Monday, November 14, 2011

The Vampire Diaries: Homecoming (Season 3, Episode 9)

TVD promo stills wouldn't be the same without aghast faces.

Stefan calls his baby Klaus and tells him that Michael is dead. Klaus tests him because he knows Stefan is compelled to tell him the truth. Rebekah confirms this, and Klaus heads to Mystic Falls. The fact is, Michael agreed to be “killed,” the way originals are, and then resuscitated to murder Klaus. Stefan, Damon, Elena, and Rebekah are all in on it. Apparently Michael has a weapon from the original magic oak tree, instead of one simply dipped in its ash. Elena pulls the dagger out of Michael. Rebekah has an emotional reunion with her father, and not in a good way. He seems gentle with her, but she tells him that he turned them all into killers and ruined their family, including Klaus.

Elena complains that she has nothing to wear to Homecoming, and Bonnie complains that she doesn’t have a date. Elena tells her Caroline will kill them if they don’t go, but she offers an ear to Bonnie’s boyfriend problems. Bonnie points out that she doesn’t want to badmouth Elena’s brother to her, even if Elena is on her side. Elena shouldn’t have to get as angry at Jeremy as Bonnie is. Elena then joins Damon in preparing vervain grenades. She frets about the plan and questions Rebekah’s loyalty. Damon says he has a secret plan and is interrupted by Stefan who wants a tie. Elena worries that Stefan will be forced to give away their plan. He says that their plans are always epic failures and this is usually due to letting one’s humanity get in the way, something he will not do. I never knew Stefan was so cynical. I like it.

Stefan, you're the only one who really cares about me. Oh wait...
Rebekah weirdly says that she never had time for high school dances. In, what, the 19th century? The statuesque Claire Holt does an excellent job of portraying her shock and grief over killing her brother, whom she’s “loved and hated in equal measure.” Rebekah also tells Elena not to trust Michael, who is “not a good person.” No one in her family can be trusted. Elena says she looks amazing and gives her the original necklace. Rebekah is touched. Elena literally stabs her in the back because she can’t leave anything to chance. Elena is totally badass and hardcore here, even though she shows regret. (I really wanted Rebekah to go to the dance, and I feel so bad for her and a little angry at Elena, even though I know it’s irrational…)

Elena worries that she is the weak link since she feels so bad about staking Rebekah. Damon says she has nothing to worry about. Also, he doesn’t trust Michael or Stefan. He won’t tell Elena his plan, but he wants her out of the way. He asks if she trusts him. Without hesitating, she says yes. So he says she has nothing to worry about. Elsewhere, Caroline and Tyler decorate a car with glitter and paint. He asks if they can drink from humans who like to be fed on. She says no, obviously, and tells him to stop hanging out with Rebekah. He says he set her up with Matt since Rebekah’s hot and Matt’s on vervain. Caroline is concerned for Matt’s safety and Tyler’s loyalty. Tyler says if he’s sired to anyone, it’s Caroline. The proof: glitter on his hands.

This is not my party, so I can't cry, even if I want to.
Later that night, Caroline is distraught: the school has been flooded and homecoming cancelled. Tyler will move the party to his house. Elena tells Matt he needs a backup date. Caroline complains about Tyler’s ability to set up a party this quickly. She then realizes that she doesn’t recognize the guests. Stefan arrives and talks to Tyler, who says that this is actually a wake, set up by Klaus. He announces his thanks to everyone on stage for this long-time-coming event.

I actually like this band. Elena and Matt try not to let Caroline in on their plan, but they act completely suspicious. Elena tries to be tough. Matt and Caroline also comment on how weird it is that the two of them are at this dance together. Klaus notices that Rebekah isn’t there. He tells Stefan to bring Michael’s body to him. Stefan asks for his freedom in return. Klaus says he will give it to him “with pleasure” and wake up his siblings.

Are those giant letters behind Klaus?
The suave Michael shows Damon the dagger, says he’ll hold onto it instead of giving it to Damon, and threatens to drink from Damon. Katherine apparently told Damon about Michael’s carnivorous ways. Michael said he’s learned to feed on the predator instead of the innocent. Damon is a wee bit unnerved. Stefan walks in and tells them the deal. Damon says that Stefan isn’t part of the plan and Michael pounces on Stefan and drinks his blood. Poor child! Damon would have preferred a clean neck snap, but he follows Michael out, while looking sympathetically at his brother.

