How do you solve a problem like Elena? Well if you’re anyone in The Vampire Diaries, you make sure not to tell her anything at all and decide to “fix” her behind her back. By design, the History Lesson episodes of this show are not my favorite; they’re always just conveniently brought in, at least it seems that way to me. But hey, it brought back Lexi and was shot quite beautifully. In this episode, Damon finds out that Elena is sired to him so he and Stefan travel to New Orleans to see if some other vamp that was sired to him can provide answers on how to break the bond. Let’s just talk about the sire bond.
I’m in a love-hate relationship with the sire bond itself, actually. I love it because it completely fills in all these plot holes I thought the show was just okay with having. Exhibit A, Elena can drink from blood bags now; that one was getting increasingly glaring. It can also be a storyline that brings a lot of darkness to the show, and that’s okay. But at the same time, the sire bond storyline has just been used to handicap the Damon and Elena love story — maybe even to give it one more “epic” hurdle. On one hand, Elena had feelings for Damon before being sired and their being together should be okay. But on the other, it’s just not okay for Elena to stay sired to him, so he must make the ultimate sacrifice. To me, this part of the sire bond, it just feels like a cheap way to have the triangle reset once Elena is “cured” or even once Damon “sets her free.”[*] I could do without that. It’s not that I think that a perhaps-unconsenting Elena is kind of icky, it’s the fact that the show doesn’t seem to think it’s all that icky, do you get what I mean? If the show treated this storyline with its actual ickiness and decided to dive in to the depth of this dark abyss, then I would be okay with it. Thus far, it seems intent on proving to us that this is just a romantic blockade… when it really is not. (But it also is, I get that, and I know it’s contradictory. Whatever, I talked about how annoying the Delena but with conditions thing is on this show and how people must hate that it’s always that way instead of just letting it be last week.) Elena loves murders! Let it be a thing, show. We’re not buying that anyone on this show is innocent or good in any capacity.
[*] And also, what is with vampire siring? Is it everyone that has human feelings? Wouldn’t that mean that Damon is sired to Katherine and that’s why he was so obsessed? Perhaps when Katherine finally rejected him, he was too “set free”? And if not, then how is it that Damon has sired two different vampires in his much shorter lifetime? Ugh, I don’t know.
However, the sire bond is also the way all of these storylines are meshing together quite nicely. Every time we move forward with Elena, we find out a little bit more about what Creepy Professor is up to. And his storyline also goes together with Tyler and the hybrids storyline. I think this may be the best way that The Vampire Diaries has actually woven all of its plots into one cohesive story. In this episode, we find out that “expression” is some sort of dark not-magic. And then we find out that Creepy Professor is making Bonnie tap into that side of her. Unfortunately, I was hoping that Bonnie would want to become evil on her own, seeing as how her entire life is the worst thanks to everyone she knows, but I guess that’s not happening. She rather smoke not-drugs during girls’ night in.[**] Aw shucks. Meanwhile, Tyler is feeling the heat from another hybrid who wants to become alpha. Although I was like “Gurl just please sit down,” I sort of feel like if she would have been vindicated then they wouldn’t have been sacrificed up to Creepy Professor by Hayley. It was definitely not a win-win situation. But regardless, I think this season has given so much power to the supporting players, that it finally feels like a show where the large cast is somewhat warranted (as opposed to last season where we were like, “Kill these people already!”). That’s always a good thing.
[**] Also, I know how annoying Caroline and Stefan’s intercutting scenes are, but can we not be mad at Caroline for not like the guy who did this to her? Thank you.
I guess the only thing that’s missing is the bromance between Jeremy and Matt. What do you guys think they were doing all alone? Sipping tea while watching Legally Blonde? Sleepover with Klaus? So many questions!
ABC's detective hit Moonlighting was one of the best TV show's of all time —…
Previously Published on Fan Fest News... For six seasons on The 100, actress Marie Avgeropoulos…
Previously Published on Fan Fest News... It seems The 100 fans have gotten their own…
I was browsing Reddit after the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve (or what…
It's a little late, but I wanted to share a few shows I liked this…
Mark Hildreth is a jack of all trades, with an undeniable passion for entertaining. Viewers…
View Comments
OMG!! I was waiting for your review. For first time, i glad Elena at the end wasn't annoying at all. Seriously!!! Why the writers and producers can Delena be without any excuses??? That's a question for them. The only thing a root for is the creepy teacher storyline and i hope Bonnie be Dark and Dieeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Sorry she so f.....king stupid, when you will realize your friends ruined your life??? do somenthing please, kill some vampire, be mean to Elena or Damon or Team up with Klaus to World Domination.Seriously!!!!
