The Moth Chase

The Vampire Diaries returned to their roots: family and the ties that bind us together, in this case quite (mystically/magically) literally. We’ve been tracking the way the teenage protagonists are in vexed or absentee relationships with their parents/adult guardians all along and this episode brought that emotional distance to a physical reality. Most obviously, Elena lost her only two parental figures. It has been hard to take Jenna seriously as an adult guardian to begin with, and when Elena said it was she who had failed Jenna and not the other way around I realized just how much I think of Elena as Jenna’s protector. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Natalie,

Vampire Diaries really came back strong for me this week! At last some forward momentum and the promise of real drama, not just whiny teenage angst! I’ve wondered when the show as going to broach the question we’ve all got to have thought about at some time: why doesn’t Elena want to be a vampire? Especially in the post-Bella Swan universe, this is a big deal. Pushing eternal life on Elena – especially through Damon’s rash selfish actions – and having her admit she doesn’t want it, felt like a line in the sand. Elena is no Bella. She doesn’t fear getting old and wrinkly nor is she stock sure at 17 that her boyfriend is the love of one lifetime, not to mention endless lifetimes. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Natalie,

Well, I suppose after all this build up to Klaus there is no way not to be a little disappointed by the real thing. Or is that just me? Somehow another young, handsome, broody man was less than I wanted from the oldest, baddest vampire alive. And I was pretty disappointed to learn that the curse of the sun and moon was just some two thousand year old trick Elijah and Klaus concocted as drunk “teenage” undead to hide the utterly private nefarious scheme to ignite Klaus’ werewolf nature. Isn’t this just a little too ironic, to PoMo, in a sad way? I mean, I did giggle at Klaus’ comment “who can resist an Aztec shaman” and the way they were clearly making fun of the way we can all buy into the mystery of ancient, non-Western traditions and invest them with all kinds of spiritual authority (after we feel they are safely “obliterated” by the destruction of colonialism and capitalism). Forget the fact that this kind of spiritual cross-cultural investigation would not have been possible when they first started playing their little historical forgery game, what was most disappointing was switching the drama from a great inter-species war to a private power play between brothers. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Kathryn,

This episode really brought together some of the themes that fascinate me most right now on tv: the ways bodies are portrayed in supernaturally themed pop culture, the relationship between gender and power, self-determination and just good old fashioned trickery. So let’s start with the whole Bonnie switcheroo – I have to admit that on this one I wish they had least waited until next week for the reveal. It felt so obvious that Bonnie was not dead – Damon’s cryptic statements, her willingness to “do anything,” even the speed at which her poor nose started bleeding. It all pointed too much to a ruse. That being said, I am left wondering what spell it was that Bonnie cast to be able to endure death that way. Was it really a spell, or are we to think she drank Damon’s blood? He seemed to know what the “anything” was she’d need to do – it’s difficult to imagine that he’d know a spell…wouldn’t he just rely on blood? This thought was even affirmed as Elena begged Stefan to give Bonnie some of his blood. I don’t know – I’m hoping for a super witchy vamp. That might be the best thing this show has seen yet! And it would almost certainly bolster her strength in a way that might make her unstoppable in the final showdown with Klaus! Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Kathryn,

Seriously, April 7th!?! Didn’t this show just come back about 5 minutes ago?  Argh, I hate these breaks! Ok, well in prep for April 6th, when we’re all going to be trying to remember where things left off, I’m gonna attempt to put in place a recap for our later use. Trust me, we remember all this now – but we’re going to have forgotten a lot of this by April!  So, Bonnie and Jer are now fully hooked up with Elena’s blessing (yey!). Bonnie got her powers back after Luka and Dr. Martin were killed, because Dr. Martin wants Bonnie to kill Klaus, and he told her how to do it. (I still feel like Luka might not be dead – I don’t know. I feel like those burns shouldn’t have killed him so easily.) Like Bonnie, it seems Damon and Stefan have a key piece of info too. Katherine thinks Damon should just know where the witch massacre site is because he stuck pretty close to Emily, but whatever info it is Damon and Stefan have, they got it secretly from a journal. The witch massacre site is drenched in witch power because when witches are killed violently, they release power into the air that lingers (meaning, by extension, Read the rest of this entry »