Klaus has a whole new group of slaves now. Perhaps this is why he’d give Stefan his freedom. Klaus tells Tyler to warn his friends not to retaliate against him because, by the way, he has an army of hybrids. Klaus, why can you be so smooth sometimes? Tyler confronts Caroline who tells him she knows nothing. She also says she wouldn’t tell him if she did. He vervains her. Klaus startles Elena (but he looks good in a suit). He says he’s impressed. She quips that this isn’t the first time she’s staked an original. He tells her to just try to kill him because it’s not going to work.

Miss Mystic Falls, 400 years and counting.
Damon arrives and rips the heart out of a hybrid. Nice! L Tyler tells Matt that he’s protecting Caroline. He states that he and the hybrids can’t fight against their desire to protect Klaus. He tells Matt to get Caroline and everyone out. Damon and Tyler the hybrid begin to fight in a private room and Bonnie mindwhammies them to prevent either one’s death. Damon has the special dagger since he’s the only one who can get into the Lockwood house. A hybrid informs Klaus that Michael is at the door. Klaus is ticked. He confronts his father from the safety of his house. His hybrids surround Michael, even ripping him apart won’t kill him. Michael has discovered that the hybrids can be compelled because they’re not all werewolf. One of the hybrids threatens Elena. Poor Klaus (I just wrote that) is teary eyed as his father degrades him.

Well, this is going up there with other epic TVD scenes. Michael threatens Elena and continues to laugh in Klaus’s face as Klaus says Michael can kill Elena. It’s so bad being at the mercy of these two. Michael says that Klaus has no friends he hasn’t forced and he can never be great only because of his impulse. Michael stabs Elena in the back as she falls to the ground. Klaus gasps. But then Elena pops up – it’s Katherine! She smiles and adorably says, “Ba-boom,” before throwing vervain grenades at the hybrids. (This was Katherine the whole time then – she is also afraid of Klaus.) At the same time, Damon attacks Klaus from behind, missing his heart and stabbing him in the stomach. (Won’t this kill Damon? Maybe not.) They struggle before Stefan pushes Damon and saves Klaus, who then leaps on his father and stabs him in the heart. Michael burns into nothing. Damon stares at Stefan aghast. Klaus says Stefan has earned his freedom. In a very romantic moment, Klaus grants Stefan his freedom and says, “Thank you, my friend.”

This one goes out to the one I love...

This scene tears me apart. Caroline wakes up and gets angry at Tyler. He says he was protecting her. She notes that he isn’t in control and he’s sired to the bad guy. He says it’s who he is, and she has to accept it. He never was in control and now he never has to undergo a horrible transformation again. Her expression indicates that she just can’t be with him. Oh Tyler and Caroline. Damon is also distraught. He planned for everything. Elena grabs his face and says they will get through this. Damon says Stefan is never coming back. She says they’ll let him go, then. Katherine calls and compliments him on his plan, in spite of its failure. He even says take care. Reveal: Stefan is in the car with Katherine. She says Damon will never know what went wrong. She wants to get as far away from Klaus as possible.

Apparently, Klaus said that if he died, his hybrids will kill Damon. Katherine loves Damon more than she fears and hates Klaus, so she helps Stefan and convinces him to save Klaus. Or he can die and they will be free. She also claims to want to save Stefan’s soul because she likes the old him. Then she says she wants him to get bad/mad (not sure which one). Klaus calls his staked sister for a family reunion. Stefan calls, and Klaus asks if he misses him already. Stefan says that he actually wants revenge. He and Katherine have whisked away Klaus’s family members. Klaus threatens to kill Stefan and everyone he loves, and Stefan says Klaus will never see his family again. Please don’t let this be the end of Klefan!

Monday, November 7, 2011

The Vampire Diaries: Ordinary People (Season 3, Episode 8)


I'm just a poor lass who likes to drink blood.


