In Defense of John Gilbert (RIP)

I'm accustomed to holding unpopular opinions. I'm a liberal Democrat living in Arkansas after all. So it doesn't bother me that I'm the only person I know in my little TVD circle of real life friends and Twitter peeps who cared about John Gilbert at all.

Here's the thing: John Gilbert was us. He's a real life character living in a land of fictional beings. He's the reason that parents are always dead or unavailable in YA paranormals.

Obviously, The Vampire Diaries is a fantasy world. There's vampires and werewolves and witches, oh my. It being a fantasy is the only reason Elena and Stefan's relationship is romantic instead of vaguely pedophiliac. Its the reason that Damon can be a romantic leading man and a psychopath, all at the same time.

But John Gilbert isn't a fantasy. He's not a perfect man, and could be an asshole at times. He is, however, a shining example of how a real life parent could behave, were this fantasy world somehow magically transferred to our reality.

A real parent wants their kid nowhere near a vampire, "good" or not. Of course, we all love Stefan and Damon and think that Elena's got two hot vampires to choose from. But if she were my daughter? Not bloody likely. She'd have been on the first plane to boarding school. John might be bigoted towards vampires, but he's not wrong that they bring danger to everyone. Without Stefan's interference, Elena would still have been the doppelganger, but we've no idea what the story would have been like if she'd stayed away from the vampires. Her life might have been better, it might have been worse, and I'm not so sure that a quick death in the Klaus ritual wouldn't have been preferable to all the stress and worry she's had to deal with over the past 2 seasons, at least from John's perspective.

This obviously isn't as simple as I make it sound. John's interference is made more problematic by the fact that he was so absent from Elena's life, so therefore has less right to tell her what to do. There's also the argument that Elena has her own agency and should be able to make her own choices (we'll call this the Stefan Corollary) but just like any other parent, John sees Elena's continued relationships with vampires to be something like drug addiction: its his job as a parent to protect this 17 year old from herself.

In the end, John gave his life to ensure his daughter got to keep her human existence, and I wouldn't be surprised if Elena isn't all the more aware after the great losses suffered in "The Sun Also Rises" that John wasn't entirely crazy in claiming that her involvement with vampires was dangerous for her and everyone she knows. I hope that the writers introduce another character that serves as the same foil John did for all the romantic vampire ideas.

RIP, John Gilbert. You'll be missed, at least by this viewer.

Vampire Diaries 2.18 "The Last Dance"

*spoilers*

Holly's Alternate title: DAMN, DAMON DANCES. Hey, Ian Somerhalder, will you marry me? Or at least go out dancing with me? I could settle for that.

Quick and Dirty Recap: Klaus is in Alaric's body, going to school and trying to teach class while taunting Team Salvatore with hints of his presence. Everyone goes to the 60s Dance, Alaric's possession is revealed after he discovers the plan for Bonnie to kill him, and Damon and Bonnie team up to make Klaus think Bonnie is dead and no longer a threat. Also, Damon makes many good arguments and Elena takes action at the end, pulling the dagger out of Elijah, in her desperation to find a different way to kill Klaus.

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE EPISODE, LET ME SHOW YOU THEM

I didn't love this episode as much as last week's, but I think that upon further viewing that may change. Last week's was such a twisty ride and this week's had some great action, but also some more subtle moments that you really have to absorb to realize their import.

As far as Klaus possessed Alaric, I really enjoyed getting to see Matt Davis flex his acting muscles and bring a new character to life. His scene where Klaus tries to teach Alaric's class was hilarious, as was his dancing at the 60s Dance. They're making Klaus very creepy (the kiss to Katherine's forehead) and terrifying (making Kat stab herself was unsettling, to say the least). However, I think they're also displaying how arrogant he is. I theorized while watching the episode that his ego might be his downfall, as he seemed to lose his temper a bit when people didn't recognize how powerful he is. It's possible that could be used against him in the in. Also, could be why so many people want to kill him.

Here's where I make a confession: Bonnie and Jeremy together isn't my cup of tea. In fact, I recoil every time I see them together. I just DO NOT see any chemistry there. I'd love to see them introduce a kickass non-Luka witch boyfriend for Bonnie and bring back Anna for Jeremy instead. It just feels like they put them together because they were both there and not related, and so every scene where Jeremy is angsty over what will happen to Bonnie falls flat for me.

Another confession: I didn't get upset at all when Bonnie "died." I was mostly convinced that it was a ruse anyway, after Damon's asking her if she was willing to do whatever it took. Also, as I said above, I just plain don't love the Bonnie character and if I had to pick someone to vote off the island, it'd be her. Hell, I'd rather keep Uncle Daddy. I'm okay with being in the minority on this, and its not a knock on Katerina Graham, who I think does an excellent job with what she's given. Every fan just isn't going to love every character. I will say that the final fight between Kalaric and Bonnie with the sparks flying was pretty badass, though, even if I figured Bonnie would make it out alive.

The best parts of the episode for me were the scenes where the show explored the contrast between Stefan & Damon and their approach to saving Elena. At the dance, we see clearly that Damon will sacrifice Bonnie if need be, while Stefan leans towards trying to save everyone. This leads to a confrontation on the stairs between the Brothers Salvatore over their differing strategies. Damon lays it out for Stefan with no remorse: Damon is the one who will do whatever it takes to save Elena and won't be deterred by collateral damage, and in the end, this means he'll be the one to save her life. Stefan obviously didn't enjoy having this pointed out and I'm certain that this will cause some brother angst as we head into the season finale.

Then there was the Damon & Elena scene that surely caused all the Delena shippers to implode. I'm not even a hardcore shipper and I was touched by Damon passionately telling Elena that he would let Bonnie die if he had to, because he "will always choose" Elena. Now, I don't necessarily think that Damon is truly in love with Elena, not yet anyway, but I think that he cares about her in a way that is different from the past women in his life, and I'm beyond excited to see where they are taking the Damon/Elena dynamic in the future. I don't have a preference for who Elena ends up with at the end of the show, if anyone, but I am in favor of the writers exploring the potential for love between these two when the time is right. I think Elena has a lot of reticence, for good reason, when it comes to Damon, but I also think that the kind of single-minded focus Damon displays when it comes to her can be alluring, as well as frightening. Its hard to ignore that kind of passion and not be somewhat drawn to it.

Stray Observations:

•  I forgot the notebook that I made notes on after the episode, so if I forgot anything important, I'll post a follow up later today.
• Elena picked a fine time to care about going to school.
• I'm a little confused about the possession thing and which vampire powers Klaus' got to keep. He could compel vampires and people but didn't need an invitation to get in anywhere. Seemed too convenient.
• I didn't touch on the Matt/Caroline stuff, because honestly, there was little movement there and it only served as a distraction from the other scenes. Still, they rocked those outfits and we did find out that Matt and the Sheriff know about Stefan and Damon being vampires, Tyler being a werewolf, and that the Gilberts are in the loop on it all.
• Damon's dancing was my favorite thing, maybe ever. In my whole life. He had outrageous chemistry with both Elena and Bonnie and the random girls he was dancing with. I especially loved when Stefan smoothly twirled Elena towards Damon. Maybe I do have an OTP and its really a polyamorous Salvatore-Elena sandwich. 
• Not. Now. Dana.
• Elena glanced between Damon & Damon's bed before she left his room. Yes, honey, that's where the magic happens. Glad to see you're not immune. 
• "I will always choose you." *swoon*