The History Teacher

The Vampire Diaries

Season 3 episode 20 "Do Not Go Gentle"

Dear Diary,

Life is a lesson in tragedy.

They stood in the candle light. A silent salute for the man they loved. The man who had saved them, befriended them, took care of them, believed in them, died for them, drank with them.

This was the last stand of Alaric Saltzman.

In his final moments, Alaric, the hunter, sat with the vampire he had come to town to kill. The vampire who, to prove a point, had killed his teaching predecessor.

The vampire who since then had become his murderer, his confidant, his drinking buddy and best friend.

This moment was only for Alaric and Damon. Two men, who both had been damaged and consumed by the Petrova women they had loved and somehow survived. Who had both had found a life there, in Mystic Falls.

As a single tear rolled down his face, he took one last drink.

Alaric was ready. He was prepared to die, if it meant protecting the people he loved. And in his life he had found love. He had found a friend. He had found a family. Two children, as lost in the world of the supernatural as he was, who needed him in their lives, just as much as he needed them in his.

He would have given his life for them, and so, with his last act of freewill, he did.

What he couldn’t have known was that this would not be the way his story would end.

His sacrifice stolen by a mother who could no longer allow the monsters she created, her very own children, to live.

Life is a lesson in tragedy.

At least for the history teachers of Mystic Falls.

Be Still Alaric Saltzman,

Hannie Bee. 

The Talking Dead

The Vampire Diaries

Season 3 episode 19 – “Heart of Darkness”

Dear Diary,

Damon and Elena kissed. Damon and Elena kissed. Damon and Elena kissed.

Kiss and (Mo)Tel

 Episode 19, season 3, what an episode! 

 At Stefan's persistence and because Elena needs a tall, strapping vampire chaperone to go anywhere, the dynamic partnership known worldwide as Delena embarked on an Road/Plane trip to Denver. With a mission more important than any other undertaken on this show (except for those times that they needed to unstake Elijah) they were going to get Jeremy back!! Missed you Jeremy. I'm less anxious when you're on my TV screen instead of faraway places being threatened at a distance.

The mission they chose and accepted was two part. 1) Find Jeremy and warn about his psycho making bling I hope and 2) use his Haley Joel Osment-ness to contact Rose and find out who her sire was and through them what Original bloodline they were linked to. Can't you just imagine the Mystic Falls gang of merry vampire lovers sitting around in a circle, fingers crossed, chanting "please be Elijah! Please be Elijah!"

After a brief interlude and bashing by the “youngest” Original brother Kol, the two Gilberts and one Mr Salvatore ended up at a motel and while shacked up in Denver, with her ex-boyfriend currently torturing/drinking with her step-father-room mate and Damon’s dead ex-flame searching the globe for an original vampire groupie, Elena decided to explore her feelings for Damon. And explore them she did.

That kiss. Wow. I believe Damon said it best in the season 2 premiere: “it's back to fireworks and rockets and back to the glare”

After the kiss was a different story though. Having crushed from the buzz and seeing their last hope of finding the truth about the bloodlines struck out, Elena was not feeling the love and we were back to the will they, won’t they of the Delena/Stelena relationship battle.

While this may seem like a back step, it is actually a baby step forward. Despite the back pedal Elena did something about her obviously confusing feelings for Damon, rather than just saying she doesn’t know her she feels. Elena knows how she feels; she just doesn’t know what to do about it. Which is fair enough, neither brother has been perfect, with the murdering of people and such and there are a lot of factors and possible hurt feelings to consider and for someone who has lost so many people already the prospect that you might lose any one else that you loved would be terrifying.

Still, has the love triangle gone on for a very long time? Yes. Do you have a right to be frustrated by Elena's indecision? Yes. In reality hearing someone constantly complain about having to choose between two extremely handsome suitors who would both go to ends of the earth for you is a legitimate reason to unfriend someone of Facebook, you betcha.

