S05.E19: Man on Fire

[ElectricBoogaloo]

FLASHBACKS TO THE 1960s - Stefan tries to distract Elena from obsessing about the state of her relationship with Damon, while Bonnie does her best to be realistic about how the changes happening on the Other Side will affect her existence as the Anchor. Damon demands the Traveler knife, forcing Jeremy and Matt to admit it has gone missing. Through flashbacks to election night, 1960, Enzo reveals to Elena, Stefan and Bonnie that he has learned what happened to his long-lost love, Maggie, and then, with the unwilling help of Liv and Luke, things take an ugly turn. Trying to calm Enzo down, Damon intervenes, but his words cause Enzo to make a desperate and dangerous decision that leads to a violent confrontation with Stefan. Finally, Markos enlists Sloan's help in a ritual designed to break an ancient curse against the Travelers. Tyler is forced to play a dangerous part in the ritual, while witnessing the incredible power the Travelers now possess.

Promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3qnDvZYhL8

[formerlyfreedom]

I was sad to see Enzo die, but happy to see he'll be hanging around for a bit. He's been a bright spot for me in this run of episodes.

[Cattitude]

Well being as I'm a Damon fan, I liked the episode. I like Damon acting normal and trying to get things done. I like that he helped Elena but didn't let her know. I can't figure out what doubledead Enzo is going to do to him though. Kind of interesting.

 

Speaking of interesting I LOVED how Enzo killed himself. That was the most awesome thing. Especially since he screwed Stefan....the not so good now. haha.

Stefan and Elena dug themselves into a BIG hole with Damon.

 

This traveler thing is kind of hard to follow. I really don't get how Elena and Stefan can still BE the last dopplegangers since Klaus can't used Elena's blood b/c she is dead. Since both she and Stefan are technically dead how are they still useful to the travelers? So I just don't see how they can use their blood to kill all the vampires. I wonder who they will kill first? And can Tyler the hybrid be killed too? And their doing this why just so they can all live together? It all seems too convoluted for me.

 

Not that I care much since I dislike her, but where the heck IS Caroline? There really wasn't a good explanation about that.

[immortalfrieza]

Probably the thing that stuck out with me the most this episode? Bonnie and the rest worrying about what was happening to the people on The Other Side. My thoughts after hearing this were:

"Since when have any of you people ever given a damn what happens to the people on The Other Side?"

 

Seriously, these are the same people that were so obsessed with getting one woman back that they kept The Other Side going just so they could. I mean, it's not as though untold numbers of people are trapped there forever in total solitude and misery or anything and continue to be and it's not as though this is the reason you are even in the situation you are in now because you guys did this.

 

Then we find out that if The Other Side goes, Bonnie goes with it. Now it makes perfect sense! It actually affects one of them therefore the Mystic Falls team give a rat's ass, but that's a common thing on this show. Everybody else in their universe can be suffering more physical and emotional pain than anybody possibly deserves just as long the MF team isn't effected, even directly causing it themselves, but the moment one of them is even mildly inconvenienced they'll move heaven and earth to fix it.

 

Otherwise? Decent enough of an episode I suppose. I knew Enzo was going to die sooner or later. After all, he gives Damon the perfect excuse to get the hell out of town and never look back, and we can't have that, so of course he's not going to stick around. I just wish he had at least a couple episodes raising hell running around as psycho emotions off Enzo instead of dying right then, that could have been fun. It's not as though his "revenge" or Stefan's lie will be meaningful and have any actual lasting impact, nothing does on this show. In fact, it probably will not be lasting more than a few episodes at most before they forget Enzo ever existed and everything is back to normal anyway.

[Kaboom 2.0]

That ep was just awful. I realized after it ended that I don't give a flying puck about what happens to anyone in MF anymore except possibly Sheriff Forbes. And don't remind me of the Travellers and their end game, nothing about it makes sense to me!

