“Firefly” Alum Sean Maher Joins “Arrow” as Dangerous New Supervillain Shrapnel

Posted by Araceli Television

Caprica (s1ep09): End of Line – ****

SPOILERS BELOW

Previously: Daniel Graystone is getting increasingly frustrated as he keeps failing to recreate the robot that’s made the government excited. Zoe is still in that robot body and is trying to get Lacy to help her transport it to Geminon to serve some higher purpose. Lacy as a result is problematically getting in deeper with the STO in order to help Zoe. Meanwhile, Amanda has been getting more and more suspicious of her husband, which doesn’t help her already crumbling sanity. And Joseph Adama is neglecting everything in order to search for his daughter in New Cap City.

Daniel: Daniel’s stress tolerance is finally put to the limit as the government gives him til next week to reproduce the Zoe-bot. He decides the best way to proceed is for Philomon to wipe the chip clean tomorrow so they can start over. This leads to disastrous consequences as Zoe goes into self preservation mode.

Zoe: Zoe has some sweet moments with Philomon early in the episode and I really wanted those crazy kids to work it out later in the season. But the writers had other plans. Lacy has already told Zoe she needs more time, and thus essentially failed her, when Philomon goes to wipe the chip clean. Zoe speaks for the first time to him in an effort to save herself. She tries to explain, but Philomon just sees crazy robot. Zoe flings into a steel pillar to stop him and kills him. Sadness. They were cute. This leads to Zoe in a car chase as she heads out for parts unknown with the police in pursuit.

Lacy: Meanwhile Lacy is following Barbanus’ orders so he’ll help her with Zoe and unknowingly puts a bomb in Clarice’s car. She’s later forced to push the button on the explosive or die and not be able to help Zoe. She pushes the button. Poor Lacy has gone in over her head.

Amanda: Amanda is going further and further into depression. And as she says to Daniel, he was the one to help keep her sanity last time. Unfortunately this time he’s too preoccupied with all his problems to notice her downward spiral. She makes one last call for help when she calls on Clarice. But Clarice is also busy with her own problems, mainly getting to Geminon, to be of any help. So, Amanda goes to the top of a bridge and the last we see she’s apparently jumped off.

Clarice: Clarice and one of her husbands are on their way to leave for Geminon when she sees Amanda at the top of a bridge. She gets out of the car and then it explodes. My first thought is that just as she believes God is speaking to her through Amanda, it seems God has a plan for her and saved her from death.

Joseph: Joseph continues to search New Cap City for Tamara. When he finally finds her she tells him he’s too invested in finding her and she shoots him so he’ll never be able to come back.

The end: Zoe-bot drives through a barricade of police and her van explodes. Daniel gets a call after we see Amanda jump off the bridge.

Addendum: Is Amanda dead? Unlikely. Could Zoe’s robot body be gone? Possible. Will we miss Zoe and Philomon? Most likely. This episode has a lot of storyline resolutions, but not any new answers. I think the show is spreading itself too thin and needs to come back as a more cohesive and focused whole.
TV this week: On Life Unexpected, rubella everyone’s on their best behavior in front of a social worker reevaluating Lux’s custody situation. On Gossip Girl, urticaria Damien pressures Jenny to have sex and Lily finally lets Rufus in on her secret. On FlashForward, Aaron tries to learn why Jericho is after Tracy; Mark questions Lloyd about a phone conversation during their flashforwards. On Thursday, Vampire Diaries is back from hiatus as Matt’s mother reappears and Elena searches for information about her birth mother. On the midseason finale of Caprica, Daniel forces Zoe to find a way to save herself while Barnabas clashes with Clarice as Lacy is caught in the middle. 

Check back during the week for reviews and don’t forget to catch up with my thoughts from last week.

Also, let me know if there’s something different I could do or something I can change to make the recaps/reviews better. Thanks!
In the news this week: A Whedonverse actor is making a new webseries, diagnosis others are cast in new tv pilots, while one is sadly getting arrested. SyFy had their upfront and discussed their new shows, their new original movies, oh and their new MMOG gaming website. Yes, you heard right. Meanwhile, some more news has dropped on Fringe‘s musical episode. Yes, a musical episode.