But when you look at the show's original pitch, it's basic premise, the hook that made it somewhat different to Twilight, it wasn't about family or friendship or loyalty or ancient bloodlines or a town called Mystic Falls and its madcap inhabitants, the doppelgangers who visit and it's inept police force, it was about a young girl who had experienced a tragedy and the two vampire brothers who love her. In short, relax the love triangle between Elena, Damon and Stefan is the show's home base, it's not going anywhere. Worry about end game at the end of the game. In the mean time please enjoy the generous amount of screen time given to Ian Somerhalder's torso.

A Rose by any other name needs to but out of it. 

In saying all that about the love triangle I really didn't like the way they used Rose to explain it during her final scene with Jeremy.

I understand that the writer's want to lay everything out so as an audience we understand why Damon after everything is a legitimate contender for Elena's affections but in my opinion I felt that it needed to Elena, not Rose, saying this or coming to the conclusion that Damon is either the best or worst thing for her, in order to give if he her ultimate choice some strength or justification. Despite all the other characters and plot twists and moon stones, this has always been Elena's story and as an audience we need to discover and see how she feels about Damon and see her struggle with decision, not hear it explained by another secondary character to someone else who doesn't ultimately play any part in the decision (even if they wanted to have an opinion.)

Agree or disagree?

Quite Contrary 

Other stuff that happened this episode:

- No wonder Alaric couldn't sleep after reading Moby Dick, "An aggressive hunter, completely consumed  with his hatred and obsessively chasing down the monstrous creature that could led to his doom" And they thought Dr Jerkyl and Mr Hyde was symbolic. 
- To whoever chose Matt Donovan/Zach Roerig t shirt this episode, you are a hero among men and women and should be knighted immediately.
- Despite my earlier complaint I was really happy to see Lauren Cohan aka Rose again. I liked her character and was sad when she died, but having just watched the second season of The Walking Dead was awfully confused and upset when Daryl Dixon (the ultimate squirrel eater) didn’t appear.
- So Rebecca is now Esther, everyone thinks that Esther is dead and Body swapping high jinxes will ensue, it really must be time for another decade dance.
- How with all the baseball bats being thrown around and used to stab people this episode did no one stop and think to make a Vampire Bat joke?
- After Tyler's reaction to Klaus's pony picture of Caroline anyone else struggling to see the difference between pre and post sire bond breaking Lockwood?
-Why did no one think of the No-Vamps allowed cave? Why are they not trying to create more No-Vamps allowed caves? I've said it before; get that spell on the Gilbert household stat.

Next episode: Suits!

Ta ta for now,

Hanniebee. 

Your ex is on fire

The Vampire Diaries
Season 3 episode 18 - "The Murder of One" 

Dear Diary,

So much has happened since the last time we spoke. After the disaster of a ball, which you would think after one whole day of planning might have gone better, things kind of started to unravel.

Firstly, it was a bad day for mothers and their children in the land of Mystic Falls. Mrs Mikelson linked all her kids together with a magically blood tree than she tried to kill them all using a plan that involved all manner of Bennets, past and present. Naturally it was doomed to fail with someone being turned into a vampire than pouting about it (I miss the Martins; I know nobody else does but I do.)

Elijah wore a lot of black so you knew he was upset about something (it's the same way you knew Zac Efron was going to sing an angry song in High School Musical) Rebekah trapped Elena in the eternal cave of 'go away Vamp" and threatened her with matches and filmed ancient cave drawings that revealed that the Great Papa Oak tree was a rolling stone.

Elijah left again. Flashbacks ensued. Alaric was evil. He tried to kill everybody. Like Frodo before him it could all be blamed it on the bling.

Damon said awesome things. Probably because he was remembering that time he had a crow. Some vampire named Sage showed up, she did things; it made me mad, I don't want to talk about it. There was a bridge. They burnt the bridge. Because of said burning The Originals now think that dear old mum is their only problem. Little did they know that Alaric's lack of commitment to the preservation of Mystic Falls landmarks may just be their downfall.
Raising the Stakes
And we're back. Welcome to the "Murder of One" I don't know about you but I liked it. And by liked I mean loved. And by loved I mean "Did you see what they did there. Did you see what they did there!!!." After a couple of uneven episodes in my opinion, you can disagree with me if you want I'm often wrong, the writer's have managed to pull all strands of story stretching across the seasons, from the blood link to Sage to the white oak tree to Katherine and Rose, together in one massive twist that has serious and deadly consequences for half the series regulars on the show.