[truthaboutluv]

While yes a little ridiculous, I loved the excuse the writers used for why Caroline was not in the episode. That basically she saw Damon calling and didn't bother to answer. It's always heart-warming everytime the show reminds me how much Caroline hates Damon. Meanwhile, this episode felt way longer than an hour. I swear, half-way in when I looked at my watch and saw it was only 8:30, I was shocked because I was convinced it had been an hour already. Of course that probably had to do with so much of this feeling like a chore to get through. 

 

I don't know about anyone else, but I could give a flying fig about Enzo and his long lost love/past/history or whatever so yeah didn't actually care. I did love Stefan's mostly calm, "look I didn't kill your girlfriend nutty, so leave me the hell alone" attitude at the beginning. It was nice to have some reminder of Stefan/Damon's relationship sans the object of suck that is Elena between, with Damon admitting that Stefan was the thing he clung to at the Augustine prison and that he was bitter he was there for five years and Stefan never knew. That said, I never got why Damon was so pissed about that because hasn't it been a fact that Stefan and Damon were often on the outs throughout their 100 plus years existence and would go off, away from each other and do their own thing? It's not like they were the type of brothers who called everyday and checked up on each on each other every day. Of course it's not like this show's consistency has been too great lately and I will concede that yeah five years is a long time to not hear from someone. 

 

Poor Bonnie. Once again she's the sacrificial lamb. Still waiting for that to be Elena but sadly no, I have to see her continue to make her "sad" faces and whine about her horrible relationship. Such fun. But honestly, what truly made me roll my eyes so far back in my head it's amazing it's not still lodged there, is all this crap about Enzo and Damon's great friendship and why Stefan can't tell Damon Enzo is dead. Yes this would be the same Enzo Damon willingly left to burn to save himself after Enzo was the one who came up with the plan and helped Damon get strong enough to pull it off. Apparently they suddenly had this great, super amazing friendship that knowing he's dead might just send Damon back into "bad Damon"...whatever. This is as stupid as Elena's so-called amazing friendship with Aaron.

 

Meanwhile, it is also ridiculous that Damon would be mad at Stefan for this because putting aside Enzo being the one who killed himself, even if Stefan had killed him, there was the little fact of Enzo trying to kill him and torturing him even before he turned off his humanity, not to mention his threatening to use Elena as well - the two people his so called best friend Damon loves and cares about - and then full on trying to kill Stefan after turning off his humanity. So what the hell difference would it have made if Stefan had killed him since he was defending himself. Oh but yes, he's apparently the greatest friend Damon ever had and Damon's delicate feelings can't handle the truth of his being dead. Whatever.

Edited April 25, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I think this is the episode where I officially stopped caring what happens to any of these morons. Matt and Jeremy, both of whom I usually love, are not at all concerned that Tyler hasn't been seen or heard for at least a day? It's more likely that it's been longer since the previous episode ended but I know better than to try to use logic when it comes to the timeline on this show. And they know that the traveler knife is missing but they don't think to tell anyone else? Damon was right to call them Tweedledee and Tweedledumber this week. At least they obeyed his orders and stayed at home.

 

Elena was totally useless again this week. Her only purpose was to serve as bait and angst some more about Damon.

 

Bonnie waited THAT long to try to call/text Damon? I guess maybe she thought Enzo would get bored and just leave?

 

The one thing Stefan did this week that I liked was not trying to sugar coat that he killed Enzo. I mean technically, he DID kill Enzo but it was definitely Enzo's choice. He could have hemmed and hawed when telling Elena what happened, so at least he was honest with her. But of course that was ruined by Stefan deciding to keep Enzo's death a big secret from Damon. His rationalization of "we just got him back" isn't a good enough reason to not only lie but to tell everyone else the truth and then swear them to secrecy too.

 

When Damon said something to Liz about Enzo being his only friend, I was hoping the camera would pull back and show Ghost Alaric standing there shaking his head.

