Beer Bad

The Vampire Diaries

Season 4 episode 3 - "The Rager"

Dear Diary,

Do you ever wonder about the neighbourhood you live in or the school you go to?

What you neighbours are like? Do your classmates have any secrets? What is the usual expected recovery rate of an eighteen year old who has been shot in the chest with a wooden stake? Should you tell anyone when fellow students start throwing pencils and snacking on each other in the middle of class, or is that just none of your business?

These are the sort of questions I'm sure many of the students and townspeople of Mystic Falls must ask themselves all the time.

Imagine what they must think of our main characters. Doesn't Elena seem different lately? What language is Bonnie muttering in? Where has Mr Saltzman gone? How did I get this massive neck wound?

Or maybe have they all gone into a state of mass denial when it comes to these sorts of things.

The sort of bizarre mind set of people constantly surrounded by madness and unexplainable, scary things that they won't and don't want to admit are actually real.

I call this the “I didn't see that and neither did you" approach.

Many fictional towns have taken to this way of thinking over the years. I'm pretty sure the motto for Sunnydale High was "Dead student or faculty member must be Thursday."
　
Classy

I try not to bring Buffy into discussions about the Vampire Diaries (even though both shows are fantastic and the comparisons are there) but when it comes to actual class attendance the Scooby Gang have the Mystic Falls crew beat hands down.

Elena was in class for five minutes after what I assume is six months absence, is there for five minutes, engages in some mean girl class warfare, leaves after six minutes to go to a party where is seems that every single student who managed to stay alive this long has ditched school, leaving the lone surviving teachers with no one to hang out with.  

Vampire Towns!

I loved all the Mean Girlness this episode. Even though everything was heightened because of the vampireness of the situation, the emotions behind it all felt very real.

Elena was furious at Rebekah. Fair enough. She had killed her. I would be too if the person who had run me off a bridge, inadvertently turning me into a walking killing machine and had killed my last guardian whose classroom I was in for the first time since his death was rubbing it in my face (literally and figuratively.)

And what Rebekah was doing was a total teenage girl move as well. You know that you did something wrong and everyone is mad at you, so instead of making it better you go out of your way to make it worst and have everyone hate you more.

I'm glad though that Rebekah seems to have found a friend in April. Just as long as she stays away from Matt. She is never allowed near Matt again.
　
Explosive revelations

I know that this is a very bad position to take considering that the show I like watching and writing about is primary about Vampires, but I am really liking Connor.

Do I want him to succeed in hunting the vampires of this show, no, but I am enjoying the general awesomeness and efficiency he is displaying, and I imagine I will so right up until the time that someone eats him.

Things we learnt from and about Connor this episode:

-       The Mystic Falls police department is not very good at their job, which isn’t really new information I guess.

-       Werewolf venom can be extracted through the gums.

-       The magical mystery tattoo on his arm can only be seen by other hunters or potential hunters.

-       This means that Jeremy Gilbert is a potential slayer, sorry I mean hunter.

-       He can predict which beer kegs will be transported to an underage/over age high school student’s party.

-       Werewolf venom when mixed with alcohol may have the following side effects: hallucinations, veiny lines appearing beneath your skin, intense emotion breakthroughs, death. If symptoms persist please don’t eat your doctor.

-       He booby traps his RV with exploding arrows.

-       He doesn’t appreciate when those exploding arrows are used against him.

-       He is one of the Five.

What is the Five? Your guess is as good as mine. I’m pretty sure it involves vampire hunters. With tattoos of some kind. There might be five of them.

But have no fear; it looks as if we will find out next episode, which is not only entitled “The Five” but looks like its set to have flashbacks! With Elijah! There will be wigs! I’m already very excited.

　
The not so secret circle

So other stuff that happened this episode:

- Fay! Fay was there. Phoebe Tonkin aka Chloe from the H20 and most importantly Fay from the late and great Secret Circle (miss you secret circle!) arrived on the scene as what we assume as Tyler "Cheating Heart" Lockwood secret paramour Haley. Mermaids, Witches and now werewolves oh my.

- It looks like Klaus might have found a way to Caroline’s heart that doesn't involve body-jacking her boyfriend after all. He also seems to have found another use for Elena, which might not be as romantically motivated.

- The motorcycle ride. The motorcycle ride.

- Love that the all powerful hybrids have been reduced to guard dogs. Why is Klaus so desperate to make more of them again?

-What my notes while watching this episode looked like: STOP KILLING MATT! STOP KILLING MATT! STOP KILLING MATT! It was just a dream. It was just a dream. STOP KILLING MATT! Elena and I will never be friends.

- Stefan and Caroline need to have more scenes together. Same goes for Meredith and Damon. That is all.

That’s it from me. What did you think of “The Rager?”

Do you think the good town folk of Mystic Falls are more clued in about their mystical surroundings then they might let on?

Who do you think would win in a fight between Connor and Buffy? (trick question the answer will always Buffy.)

Until next episode: Remember Alcohol is evil and will make you hallucinate terrible, terrible things like killing awesome guys or making out with your vampire boyfriend's vampire older brother,

hugs and kisses,

Hanniebee