S05.E18: Resident Evil

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Both Stefan and Elena are suddenly having unsettling dreams of an alternate version of the life they might have had together. Bonnie has a disturbing encounter with Grams, who warns her about frightening changes on the Other Side. Enzo gives Damon unwanted relationship advice, then admits he is searching for a woman he loved decades before while he was held captive by the Augustines. Liv enlists Matt, Jeremy and Tyler to help track the Travelers and keep them from taking control of Mystic Falls. Bonnie is hurt and angry when she learns that Jeremy is working with Liv behind her back. Luke shows up at the Salvatore house and explains what he knows about Markos and the Travelers to Damon, Elena and Enzo. Matt has a terrifying encounter with inhabitants of the Other Side. Finally, when Damon finds Markos, he is both relieved and disturbed by what Markos has to tell him.

[stagmania]

I wish I could trust that the show was actually going to drop the triangle for awhile, but I've been burned before. I'm sure that Elena will be making moon eyes at one or both brothers again within a couple weeks. 

I'm not sure I'm really following the Travelers/Other Side stuff. I can't seem to pay proper attention to this show anymore.

[me5671]

It saddens me to see the decline in quality of this show.  I used to love this show and look forward to it every week... now I can barely get through an episode.  It seems to me that the writers are just out of ideas at this point.  I was completely unmoved by the scene where Damon and Elena fight for 8,000th time.  I am completely apathetic to Marcus and whatever the Travelers are up to.  The only thing I'm mildly interested in is what happened to Vikki (and Katherine!) when they were sucked up into the afterlife, but that's not enough to get me through the rest of this dreck.  Also, I don't trust that the writers are going to resolve even that storyline in a satisfying way.

Edited April 18, 2014 by me5671

[Cattitude]

Paul Wesley did a great job directing that. I really enjoyed almost the whole show. I especially loved the blocking of the Elena and Damon porch scene when Enzo walked up.

I could watch a whole show of Damon and Enzo in matching black T's playing pool and snarking. MEOW!     Well since I love them OF COURSE next week Damon and Enzo will have to kill each other or something.

So Tyler is the big baddie who was totally unexpected. It was unexpected except it isn't really Tyler but a passenger so the hyped spoiler was really kind of a ruse.

I don't like Stelena and the whole fantasy life was bleck cheese ball cornie to me, but I truely loved thier fireplace talk. Totally glad they are friends and both agree they outgrew their high school romance. I always felt that way about it so it jived for me.

I loved how Damon gave up Delena's dysfunction by NOT allowing this phoney "we're friend" ruse to continue. Really shocked Elena he'd give her up. haha

I think even if one or the other get back together it is now kind of a start from square one build something new kind of thing, which is why even though I don't like them I think the writers will start Stelena over as adults with no spell.

Love Matt's whole story, it was good to see Kol again.

The traveler thing should have started sooner, can't decide how I'll like it since it has to be rushed, can't be more than 2-3episodes left I'd think.

[Bort]

I don't get how Tyler has a Passenger. He did the knife thingie early in the episode, how did he skate by that test?

[Cattitude]

I don't get how Tyler has a Passenger. He did the knife thingie early in the episode, how did he skate by that test?

The Passenger that was in Liz jumped into him when he stabbed her. It was AFTER he took "the test".

[mac123x]

Actually a third party walked up on Tyler after he stabbed Liz.

 

I'm glad Damon told Elena to piss off, but I doubt it'll last longer than 1 episode.  Some contrived crisis will mean they have to work together blah blah.

 

Man, I miss Cindy MacLennan's recaps.

[Jazzy24]

Paul did a great job directing this episode.

I was only watching for Stefan and Caroline scenes.

I don't care about Elena or Damon together or apart I wish they would just stay together so Elena can stay away from myStefan. Damon and Elena deserves each other's boring selves.

I don't like Enzo at all I keep trying to remember his backstory and than I realize I don't care about him.

