Previewing THE VAMPIRE DIARIES’ Very Special Prom Episode “Pictures of You”

“The Vampire Diaries”

Ever since Elena was turned into a vampire, the race has been on to find out if there was a cure to restore her humanity.  Alas, that deadly search cost her the life of her brother Jeremy, and introduced a whole new big bad villain Silas, who will stop at nothing to get the cure for himself for his own nefarious purposes.  So it is only too fitting that this week’s episode is themed around the song of the same name “Pictures of You” by the music group The Cure.  Clever.

The whole goal of this special prom episode was reminding Elena of her human life and finding a way to convince her to turn back on her emotions, for a vampire without emotions is a threat to everyone.  But Elena is bound and determined to preserve her carefree, emotionless vampire life.  She does not see the need to be cured or to have human emotions back.  She is having too much fun running around killing to her heart’s content, without regret.

“The Vampire Diaries”

Prom would normally be the epitome of all things great during high school.  A girl attends with the boy of her dreams and wears a dress that memorializes that crowning moment for the rest of her life.  It is a night literally worth remembering.  If only Elena cared.  Even attending with two dreamy guys and wearing the best dress holds no real pleasure for her. Elena is merely going through the motions in order to achieve her own twisted goals.  So what is Elena dreaming of on prom night?  You’ll have to see it to believe it.

Fortunately, this episode is not all about Elena and not everyone thinks Elena deserves to be human again.  She had her chance and threw it away.  This episode depicts the parallel journey of Rebekah, who desperately wants to be human again and to live a normal life.  So Elijah challenges Rebekah to prove that she deserves to be human by living one entire day as a human, not using any of her vampire abilities.   But being human is a lot harder than Rebekah anticipated.  It means not being able to snap her figures and compel whatever guy she chooses as a date and having to put up with insults that she normally would never condone without breaking someone’s neck.  The one scene that truly spotlights Rebekah’s inability to really be a human again is when she asks Matt if he thinks she would make a “good human” and he replied that she has never been good in her whole existence; so he does not think she is capable of being “good.”

“The Vampire Diaries”

The agony of Rebekah’s attempt to regain her humanity and the stubborn resistance by Elena to keep from having her humanity forced back upon her has a nice mirroring effect.  But whether swayed by emotions or not, it is fascinating what eventually compels Rebekah and Elena to give up their quest.   Each will be faced with a situation that forces them to make an unhappy choice.

Then as Rebekah and Elena are coming to terms with their various states of being, there is a tricky masquerade being played on prom night.  Just who is Silas and when will he pop up next?  He can literally be anyone and that shapeshifting ability comes quite in handy when trying to manipulate everyone into the positions he wants; and Silas will not just be messing with Klaus and Bonnie this time around. Everyone is fair game and figuring out who is real and who is fake is another fascinating mind-game for the episode.   The saying may be “where is Waldo?” but for the Mystic Falls gang, it will be “who is Silas?”  It will not be as easy as you think.

So as you watch this week’s new episode of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, pay close attention to the how each of characters behaves. Some will be acting like themselves and some won’t. Silas, Silas, wherever you are, come out and play – and play he does!

All new episodes of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES airs Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. on the CW.  As a fun tease, here are the lyrics to The Cure’s song “Pictures of You.”  There’s a big clue in the song revealing what ultimately may give Elena her emotions back.

“The Vampire Diaries”

Lyrics –
I’ve been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they’re real
I’ve been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel

Remembering
You standing quiet in the rain
As I ran to your heart to be near
And we kissed as the sky fell in
Holding you close
How I always held close in your fear
Remembering
You running soft through the night
You were bigger and brighter and wider than snow
And screamed at the make-believe
Screamed at the sky
And you finally found all your courage
To let it all go

Remembering
You fallen into my arms
Crying for the death of your heart
You were stone white
So delicate
Lost in the cold
You were always so lost in the dark
Remembering
You how you used to be
Slow drowned
You were angels
So much more than everything
Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes
But I never see anything

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If only I’d thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart
If only I’d thought of the right words
I wouldn’t be breaking apart
All my pictures of you

Looking so long at these pictures of you
But I never hold on to your heart
Looking so long for the words to be true
But always just breaking apart
My pictures of you

There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to feel you deep in my heart
There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to never feel the breaking apart
All my pictures of you

Where to find this article:

http://www.thetvaddict.com/2013/04/18/previewing-the-vampire-diaries%E2%80%99-very-special-prom-episode-%E2%80%9Cpictures-of-you%E2%80%9D/

 

“The Vampire Diaries”

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES Controversy: To Kill Or Not To Kill Elena?