 

Honestly, I'm okay with Bonnie dying, mostly because they haven't given her much to do this season anyway.

[truthaboutluv]

It just occurred to me what else bothered me about this episode. Part of the reasoning for not telling Damon that Enzo is dead is because apparently Damon has had such a "hard year". Um wait a second - isn't Stefan the one who was locked in a box by a nutty vampire from like 2000 years ago and left to drown over and over while Damon and Elena, per Elena, had the "summer of their life"? And isn't he the one who just two episodes ago was getting his brain fried over and over in exchange for saving Damon and Elena but Damon's had a hard year? Oh I forget he and Elena broke up (oh the tragedy and we know his delicate heart can't handle that).

 

But the most ridiculous part of this whole Damon can't know Stefan killed Enzo (which he really didn't but whatever) because they were supposedly bestest besties is that was it not the same Damon who with no provocation, murdered Lexie? You know, Stefan's best friend. And unlike this Johnny-come-lately Damon/Enzo best friendship, Lexie really was one of, if not the closest friend Stefan had and had been in his life for decades. Yet one more shitty thing Damon did that was just shrugged off and Stefan as is his habit, went right back to making excuses for him. Yet, somehow I'm supposed to believe Damon will have some right to be mad that one, Enzo killed his own damn self but even if Stefan had killed him, he would have done so while defending himself. Yeah okay, whatever writers.

Edited April 25, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[Lisin]

To your point  truthaboutluv the other thing that bothered me about this whole thing is that I understand Stefan needing to tell Bonnie about Enzo being dead but there was no reason to tell Elena! Damon probably would be mad at Stefan for a bit, but you're right, he killed Lexie and he knows that, he's always been a pretty pragmatic guy and I imagine if Stefan actually told Damon exactly what happened he'd get over it fairly well. Stefan lying to him and making Elena lie to him is more likely to piss him off. It's yet another reason for Stefan to mope and be all holier than thou about everything which really bugs me. He never gives Damon any credit for being able to make a good decision. I'm not saying that Damon always makes good decisions, he OFTEN doesn't but I'm saying that everyone treats him like a baby and never gives him a chance which is annoying and tiresome. 

[truthaboutluv]

Except the counter to that is that Damon just proved how impulsive he is only a few episodes ago where Elena breaking up with him had him quickly murdering Aaron and threatening Jeremy's life. So yeah, I don't know it is fair to say that others don't give him a chance and treat him like a baby - they do because Damon often acts like whiny child. That said, I am not critical of Stefan or even Damon in this. I'm critical of the writers who pulled this crap out of their asses. Like I said, the whole trying to sell the viewer on this epic friendship Damon and Enzo supposedly had was beyond eye-roll inducing. And the only purpose Stefan telling Elena serves imo, is so they can act weird around Damon with this "secret" between them causing his raging insecurities to rear its head about what Stefan and Elena could possibly be sharing. And so once again, everything comes around to the triangle of suck that will not die.

Edited April 26, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[Carrie Ann]

Yeah, I just find the writing of all the characters disappointing these days. Conflict used to arise between them fairly organically, and the writers used to subvert a lot of tropes by having the characters actually TALK to each other about things that on other shows would be hushed up. Now the characters have to act OOC in order to create the drama. It's annoying. I understand them not wanting to tell Damon, even fearing that he would lose it, but I think in the old days, they would have told him anyway. He shouldn't lean on Elena right now, but he and Stefan seem to be in an OK place, and if Stefan had told him what actually happened (not "I killed him" but "He was trying to kill us both and decided to just kill himself"), I think Damon could have handled it. But, based on the shitty writing lately, he would have gone completely nuts over this guy he barely knew. He probably will, when he actually finds out.

