Carrie Ann

I can't stand Martha. It feels mean to dislike someone so pathetic, but man, she bugs me. There is no good end to her story, but it would be nice if she took a little more control in the meantime.

Here's a question: what do you think Paige suspects? She probably didn't jump to "Russian spies." So, does she think they're having affairs? Does she think they have secret government jobs? Does she think they're criminals in some other way? I find her level of suspicion a little unrealistic, based on what we've seen. Now, if Philip is right and she has checked on them other nights when they've been out, then OK. But it seemed like she saw her mom come up from the basement in the middle of the night once and jumped into P.I. mode.

I'm super late to this (stupid, awesome vacation), but I got the feeling that Elizabeth and Phillip might have seen each other in those two months? So maybe they've had a couple of other sexy encounters since the incident.

In previous seasons, the difference in the hair was more obvious, but Elena's hair has been a damn mess this season, so I don't blame them for not noticing that detail. :) And yeah, good for Nina for getting a break from the dual role. But sad for us, because no more Katherine for the foreseeable future. I'm also sad that it looks like Elena herself has gone through no change as a result of being inhabited by Katherine. She has been terrible since last season, and I need that addressed in the rest of this season, or I'm out.

I really loved Tyler's season 1-3 storyline--becoming a werewolf, then a hybrid, and learning to live with both. He grew so much as a character, and I loved seeing his vulnerability, especially through his relationship with Caroline. So it's sad, but his story is basically over. I mean, he did enough growing in those few seasons, and he sort of topped out. Now they just have him regressing. I'm fine with his anger at Caroline--Klaus killed his mother (and him, actually, when he turned him into a hybrid) and all of his little hybrid friends--but it's not a very interesting angle. And frankly, I'm done with ever seeing him as a hero after his turn on The Originals. Anyone trying to kill the baby, or take the baby from Hayley, is on the Bad Guys team in my book. I'd be surprised if he makes it through this season.

Yeah, I really don't want him wearing contemporary clothes, so I love the reenactor costume idea. His look is a part of the character for me, so jeans and V-necks would just not be Ichabod Crane.

Yes! Thank you for doing this detective work. I do hope she ends up with that house, because it is so incredibly gorgeous (even prettier in person, really), and she was so in love with it. You could tell it was killing her to sell it.

That last shot of the three Originals getting their gamefaces on to fight each other was enough to bump this episode up from decent to darn good. I liked it better than the previous episode because 1) Mikael and 2) more interesting flashbacks in general. It was new information, and a new spin on some old information (why Elijah left New Orleans first, for example). Plus, Cami is a more interesting partner for the flashbacks than Genevieve, who is a major weak link acting-wise and character-wise.

I wasn't a big fan of this episode, and I think it's because I have to make an effort to care much about the Island stuff (it gets more interesting every episode, but only a tiny bit at a time for me). So the present-day stuff was pretty much scene after scene of Oliver and Slade glaring at each other, which isn't all that thrilling. And the Island stuff, while certainly more action-packed, is by its very nature less suspenseful because we know the main players live. So the surprises from that section--Sara and others are back on the island, Oliver is on the freighter with a hostile Slade in command, and Ivo survived--are interesting, but have no urgency. So I'm a fan of this arc, and definitely a Slade/Manu Bennett fan, but episodes like this with barely anything going on in the present day are never going to be my favorites.

I think that is a big part of the Piz hate, and the only thing I really don't like about him. He is kind of manipulative, and really doesn't respect Veronica's relationship at all. And he acts petulant about it, as though Veronica's leading him on, when he's leading himself on. You're right that if he was just a fun guy, even one who had a crush on Veronica but was cool about it and didn't make it her problem (huge Nice Guy pet peeve!), people might not have hated him so much.

Yeah, for awhile it just feels like Parker is putting all of her stuff onto Veronica. All her anger and shame come out on our hero, who is herself a rape survivor and wants nothing more than to help and risk her own life and safety to put an end to this. It gets my hackles up, against my better nature. What we saw of Parker pre-rape annoyed me, and what we see of her outside of her treatment of Veronica is not appealing enough for me to get past my instinctual dislike of her.

I agree with you about Parker. I'm not a fan of that character at all--we'll get into it more as the season goes on--but I think I feel about her the way many viewers felt about Piz. At least I found Piz funny sometimes, and I did believe his friendship with Wallace more than I believe Mac and Parker. I just never understand how fans are supposed to warm up to new characters who are hostile to the lead*. (See also: Jackie.) So while I could see Parker's post-rape reaction to Veronica as believable, it doesn't make me like her as a character. *I am a Veronica stan, so I have a hard time with anyone who is rude or mean to Veronica. Hell, it took me like 16 episodes to thaw on Logan in S1, and I was still shocked by the kiss in E18 because I hated him so much at the beginning of the series.

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhh. Continents spanned, lives ruined, bloodshed. Epic. While I would have enjoyed a kiss at that moment, I like Veronica's reaction. Honestly, these two have been awful to each other for almost a year (Logan more than V, although she was dating his best friend, so...), so I totally get why she couldn't process this. The morning after is so heartbreaking. Both of their faces at the door! Ugh.

Yeah, it would have been nice if the writers could have figured out a way for Veronica to process the information, or run through some scenarios, without resorting to those hallucinations.

This episode always makes me wish Troy would have been in Season 3. He seems really redeemed here, and I think it would have been interesting to have him show up here and there at Hearst.

