#tv notes

The Vampire Diaries was a unique show for me.  I read the books when I was a teenager and I adored them.  They kicked off my love of supernatural literature.  At the time, we’re talking early nineties here, vampire movies were rare, and vampires were portrayed as true monsters, all evil, no soul, hard core scary horror stuff.  

Fast forward almost twenty years to the age of soulful vampires seeking love and redemption.  Twilight lit the match to that pop culture fire, and The Vampire Diaries was the right show at the right time.  Good writing, really good chemistry between the actors, some pretty decent acting, and to my everlasting surprise: FAST PACED.  I was used to shows taking two seasons to get to the kiss, or the fight, or whatever.  This show was introducing characters in one episode and killing them off the next.  Hell, sometimes they didn’t make it out of their first episode alive.  It was fun to watch because it didn’t drag on.

While the Elena-Stefan-Damon thing was not my favorite part of the show, it certainly was for the rest of the fans.  That’s what kept it going.  I was more interested in the Originals.  And boy, the producers did not let me down there.  So once The Originals became its own show, I stopped watching The Vampire Diaries.  Not enough hours in the day, and the more interesting characters (to me) were in New Orleans, not Mystic Falls.  

However, beginnings and endings are my favorite parts of things, so I was not about to miss the finale of the Vampire Diaries.  Here are a few thoughts I had on the finale.  SPOILERS AHEAD!

Since I stopped watching in season 5, I had to do some quick reading online to figure out all that had happened in the last 4 seasons.  I caught up enough to know who everyone was, and I think the thing I regret is that I didn’t see the Bonnie and Enzo romance play out in real time.  There was good chemistry there and it was nice to see Bonnie happy, even if only for a minute or two.  And Enzo, with that voice, that smile, the accent with the way he says “Luv”, is just yummy.  (For the record, I am a goner for the British man who say “Luv”.  When Klaus does it with that regretful whisper of his, I swoon.)

When this show started, I was so annoyed by Caroline.  Much to my surprise, she is my favorite character now.  Strong, smart, optimistic, protective as all hell, understanding, loyal.  Way to show growth in a character.  Bravo.

Someone made the comment that this whole show was Stefan’s story and so it made sense that it was his life we followed all the way to the end, that it was he we had to watch die.  I agree with that.  He loved Elena and lost her.  He loved Caroline and had to leave her.  He was devoted to his brother for two centuries.  He deserves everlasting peace.  The fact that Lexi was there to greet him when he made it to the afterlife was fitting and beautiful.

Klaus’s letter, and huge check, to Caroline for the boarding school was pure candy for all us Klaroline shippers.  A sweet little gift from the producers to the fans.

Bonnie, poor, long-suffering Bonnie.  She deserved 60 years with Enzo.  She deserved for him to be mortal so they could have adorable babies.  She deserved so much more than to travel the world alone with a dead true love in her head.  I hope, as much as she loves Enzo, she doesn’t stay alone.  Enzo will be waiting for her in the afterlife (because clearly everyone is hanging around the Afterlife: Mystic Falls version).  

Speaking of Enzo, now here’s a dude who deserved a hell of a lot better than a life of torture, pain, mind control, and then a heart-ectomy by one of the seventeen evil versions of Stefan.

Nina Dobrev was never better than when she was playing Catherine Pierce.  As tortured and angsty as Elena was, Catherine had to be a ball for Nina to play.  I cannot tell you how happy I was when I turned on the next-to-last episode and saw the previouslies when Bonnie was telling Damon who took over Hell after Cade was killed.  Damon’s exaggerated “Do not say that name!” literally made me giggle.  The fact that the show came back around to end pretty much where it began was perfect for me.  That’s my favorite type of finale.  Everything coming full circle.  Ending where it all began.  That’s my bread and butter.

And so, to end it with Stefan opening the door to Damon in the afterlife, the “hello, brother”, hit my sentimental little heart big-time.  It felt fitting, complete.  It felt right.

Spoilers ahead, of course.

For me TV shows are about the characters.  The emotional connections between them, the lessons they learn and ways they grow, the sacrifices they make.  So The Originals was pure joy for me, because I fell in love with these characters.  The writers created such amazing stories and the actors brought them to life.  

Season 1 and Season 4 were the best.  I actually thought it should have ended with the Season 4 finale.  I liked the idea that though the Mikaelsons were not together, they were in the world somewhere learning how to live and try to be happy.  But I knew that wasn’t going to last.  Though I had hoped from day one that Klaus and Caroline would live happily ever after, I knew the show could only end with Klaus’ death.  There was just no other way.  He had come full circle, from monster to father to redeemed.  His story was complete.  The fact that Elijah went with him into whatever awaited them on the other side was a surprise to me, but it probably shouldn’t have been.  It makes perfect sense.