[Cattitude]

It seems clear the whole keeping the truth from Damon is more for angst between Damon and Elena that anything, and I feel the main reason Caroline was so absent. Why would Stefan share his Enzo is dead secret with Elena? That totally made no sense, if Caroline were there telling her would have made sense but not telling Elena. Although Stefan is such a mopey mope he just wanted to share the guilt with Elena so they could wring their hands together. Stefan just doesn't give Damon enough credit. If Stefan would tell him in a proper way it would work out fine. Yet again an example of Stefan acting like he is a better person than Damon. Fact is Stefan is just as likely to be all vengeful and irrational if he is angry as Damon is. See:  how he tried to wipe out all the main families in MF when he was first a vampire AND how he almost killed Elena to mess with Klaus when he was angry at him.

 

Sure Damon is vengeful but so is Stefan and so was Elena when she hated Katherine. I don't really appreiciate how they(the MF crew) try to paint Damon as the ONLY vengeful vampire. Stefan acts like keeping the secret is keeping everyone safe and HE is sacrificing himself for everyone else. Whatever Stefan. In the end Damon will be more pissed they delayed telling him than if Stefan would have manned up. So Stefan can AGAIN be the martyr while Damon looks bad. Damon had told him multiple times to QUIT doing that for him.

 

Even when Stefan goes off the rails Damon tries to work WITH him not control him. Stefen bugs the crap out of me with his superior need to control.

 

I don't have any problem buying Damon and Enzo's deep friendship. Fact is we've been shown through history Damon has mostly been a nomadic loner. We saw how close he was with Alaric and they were only friends for like two years. He went through the worst time of his vampire life with Enzo for five years. He felt so torn up about having to leave Enzo to die he had to turn his humanity off AND kept his revenge plan pact alive well past its rational usefulness. We also saw how Stefan suffered and how he felt towards Damon after just 3 torchered months of pain, imagine five years worth. If Stefan held a grudge when it had only been three months and Stefan was supposed to be gone off to heal then Damon is allowed to be angry Stefan forgot him for five years. I can totally buy the Enzo deserved my assistance b/c he meant so much to me. I still don't think Stefan couldn't overcome Damon's anger about Enzo's death though if he TRIED to explain.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Cattitude

[Carrie Ann]

(Taking my response to the Stefan thread.)

[2Old2BAFangirl]

I agree that the writing on this show has gone to hell.  JP and Co. apparently don't care about continuity or even making sense anymore, it makes my brain hurt.  I'll be sticking with the show, even if it's just hate-watching, until the bitter end because I'm a sap and I love most of the main characters - so yeah there's that.

 

Anyway, that said, I liked the episode well enough.  I liked Enzo, even when he was uber douchey when we first got to see him in the present day, and I wish they would've let him stick around and be more, something, less douchey I guess, and then explore his damage.  Instead, we got a tiny bit of character development, then boom, dead and pissed.  He got points from me for sticking with Damon at that farmhouse when Damon had the ridiculous ripper virus thing, calling for Stefan's help and having to be screeched at by Damon before he would leave.  That was nice of him.  Meh, maybe I just really liked when Enzo talked.

 

Here I reveal what an utter kitten, rainbow and unicorn loving sap I am, but I thought all the Salvatore brother interactions were heartfelt and sweet.  The person that Damon loved enough to keep his humanity while being held prisoner for 5 years was Stefan. Regardless of the fact that Damon killed Lexi right in front of him, Stefan loves his brother so much that he wanted to shield him from the hurt of Enzo being dead.

 

I didn't see that Damon was angry with Stefan for not rescuing him from the Augustines. I didn't even see him holding a grudge about it.  He told Stefan what he felt while he was being held prisoner - feelings that I felt were legit to have while being held prisoner for 5 years.  We know he didn't hold a grudge because he never told Stefan about that whole time period before, he didn't tell Stefan so that Stefan wouldn't have to carry any guilt over something he had no idea was happening. Damon said Enzo made him remember the people he loved to help keep his humanity on and that person for Damon was Stefan. 

