S06.E04: Black Hole Sun

[Aeryn13]

Something that bothered about 1994!Stefan`s rant, I could see him blaming Damon for "turning him into a ripper". Even though neither of them knew that Stefan would go "rip their heads off" crazy once he fed on a human. He might have been in the throws of serious bloodlust back when he first turned but that was a first. You could tell from Damon`s "WTF, dude" reaction. I think Lexi actually created this dichotomy in Stefan where he couldn`t acknowledge his darker impulse, pushed them away and bam, once they came out, it was worse than other vampires.  

 

But the 1942 flashback, Stefan blamed Damon for pushing him over the edge again by being needy. Um, when was Stefan (nearly) pushed over the edge in that one? He seemed fine when he was standing at that train platform. If something DID push him over I think it was the insanely stupid plan to send him to be an ambulance driver in a war zone, you know, the guywho couldn`t be around human blood.

 

If he meant that he felt a crushing disappointment when Damon didn`come with him as promised, well, did Lexi not make up a good enough excuse for it? She made sure Damon let Stefan go, could she not invent something? Or heck, the truth would have done nicely too. Which Stefan didn`t know until Season 4. I would put that down ti Lexi-fail over Damon-fail. But more mportantly, Stefan`s responsibility in the end.   

[Pepperclove]

As far as Nina's weight, I'm pretty sure they aren't trying to hide anything.  We just saw her in a bikini a couple of episodes ago, and she looked amazing.  And since she had no problem with those scenes, I'm guessing she's very comfortable with her body (as she should be).  IMO she looks much better than she did back in season 2 when I remember thinking after the Katherine in lingerie in the cave scene that she was unhealthily skeletal.  I suspect the looser fit clothes just reflect that oversize fits seem to be coming back into style.

 

Like everyone else, I'm loving the dynamic between Bonnie and Damon.

 

I'm also wondering about the huge plot holes with the past compulsions being erased when you cross into Mystic Falls storyline.  Wouldn't Liz and Matt have had the same experience?  (I think they actually missed the potential for an interesting storyline of Matt suddenly becoming anti-vampire and no one knowing why - how would he react to remembering being compelled to forget Elena almost killing him after she became a vampire, for instance?)

[Shanna]

I have to ask, why use Bamon when Donnie is a real word? Is it because Damon is the more popular half / more prominent

I think bamon is just a funnier word. And if the show decided to go that route I could totally get behind it but it might be too late in the show and mess with too many other characters unfortunately for an entertaining drama free relationship.

think Lexi actually created this dichotomy in Stefan where he couldn`t acknowledge his darker impulse, pushed them away and bam, once they came out, it was worse than other vampires.

That rant confused me as well. I don't think Damon is at all responsible for any I Stefan's ripping. I think he tried to fix his brother a few times and I also think Lexi messed him up in the head, but he started out a ripper. That was his default setting and that was all Stefan.

I didn't notice Nina putting on pounds but I did think her boobs looked enormous and wondered if she grew them naturally...

Edited October 26, 2014 by Shanna

[Carrie Ann]

FWIW, I think Bamon has been the shipping portmanteau since the books--before the show came out--and once something like that is established, it's pretty hard to change. I agree that it would be hard to actually go the Bamon route on the show without Bonnie suffering for it. Because we all know Elena won't be the one left out in the cold, and I think Steroline is the plan for Stefan (slowly, slowly), so we're stuck with a Delena endgame unless one of them leaves the show.

 

But I would love it if, even after Elena gets her memories back, she still retains this personality and decides to truly Choose Herself, and leaves town. My happiest ending is Damon and Stefan together and in a good place with each other, plus their romantic partners as appropriate, and Elena not with either of them. Off living her life elsewhere.

[slayer2]

Probably because Donnie is a name and some people (for instance, me) would probably get confused and think there was a new character.

True. Also Bamon is the official ship name that even the show runners use. I hadn't heard of Donnie until 2 days ago.

[Tippi Blevins]

Yeah, I'm not really feeling Jo at the moment - also, is Alaric not allowed to take his eyes off her for a moment, even if its to look at a bleeding guy? Sheesh. And she calls herself "mildly insecure"?

 

That was weird and dumb as hell. If she's that needy when she barely knows him, how would she be as a significant other? 

