S05.E21: Promised Land

[ElectricBoogaloo]

OUTRUNNING DEATH — When Stefan and Elena escape from Markos’ control, only to find themselves stranded in a remote location, Stefan gets philosophical with Elena about her relationship with Damon. After their attempt to protect the dopplegangers goes badly, Liv and Luke come up with a dangerous new strategy. Damon recruits Matt and Jeremy to help him set a trap for Markos, who turns out to have a devastating surprise of his own. Bonnie finally admits to Caroline that she’s been keeping the truth about the Other Side from everyone. Finally, while Bonnie searches desperately for a way to stop Markos, Caroline is witness to an unthinkable act of violence by one of the Travelers.

 

[truthaboutluv]

And once again, another season ending and Stefan gets fucked over. All while he remains a relationship-less, love-less loser and the two self-absorbed assholes run around only caring about themselves and their toxic relationship. It feels so repetitive at this point, but I REALLY, REALLY HATE THIS SHOW. I just...whatever.

 

Well, I was not expecting that.

 

 

Many people called it and speculated that Stefan would die based on his name not showing up in the summary for the season finale and the comment about Caroline having a very emotional reaction to a joke made about "something tragic" (likely meaning his death) and her realizing her feelings or something like that. Can't remember the exact wording.

Edited May 9, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[formerlyfreedom]

Well, I was not expecting that.

[immortalfrieza]

Maybe now that one of their own is dead they'll bring down The Other Side and free all those trapped and suffering supernaturals like they should have done A LONG TIME AGO and were more than capable of doing!

 

Seriously. If they had found a way to stop the spell without having Stefan die they would have just twiddled their thumbs and done nothing while everybody over there went to wherever until Bonnie was a risk and THEN done something about it. It doesn't seem to matter how many people are suffering and dying due to their direct actions as long as they aren't affected.

 

Question, why did whatever her name was (that Traveller woman) get swept away into blackness almost immediately while people like Enzo stuck around? What even happens to them when they get swept away anyway?

 

Well, there's a hopefully positive side to all this, maybe that witch Qetsiyah will get swept away and finally get what she deserves for the hell she put countless people through, though I wouldn't bet on it. She's the main reason I almost agree with the Travellers on their rhetoric that witch magic is bad considering how blatantly they all abuse it.

Edited May 9, 2014 by immortalfrieza

[stagmania]

Well, that might have had some sort of impact on me if death actually meant anything on this show. Even the preview for next week couldn't be bothered to pretend it would have repercussions for the story.

[AlliMo]

So, Travelers are basically just another kind of witch, and witches are all huge dicks. Got it.

[missbonnie]

I didn't see that coming either, I seem to recall an interview with TPTB that said there was going to be a major death and that it would be permanent. I hate the Travelers storyline, always have, always will. But it makes me wonder if the spell is moving outwards from MF, how long before it makes it to New Orleans and Klaus and Elijah & company? Surely they thought that out you would think.

[immortalfrieza]

I didn't see that coming either, I seem to recall an interview with TPTB that said there was going to be a major death and that it would be permanent. I hate the Travelers storyline, always have, always will. But it makes me wonder if the spell is moving outwards from MF, how long before it makes it to New Orleans and Klaus and Elijah & company? Surely they thought that out you would think.

They stopped the spell by killing Stefan not long after it started, conveniently meaning that this entire story is probably not going to affect the gang at New Orleans at all.

 

I don't buy their claims that Stefan is going to be gone forever for a second though, it would be interesting and finally end the triangle of suck but it's not going to happen. If they actually do kill off somebody for good it's going to be somebody aside from the Terrible Triangle Three.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

If Stefan had been killed off in a similar fashion back in S1 or S2, I would have been SHOCKED. But now that we're at the end of S5 and we've seen the way death works for the main characters on this show, I didn't even blink when Julian ripped Stefan's heart out because there's no way they're getting rid of this character permanently. Paul Wesley does seem like the one who's wanted off the show, so maybe he finally got his wish?

 

When Stefan sent everyone off and said he would wait, I thought he was going to kill himself to save everyone else but apparently noble Stefan isn't quite THAT noble (which I'm okay with).