And what's the dealing with black people being magic???? So racist. Julie Plec shame on you!!!
Nice recap - my thoughts regarding the sire bond: I don't think it's everybody that has human feelings, but it's some kind of requirement in the very unlikely case that a vampire gets sired to another one.
I personally hope that they find a way around the whole sire bond thingy. I don't necessarily prefer Damon or Stefan with Elena, but she seemed a lot less gloomy with Damon. It may be coincidence, but I've never seen Elena smile that much as she did in this episode. I like happy Elena. Anyways, looking forward to the hybrids-creepy-professor-hunter storyline!
I think she's happier with him for the fact that he doesn't make her conscience rear up in her, so she doesn't worry about repercussions or how she's perceived by others.
What continues to annoy me about the last few episodes is that Caroline is not given proper lines to explain why she is not ok with Elena being with Damon. Same can be said for Bonnie. I love how people say that well Damon has changed and he is so much better now when just last season he turned Bonnie's mom into a vampire proving again that he will always put Elena first and if we are talking TVD timeline everything that Damon has done in s1-3 has gone in under one year! And the part which makes this worse is that Elena knows all that - she was there when Caroline was abused by Damon, she was there when Damon wanted to kill the newly vampired Caroline, she was there when Bonnie's mom was turned and all those other times, when he hurt either Matt or Jeremy...and still she acts like everyone else but him is the worst person ever. I really hoped Caroline would slap her Elena for her very rude reaction to whatever she or Bonnie said about Damon - LOL, Bonnie did not even say anything at all almost...Elena just like a teenage going throwing a tantrum at her parents for not allowing her to date the bad boy who actually has a heart of "gold". I don't mind DE happening, the lack of development on their side is what has been slowly destroying the show anyway, but now that it is actually happening, I wish it would actually have to face way more repercussions than just the sire bond - Elena is happy with Damon - yes, we see that but she can not be that selfish and want everyone else to be so excited for her - not especially when it comes to her closest friends who have all lost so much because of Damon. Thats why she had no right to expect her friends would NOT give her a hard time about this. She was being really insensitive.
Elena deserved an aneurysm when she slut-shamed Caroline -___- Slut-shaming your friend who was abused by your new lover, Elena deserves the award for the worst friend ever.
Caroline being a good friend to Elena she shouldn't want her with either brother considering that neither of them are "good" and are both good and bad.If I had a friend that talked to me that way I would reconsider that friendship.Elena tried to talk to Caroline when she was with Damon and Caroline reacted in a nasty way.Caroline has no boundaries where her friends are concerned and she should have.
As for Damon killing Bonnie's mom that isn't even Caroline's business and furthermore he did it when Stefan was suppose to and had to,to save Elena's life.I guess they should have let Elena die.There is no excuse for what Damon did to Caroline and no Elena shouldn't be ok with it.There is no excuse for what Stefan has done either or Klaus for that matter.However the writers have shown us over and over again that every character on here is flawed.
Caroline was under compulsion at the time she was with Damon, something Elena was well aware of.
I agree with cacherr about Caroline and the compulsion. And as for her relationship to Bonnie, if Caroline thought it wasn't her business that Damon killed Bonnie's mom, then Caroline would be the shittiest best friend ever. Caroline is the only character on the show that gives Bonnie even a little bit of support. Yes, they didn't want Elena to die, but that just makes the motivation justifiable to them not everyone else. They prioritized Elena's life higher than Abby's, and while glad Elena is still around, Bonnie can still be upset at Damon and Caroline can feel that on her behalf. I wish Bonnie and Caroline had more scenes together (but I wish so many things about Bonnie and having scenes), but I still get the feeling from Caroline that she loves and cares about Bonnie, and I don't get that from anyone else.
I didn't talk about Bonnie in my other post in this thread, so I had to go overboard and say more than I meant to and ramble about her and Caroline here. It's the rules.
