarily want to be in. (I don't think Stefan is any better than Damon, though, AT ALL--that's just the dichotomy that exists in their heads and therefore the fandom's as well, sigh)

None of the other characters are genuinely concerned about her are they?

I think it just becomes SUPER apparent this season that Elena is #1. And they care about their little group as well but to a lesser degree, you'll see what I mean. But everyone else they only care about if it's convenient. It's...interesting. And I mean it's not wholly unrealistic.

I mean, those people are still dead. Does repentance really deserve forgiveness, if you keep on murdering while repenting?

lol yes the question of Stefan. But I'm right there with you in that the angst of all of this was v. enjoyable to me in this part of the season. I will be sooooo curious what you think of Rebekah as the show goes on!

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, all your thoughts on Rebecca please! - Iris

[bookgazing]

Oh I've watched another three episodes and I like Rebekah more and more. I hope she kills Klaus dead.

[bookgazing]

'I think that Damon and Stefan have a thing about keeping the status quo, like Stefan as the good brother and Damon as the wild one and it kind of upsets that balance and pushes Damon into this other role he doesn't necessarily want to be in.'

This is brilliant! I never thought of it that way, but yes I can totally see that, Damon gets to keep being irresponsible because Stefan is the responsible one and when they switch roles he has to be different. Kind of co-dependant in a way. Maybe that also ties in with the 'balance of nature' issue which has been coming up? Like if they're both evil it will throw everything off? But the there was a time when they were both evil so maybe not...

On the gay subtext I've got to be honest, I think if they're putting this subtext in on purpose they have not thought it through properly. Like,making the one gay character in the whole show the guy advocating for repression and control therapy? Maybe it's supposed to make it really obvious what the torture represents, but I think it was a terrible decision.

And can we talk about how VD steers very clear of any kind of biting, or sucking between male characters? I think some of the female characters have had female victims that they drank from if I remember right, but I don't think the male characters have bitten other dudes. They just kill them with stabbing etc I think - is that right? Or they get guys to drink their blood off screen... In classic vamp criticism gay subtext tends to come from the whole biting, sucking, penetration angle so it's weird to see a show that clearly is throwing some m/m fan service to its audience totally avoiding those kinds of allusions. I was happy to see that the subtext was lesbian this time though - it's not all about the boys, but at the same time several of the male characters have been put into active shipable positions for fan service, while Caroline really lacks a comparable female ship partner.

[(Anonymous)]

Your thoughts are so interesting, and some of them are SO relevant to what happens later this season and also in season 4. I don't know if I should comment really, as I don't want to spoil anything!

For me it was really interesting to read your thoughts as you obviously like Stefan a lot more than I do and Damon less than I do. It made me think, and it's great to encounter stuff like this because it shows my own bias. But I also wonder if this is retrospect talking. I remember that by the end of season 2 I actually genuinely felt for Stefan (and I didn't dislike him up to season 3). I really think they mess up his storyline in season 3, so I am very curious as to your thoughts from this point out. For me, the "switch" thing really was when the season changed for me and I became a little more disappointed each time.

You know, I never really pondered if Damon shouldn't be happy to have his brother drinking human blood again. I feel he would be happy if Stefan did, but he was never one to cheer on ripper!Stefan, and I feel that is the difference here.

Your ideas about agency are SO to the point, especially if combined with the morality dilemma in the case of Stefan at this point. Amy and I have discussed this repeatedly, and I feel that the show started to really struggle with the idea of having vampires in their show, who "by nature" kill people, and the idea of loving them/making them sympathetic. I think this is where the repeated idea of loss of agency comes in, through the use of compulsion/the switch/whatever is happening to Tyler, etcetera. Unfortunately, the show doesn't exactly seem to recognise that by taking away some of the free will/choices of people, they are taking away some of the gratification of watching such a show. I like my characters to be held accountable for things, and I feel that the show sometimes uses supernatural compulsion-like stuff to not have to have characters face consequences of their actions. But this might also be retrospect talking again, as choice is going to be a huge theme in season 3. This show is so conflicting on the messages it sends. It's as if sometimes, the only choices/responsibilities/etcetera that really matter are if it concerns Elena (and even then not always), which is so scewed.

Your remark on aging women and them dying is so poignant. I had to think of Jenna, and how almost every parental figure has been killed by now (uncle John, Isobel, etcetera). The shows treatment of women and especially, yes, black witches, is so incredibly problematic. That's why I loved Caroline and Katharine in s2/3, because at least they seem to balance it out somewhat. But what about Bonnie? I feel she never receives her due to even make a semblance of balance on their treatment of black witches.

I am the odd one out in that I never really liked Tyler much. I have started to come around to him lately, but as for his relationship with Caroline.. I always felt it was a little too fast. Not as in: "oh my, they are quick to jump in bed together!" Just that I wish I had seen more build-up. I think this might have been another fan service thing in that they felt they had to rush it to keep viewers, perhaps? I became more of a Forwood shipper towards the end of season 3 though. Curious how your feelings will develop.