 

It was nice to see that even though Luke was resigned to killing one of the doppelgangers, he still felt bad about it. I mean, it wasn't quite to the level of Buffy killing Angel to save the world type of sacrifice, but at least he wasn't like the rest of the characters on this show whose attitudes seem to be "we'll kill whoever we have to in order to keep Elena safe, no regrets!"

 

Part of me likes that there are no good guys in this situation, just different bad guys. The Travelers suck, the witches suck, the vampires and werewolves suck, hell, everyone sucks. Markos and the witches are such hypocrites. Markos is trying to make himself seem like the hero for destroying the witches' magic while, you know, using magic to do so. But of course, only HIS kind of magic is okay. And he's allegedly doing this all for his people. You know, the people who he's willing to stab in the neck. The people who volunteer to try the doppelganger blood and then get murdered for their trouble. Yup, he's all about his people.

[Kaboom 2.0]

How am I supposed to care about these characters, old and new, when they're all varying degrees of assholes although imho the Travelers have moved ahead in theier assholery by not blinking a collective eye when killing dozens if not hundreds, thousands??, of innocent people in a town just so they can move there. Worse new neighbors ever.

 

I'll admit to gasping when Stefan's heart was ripped out but come on. TVD has shot itself in the foot by killing off characters only to have them brought back to life in some form so many times already that I shrugged my shoulders right after it happened all "he'll be back, they always come back on this show."

 

I wonder what levels of assholery we'll be subjected to next week when the Travelers realize their spell stopped working.

[truthaboutluv]

As The Hollywood Reporter noted in its recap, they pretty much gave away Stefan's not staying dead with that cheeky/fun promo. Seriously, who put the promo together? It's the season finale, don't they usually use the dramatic music, tension, etc.? This sounded like any other episode. There's Damon throwing out his usual snark, everyone looks all calm and chill...like wtf?

 

I did love Paul Wesley tweeting out after the episode that Stefan is done as the fangirls are freaking out and tweeting to him to please say Stefan is not dead. Honestly, I can't blame him if a part of him wants the character dead because it's not like those lazy ass writers give him shit to do other than hang around, get tortured every few episodes or so, basically become borderline asexual and in the most recent episodes, listen to his whiny, self-absorbed ex-girlfriend go ON AND ON AND ON about her toxic, shitty relationship with the guy who happens to be his brother.

 

Seriously, does Plec and company not realize this makes zero sense? Like how effing long are they going to just leave Stefan to wander around aimlessly with no love life, no happiness while Elena and Damon's relationship of toxicity goes on and on. Like Stefan is not allowed to have a life all the while Elena tries to save Damon with her magical vagina? Seriously, if Season 6 comes back with this same shit - I am done. I don't give a flying crap about Damon or Elena and damn sure don't give a crap about their relationship and since I can't stand her ass I'm fine with them staying together. But I refuse to watch another season of Stefan just awkwardly hanging around, having pretty much no life and just having to listen to the two self absorbed assholes in his life go on and on about their shitty ass relationship. 

Edited May 9, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[Cattitude]

When Stefan sent everyone off and said he would wait, I thought he was going to kill himself to save everyone else but apparently noble Stefan isn't quite THAT noble (which I'm okay with).

 

 

I also thought this. I was actually quite shocked when he didn't kill himself and then Tylian just ripped his heart out. I will admit I did have a reaction to Stefan dying which surprised me since he isn't one of my favorites.

I was also quite disappointed in both Caroline and Bonnie's reaction. I thought they under reacted. Caroline did make up for it AFTER he was gone but she just let him stand there and die by himself which I thought kind of sucked. If he really does stay dead I hate that after ALL these years of him being such a martyr for both Elena and Damon he doesn't even get to have either with him when he dies. Plus Caroline who supposedly loves him so much just stood there. SMH

 

If I put my brain on the table I did halfway enjoy the show, but once I start thinking nothing made any sense. This whole traveler story sucks and makes no sense. It was poorly written and is a terrible way to end the season.