In the movies, Tim Burton is rumored to be eyeing another remake of a movie classic. And we may finally have a Captain America added to our superhero league. For Twilight a comic book, the New Moon DVD, a behind the scenes of Eclipse, and our first scene from Eclipse. Oh, and it seems Summit is looking to get an Academy Award-nominated director for Breaking Dawn. Yes, you heard that right, too.

Television

Movies

People

Etc.

TV Development

NOMADS (The CW) – Michaela McManus (“One Tree Hill”) and Warren Kole (“Mental”) are both the latest additions to the presentation, a drama about a group of nearly broke young backpackers – Zack, Nadia, Donna and John (Scott Porter “Friday Night Lights”) – traveling the world who agree to earn money by working secret missions for the CIA. He’ll play Ryker, the group’s handler, who’s “well-dressed, perfectly average to the edge of bland looking… but with hard, authoritative eyes.” McManus then is believed to be playing Donna (“pretty in an accessible way”), an Army brat who grew up in Korea, Okinawa and Germany that passed on an analyst desk at the Clandestine Service in order to prove herself as a potential field agent. Production is set to begin shortly on location in Thailand with Ken Sanzel directing from his own script. CBS Television Studios, Scott Free Productions and Warner Bros. Television are co-producing.

NIKITA (The CW) – Xander Berkeley (“24″,”Terminator 2”) is the newest addition to the drama pilot, an update on the “La Femme Nikita” franchise with Maggie Q in the title role. He’ll play Percy, “the Machiavellian leader of Division – a secret unit inside the government.” Aaron Stanford (“X2″,”Travelers”), Lyndsy Fonseca, Melinda Clarke (“The O.C.”,”CSI”,”Firefly”,”Vampire Diaries”) and Shane West (“ER”) also star in the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, to be directed by Danny Cannon from a script by Craig Silverstein.

PATRIOTS (New!) – “24” executive producer Howard Gordon (“X-Files”,”Buffy”,”Angel”,”The Inside”) is looking to import the Israeli drama “Prisoners of War,” about “three soldiers who return home from 17 years in Syrian captivity and must readjust to life in Israel and reunite with their families.” 20th Century Fox Television and Keshet Broadcasting Group (FOX’s “Traffic Light”) are co-producing the hour, which Gordon will co-write alongside fellow “24” writer Alex Gansa and “War” creator Gideon Raff. The American version is expected to revolve around “three soldiers who were captured soon after the war on terror began in the wake of 9/11,” two of which are finally released a decade later from their captors while the other died under mysterious circumstances. Said incarnation will also introduce a new character, a counterterrorism agent, who is looking into “suspicions that one of the returning soldiers may have turned rogue – and could be a terrorist threat himself.” Keshet’s Avi Nir is executive producing alongside Gordon, Gansa and Raff.

BETWIXT (The CW) – Josh Henderson (“Desperate Housewives”) has booked the male lead on the drama pilot, about three teens (Allison Miller, Jessy Schram and Henderson) who discover they’re actually “changelings,” the children of mythological fairies. He’ll play one of them, Nix Uyarak (“handsome, soulful eyes”), who has the ability to see a faintly glowing “halo of light” around people who are about to die. David Gallagher also stars in the hour, which comes from director Christian Duguay and writer Elizabeth Chandler. CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television are the studios attached.

BOSTON’S FINEST (ABC) – Nia Long (“Big Shots”) is set and Goran Visnjic (“ER”) is in negotiations to star in the drama pilot, about Julia Scott (Katee Sackhoff), a detective who teams with a disgraced ex-cop to solve crimes and untangle the conspiracy that sent him underground. He would play the ex-cop in question, Angus Martin, who has “an animal intensity in his eyes that’s sensual and dangerous; and the pain and wear on his face give him a darkly sexual aura.” She’s on board as Julia’s partner, who has “a caustic sense of humor.” The role, Taylor Sanchez, was originally written for a Latina. Richard T. Jones, Treat Williams and Will Yun Lee also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, which Gary Fleder is helming off a script by Richard Hatem.

