Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A+ | 3 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Shipwreck!
By Cindy McLennan | Season 3 | Episode 14 | Aired on 02.09.2012
Similarly, I'm going to avoid talking about being "in love," because I think the term is foggy enough, that it clouds this discussion. Also, I think that, at age 18, there are few who understand what being "in love" really means. Suffice it to say that Elena loves Stefan and Damon both, the way you would a dear friend, or family member. Also, can we please agree, for the sake of discussion, that, additionally, she is sexually attracted to them both, regardless of whether she is happy about it? Good. Thank you for indulging me. Granted, I acknowledge, Elena was once more happily into a romance with Stefan than she's yet been about a romance with Damon. I'm not trying to suggest otherwise.
I love this ridiculously pretty cast and I think Dobrev and Somerhalder have great chemistry. I like the growth I've seen in Damon, particularly since the end of season 2. And, I'm not afraid to admit it. I like a little monster in my man. Right now, in Elena, I see this painfully young, young woman, who has lost nearly everyone. Her best role model is her alcoholic history teacher who is crashing at her house. She and Stefan have had a horrific breakup. It was instigated by outside forces (Klaus), but completed when Stefan wouldn't even try to come back to her. Throughout Stefan's absence, Damon has been Elena's stalwart.
Elena has been consciously attracted to Damon since at least the time of the Miss Mystic Falls dance. She was devoted to Stefan, but she was not immune to Damon's charms, and who would be? During Stefan's absence, Damon grew stronger, saner, and ever more dependable. And while he didn't throw himself at her, he has made it patently clear he is deeply in love with her. Oops. I used the "in love" term. Well, okay, I mostly want to avoid it when assessing Elena's feelings; that's where I find it the cloudiest, because it's clear (to me) she has feelings for both brothers.
Elena's not stupid, you know? She tried romance with one vampire, a seemingly good one, only to watch it go all to hell. Now here she is, developing deeper feelings for Damon, but she knows what he was when he first came to town. She knows of (some of) his kills. She knows how mercurial he can be. I mean, he killed Jeremy, for pity's sake. She also is painfully aware that he is the brother for whom Stefan sacrificed their love, and his own character, if not technically his own life. She is struggling with, in my opinion, whether it is wise to get involved with Damon, and, whether getting involved with Damon would be the ultimate betrayal. Were Damon the more patient type, Elena might be content to let the question of their romance simmer on the back-burner, for years to come. And? I don't blame her. She is 18.