in a daydream

Aww Bonnie and Elena make me sad I don't like when TV best friends fight

DE dance was amazing. Their chemistry is fantastic.

Sugarcandy

I was happy that Bonnie was back but i didn't like her new attiude she brouhht with her :s

Damon, shafjsfafahsaf. Ian somerhalder is an amazing actor! Holy ****, the dancing scene between Damon/Elena was breathtaking beautiful. And he looked so handsome and hot in this episode.

Stefan. Um, wow. He scared the crap out of me. Way scarier than Damon and he was just out of control. Hope he will get better.

I can't stand Caroline! GOD.

Anna/Jeremy was cute

serendipity or fate

PW was absolute brilliance. He is such a phenomenal actor!
I couldn't believe all the range he projected tonight! I mean, he's always been ridiculously talented, but tonight simply blew me away. Absolutely flawless.

DE were full of crazy chemistry.

SE were beautiful and tragic and amazing. I loved how many different sides we were able to see to them tonight. It's rare, and I love it.

Alaric and Elena really make me warm and fuzzy inside. Aw.

I miss Jeremy and Vicki so I haven't quite warmed up to Anna, yet.

John Gilbert irks me to no end.

Bonnie and Elena were really touching and sad. I find myself quite torn, right along with Elena. How can she even choose between them at this point? What happened to Grams is definitely not Stefan's fault, but I understand Bonnie's blame.

I couldn't help being happy for Caroline - at finally being #1 for someone tonight. Even if Bonnie was barely keeping that facade up, imo.

Lastly:

CAROLINE! CAROLINE! CAROLINE! Oh, how I love you. I can't wait until they get back to the meat of her storyline, but she was the light of this entire episode for me.

ForeverFaraday

understatement. its good he didnt get the role as damon cause the acting he does as ~bad!stefan can be borderline atrocious at points.
he was ok at some pts tho.

the ep was ok. more interesting than others atleast. the best part was carolines scenes, and her winning cause i was expecting the show to be cliche and have elena win but she didnt
and also i liked the anna/jeremy scenes. and the scenes with the uncle and damon. and stefan being thrown in the tomb thing
worse part of the ep was seeing that de could have almost as must cheesiness as se. i didnt think that could happen

and bonnies back but idk, something was off in her scenes to me
she should be mad at elena, thats fine, but the way kat played it wasnt strong enough to me. sometimes it was like she was just starring in space for a bit, not enough emotion.

sunchick116

is all I have to say. I'm STILL crying.

Paul plays the bad guy the way I always envisioned Damon when reading the books. show!Damon! is way worse than Book!Damon!

sweet_zelda

Things/Scenes I liked about this episode:

- Caroline. All of her scenes, really. She was incredible. I am so relieved that she won Miss Mystic Falls, fair and square. Not because she was second best to Elena and Elena got disqualified for some reason, but she was actually simply the best. The first choice. Seeing her smile like that made up for every sad thing she experienced in those last episodes. I love her also for telling Elene to compete. She knew how important it was to Elena's mother and in a way that's why it was important to Elena. Had she wanted to back out, she would have had the chance. And even though Caroline was afraid she'd be second best, she told Elena to go for it.

- Bonnie. Also, all her scenes. I'm glad that she is taking time away from Elena, because she is, after all, hanging out with the vampires. And one of them tried to kill her, Elena and Caroline as well as many others and the other is kind of crazy-addicted right now. She has every right to be pissed. Loved her pwning Stefan at the end.

- Stefan at the beginning. He was just a bit happier and more carefree, which I liked. But that comes with a price.

- The ending scene with D/E sitting down together. Beautiful shot.

As for Paul's acting, I didn't think it was over the top. Stefan isn't a controlled vampire like Damon, he's bat**** crazy, to say the least. How can you over-act bat**** crazy?

I'm not sure I like Damon's sudden change of attitude from "Here, drinky drinky, human blood, brother." to "OMG, you're so out of control, what have you done, I can't have this right now." Especially since the promo suggests that Damon knew what was going to happen when Stefan got back on human blood ("Ever since he had his first taste of human blood, Stefan was a different person.").

I actually like that it was Elena that hit Stefan with the dart. She cares too much about him to walk away, and I loved that. And that entire scene was beautiful and scary and heart breaking at the same time.

