The Vampire Diaries Review: My Brother's Keeper

So this week’s episode has taken me a little while to recover from – did anyone else have trouble catching their breath after the end scene?
I have a feeling that trying to cram all my thoughts and feelings about this episode into five favourite things would be next to impossible, so it’s going to be more of a recap like I used to do… So I’d get comfortable, I have lots to talk about.

I like that after the calm mature Stefan of last week we’re seeing him start to lose it over the break up, because I love moments where we see how hard he works to try and maintain he’s the ‘good brother’.  There’s been an awful lot of discussion about Stefan and Damon and the ever changing good brother/bad brother balance. Thomas Galvin talks about it in his recap for this week a lot more eloquently than I’m about to, and I’ll link to that at the bottom.

What I love about Stefan is that whilst we were introduced to him as the good brother of the two, and he’s always tried to maintain that aura of golden goodness, it’s always just been a façade. We’ve seen it crack at various moments throughout the first two series’ – Miss Mystic Falls (Round 1) anyone? And what about his death threats to Uncle John in 2x01? It wasn’t until the start of Season 3 though that we saw just how deep the rabbit hole really goes with him. His moral compass, particularly in this episode is really skewed and I love seeing that darker side of Stefan – I don’t like him particularly, his actions with Jeremy and his reasons behind it are truly awful, but at the same time I can understand where he’s coming from with how hurt and desperate he is after losing Elena. That should never be a good excuse to decide to play god, even if the person killed was an unrepentant murderer… 

On a side note, if he was going to do things like that I really wish that he’d step up and own his actions instead of hiding behind ‘I don’t want to do this but I have to’ – if you contrast it against Damon, the supposed bad brother in Stefan’s head, then Damon would have owned it, he would have decided he needed to do this, done it and not regretted or whinged about it. For me that makes Stefan come across as a coward, and hiding behind excuses and desperation to make it ok, to make it the ‘right thing to do’. I really hope that this season we get to see Stefan unravelling further because he’s always been an all or nothing kind of guy and he’s never learnt or understood moderation or even come to terms with his true nature. Whenever his massive killing spree along the east coast is mentioned (which is almost never because apparently most of the characters have forgotten how many people he murdered…) he always refers to ‘The Ripper’ as a separate person, he’s never owned up to and accepted his choices, his actions and the consequences of those. So for me personally, I really hope that this episode and the sheer awfulness of Stefan (props to Paul Wesley for his fantastic acting) leads on to us seeing a greater character arc with Stefan falling completely of the rails and rebuilding himself, not just pretending it never happened.

Caroline on the other hand, I’d quite like to slap, repeatedly. We appear to have regressed back to Season 1 Caroline, and really, if we’re going to lose every last bit of character development she’s had over the last two seasons, I may cry. However there are two things to consider before throwing heavy things at her. One, her reaction to Damon is kinda justified. He really did terrible things to her in Season 1, he used her, he manipulated her, he was going to kill her and she remembers all of that. Yes they’ve had an uneasy truce over the last couple of seasons but I don’t think she’s ever truly forgiven him for his actions towards her. My problem though is that this should really be addressed at some point, we need her to acknowledge that part of why she’s reacting so strongly towards Damon and Elena is due to his treatment of her.

Two, she could be projecting her own insecurities about her feelings for Klaus onto Elena. Because Klaus is really starting to get to her, he’s ‘weaselling his way into her little vampire heart.’ And I don’t think she quite knows how to handle that. Because he really was getting to her this week, those scenes had me melting. The moment where he takes out her Miss Mystic Falls application and starts quoting it had me giggling like a schoolgirl, it was gorgeous, and funny and a breath of fresh air, and I love the chemistry between the two of them. And really, whilst Damon has done his fair share of bad things in his time, Klaus has done a hell of a lot worse. This is a guy who frequently puts his siblings in the time out coffin of doom just because he’s in a petulant mood at not getting his way, and I think any feelings she’s starting to notice for him are scaring the hell out of her. However, again, I want acknowledgement of this instead of her hating on Elena in very public loud shaming sessions, which let’s face it, were not nice Caroline, particularly as she couldn’t even see ‘how did I become the bad guy?’ I would also like to gift Caroline with Seasons 1-3 of The Vampire Diaries seeing as how she seems to be under the misguided impression that Damon is never right. Please see every situation in the history of this show where Damon is always right…

I have to admit though, it does look like Caroline is just going a judgemental spree given the web clip for next week’s episode where she seems pretty judgy about Bonnie’s choice of crush. I either want character development or a royal smack down courtesy of Elena in the next few episodes, because much as I love Caroline, this neurotic whiny judgemental girl who’s come out to play doesn’t seem a whole lot like the Caroline I love.

Let’s talk about Jeremy next, who I am loving this season. He’s got a fantastic plot, which is slowly being peeled back and more layers revealed each week and it is utterly brilliant. I’m fascinated by this plot. And I am loving the sibling conflict it’s creating. McQueen is really pulling it out the bag, most obviously this week, that moment where he looked up opened his eyes and stabbed Elena in the neck? Chilling, I have never been more afraid of him/for him, and I am so excited about that. I can’t wait to see how Elena and Jeremy interact, and how this continues to unfold. I’m just worried that it’s all going to end in tragedy for the littlest Gilbert. One thing’s for sure though, if it does? McQueen is going to give us the best damn show before he goes, that much is obvious. I’d also like to give him a round of applause for staking Stefan for being a royal pain in the ass and trying to intimidate and compel him into doing what he wants. This little brother just got bad ass…

Now intricately bound up in the Hunter/Shane/Silas/Cure tango are Hayley and the Hybrids? I didn’t see that one coming, but I’m loving the additions. I feel like I’m playing a chess match, and whilst I was paying attention to one bit, the writers have maneuverered me to be completely surrounded. Something big is falling into place, and this slow reveal is pitched brilliantly – well done writers, you’ve got me. Hayley is absolutely brilliant. I loved (strangely) the scene with her helping to unsire another hybrid (hey look guys, we’ve just been re-reminded of the sire bond, anyone need a refresher?...) and persuading Tyler to take her to the Pageant. It was strangely electric, there’s no denying her and Ty have chemistry, and I’m fascinated to see where they go next. Also her mocking put down of the whole affair left me chuckling, and ‘I have claws’ – hell, I’m surprised Tyler didn’t jump her then and there.

