S08.E02: Today Will Be Different

[formerlyfreedom]

After learning that someone from Stefan’s past may be Damon and Enzo’s next target, Stefan, Bonnie and Caroline head to North Carolina. There, Bonnie takes drastic measures in an attempt to break Enzo free of whatever has a hold over him. At the Armory, Alaric and Georgie stumble upon a mysterious symbol that may be related to the supernatural force controlling Damon and Enzo. Finally, Caroline gets an unexpected surprise from Stefan.

[HunterHunted]

Congratulations Bonnie Bennett, you're an asshole!

[prospazzinator]

Caroline/Stefan and Alaric/WhateverThatIntern'sNameIs are kinda ruining this show for me right now. Way too much time spent on them. It's a shame because I like Stefan's scenes with pretty much everyone but Caroline. I'm also hoping that we don't see that flashback of Elena and Damon meeting ever again. Over it!

I know we're only 2 episodes in, but it already feels like the show is just treading water. 

[PTVjones]

1 hour ago, HunterHunted said:

Congratulations Bonnie Bennett, you're an asshole!

Why? because she did something that literally every other character on the show did to her on multiple occasions? Hell once Damon was back from the Upside Down or whatever you call it, it took episodes for any of them to get her back. That's ridiculous that Bonnie doesn't get the same leeway that other characters get to selfish decisions... 

[tricknasty]

So she eats the worst of humanity? Who qualifies? Nobody is perfect and we all have skeletons in our closet. I'm gonna need more details. Reasons are lame so far...

Bye Sara. Never knew you and won't miss you

[PinkRibbons]

I often feel like the last Steroline shipper standing, but I'm just gonna say it: that last scene made me so frikkin' happy. I've always had the view that Stefan was this kind of regular person who could have made a really happy regular life if Katherine hadn't shown up. Like, Damon in a way is sort of emphasized as this person who was not quite in step with the world, a huge romantic that sort of inevitably drew adventure  and epic love stories to him. I love that in contrast Stefan finally has a chance at having a sweet quiet life.

Also I feel like in these episodes we're finally seeing some better chemistry between Stefan and Caroline that we didn't see when obstacle after obstacle popped up in their relationship before this. I mentioned this last season but, I always feel like the quickest way to a relationship fail is to resolve a will they won't they with "they will, but we won't get to see much of it". (Like on the X-Files, holy crap was that terrible.) It was like we'd just get isolated scenes of them having moments, but not the idea of them as a couple. I like that their characterization is of two people who want to be on a stable surface with each other. Honestly, drawing a real-life parallel, the majority of successful marriages I've seen have been between two people who want to be together without needing extraordinary romantic displays and whirlwind lifestyles. So yeah, this makes me so happy. I really hope that marriage goes through with no one dying or murdering.

On another subject, I'm actually glad Sybill took out the Elena. (Although she's annoying as hell WHAT IS THAT ACCENT. Also, while I loved the "faraway siren song" sound effect, I kept waiting for either Enzo or Damon to try the whole hands over ears LALALALALALALALALA! I now it wouldn't have worked, but would it have hurt to try?) I want Damon's humanity to be tied to how much he loves his brother. We've had tantalizing hints for years of how close they were as children (Lily's SICK punishment of Stefan to get to Damon comes to mind), compounded by the fact that they seemed to be each others' only solace without a mother and under the thumb of a psychotic father. 150 years and they never stop loving each other despite going through way more than Damon and Elena ever went through

This season is trying to make a full circle by bringing up Stefan's turning Damon into a vampire again, and how that is supposedly how Stefan ruined both their lives. But since season one, that story has had one big hole to me: why has no one ever called Damon out for being such a shitty older brother back then? He knew what Katherine was and he wasn't being compelled to not be afraid, he embraced her and her darkness. And yet when his brother fell under her sway Damon chose to blame Stefan. He's the one that blamed Stefan for getting Katherine captured, he's also the one responsible for the two of them being out on that road where they got shot to death. It's been a while since I watched the first season, but I always had the impression that once Stefan knew what Katherine was, he wanted out. I don't think he would have tried to help bust her out on his own behalf, I think he was trying to make it up to Damon. Damon's the one he's been loyal to, sacrificed for, loved more unconditionally than anyone else in their lives. And when it comes back to it, Damon failed Stefan before Stefan failed Damon. He should have been protecting his brother, not chasing some evil piece of ass like Katherine.

[roctavia]

I do think Bonnie screwed up with her timing in trying to whisk Enzo away when they still had stuff to take care of with Sarah... but, everyone on the show has pulled crap like that and it cost lives, so I don't think it makes her the worst or anything. Plus her being there might have just gotten more of them killed, unless it was her pulling Enzo away that made Sybil show up... Sure she would have been able to help Caroline, but what would have stopped siren girl from controlling Caroline or hurting Bonnie?