“The Vampire Diaries”

Since it first debuted 4 years ago, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES has never been shy about killing off characters.  In fact, they have taken such a no-holds-barred approach to it that major character deaths are now expected.  Most recently, the loss of Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen) added to the long list of deaths of characters fans were attached to;  before that, there had been the death’s of Alaric (Matt Davis), Jenna (Sara Canning), John (David Anders), Isobel (Mia Kirshner), Anna (Malese Jow), Lexi (Arielle Kebbel)– and to a lesser degree Grams, Vicki (Kayla Ewell), Mason (Taylor Kinney), Rose (Lauren Cohan), Kol (Nathaniel Buzolic), Finn (Casper Zafer), Esther (Alice Evans), Carol Lockwood (Susan Walters), and Bill Forbes (Jack Coleman).

What I propose here is that THE VAMPIRE DIARIES that has never been hesitant to kill before should take the ultimate risk and kill off its lead, Elena Gilbert. Now let’s be clear, I’m not advocating getting rid of the actress Nina Dobrev, who I still think exceptional in the doppelganger role of Katherine Pierce.  But, for me, the character Elena is simply done.

“The Vampire Diaries”

When Elena was first killed at the end of Season 3, everyone gasped with horror at the sheer audacity to kill the central character of the show.  But that death was short-lived as Elena soon revived due to the vampire blood in her system – albeit, revived as a vampire.  In fact this entire fourth season has revolved around the quest for a cure to return Elena to human status and banish her darker vampire nature.  But I say that is not enough.  The damage has already been done:  Elena is simply not a character worth rooting for anymore.  She is no longer the heart of the show and the show would survive just fine without her.

I can hear the outcry now.  But go with me on this.  I have been a long-time supporter of Elena — and the tug-of-war for her heart between the Salvatore brothers, Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder).  In fact, I devoted my Thursday nights for 3 years to reviewing THE VAMPIRE DIARIES because I loved the life of Elena and the ever-widening circle of friends and foes.  It was intoxicating and enthralling.  Then something happened — this season I found myself dreading Thursday nights.  I no longer cared to review the show I had devoted years of my life to;  and it took a lot of pondering and reflection until I realized, I had no one to root for.

The hero, heart and soul of the series has been stripped away.  Elena Gilbert, the vampire, was repulsive, off-putting, and downright despicable.  I had no desire to see her get anything in life; in fact, I began wishing she would disappear.  That’s right.  It boggled my mind at first.  It seemed inconceivable that the show could go on without the one character that it have revolved around for so long.  But the more I thought about it, I became convinced that Elena was the problem.  Again, to be clear, not the actress just the character.  For I still get shivers of anticipation when Katherine appears on screen as Katherine’s story is not yet over.

“The Vampire Diaries”

But Elena’s story virtually ended the day she awoke as a vampire.  Someone should have done her the honor of killing her outright.  If Damon or Stefan had truly loved her, they would have spared her the grief and horror of awakening to a state of being she never wanted.   Instead every single person in her life, from her two faithful suitors to her brother to her best friends, all worked against her wishes and allowed her to live the life she had refused time and time again.

The second Elena awoke as a vampire, her thoughts and feelings were not her own.  It took a number of episodes for anyone to realize it, but she was not only under the sway of her vampire needs, but also a sire-bond to Damon.  Unconsciously from the start, she was not the Elena we knew and loved, she was another creature/person entirely.  Credit to the writers and to Nina Dobrev for the subtle shifts in personality this season.  It was not as noticeable at first, but we all felt it.  Something was wrong with Elena.  So the fact that she was sire-bonded really came as no surprise.  She was not herself literally.