As we find out in the third act of episode 18 if you kill an Original Vampire, you no longer just take out the original family or family member as Bonnie's last second reversal spell removed the link, but you take out that Original's entire blood line.

Bravo. All the prizes forever and always. What makes a twist like this work so well is the fact that it has clearly been built up to.

It makes sense that after a season (or three) where blood, blood lines and family have been so important and pressed upon that it would be that same connection dooms them.

In my vast casual television viewing you see TV shows that throw in a twist towards the end of the hour to be note worthy or to shock you but there was no build up to it. It's a twist just for the sake of having a twist and makes just sense in the context of what you just watched. The Vampire Diaries is becoming a master class in how to create a rewarding twist (Sun and Moon curse anyone) It can still shock you in an "I never saw that coming or I can't believe that just happened way" but still work within their own expanding and understood mythology, which for loyal viewers means that the payoff is so much more fun.
　

Vervain Shots, Bear Traps and Blood Vials oh my. 

Some other stuff happened this episode before poor, ancient Finn burst into flames so I should probably talk about that:

- Was it Esther’s plan all along to not only kill her children when she linked them but to also take out all vampires through their blood lines or was that an unexpected side effect? Would an Original vampire’s death have taken out all their vampire “children” anyway?

-Dear villains of Mystic Falls, please stop threatening to kill Jeremy KTHXBYE

-Sage, urgh. That's pretty much it. Which is a shame because I really, really wanted to like the character. Cassidy Freemen was great on Smallville and I met her once at Supernova (it's comic con if everyone was Australian) and she was really, really nice but I just couldn't like her character here so I wasn't very sad to see her go.

Book Spoiler Alert- There is also a character of Sage in the more recent Vampire Diaries novels (The Return series onwards) Sage is a close male friend of Damon, who is described as an old and powerful Vampire who works as a guardian of a magical gate in alternate dimension. So slightly different character portrayal here -OK I'm done.

 
-Klaus: - "Let's all say a prayer for Finn, who slept in a box longer than he lived as a man” I hope someone eulogizes me so sweetly one day - "Hanniebee spent more time in front of the TV than she did outside."

-Matt staked a vampire. Matt staked an ORIGINAL Vampire. That means he's safe forever now, yes? 

-Bonnie was awesome this episode. Bonnie is a character we rarely get to see the emotional side of, with most of her story or mourning period whether for her Grams or Mum always playing off screen but her melt down beside her car after the day she had was beautifully played and heartbreaking. Though spending a day with Joseph Morgan probably wouldn't bother me. 

-Call back to the soap dish!! Love the soap dish. 

- I understand that Stefan (and the world) wanted to get Damon back from "bear trap Beks" but why trade the stakes. Klaus didn't know about them and Rebekah thought they had burnt up the last of the white oak. If they wanted some sort of leverage they should just have made Stefan give Klaus a bff's 4ever bracelet than have him smolder at Rebekah for a couple of seconds and while they were swooning sneak Damon out the back and no original would have been the wiser.

- Evil Alaric has the last white oak stake hidden somewhere. And by hidden they mean he accidentally dropped last time he was at the Mystic Falls Grill and it's still laying on the floor near the bar somewhere waiting for Matt to find on his next shift.

That’s it for the “Murder of One” Thank you for reading!! 

Next episode, Jeremy and Tyler are both back, one or more people may be shirtless and Buffy shows up wondering why Williow never thought of a "killing one, kills all vampires" spell while she was busy floating pencils. 

Until we meet again gentle readers, remember that if the lighting suddenly changes in the mansion where you are being held hostage for no apparent reason it's probably just a dream.

XOXO,
Hanniebee.