BOSTON’S FINEST (ABC) – Treat Williams (“Everwood”) has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about Julia Scott (Katee Sackhoff “BSG”), “a detective who teams with a disgraced ex-cop to solve crimes and untangle the conspiracy that sent him underground.” He’ll play Jack Holt (“rock-solid, immensely likeable”), the ex-cop’s former partner who’s also the father of Julia’s boyfriend Christian (yet to be cast). Richard T. Jones and Will Yun Lee also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, to be directed by Gary Fleder from a script by Richard Hatem.

MATADORS (ABC) – Stephen Lang (“Avatar”) is set to star opposite David Strathairn in the drama pilot, about two of Chicago’s long-feuding families, the Lodaris, which populate the DA’s office, and the Galloways, which run the city’s most influential private law firm. He’ll play Victor Galloway, the head of the latter family who regularly finds himself in court against Roman Lodari (Strathairn), the patriarch of the former clan (“a lifetime of personal and professional antagonism, but also mutual respect, fills the space between them”). Complicating matters: Victor’s son Alex (Zach Gilford) is involved with Roman’s daughter Juliana (Michelle Borth). Jason Behr (“Roswell”), Jonathan Scarfe and Merle Dandridge also star in the Sony Pictures Television-based hour, which comes from creator Jack Orman and director Yves Simoneau.

CUTTHROAT (ABC) – Mia Maestro (“Alias”) is reportedly in talks to assume the lead role on the drama pilot, about Nina Cabrera, “an upscale Beverly Hills widow and soccer mom who runs an international drug cartel.” She’d replace Roselyn Sanchez, who is departing for unspecified reasons. Escher Holloway, Jon Seda, Peggy Lipton and Sarah Wynter also star in the hour, which comes from 20th Century Fox Television and co-creators Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters. Bronwen Hughes is directing.

ROUGH JUSTICE (NBC) – Carly Pope (“Popular”,”Day One”) and David Ramsey (“Dexter”) are the latest additions to the drama pilot, about Cyrus Garza (Jimmy Smits), “a Supreme Court Justice who excuses himself from the bench to go into private practice and fight constitutional injustices.” She’ll play Lucinda Pearl, a black leather jacket/boots-wearing private investigator whom Garza’s clerk (Jesse Bradford) immediately falls for. Ramsey then is set as Al Druzinsky, Garza’s oldest friend and “a brilliant defense attorney.” John Eisendrath is behind the hour, which comes from Conaco Productions and Universal Media Studios. Terry George is directing.

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT (ABC) – Mary Steenburgen (“Joan of Arcadia”,”The Proposal”) is the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, about “a father whose life is turned upside down when his grown kids move back in with him.” She’ll play Mary Lou Dobson (“well put together, mid-40s”), the mother of the family. Chad Kultgen is behind the half-hour, which is set up at the ABC Studios and the Sony Pictures Television-based Tantamount.

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (NBC) – Ian Reed Kessler (“The Loop”) is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about a quartet of friends “looking for ‘the one’ but in the meantime settling for ‘friends with benefits.'” He’ll play one of the group, “an oversexed, sometimes crass womanizer.” Danneel Harris (“One Tree Hill”), Fran Kranz (“Dollhouse”) and Patrick J. Adams also star in the half-hour, which comes from 20th Century Fox Television and co-creators Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter.

HELLCATS (The CW) – “High School Musical” alumna Ashley Tisdale has joined the cast of the presentation, a drama set in the world of competitive college cheerleading. She’ll play Sierra Sloane (“a petite and peppy Texan with fierce intensity”), the captain of the Lancer University Hellcats. Aly Michalka and Gail O’Grady also star in the project, which was penned by Kevin Murphy. CBS Television Studios, Tom Welling Productions and Warner Bros. Television are co-producing.