Edited October 26, 2014 by Tippi Blevins

[lion10]

 

IMO she looks much better than she did back in season 2 when I remember thinking after the Katherine in lingerie in the cave scene that she was unhealthily skeletal.

 

Was that Nina's actual body?  I thought that Katherine's body was special effects and makeup to show she was in the process of desiccation.  I really like this season so far.  It's so much better than season 5 so hard.  Bamon is hilarious and Kai seems really interesting (and terrifying).  I like the idea that even within supernatural creatures, mutations can arise that give them new abilities.  And Elena deciding to embrace being single?  Yes please!  Stefan seems to be acting out of character for the past two episodes but I guess that's him reacting to the "permanent" loss of Damon.  I really like the makeup of Ivy when she found Stefan in the car shop.  It had a classic feel to it.  A corpse rises from the grave and thirsts for the blood of the living...  

[romantic idiot]

As far as Nina's weight, I'm pretty sure they aren't trying to hide anything.  We just saw her in a bikini a couple of episodes ago, and she looked amazing.  And since she had no problem with those scenes, I'm guessing she's very comfortable with her body (as she should be).  IMO she looks much better than she did back in season 2 when I remember thinking after the Katherine in lingerie in the cave scene that she was unhealthily skeletal.  I suspect the looser fit clothes just reflect that oversize fits seem to be coming back into style.

 

Like everyone else, I'm loving the dynamic between Bonnie and Damon.

 

I think Nina's always had a fairly interesting upper body - we don't see it much, but she's been quite curvy. Just that her bottom is more impressive. I'll also confess I generally don't notice or remember what any of them are wearing (I'm the one who didn't find Willow's clothes weird) unless it's particularly egregious, so the advent in oversized clothing flew right by me. 

 

re: compulsions wearing off - maybe the magic works on recent / weak compulsions / those laid after the barrier went up. Otherwise it would be too confusing, I think. 

 

Re: Bamon, I'll say that they are fun, but I don't want Jeremy out in the cold, so happy with Delena and Bonnie/Jeremy. As long as Delena is well off my screen. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Nina has always had a pretty sizable but realistic rack, but they usually kept it pretty covered up especially in the earlier seasons (maybe because Elena was still in high school?). They sometimes put Katherine in lower cut tops that made her cleavage a little more visible but for the most part, the show has been pretty good about not showing too much boob on Elena, Caroline, or Bonnie. I know it's all relative, but compared to the super low cut boobalicious outfits on some other tv shows, the females on TVD are covered pretty decently.

 

I haven't noticed any weight gain in Elena but I did notice that she's been wearing more of those loose tank tops this season, which is just an unflattering trend. I think she looks healthy and toned, wihch is a nice change from some of the actresses who look like their wrists would snap if they tried to hold an ipad with one hand. She looked great in last week's episode when she wore a bikini so I don't think that the show is trying to hide any massive weight gain.

 

I haaaaaated when the new doctor told Alaric to focus all of his attention on the hot doctor in front of him. Being hot is like being smart - people will know without you pointing it out to them. And heaven forbid that a guy who is in the ER surrounded by people with bleeding wounds be distracted by, you know, the bleeding wounds.

[Chewy101]

I just re-watched an episode from season 1, and Elena tells her aunt emphatically, "I'm not going to be one of those pathetic girls who's world goes spinning over some guy. I will be FINE."

 

The good ole days....

 

For me, the weight gain was obvious. Not because I thought her figure was wrong, but I saw it in her face. It's much rounder now and it distracted me just enough to google and see if that actress had gotten pregnant. Each to their own if it was an improvement or not, I simply noticed a difference in how she looked. 

[Coxfires]

That'd be cute, I'm all for seeing it. Barring that, there's the internet, TV, movies, old reruns of Saved by The Bell. I wasn't around in the '50s but I know exactly how they dressed, it's not out of the ordinary. She probably knew all the songs too. Music was better back then IMO, people have been covering songs and videos of the 90's forever. You don't have to be born in the '70s or '80s to know who Kurt Cobain is.

 

So true... I wonder if they didn't have the rights to play the episode title eponym song, I was waiting for it.

[Like A Phoenix]

So true... I wonder if they didn't have the rights to play the episode title eponym song, I was waiting for it.

 

Possibly; they used another Soundgarden song though. I'm loving the music this season, it's taking me back to when I was a little indie/grunge teenager and the rest of my class were listening to pop bands. Good times!