 

I also didn't see Stefan doing that "Damon is so bad thing" he's done before when he said they shouldn't tell Damon that Enzo was dead. I saw Stefan being very sweet and caring for his brother, not wanting to hurt him with the truth about Enzo.  I didn't think he was saying it to keep Damon from going on another killing spree, he talked about Damon having a bad year and not wanting to pile something else on top of it.  I thought it was sincere and I really liked the compassion for Damon that Stefan was showing.  Is it a bad idea to lie about it?  Yes, it won't work out, but the sentiment is still appreciated.  I don't feel like Stefan was worrying that Damon would be mad at him for "killing" Enzo, he didn't want Damon to feel guilty about it.  Both Damon and Stefan have shown a huge propensity for forgiveness on these kinds of things, there's no reason to think that wouldn't continue now. 

 

The brothers conversation at the end was a really nice scene.  Damon wasn't purposefully piling the guilt on Stefan - he didn't know Enzo was dead so how could he be trying to make Stefan feel bad about it?  I didn't think he was trying to guilt Stefan at all - he was talking with his brother about his own feelings of guilt and loss and gratitude.  Of course, Stefan felt worse about it than Damon knew but that was an unintended consequence.  I just really liked that they were talking with each other and basically acknowledging the love they have for each other.  I didn't see insincerity from either brother in that conversation, even the crappy brother thing was boytalk for "I love you, man", IMO. 

 

Well, there, I rambled on for forever about that stuff, sorry.

 

Just a couple more things.  I so loved that Enzo basically told Elena to shut up.  Elena is the one main character I really don't like anymore, she just seems to suck the life and fun out of everyone and everything IMO.  I still don't care one ounce about the stupid travelers or their curse or their so boring leader, Markos. Blech. The only thing of any interest to me with all that witchy crap is what's happening to the Other Side.  I hate the idea of never seeing Alaric again but at least the idea of it going away isn't done to death so it holds some interest for me.  I hope the next few episodes are decent and wrap up the craptacular traveler storyline. We know the finale will have Stefan in severe and immediate danger, Damon dying from a werewolf bite and Elena being a pain in everyone's ass but hopefully, the Other Side stuff will result in something a little less predictable.

Edited April 26, 2014 by 2Old2BAFangirl

[MachuPichu]

Stefan doesn't give Damon enough credit because there is no credit to give. Why the hell does Damon deserve to be treated any differently?? He just went on a killing/torturing spree (including Elena's freaking brother!!!) after he had yet another hissy fit cuz things didn't go his way. You have got to be a raging cretin to give this dude a chance. Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.

I totally understand telling Elena about Enzo. Stefan may need someone in his camp when pacifying Damon (yet again), and Caroline is not someone who can do the job, it has to be Elena. Stefan didn't lie to Damon because he thinks he's better than Damon. I'm sorry, but that's just grasping at straws. He did so because he doesn't want Damon to throw yet another bitch fit and go on a killing spree (over a guy he left to die a fiery death cuz he had to save himself, and then hasn't seen this "best friend" in fifty some years, really???).

And, um..., Stefan is as vengeful as Damon?? ROFLMFAO! I got nothing there!

Meanwhile, Jeremy and Matt are the epitome of a "dumb dumb" but I still love these morons.

This episode's Elena made me wanna throw up into an oversized trash can, but what's new here?

Liv bugs. The whole time Bonnie was lamenting how Liv was more powerful than she ever was I kept thinking, didn't you mess with expression at one point and the power was literally bleeding out of your orifices?

Anyhow, I actually enjoyed this episode more than their main storyline ones, which is always the case, because their main storyline is so contrived at this point I don't even bother to dissect it.

[Cattitude]

Just to clarify I said Stefan can also be vengeful not that he is as vengeful as Damon.