I did like Tyler and Matt this episode and I wish they along with Bonnie and Jeremy had their own stories.

I'm mildly curious about Vicky and Katherine are and Kol!!!!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm having trouble caring about the Travelers vs. witches war.

I'm hoping there's a way for both the travelers and the witches to lose.

Did we know that when Matt - practically the only actual human being left on the show - gets killed, he goes over to the Other Side (and then forgets about it when the ring brings him back)? Because, no matter what ring, he's wearing, that makes no sense to me at all. He's using a magic artifact; that doesn't make him a magic being.

Yes, it happened in a previous episode this season. I think that's how he found out Bonnie was dead. But he didn't remember that when he came back to life, which is why Kol told him he HAD to remember that things on The Other Side were screwed up so the NSDR could fix it. But they never explained how Matt was able to override the default setting of "I do not remember what happens when I'm dead on The Other Side" so that he remembered something was wrong.

So the traveler knife is the new white oak stake? Are they going to have to dig through the ashes of Markos' fireplace to retrieve the melted metal and forge a new knife? Or will we find out that the same bridge made with the magical white oak tree also has some trestles made of Valyrian steel that will expel the passengers? Gawd, this show is getting stupider every week. Yet I keep watching!

I offiially don't give a crap about any of the romantic relationships on this show anymore. Elena and Stefan bore me to tears. Elena and Damon need to get off the endless merry go round. Bonnie and Jeremy suck together. I don't want to see Caroline with anyone (Tyler, Stefan, Enzo).

Edited April 18, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Kaboom 2.0]

I think Paul did a great job directing the episode, the technical aspects were great. It's the writing and the storylines that I cannot stand.

The high point for me was Kol and Grams' cameo, I still miss those characters so it was so good to see them again. Markos seemed to have promise as a new character but once he said "Traveler" and "doppelganger" I was done. I found myself doing my bills, opening mail, etc while watching this ep, I don't care about the Triangle of Doom v.847 or anything Traveler and doppelganger-related so it seems I'm screwed since it seems the show insists on hanging onto both of them.

I so miss Cindy's recaps already.

[TwistedandBored]

Hopefully, the is the last we will see of the triangle. I am sick of Delena and Stelena. I wanted it end! 

[AlexJayne]

Kol! Always a pleasure. Wish they'd bring him back (handwave some magic, I don't know), or at least get him over to The Originals. Although I think he's on a new show, so I don't know if that would work out.

Damon and Elena won't see each other... for one epsiode tops. There's no way the writers will keep them apart, they love their drama and love triangles too much.

[truthaboutluv]

*sigh* Why do I keep watching this show? Okay, so the traveler stuff was kind of interesting and Tyler having a traveler in him at the end was a cool surprise but everything else, just no. It's very hard to watch a show centered so heavily around a triangle when you hate the center of said triangle so much. I just cannot give a flying fig about Damon/Elena and I damn sure don't want Elena anywhere near Stefan. So every scene with either pairing was torture for me. Though I will say on a shallow note that Paul and Nina looked gorgeous in all the fantasy scenes - the lighting was amazing.

And speaking of things I don't care about, Enzo and his search for his friend/long lost love/whatever..don't care. Other thing I don't care about, Damon's angst over Elena and Stefan's fantasies. Nope, sorry dude, I'm never going to feel sorry for you and your insecurities when you willingly chased after a girl who was with your brother. You know what they say, "if they cheat with you, they will cheat on you." Yeah she didn't cheat but the fact is, he's always going to second guess her feelings because she claimed to love his brother so much and he still managed to get her. So what's to stop the opposite from happening? And yeah, sorry, don't feel sorry and don't care.

Meanwhile my eyes rolled back so far in my head at Stefan's line about how you can either be friends or in love with each other. Be more obvious there writers. Of course I would add that you can either be friends, in love or neither - especially when your entire relationship is a toxic, needy, whiny, pit of unhealthiness that is Damon and Elena. But hey, no one asked me.