Also, Stefan scared the **** out of me in a very different way than Damon. Damon sometimes has that quiet way of letting you know he's about to snap your neck, whereas Stefan really was simply bat**** crazy.

smallocoth

Good to see Elena doing what she can to help Stefan, hope he recovers soon!

And I am really glad that Caroline won, she deserved it.

sillycilla

I'm so glad Bonnie is back.. Missed her presence soo much, she seems to be the voice of reason and the calm one.. I think her emotions tonight were appropriate she was still trying to wrap her mind around her being a witch and the vampires and then suddenly her grandma dies so it's a lot for her. And you can tell that she still totally loves Elena and doesn't want to take anything away from her so she's removing herself for the moment to not make her have to choose.. I hope that she comes around soon..

afeverpitch

What a great, heart-wrenching episode. I don't even have anything to say about the non-Elena/Stefan/Damon parts, because those were so powerful they overshadowed everything else. But I will try.

I understand why Bonnie is upset and why she doesn't feel she can be friends with Elena. She did lose her grandmother, after all. But I still felt she was being ... Ugh, I don't know. I knew I was supposed to sympathize with her, but I just didn't.

Caroline's story this week could have been much more meaningful than it was. I was so happy for her that she actually won something for once, but it was kind of lost in the bigger picture of the episode. It seemed really contrived that Matt couldn't make it, but I guess the actor just couldn't be in the episode. I also wasn't sure why her mom wasn't helping her before the competition, but it was sad to see her all alone.

Elena's uncle? Don't care. Please go away.

Anna and Jeremy are back to being interesting. They have a nice chemistry and I like that they can get over the ways they used each other. Me likey, and I hope it continues.

STEFAN! Oh, man. I love the "subtle" parallels between bloodlust and addiction. Nicely played, show. He really broke my heart, though. Trying so hard to have both things and falling apart at the seams. I think this is why I care more about Stefan than Damon - because I can see the torture of what Stefan's going through in present day rather than watching the remnants of it.

I was torn on how I felt about Damon's reaction. On the one hand I loved that he cared so much and was trying to put a stop to it, but on the other... DUDE, you're the one that did this to him. I feel like it was some kind of flaw in the writing or Damon's just a rollercoaster of emotion. I mean, the end of 1.17, Damon looks horrified that Stefan is drinking. End of 1.18, Damon purposely leaves blood to make Stefan drink. Beginning of 1.19, Damon thinks it's a terrible idea for Stefan to be drinking and knows he will get out of control. WHUUUUUUUT?

Regardless, I loved Elena and Damon teaming up to try to help Stefan. I was horrified at Stefan sucking Amber's blood, and was genuinely worried sick that he might end up killing her. His anger and self-loathing when he realized this was who he was... Brilliant to watch. And that Elena/Stefan scene where he pushes her against the wall, then breaks down, and then she puts him to sleep? Jeeeeeeeeeez. So good. I'm not a fan of violence in relationships, obvs, but that felt so real and was probably my favorite ES scene so far. And Damon sitting down with Elena so they could wait for Stefan together? Awwwww....

Caliina

Caroline > all

i honestly ff every scene that didn't inlcude her

TheSweetestSmile

Me neither. Just my opinion.

afeverpitch

I actually seriously agree! I was especially noticing it during the Elena/Damon dance tonight, lol. It was a really nice moment with a great song and strong chemistry...but then he just kept making these crazy eyes at her! What was he doing? I don't know. But, yeah. I think he's a great actor, but I do think he hams it up a little too much sometimes. I love that he has fun with the role, but sometimes it makes it hard for me to take him seriously. I think he usually nails the quieter, more emotional moments, though.

I also completely agree with those who say Bonnie has little to no personality. I think that's why it's so hard for me to care about her or sympathize. I just... don't really see her as a character. She's a plot device to me.

sweet_zelda

I don't think you have to be a fan of violence to enjoy this scene. I don't think anybody here is, actually.
But I believe there's a difference between trying to push someone away to spare them further pain like Stefan did here and using someone to get what you want like Damon did in an earlier episode.

About the Ian/Paul overacting argument: I think they are both owning the characters they play. Damon is more dramatic, more theatrical whereas Stefan is quiet, brooding. Their interpretations fit the characters, I think

afeverpitch

LOL, I know. I was just giving a disclaimer just in case, because I don't want to sound like, "STEFAN GOING INSANE ON ELENA IS SO HAWT!!!!111!!!1!"

21:21

This episode sounds amazing. I have to watch it like NOW...stupid school.