The Vampire Diaries Episodes 1-10

[redbrunja]

In preparation for the new season of TVD, I decided to rewatch the first season. Here are my thoughts on the first ten episodes:

Pilot

While I still think getting hit by a car is not the best way to hunt, I do appreciate the way the lone person in the road at night technique is what Katherine taught Damon in episode thirteen. I'm not entirely sure it's deliberate, but I think introducing Damon as following Katherine's teachings, even if we don't know that yet, nicely sets-up his arc for the first season.

Jeremy's hair looks a billion times better when it was short.

After the grim, srs brs Bonnie of the final episodes of the season, bubbly, cheeful Bonnie is almost a shock.

It's also kind of sad to imagine Bonnie and Elena and Caroline prior to Elena's parents dying, Bonnie becoming a witch, and Caroline's various abusive and then incredibly boring relationships (I'm going to call moving from Damon to Matt a lateral move). That triumvirate undoubtably used to be a cluster of the popular, pretty cheerleaders (the kind of girls who I would have hated in high school).

Some things from the early part of the season were wise choices to drop (the diaries, namely). However, the writers seem to have forgotten that Damon can call fog and has a pet crow. Those seem like really cool things to play around with (fanficcers, get on that!)

In the first episode, I really enjoyed the Stefan gently but firmly refused Caroline. It was a.) the best way to handle that and b.) really nice to not have someone's blatant affection treated as if no one notices, regardless of how obvious it is.

Night Of The Comet

Goddam, Vicki and Jeremy are adorable together. When Jeremy was interacting with Vicki was the only time I really found him interesting. And I know I'm alone in this, but I just adore Vicki and want to snuggle her. (Her relationship with Matt also feels very real and makes me happy.)

I really enjoy Damon's first meeting with Elena. He plays 'decent brother' very well, and he masterfully sows discord in Stefan and Elena's relationship without breaking character.

I have much affection for Jenna and her struggle to parent Jeremy.

Friday Night Bites

I also have much love for Stefan's history-trivia curb-stomp of Tanner.

Damon and Elena's conversation in the kitchen is one of the places were I can really tell that the writers knew where they were going; it fits in perfectly with what we later learn about Katherine without telling us some of the most interesting facts of the case.

And looking back, it's cool to see that as early as episode three, Damon was giving Elena excellent advice and Elena was getting under his skin without even trying.

Damon's jaw wiggle after Elena slaps him makes me lol.

As does this:

"I guess I could seduce her the old fashioned way. Or I could just... eat her."

Family Ties

Damon snarking on Twilight will never, ever get old.

sidenote on Damon: when I first started watching, one of the reasons I loved Damon and really liked this show was that he was a straight-up bad vampire who did bad things.

And then he gets a redemption arc and I start shipping him with Elena DESPITE him being a total abuser to Caroline. It's mentally uncomfortable.

You're Undead To Me

I love the scene with Elena and Stefan in the kitchen. He is so relaxed and charming - who wouldn't want a nice vampire boyfriend like him? He's behaving very similar to how he acted when he was drinking to take the edge off his blood craving, and it's nice to know he can loosen up without alcohol. (And I'm sure knowing that Damon was locked up helped him relax.) Also, I think one of the reasons that I can get behind Stefan/Elena when all the other Good Vamp/Nice Girl relationships don't work for me is that this is the only one where the two individuals in question spend so much time smiling at each other. They clearly make each other's life better and enjoy each other's company.

Lost Girls

This episode is where the series gets good.

It's tightly written, interesting, and Elena and Stefan both handle the reveal of vampires like adults.

I've lamented Vicki's death before, but one of the reasons that it's a shame she died is that she brought out some interesting things in Damon that didn't really get developed. Like, her persistence, her lack of self-esteem, her impetuousness- I think those are all things Damon would recognize in himself now or himself before he was turned. It's interesting to think about what in Vicki made him decide to turn her (besides boredom).

And that scene where they exchange blood? Ridiculously hot.

"I've been in love. It's painful, boring, and overrated."