There were some things in this season that made me quite happy: Josh finding Aiden again, seeing Elijah truly happy with Antoinette, Klaus getting some time with Caroline, Caroline being fucking awesome as ever, Freya finally getting some happiness for herself, Rebecca and Marcel together after almost 200 years of longing, Hayley with Jackson in the afterlife.  

I liked how the writers and producers used the first half of the season to battle hatred and bigotry.  It may “only” be a melodrama about monsters but they had an opportunity to make a statement and they did a very good job with it.

I love a montage and I wished we could have seen how everyone was doing a few years down the road.  That’s what I liked so much about the finale of the Vampire Diaries.

I will miss the way Klaus says, “Luv”, and how Joseph Morgan can devastate me when he does sincere regret.  I will miss the way Elijah buttons his jacket, and Marcel’s incredible smile.  I will miss Kohl’s cheeky mischief and Rebeka’s snarky comments.  I will miss these characters, but am grateful we had five seasons of them.  And that we live in a time where I can own every episode and call up any particular scene with the push of a button.

I just went back and reviewed my recaps from Season 1.  And, son of a bitch, I got everything I asked for, over the life of the series.  Elijah and Hayley got together, Klaus was redeemed, we got to see Klaus being a father to Hope, and Caroline came to New Orleans for Klaus.  It may not have turned out exactly as I envisioned, but dammit if my wishes weren’t granted.  I can’t be anything but grateful for that.    

I gotta be honest with you kids, I’m not loving this season so far.  It’s got potential, because the Ghost Riders making people disappear, from the entirety of existence is pretty cool.  But so far I’m just kind of bored.  There’s not enough Parrish, but let’s be honest, there’s never enough Parrish for me.  And I really miss Stiles wisecracking.

But there are a few things I’m liking.  Let’s just say I am here for a Melissa and Argent affair.  JR Bourne is such a babe, and the silver fox thing and the beard is definitely doing it for me.  He and Melissa should get married and have a baby.  Wouldn’t Scott be the best older brother?  Taking care of a baby sister.  He’d be the only one who could stop her crying.  Jesus, I guess I’m writing fan fiction instead of a review.

ANYway, I was wondering if these episodes without Dylan O’Brien were filmed while he was filming the Mazerunner sequel, or when he was recuperating from that nasty injury to his arm.  

There was one thing about Episode 2 I found interesting: when Corey, Mason, and Liam found the missing kid’s library card it was blank.  When they scanned it and read his file on the computer, the card suddenly had information printed on it.  So, can someone who’s been taken and “erased” from existence, be brought back by being remembered?  Sloppy work on the Ghost Riders’ part forgetting to wipe the data servers. Although, they are dressed like nineteenth century cowboys.  It was a lot simpler to make someone disappear back in ye olden times.

There was something I read somewhere about Stiles blaming himself for his mother dying?  Is that right?  I haven’t seen the early seasons yet.  If that is true, is the fact that he’s disappeared from all existence the reason Stilinski’s wife is alive in this alternate-reality timeline?

I am liking Malia more and more with every episode.  Her matter-of-fact attitude is fantastic.  She could use a little more empathy, but being a literal wild animal for years can make a girl focus on her own survival at the expense of everything else.  It can take a while to shake that off.  I did like season 4 when she was dating Stiles.  They were adorable together.

Which brings me to my major bitch with this season.  The entirety of season 5 was spent building up the Lydia and Parrish connection/attraction, and now we just pretend like it doesn’t exist?  I am giving the writers A LOT of rope here, because I’m hoping they’ll get around to this all making sense. Did they fire the Continuity Editor?  Did she get taken in the Wild Hunt, too?  

So the sexy physics professor has an upper respiratory condition that requires - helium?  Ooookaay.  I’m sure that will make sense soon.  And don’t even get me started on the whole eating the pineal gland thing.

I loved the hell out of Season 5.  Season 4 was excellent, too.  Season 6 has got to get its shit together, right quick.  Don’t end the show with a lackluster season.  These characters deserve better than that.

Teen Wolf is my stand-in while The Originals gets held back until mid season.  And I really thought when I started watching previous seasons last month that this would not be my jam.  I’m a witches and vampires kind of fan.  Werewolves were sort of second-tier for me.  But this show... THIS SHOW.  God dammit, I did not need this kind of emotional attachment to yet another TV show.

I came for the horror-fantasy genre and stayed for the insanely hot guys and sincere relationship chemistry. 