Speaking of awesome people, I’d like to set up a Matt appreciation club. He’s always been lovely, sometimes a little bit misguided, but I never really feel like he’s been included in storylines properly. He has his odd moments, and then he’s back to the odd moment bussing tables at the Grill, and I miss him. This however has the makings of genius on several levels. First, let’s take a moment to appreciate his moment where he stepped up for April 'I got this' - cue swooning! Also his sleuthing ninja skills that we saw in Episode 6 where he connected the explosion to Shane – atta boy Matt, people are always shady in this town, I’m glad someone’s paying attention. It also offered us a nice moment between him and Damon which I have a feeling is going to be quite important later on in the series. Let’s think back to last season where Elena had several heart to hearts about her, well, heart… But not with Caroline or Bonnie, but with Matt. 

She talked to him about how confused she was, how she felt safe with Stefan but was consumed by Damon – she talked to him about the fact that did have feelings for Damon, that he’d gotten under skin, and acknowledged that she loved vampires (plural.) This was all whilst she was human, whilst she couldn’t be acting strangely or differently if we’re going by Stefan logic, which is always a bit flawed anyway… I think that now Matt is going to one person who is firmly on Team Delena. He knew and understood that Elena had feelings for Damon, that she loved him, even if she wouldn’t say the words out loud. He was driving her to Damon so she could tell him goodbye when he was dying. Matt has never judged her feelings for Damon and has supported her more than either of the girls, and I think now, with Caroline and Stefan having been replaced by banshees and trying to make Damon think that these feelings aren’t real, Matt could play a key role. Just look at that little half smile when Jeremy asks him where Elena’s going to go… Matt, closet Delena supporter.I also adore the fact that he’s actually turning into Ric. He’s the one looking through the research and trying to help Jeremy, he’s taking care of Jeremy in a way that no one else appears capable of doing, and now he’s moved in with him and the epic bromance can finally start… Oh be still my heart!

And now we come to Damon and Elena, who can’t really be talked about separately because of how interwoven they are right now. I loved this episode for them. I loved the call backs to the last Miss Mystic Falls, I loved Damon saying that he was ‘still here’, I loved the lingering looks and eye flirting going on whilst the dance of the non touch was happening. And I loved the progress that was made after three seasons of dancing around the point.
Elena finally admits to Damon that she has feelings for him.

That ‘You’ actually broke my heart a little bit, just for the look on Damon’s face. That half smile whilst he thought she was going to take it back or say ‘but’ or anything to take this away from him, and then the look of pure disbelief, of vulnerability and humanity as he realizes that the girl he’s in love with, the girl he knew he’d never have, has just chosen him. And let’s face it, this is the first time Damon has ever been chosen. His father preferred Stefan, Katherine preferred Stefan, Elena preferred Stefan – ‘It’s always going to be Stefan’. He has never been chosen not by someone whom he loves, and that look on his face as he realised all this damn near broke my heart. If that was all the Damon and Elena goodness we’d gotten this episode, I would have still been happy.

But then we finally see Elena stand up to Stefan, to see her realise what a terrible person he can be – he is trying to ‘save her’ by destroying the one person she cares about and loves most in the world, her little brother, and the look of horror on her face was such a sight for sore eyes. It was so good to see her finally stand up after six episodes of being pushed around about how she shouldn’t be a vampire and this isn’t who she is, and bad Elena, feel guilty and crippled for the fact that you aren’t golden and pure enough for Stefan anymore – really, I’ve struggled with Stefan’s perception of her and attitude towards her ever since she’s turned. 

For her to finally stand up to Stefan and say ‘This is who I am now. You don’t have to love me like this. The old Elena died when she went off that bridge, you need to let her go.’ Note we don’t know which time she went off that bridge she’s referring to, and I think it’s as much about when Damon jumped with her in the last episode, as when she drowned in the truck. I damn near cheered when she said that to him.

And then we’re treated to my favourite scene in the entire episode. I’m going to talk about the intercutting banshee wail of Caroline afterwards, because I’d like to just enjoy Damon and Elena for a minute…
First off, I’m loving the evolution of Elena’s dress sense, she has definitely gotten more stylish since she turned, and it makes her seem more confident, more poised and assured of herself and who she is, and I love that. P.s. I love those boots!

The conversation is so easy and natural between them, aside from Matt Damon is the only person who is accepting her as she is, who loves her regardless of whether she’s a human or a vampire, who has ‘never seen her more alive.’ I loved that Elena acknowledged that she’d been thinking about the last Pageant, about their dance together, and that she’d wanted to dance with him today. I also love that of the two of them it is Elena doing all the talking, this is all her, regardless of any information we might be about to find out. There is absolutely nothing on Damon’s part of encourage this outpouring from her. He just sits there and looks silently flawed by what he’s hearing, and really if you put that with the ‘you’ from earlier, I’m not really surprised. He’s more vulnerable and more human now than we’ve ever seen him before, and much as I love cocky and arrogant and funny Damon, I love seeing him like this even more.

