Courtesy of The CW
Let me tell you a (not-so-secret) secret about myself: I love holiday episodes of TV shows. So how does this week’s The Vampire Diaries fare on its juxtaposition of the dark and the brightly coloured lights?
Let’s bitch it out..
Ok. So I was wrong. I can admit it. Obviously I hoped that he would do it, but I had no faith that Damon (Ian Somerhalder) would actually follow through in letting Elena (Nina Dobrev) go. It’s especially surprising considering how desperately she throws herself at him this episode. I’m kinda surprised Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) doesn’t kill her just for that fact alone.
Watching this episode, I realize exactly what it is that bothers me about the Elena/Damon union. Considering how much I love Damon, I could never understand why the idea of them bothers me so much. It shouldn’t surprise me, but obviously it’s Elena. Watching her tonight as she declares her love and tries to bring Damon into fun family memories as they sort the Christmas ornaments.. well, it feels weird. I can happily watch Damon’s unrequited love of Elena forever, as long as it is never returned. See when she is with him in that romantic way, I just don’t believe her. Maybe it’s the sire bond, maybe it’s just Nina Dobrev’s acting or maybe it’s a combination of the two, but as I watch them, I realize that it’s Elena that lets me down in this relationship. She’s much more believable playing the victim with Stefan (Paul Wesley). Yes, Elena and Damon have chemistry, but I have now concluded that the chemistry is all courtesy of Damon and has nothing to do with her. Hate me if you must, but I just don’t buy them together.
Courtesy of The CW
This season has really taken a turn in the storytelling and I haven’t always been on board with the decisions. It feels like a different show to me sometimes, but one way they have absolutely moved in the right direction is with the friendship between Caroline (Candice Accola) and Stefan. Right now, they’re the heart of the show for me. Jeremy is a hunter, Bonnie (Kat Graham) can’t do magic, Elena is a vampire, Damon and Elena are together, Tyler (Michael Trevino) is leading a revolution of hybrids… It’s all risky business as far as I’m concerned. But when I’m watching Caroline and Stefan interact and just be there for each other or have discussions about the guilt they feel for sending Klaus (Joseph Morgan) to the slaughter, it feels real. I can tell how much they care about each other and how much they want to help each other, even when it means making someone else angry. In a show that has lost me on some points this season, this brings it back from the brink for me.
A few more observations:
- I miss the old days where Tyler was just a jerk with rage issues. I get annoyed every time he’s on the screen now because of his holier than thou attitude about his whole hybrid revolution. He was a much better jerk than he is being the alpha to a doomed pack of werewolves.
- It has to be said : the decision to play Christmas carols during Klaus’ killing spree and his murder of Carol Lockwood (Susan Walters) is amazing. I’m watching Klaus slaughter those hybrids and suddenly it dawns on me that the amazing music I’m hearing is a Christmas song! I absolutely love it. The dark and the (Christmas) light works together beautifully.
- Ummm, I will watch Jeremy chopping wood any day of the week. ‘Nuff said.
- The Originals are coming back!! Claire Holt is about to make her triumphant return as Rebekah and I can’t wait. I can only hope that Elijah (Daniel Gillies) isn’t far behind.
- WTF is going on between Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin), Professor Shane (David Alpay) and Klaus? We knew that the professor and Hayley had a deal, but where did Klaus come into it? What kind of sacrifice is this? And I thought she made a deal last week, when she and Tyler broke that last hybrid, that Tyler wouldn’t be one of the twelve? So why is Klaus so desperate to find him and why is Hayley warning him to run? So many questions! I know what you’re thinking… that’s the point of a midseason finale, but does this not all seem very confusing?
I know I may have lost some friends with my opinions about Damon and Elena, but is anyone on my side? What did you think of the holiday installment of the show? Did the massacre set to holiday tunes work for you? Sound off below and we’ll see you back here in January!
The Vampire Diaries returns January 17 at 8pm EST on the CW