THE ROCKFORD FILES (NBC) – Beau Bridges (“My Name Is Earl”) is set to play father to Jim Rockford (Dermot Mulroney) in the drama pilot, about “a roguish private eye who tackles the dangerous, quirky and unpredictable cases that no other detective wants to handle.” He’s on board as Rocky, “Rockford’s father, late 60s, affable, trusting, never really got a break in this life and yet that never really upset him.” Noah Beery, Jr. originated the role in the 1974-1980 series. Alan Tudyk (“Firefly”) and Melissa Sagemiller co-star in the project, which comes from Universal Media Studios and creator David Shore.

UNTITLED MEDICAL PROJECT (CBS) – Skeet Ulrich (“Jericho”) has booked the male lead on the drama pilot, about “a mobile medical team that travels the U.S. helping those in need get through life-or-death medical crises.” He’ll play Billy Jost, “a Harvard-educated brilliant cardiologist with rock star looks who embraces the tumult of frequent volunteer missions to escape the hell of his personal life.” Hannah Shakespeare penned the hour, which also stars Amy Smart, Janeane Garofalo, Jay Hernandez, Michael Beach and Rachelle Lefevre. Christopher Chulack is directing for John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television.
The Vampire Diaries (s1ep19): Miss Mystic Falls – ****

This week on Vampire Diaries, weight loss Elena and Caroline compete for the title of “Miss Mystic Falls” during the Founder’s Day Gala; John tries unsuccessfully to intimidate Damon; and Damon learns that Stefan harbors a secret that could affect the entire town.

It’s time for another event leading up to Founder’s Day, diagnosis and this week it’s the Miss Mystic Falls pageant where our girls get dressed up in beautiful gowns. But with everything that’s been going on lately, Elena’s rightfully forgotten she even entered back when here parents were still alive. And she wants to back out, but decides to go along with it anyway in memory of her mother.

Johnathan: The whole town is once again in attendance for this event, including Johnathan Gilbert. He offers to take Jenna and Elena to the pageant, but thank goodness Alaric is already on the way. Keep your icky paws off of Jenna, Uncle John.

Uncle John is also busy working his way into the Founder’s Council’s good graces by noticing that a shipment of blood for the hospital was stolen and then the evidence covered up. Sheriff Forbes asks Damon, still amusingly the Founder’s Council’s right hand man, and Uncle John to look into it together. Oh, joy.

Mostly though, Damon is more interested and suspicious of whether this missing blood shipment has anything to do with Stefan’s new happy go lucky attitude. Stefan is still swearing to Damon and Elena that he’s off human blood and doing much better.

Damon: You spent the last century and a half being the poster child for Prozac. Now you want me to believe this new you has nothing to do with human blood.

He’s so good at lying, and this is Stefan we’re talking about, that you believe him. That is until you realize he’s keeping a freezer with packets of human blood in the basement.

But there are bigger problems afoot, Uncle John comes by the house to tell Damon he’s in town looking for an invention made by Grandpa John Gilbert. He wants to know if Damon’s aware of a vampire named Pearl, who is supposed to know the whereabouts of this invention. Damon gets smug and realizes this means he doesn’t know anything about Katherine like John had claimed, seeing as Katherine and Pearl were BFFs, and threatens him and kicks him out of the house.

Damon: I’ll sever your hand, pull your ring off and kill you. Do you understand that?

Uncle John spends the rest of the episode at the pageant observing and learning. He overhears Anna talking to Jeremy and learns from Jenna that Pearl is Anna’s mother. Uh, oh.

Caroline and Matt: Caroline has also entered the pageant, but boyfriend Matt is conspicuously absent with work. First when they’re in dance rehearsal and Bonnie has to fill in and then at the actual pageant when another guy has to fill in. I actually missed, Matt. But I did like that Caroline’s bad luck seems to be changing, first Matt and now she wins Miss Mystic Falls.

Anna and Jeremy: Anna and Jeremy are the cute couple of the week as Anna admits she has feelings for him and Jeremy admits he read Elena’s journal and now knows everything. He also tells her he’s upset Elena erased his memory, but on the other hand he’s glad he doesn’t have to remember Vicki as someone who wanted to kill him. It seems they’ve also made up for Jeremy wanting Anna to turn him just so he could be with Vicki, since Anna only befriended him in the beginning to get his blood for her mother. Now they’re even. But did I miss something, was this blood thing mentioned before?

