miss-vanilla

I fully agree with what you are saying about the neutral position, and that Bonnie deserves to live a full happy life as much as Elena does, because that is what 99% of rational beings would do, because killing your best friend, or asking someone to do it for you so you can live is just wrong. The status quo here is, Elena is sleeping and Bonnie is alive, so yes, remaining this way is not a sacrifice as such, it's more about acceptance of the circumstances. However, the scene that changes everything is Bonnie (almost) dying. The neutral position here is that Bonnie should have died (and would have), and all things being equal, that would have been fairer since she was THE target, not Elena, BUT she was saved by Damon for Elena. Damon did not accept the status quo or neutral position of Bonnie dying, because Elena would not have wanted him to The way I see it, Elena took a bullet for Bonnie this time, and in the process, has lost the chance at a human life with her brother and human friends. That is a sacrifice IMO. It's not about who's life is more important, because the show isn't saying that, they are saying that Elena is most important to Damon. It's a tricky one, for sure, and interesting to see how people view it differently. I like the Bonnie and Elena friendship. Throughout the show, they have both shown that they would go to extraordinary lengths for each other, because they love each other like sisters.

No one is suggesting that Bonnie should kill herself, or that Damon should murder her to get Elena back. Elena would NEVER want that, because she loves Bonnie, and Damon knows this. Lets just remember that Kai did this to Elena to get revenge on Damon and Bonnie, Elena is the victim here, none of this is her fault. My second point is that Bonnie was dying at the end of 6x22, Damon didn't NEED to murder her, he could have left her to die fair and square, if he had arrived a few minutes later, she would have been dead, but he knows that Elena would want him to save Bonnie (and she did), regardless of her own predicament, and so he did it for Elena. Thirdly, I believe If Elena WANTED that spell broken, Damon would not have helped Bonnie, he would have let her die. He would've been sad about it, but he would have done it for Elena, because he loves her above all others, and he knows Elena isn't that selfish, That is why I view the whole thing as a sacrifice by Elena, in return for all the times Bonnie has sacrificed for her- This was verbalized by both girls in the dream sequence in 6x22.

Damon most definitely understands what Ric is feeling, and he won't judge, because Damon just doesn't do that. It's one of the very many reasons I love his character. The scene where Bonnie and Alaric were arguing and Damon was stuck in the middle was beautiful because this must be such a novelty for him. lol.

probably the worst episode since season 5 Imo. the best parts were the roadtrip, but there just wasn't enough of that to make this episode sing. whoever thought it was a good idea to devote so much screen time to stefans' love life and sex scenes that were terribly acted and cringy needs to get a new job. way, way too much time spent on the least interesting part of the story so far. The caroline part was also boring, including all the insecurity nonsense, just no, don't care. oscar was great, a refreshing change of pace, and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next with him, and learning more of his backstory. the flashforward was better this week, and continues to be in the plus column for me. Lily just needs to go die in a fire.

I agree that Bonnie and Damon are not the victims in Kais' revenge scheme, elena is. Elena is most definitely making a sacrifice for her friend, since she has knowingly accepted her fate, a fate that ensures she will never have that human relationship with her brother and grow up with him like she craved.Elena reasonings for taking the cure start to become moot since she is going to be in Coma while all the humans, and her natural human life is passing her by. Elena knew all of this and accepted it, knowing full well that if she said the word, Damon would have offed Bonnie in heartbeat, or not saved her life. Bonnie is aware of that on some level, se realises that Damon is struggling with doing right by her verses having Elena back.

If it turns out that is the case, then yes, he was a great friend to her..............I think, in a twisted Damon logic way. This show lol.

Whatever Damons' reasons are for taking himself out of the game for 60 yrs, he did it knowing that he would never see Bonnie again.

About Bonnies magic capabilities. I think this time, this was meant to be a team effort from Bamon. A kind of distract and kill strategy, but, yeah, she should have been able to take him on her own all things being equal since heretics can only draw magic from themselves. Hell Bonnie should be able to kill them all single handedly since she has her magic back.

