S02.E08: This Christmas Was Surprisingly Violent

[ElectricBoogaloo]

MID-SEASON FINALE!

Quote

Hope joins forces with an unlikely ally to take down a Christmas monster, who's using holiday cheer to infiltrate the Salvatore School. Elsewhere, Landon surprises Rafael with news about his family lineage, and Sebastian accompanies Lizzie on her latest mission.

Promo:

Original air date: 12/12/19

Edited December 8, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[UNOSEZ]

Um.. Guess it was ok... Glad Lizzie called Landon out for ditching RAF.. Sure you can couch it in all the " doing it to protect him" yadda yadda.. But he was leaving without saying goodbye.. I guess I'm interested in Raf's mom Lucia... Where was MG... Not sure I loved Sebastian choking Lizzie and that leading to sex... For appreciate.. Lizzie saying it was just sex... Even if I don't totally believe it.. At least she isn't in some teenage goth ROM fugue state... Pedro got some love... So that was cool. . are we just done with mystic falls high?... Landon/Hope.. Still do nothing for me...  And still don't make more sense than hope/RAF... Landon/Josie... MG/Josie... Hope/Josie... MG/Lizzie 

[Lady Calypso]

Nooo! Not Clarke! I actually liked Clarke! He's a better antagonist/frenemy than Sebastian! I am actually super disappointed that Clarke's dead, but the writing was obvious. 

I liked the Rafael stuff. I liked Landon's role in it as supportive brother. I think he genuinely meant well and realized when he was pushing too hard...but really, Raf did need this and I hope he's on a path of healing.

I liked the Clarke/Hope scenes. I like that he grew fond of Hope. 

Overall, the Christmas stuff was iffy, at best. It wasn't that well done and all I thought was that Santa was going to be put down too because of him spreading too much joy. 

Hope/Landon back together? Okie dokie. 

Lizzie/Sebastian? Urg, barf. I was enjoying the Lizzie/Landon scene before Sebastian ruined it. Sorry show, but I'm not a fan. I hold HIGH HIGH standards for Lizzie's boyfriends and bad boy wannabe isn't it for me. Thank you, next. Unfortunately, it looks like he's here to stay...but maybe the actor only signed on for this season and no more? Maybe he'll tragically die? 

Kaleb got his dream car, so that's a plus.

[ketose]

Compared to the Sebastian choking stuff, MG's light stalking is looking a lot better.

The character of "Santa" has only been around for a century, but he's been in Malivore for most of that. But man, can Santa kick some Krampus ass.

One thing that annoys me about these shows is that they have a school for supernaturals, but it's just a location for the super squad to fight monsters. It's BtVS with a different high school. They could set this in MFHS and not be much different. In fact, it would be less dumb because there's always the "hide Pedro and the little kids" part before the fight.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

OMG Dorian's light up Christmas sweater was amazing!

This was like an entire cast full of Buffybots drinking the Kool-Aid which was amusing to watch. Usually everyone is anxious and stressed about monster attacks so it was nice to see everyone having fun and looking happy.

The Santa vs Krampus fight was fun too.

And the return of Damon's car!!

So Landon was just going to abandon Rafael, his brother, without a word? I don't care if he was doing it to protect Raf from the monsters coming after him. That's just a shitty thing to do.

What made no sense was (1) Sebastian and Lizzie took dead Landon but didn't bother to poke their heads into the house and let Raf know what was going on and maybe ask if he wanted a ride back to school (2) when Landon didn't come back from "getting some air," Raf's only comment to his father was that Landon knows how to survive. Like you're not even going to try to text him to see where he is?

Heh, when they cut to a post coital Lizzie and Sebastian in the car, I was really hoping that Landon was still dead in the trunk so that he didn't have to hear them having sex.

We all know that Clarke was really fucked up but Sebastian is giving him a run for his money. He thinks the Salvatore School is the kindest place he's been? The place where he got locked in a coffin and was almost killed? Okay then.

I enjoyed Clarke and Hope's frenemy vibe, especially at the end. They get each other in a way that other people don't. Other people might think it was weird that she found a way to kill him but then offered to talk to him as long as he wanted before he died at midnight, but that was the weird relationship that they had. It was almost like a sibling rivalry where they hate each other but they have an underlying connection.

Edited December 13, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Lady Calypso]

8 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Heh, when they cut to a post coital Lizzie and Sebastian in the car, I was really hoping that Landon was still dead in the trunk so that he didn't have to hear them having sex.

I mean, I don't get why they put him in the trunk to begin with since he obviously bursts into flames every time he comes back to life. Like....that would severely damage the car if he decided to come back right then and there. I get that Sebastian/Lizzie's sex scene was being portrayed as hot, but not blow-up-the-car hot!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

5 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

I mean, I don't get why they put him in the trunk to begin with since he obviously bursts into flames every time he comes back to life. Like....that would severely damage the car if he decided to come back right then and there. I get that Sebastian/Lizzie's sex scene was being portrayed as hot, but not blow-up-the-car hot!

