S07.E13: This Woman's Work

[formerlyfreedom]

When complications from her supernatural pregnancy leave Caroline's life hanging in the balance, Stefan and Valerie take extreme measures to try and save her and the babies. Meanwhile, after uncovering a dark secret about Damon, Enzo uses the information to force Damon into helping him track down Rayna Cruz, a ruthless vampire hunter who is on the loose. However, when Damon's actions inadvertently put everyone he loves in Rayna's path, he is forced to make things right before it's too late.

 

[grandemocha]

I know this totally won't happen on this hot mess of a show, but if the series decides to end with Caroline as a human again (through some magical whatever...) and raising the twins with Alaric, then I'd be fine with that. Especially seeing as how Stefan got marked by Rayna because he yet again saved Damon's ass from her sword. That poor fucker will never ever get to be happy, no matter what year, what town, what reality. He is doomed to misery because he keeps choosing to save Damon. Now he's on the run for good and can't be with Caroline because Bonnie essentially guilted him into going to save Damon's ass. For once, I am actually fairly curious to see how this is resolved. After this episode, it's only two more (until 7x15) until Candice Accola went on maternity leave, so Caroline will be away for an episode or two.

 

Alaric naming one of the twin girls Elizabeth was a really sweet gesture.

 

...Crossing my fingers that those adorable little girls aren't killed off once the time jump occurs to three years later.

Edited February 19, 2016 by grandemocha

[ElectricBoogaloo]

What was with giving Bonnie essentially a monologue in her scene with Damon?

 

Once again the writers ignore the usual vampire powers when Julian didn't hear Rayna walk up behind him as he was about to kill her father.

 

Awwww, Beau! Of course Rayna had to stab the only heretic I actually like. I still don't understand the point of the phoenix sword/stone. Isn't it much more efficient to kill vampires than to trap them in a place where they can escape? And how is being marked by Rayna's sword different from being stabbed with it by someone else (like when Stefan and Damon were stabbed my Julian and Mary Louise)? So Stefan wasn't marked until Rayna stabbed him with it? And Damon still isn't marked? Since Rayna stabbed Stefan with it, why isn't he in the phoenix stone again?

 

Hahahaha, I KNEW that Tyler had a decoy coffin! I want to know what was actually inside. Was it some random dead body? Or just a mannequin? How did Tyler think the decoy would work if Damon demanded to see her but wasn't hallucinating?

 

Even though we already knew that one of the twins was named after Liz, I still went awwwwww went Alaric told Caroline.

 

I'm so confused by the timeline now. So the three year time jump puts us in 2016? So everything that's happened on The Originals in the last few seasons took place during the three years that we're skipping over on TVD? Or is Caroline going to New Orleans in the time jump separate from what happens in next week's episode? The timeline on this show isn't quite as bad as Pretty Little Liars, but it's close.

 

Dear Show,

 

Please learn how to balance the sound properly. You did not need to have music BLARING while Alaric showed Caroline the babies for the first time. I know you understand how those knobs work since you turned the song down a little bit in the next scene when Caroline was driving with the twins, so please stop doing it selectively. I know you paid good money to use these songs but I prefer to hear the dialogue.

 

Thanks,

EB

Edited February 19, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Like A Phoenix]

Awwww, Beau! Of course Rayna had to stab the only heretic I actually like. I still don't understand the point of the phoenix sword/stone. Isn't it much more efficient to kill vampires than to trap them in a place where they can escape? And how is being marked by Rayna's sword different from being stabbed with it by someone else (like when Stefan and Damon were stabbed my Julian and Mary Louise)? So Stefan wasn't marked until Rayna stabbed him with it? And Damon still isn't marked? Since Rayna stabbed Stefan with it, why isn't he in the phoenix stone again?

I was trying to work that out, until I gave it up. Maybe they have to be stabbed through the heart to go into the stone? And ditto on Beau; he was the only one I liked too. Poor guy finally gets to show off his singing voice, then barbecued in an instant.