I'm assuming the artifact is the key to killing the siren, and that's why they didn't keep it in the Vault with her. Is there something significant about that date in Mystic falls that we are supposed to know about, or I assume it's something that will matter later in the season or at least connect the siren to something in Mystic falls- probably doppleganger/vampire/siphon witch related, which will be the key to stopping her/freeing Damon and Enzo etc.

I like Stefen and Caroline together, and while I enjoyed their moments and him putting in a room for the girls and the proposal, it seems a little misplaced to me, or maybe even a little rushed? I know time has gone by since last season, but it feels like Stefen and Caroline have just reconciled. Like getting married wouldn't be high on my priority list when dealing with a psycho creature who has my brother... but I suppose in this world, they are always under the threat of something, so grab ahold of the happiness you can, I guess?

[GaT]

Whose stupid idea was it to make the final season about a siren?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode (the only notable thing is that Julie reminds us the title of this episode comes from the first line Elena ever spoke on the show):

[ElectricBoogaloo]

5 hours ago, roctavia said:

I'm assuming the artifact is the key to killing the siren, and that's why they didn't keep it in the Vault with her. Is there something significant about that date in Mystic falls that we are supposed to know about, or I assume it's something that will matter later in the season or at least connect the siren to something in Mystic falls- probably doppleganger/vampire/siphon witch related, which will be the key to stopping her/freeing Damon and Enzo etc.

The only thing I could find was a little bit vague. In S2.E15 (The Dinner Party), Elijah talks about the history of Mystic Falls with Jenna:

Quote

Jenna: The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence.
Elijah: Ah, the Fells. One of the Founding Families.
Jenna: Why do you say it like that?
Elijah: My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier. It was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast, um, it was Salem, to be precise.
Jenna: Massachusetts? As in the witch trials?
Elijah: Which means the ever-lauded founding families...didn't actually found anything.

Later in the same episode (at the titular dinner party), they talk about it some more:

Quote

Jenna: I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town.
Damon: Hmm, do tell.
Elijah: Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s. Over the next hundred years they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution.
Jenna: Hmm. Because they were witches.
Andie: Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem.
Damon: Andie's a journalist. Big on facts.
Elijah: Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in the neighboring settlement, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned. Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire. Could you pass the...
Jenna: I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society.

In the following episode (The House Guest), Damon goes through Jonathan Gilbert's journals trying to find the location where the witches were burned:

Quote

Katherine: How am I supposed to help you if you won't tell me what you're up to?
Damon: Can you tell me where a bunch of witches were massacred in this town a couple centuries ago?
Katherine: No.
Damon: Then you can't help.
Katherine: Emily Bennett told me about the massacre. It was a big deal in witch folklore. When a witch dies violently, they release a mystical energy marking the place of their death with power.
Damon: Elijah wanted to know the site of the massacre.
Katherine: What was he going to do when he found it?
Damon: I don't know. What did papa witch and baby witch have to say?
Stefan: Isn't she gone or dead yet?
Katherine: For the last time, I'm here to help. Can we skip the secrets, hmm?
Stefan: Elijah had no weapon to kill Klaus but he believed that if a witch could channel enough power...They wouldn't need one.
Damon: Like the power you get from a spot marked with a hundred dead witches?

Later in the same episode, Katherine reads from Jonathan Gilbert's journal:

Quote

Katherine: "Emily Bennett was taken by the Council today. They kidnapped her from her home and took her to the same location her ancestors were burned a hundred years ago." So Emily died on the site of the massacre, too. Does it say where?

Elijah didn't specify an exact date for when the witches were burned, but it was around a hundred years after the Salem witch trials (which took place from February 1692 through May 1693) so it's possible that it was 1790. For what it's worth, the place where all the witches were burned ended up being the spot where Bonnie channeled the dead witches' power to try to kill Klaus so maybe the artifact is somehow tied to that?

Edited October 29, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[HunterHunted]

9 hours ago, PTVjones said:

Why? because she did something that literally every other character on the show did to her on multiple occasions? Hell once Damon was back from the Upside Down or whatever you call it, it took episodes for any of them to get her back. That's ridiculous that Bonnie doesn't get the same leeway that other characters get to selfish decisions... 

And I think every other character on this show is an asshole too! No double standard for me. I'm a completist who is operating under the sunk costs fallacy.

[GraceAnne]

I still don't understand why kids are a part of this show and now we're adding a wedding? Am I not watching a vampire show?  I know this is the CW , but c'mon man.. sigh....Oh and Bonnie Bennett, you do you girl!  It's about time she stopped thinking about these idiots who continue to make bad life decisions. 