 

I did enjoy Stefan and Elena's talk about her and Damon b/c it was basically how I felt about them. He basically said ya'll ARE Vampires so quit feeling bad about it. And my inmature fangirl heart liked Damon and Elena's scene when they drove off in the sunset together, b/c what can I say I LIKE them together. But that said I know it was all kind of sucky that THEY got a little happy time there and NO ONE else in the whole place did. That was a little fan base heavy handed by the writers.

 

Maybe Stefan really will stay dead, but somehow there will be another doppleStefan(I know it would make no sense but these writers are all about the nonsense) Paul Wesley can play as a human and Caroline can be his vampire love. Maybe a season 1 Stefan and Elena do over with Caroline and doppleStefan.

[stagmania]

I was also quite disappointed in both Caroline and Bonnie's reaction. I thought they under reacted. Caroline did make up for it AFTER he was gone but she just let him stand there and die by himself which I thought kind of sucked. If he really does stay dead I hate that after ALL these years of him being such a martyr for both Elena and Damon he doesn't even get to have either with him when he dies. Plus Caroline who supposedly loves him so much just stood there. SMH

 

This is what has me extra convinced that this isn't a real death. The reactions were so tepid. Stefan was/kind of still is the male lead of this show; his death is going to have to be a lot more important and melodramatic than that. The show isn't even trying to make us buy into it.

[truthaboutluv]

I didn't have an issue with Caroline's reaction. I think she went into momentary shock when the whole thing happened but by the time the scene closes on her holding Stefan, you can hear her screams getting louder and more desperate as it sinks in. There are also promo pics for the finale that show her looking pretty shaken and almost in shock, with Damon and Elena standing near her. I assume that's her telling them what happened.

 

As for Bonnie, honestly, at this point Bonnie's seen so much death and experienced so much shit, I can believe that she's gotten to a fairly calm state about accepting the deaths of those she knows and cares about. Girl has watched her Grams, her dad, Jeremy, all die in front of her. And I thought she seemed genuinely stricken when Stefan showed up. 

[venusnv80]

Bonnie looked very stricken when she saw Stefan. After all the stuff she's been through (including her own death), she gave more in that scene than I expected honestly. 

[TwistedandBored]

RIP Stefan!

 

 

See you next week, buddy. 

[starfury303]

 

The reactions were so tepid. Stefan was/kind of still is the male lead of this show; his death is going to have to be a lot more important and melodramatic than that.

ITA, stagmania. For Alaric they rustled up the entire cast for a vigil and lingering farewell. No way would Stefan be going out permanently with anything less.

I'm thinking it may mean Season 6 is going to start off being about fishing Stefan and Enzo and Bonnie out of the Other Side before they get sucked up by the giant vacuum cleaner that took Katherine and the Traveller Enzo was trying to fetch. Although they have been wrapping plots up quickly lately, I am not sure they can blow up a whole town next week and still have time to save Stefan et al.

[Cattitude]

Okay I know the whole traveler plot has more holes than swiss cheese but:

 

When the lady who Julian said has his wife passengered in her was travelerknapped, even in this week's previously it showed a MAN being her passanger. So how could they not even get that right. I doubt a man would be named Maria so why couldn't they have shown a woman doing the whole grab her head chanting thing? And Maria's body wasn't burned so when she died wouldn't she have crossed through Bonnie as herself, not the townsfolk body?

 

The other glaring biggie for me. Markos himself. I mean travelers have a normal life span. Where did Markos come from? I assume the long past, so if all witch magic was broken wouldn't he die too? His life was over years ago.

 

And one more. If Stefan and Elena are only alive due to witch magic and if they would not have out run it wouldn't the spell have stopped once the magic killed them? Which leads me to my confusion from last week. How are they usable doppelgangers anyway. Aren't they already dead? Klaus can't use Elena's blood how can Markos.

 

ugh! I just have to stop before I give myself an aneurysm. I just don't see how these writers can think such a crappy story would be entertaining.

Edited May 10, 2014 by Cattitude

[Lisin]

@Cattitude, another question, if the traveler's spell was going to rid the town of witch magic why would these idiots send Jeremy and Matt back to town? Aren't they both only alive because of their rings and Bonnie's bringing Jeremy back from the dead? Wouldn't the undo of magic kill both of them?