Also have my doubts that three-years-in-the-future Alaric would be cool with Caroline taking his precious twins to stay with Klaus, given that Klaus possessed him shortly before murdering Jenna. Probably not high on his trust list.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Like A Phoenix

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The only explanation I can come up with for Alaric being okay with Caroline taking the twins to stay with Klaus is the old "he's an unkillable hybrid so he can protect us better than anyone else" excuse they use whenever they team up with any of the originals. I mean, it's kind of a valid argument if you're willing to believe that Klaus will play along, but since they all know they can't trust Klaus it seems far fetched, especially for Alaric. And it's not like Caroline is friendly with Elijah, Rebekah, or Hayley either.

 

Yeah, I really am not clear on all the rules for this damn phoenix sword/stone thing. I know we saw the red jewel on the hilt glow when Rayna stabbed Beau the second time around but not Stefan, but what causes that? She has to stab them for 30 seconds? She has to get them squarely in the heart? Bueller? Anyone? The first time that Rayna stabbed Beau in the neck in the flashback, she obviously didn't get him into the phoenix stone but one of the heretics (I honestly don't care which one at this point) said that Rayna was after Beau because he was marked and she won't stop until she gets all her marked people BACK in the phoenix stone (which makes it seem like they're connected because of the mark and she can sense them) but as far as we know, Beau was never in the phoenix stone. But if that cut was enough to mark him and have Rayna track him down, why weren't her spidey senses tingling when Damon was standing right in front of her? Why doesn't he marked from being stabbed with that stupid sword? Once again the writers make things clear as mud. I hate that I put more thought into this show than the writers who are paid to give a crap.

[PinkRibbons]

What gets me is that no one even attempted to say to Rayna at any time, "Hey, I realize that you see all vampires as abominations and whatnot but there are literally two infants' lives at stake here, and also you have nothing personal against any of us." Most people can be reasonable when there are children involved (I assume that's why if it is Klaus she's taking the kids to, Caroline might be reasonably certain of their safety), and Rayna didn't necessarily strike me as someone sociopathic enough to allow the deaths of two innocent newborns. I realize our characters didn't see her tragic backstory (and hell, Stefan avenged her father's death just the other day, so that should have earned him a one-time pass at the very least), but they couldn't at least try to explain things to her?

[DigitalCount]

Why is Rayna's father Syrio Forel (Game of Thrones)? That was weird how they kept grabbing character beats from him. It wasn't unwelcome at first, but by the time he said "Not today" I was rolling my eyes. I guess this is what it's like most of the time for people who watched Buffy? Apologies to everyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, because I'm going to use "Syrio" as shorthand for "Rayna's father" for the rest of this post.

 

Also, I liked that they acknowledged how much Rayna resembles Elena. The last time that happened, Nadia revealed she was Katherine's daughter. I think it's safe to say they're going somewhere with this. Also interesting: Syrio was one of the Five, Rayna wanted to be, but she wasn't considered a potential for whatever reason. Was it a gender thing? It seemed like Syrio thought Rayna could have been a member at some point later. I'd excuse her ridiculously single-minded antagonism on this basis if she was; maybe she awakened later in life? Or maybe she was trying to model what she saw of her father.

 

Well, Beau's dead, no surprise there. I guess technically he was the most expendable, since we could barely ever know him as a character. I hope if he comes back as a spirit (since he's in the stone, right?) that he can talk/sing. I'm guessing Julian is contracted for the season, but hopefully still dead-dead. Not that I didn't like the actor or the character, really, but he doesn't need to be OTT unkillable. He was a bad guy, figured he could take out the Salvatores, and he was wrong. Others who are stronger than him have tried and failed to do the same thing.

 

So not here for Klaroline.

[miss-vanilla]

This Phoenix stone and huntress story just makes less and less sense.

Nora " Shes ruthless, she won't stop, she'll kill every vampire in her path""

A ruthless vampire hunter that doesn't kill two vampires that were right in front of her, because she has to prioritise the marked ones. Really show? lame.

The scene where Rayna confronts Bonnie and Damon with a stake gun was just stupid. Rayna shoots Bonnie, to force him to hand the weapon over? Wouldn't staking Damon achieve the exact same thing, kind of like a 2 for one deal.

How about this Rayna, don't threaten to shoot Bonnie in the head, just shoot Damon instead- see fixed it for ya!

