Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Come On, Buffy
By Cindy McLennan | Season 3 | Episode 6 | Aired on 10.20.2011
I can't stress enough that I HAVE BEEN THERE, with more than one show. There's no blame. Only love. If you're currently seething, here's what I hope you take away from this -- and you're sharp people, so you already know it. Watching TV is supposed to entertain. Remember? Posting on the internet about TV shows is an optional leisure activity -- a diversion. Remember? If you're not having fun, you're doing it...wrong. Either the material is wrong for you, or you are choosing to interact with the fandom in ways that do not work for you. If you want to keep watching and keep having fun (and I hope that's what you want), try giving up the spoilers for a couple of months. Try taking characters and storylines as they come, rather than spending hours per week trying to prove pet opinions are facts. Just take a breath. Have a glass of wine. Put your feet up. Eat something yummy. And let go. You will feel better. I have proven this to myself, multiple times. I started avoiding spoilers when I started writing for TWoP, because I didn't want to inadvertently spoil my readers. Happiness was my unexpected and totally welcome side-effect. I wish the same for you. And really, The Vampire Diaries is like New England weather. If you don't like it, wait five minutes and it will change. Done now. You ready? Okay!
Previously on The Vampire Diaries: Matt drowns himself and has Bonnie CPR him back to life so he too can see Vicki. Anna warns the Fellowship of the Falls about Mikael the Vampire Vampire Slayer (MtVVS). Tyler is Klaus's first successful hybrid. Damon tells Elena, "Stefan is gone, and he's not coming back." Elena tells Stefan he can "fight it." Stefan sneers. "Why, because I love you?" Elena yells, "That's right, Stefan, because you love me." Klaus evokes Stefan's inner Ripper. Klaus tells Stefan the only thing stronger than his bloodlust is his love for Elena, and tells him to turn it off. Elena looks on in horror. "What did you do?" Klaus: "I fixed him."
Gilbert Gables, Elena's room, 5:15 AM: Elena wakes before her alarm, goes to the mirror and looks at the fang marks on her neck. She makes a half-hearted attempt to cover them with makeup. In the hall, she bids a visibly hungover Alaric a good morning.
Woods: Alaric is training Elena to fight vampires. He demonstrates, on a stuffed dummy, how to use his handy-dandy stake ejecto-bracelet. When you punch hard enough, the force triggers the stake to eject into its target. Elena thinks her ejecto-bracelet is jammed. Alaric says that's not the problem. "You're not strong enough. Better start lifting some weights. Put some meat on your bones." He then pulls the pin on a vervain grenade and tosses it to Elena who has to throw it away before it explodes in their faces. Alaric's point? "The element of surprise is your only advantage when it comes to a vampire." Elena scolds Alaric for making light of her desire to train. Alaric: "You think I'm joking? Vampires will take whatever they want. They will hurt whoever they want, and they will do it without remorse. It's their nature." Elena: "You don't have to use pronouns. You can say Stefan." Honey, he means all of them, even Damon, who is currently your off-white knight.