Anna and Pearl: Pearl can be HBIC when she needs to be, but she can also be sweet when she wants to be. Anna says her mother is honestly sorry for what happened with Stefan two episodes ago, but that Pearl doesn’t do apologies. Damon also learns the only vamps now left in the house are Anna, Pearl, and Harper, everyone else has left town. Damon mentions the invention to Anna and to ask Pearl if she knows anything about it. By the end of the episode, Pearl tells Damon that because Anna is happy here, she wants to stay in Mystic Falls. As a peace offering, she apologizes and gives Damon an invention she stole from Grandpa Gilbert. She doesn’t know what it does, and there’s not telling if this is the invention Uncle John wanted.

Stefan: But the main storyline of the episode is Stefan. Poor, Stefan. This is Paul Wesley’s episode as Stefan really goes through a range of emotions. I’m not sure where I expected the writers to take his renewed thirst for human blood, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t this way.

I like that it’s not simply just Stefan struggling with avoiding his cravings, but it’s become Stefan struggling with himself. The human blood has essentially made him a completely different person, an addict who will do anything to keep up their addiction. And it makes me wonder just how much of a vampire’s personality is decided on by their diet. On the other hand, Pearl and the other vampires are also dining on human blood, right? So, maybe the problem is as Damon says:

Damon: He spent all this time fighting it, when he should have be learning to control it.

From hiding his diet from Damon and Elena, to hiding the fridge of blood in the basement, hiding the bags of blood in his trunk, and whigging out at school when someone gets injured, it’s one thing after another that says Stefan is not as ok as he says. It all comes to a point where Damon can’t keep the secret to himself any longer and tells Elena at the pageant. Now that he’s been found out, like an addict he changes his tactic to escape blame.

Stefan: The blood? It doesn’t change anything.
Elena: It’s changing you.

Elena isn’t buying his excuses, and Stefan leaves the pageant frustrated. He spots fellow pageant contestant Amber, cleverly introduced earlier in a scene with Elena, who he takes outside, compels her, and taunts himself with in a splendid drink or not drink sequence.

Stefan: I don’t hurt people. I don’t do that. I’m the good brother.

It’s like Jekyll and Hyde, but Hyde wins as he bites her neck. We’re left to wonder if Stefan’s really going to kill her.

Bonnie: Bonnie’s back! And she’s been missed. But I’m not sure I like this new Bonnie. She’s clearly still grieving the death of Grams, but she’s also avoiding Elena. In a cute aside, Caroline mentions she’s been in touch with Bonnie everyday while she’s been gone. Bonnie blames Elena and especially Stefan for her grandmother’s death. She says she’s not going to force Elena to choose between them, but essentially that’s what she’s doing.

Damon, Elena, and Bonnie go into the woods to find Stefan snacking on poor Amber, and yell at him to stop. But it isn’t until Bonnie uses her powers on him that they’re successful. Whether she wants to stay out of it or not, she can’t avoid Elena and what’s going on forever.

Stefan and Elena: I love how through everything Elena hasn’t turned her back on Stefan, and the writers are still going through with Stefan and Elena. Stefan can be very cute when he’s happy, and I loved their dance rehearsal for the pageant.

But their relationship can also be tragic when Elena doesn’t know what to do about his new blood thirst. Or when Stefan flees the scene after Bonnie stops him from killing Amber. With the blood all over him, it’s so real and so tragic.Elena confronts him at home and Stefan lashes out before once again breaking down in her arms.

Stefan: The blood brings out what’s inside of me. If you think any differently, you’re an idiot.

They are so sad and so sweet. Which makes the next moment all that  more poignant. Elena stabs him with a vervain dart, and I just know it’s a plan between her and Damon to help Stefan get better. But it’s still sad.

Elena and Damon: So, I’m not an Elena and Damon fan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the dynamic they have with each other and the way the writers are working them in together despite Elena’s indifference towards him. In past episodes I didn’t like the way the writers were trying to place him into situations with Elena and it seemed forced to me. Within the last couple episodes, I’ve noticed a difference in the way it’s been done and I haven’t minded as much.