Kill Damon (vampire)= get back scary plot device sword. Why the use a middle man (woman ?). I know, because we needed to get the Bamon scene in and the call back to that crap 3 second speech thing. We get it show, they are BEST friends now. 

 

Why does Rayna put vampires in the stone in the first place? Why doesn't she just outright stake them? Is her purpose to punish vamps or kill them? Why is it selective? why were Nora and ML terrified of her, they don't have the 'mark'?

Why did she stab Beau in the throat, and not his heart, she could have easily? Why risk putting them in the stone if it's possible to for them to get out?

Why is Rayna immune to magic? yet her stone is magical?

 

Damon hallucinations have stopped because he was 'liberated' by burning Elenas' body, and Stefans' have stopped because, why? he hadn't liberated himself from Damon. Has Stefan learned his lessons from the phoenix stone? No, he gets a pass and gets to don his hero hair again.

 

@ElectricBoogaloo. Yes, we all guessed that Tyler had planted a decoy coffin, it was obviously a huge plot point to get Damon from point A to point B. Such a shame the fans are bored of that same storyline replayed and recycled for the sake of drama, Anyhow, Enzo said it was an empty coffin, so therefore what Damon saw was a hallucination of first Henry, then Elena. Tyler had planned ahead for the eventuality that Damon would demand to see her at some point and took measures to guard against a disappointed Damon when he found an empty coffin- he stashed a weapon.

Unfortunately, he underestimated Damons' speed and strength, and was overpowered easily, because the writers said so.

 

LMAO at the girl dancing around half naked. I mean, I would so do that after spending the night having mind blowing sex with Damon Salvatore, she is a lucky girl.

However, i had to laugh at just how hard they worked to make the point DAMON DID ACTUALLY HAVE SEX WITH THIS GIRL. In case you missed it, Bonnie drove the point home with a shirtless Damon thrown in for good measure, and remember, it's Krystal with a 'K'.

So, are they really going to dismantle DE? good luck with that writers, because throwing a shirtless IS around is not going to cut it with the DE fans that are left.

I am a huge Damon fan, but despite opinion, I will not just tune in to watch IS parade around shirtless or read a phonebook, despite how pretty he may look doing it. I can log on to tumblr and ogle anytime I want, but I actually do care about his character, and we are in S7 now so all this just feels redundant. lame and can I say boring?

 

Defan is also boring, because it is so predictable. I can see what is going to happen in the finale. Damon is screwing up, Stefan will keep saving him and saving him until Damon dessicates himself to protect him. He is woken by Stefan, Damon owes Stefan so of course he will do everything he can to help and protect Stefan from the huntress. Damon will finally earn redemption by dying for real in the finale saving Stefan, just as Elena awakens. Ta da!

 

So the babies are finally here. Good. That was such a painfully drawn out, non-tension filled birth (since we know both Caroline and the girls are alive in 3 yrs time). I do admit to feeling a little moved when Alaric held his daughter though, aww! and he named one of them Elizabeth, too cute. Yeah, but honestly I'm glad that story is told now and we can move on from vampire Caroline is pregnant crap. Perhaps she might become awesome again, we will see.

 

Poor Beau. I had high hopes for him, but yeah. His character was ultimately pointless, and his muteness was irrelevant. Such a damn shame because that character had a sense of mystery that had so much potential, but we get to keep Mary Louise instead, yay! (sarcasm)

 

Dare I hope for a decent story for Enzo? after being disappointed by the Beau story, I doubt it, but I am intrigued to find out exactly what he has been up to since he has been gone. Plus I still have hopes for a proper Denzo story line. I'm obvioulsy in denial, Bamon is the only friendship Damon is allowed to have don'tcha know! Even Dalaric has been sidelined to make it work.

 

Overall, I think this season has devolved into S5 territory. Too much emphasis on nonsensical plot driven storylines and too many plotholes and WHY'S'. S6 had some problems of course, but overall it was mainly character driven, and felt more cohesive IMO of course.

[Primetimer]

It's time for Caroline to get birthing those twin parasitic babies!