In fairness, Stefan just gave up the Salvatore boarding house, the town (where Elenas body is) and their life in MF in a deal with Lily (without discussing it with Damon or Bonnie), because the SC plan failed so spectacularly. That plan was reckless, and the result was half the townsfolk are dead. No wonder team badass came back and tried to do something about it. No doubt the consequences of Malcoms demise will be felt when Lily goes all out for revenge. You are right, they all have moments of brain numbing stupidity, BUT, generally, Stefans plans (if he has one at all) are usually a bust, and Damon and/or Bonnie come through in the end.. Lol at the moonstone though. Too funny.

I wasn't blown away, but I thought it was ok. I'm a sucker for Dalaric, so I enjoyed that, and I loved that we had some vampire action again. Not keen on the amount of journaling going on.....overkill much?

Ha Jads. Continue. It's lovely to see reviews from S1, even if it is from a rewatch POV. I am planning a rewatch myself before S7 starts. It's interesting to see if views on past incidents change with new info and character development (or retcons lol)) I am one of the rare few it seems, that still loves this show, despite it's flaws and bad writing at times. For my money, it is still a good hours worth of entertainment that I look forward too each week.

With regards to the Bonnie and Damon romantic dynamic, I have never got it. In the early days, I got the tension of the "I hate you, and I don't trust you, but I have to work with you for the greater good of our agenda, but I do this grudgingly" dynamic, and I got that they both grudgingly began to respect each others tenacity and drive and became more friendly allies, and that they wouldn't let each other die if there was another way etc, BUT, if the early S6 scenes are anything to go by, I don't like Bamon. I know this is an unpopular opinion these days, but I have never seen Damon behave more OOC than he did in that 1994 AU. The minute he was back in the real world, the real Damon returned, and I was a happy bunny. Going forward, I am looking forwards to seeing how Damon is reacting to being Elenaless, and I am interested in seeing how the Bamon friendship develops, as long as that doesn't impact too much on the Dalaric dynamic (which is my fave and was seriously neglected last season), and the Defan dynamic, which needs to keep the momentum it was gathering last season. I have lost all hope for Denzo, since it looks likely that he will be a Lily minion, and at odds with team Defan. I wish Steven R Mcqueen and his glorious biceps all the luck in world with his new show. That boy was made for TV.

Ahhh! good old season 5. The season of character assassination that escaped none of them. The doppelpalooza of forced triangles that was the demise of Kat, and killed everything awesome about her to the point that I was actively campaigning for the writers to kill her already and put her out of her misery. Kat became embarrassing, and that was just tragic. Side note: I enjoyed her early (human) s5 story, she was hilarious, but the Stefan obsession just ruined her. Talking of triangles, the whole doppelganger curse BS also served no purpose other than create more faux angst for DE and contrived SE scenes, which regressed both Stefan and Elena and there growth to season one levels of denial, enabling, and Damon bashing.. The very reasons I could not with them back in S1/S2, Way too many WTF moments to count or list with them in S5. Damon, bless him, became a mad man, running around in circles, making bad decisions, unable to connect basic facts and join the dots. I didn't recognize him for most of this season, I'm sure the real Damon was locked up somewhere and a Damon doppelganger was the one on screen, because I sure as hell didn't recognize the Damon we got for most of this season. What? It's not that far fetched in a season of the Doppelgangers. He was better towards the end, as was most of them. Season 4/5 also ruined Caroline for me. A once beloved character, that I rooted for to become someones number 1 choice, became a character that was used to foil DE, and in turn reduce her character to triangle fodder/angst. My biggest reason for not getting behind Steroline, I can't stand her, and S6 did nothing to redeem her in my eyes. So, In a nutshell, S5 was a writing disaster for our gang, barely anyone escaped unscathed by the writers pen, and is best ignored, lol, well, at least for me anyway. Season 6 redeemed TVD for me. I enjoyed most of it, and having done a recent rewatch of all seasons (except s5) I would place it as my third fave after S1and 2, even though, I enjoyed my fave character the most in S3 (Damon).

Damon will always be my favorite, followed by Alaric, Elena, Liz, Matt and Bonnie in no particular order. Least Faves Caroline (aside from S2), Katherine, Elijah, Silas and Liv.

Yep, true, and also staking an out of control vamp is considered really bad when Elena does it (killing Jessie), but when Stefan does it (kills Vickie), it is heroic. The gospel according to Caroline.

