Note: This review contains spoilers.
I had to take a few days to really let the season finale of the Vampire Diaries sink in. There were some good things that had happened, but the big choice that has been coming for quite some time now came out for the worse. There has been sexual tension between Damon and Elena through this love triangle since the beginning, especially heating up this season to go beyond just the tension. Every time she gets close to him she ends up pushing him away. Damon is more evil-natured and embraces what he is, which Elena rarely approves of. When it comes down to it there is something undeniable between them; passion, a love that consumes them, and fighting to the death for one another.
The main problem has always been other people’s judgments and Damon’s reputation. He has killed plenty of people with little to no remorse and embraces the darkness within. This is what he is though and honestly Stefan isn’t too far off. They are vampires either Elena accepts that or she doesn’t. Stefan’s ripper days aren’t that far behind him still and he even stated he could never really go back. Elena tells herself excuses, because she is afraid to truly let her guard down and embrace their love. He has been there for her completely this season especially. He was there when Stefan wasn’t. Damon helped her through everything, pushed her and made her stronger, and even gave her a wake-up call when she needed it. He is exactly what she needs and what she wants when she decides to admit it.
Continue reading ‘The Vampire Diaries Finale: Season Three’
After last week’s episode’s heart wrenching ending of Vampire Diaries we are surprised by the dead Alaric suddenly not so dead and wrecking plenty of havoc. There is no switch between good and bad Alaric, he is all bad now. He kidnaps Caroline and violently tortures her. Alaric gets Elena to show up with no word from anyone. Meanwhile, Klaus is one doppelganger short from splitting town so he begins knocking down Elena’s door. Of course, he doesn’t quite get an open invitation for this and begins viciously attacking the house in desperate attempts to get Elena and leave the monstrous Alaric far behind.
Do Not Go Gentle puts Rebekah’s big plans in to motion, starting with a lookalike white oak stake which Klaus burns immediately. He thinks they are safe and is ready to move on, but Rebekah convinces him to stay just for the dance. Even Klaus is in the dark for once, but soon the truth comes out and Klaus and the Salvatores aren’t such enemies if even just for this one night.
This week’s Vampire DiariesVampires Diaries is doing a whole lot right, now if they can just make a decision on the Elena-Damon situation they will have all their bases covered.
This week marked the much needed return of Klaus. He really is such an enticing villain and intensely interesting character all around. The havoc and twisted situations that ensues due to Rebeka and him are the driving force of the episode. Klaus has Bonnie trapped and forces her to undo the family binds, that ensures that if one of them dies they all die. Without this bind, Elena and the Salvatores would not only have to do the impossible by killing an immortal original, but they would have to kill every single one of them.
Last week’s episode ended with Elena freaking out when seeing Stefan feeding on someone and Damon by his side. There is further confrontation on Elena’s disapproval of this where she comes off completely self-righteous and judgmental. She has decided to put up a wall against Damon for whatever reason. She doesn’t accept what he is and she really doesn’t accept what Stefan is either. Elena is “not giving up on him”, meaning she wants him to be a human living in a vampire’s skin. She doesn’t want him to be what he is, what they both are; vampires. They need human blood to survive. It is in their nature to be embracing of their blood lusting, alluring mentality. Even if you were to take any joy or pride out of it, they still need blood to survive. End of story. There is no reason Elena should have been this upset by them doing what they need for basic survival, their most minimal definition of their nature.
At last! The return of The Vampire Diaries. After a horridly long break, we are brought back to the world of Mystic Falls where deceptions, supernaturals, and world-shattering havoc are always lurking around the corner. There is a serial killer about and Alaric is taken prisoner as the prime suspect. Damon is threatened to stay out of it or he may very well be in the same place as Alaric is. Stefan is still very distant and on guard towards Damon partially because their scuffle after Damon kissed Elena and partially because he has been cold and antagonistic to everyone since Klaus brought out the ripper in him again. Still, Damon gets him to realize they’re closer to this than anyone else. A very similar set of murders occurred in 1912 in Mystic Falls. It’s up to them to see the pattern and figure out who is responsible for the mass murders now.
After last week’s episode I definitely felt for Damon and knew there was going to be some consequences for how far Elena pushed him. If you have ever read even one of my Vampire Diaries reviews you know I am a huge supporter of Elena and him getting together, but I’m a Damon fan first and a fan of them as a couple second. Especially with the darker direction they went with Stefan and only painfully slowly pushing her towards Damon, I was afraid they were going to make him too soft in order for it to be okay for them to be together. Luckily, in this episode we the Damon he truly is at his core. He doesn’t let Elena control him; he’s his own fierce, snarky, and animalistic being.
It’s hard to even sum up this episode as it went from such extremes. Most of it was much slower paced and somewhat uneventful. I really don’t mean that in a bad way, I enjoyed every second of it. It was just more of a subtle build up on. It had a higher concentration on the characters and general situation and tone instead of the edge of your seat, blood-curdling mind blowing action that we normally get. Plenty of unexpected action and violence does follow,; this is still The Vampire Diaries after all. More importantly, there are some great dramatic scenes and things turning in different directions.
Luckily, The Vampire Diaries writers only left us hanging for one week this time and picked back up with another chilling, tension-filled episode of one turn after the other. In every episode things develop so much, characters are pushed to their limits and beyond. Seeing the way they react can often push them in to a completely different point than seems to be in their character. The writers have really done a great job in creating material that is always taking on challenges and ends up being rich, exciting, and always changing.
On The Tie That Binds Caroline’s father (played by Hereos’ Jack Coleman) makes a return. Last time, he took a very brutal and cold-blooded approach to trying to “save” Caroline from her vampire nature in hopes of getting her to reject the blood cravings. Now he’s using these same vile tactics on Tyler to try to get him to reject his bond to Klaus and gain his freedom. This might be the only way Tyler and Caroline could be together without the worry of what Klaus might make him do.
When Vampire Diaries comes back, it holds nothing back! Our Town was another mind blowing episode. All of the characters on the show have become so dynamic and intriguing. There is always something else going on and characters are pushed to such awing extremes.
Indie horror director, Patrick Rea, has shown great promise through his darkly dramatic collection of short films. They have style and substance, slowly built up to explore an unexpected yet all encompassing personal horror. His feature, Nailbater, shows much of this same promise. It has great atmosphere, production values, and performances. Still, it felt like it fell short of the potential it held.
For all the torture The Vampire Diaries writers put us through with all their mind blowing build ups right before leaving us hanging with random 2-3 month breaks, sometimes they give us exactly what we want. For all of the teasing about the pay off that never seems to happen at last we get an ending so satisfying that I’m not sure any words can truly express for the pure shock and bliss that it put millions of fans in all over the world. Thinking of this past season of True Blood this has been a phenomenal year for vampire shows, going the extra mile and giving the bad vampires a win over their moralistic but deceiving vampire counterparts. It’s the year of evil-natured vamps, I really couldn’t ask for much more than that.
“Homecoming” is hands down the most thrilling and well written episode of the season. Looking back on, it’s mind blowing everything that happened. Characteristic of The Vampire Diaries’ best episodes, there are constant twists and everyone turning on each other, even those they are closest to. You never really know what’s going on, keeping you on the edge of your seat until everything builds up to the final conclusion. In the end, you understand why and their driving force is nothing short of ferocious. Everything is at stake. For many of our characters this could be the end of eternity.