Read the story

[2Old2BAFangirl]

I liked it.

I liked the Bamon scenes, the Defan scenes, the Denzo scenes, pretty much all of it.

I didn't know or care about Beau or Rayna's father. Glad Julian is still dead.

Damon's tearing up at the reveal of Elena still being alive made me tear up too, even though I knew she wasn't dead. And Alaric naming one of the babies after Liz also was wonderful.

I'm not clever enough to guess what or how everything finally matches up to the 3 year flash forward but that's okay with me because I'm still enjoying the show. I see all the discrepancies too - I just let them go because I like watching the show.

I'm the goober TV viewer that just enjoys the show and will watch until the very end. Somebody has to be that goober, I'm good with it! :)

[TigerLynx]

I like Rayna the Huntress.  I wish she had shown up earlier in the season and killed all of the heretics.

 

So in the future Caroline is going to New Orleans to see Klaus?  This could be interesting.

 

Finally, Damon and Bonnie had some scenes together.

Edited February 20, 2016 by TigerLynx

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

 

Clip:

[Cattitude]

I was really getting bored of the drawn out birth scene. I'm glad after the babies were born it was well done. I didn't know one was named for Liz(I only remember Alaric saying Josie's name and asking her to help her sister. I didn't ever catch the other twins name in the FF) so that was a sweet touch.

Since the girls are siphons maybe taking them to Klaus has something to do with them getting magic? or I also thought Caroline was going to get help from Klaus and she took the girls b/c as a human Alaric couldn't protect them as well?

 

I like how badass the huntress is but I agree the story is weird. I also thought they were originally in Europe. Where did the Indians who gave her powers come from?

 

I love Damon and yes I'm also a Delana fan I thought IS did a good job showing how happy Damon was Elena didn't die.

That said I really dislike how Stefan leaves Caroline to help Damon. Damon NEVER would have left Elena to help Stefan and he would have expected Stefan to understand.

 

I like Enzo and want him to have a story. Loved the Denzo stuff.

 

No matter how much SHOW wants me to believe Bonnie is Damon's best friend it ain't gonna happen. Alaric is ALWAYS and will ALWAYS be Damon's best friend even if they don't get to bro-bond anymore:(

 

Bonnie and Damon have a cute friend/frenemy thing but it does not come anywhere near Delaric.

 

For once this season I'm actually interested to see what happens next week.

[GaT]

I don't understand what happened with Stefan at all, she stabbed him, he thought about Caroline, then he went on the run, huh? I don't get it.

 

I'm glad the birth is over, hopefully we can stop talking about babies now.

 

I don't care about Rayna, I don't care about her story, I don't care about her future.

 

OF COURSE Elena is still alive, I thought it might be just her spirit or something. but Tyler pulling the old switcheroo is about par for the writing we've been getting.

[Chewy101]

LOVED, how Bonnie, who has been used up and dumped on by every character on the show, finally marched into Damon's home and bent his ear and vented about how SHE feels. I thought it was precious. Girl is five seasons overdue, getting to just go to her friend and LEAN. And I loved how he let her. It bothers me how used up Bonnie is.... I wish there were more moments where her best friend was a friend. She is always revolving around others.

 

Not a popular opinion, but I loathe Elena. I loved her for awhile(seasons 1&2), but I was truly happy that she was dead for good last episode. I should have known that was too much to ask for.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I really wish the show would ban at least two phrases from all future scripts: "the love of my life" and "best friends." At this point everyone has been best friends with everyone, so when characters refer to someone as a best friend without a name, I honestly have no idea who they're talking about. Last week when Damon told the cat killer that he beat one of his girlfriend's best friends unconscious, I honestly had no idea if he was talking about Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, Stefan, or Tyler. Then Damon added that he "left him for dead" so I was like great, at least that narrows it down to the guys but I still wasn't sure which one. I actually like seeing the other friendships develop beyond the ones we've had for so long (Elena/Caroline/Bonnie, Stefan/Damon) but I feel like since S5 they have started throwing around the BFF title around to anyone who has more than two scenes together and the love of my life title to anyone who kisses more than once.