And really how perfect is that dance? It’s quiet, it’s content, they are both so comfortable with each other and it looks as though they are coming home as he settles his head against hers. It’s beautiful and the music choice of ‘Kiss Me’ by Ed Sheeran just makes it into an even more beautiful moment.
I love that first kiss between them, lingering and quiet, after the explosion of a kiss that they last had outside the motel in 3x19, and I love how it builds. I would have loved for Damon to pull back and look at her, not to say anything, but just to try and find some reassurance that this is what she wants, because it does go from kiss to explosion pretty quickly, and I would have liked some sort of moment where he gets some reassurance.
That said I love that she takes the initiative to start with, the furniture/lamp throwing and pinning him to the wall (another fantastic moment of him looking completely undone by her as if he truly can’t believe what’s happening.) But I also love that the power is equal, he pins her, he responds; it’s on an equal footing that they come together. And that’s shown even further when they make it up to his bedroom. Again, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Damon more human and vulnerable, he is completely undone by her and it seems like she knows it if that smile is anything to go by. It’s passionate, it’s sexy and steamy and I loved it, and that last kiss before the title card? Gorgeous.

And then we have the controversial element, aka the shrill yapping of Caroline as she continues to incorrectly use the term epic to describe Stefan and Elena’s relationship. I would love to know why Caroline appears to have completely forgotten about Stefan’s ripper spate, and again, please can we see this addressed at a later point? In the mean time, on to the sire bond, which actually doesn’t worry me too much. I think whoever decided to cut the scenes of Damon and Elena and Caroline and Stefan together for ‘dramatic effect’ was not in their right mind. It meant that a lot of fans felt like the scene was ruined, that Damon and Elena were not given their proper moment, which is incredibly annoying given how long we’ve been waiting for this to happen. It also put a huge asterix next to this triangle development where it could potentially go the way that this could all be explained away and the progress between Damon and Elena didn’t mean anything which, yeah, if they go that way would be awful, but I don’t think it will.

If you look back at the last three seasons the relationship between Damon and Elena has been so carefully constructed. The show is a love letter to the relationship developing between them. No that’s not all that this show is, there’s so much more than that and their relationship. And let me be clear, I loved her and Stefan’s relationship for the first two seasons. But if you look back through everything Elena and Damon have gone through, the careful development between them, the symbolism behind some of the moments, it’s all been quietly developing and paving the way to give them their proper due, and I think that if you’re convinced that the sire bond is going to undermine that and after a couple of episodes she’ll be ‘fixed’ and back with Stefan, you may have been watching a different show.

As I said earlier, we know Elena had feelings for Damon before she was turned, and Matt will be a testament to that. Stefan and Elena’s relationship has been broken ever since he went off with Klaus at the start of Season 3, and even though they did try and patch things back together with sticky tape, they were never really in the same relationship that they had been for the first two seasons, and neither was looking at the other with clear eyes. Elena was overlooking the fact that Stefan had gone out and killed a bunch of people – hell, had even threatened to kill her in the most psychologically and emotionally traumatic way possible. And Stefan was overlooking that he’d done those things too, and that whilst he’d been away Elena had changed. She’d grown, she’d learned to defend herself, she was standing on her two feet rather than leaning against him, and as a result her relationship with Damon and grown and evolved and changed. They were both hiding those changes and trying desperately to be the people they used to be. It would have fallen apart regardless of whether Elena had turned. And now Elena has seen how Stefan sees her, as something that needs to be fixed, as someone he needs to make better, as someone who is not good enough.

That realisation has set her free in a way, and she now feels like she can explore her feelings for Damon, real feelings that have been there for a long time, no matter how hard she’s fought against them. Do I think this relationship would have developed between them without the sire bond? Absolutely! But I think the sire bond will make it more interesting. This means that Damon, who has finally gotten all that he wanted, will now be terrified that she is only with him because of the bond, and because of how much he loves Elena he isn’t going to want this relationship unless it’s real. That’s all he’s ever wanted with her, for it to be real, otherwise he doesn’t want it. He’s going to be heartbroken, but he’s going to try and distance himself from her because he loves her.

She on the other hand knows that she loved him before she turned, she knows her feelings and I think it’s going to be her turn to convince him. She’s going to have to chase him, to prove to him that she loves him, and not just because it was his blood that turned her, and I’m really looking forward to watching that.
And an interview Julie Plec did over at Zap2it only makes that even clearer. She refers to the sire bond as ‘the tiniest of obstacles’ and says that ‘He (Damon) wants it to be real. She knows it’s real.’ I think that means that there’s more hope than ever that this relationship between them is real, that it won’t just be tossed away and explained out of existence in a couple of episodes. I don’t think that the writer’s would have spent this long carefully crafting their relationship only to toss it away on a cheap thing like this. So I trust the writer’s. I have faith that this is going to be the start of a fascinating storyline that is going to be heartbreaking to watch, but ultimately really rewarding. If I’m wrong, and my trust is broken in some horrible trick then I probably won’t be able to watch the show in the same way ever again, which would be tragic. But I don’t think it’s going to go that way, I think we’re going to finally get a pay off for this, and the sire bond is just another bump in the road that will ultimately make Damon and Elena’s relationship even stronger.  After all, they've been planing Elena being sired to Damon since the start of Season 3, you don't put that much planning into a throw away story.It's all down to trust, and I trust the writer's.

Wow, turns out I had an awful lot to talk about this week, so if you’re still reading, thank you for sticking with me! I’d love to hear what you make of all the shenanigans of this episode and the new development of the sire bond, so please chare in the comments below. And next week we have slumber parties with plenty of judging, flashbacks to Damon in uniform, and Elena wearing Damon’s shirt the morning after. I know I can’t wait…

Other recaps you should check out! Because they are voices of sanity, interesting and very funny.
Thomas Galvin, Price Peterson, SalvatoreBH, Dianne Sylvan, Iphignia, Laurie aka WhoLovesTv, you should also check out Rophy's review which isn't up yet, but should be up on their site soon...