[Smug47]

I'm digging on this Elena. In her mind, she and Stefan have been apart for two years and she's had time to get over it, and we didn't have to see any of it! I don't approve of the way she went about it (homegirl is the worst at grieving in a healthy way) but I'm here for Elena not bogged down by either brother. She's still insufferable, but I feel like the focus of the show is expanding and not focusing totally on her, which I appreciate. I'm always ready for more Bonnie development. I sincerely hope they maintain these attitudes after bonnie and Damon come back. 

I like Kai. He reminds me of a less Dane Cookish Skylar Astin (did that make sense?) and his craziness is fun. He just wants to kill his coven, he should fit right in. Ten bucks says he and elena go on a date next season.

[Goldmoon]

Smug, I am concerned that Bonnie and Damon won't even be in the same scene with the other for the remainder of the season once they get back.  The writers had gold in Tyler in early season two and just dropped his storyline.  I am absolutely loving the Bamon storyline and have been fooled before!  I feel like the writers/powers that be will assume that they have given Bamon shippers their fix and don't need to worry about continuity or anything else that viewers would wish for.  And I did notice that Nina had an extra chin in the first episode, but her figure in the bathing suit was just fine.  Also, her conversation with Jeremy while she is flashing her good figure reminded me of the early days when there were signs of incest in the acting between those two.  I don't care if Jeremy is "left in the cold."  Give me more Bamon, now please.

[miss-vanilla]

Add me to the group who found Stefan's speech to Damon about their past reunions confusing, however, Damon did get to respond with his POV. Damon's version of events felt more consistent with what we were shown during the series, which I think was the point of the conversation. Stefan has misunderstood Damon and his motivations, time and time again, and Damon had too much pride to set him straight in the past. Thankfully they both seemed to be getting to a place where they could both admit what they mean to each other before Damon disappeared, so hopefully, they can start to rebuild on that once/if Damon returns.

It was great to see the Camaro back.

1994 Liz to Damon- "You should meet my husband, he would get a kick out of you". Classic.

[DigitalCount]

1994 Liz to Damon- "You should meet my husband, he would get a kick out of you". Classic.

I almost spat out my drink here. Yes, Liz, he probably would.

 

Did I say before that it was great to see Zach again? Even though I spent the last however-many minutes going "she's a fricking SALVATORE" over and over, the tie-in was really cool and believable.

 

WRT memories that Matt and Liz might have suddenly regained: I think it's reasonable to believe that either they were told or they could suspect that something different happened, and those memories would be small pieces rather than huge life-changing events like what Tripp went through. Furthermore, they might not even notice the new memory until they think about the specific event. It could be that Matt hasn't considered that Mason once attacked him in the woods, or that Nadia is Katherine's daughter. On the other hand, Sarah was very recently attacked by Elena, and Tripp is fixated on his wife's death, so there you go. One could possibly argue that they did suddenly have new memories, and Liz's newer, stronger relationship with Caroline is the result of remembering the time she spent in vervain detox in S2.

 

No thoughts on Grayson saving Sarah's life? Or did I see that wrong? I actually find Grayson a really interesting character, and I'd like to get a bit more into his head-space. If we're going to have more 90s flashbacks this year, I hope we get to see the Gilbert Parents.

[Crandle]

I loved that this episode was full of Elena smack downs.  Stefan calling her on her shit about how he was not grieving the right way and spilling the beans about the compulsion.  Alaric saying he has enough of his own crap to deal with so Elena needs to just read her diary and let him know what she wants to do.  Fab.

 

Has Elena shown any consideration or concern for anyone else this whole season?  She's been mainly focused on how she's dealing with her own pain and not trying to find Damon and Bonnie or even really help her brother deal with his issues.  Elena's main focus has been herself for so many seasons, and this is what has made her character so annoying. 

 

I also love the Bamon scenes.  I have been a Bamon shipper since S1 so I am lapping this up but not holding out much hope that it will last once they get back to present day.  IS and KG have such great chemistry.  IS has great chemistry with pretty much everyone.

 

Is there any reason Damon and Bonnie need Kai now that they know he's evil?  Why don't they just agree to his plan and then have Damon speed over and break his neck?  Too easy?  It's ridiculous that as soon as Kai said he could drain powers that Bonnie didn't defend herself or Damon didn't zip over and incapacitate him.  It was also foolish to talk about their double cross plan in an open place.  Get in a car and drive around!!