I totally agree with you. I do think that if he loves him - despite everything he has done - she must be with him. Nothing should stop her from doing what she thinks it's best for her. But she can't expect everyone to forget what Damon has done. Also, I see why Caroline likes Stefan so much, I mean, he helped her when Damon wanted to kill her. They've grown friends through that bad phase of her, and, while Rose sees a side of Damon that is caring, and a better lover, Caroline sees that side on Stefan. But I'm actually pissed that Elena can't understand that. It's ok that she wants to be with Damon. It is not okay that she wants everyone to be happy just because she is.
I kind of agree (allthogh I still want some delena!! It's not rational!), but I dont think elena cant hold any grudge on damon for killing jeremy b/c she did that just a few episodes ago!!!, remember?
i really liked this episode!i liked EVERYTHING from the fact that finally said that elena had feelings for damon in order to be sired(ha!!!!!!),to lexie's hair,to the crazy charlotte thing and even bonnie appeared and she was funny and bad ass at last!i missed her very much..!and my inner delena fan girl was soooooo glad about the whole feellings for damon thing.and that sex scene with the scratch was wicked!B+ or A from me!
This week on vampire dairies - "Slut-shaming rape victims is totally okay, guys, look, even the lead female does it to her best friend~"
And yeah, TVD never pays any attention to consent, morality or any sort of consequences. IF Damon raping and abusing Caroline for weeks was ignored and writers decided to make Damon REPEAT IT WITH SOMEONE ELSE, its no surprise that this is also white-washed.
This show just thinks that anything that Damon, Steffie or Elena do will always be right and does no dwell on any sort of consequences - Steffie will always do silly noble decisions, Damon will always be misunderstood and Elena will always be worshiped for her supposed awesomeness, while everyone around them continues to get raped, get abused, lose their family members, etc, with show treating it as if its no big deal.
I really, really don't think the show wants to prove us that Stefan, Damon or Elena are good people. No one in this show is. They rape people, they kill, they bite. While that is awful in real life, a crime that should have its punishment, I don't see why they should be concerned about this in a TV show. Stefan is bad! He's a ripper that killed countless people. Damon is bad! He's raped people, drank from their blood. Elena is recently bad (she was just annoying before) she killed Connor for vendetta. But they're fictional vampires... Yes, Stefan will end up doing something noble, and Elena will be forgiven if she cry a little bit, and of course, Damon will always appear as the bad guy. But every now and then, the show reminds us that the characters aren't all good, and that their decisions have repercussions that screw over the lives of the ones around them. Of course, this killing and raping and blood-drinking stuff is serious! But if it was treated like it is in real life, the show would be pretty much boring. They just can't overload their characters with guilt, turning them all into Elena-style. Not trying to judge you or your opinion, in any way, just stating my point of view.
Show treats it this way:
"Steffan is bad!!! bUt oh its just an illness, blood addiction and compulsion and various other things influencing him, he just means good otherwise"
" Damon is bad!!! But oh wait nope, he is just misunderstood and is good at heart and wants good things~"
" Elena is ba....ELENA IS PERFECT, worship, her, viewers! Here let's remind you how caring and gentle and awesome she is!!!111"
And i disagree on it being "boring" if they treated it realistically - this show would have been awesome if they did, the amount of consequences, character growth, etc, resulting from all teh FAIL main characters produced would be fascinating. As it is now, TVD is this weird sociopath-land where no one knows what they are doing.
JC it's a show!even in disney there are bad characters and guess what?they're my favourite.don't watch the show if you don't like it,how hard is it for you to do that?go and watch ''little women'' or something.it's a vampire related show,what did you expect?peace and love?i really don't understand some people.
I just don't get why you want to watch the show with real life standards?
I don't need to be taught ANYTHING from vampire diaries. I want to be entertained.
I'm not going to rape people because vampires are doing it?
I just feel like you exaggerate it so much after every single episode
Hmm...
Why Do I want to watch the show with real life standards? How about because watching characters react, behave and be handled according to logic of sane humans is what makes for a compelling television? Maybe because characters REACTING to the stuff that is happening and consequences happening because of what characters did is exactly what gives characters meaningful character development? Maybe because characters' actions having real consequences is what should create the intensity in the plot, "raise up the stakes", so to say? Maybe because show actually RECOGNIZING that characters did something, be it good or bad, is what is a basis of good quality writing?