If you’ve enjoyed this recap, other recaps, or any of my other reviews I would love if you’d take a minute to watch this video. I’ve made it to the top 10 UK book bloggers in a competition run by Mira Ink to win a position as their new in house editor, and in order to win I need to get as many views, likes and comments on this video as possible. It’s only 60 seconds, and would mean the world to me if you could check it out. Thank you!

The Vampire Diaries Review: We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes

Spoilers for the episode ahead!

Firstly apologies for the lack of a top five favourite moments for last week’s episode. It was an awesome episode, but a hideous week for me, so instead of trying to cram it in with all the excitements from this week, I will post it next week during the thanksgiving hiatus instead.

Did anyone else have problems catching their breath after this week’s episode? It’s promised to be pretty awesome right from the very first details started emerging several weeks ago – hints and teasers and it more than lived up to expectations for me. Watching the internet slowly combust over each scene was definitely one of my favourite parts of a truly spectacular episode. We had character development, ground work for the rest of the series and some pretty major shifts in every story.

So without further ado below are my top five favourite moments/things of the episode, only it was so good I can’t guarantee that it will manage to be contained to five, but I’ll try my best.

Let’s start with that opening, it certainly got my attention. No matter how easy it is to revive people on this show most of the time, that doesn’t diminish the shock value of seeing a character we love die. Similarly to when Elena found Ric dying from the stab would in Season 3 and had to help him by killing him, this moment with stabbing Jeremy in the neck evoked a similar response from me. It set the tone of the episode, and it didn’t let up for the rest of the hour.

The new big bad. Now yes ok it was just a brief head nod to the idea of the new big bad we may see, but Silas sounds a little bit scary to me, even if Damon merely paused before continuing on in his epic quest for love. If you pay attention to the slides happening behind Atticus Shane (Atticus!) we see not only the big hefty rock with Silas carved into it, but also a slide with the weird symbols we’ve seen Connor carving into stuff… Intrigued yet? I sure as hell am, particularly given that little Gilbert is now fully embroiled into this whole big saga. I’m glad they clued him in with all the information that Shane had before he went for it, although do we really trust Shane? It could just be that this show has given me serious trust issues, but whilst I love this character I sure as hell do not trust him as far as I can throw him…

But Jeremy takes us nicely into the sheer awesome of his new thread. He now has a reason for being in direct cahoots with Stefan and Klaus, and I cannot wait to see this play out. But at the same time, I’m a little bit terrified about his new Hunter status. We found out a little bit last week about Connor being unable to control the compulsion to kill as many vampires as possible – that doesn’t sound good to me. On the other hand, Jeremy covered in blood splatters whilst gory was kind of awesome, he may not have hit bad ass a few weeks back when he thought he had, but he is definitely heading that way now.

Let’s take a minute to talk about the hallucinations. These were brilliantly done, the acting, the editing, just everything about it worked brilliantly. I loved the forms these hallucinations took, Elena and her merry band of crazy trundling around town with a bloody Connor, bored Katherine and perhaps most shocking for me personally, was her Mother. I kinda expected to see Connor making life hell for Elena, and yes it was gruesome but he didn’t really get to her too badly. I loved seeing Katherine back again even in hallucination form, and it was fantastic to have her play the voice of the audience, to really take Elena to task over how pathetic she has been, to voice those fears and those frustrations and to almost be a nod to the audience to say, we know, we’re just waiting for Elena to catch on. And actually I loved that Elena tried to stand up to them but ultimately failed and broke under their torment, but that she at least acknowledged all of the things they threw at her. It felt like we finally saw development with Elena where she gets a grip, realises that this is her life, these are her fears, and she needs to suck it up or give up, and whilst it takes Damon’s help for her to realise she doesn’t want to give up, she does decide that.

The hallucination that was most shocking for me, was her Mother. It seemed almost sneaky and underhand, and what it is with these mothers and their insistence that their children have turned into monsters? I’m glad that it wasn’t Connor or Katherine that broke her, that it was someone much closer to her, who she would legitimately listen to that finally broke down the last of her will and convinced herself to commit suicide. I also love the symbolism of her dying in the same way as her birth mother – this show guys, it’s just brilliant.

Can I put three moments at the top of my list? Because part of me wants to put the final scene between Stefan and Elena at the top spot, but my inner shipper would like to put the scene between Damon and Elena in here too – and if we’re going here, then I really loved that moment on the bridge too…

So let’s start with the bridge. I loved that Damon knew her well enough that of course she’d go back to the symbolic place that she died. I also loved his attempts at mildly snarky humour to try and humour her or distract her enough to get a little bit closer to her and how they worked up to a point. Can we also take a moment to celebrate both the sheer brilliance of the acting and editing of this scene to have the hallucination Connor present and devil talking over Elena’s shoulder, her torn between him and Damon and Damon having no idea what she’s looking at. The whole thing played out so brilliantly. I’ve already mentioned my insane amounts of love for how the hallucinations were shot and edited, but that all really came to a head in this scene because it was the first time that we saw the two conflicting forces at work in the tug of war for Elena, and the look of complete loss and deadness in her eyes when she had truly given up hope was just phenomenal. Then that brief moment of reprieve and relief when Connor is gone before the sun gets to work before Elena panics (as she does so well) and Damon grabs her and throws them both off the bridge into the river. I actually gasped when that happened, because yes, brilliant idea and also, sopping wet Damon! 