I'm also curiuous how your thoughts will be about the "main triangle" thing during this season. Season 3 for me was the season I wanted Elena single/without brothers.

And I agree, I really like Bonnie and Jeremy!

Um, what more? I agree that the ep 3/4 storyline of torture etc read like a subtext on being gay and if it involves a choice, and the whole debate and definitely the treatment of some societal groups of that question. I do wonder if it's a positive thing in the end though, as in: they seem to reflect that this torture is a bad thing, but by equaling vampire nature with gay in subtext, and having some characters voice the "vampirism is unnatural and/or less good than being human" idea I wonder if they aren't accidentally sending a different message at one point or other? I mean, Elena has been pretty clear that she never wants to be a vampire. Stefan does his utmost to deny his vampire nature, and he is always painted as the good brother (though I agree with Amy that both brothers are grey, but the imagery seems to stick even throughout season 3).. I don't know. But this show is really good at giving little suggestions and then not really playing things out or discussing the things in the details that I want to be voiced. My biggest frustration with this show might be that it constantly undermines its own potential, because of "faster plot!"

Anyway, looking forward to your next post!

Iris

[bookgazing]

‘you obviously like Stefan a lot more than I do and Damon less than I do.’

Although I kind of adore Damon, when I screw my moral vision on I do like Stefan more as a romantic lead and a person. Like Stefan was a good guy, there’s no doubt, he’s the one you’d feel safe spending time with and he makes non cruel conversation (up until this series). Bonus for this series though - I’ve always found Damon much more intriguing and Stefan kind of blah but now Stefan has a moral conundrum to struggle with which makes him so much more interesting.

Damon is (as much as I love his character, his wit and let’s be honest his body) a psychopathic, murderer who will kill you over a minor annoyance. He has strops and breaks people’s necks, because he’s so far removed from empathy and a real connection with the idea of mortality. And unlike a lot of my favourite bastard vamps who I really do like, he has control over what he does. Sure he needs to drink blood, but there’s no virus that wipes out his empathetic side (like in Buffy), there’s no compulsion on him to act the way he does and it’s sort of established that he can’t really turn off his emotions. So when he kills, it’s because he enjoys it, or it suits his needs, or it’s just easier than thinking and that’s a free will choice (unless, maybe we think vampire Damon acting under a mental illness?). And him making a free will choice to be evil doesn’t automatically make me less into him (this is fiction after all, regular morals need not apply), the fact that his power is physical and not like a power that can be taken from him does make me uneasy. There are very few ways for the program to limit him and give others a chance, unless they’re more evil than him (like the originals) which maybe at times makes him too powerful and too disconnected to empathise with? All this to say, I would want an immortality ring, or a big bullet proof glass screen between us at all times.

However, I loooove to watch him on screen and his story is always full of interest. He’s fascinating to watch in a way that Stefan has only become this year. But now that Stefan has this internal conflict, Damon becomes maybe less interesting to me because he doesn’t struggle with himself in the same big concept way that Stefan does. Like, Damon only feels bad when he connects with people and hurts them, otherwise everyone is fair game. Stefan feels bad for his crimes against humanity (although obvs he feels worse for his crimes against Elena). Damon presents easy answers about free will, Stefan never compromises on those answers. You said you like to see characters held accountable for their actions (totally agree compulsion and siring is being used as an easy out btw) and I kind of like characters to hold themselves accountable as they develop too.

So right now I’m way more into Stefan and I want Damon to step FAR AWAY from Elena. They should never be together. I’m undecided about the whole S/E side of the triangle. I think I agree with something I think you two said a while ago that it’s difficult to see where their relationship will go if she doesn’t want to be a vampire. And if S/E doesn’t work out I don’t pair her with anyone else (Matt – ick) so I’d be quite happy with single Elena.

‘But what about Bonnie? I feel she never receives her due’

Bonnie is going through some rough times right? I like that the program allows her to grieve and separate herself from Elena, but I wish there were some way for her to get more from this show. Wouldn’t it be awesome if she formed a coven and they had an intersecting storyline with the rest of the characters (that didn’t end with all the witches dead)? I just saw the episode with her mother’s transition – damn! They even compelled her boyfriend away and before that he was making out with ghosts. When will the bad times end?

Reading the LG subtext is difficult, especially because it feels like it’s being deliberately written in some places, but vampirism isn’t being used as a consistent metaphor for a single thing throughout the program. When I watch I feel like there are multiple readings possible at the same time, which is both great (hurray multiple readings) and confusing when you’re watching through a series. You’re right that so much gets driven by the need for moar drama, or a switch in pairings. Long running, serial drama is always plagued by those troubles (like soaps), but I think TVD suffers from it especially.