[immortalfrieza]

Gawd, this show is getting stupider every week. Yet I keep watching!

I'd say at this point that most of us fans are just watching the show specifically because we want to see just how much more stupid it could get. That, and a sense of nostalgia that misguidedly keeps us watching in the vain hope that it gets back to being good against all evidence to the contrary. I don't understand how the same writers that write The Originals also write Vampire Diaries and yet the former is greatly written while the latter is absolute dreck.

I personally keep watching it because my father and I both watch it and get more enjoyment out of guessing what cliche they are going to do next and laughing at the characters' stupidity than anything else.

Edited April 20, 2014 by immortalfrieza

[truthaboutluv]

I don't understand how the same writers that write The Originals also write Vampire Diaries and yet the former is greatly written while the latter is absolute dreck.

That's easy in my opinion, The Originals is in its first season while The Vampire Diaries is in its fifth season. It is the VERY RARE show that doesn't have its quality go down the longer it is on air. Because the writers are having to come up with new ideas, new storylines when they've already plowed through so many.

For a show like The Originals, there is still so much room for new ideas because the show is still so new. I think the fact that this is the same writing team makes it more than likely that in a few seasons The Originals may start having some of the same issues The Vampire Diaries are having right now.

I will say that I think one other key factor that's hurting Vampire Diaries is the focus on that triangle. Plec and company, no matter the ratings and viewer complaints, stubbornly refuse to let the triangle go or put a strong pause on it. They put Elena with Damon but refuse to make Stefan move on and have any genuine relationship. I really think it's this heavy emphasis on romance, particularly Elena's love life that's hurting the show and why it's making the show feel so stale and repetitive. Because that storyline has been going on since Season One.

[immortalfrieza]

That's easy in my opinion, The Originals is in its first season while The Vampire Diaries is in its fifth season. It is the VERY RARE show that doesn't have its quality go down the longer it is on air. Because the writers are having to come up with new ideas, new storylines when they've already plowed through so many.

 

IMO, I doubt it's because the show has been on too long for there to be much room for new and interesting plots, think it's that they just don't bother to actually try to make the storylines good anymore since they know the fans will watch them anyway. The Originals is new so they have to put some actual effort to draw in and keep the audience since they don't already have a massive fanbase to fall back on, at least not one as large as TVD. Once they have that they'll probably start phoning it in.

I've seen plenty of shows (i.e. Buffy, Angel, most of the Star Treks, NCIS, and I'm probably forgetting a few others, point is it's not as uncommon as one might think) that have actually gotten much better in their later years than they ever were in the early ones, so I don't think that it's a length issue. Hell, even TVD itself I thought got much better once Elena became a vampire and thus a much less useless and more interesting character, but even that's played out at this point.

 

I will say that I think one other key factor that's hurting Vampire Diaries is the focus on that triangle. Plec and company, no matter the ratings and viewer complaints, stubbornly refuse to let the triangle go or put a strong pause on it. They put Elena with Damon but refuse to make Stefan move on and have any genuine relationship. I really think it's this heavy emphasis on romance, particularly Elena's love life that's hurting the show and why it's making the show feel so stale and repetitive. Because that storyline has been going on since Season One.

Most definitely this is the primary problem, they just cannot let go of that Damon-Elena-Stefan love triangle that should have been resolved ages ago, two seasons of that stuff were too much not to mention 5. They drop the triangles and the show can only improve from there, but I think the writers and Plec are too scared to leave their comfort zone and actually try to make their show better. I'm even seeing love triangles starting to creep into The Originals, but at least with that they aren't all "LOOK AT THESE THREE! THEY'RE FIGHTING OVER EACH OTHER! ISN'T THIS IS THE BEST STORY EVER!?!  LET'S KEEP THIS GOING AS LONG AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE!" In short, they aren't shoving it in the audience's faces every two minutes and building everything in the show around it like TVD does.

Edited April 21, 2014 by immortalfrieza