Only then we cut to Elena sleeping and whilst I appreciate the logistics of shooting Damon and Elena and the search for the ring, presumably whilst she’s unconscious because she’s helpful like that (side note, would he stick her in the cab of Matt’s truck whilst he searched?) would be a little much, did we really have to be denied the beautiful sight of a sopping wet Damon carrying an unconscious Elena home? We like his heroic moments!

I just love the symbolism of this whole scene. Elena has been fighting her darker vampire nature for the last six episodes and really driven home (or tried to) how much she didn’t want to be that person and how she wanted to be the human girl who died on Wickery Bridge. I loved that she came back there this time only this time with Damon, and that in order to save her he took that leap with her into the water – Stefan has pulled her from the water twice, but this time to save her she goes into the water and Damon is there with her every step of the way. It felt like a reiteration of Damon saying in episode 5 he loves her either way, regardless of whether she’s vampire or human, and also a final laying to rest of that part of Elena. I’m looking forward to seeing how she moves forward from this point onwards, and whether her acceptance of herself sticks.

Anyway, so we than have another fantastic scene with Elena waking up with her ring (only this time Damon placed it there, Damon shippers, you may combust now) with Damon holding vigil in the windowseat. Everything about this scene was just so fantastically beautiful. I loved his concern with no ulterior motives, just out of genuine love for her, and I love that she finally says thank you and acknowledges that he saved her and she would be dead without him. There is a lot of talk between the brother’s with Stefan always respecting her choices and Damon always saying that he would always save her, but this is the first time we’ve really seen Damon take action, save her and for her to realise his actions. I just loved the quiet love and gratitude in this scene, and that Elena finally acknowledges not only his saving her, but starting to really acknowledge her own feelings for him instead of pushing him and them away.

I also loved that we got to see in this scene how much Damon has evolved over the course of the show. Series one Damon, there is no doubt he would have been working this scene to his own ends, but we actually get to see Damon take the higher road, to try and talk Elena into the virtues of his brother instead of pushing his advantage. I loved watching it, and it sets up the groundwork for some really fantastic scenes between the two of them over the next few episodes, with Damon still in love with her but not having pushed any unfair advantages, and Elena acknowledging her own and his feelings and not feeling betrayed by manipulations which he could have taken this episode. They’re approaching each other on equal ground, and I can’t wait to see it.

And then we have the heartbreak of the final scene between Stefan and Elena. I have to say I’m really glad that it was Stefan ending things rather than the other way round. So many times the decision has been in Elena’s hands and she hasn’t taken it, so it was nice to see him take control and say ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ It was also a fantastic call back to Season 2 when they were pretending to fight and he tells her that every time he says ‘I can’t do this anymore’ it means he loves her.
It was the first honest conversation Elena and Stefan have had in so long and it was fantastic to have this development and progress to really shake everything up. 

It was heartbreaking – Paul Wesley really killed it, and yet at the same time, it breathed fresh air into a triangle that was feeling stale.

So what did you make of this episode? Any favourite moments that I’ve missed? What about that break up, pleased or distraught? 

And what about that promo for episode 7 – so long as we all survive the hiatus next week…

TV, Trailers and Awesome... Oh My!

It feels like we've had a sudden flurry of truly spectacularly heart stopping awesome coming at all sides for all fandoms over the last few weeks, but more noticeably in the last few days.

Everything from logos, to stills for upcoming tv episodes, to the incredible episodes themselves, to some truly spectacularly jam packed teaser trailers that have have highlighted once more just how long we now have to wait before we get the full thing!
It's been the end of an era with The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn part 2 finally coming to town tomorrow, and is it just me or do the trailers look as though they finally might have struck the right note on their last outing?
We've got new excitements in old friends - yes Hobbit, I am indeed looking at you and the soundtrack stream that Empire had up on their website this week.
Friends that keep on getting better and better with some highly intriguing flashbacks from The Vampire Diaries, and some new book to film adaptations that look set to fill up the void that Potter and Twilight have left behind.

So without further ado here are my top four awesome picks that have had my heart racing.

I defy anyone who is part of The Vampire Diaries fandom to not swoon at one or both of these pictures - I think more than one person lost the use of their knees at the sight of Damon in uniform. Two weeks running these are stills from episodes seven and eight of Season 4. The only downside is that we have a week's hiatus to get to that point. It's ok, we can be strong though - we've got these to see us through!
The whole of Season four though deserves a mention, not just for little tiny spoilers and teasers like these ones, but because week after week this has to be one of the most solid seasons we've seen on an already incredible show. Can you tell I'm enjoying it?...
Next up we have the trailer for The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I first read the book when it was initially released, so I'm a little bit hazy on most of the ins and outs of the plot, but I remember the basics. I also remember it being wildly different from The Twilight Saga, so don't go judging it just because you see Meyer's name attached to it.

Possibly due to the length of time that it's been since I read the book I really haven't been excited about the film for this one at all, it just hasn't cropped up on my radar, but when this finally snuck up on me it most definitely caught my attention. It's a great trailer, it definitely showcases how different this world and idea is from Twilight, and it doesn't hurt that they've used 'Radioactive' by Imagine Dragons as the music in the trailer.

Next up is the trailer for Warm Bodies  based on the book of the same name by Isaac Marion.
I loved the book, and I don't do zombie romance, so that is an impressive feat all of its own. In fact it's not really a romance, forget I ever said that. It's funny, it's dark, it's poetic and beautiful and apparently Marion has a lot of issues regarding the marketing of his book in some cases as Young Adult, which just makes me want to throw things. It also makes it ironic that Stephenie Meyer blurbed it, and doubly ironic that the 'What Are You?' moment in the trailer, the girl looks almost exactly like Kristen Stewart from Twilight...
Personal preferences aside though, the trailer looks fantastic - faster paced than I imagined, but it still captured a lot of what I imagined whilst I read it perfectly.