Hey K,

So I couldn’t resist using the corny pun (which has been used at least 5000 times in pop culture references) as our title.  But it left me wondering – really, do teenagers even get that reference?  I don’t think I saw that movie till I was in my 20s, and my hunch is that your average CW viewer isn’t especially in to classic racially-themed film.  Which also leaves me wondering, just who is the intended audience of this show?  Is this all part of the ‘playing adult’ nature of the series, as you mentioned last week?  Or does the CW expect its viewers to reside more in the camp-lovers of our generation?  It’s not entirely clear to me. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Kathryn,

So first, I’m bummed to say that I missed the first 13 minutes of this episode! Please fill me in on what I missed! I’m visiting my family in Canada, and I got confused about the time difference. But as I settled in with my mum’s husband to watch, and began trying to explain to him what was going on, I was struck by what an incredibly complex show this is. Plotting out the history of each supernatural figure, the complex relationships between each character, the things we don’tknow, the things we do, and the things we’re still trying to figure out, who we trust and who we don’t…by the time I was done, he was hooked and my mum (who had been ignoring the whole saga while playing Bejeweled on my ipad) was complaining that she didn’t want to have to watch another “Vampire Show” because her hubby got tricked into it by her daughter.

And it got me thinking: is this show complex in an interesting, insightful, character driven way, or is it complex like a soap opera spinning around in circles? Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Natalie,

I think you are going to be able to read this in the wilds of Canada, and I can’t wait to hear what you thought! Tonight we got the were/vamp showdown we had been promised. At first, it really didn’t seem like a fair fight. Damon and Stefan were taking out weres faster than I could track. And then they got caught in all those clever vampire fighting weapons and for a moment we wonder how they are going to get back on their feet fast enough to ripe a spine or heart or neck out, when Dr. Martin shows up working some particular kind of witch power to incapacitate just the “bad” were and no other supe. That is a cool trick to learn and definitely raises the stakes in the “is Elijah trust-worthy” game? I don’t know, having Dr. Martin on your side looked like a pretty big perk last night. But the real plot revolved around one sad, confused, young were, Tyler. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Kathryn,

Before I get to plot, I have to note how much I enjoyed Vampire Diaries’ return to horror genre motifs last night!  This was something they played with in the first few episodes of season one: each opening scene appropriating an old ghost or campfire story into vampire lore.  The campy-ness of it is what originally hooked me into the show.  Somewhere between the limbed-from-limb campers and Elena running through the house with creepy musical undertones, camera moving slowly to focus on her hand on the doorknob – I knew we were in for a treat.  If there’s one thing I learned around those campfires when I was young, it’s if your boyfriend doesn’t make it back to the car, you DON’T go out to find him!  And never, ever stop for a body in the road! Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Kathryn,

Man oh man, I guess it was too much to hope ol’ Rose was going to be fine…the possibility not only of a sexy “friends with benefits” storyline, but also for Damon to find a genuine friend and a more grown up form of lover – I guess we had to know it was too good to be true.  I, however, am holding out hope (especially based on the previews for the next episode – January 27th! wtf!) that we’ll find some magic healing for what ails her (I’m tempted to cue the Marvin Gaye, but am thinking this might be more Bonnie’s forte).  I guess I’m not entirely convinced that the biter was Jules, though. I realize that’s the more obvious option – especially seeing as it seems almost certain not to be Tyler – but I wasn’t completely convinced that Jules even was a werewolf.  Something isn’t adding up – did you catch any clues I missed?  I’m loving the mystery! Read the rest of this entry »