 

It felt like this episode was an hour of Caroline giving birth. I'm glad the babies are finally out so we don't have to deal with the magical siphoning babies dessicating Caroline storyline anymore.

 

I don't understand what happened with Stefan at all, she stabbed him, he thought about Caroline, then he went on the run, huh? I don't get it.

According to the heretics, Rayna will hunt down any vampire she has marked (like Stefan) AND kill any other vampire that gets in her path (despite repeated evidence to the contrary in this episode) so Stefan left town to keep Rayna away from Caroline.

 

It's been a while since Jeremy's hunter storyline so I have forgotten the details. Is being a hunter genetic? What activated Jeremy's hunter's mark?

 

I don't have any interest in Rayna, but I did feel bad for her when the other hunters all killed themselves. She asked them to help her get revenge for her father, but she definitely wasn't expecting to witness a group seppuku and she also didn't think she would be tasked with hunting vampires for eternity.

[Chewy101]

I'm so annoyed that Elena won't go away. It's creepy how much she is mentioned as a character when the actress left the show. And she continues to be Damon's motivation for ruining others' lives....Go. Away....

Edited February 20, 2016 by Chewy101

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Since we knew from the flash forwards that Elena's body was safe somewhere, I wasn't too worried about everyone knowing on a practical level but in theory I was wondering if Damon and Stefan were going to just wait until Bonnie died and then tell whoever was still alive, "Oh, right, Elena. I guess we forgot to mention this little thing that happened 40 years ago."

[Cattitude]

Another thing that bothered me about Bonnie being called Damon's best friend is in the hunter sword scene Bonnie got all mushy about Damon didn't waiting 3 seconds to save her. She thought it meant she meant more to him now knowing her death would bring Elena back and he didn't hesitate. In reality he thought Elena was dead dead and wouldn't come back so that is why he helped quicker. It makes Bonnie always looking so desperate for this terrible person to care about her. Damon just always expects Bonnie to help him and doesn't seem as desperate for a friend.

[immortalfrieza]

They had 4 magic siphoners that could solve the entirety of this huntress storyline in seconds now reduced to 3, who's next on the chopping block to keep this storyline going? Enzo wanting the sword had TRAP! written all over it in a way that would make Admiral Ackbar envious, and we still don't have an explanation as to why Enzo killed her so he could resurrect her as young in the first place. He and whoever it is he's working with is also pretty stupid, if their intention was to capture her why not just sedate her in the hospital while she's still an 80 year old and take her to some holding facility first BEFORE killing her to make her young again? Why do they even keep the stone in the sword anymore anyway? Speaking of which, they should have destroyed or had someone siphon all the magic out of the phoenix stone or both a long long time ago, along with any magic the sword had on it's own thus rendering it useless, something the heretics had no reason to not do the second Julian came out of the stone. Nobody involved has any need for the phoenix stone or the sword anymore except the huntress herself, it's like they all want to be stabbed and locked into a hell for the rest of eternity.

 

Beau never did anything and he can't talk so he has no personality so he might as well had the word "expendable" stamped on his forehead the moment he showed up. I've been expecting him to get killed off since he appeared and thus the only surprise here is how long he lasted, maybe the writers are showing a bit of restraint? Also here's another viewer that knew all along that Elena wasn't actually burned alive, they couldn't have made that more obvious if they tried even if you didn't take the flash forwards into consideration.

Edited February 20, 2016 by immortalfrieza

[luckyroll3]

Awwww, Beau! Of course Rayna had to stab the only heretic I actually like. I still don't understand the point of the phoenix sword/stone. Isn't it much more efficient to kill vampires than to trap them in a place where they can escape? And how is being marked by Rayna's sword different from being stabbed with it by someone else (like when Stefan and Damon were stabbed my Julian and Mary Louise)? So Stefan wasn't marked until Rayna stabbed him with it? And Damon still isn't marked? Since Rayna stabbed Stefan with it, why isn't he in the phoenix stone again?

This is so confusing because both Stefan and Damon should already be marked because not only were they stabbed, but they also escaped from the stone.  Wouldn't one of Rayna's priorities be to return escapees??  Stupid show.