Elena and Alaric explore the underground caverns. Damon startles Elena, and is bummed by the ancient Lockwoods’ anti-vampire racism. Alaric points out drawings of werewolves and moon cycles. He also interprets the Viking runes to read the names of the three known originals. The history buff in me is going wild. Isn’t it cool that these dudes are soooo old? They are history? Flashback: Klaus chides Bekah for carving her name into the cave. She is a woman after all. She jokingly calls him traitor and tells him to stop telling father. He is scared of him. She notes that they all are, which is why they must stick together. That didn’t work out. She hands him the blade, purposefully, but playfully, cutting him. What perfect Norse they speak.

Elena wonders if this is one of Klaus’s tricks, but Alaric points out the name Michael, the vampire vampire hunter. Damon dubs him Papa Original. Snazzy music plays as Alaric has a sexy photoshoot with the cave drawings. He tries to decipher their meaning while Damon trains a hot and slightly sassy Elena, who is trying but failing to stake him. She suggests they go straight to the story’s source. Elena confronts Rebekah. At first, Rebekah tells Elena to follow her advice: give up on Stefan until he treats her better. But Rebekah is genuinely frightened when Elena threatens to wake Michael. She says they’re all doomed if he wakes up. Elena wants her to tell her the truth. Rebekah solemnly returns to “the girls.”

Flashback: Elijah and Klaus playfully swordfight as Rebekah and their little brother Henrick look on. Klaus cuts Elijah’s belt. Their parents arrive, and Michael dresses down Klaus before fighting with him and almost stabbing him in the head. Does this show have any good fathers? Present day: Alaric labels one (hilarious) photo of a sun with dripping fangs as a vampire after realizing that they could walk in the sun then. He labels a similar drawing with a moon as a werewolf.
Did you choose the red dress just because I'm a vampire, and you I assume I like the color of blood? Racist.

Elena tells Damon and Alaric that she can deal with Rebekah the cheerleader. Damon hopes she doesn’t “power struggle” herself into a wheelchair. Rebekah texts her to come on over. Do not underestimate Rebekah, Elena. Elena finds Rebekah playing music and drinking champagne. She has compelled the cheerleading squad to model homecoming dresses. When Elena refuses to choose a dress, Rebekah threatens to kill one. Elena quickly picks one, and Rebekah is satisfied she’s shown her who’s boss.

Damon and Stefan scene of awesomeness: Damon visits Stefan because it’s family day at vampire rehab. Stefan tries to convince him to leave, suggests that Elena isn’t safe with Rebekah, and makes fun of Elena’s terrible plans. Damon just calls him a liar and comments that Stefan really has given up. But then he frees Stefan and invites him for a drink. Yay! Elsewhere: is it weird that Bonnie and Alaric seem to have chemistry? People say he and Elena do, but to me theirs is minimal. Alaric shows Bonnie a drawing that looks like Elena’s necklace. He thinks it symbolizes a witch. He also asks her how she is and calls Jeremy an idiot. Alaric knows because he once was a Jeremy. He assures her that he will learn, eventually.

Rebekah snoops around Stefan’s room (he wears boxer briefs) and tells Elena that, after losing a child, their family listened to a witch and moved to a land where people were strong and healthy. These were the werewolves, apparently living in the New World. Flashback: Their family hid underground with the witch Ayana during every full moon. One night, Klaus and the littlest, Henrick, snuck out to watch them. Henrick was killed.
Every day I'm modelin'.

Rebekah says that was the beginning of the end. Damon calls (Rebekah knows it’s him) and says that he’s overdressed, wherever he is. What a surprise. Elena hears Stefan’s voice and scolds Damon for letting him out. Damon says he knows what he’s doing. No one on this show should ever say that. Stefan says he wants a drink that is a little warmer and blonder than whisky. He waves at the bartender. Damon smirks and compels her to give him a drink and offer her arm to Stefan. No one in the bar flinches as Stefan chows down on her arm. Damon flirts with her and she seems aroused. Well well.

How the tables have turned. Damon is giving Stefan advice. They play a drinking game, with alcohol and blood. Stefan says he’s had lots of time to practice drinking. Damon always wanted to have this kind of fun with his brother, but he points out that he likes the edge – Stefan, unfortunately, always falls over it. He can’t “just be.” Stefan is still suspicious. I see why I identify with Stefan now. I can be an all or nothing person.