Quick disclosure:  I started with seasons 4 and 5.  I have not yet seen seasons 1-3.  I’ll get to them eventually.  But since Parrish is my love and he didn’t show up until late in season 3, I’m not in any real hurry.

Season 6 is the final season.  I know the original, hard-core fans are bereft, but as long as the show runners do it justice, I’m fine with this being the end.  When shows stick around too long they get stale, boring, or worse just bad.

I like the Ghost Riders story line for the final season.  These guys are creepy and spooky and SO MUCH better than the Dread Doctors.  Maybe it’s because I watched all of season 5 in one week, but I got so sick of the Dread Doctors.  The stupid focus-effects the cinematographer used and the god damn clicking and respirator-breathing drove me batty.  So I’m pinning all my entertaining-villain hopes on the Ghost Riders.

As I mentioned above, Parrish is my man, but I’m concerned he’s going to have a rough season since Hellhounds run with Ghost Riders.  Like maybe he’s going to be controlled or used against his friends by the Ghost Riders.  I don’t know.  I’m concerned.  I also think Parrish ain’t gonna make it out alive from season 6.  He loves Lydia, but it’s pretty clear the writers want a Lydia-Stiles finale, so I think Parrish is probably dying to protect Lydia, maybe to protect all of them.  From a writing standpoint, that’s a really good story.  From the point of a fan who just wants her precious deputy to be happy and smile more, that sucks.  So I hope I’m wrong.

However, I am VERY happy for Lydia & Stiles fans who are finally, after several years, probably going to get what they want.  Long-suffering fans should always get what they want in the end.

I’m going to miss Kira.  Give a girl a sword and I’m an instant fan.  She was awesome and she and Scott together were super adorable.  Although they’re doing their best to make Liam and Hayden our cutie-pies for this season.  I’m good with that. 

So anyway, Christ this review is too long already, Memory Lost was an excellent start to the season.  Good balance of humor and angst and even a spooky house!  Man, that place got abandoned and spider-webby quick.  I thought my house got dusty fast.  

I know there wasn’t much for a hunter to do in this episode, but I missed Argent.  I seriously dig that grumpy/sad/dangerous vibe he’s got going.  And those blue eyes.  Sigh...

Moving on!  The new physics teacher is a babe - and also the Nazi werewolf that crawled out of the gooey chamber at the end of season 5.  Additionally, I believe he was the dude watching Mason, Hayden and Liam break into the maintenance room where they found the dead guy stinking up the ventilation system.

I read that Theo will be coming back, too.  Which is a shame because I thought his story line in Season 5 was damn near perfect.  Bad guy does bad things, pays for it dearly in the end.  Bringing him backs sort of ruins the symmetry of that.  But I’ll keep an open mind about it for now.

From the previews and sneak peaks, I think this season is going to be excellent.  I will, however, get annoyed if it takes the entirety of Season 6 to get the band back together.  The pack was badly fractured in Season 5, so they shouldn’t do the same damn thing the very next season.  I can only stand so much of Lydia and Stiles longingly standing on opposite sides of the Afterlife (or wherever the hell the Wild Hunt takes place) wall-crying and moping.

So yeah, good episode, good start, the future’s so bright I gotta wear shades.

This entire season has been problematic for me.  I don’t care for Daisy’s development or storylines, and I never really bought her and Lincoln as a couple.  No chemistry there.

I miss Bobby and Hunter immensely.

Coulson, May, Mac - all excellent characters that were not used to their full potential at all this season.

The only real redeeming factor for me is Fitz and Simmons.  The writers actually did right by them.

And Yo-Yo.  I like her a lot.  Girl has balls and the strength and moral integrity that seems to be somewhat lacking in SHIELD.

I’m still pissed with how they handled Ward.  I wanted a redemption storyline for him.  (But that’s probably just my crush on Brett Dalton talking.)

I’m just sort of ‘meh’ on the whole season.  I have hopes for next season, but I’m actually glad this one is over.

The finale was okay.  I was very worried that once Lash saved Daisy she would mope for a good 12 episodes or so.  Thankfully they got that all out of the way, and though I was not at all moved by her sobbing on the floor of the Quinn jet over Lincoln’s death, I liked the vigilante turn she took there in the last 10 minutes.  That’s a Daisy that interests me.  What do you want to bet she goes back to Skye, or picks a new name all together?

I hope John Hannah joins the cast full time next season.  He’s always a hoot, but can bring the drama when it’s called for.

The Hive storyline bored the hell out of me. They need to do better next season, or there won’t be a fifth.