 

And I will readily admit that I don't give this show my full attention when it's on, but I could have sworn that in one of the future clips we learned that Caroline's fiancé was Tyler.  Or am I making that up?

[MissL]

So Karoline taking the girls to Klaus makes sense if you think about it. Hope is just couple of years older than the girls so they might have some kind of vampire baby nursery thing going in NOLA. Complete with protection of 3 original vampires, some powerful witches and a hybrid. Maybe they can have special classes and art projects for children of vampires. :)

[TigerLynx]

I love Damon and yes I'm also a Delana fan I thought IS did a good job showing how happy Damon was Elena didn't die.

That said I really dislike how Stefan leaves Caroline to help Damon. Damon NEVER would have left Elena to help Stefan and he would have expected Stefan to understand.

 

 

I love Damon and Stefan's brotherly relationship, and all their issues, but I'm tired of Stefan ALWAYS making this choice.  Especially since Damon point blank told him in the past, "Stop saving me," and because whenever Stefan makes this choice, it comes back to bite them even worse in a big way.

 

I liked Alaric naming one of his twins after Liz.  That was a nice scene between Caroline and Alaric.  I don't want Caroline pining away for Stefan to return, but I'm not sure I want her paired up with Alaric.  At this point, Caroline has been involved with almost every guy on the show (Matt, Tyler, Damon, Stefan, Klaus).

 

I am looking forward to Caroline and Klaus scenes.  Bonus points if Klaus says anything to Caroline or Stefan about how they should have visited him in New Orleans sooner so they could become a threesome.

[generate789]

I'm not gonna lie ... I got a little misty when Alaric told Caroline he named one of the babies Elizabeth.

Maybe Klaus will make some horsey drawings for the twins.

[Hiddenpick]

The title of the episode is a song from a movie called, She's Having A Baby. It was played during a sequence that effectively depicts a husband's worry and wait while his wife goes through an extremely difficult labor. It is honest and strong and has a genuinely emotional impact on the viewer. It is fair to assume that Caroline's plight and Stefan's worry and wait was supposed to have the same impact and depict the same raised stakes and emotional intensity, except the moments leading up to and at the 'birth' itself had absolutely no tingling effect on me at all. First, there was no 'work' on Caroline's part. Second, she was sedated and on a 'date' with Stefan during her 'labor'. I was dazed, detached and befuddled by the magic-extracting-chanting-distracting-mantra. Maybe it's because the relationship between Stefan and Caroline leaves me wanting--wanting purpose, wanting reason, wanting rationalization, wanting less--but it's also because the 'three years from now' previews have virtually wiped out any dramatic angst about some of the plots.

 

For instance, it was no surprise that Caroline and her twins would not have a catastrophic outcome. It was no surprise that Elena wasn't dead, dead. It is no surprise to know that Stefan would be marked and on the run; It's no surprise that there is a Huntress and so on. It doesn't matter what will happen to Nora and Mary because their characters and their importance to the story are not only an irritant, they are unfocused and liquid in their assigned development. Their introduction as villains (useless and annoying as they were) was never firmly rooted. Were they villains or not? If they were then they should have been shown with consistency. We are asked on the one hand to accept them as villains and on the other to accept them as friends or at least harmless foes--but they come off as wishy washy whiners. The whole introduction of these so-called scary monster heretics was a case where the characters and what they represented were inconsistent at best. Lily disowned her kids...no she was indifferent...no. wait, she wanted to get to know them....no, she loved them.

 

Rayna's dad was a member in the Brotherhood of Five--the well known vampire hunters anonymous club that Jer belonged to. She was sanctioned in his glory. But she's more. She's impervious to magic, she is super strong and she is the phoenix and maybe she can no longer be compelled? The thing is while she seems to be really focused on her rage and intent on her task, as a vampire hunter she never actually kills a vampire--well except poor old Beau, invoking the he's-Black-and-shall-die lore. Rayna had the opportunity to kill Enzo, when last I heard he was a vampire, but she ties him up? Then again maybe her particular skill is about trapping her victims in the stone. But why? And should I care? She shoots Bonnie, instead of Damon?