But the creature that Elena is now is not the heroine we all fell in love with.  Even before she turned off her humanity-switch, she showed tendencies of selfishness and thoughtlessness that were not true to her character.  The vampire curse had begun to tweak with her soul and infected it with her darker-side and desires.

For long-time fans, it was disheartening to watch the disintegration of such a beloved character.  It no longer mattered whether Elena ended up with Stefan or Damon.  She simply did not deserve either one of them, and watching her cozy up to either was nauseating.  This is sacrilegious to say, but it felt like we were watching Katherine in the scenes and not Elena.  That is how far off track Elena’s persona had eroded; and not for one second have we ever wanted Katherine with Stefan or Damon.  That always felt wrong, as it should.  Katherine was only out for herself and used people mercilessly;  which she proved more recently by callously killing Jeremy Gilbert (or rather leaving him to be killed by Silas) and her attempt to barter her freedom from Klaus’ (Joseph Morgan) wrath by giving him the cure.

“The Vampire Diaries”

Elena, as a vampire, had become so much like her doppelganger that those around her even commented on it.  It also made it nearly impossible to distinguish between Elena and Katherine, which was emphasized in the most recent episode “American Gothic” where Elena attempted to impersonate Katherine, and on anyone but Elijah (Daniel Gillies), that would have worked.  For Elena and Katherine no longer just look alike, being nearly biological twins as doppelgangers, but their personalities had shifted similarly under the vampire-curse influence.  It heightened their darker sides and buried their humanity.

So imagine THE VAMPIRE DIARIES without Elena Gilbert.  The entire Gilbert line has been slowly eradicated throughout the series.  It is simply time to let it die entirely with some dignity.  Let Elena rest in peace.  And then let us enjoy a world where there are endless new possibilities.  Imagine who would be worthy of the Salvatore brothers’ hearts if they were no longer shackled to the endless curse of falling in love with doppelgangers?  Would there be a chance for Stefan and Caroline (Candice Accola)?  With Tyler (Michael Trevino) and Klaus hanging in the wings, that could be spicy and interesting.  And Damon has never been left wanting in the love department.  He can virtually snap his fingers and girls come running, even without vampire compulsion.

Perhaps this is the perfect time for THE VAMPIRE DIARIES to shed some unwanted weight and free up its characters, its mythology, and its next season to center around those characters which we still care about – or even to introduce a heroine worthy of our slavish devotion again — one that we would wish with all our hearts to win the love of one or both of the Salvatores.

Elena’s time has come and gone.  Her story was always going to be a tragedy and her life cut-short one way or another.  It was her destiny as the doppelganger.  Even Katherine had fled from the doppelganger curse by embracing vampirism and then spending the next 500 years of her life fleeing Klaus’ rage.

So I advocate that it is time to let Elena die in peace and let another worthier heroine rise up.  It would rejuvenate a stale series, which has poisoned its own “heart.” It would galvanize fans’ interest and perhaps garner a ratings spike to prove that THE VAMPIRE DIARIES could be the most-talked about show on television once more.

The time has come to bury Elena Gilbert once and for all. After all, she always wanted to be a martyr – let’s honor that wish.

Where to find this article:

http://www.thetvaddict.com/2013/04/04/the-vampire-diaries-killer-controversy-is-it-time-to-stick-a-stake-in-elena/

“The Vampire Diaries”

“The Vampire Diaries”

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: A Cruel Bait-And-Switch That Upset Fans

When a television show enters its 4th season, there are certain expectations that must be lived up to. THE VAMPIRE DIARIES was premised on the idea of two vampire brothers that fell in love with the same girl. In fact, they fell in love with the same girl twice in two different centuries. Though in their defense, once both realized how vile and unlovable their first love Katherine was, they both shunned her. But the same cannot be said for the lovely, innocent Elena – who currently holds the hearts of both Damon and Stefan Salvatore in the palm of her hand.