@Ladyrott. There was a line from Kai that said something along the lines of "Elena would be perfectly frozen in time". So, I am late, and most points have already been covered but I just wanted to add my thoughts to the Bonnie thing in 1903. My interpretation was that Bonnie intended to kill Kai. I remember her above him about to knife him in the chest, but he cloaked himself and got away. Leaving him behind was the next best thing.

Damon has lived as a vampire for nearly two Centuries, and navigated and survived the supernatural world and many attempts on his life. The fact that Stefan thinks that he wouldn't be able to come up with a plan that would enable him and Elena to live comfortably, and make new friends is laughable. Stefan never fails to underestimate his brother, and point out his failings. The thing that none of them seem to get about Damon, is that ANY life with Elena, human or vampire is what will make him happy. That is what he wants, that is the ONLY thing he wants.

I think you are right about that, and that is what they did best in earlier seasons with him.

Mileage definitely varies doesn't it, I like romantic Damon, it is part of who he is at his core. Despite being introduced as a villain in season one, his main goal was to free Kat from the tomb. A woman he was willing to turn vamp for, and whom he waited 145 yrs for.

Shout out to Cindy who has "Stealth Salvatored" into the house. It's so lovely to see you here, and I miss your recaps. I had a different screen name back then, so you won't recognise me but hey!

Of course Jads. For me, Damon just wasn't the Damon I know. Ironically, it felt like AU fanfiction. I hated the Vroooom Vrooooming in the car, the paper aeroplane throwing, pancake flipping, the dorky dancing, the imaginary sword fighting, the ridiculous nonsensical Bonnie banter, I could go on, but the worse thing for me was that they made him passive and weak. Basically they removed all his sex appeal for me, and everything that makes him Damon. Damon is snarky and rude, not the court jester. . The Damon I know and love would never capitulate like that, he would've been planning and searching every inch of everywhere to find a way out, but they wrote him like he had just given up. I know lots of fans enjoyed those lighter Damon scenes, but I just didn't, I was embarrassed for him, and the acting didn't help either. However, I did enjoy the more serious scenes, like the one with the necklace in Stefan's room, and the one with Bonnie at the kitchen table where she brings him soup. Things improved from the moment Damon and Bonnie had that lovely moment holding the ascendant together, and she teleported him home.

I actually think that Damon has suffered the most character assassination since the writers decided to drag out DE, instead of just writing them. In order to delay and stall, a myriad of contrivances and obstacles were put in front of them, including regressing Damon and his character growth, they also made Elena a cardboard cutout, devoid of opinions and pov. So yes, it isn't necessarily the character of Damon that overpowers the narrative, but the shipping aspects. I am not sure that I will tune in for S7. I don't trust that the writers won't damage Damon's characterization more by forcing the Bamon dynamic, whilst ignoring all the other dynamics which made Damon, Damon. I was one of the few that didn't really enjoy many of the 1994 scenes, mainly due to how Damon was written, and how Ian acted in those scenes, and as a staunch Damon fan, and admirer of Ian's acting, that is a hard thing for me to say.

Response taken the Damon thread.

@Bitterswete. I agree that human Elena had moments of proactiveness, but for the most part she was a passive sitting duck, waiting to accept her fate. That was whole frustrating part about the S2 sacrifice thing, she just wanted to let it happen, and let some 500 year old magical elixer determine her fate, without worrying about the werewolf or vamp that would be sacrificed along with her with zero get out clause. In all honesty, Elena's survival was down to the Salvatores throughout her human existence,and mainly Damon at that. She had her fleeting moments of genius, but for the most part her plans were useless, or suicidal. I can barely remember a time when she didn't need to be saved by someone else. As a vamp, she saved her brother from the hunter, killed an original vamp, fought Katherine, cured Katherine, stood up for herself and got the upperhand against Damon and Stefan for a while, saved Damon from Jessie, got away from Kai for long enough to alert Damon etc, etc. Even as badass vamps, Stefan, Damon, Kat and Caroline have been captured and subdued and in need of recsue at various points throughout the story. In a way, Caroline has played the role of Damsel in distress more often than Elena as a vamp.

yeah, also Matt Davies, and I think Candice Accola. Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson were also present, as was Pheobe Tonkin with PW of course.