 

Damon and Bonnie are, as I'm constantly being told, best friends (why they couldn't be more I will never understand and for a different topic) but Damon doesn't tell Bonnie that he has 'killed' Elena. His dilemma about his deed and his need to tell Bonnie was folded once again into the Enzo blackmailing him and Bonnie trusting him on faith scenario, which as it happens, always end up with Bonnie being hurt.

 

This season has generated more questions than answers. Seems to me that the potential to make better use of the core characters were squandered and instead they became the Diabolus ex Machina. The heretics and their silly and uninteresting drama took center stage and for what? The progression of this episode was filled with an amazing assortment of gimmicks and whatever story there was--as thin as it was--was interrupted by extraordinary flights of fancy. That Steroline montage? The Damon comment about Rayna's resemblance to Elena and her doppelgangers? *Sigh*

 

And so it goes.

 

 

[poppy-]

I like how badass the huntress is but I agree the story is weird. I also thought they were originally in Europe. Where did the Indians who gave her powers come from?

 

I love this question so much.  It's a good question.  This show is so nonsensical sometimes.

 

Why doesn't Rayna just kill the vampires? Why don't the vampires just kill Rayna? Because nonsense.

 

I did once see a Tumblr post about Stefan telling Lily "You can take my house, and you can take my town, but you can't take my car".   Contrasted with the 3 years later Stefan torching that car in desperation to escape the Huntress.  It is a fine storyline, structurally, it just doesn't make enormous sense how we got here.

 

 

And I will readily admit that I don't give this show my full attention when it's on, but I could have sworn that in one of the future clips we learned that Caroline's fiancé was Tyler.  Or am I making that up?

 

No, he wasn't her fiance. He called her from a car and seemed to have moved on entirely- was  impatient with Mystic Falls drama.

Edited February 21, 2016 by poppy-

[LeafontheWind]

I like how badass the huntress is but I agree the story is weird. I also thought they were originally in Europe. Where did the Indians who gave her powers come from?

I thought Lily and Co started out in America (hence why Stefan was able to have a fling with one of the heretics and conceive a baby) and then moved to Europe later on. So, if Julian met the huntress and her father before they hopped a boat to Europe then there is really nothing weird about that origin story at all. In fact, it makes Julian's desperation to get Lily and her adopted kids on the boat as quickly as possible even more clear. Maybe he had already had a run in with her and knew he needed to get as far away as he could. Which just confirms my original opinion that Julian is the absolute worst.

[Couver]

So I think Rayna's handling of Beau the second time is how the sword/stone are supposed to work. She sends a vampire's soul to hell and then destroys the body basically dooming them to hell for all eternity. The Other Side existed when she was created so if you think about it the sword/stone is perfect revenge on a vampire if you can get it to work properly. She didn't get the chance with Julian because Nora drove the carriage off. My guess is that she's going to hate Stefan for robbing her of the chance to kill Julian in that way. 

 

I guess the mark is when she tries to kill a vampire but they hold her off. She did try to drive the sword through Stefan but he was preventing it from going too deep. It seems like if she can't get you on the first go you get marked and she can always find you? She did seem surprised that Damon had been inside the stone and gotten out.

 

There are still a lot of inconsistencies with the huntress lore though. I have no idea why they needed to connect her to the Brotherhood. She is something entirely different and much better than any hunter we have seen. I like the concept of her (despite all the obvious Buffy parallels). I'm curious to see if she is truly immortal or if she only has 6 or 7 lives (how many shamans died that night) and if those can be run down to eventually kill her for good.

 

I was so glad Bonnie came in to help Valerie with Caroline's delivery. It would have been weird if she wasn't there for that. The naming of the twins was a cute scene. Though I still hope Caroline and Alaric aren't together romantically in the time jump.

 

There really was no point in the Elena is dead fake out. It didn't even lead to any great character growth for Damon.

 

Hopefully we learn more about the shady organization Enzo is involved with. I'm guessing Damon isn't going to like that they have Elena once he takes a moment to think about what that could mean.

 

The season is picking up which is nice.