And really, what could possibly beat the teaser trailer released last night for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones based on the book of the same name by Cassandra Clare. I remember seeing the first picture on day one of filming and being filled with this incredible excitement that these characters were being pulled out of the page and brought to life for me - and this has just magnified that feeling a thousand fold. Everything is perfect, the casting, the music, I literally cannot watch it just once, it pulls me in, it gives me goosebumps, and I keep squeeing about to anyone who will listen.
"Welcome to the City of Bones..."

So what has your blood racing at the moment, any trailers I've missed or hot excitements you're shrieking about? Tell me all about them in the comments below!

The Vampire Diaries Review: The Five

Spoilers below for the episode!

So this week’s Vampire Diaries threw me for a loop. I didn’t quite know what to make of it to start with, but it’s growing on me. That could just be Damon sexy dancing, that’s growing on me too. Does anyone else just imagine Damon’s life pre return to Mystic Falls being one giant frat party? Just me? It didn’t quite pack the emotional high stakes punch that I was expecting, but it crammed in a lot of new mythology that sets us up brilliantly for the rest of the season, and I’m really curious to see where the show goes from here. But in the mean time, here are my five favourite things about last night's episode!

Starting at number five is the new Professor. I don’t trust the Professor guy – he hangs out at frat parties? Really?
But it’ll be great to see Bonnie have a good storyline, and maybe, just maybe some character development? That would be nice… She feels, of all the characters, the most stagnant, and I’d really like to see more of her coming into her own and discovering a bit more of her powers, and again, maybe learning what the fun word means. So if the new Professor helps with that, I am all for it.
However, he is shady and he has weird connections, so whilst I loved his introduction, I am not convinced that I like him yet.

Elijah! Do I really need to say any more than that?! I’m just so happy to see him back again! I want him to come and knock some sense into everyone please. But any appearance by Elijah, even if it is on a bad wig day, is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.

The cure. Now I’ll admit, when this first came up watching it live, my reaction was closer to Thomas Galvin’s tweet at the time (for whichI will link but not post due to content…) but then I slept on it and I thought about it, and I’ve come to terms with it, and I actually kind of like it.
There is a cure in the books, so there is always that element to play with, but more than that, I like it because it introduces this big jigsaw piece of mythology to the world, and it brings in the conflict.
Now if it works and we start turning vampires back human again I will go absolutely mental. (Again, Thomas captures my thoughts perfectly.) But as a concept, I really like it.
It brings in this desperate denial search for Stefan, whilst Damon is actually trying to help her adjust to the reality, and it brings in a conflict for the audience. I personally really don’t want to see Elena turned back to human, I’m really liking watching her transition and her slow growth and development, and if we scupper all that in favour of turning her back human I will not be pleased. But, as an audience the quest for answers means we will be invested, we want to know if they find it, if they will use it, if there will be any hideous side effects or price to pay for using it. But I am also intrigued because of Season 2 and the sun and the moon curse. No one was staggeringly happy when that was introduced, and then we find out two thirds of the way through the season that it was a fake one made up by Klaus to bring the doppelganger out. Genius. So I am not taking this curse at face value yet, but writers, you have my attention, I’m listening, now bring me in.

Klaus: “Rebekah love, eat your veggies.”
Rebekah: “I’m not eating until you apologise.”
Klaus: “For which indiscretion? There have been so many.”
Rebekah: “You broke my neck!”
Klaus: “You threw away Elena’s blood so I can’t make any more hybrids.”
Rebekah: “You took me for granted!”
Klaus: “That’s what big brother’s do sweetheart.”
Stefan: “Let me just name the million other people I’d rather be having dinner with right now…”
Oh dear god I loved this. If there is one thing TVD excels at, it is strange dinner parties, and I LOVE when they throw them. Klaus is a partciularly fantastic host. I loved this whole storyline. Firstly, Stefan is so much more interesting when he’s not with Elena, I love the snark that comes out to play, and I love his dynamic with these two given all the history they have.
I loved the very normal sibling conversation and rivalry coming out to play, and how Stefan’s been caught up in it. And most of all I loved Rebekah. She’s been a fantastic character right from the start, and Holt has played her to perfection – mean but with a vulnerable streak a mile wide that makes the audience still sympathise with her. And that was out in spades in this episode. She broke my heart in that final scene, first with Stefan and then with Klaus.

That frat party. I loved seeing Elena let loose and have a little bit of fun. I loved seeing the sexy bad ass Damon we haven’t seen as much of over the last couple of seasons. But most of all I loved the two of them dancing and having fun and getting flirty. It was fun, it was sexy, and it was so good to see Elena come down a little bit off the Stefan high horse.
I actually kind of liked how the scene ended up, if they’d ended up kissing or anything that would have completely undermined the relationship, and besides no matter how high on blood she is, Elena doesn’t strike me as the cheating kind. But I love that she is coming to Damon, she’s being flirty right back, she wants his help and she is starting to recognise that she is a lot more like him than she’d like to admit. Similarly, if Elena hadn’t had an attack of the guilty conscience that would have been too much of a character shift too quickly. What I love is that the writers are showing these moments of her, the walls are coming down and she is slowly starting to lose it. Yes it’s a slow process, but part of the awesomeness of it is the sheer nerve wrenching anticipation of it all. Similarly to her and Damon, eventually it will happen, and I’m enjoying how deliciously tantalising these moments are becoming. Elena’s breaking apart, and it’s fascinating to watch, and I doubt it’s going to be Stefan ultimately who picks up the pieces.

So that was me. What did you make of the episode? Excited for the new mythology, or horrified there might be a cure? And will Connor finally lose it next week after being held in the red room of pain? Answer in the comments below!