[Aeryn13]

So, trick question: someone in the Delena-couple has their Delena-memories altered, which Season is it? 

I don`t know the actress for Sybil isn`t working for me too well. 

Bonnie did what anyone of them would have and has done on occassion. And yeah, most of them get an "how could you?" at some point because these people are all amazingly short-sighted when it comes to this. Even Klaus once pointed it out to Caroline.

Rest in peace, Sarah Salvatore, your death would have been a lot more meaningful if they ever made you a character I knew or cared about instead of some plot device two Seasons back.

Lastly, a wedding? Okay, if you think now is a good time for it.

[Primetimer]

And how exactly did this episode end on a happy note?

View the full article

[gibasi]

I have watched every single episode and I am determined to watch every episode until the end but damn it this show is making it so hard!!  Please tell me this is a shortened season because I just cannot stand it.  

I hate Georgie the intern.  I hate hearing about the kids.  I hate the hot Nanny-and why do we even need her?  Just another character to eat up time.  I hate Damon when he is not snarky evil.  This evil is blah.  They've made Enzo stupid too.  

I like Caroline and Stefan but the sweet ending didn't seem to go with the scenes before it.

I really wish for the final season they had gone back to the original characters (including Tyler and Matt) and tried to write a decent closing arc.

[gazebo]

The only thing I like about this episode was Stefan proposing to Caroline.  It was so sweet of Stefan to renovate a room in the Salvatore mansion for a children's room when Caroline's kids come to visit.  Even sweeter when Carolive found the ring Stefan pot in the drawer.  My Steroline heart was singing with joy.

The rest of the episode was just damn blah for me.  I feel so sorry for Bonnie.  Part of me wishes she could say, "I'm tired of all this bullshit.  I'm packing up and leaving!"  It's not easy to love vampires on this Show.  They always end up breaking hearts.  I could care less about Alaric running the supernatural museum.  I'm pissed at Damon for not fighting hard enough against the siren.  My God he's turned into such a big asshole.  At least Enzo is trying to fight against the siren's control.

I'm so sorry Sarah Salvatore.  You deserved better.

I guess I'm going through VD fatigue.  I think I'm just tired of everything.

[TigerLynx]

I was trying to figure out why they kept showing the same stupid flashback for Damon and Elena, and I guess the point was for the Siren to take all of Damon's memories from when he first met Elena and make them about her instead?

Bonnie forget about Enzo and all these other idiots.  What has all your sacrifices to help them got you?  Dead a couple of times, lost your magic, and all your relatives are dead.  Move on and find a better group of people to hang out with.  Jeremy and Tyler were the smart ones for getting the hell out of Dodge.

I'm okay with Stefan feeling guilty about turning Damon because Stefan was right when he told Elena in Season One he should have let himself and Damon die rather than turn.  If he had, hundreds possibly thousands of innocent people would not have been murdered.  However, I don't want Stefan's revelation to lead to another "I must save Damon at all costs scenario."  That's what Stefan needs to realize.  Stefan should stop trying to save Damon.

[DigitalCount]

I kind of love how the love story of this show is and has always low-key been Steroline.

[CabotCove]

So many flaws but still a magical show, one of the best shows ever for CW. 

[JustaPerson]

Is it just me or does the actress playing Sybil look like a Latina version of Brie Larson?

[Cattitude]

Never a huge Stefan or Caroline fan but I truly see little chemistry between them. Especially compared to Bonnie and Enzo who have had little build up but have more chemistry in small flashbacks and a tiny kissing scene than Steroline have in whole season of buildup. And a wedding... Really?  Who's going to come? The guest list will have what 5 people Caroline works with. The few people they know well will would make a measly wedding party at best.

While in theory the Siren is a good big bad the devil is in the details(hee) because why exactly does she need JUST Enzo and Damon, but yet more than once has passed up on Stefan, or Caroline or even Bonnie because in the vault she also used humans. Makes no sense. Seems like the more minions she has the better?

Why does Plec keep trying to give Alaric an love interest? They have gotten progressively worse. I thought Jo was bad but hot nanny and the intern are BOTH terrible. The intern has a voice like nails on a chalk board. I actually  kind of like Alaric being over the vault and could be interested in Bonnie and Alaric working together on this stuff to free Damon and Enzo. That would have been a better story that didn't need newbies.

Seems convenient Bonnie has no magic and the twins are witches. Probably the key will be using them somehow.

I'm going to stick it out til the end but so far other than liking the creepy better I'm just Dazed and Confused about this season.

Bonnie and Enzo ROCK!

[gibasi]

20 hours ago, DigitalCount said:

I kind of love how the love story of this show is and has always low-key been Steroline.

Only since the show decided to go with Damon and Elena.  I like Caroline and liked her evolution from the first season when she was the stereotypical social mean high school girl into the girl who stood up to the vamps.  Now she is just filling the role left vacant by Elena's departure.