Damon would be SO MAD if he found out that he gave his precious car to the Saltzman girls and they blew it up. Although he might be secretly proud if it was caused by hot sex.

[ketose]

Now I'm confused about the Phoenix rules. I thought Landon didn't come back to life until the sun's rays hit him.

[AnimeMania]

5 hours ago, ketose said:

Now I'm confused about the Phoenix rules. I thought Landon didn't come back to life until the sun's rays hit him.

Is that how Landon's powers work? He has spent a lot of time drowned at the bottom of the lake.

"Don't tell Pedro that Santa isn't real."

[foxfreakinmulder]

Santa kicks butt!

I actually got a kick out of everyone being over the top merry.

I didn't care for Lizzie last season but I'm really starting to like her and her stark. That wig she wears is distracting though. When Hope woke her up and after sex on top of Damon's car her hair didn't have a hair out of place, lol.

The monsters look like Halloween mask/costumes.

Is Damon and Elena still alive in this timeline?

[ybrik]

Wow that was not a good episode. It had like three storylines that all needed to be fleshed out more. 

I mean we see Lizzie leaving on Hope's request and next she is in a car with Sebastian. How the hell did that happen? Why did he come along with her? Why did she let him? 

Then at the end before Lizzie and Sebastian have sex she mentions Landon's in the trunk of the car. Next scene they are still parked in the aftermath of sex in North Carolina and then in the same night Landon is somehow at the school in Virginia. Where were Lizzie and Sebastian then?

Yeah not really feeling either couple. Unfortunately they seem to be here to stay for a while at least. With Hope and Landon it just feels like there are just so many more interesting pairings for Hope. Lizzie/Sebastian as fuck buddies who find each other hot is okay but I am not sure where we are supposed to believe they have deeper feelings for each other. When did this happen?

Also when would Hope have really had any special family Christmas previously that she misses them now? I mean I get it with her mom but Klaus was gone most of her life due to different storylines. 

Also the Necromancer seriously we needed the whole mystery hood all these episodes for him? That second hooded person better be someone really surprising or this was just lame.

Also Landon break up/hook up just left a bad taste in my mouth. Seriously I don't care how great of a break up they were trying to make it the fact that Landon had Hope waiting for him to come back is just a poor way of doing this and makes the character look really pathetic. Which coming off of last week leaving makes my opinion of the character go lower and lower. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

Is Damon and Elena still alive in this timeline?

Yes. In the series finale of TVD, we learn that Damon and Elena live a very long time and die when they're old. Elena was born in 1992 so she was 22 when Lizzie and Josie were born in 2014.

Lizzie and Josie turned 16 last year (S1.E6 Mombie Dearest) which means S1 took place in 2030. Elena is 38 at the time so she's not dead yet.

Lizzie also said in this week's episode that Damon gave his car to Lizzie and Josie for their 16th birthday and she didn't follow that up with "AND NOW HE'S DEAD" so I'm assuming he's still alive and well in 2030 too.

[foxfreakinmulder]

6 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Lizzie and Josie turned 16 last year (S1.E6 Mombie Dearest) which means S1 took place in 2030. Elena is 38 at the time so she's not dead yet.

Lizzie also said in this week's episode that Damon gave his car to Lizzie and Josie for their 16th birthday and she didn't follow that up with "AND NOW HE'S DEAD" so I'm assuming he's still alive and well in 2030 too.

Thank you ElectricBoogaloo :-) I haven't watched the end of TVD since it ended and thought I remembered them living a long life, just wasn't sure. I would think their names would come up more often.

[Terrafamilia]

That little crawling eyeball sure gets around. And it's doing the bidding of the Necromancer. Or rather, The Necromancer! He was a bit of a hoot in his first appearance so I am cautiously optimistic. I am wondering where he got ahold of his big red robe. Is there a shop in Mystic Falls that caters to cultists and associated folk for all their sartorial needs?

[RachelKM]

On 12/13/2019 at 6:28 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Damon would be SO MAD if he found out that he gave his precious car to the Saltzman girls and they blew it up. Although he might be secretly proud if it was caused by hot sex.

Hahahaha... I literally selected that text to say the same thing.  

I enjoyed this episode.  I liked seeing Pedro, Santa's Smackdown of the Krampus was excellent, and KALEB GOT HIS DREAM CAR!!!!

Seriously, I was still in tears from watching Raf being hugged by his father and then Kaleb got the Corvette and I just had happy tears.  (In fairness, I was overtired from travel and a little drunk).

Speaking of Raf, I was a little confused by the ending with his dad.  How long is he staying there?  At first he said that he could catch the bus in the morning (rather than having his father drive him immediately) and then he was talking about learning stuff from his father which would take considerably more time than whatever hours were left before they went to sleep.  Raf is coming back, right?

Landon and Hope's reunion was better than most of their interactions.  But Landon continues to be better around everyone other than Hope.  All of his interactions with Raf, his conversation with Lizzie, and especially his conversation with Josie all had a million times more chemistry than with Hope.  I like both Hope and Landon, they just don't click for me. 