 

2Old2BAFangirl I agree about Enzo. I wish he would have become more long term character. I wish I could share your rose colored glasses about Stefan and Damon's talk, b/c I do love the Salvatore brother's love for each other and wanted to enjoy their bonding conversation as much as you did. And I do always love them in scenes together so it wasn't a total terrible converstation. But Damon did tell Stefan when he asked why he made Maggie's death look like his work that he did it b/c he held a grudge against Stefan for leaving him to suffer for 5 yrs and this was 3 yrs after he'd been free. I don't think in present time he'd held that grudge for a while so that is why present day Damon didn't try to guilt Stefan about it but he did hold a grudge for years per his own admission. I also can't see Stefan keeping the truth from Damon as being kind. I see it as being controlling so I can't get compassion from it.  Hard truth is if Stefan would have told the truth Damon would be a little mad but Stefan could help him cope. Instead Stefan is chosing to lie which will guaruntee when Damon does learn the truth he will be so angry at Stefan for lying he won't be able to help Damon cope. Then Damon will go off the rails and everyone will blame Damon and think Stefan was so noble. End of the day Stefan is making the wrong choice to lie which will cause the situation NOT Damon who will end up getting blamed. So I can't see Stefan as being kind. Damon's main reason for going off the rails usually is due to feeling controlled not so much anger itself. Stefan could help and be a better brother to Damon with the truth not a lie which will lead to alienation.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Cattitude

[Lisin]

Hey guys, lets try to keep things civil. I don't want to have this board break out in a Stefan v Damon fight. Everyone has their own valid opinions but lets not call out posters. Watch your tone. 

[truthaboutluv]

Hard truth is if Stefan would have told the truth Damon would be a little mad but Stefan could help him cope. Instead Stefan is chosing to lie which will guaruntee when Damon does learn the truth he will be so angry at Stefan for lying he won't be able to help Damon cope. Then Damon will go off the rails and everyone will blame Damon and think Stefan was so noble. End of the day Stefan is making the wrong choice to lie which will cause the situation NOT Damon who will end up getting blamed. So I can't see Stefan as being kind. Damon's main reason for going off the rails usually is due to feeling controlled not so much anger itself. Stefan could help and be a better brother to Damon with the truth not a lie which will lead to alienation.

 

 

Answering in Damon thread...

[DigitalCount]

MachuPichu, rather than just saying WORD to everything, I think I'll focus in on this:

Liv bugs. The whole time Bonnie was lamenting how Liv was more powerful than she ever was I kept thinking, didn't you mess with expression at one point and the power was literally bleeding out of your orifices?

YES. I mean, what on Earth? ExBonnie could have made a handbag out of Liv's pancreas without the latter even noticing it was gone. Liv may have had a headstart, but Bonnie was practically a new Qetsiyah. Wasn't she going to use the headstone to make Katherine into an Originator? We've seen exactly 1 other witch do that, so is Liv more powerful than Esther too?

This was LAST YEAR. The whole reason Bonnie is a zombie is because of that, so what gives? Maybe she's trying to be sly since she doesn't trust Liv.

[Carrie Ann]

That made me crazy! Seriously, people joke about how much the writers marginalize and even hate Bonnie, but...maybe they do? Liv has in no way shown that she is more powerful than Bonnie ever was. Please. Enzo--a relatively young vampire--managed to overpower her by threatening her brother? All she should have had to do is give him a little headache and demand that he uncompel those LAX guys, and the rest of that nonsense never had to happen. Bonnie would have had him on his knees in seconds.

Edited April 29, 2014 by Carrie Ann

[immortalfrieza]

That made me crazy! Seriously, people joke about how much the writers marginalize and even hate Bonnie, but...maybe they do?

There's no "maybe" about it, they do hate Bonnie. Her entire run of the show the only thing she existed to do was cast a spell out of nowhere to get the others out of a jam because the writers have written themselves into a corner and otherwise doing nothing of importance. Now that Bonnie can't use magic anymore all the writers have left for her to do is hang around doing nothing. Say what you will about the other characters but at least they are more than just one trick ponies. Even Matt, the only real human left on the show has more in his repertoire than Bonnie does.

Edited May 2, 2014 by immortalfrieza