Haunted

"Don't listen to him. He walks on a moral plane way out of our eye-line."

I really appreciate that Elena isn't afraid to get physical - whacking Vicki with boards, shoving and slapping Damon. I just wish she was a bit more effective with it.

162 Candles

IN WHICH LEXIE IS AWESOME.

And can I just mention how much I love not just Lexie, but the teasing, platonic male/female friendship she has with Stefan? Because it's fantastic.

And her throttling Damon will never get old. She and Pearl should get together and have a Damon-curbstomping party with a side of lesbain sexing. EXCEPT OH WAIT THEY'RE BOTH DEATH. FUCK YOU FOR THAT, TVD, FUCK YOU KINDLY.

"Sex always works! You'll rock her world so hard with your vamp sex she'll be yours forever."

So says fandom.

And I can't believe when told to 'get ready' for a party, Stefan picked that plaid shirt.

Matt turning on the lights with drunk!Caroline's toes was adorable. *sigh* Like Bonnie, I wish I liked Caroline more than I actually do.

History Repeating

I find the first half of this episode pretty damn slow.

Once we get to the seance with deliciously classic signs of haunting, it picks up a lot, and I enjoyed Emily-in-Bonnie's epic magical pwning much more than I usually like Bonnie.

The Turning Point

I found the banner falling and Bonnie's protestation of innocence adorable. There should be more moments like that.

"I don't side with anyone. You piss me off, I want you dead."

I adored that Elena called Stefan on making decisions for her and that he then knocked it off. That they had sex at this point in the story both made sense and was awesome.

Also, thumbs-up to the writers for breaking for their midseason break with both an emotional and a plot cliff-hanger. I remember being totally *flail* when I first watched this and was going to have to wait a couple months to see what happened next.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

And then he gets a redemption arc and I start shipping him with Elena DESPITE him being a total abuser to Caroline. It's mentally uncomfortable.

This repeatedly almost threw me out of the show completely in the second half of the season, and they killed the character completely for me in the scene where he's abducted a bunch of college girls and brainwashed them into being his sex toys/cheerful food source, and the narrative focus is all about his angst. I feel they concentrated 99% of his "badness" in the first half of the season as frequently-sexualized violence against women because the writers know that, once angst is introduced, most fans will be forgiving of rape and violence against/the using of women. The only real sign in the second half that they haven't completely forgotten the things he's done is Bonnie's speech to Stefan at the end of the season.

ETA: Also, Stefan is the first vampire boyfriend I've actually liked as a vampire boyfriend (I liked Angel at times and enjoyed Spike through the end of season 5, but never had more than an appreciation of the narrative as far as the romantic aspect of either's relationship with Buffy went, though both had scenes in that regard that got to me) but this has pretty much confirmed for me that I'll never genuinely ship human girl/way-older-vampire, because I'd likely ship Elena/Stefan pretty big if I did. Few things top anti-vampire weapons for your friends and loved ones as a romantic gesture.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

This repeatedly almost threw me out of the show completely in the second half of the season, and they killed the character completely for me in the scene where he's abducted a bunch of college girls and brainwashed them into being his sex toys/cheerful food source, and the narrative focus is all about his angst

Yeah. That scene was one of the many, many times I was rooting for Damon to get staked (and he's my favorite character).

I feel they concentrated 99% of his "badness" in the first half of the season as frequently-sexualized violence against women because the writers know that, once angst is introduced, most fans will be forgiving of rape and violence against/the using of women.

I don't know if I agree with that. Like, I think the reason he was shown as sexually violent is because of the ingrained sexism in our culture, but I think it probably would have played the same way if Damon had been just killing lots of people (of both genders). And speaking personally, I would have had a MUCH easier time with him snarking and murdering people than I had with him snarking and using women.

Few things top anti-vampire weapons for your friends and loved ones as a romantic gesture.

Trufax.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

My understanding (and a large part of what killed the character for me, even if I had any tolerance for characters once they're rapists and abusers, especially since I'm sick and tired of their always being redeemable and whipping out agony and angst to pull at our heartstrings and being treated as ever so much more fascinating than everyone else-I don't even forgive Chuck Bass, whose crimes were considerably less than most of the type) is that almost all of his violences against women are things the TV show added to make him more "interesting."