Elena meangirls Rebekah into continuing the story. Rebekah says Stefan is a vampire, thus predatory, uncaring about human lives, and not a good match for Elena. Elena calls her out for caring about the homecoming dance, puts her down, and makes to leave. Rebekah says that the witch was the one who turned them into vampires. Flashback: Michael and his wife try to convince Ayana to do something about the wolves. She resists but offers a suggestion.
Don't be talking bad bout my fam.

Rebekah says that vampirism was a defense against the wolves. They needed to be more powerful than them. Michael didn’t want to run anymore. Flashback: Ayana says the consequences of living forever as monsters would be too great; the spirits would turn against them. She says she will have no part in this and leaves. Michael says it is in his wife’s hands. Rebekah explains that this original witch was literally that – the witch of the original family: her mother. (So she hates Klaus? She put the curse on them? What?)

Witches are servants of nature, vampires are abominations of nature. The original mother did not become a vampire. She cast a spell and Michael spiked his family’s wine with blood before brutally killing them. Flashback: Michael forces Klaus and Rebekah to drink blood from a girl. Rebekah describes it as “euphoric” and “indescribable.” But nature made them have weaknesses: the sun (their mother gave them protective jewelry), vervain (which grew at the base of the magical oak tree), and the villagers could keep them out of their houses. They burned the oak tree, which was also a danger to them. Their greatest weakness, though, was blood. They didn’t realize they would crave blood, that which transformed them.

This is so similar to season one when Stefan tried to befriend Damon. Also, it’s like two Damons. Hot. Damon dances on the bar with two ladies as Stefan sexually drinks from the bartender’s neck. Damon compels a bystander away and compels the bartender to forget about it. Damon says Stefan needs to fight back against Klaus. Stefan says he can’t be killed. Then, who should show up but Michael? He says hello to the “Salvatore boys.”
Did we just win the most dysfunctional family award? Quite a feat!

Rebekah says that they discovered Klaus’s werewolf side after he killed a human. His mother suppressed his dormant side and turned her back on him. Michael murdered half the village and tore out his wife’s heart in front of Klaus. What a messed up family. Flashback: Rebekah and Elijah say that they will stick with Klaus forever. I didn’t think originals needed jewelry to walk in the sun. Anyway, Rebekah says she still loves Klaus, and she will rip Elena apart if Michael kills him.

Michael interrogates Stefan about Klaus, but Stefan is compelled not to reveal anything. Michael reaches into Damon’s chest and threatens to kill him. He assumes his bond with his brother must be stronger than his link to Klaus. Though Stefan supposedly has no compassion, he eventually says that he can lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls. Michael says he will kill Stefan if he doesn’t kill Klaus. No one in the bar notices. This must be Mystic Falls. This means there is actually another bar here.

After looking at the Sanskrit, Elena realizes that Rebekah doesn’t know the real story. Elena shows Rebekah that Klaus killed his mother and lied to Rebekah. Elena says that Klaus has a hold over everyone and he has for a thousand years. I thought Klaus was the oldest vampire. Isn’t Rebekah? Why is Klaus stronger than all of them? Because of his werewolf side? Rebekah flips and gets real close and angry with Elena before collapsing in tears. Sad that Michael’s terror shifted to Klaus. Rebekah weeps by the fireside.
Surely there must be slash fanfiction about us.

I love this dynamic: Damon chides Stefan for taking so long to have his breakthrough. Stefan denies this; he says he saved his life because he wanted freedom from Klaus. He sounds a lot like Damon. Damon, also emotionally stifled, says that he has to save Stefan because… he has to. He owes him, he can’t let him rot, Stefan saved him, Stefan got him into this mess, etc. Stefan teases him about his humanity, and Damon kicks the crap out of him. Stefan finds this amusing. These guys.

PROFOUND SCENE: Damon appears in Elena’s bed and asks if she’s mad at him. He says that Michael is here, and Stefan’s a dick, but he’s on their side. Elena says she found out that Rebekah is just a vulnerable girl who loves blindly and recklessly. She gives Damon a meaningful look. He appears surprised. She says she thinks Stefan’s love for Damon, not her, will be what saves Stefan. She goes to sleep with him next to her.