[DigitalCount]

I don't think the ring maintains their lives, it just restarts them. So rather than being a continuous effect that the rings cast, it's more like a trigger effect that activates whenever they die because of a supernatural cause. So if the rings fail, they would just be in danger of being killed again, not auto-killed. Vampirism, on the other hand, keeps the vampires alive continuously, hence their need to provide maintenance (drinking blood etc) in order to continue living.

[Lisin]

Ok, I'll buy that about the rings, but what about Jeremy? Wasn't he fully brought back to life by Bonnie? I mean I'm good with it, it just seemed a bit like they were forgetting some things. 

[immortalfrieza]

Ok, I'll buy that about the rings, but what about Jeremy? Wasn't he fully brought back to life by Bonnie? I mean I'm good with it, it just seemed a bit like they were forgetting some things. 

Speaking of which, is Jeremy actually alive or is he just a ghost on this side of the Other Side like Bonnie is?

[Lisin]

OOH! Good question @immortalfrieza! I can't remember exactly everything but didn't he just show up "solid" in the caves? I guess I'm wondering if someone dug up his grave would his body be in it? 

[formerlyfreedom]

I thought he'd come back as a human - but then, Elena set fire to the Gilbert's house to conceal how he died IIRC, so wouldn't his body have been a bit of a mess, @Lisin and @immortalfrieza? Not that something like that would derail the storyline on this show, I know...

[Lisin]

Oh you're right ! I'm just so confused about what counted as "witch magic" and what didn't. I realize this is a dumb thing to get hung up on considering what is happening on this show. 

[formerlyfreedom]

Yes, @Lisin, we have to suspend a lot of 'laws of physics' and 'reality as it actually exists' to watch this show! :)

[Cattitude]

The real reason it makes no sense that Jeremy could be safe from the traveler's unravel is Jeremy died TWICE and was brought back clearly by witch magic. It could be argued the second time Bonnie sacrificed her life for his so undoing that magic would kill Jeremy but bring Bonnie back, but the first time was clearly total witch magic. Liz shot Jeremy human to human and he was dead. Bonnie and Alaric took him to the haunted house and the witch ancestors brought him back. So if witch magic was undone then Jeremy should be dead by gun shot just like Stefan and Damon.

 

I can buy Matt being safe b/c he never died except by supernatural while wearing the Gilbert ring, but Jeremy died a human death when Liz shot him and was brought back by total witch magic then.

[Lisin]

Thank you @Cattitude! I knew I wasn't completely crazy. I mean aside from the fact that I want this show to make sense, which is clearly asking a bit too much. That being said I still love it and I can't help it. 

[DigitalCount]

I'm going to assume that Bonnie having brought back Jeremy works in the same way as the rings. Even though he was brought back by magic, magic is not currently sustaining his life in the same way that magic is actively sustaining the lives of vampires or pushing the Travelers away from each other.

 

It's kind of like the nonsensical way they treated the vampire switch where they said it was turning off "emotions" when it was clearly turning off humanity, or morality, or something else that actually related to what was on the screen. When they say "this spell will wipe out all spirit magic" what they mean is "this spell will negate all spirit magic currently acting on anything." So if, for example, a witch used magic to light a candle and hold a feather in midair, upon the Traveler spell reaching them the feather would fall and the candle would remain burning.

[Cattitude]

DigitalCount Sorry I can't buy that. Jeremy was changed after Bonnie got the ancestors to bring him back from the dead, he could speak to and interact with ghosts. He is kept alive by magic just like vampires. Drinking blood doesn't keep vampires alive it just feeds their power. They don't die if they don't drink blood they just get very weak.

 

Jeremy's life was alterned from the witches bringing him back from the gunshot. Just like vampires being brought back by a witches spell.

 

When the Gilbert ring brings you back you are you again, to me that is the big difference. If you aren't altered then it is more a pull the trigger thing.

[Cozmicmyst]

The saddest part of the episode for me was when Bonnie said "I lost it" and Stefan closed his eyes for a second, then grabbed Bonnie in a semi tender grip and passed through. No goodbye, his face showed defeat. That made me sad.