But I look at it the way I look at Jack the Ripper: Do we really think Jack the Ripper would be a huge urban legend who usually gets "explained" when he shows up in fiction if he'd murdered and mutilated a bunch of 12-year-old boys instead of women who seem to have been killed for "sexually immoral" life choices? If Damon had spent the first half of the season repeatedly assaulting, abusing, manipulating, using, raping, and murdering 12-year-old boys, instead of women (primarily aged about 16-18) do you really think they ever would have dreamed of a redemption arc?

The things is that the writers know that this is an approach that will make viewers more uncomfortablethan others, but also that it's a "badness" that they can take to almost any extent and still get most of the audience to go with it when they suddenly start ignoring it and playing up the woobie badboy, because we are trained to be more forgiving of men's abuses of women, and to subconsciously see how it's also the women's fault (But Caroline made it easy by making her attraction obvious! But Vicky was a druggie who kept wandering off into the woods! But Bree and Lexie should have known better than to mess with him! But Emily should have known he'd try to murder Bonnie if she messed up his plans! But Elena should have known better than to try to trick him!).

ETA: And since I've basically just ranted about your favorite character (and why fiction makes me hate society even more): you aren't the only one who liked Vicky, though pegging her as the first major character death in the first episode kept me from really getting attached. (Lexie, though, I figured would be around for a bit.)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

You have a really good point about how our perception of Jack the Ripper would be a lot different if he was killing young boys instead of female prostitutes. And now I'm VERY curious to think of how fandom's reaction would be different if Damon had been killing, oh, say, Matt and Tyler instead of Vicki and Lexie *daydreams about that for a while*.

I will say, that while TVD's treatment of Damon is problematic, I DON'T think that they've presented it in any way as the fault of Vicki/Lexie/Caroline/Bonnie/Elena. In fact, I feel like the show presents those women (especially Caroline and Bonnie and Elena) as firmly in the right and in no way deserving of the shit Damon pulls. (Especially Caroline. In fact, I think the writers expect the Matt/Caroline relationship to be satisfying because she's finally with a "good man who treats her right." That relationship fails for me, but I think that's what they were trying for.)

As for Vicki... I had NOT expectation of her dying (which was probably me being a bit genre-blind) and then she died and I was like "woe!" and then she was a vampire and I was like "awesome!" and expecting her to be around for the next three seasons as this show's Jessica and then she didn't even make it through the next episode. *sadface*

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The writers and I have a very different idea of what constitutes "treats her right." (Actually, I'm reading the first book now and am shocked at, uhm, liking Matt. Who starts off sweet and understanding about bewing dumped, instead of "hey, your parents have been dead for three months so you've totally had plenty of time to grieve and so should automatically date me again."

I don't think the writers consciously think it's their fault and do think the exact opposite (Exept for Bree. IMO, that's when the show stopped taking his actions seriously.) but I also think it's written with a subconscious awareness of that cultural conditioning, and I think the "vampire badboy" character type tends to really bring that out in fiction.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Same here. At least when Caroline was 'dating' Damon the writers didn't act like he was a good boyfriend. Whereas with Matt, it seems like Caroline is expected to work harder to make that relationship work than Matt does (and that's tots okay!) and completely ignore the fact that he clearly would get back together with Elena in a hot second.

[girlyouknew.livejournal.com]

Hi. You should have gotten an e-mail from me (Jessica - hi, there!) and I just wanted to assure you it's not spam or anything. I decided to e-mail you after seeing your review here (love your style of writing), linked from tvd_fans. No obligation to take part, but I'd love it if you did!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Hi Jessica! I just got your email and would love to be part of your project. I just sent you an email about it- and I forgot to add that I'm on the West Coast.

(Also, great lj handle.)

[girlyouknew.livejournal.com]

Yay, thank you for the compliment and I'll be e-mailing you again!