For three seasons, fans have been counting down the day that Elena would wake up from her girlhood love with the safer brother Stefan, and awaken her passion for the bad-boy brother Damon. In the season 3 finale, Elena was even forced to make a choice between the two brothers and she chose Stefan. Then everything was turned upside down when Elena died and awoke a vampire.

It gave the Damon-Elena fans hope that they scarcely believed possible. Was it finally their turn to cheer for the core romance of the show? Would Elena’s new heightened desires help her realize that she was no longer interested in a childhood love and that she was ready to embark on a deeper, lust-filled journey with Damon? If the first 7 episodes of this season were any indication, that certainly seemed the case.

But in this last episode entitled “My Brother’s Keeper,” just as Elena was set to pursue a relationship with Damon, cold water was thrown across that hot romance. As Stefan and Caroline (who had passionately reviled Damon for the abuse he put her through in Season 1) sat commiserating in their mutual misery over Elena falling under Damon’s spell, it suddenly occurred to them that there may be something much more sinister and supernatural at work. For surely Elena had not willingly chosen Damon, but rather was under the influence of a sire-bond – not unlike the sire-bond that Klaus shared with his hybrids.

This was the first time that a sire-bond had ever been mentioned for vampires. In all the years of watching Caroline, and everyone else who was turned go through their vampire-turning phase, it was never even considered. For if there was a sire-bond, wouldn’t that have compelled Damon and Stefan to be the love-slaves of Katherine? And wouldn’t the same be true of Caroline? If anything the past three seasons have amply demonstrated, vampires feel no loyalty or bond of any kind with the person who turned them.

So why now? Why crush the blossoming joy of fans that stood by the show patiently awaiting their turn to cheer for their couple of choice? Just as Elena and Damon were getting a chance to explore whether they could have a deeper relationship, up sprang the notion of a vampire sire-bond, which must be the explanation for Elena’s attraction to Damon.

Yet this fool-hearted notion discounts the past three years in which Elena has been getting to know Damon and was beginning to realize how much he meant to her – even before she became a vampire.

For fans of the Damon-Elena relationship, it felt like everything was transitioning normally through natural progression from Elena’s teenage years to young adulthood. She was no longer feeling a youthful crush and infatuation with the first boy who saved her and who had kept her and her brother safe from harm. Elena was figuring out who she is on her own and that she can take care of herself. It made perfect sense that she was now choosing to explore other relationships and to see if there was something more between her and Damon — other than just a growing attraction.

Yet now the show has hinted at this possibility that Elena is not making her own choices. It has stripped her of her newfound freedom and independence and turned her into a pathetic, weak human who does not have any freewill.

This is just simply wrong. It is wrong to portray a character that has fought so determinedly to show that she is her own person and that she can make her own decisions. It is also wrong to treat a patient and loyal fanbase with such cruelty as well. Just as the Damon-Elena fans have had to wait for their turn, now should be the time in which the Stefan-Elena fans must sit and wait. Surely, they too could wait through 3 seasons just as steadfastly as the Damon-Elena fans.

With unease we now wait and wonder whether THE VAMPIRE DIARIES will restore our belief in the strength and self-possession of Elena, or if our worst fears will be realized and the show will continue with its foolish notion that Elena is subject to a vampire sire-bond that compels her every action.

Here is to hoping that this tragedy does not come to pass. For introducing a sire-bond between vampires is a sad way to treat both a character worthy of making her own decisions and a fanbase worthy of being rewarded for their patience. Sire-bond be damned. Let’s leave that to Klaus and all his evil plans. It’s time to let Elena explore her adult compulsions and allow her to be as strong and independent as we believe her to be. Let us see how she would truly enjoy, relish and appreciate an adult, equal relationship. Perhaps Damon and Elena would burn too bright and fizzle out, or they may just burn with passion for eternity. Let’s give them a chance.

Where to find this article:

 

http://www.thetvaddict.com/2012/12/06/a-closer-look-at-the-cruel-bait-and-switch-that-has-the-vampire-diaries-fandom-all-a-tizzy/