[TigerLynx]

I don't know if the show would end this way, probably not, but I was wondering if everyone writing in the journals was going to be because when Elena wakes up, everyone, not just Bonnie has died.  All the vampires, Alaric, etc. died before Bonnie, and years later when Bonnie finally dies, she has entrusted the journals and Elena's coffin to Caroline's twin girls.

I don't understand why the Siren just has to have Damon and Enzo either.

[prospazzinator]

1 hour ago, TigerLynx said:

I don't know if the show would end this way, probably not, but I was wondering if everyone writing in the journals was going to be because when Elena wakes up, everyone, not just Bonnie has died.  All the vampires, Alaric, etc. died before Bonnie, and years later when Bonnie finally dies, she has entrusted the journals and Elena's coffin to Caroline's twin girls.

I don't understand why the Siren just has to have Damon and Enzo either.

Yeah, it never made sense to me why they all think Bonnie will live to 80 or whatever and that everyone else will be there to greet Elena after Bon Bon kicks the bucket. At the rate they're going, there's no way it'd be realistic for all of the vampires to be there when Elena wakes up. I kinda hope a couple of main characters are killed off this season, but it seems unlikely.

[Cattitude]

I figure this whole Siren thing and Damon will somehow lead to them accidentally finding a way to  break the sleeping curse. I don't expect Elena's actual waking up be tied to Bonnie dying. Or now that Bonnie loves a vampire maybe she will become one thus dying and Elena will wake up Damon will take the cure and all couples end happily ever after.(wouldn't THAT be a kick in pants for a VAMPIRE show.)

[Couver]

22 hours ago, TigerLynx said:

 

I don't understand why the Siren just has to have Damon and Enzo either.

This was bugging me about the Siren as well. Why just have 2 supernatural henchmen when you could have a whole army? There are probably tons of weaker willed vampires she could bend to her well. Plus you'd think she'd love a challenge like breaking Stefan? I actually like her as a concept for a big bad and there are interesting angles they can take this with the whole hell thing. I just think she isn't fully fleshed out yet. For example I wish they did a way better job selecting her prey. Half the time Damon and Enzo are getting guys that have barely done anything bad. I think the worst was the blood painter. Shouldn't they be breaking into prisons and taking the worst of the worst to her? 

The Bonnie/Enzo scenes were good though. I actually hated this pairing when it was first spoiled but KG & MM have really committed to it. Bonnie was still very shortsighted though. I hope her obvious impending encounter with Sybil triggers her powers to come back. 

The proposal scene was cute. 

Where is our beloved puddin pop Matt? More of him and less of intern please. 

[Goldmoon]

Georgia, AKA Claudia on Warehouse 13, has always had that grating voice.  It's like she can't decide what pitch to let out, or maybe the actor, Skags, thinks she sounds sexy.  I am so annoyed with her character right now.  Ric doesn't need a love interest.  Why couldn't we focus on the characters we like in the first place?  Oh yes, they never just did that.  TVD is the best example I can think of on TV of character rotation.  Adding fresh blood is one thing.  Being unable or willing to flesh out the characters of the existing actors is just lazy and bad writing.  Wait a minute.  I AM watching TVD.  If Bonnie weren't in it I wouldn't bother coming back for this final season.  Someone upthread asked if it was a shortened season.  Yes, just 16, mercifully.  I wish it was just 8.  I am so done, but I have watched this long, I want to see how Bonnie's story ends.

[miss-vanilla]

Well I was blown away again by this one (minus the steroline stuff). Yes the plot has huge big holes in it if examined too closely but so what? I was entertained.

It might not last long but i'm going to enjoy it while I can

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

And a wedding... Really?  Who's going to come? The guest list will have what 5 people Caroline works with. The few people they know well will would make a measly wedding party at best.

I'm not super excited about having this wedding so soon, but in their defense, there is nothing wrong with having a small wedding. To me, the point of a wedding is for two people to get married, not to throw an extravagant party for 500 people. 

But hey, look at how many people Alaric managed to invite to his wedding when it seemed like the only people he knew were the Scoobies!

On a related note, the last wedding we had on TVD ended with Kai killing Jo so hopefully Stefan and Caroline's wedding will be a little less murdery. I hope Alaric won't be all emo. 

[Cattitude]

Oh I don't disagree small weddings are just as good as big BUT this is Caroline and in the previews Damon knocks her into a big sea of huge fru fru wedding dresses fit for a big wedding. I dread all the major Caroline drama over a wedding that should be low key and simple.

And who will...which one of Caroline's exs... will be Stefan's best man...please NOT Alaric..ugh

Edited November 3, 2016 by Cattitude