The Vampire Diaries Review: The Rager

Spoilers for the episode below!

So this week’s Vampire Diaries continued the awesome streak they’ve got going on. It didn’t thrill me in quite the same way as last week’s, but it was still a really fantastic episode. I’m loving the storylines coming together and the character developments we’re starting to see already. So here is my compiled list of the top five moments/things about this episode that I loved.

“Tell me that is not a bomb.”
“Ok. It’s a kitten. An adorable, exploding kitten.”
“Why didn’t you call your brother?”
“Because I’m proud. And stubborn. And, oh look! You’re already here!”
This whole scene was just fantastic. We’ve never really gotten to see Meredith and Damon together without Ric to act as a Damon buffer, or Meredith attempting to steal Damon’s blood. And they just had this fantastic dynamic between them. Not romantic in anyway, but I could totally see Meredith and Damon teaming up and being awesome – they have witty banter, medical skills, and bad assery on their side after all. It’s also really good to see someone  really see Damon, he’s seemed so lonely since Ric died and Meredith looks like she could really be a good friend for him.

Speaking of awesome teams, who’d have thunk that Damon and Klaus could be quite so fantastic together? I’m a bit sad that Klaus was brought back so quickly, not because I don’t love Joseph Morgan, every episode he’s in makes me unbelievably happy, but I thought that a bigger break from Klaus would have probably been a good thing and given his return more of an impact. That said, I love The Damon and Klaus team up, it was absolutely fantastic. It wasn’t so much good cop, bad cop, as ‘bad ass and more bad ass.’ Which always makes me smile.

It was great to see the werewolf venom hallucinations – both the hot make out with Stefan turning into Damon (and then giving her some sound advice about why she keeps seeing him) and that heart stopping (literally) moment with Rebekah and Matt. Oh my god you guys, I thought Matty was a goner for a second. I loved that the hallucinations were a bit more about home truths rather than just random things. We never really knew what Rose saw, and Damon saw a lot of mixes of Katherine and Elena, so it was really great to see Rebekah realize how quickly she resorts to violence when she feels hurt and Elena finally beginning to show the first glimmers of recognition that she isn’t human now, and she needs to start to learn and understand the difference in her and her outlook and beliefs and world. (Although I really felt awfully squicky at the start of the episode – did you see the size of that needle!!??)

I’m so excited to see the rekindling of the Stefan and Caroline friendship. That was such a fantastic element in Season 2 and then we lost it and we haven’t see the two of them interact really since then, which is tragic given how fantastic they are, so it was lovely for Stefan to come to her and acknowledge that Caroline really blossomed as a vampire and to ask for her help in his dark moments.

And finally, I am loving Elena’s vampy rage. We saw hints of it in episode one, and it definitely started to surface a little last week, but we’re really getting to some of the darker elements of her character now. It’s so fantastic to see a more selfish and darker side to her because human Elena had started to feel a little bland for me. The scenes with Rebekah were fantastic, that showdown in the bathroom? And Rebekah stealing Elena’s daylight ring? It’s so good to see Elena standing up and fighting for once, and actually getting angry about it. We saw it briefly last season when she stabbed Rebekah in the back, but it looks like it’s really coming out to play now, and I love it.

Was it just me or was Stefan being kind of condescending? Given the rage/blood bender that he was on for a good portion of last season, he really seems to be on Elena’s case an awful lot. I get that we don’t want her to go on a bender and kill people because the guilt might then cripple her, but he seems to be keeping her on an awfully tight leash – particularly at moments when the darker elements of her personality come through. The point is that those darker elements have always been a part of Elena – they didn’t surface very often when she was human – but they were there, and maybe it’s just that they came out more often when Stefan was off on his blood bender so he isn’t used to seeing them, but to me it feels like he’s trying to stifle those parts of her for fear of how she might change. I mean the way she reacts to him finding her when she’s feeling murderous is like a child about to be scolded. Yes ok, he was right and it was great watching him talk her down, but something about the two of them just doesn’t feel quite right to me at the moment.

I loved Stefan and Elena together when she was human, they were one of my favourite tv couples to watch, but after how Stefan treated her last season, and how Elena relinquished a lot of her self-respect begging him to come back, I’m a little tired of their relationship. I want to see her grow into herself and experiment – be that with Damon or another character. Although let’s face it, Damon is a very sexy option. And given the promo for next week’s episode it looks like we’re going to get plenty of darker Elena and plenty of sexy Damon. I loved him finally stepping up and saying to Elena at the end of the episode, this is silly, you’re not adjusting, and I can help, and her finally admitting that she does really need him. He can offer that support and guidance that Stefan can’t, because he has learnt moderation, whereas if she were to go to Stefan he would either demand they hunt bunnies or over indulge and go back to being a rippah, which is never good. 

So for me, I’m loving this development between the two of them, the development of both characters and where this might lead in the next episode. Somewhere very, very sexy from the looks of it… And it really felt like Damon offered to teach her how to be a vampire with no ulterior motive, other than a love and desire to see her not destroy herself.

So that’s me. What did you think? Any moments that I’ve missed that you loved? And are you loving this new darker side to Elena that we’re seeing? And are you excited about next week’s flashbacks! Elijah!

And in the long, long wait for next week, check out these other fantastic reviews: Postcards from Mystic Falls by Price Peterson and Zap2its Carina.

The Vampire Diaries Review: Memorial

Spoilers for the episode below!

So with a complete lack of time to spar my reviews of The Vampire Diaries stopped mid season three and I never really got the energy to go back and catch up. But now season 4 has started and it is just so good that I want to talk about incessantly to everyone. But that could get a little bit long and boring so I’m going to talk about my top five favourite moments/scenes/elements of the episode and then point you in the direction of some of my favourite (more thorough) recaps to tide you over until next week.