[Bort]

There are still a lot of inconsistencies with the huntress lore though. I have no idea why they needed to connect her to the Brotherhood. She is something entirely different and much better than any hunter we have seen. I like the concept of her (despite all the obvious Buffy parallels). I'm curious to see if she is truly immortal or if she only has 6 or 7 lives (how many shamans died that night) and if those can be run down to eventually kill her for good.

I'm betting that Rayna's number of lives is however many sacrifices were there (I didn't count, though it looked like about half a dozen). With a limit, it makes sense that she let herself get old so as to stretch out the current life as much as possible. Also, she didn't have her sword anymore. I wonder what she was doing with the last hundred years that Julian and the heretics were out of the picture? Taking lots of crochet classes? Matlock reruns?

Now that I'm thinking about it, how did the stone get separated from the sword? And why didn't the heretics pull Julian out right away?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Hopefully we learn more about the shady organization Enzo is involved with.

If it's called the Initiative, I may bang my head against the wall a few times.

 

why didn't the heretics pull Julian out right away?

Now that we know all they needed was Julian's body and some magic, it makes no sense why the heretics didn't try to get him out sooner. Lily sent Oscar to find Julian's body so I guess somewhere along the way, they lost him. But since everyone is so insistent that the soul inside the stone has to work out their issues before they're ready to leave the stone, maybe Julian wasn't done with stone walkabout. Interesting that whoever they put in Oscar's and Jo's bodies popped out easily. I guess they had their issues all worked out.

[ByTor]

When Caroline was in the operating room, why was there activity on her EKG? Unless I'm remembering this wrong, I thought Stefan explained many seasons ago that booze and caffeine help vampires from being cold to the touch due to their lack of a beating heart and, thus, no bloodflow. Also, besides Damon, do any of these vampires consume blood anymore? Every time we see them they are eating and drinking regular food.

[miss-vanilla]

When Caroline was in the operating room, why was there activity on her EKG? Unless I'm remembering this wrong, I thought Stefan explained many seasons ago that booze and caffeine help vampires from being cold to the touch due to their lack of a beating heart and, thus, no bloodflow. Also, besides Damon, do any of these vampires consume blood anymore? Every time we see them they are eating and drinking regular food.

Apparently In TVD vamp lore, a vamp body functions exactly like humans as long as they drink human blood, so they do have functioning organs.

The obsession with eating "real" food has become a joke now. It began in earnest last season with the pancakes and hasn't let up. They make the occasional passing reference to them drinking blood.  

I don't think we have seen Damon vamp out for two whole seasons now, unless you count the poor chap Damon killed in the car last week, but it was so quick, if you blinked, you missed it. It's so bad now, that I forget that they are in fact vampires. I miss them.

[ByTor]

It's so bad now, that I forget that they are in fact vampires.

I've said it before & I'll say it again...this used to be a show about vampires who happen to be gorgeous people, now it's a show about gorgeous people who happen to be vampires (and don't let that petty little issue get in the way). Edited February 23, 2016 by ByTor

[slayer2]

I wouldn't be surprised if the show was trying to "distance itself" from vampires given the recent drop in interest in bloodsuckers. Only TVD would attempt to make a show about vampire about something else.

I have to agree though, this week's episode had Damon almost entirely human aside from the bloodsharing.

[Adira]

It's so creepy the way Elena's temporary 'death' was handled. No one ever found out. Damon lied about it to Bonnie, and neither brother felt the need to tell: Caroline (her best friend), Matt (a boy she'd known and cared for all her life), Alaric (her former foster dad) or... JEREMY, her fucking brother!  It's like Damon felt that he owned Elena, and that her death only affected him. This is a girl with a life, with family, with friends, with a whole entire existence apart from him. The fact that Damon keeps her death from Bonnie in particular in this episode to keep Bonnie's loyalty to him ---- not to protect Bonnie from the devastation she would feel to hear that Elena had died -- Bonnie who has known Elena far longer than him, and has had a deeper relationship with Elena far longer than him -- is so horrifying that it made me feel like puke watching it. 

 

To be fair, Stefan said that he was agonizing over how to tell Caroline when he was coming back to the hospital after Damon told him, only to them find Caroline in a coma.  But the rest of that, totally agree!

Edited February 24, 2016 by Adira