ETA:  I forgot to mention how much I adored Dorian's light-up Christmas sweater and loved that he had a second ugly Christmas sweater to lend to Ric. 

Edited December 17, 2019 by RachelKM

[ursula]

On 12/14/2019 at 8:51 AM, foxfreakinmulder said:

I haven't watched the end of TVD since it ended and thought I remembered them living a long life, just wasn't sure.

Long life is relative. Damon has already lived for almost 2 centuries, so really any point is a "long life" for him. Frankly, I'll be happy if it's confirmed that Damon dies during the duration of Legacies and there's an episode where Alaric casually mentions his funeral and/or widow. 

[ketose]

31 minutes ago, ursula said:

Long life is relative. Damon has already lived for almost 2 centuries, so really any point is a "long life" for him. Frankly, I'll be happy if it's confirmed that Damon dies during the duration of Legacies and there's an episode where Alaric casually mentions his funeral and/or widow. 

I'd like to hear about Damon being tortured to death by the families of his dozens of innocent victims from just the 2000's.

[tennisgurl]

Its possible that I too am infected by the holiday spirit (Santa, is that you?!) because, I really enjoyed the majority of this episode. The Christmas stuff was really cute and fun, and a decently clever way to do a Christmas episode now without having to time to far ahead in time or mess with when the show is taking place. Seeing everyone all hopped up on Christmas spirit was actually quite cute, even knowing that it was probably leading to something bad, and everyone looked adorable in their Christmas garb, especially Alaric in his Christmas sweater and Josie in her cute Christmas tights. I also liked the opening credits in the Christmas font, using Krampus as the villain, and the day being saved by freaking Santa! And then Santa and the Krampus had a fight and Santa pulled out his extremely small heart! "You better watch out!" Plus, Kaleb gets a car, and Pedro (and everyone) gets to keep their belief in Santa! It was a premise that led to a lot of silliness, and the show was clearly having a ton of fun with it. 

Hopes list of suspects included Frosty, Jack Front, and Heat Miser, among others! I mean, I would think that Cold Miser would be a more likely suspect, but maybe it could be a frame job! Hopes happy face when she saw Santa was adorable. "Santa?!?" 

Landon might have been a bit pushy getting Raf to meet his bio parents, but he did leave it up to Raf to really make the choice, and his intentions were clearly good. I always love their bond, and it was nice to see him trying to do something good for Raf having noticed how much he has struggled, and I am glad that Raf found his dad, although I guess his mom is still a mystery. But come on Landon, just say goodbye! I know that Raf would never let him actually go off alone, but leaving him without saying goodbye, just like Josie and Hope, is a ridiculous thing to do. Just talk to people damn it, I know your a teenager with an apparent martyr complex but this is just getting annoying! 

On the other hand, speaking of annoying, I dont like Sebastian at all, and I like him with Lizzie even less. She deserves better than some angsty vampire creep right off the angsty vampire assembly line. He is clearly a dick, and not in a fun or interesting way, and I dont even think that he and Lizzie have much chemistry. Hell, she and Landon had way more chemistry in their one scene than she has EVER had with him, and they have had a much more interesting dynamic. Like, I was really liking their scene together where Lizzie told him to come back and they would all figure it out, and she was really getting through that thick, flame resistant skull of his, and then stupid Sebastian shows up and ruins it. Its this whole plot in a nutshell. Everything is actually interesting and fun, then this asshole shows up. They better drive faster now that awkward sex is over, or their birthday car is going to catch fire when Landon comes back!

Also speaking of, I knew that Hope and Landon would get back together, and I am glad at least that the love triangle is apparently over, and that Josie isnt getting strung along, but...damn it Landon and Josie work so much better as a couple! I dont hate Landon and Hope or anything, but they both have so much more chemistry with just about everyone else then they do with each other!

I am actually going to miss Clarke, he was actually an interesting villain, and he had an interesting relationship with Hope going on. But the Necromancer was a fun villain last season, so I am not unhappy to see him!

[ursula]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Hopes list of suspects included Frosty, Jack Front, and Heat Miser, among others! I mean, I would think that Cold Miser would be a more likely suspect, but maybe it could be a frame job! Hopes happy face when she saw Santa was adorable. "Santa?!?" 

Don't forget the Yeti. 🙂

[Kymmi]

I’ve just started binging this show, and am surprised at how much I like it given I didn’t watch either The Vampire Diaries or the Originals. I like the MotW format, the actors are solid, and the writing is sometimes clever. I go back and forth on couples, but I think Hope somehow has chemistry with nearly everyone. The Hope/Clark phone call was good, I was really starting to root for Clark. 

Landon is fine, but I prefer the Prism Landon to the original. I tire of him being in constant peril. I thought he brought out a side of Josie that I really liked, and their breakup scene was painful. 

Sebastian is hot, so I won’t be too hard on him, but I don’t love him for her. 

I kind of liked Hope and Alaric being at the local high school.