I have to not care about the mask/eye makeup/silly non-identity concealing hood in order to enjoy this, Batman, etc. It's never going to be believable, and that's that. I miss the eyemakeup because it was kinda hot? Especially when there was just a little left? Hmmm. I may have revealed too much. Anyway, this was a really strong episode. Just great moment after great moment. Starting with "Is that judgment I hear?" "Pride." That is a perfect Olicity moment, whether you ship them romantically or not (if not, what went wrong in your life?). The scene where Oliver revealed himself to Roy was excellent, and it's the most I've ever liked Colton Haynes. I really believed that moment, and it made their new partnership more compelling for me. Bronze Tiger and Amanda Waller, yay! Dinner date with Moira, Walter, and Krycek! Sara showing up for Laurel!

Yeah, this is a great send-off for Duncan, and a great moment for viewers who dislike him to finally be rid of him. :)

Yay, Hannah haters unite! Not a fan. It's always a relief when the end of the episode comes and you see that her dad is the shady doctor. Until that point, it's like, "Why is Logan so immediately smitten with this dishrag?"

Arrow offers to train Roy so he can learn to control his newfound super-strength. However, Roy is a rebellious student and refuses to listen unless Arrow reveals his true identity, which Oliver refuses to do. Meanwhile, the Bronze Tiger (guest star Michael Jai White) escapes from prison and steals Malcolm’s earthquake machine to sell to the highest bidder. Oliver, Diggle and Felicity attempt to stop the transfer, but Roy gets in the way, putting everyone in danger. Laurel is disbarred and spirals out of control. Moira is thrilled when Walter (guest star Colin Salmon) asks her to dinner, but his reason surprises her. Thea encourages her mother to ask Walter to reconcile. "Does this group have a name? Like Team Arrow or something?" "We don't call ourselves that." "I do! Occasionally." "Stop." "Whatever. Welcome aboard."

Well, I think it's implied that they do things together besides work on cases. We just don't see the more prosaic moments in Veronica's life. I like when Wallace is over at Veronica's house and vice versa because in those scenes you really get a sense of how comfortable they are together. The scene where V tells W about the rape in S1 is one of my favorites because it shows the depth of their bond that she knows Wallace will be there for her in exactly the right way. She is usually the one in need though, Wallace is right about that, and I'm glad he calls her on that here. It's just that Veronica's form of love means protecting her people from any threat, even if they don't want the protection. (Logan does this too.) Anyway, Wallace is my second favorite character on a show full of great ones (V is #1), and their friendship makes me so happy. So this part of the series bums me out.

I liked Jackie by the end, after she's sort of taken her fall and pulled herself back up, but it took too long to get there and she was too awful to begin with. It was a miscalculation, for sure. I will seriously never understand why shows introduce new characters by having them be jerks to our heroes, and then expect us to like them? I mean, Logan is the exception, not the rule.

Yeah, I don't really like how it's brushed aside like, "Oh, what a relief! It was consensual sex that I don't remember at all! With my ex-boyfriend/possible brother!" I mean, Duncan was clearly more aware of what was going on than Veronica was, since he remembers everything, so that just grosses me out. But by the letter of the law, if both parties are drugged like that, it's not rape if neither is really capable of consent. I think that's what we're supposed to think: that Duncan was so drugged he basically forgot about the sister thing and just saw this girl he loved. And then left her afterwards because he was still really drugged and not thinking clearly. I'm not a Duncan fan either--I really tried in the beginning, but he's just too selfish by nature, and too quickly shifts the blame to Veronica or any other easy target when things get tough. (Like, I truly HATE that dream he has of Meg as an angel and Veronica as some sort of evil temptress in Season 2. Kinda his true feelings coming through there, and no one looks at my Veronica that way.)

Yeah, the central mystery doesn't hold up under scrutiny, like a lot of them. JTT knew Veronica was tailing him, basically knew she saw him with all the stuff he later planted in that kid's car, there's no way he would have gotten away with this. But who cares? The whole episodes is just a lead-up to that kiss. The first time I watched it, it still shocked me somehow. I think I wasn't watching with an eye toward shipping so even though my feelings about Logan had softened, I just didn't see it coming. But I was immediately all the way in on that relationship in this moment. That season, VM aired at the same time as Lost, and a friend and I taped VM and watched Lost live. So I had this episode on VHS, and I kept it until the DVDs came out because I couldn't bear to record over that moment. I read an interview with Rob Thomas where he talked about how he was rewatching the series while writing the movie, two episodes a day while on the treadmill, and when he got to this kiss he started crying, because he was so proud of it. How much groundwork they laid to earn this moment, and how well it works. Awww, so cute. It's true too. I think it's one of the great first kisses on TV of all time.

I thought this was a good episode, though it probably could have been longer to accommodate the fan-servicey stuff they tried to cram in for the 100th. I really didn't care for Damon's offloading all his terrible actions onto Katherine, or on his mental torture--I know she's awful and has done terrible things, but I felt like that was over the top. I actually would have found it more interesting for Damon to be a little conflicted about her death. He supposedly loved her for 150 years. If I were Elena, I'd be a little alarmed at how far he went the other direction simply because she rejected him. Anyway, Katherine's flashbacks were even more moving this time around, and I knew I was being manipulated but I cried anyway. Didn't help to have them interspersed with Alaric, Vicki, etc. I missed all of their faces.