Kathemy

It's sad when not even the reviewer of the show can get it right. No, Scarlett and Gunnar did not kiss.

I have a feeling that Stefan might be kind of a snob when it comes to cooking skills ;)

I didn't link that post specifically to suggest you were a Scarlett hater, it was more for my position on the romantic pairing. The writers seem to know no way to keep them apart except writing one or both of them as unlikable. At the same the overall romance arc between them is never going away. They should just stop with the character assassination.

I don't think it's good form for me to respond to this with a thousands-word-long post so I'll just link my analysis from tumblr: http://kathemy.tumblr.com/post/118357839626/s-g-hating

In other news Deacon remains the biggest S/G shipper in the universe...

The people who are begging the show not to hook up Scarlett and Gunnar are shooting themselves in the foot. The only alternative that we get to them being in a relationship is drama, drama, drama and more drama with redundant side characters that end up getting burned. As bad as the writing is on this show - and boy, it truly is bad - the narrative is all about their romance slash musical partnership when it comes to them. They have a combined stage presence, chemistry and musical compatibility that none on the show can match. It isn't even close. Not even with all the bizarre and contrived hate and the character assassinations. There are behind the scenes reasons for this stuff being drawn out for years and years but the show plainly cannot afford to mess these two up anymore. The unprofessionalism has to go. Put them together and call victory. Let them finally be stable - the reason everyone hates it is the endless drama. Every single episode with a performance by these two lifts the musical value by at least 50%.

Eh, blood transfusion? Could work.

Your list is tendentious. If you list it like that you should add Kai to the list for Elena, for example. Maroline was a consolation price for Matt. Daroline was rape. The only two real cases of boys crushing their asses off on Caroline are Tyler and Klaus, and even so Tyler walked out on Caroline. Right now obviously it's Steroline and I feel this should be her endgame.

It should also be noted that the entire 17 promo was basically Steroline, those photos were used to promote the episode, various stans threatened to boycot it because they were making out, and... yeah, the ratings rose by 20%. Sure, nobody ships Steroline...

In other news Steroline is currently in the process of winning the E!Online tournament for best TV couple of 2015. http://uk.eonline.com/news/635990/2015-tv-s-top-couple-tournament-is-down-to-the-final-2-vote-for-your-favorite-now?cmpid=sn-000000-twitterfeed-365-kristin&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitterfeed_kristin&dlvrit=51396

If we went with what the actors would like we would have Damon/Bonnie, Stefan/Caroline and Elena/Kai. That much is rather obvious.

Stefan and Caroline is already a romantic relationship and it has been a romantic relationship for quite some time now.

A "couple of years" clearly refers to the time that Caroline has been interested in Stefan. One could argue she's been into him since the pilot.

The article is factually incorrect. TVD rates higher than TO, for example.

The meme is all over tumblr. https://www.tumblr.com/search/sterocest

In other news, is anyone else finding the desperate Klaroliners with their #sterocest bullshit absolutely hilarious? :)

Yes. She directs TO.

I think that it is a given that the ratings will not improve. Not unlike many serialized dramas the show has seen a slow and rock-solid decline over the years. For TVD the problem has been compounded by disappointed shippers leaving and spreading negative press. However this doesn't matter as much as you would think. The show is mostly living off its international success.

Elizabeth dying was not a prop for Steroline to happen, it was an obstacle for them. How do you think this will play out now?

i would probably kill myself if they left Stefan and Caroline on this note. :P

Elena and Damon are always as close as required for the story to be all about them.

Obviously he's not quite up to speed to tackle grown-ups. He's probably going to Paris to look up Claudia.

Things I loved about the episode: That wonderful, wonderful kiss that currently has every single Klaroliner in the world whining, flaming and lying on every message board and in every comment field on the internet. High entertainment, guys. Things I hated about the episode: How despite this episode being about Jeremy leaving, Elizabeth dying and Caroline grieving Damon had more screentime than either of them.

I think the exact phrase was "I don't think that way about her", but *shrug*

Elena's "choice" as you put it is always about the two brothers and it is always a hard one because she wants them both, just as Katherine did. The difference is that Katherine had the guts, the power and the eroded human set of values to say "you know what, I want to have the cake and eat it too" and again that is circumstantial.