So the premier was pretty epic, it really laid the groundwork for a fantastic new season. I love that four seasons in Vampire Diaries effectively comes in, throws down, and says ‘this is how it’s done.’ There are no half measures here, and the show is just as engaging and funny and swoon worthy as it was all the way back in season one. But my only problem with the premier lacked some of the punch I’d hoped for because we all knew that Elena was going to turn, so some of the drama and tension was removed. However it was still a really strong opening, and laid plenty of ground work for this, episode two, and up there as one of my favourite Vampire Diaries episodes ever.

Ok in at number five is all the bloody vomit. And by bloody vomit I mean the plot line that Elena can’t keep anything down. Yes it was gross, but it certainly made everything a hell of a lot more tense about her transition than I felt last week. I love that we got to see her literally try everything before tapping a vein, and I loved that we got to see Elena really start to lose it and fall apart, something that the cool, calm and compassionate protagonist rarely seems to do on this show. I really, really hope that we get to see more of this side of Elena. I want to see her lose it, to see her maybe put a toe on a darker path, and see how she evolves and develops, it would make some fascinating storytelling. I also love that Matt was her first real feed, and how that came about. Although when did she learn how to be such a neat eater?! Their connection is something else that I want to see explored more this series, whether it’s romantically or platonically, I have always loved the scenes between Elena and Matt, and I think after the events of the finale the dynamic has shifted so much that it’s going to make their relationship even more intriguing to watch unfold.

Number four has to be Connor, who is terrifying and brilliant. Seriously, this guy likes to get stuff done, and he is a much more focused Hunter than we’ve seen before. He’s mean, terrifying, utterly ruthless (I actually gasped when he stabbed April) and brilliant. He’s certainly upped the stakes on what we can hope for in the current big bad, and he definitely is coming across as a lot scarier than some of the other big bads that we’ve seen on this show. I cannot wait for his plot line to unfurl and see how Jeremy factors into this. He’s scary, he’s brilliant, and he has bad ass bullets and gloves, I love him already.

I can’t help it, but number three is that scene between Elena and Damon, yes you know the one. No not the one where he’s being very sweet with her outside the church (although seriously, very cute.) The one in the bathroom of the Mystic Grill (which sees almost as much action as the Gilbert front porch.) Through little spoilers I knew that Elena was going to drink Damon’s blood, but that still didn’t prepare me for the onslaught of sexy that Dobrev and Somerhalder bring to this scene. Their chemistry is just through the roof. Yes ok Damon knew more about what ‘personal’ meant, but I think Elena had a pretty good idea too given the way she was writhing against him throughout, so she can’t really pull the entirely innocent card at Stefan later on.
Really it all comes down to the look on Damon’s face throughout, which just made the scene feel incredibly hot and sexy and intimate and I felt like a bit of a perv for watching it, but at the same time, yes, just yes.

At number two is the scene in the church which had so many elements combined to make me shriek like a crazy person.
I loved that we got the cast working together on a scene, we so rarely get everyone in one scene that it really made it a fantastic ensemble scene where we got the majority of our cast working together in this awful situation, and everyone was involved in one way or another. Which leads me into one of my big loves of this scene, vampire hearing. Yes I know, we know they can hear things that other people shouldn’t and we frequently get demonstrations of this in solitary moments where say, Caroline hears Finn talking across the square, but never have we gotten to see the characters using it to have a full on conversation together whilst at separate points across the room. I loved the initial moment where they all smell the blood and we have Elena up on stage and Tyler and Caroline freaking out on one side of the church and Stefan and Damon on the other side. I loved that the conflict included all of them even though it was specifically Elena losing the plot, and the shots of each of them reacting to moments like Elena feeding for the first time and Matt offering himself up as a tasty snack were just so brilliantly played. I also loved the choice of music, to have a hymn playing to disguise the conversation and the way the music swelled when Elena finally bit Matt – I got tingles, not gonna lie. It drew out the ensemble element and really made this scene stand out for me, all the elements came together to create a brilliant, high stakes and high tension scene that will go down as one of my favourites.

Number one has to go to that beautiful closing scene. I’m so glad that they finally took a step back and acknowledged the sheer number of friends and family that these characters have lost over the course of three series’ – I mean seriously, that body count is insane, and it was so nice to take a beat and remember them, all the way back to Uncle Zach. I was already starting to well up with the lantern lighting and acknowledgement of all the people they’ve lost, and there was a bit of me that was really sad that Damon ran off and refused to play, so I loved that they then showed Damon doing his own version of this with Alaric. The whole scene was just pitched so beautifully with him sat drinking at Alaric’s grave and talking about how they’re all children and he’s there because he knows that Ric would want him to help look after them and protect them, and then the camera pans out and… I cried, like a small child.
It was just so beautiful and poignant and perfect, and such a fitting tribute/goodbye to one of my favourite relationships on this show. Ric’s original goodbye in ‘Do Not Go Gentle’ packed a similar emotional punch (and dissolved me into similar amounts of tears) and I was ready to say goodbye to him after that. But then we had him turn into this big bad scary (which was fantastic) and I loved seeing that. But then he was gone and it felt like we didn’t really get that goodbye between him and Damon. So to have Damon grieving and missing him, and for his ghost to be sat there listening and grieving and missing him right back, was just so perfect there almost aren’t words. It all summed up so brilliantly with the only words Ric speaks throughout the entire scene “I miss you too buddy.” At which point the fandom as one, cried like small children. 

So those are my five favourites of the episode, what are yours? And what are you most excited about going into this season? In the mean time whilst we wait for next Thursday to roll around check out two of my favourite reviewers, Postcards from Mystic Falls by Price Peterson and Carina over at Zap2it