As for rape, oh sure you are not. But tell that to those thousands of fangirls who "want Caroline to die" because she dared to stand up against her rapist and to those thousands of people who genuinely see nothing wrong with what Damon did and excuse his actions. Or thousands of people who are using the sexist portrayal of females in this show as a rolemodel for their own lives.
Now, don't misunderstand - show does not need to have clear "black and white" morality - that is unrealistic and rarely interesting. Viewers, characters and the show questioning the morality and worth of every action is what makes compelling television, no doubt, but vampire diaries completely ignores that aspect of story-telling.
Here's a run-down of how one writes a narrative(ignoring the more complex elements like character foils and etc):
- Character A is defined -> Character A is put in some situation ->Character A does some shit in that situation expanding on how (s)he is defined-> Consequences for those actions follow, leading to other actions and/or change/reaffirmation in how Character A is defined ->repeat
so, now let's look how Vampire Diaries narrative is written:
- Character A is defined(barely) -> Character A does shit because plot demands it -> repeat.
See the problem yet?
I agree. And it really amazes me that this HAS TO BE SAID. I mean, the most important thing in a show/movie/book where there is supernatural is that the normal things, what isn't related to supernatural has to be BELIEVABLE or nothing will make sense.
Aside from all that Delena/Stelena romance and the lack of morality in the Vampire Diaries, I have to say, what a great episode! Sorry: what a great season. These latter episodes reminds me of season 2, and, in my opinion, season 3 didn't go that well, of course it was great and way better than almost every other show out there, but still... So, I'm glad season 4 is back at old TVD style: caring for the characters, developing them and giving them a worthy storyline, making the triangle interesting (at least trying) and putting the characters in significant danger. I've missed that, and I've noticed this has been present since "Growing Pains", so, I thank the writers for that.
I actually love the Stefan and Damon flashbacks. Elena stopped being interesting a long time ago, but the perpetually complicated relationship between Stefan and Damon seems to keep the show going for me. I want the show to delve into their relationship more often, and I appreciate when we get to explore that apart from Elena. Character development of any kind that doesn't involve Elena is a plus for me. That is why I am rooting for Bonnie to get her own storyline. I just hope Elena is not some essential key to Mr. Creepy Professor's plan. Too much to hope for? Probably. I read that a character we've known since Season 1 will die. What do you guys think? I think it could be Tyler, but I hope not.
you can watch this show with real life standards as it takes place in our reality as last time I check they made reference to Obama being president. The whole point of television which seems to have been lost on this generation is it suppose to be about a heightened world around us. Also people base their like or dislike of characters based on their moral code of ethnics. While yes we are suppose to suspend our disbelief for television but only to certain extent. TVD is very guilty as Michael pointed out of doing icky situations and not treating it thus, warped because back in early season 1 what Damon did Caroline was actually referred as abuse and now they are having Elena slut shame Caroline when it was her ass confronting Damon threatening to tell the cops. Also think people are allow to criticize the lack of realism in for characters.
I personally feel like the timeline has really hurt the plot for this show because while it has been four years for viewers to forgive Damon and I think some people generally forget it has only been a year for characters so alot ish went down and for some viewers even though this supernatural show, it still highly unrealistic that so many romantic relationships would happen and how forgetful these characters are.
For me though TVD can be judged as being prejudiced to women and minorities cause that wrong in any universe and this show don't take place in era that race don't matter as evidence by Damon's talk of how different minorities taste to Elena in 4x02 (like what producer would ever allow that to leave her writer's room, let alone enter it).
awesome review. Last comment makes me laugh. CLEARLY Jeremy, Matt & Klaus were having sleepover sipping tea & watching Legally Blonde. XD (I wanna see this deleted scene)
I agree with you Michael and everyone else who has been talking about Caroline and slut shaming and why it is bad. I hated that Caroline apologized and that no why one brought up the very real and valid issues Caroline had. They treated her as someone who was being too judgmental but it seemed more like concern to me. Elena's sire bond gives Damon control of her, and he could abuse Elena the same way he did by compelling Caroline. Even though Damon cares about Elena, he is so volatile and reactionary and Elena could be in serious danger. Hate that Caroline got treated like she was being a bitch when she just wants to protect Elena.
Hey, I made a whole comment about TVD without my wonderful, woefully neglected favorite witch. I'm proud of myself.