The way Damon quickly stepped in as Stefan’s replacement, and then the dance, well, that dance with the not touching and the tension was cleverly made just for Damon and Elena. That dance is essentially them. And I like the fact the writers referenced earlier in the episode to the brothers having learned that dance in the past, so it’d already been explained that Damon would already know the dance in order to step in.

And then there’s the last scene where Elena tranqs Stefan. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a plan between Elena and Damon to help Stefan. But the scene that really got me was when Elena said she was going to stay behind to watch over Stefan, and then Damon stayed behind, too. I don’t ship the two of them together, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love their relationship. And at the least, I could probably go for a Stefan-Elena-Damon threesome.

I’m expecting more heartbreak next episode as I’m sure Stefan’s addiction won’t go away quietly. I can’t wait for next week.

Damon: Today has been a no-good, very-bad day.

The Vampire Diaries (s1ep19): Miss Mystic Falls – ****

This week on Vampire Diaries, more about Elena and Caroline compete for the title of “Miss Mystic Falls” during the Founder’s Day Gala; John tries unsuccessfully to intimidate Damon; and Damon learns that Stefan harbors a secret that could affect the entire town.

It’s time for another event leading up to Founder’s Day, stomach and this week it’s the Miss Mystic Falls pageant where our girls get dressed up in beautiful gowns. But with everything that’s been going on lately, Elena’s rightfully forgotten she even entered back when here parents were still alive. And she wants to back out, but decides to go along with it anyway in memory of her mother.

Johnathan: The whole town is once again in attendance for this event, including Johnathan Gilbert. He offers to take Jenna and Elena to the pageant, but thank goodness Alaric is already on the way. Keep your icky paws off of Jenna, Uncle John.

Uncle John is also busy working his way into the Founder’s Council’s good graces by noticing that a shipment of blood for the hospital was stolen and then the evidence covered up. Sheriff Forbes asks Damon, still amusingly the Founder’s Council’s right hand man, and Uncle John to look into it together. Oh, joy.

Mostly though, Damon is more interested and suspicious of whether this missing blood shipment has anything to do with Stefan’s new happy go lucky attitude. Stefan is still swearing to Damon and Elena that he’s off human blood and doing much better.

Damon: You spent the last century and a half being the poster child for Prozac. Now you want me to believe this new you has nothing to do with human blood.

He’s so good at lying, and this is Stefan we’re talking about, that you believe him. That is until you realize he’s keeping a freezer with packets of human blood in the basement.

But there are bigger problems afoot, Uncle John comes by the house to tell Damon he’s in town looking for an invention made by Grandpa John Gilbert. He wants to know if Damon’s aware of a vampire named Pearl, who is supposed to know the whereabouts of this invention. Damon gets smug and realizes this means he doesn’t know anything about Katherine like John had claimed, seeing as Katherine and Pearl were BFFs, and threatens him and kicks him out of the house.

Damon: I’ll sever your hand, pull your ring off and kill you. Do you understand that?

Uncle John spends the rest of the episode at the pageant observing and learning. He overhears Anna talking to Jeremy and learns from Jenna that Pearl is Anna’s mother. Uh, oh.

Caroline and Matt: Caroline has also entered the pageant, but boyfriend Matt is conspicuously absent with work. First when they’re in dance rehearsal and Bonnie has to fill in and then at the actual pageant when another guy has to fill in. I actually missed, Matt. But I did like that Caroline’s bad luck seems to be changing, first Matt and now she wins Miss Mystic Falls.

Anna and Jeremy: Anna and Jeremy are the cute couple of the week as Anna admits she has feelings for him and Jeremy admits he read Elena’s journal and now knows everything. He also tells her he’s upset Elena erased his memory, but on the other hand he’s glad he doesn’t have to remember Vicki as someone who wanted to kill him. It seems they’ve also made up for Jeremy wanting Anna to turn him just so he could be with Vicki, since Anna only befriended him in the beginning to get his blood for her mother. Now they’re even. But did I miss something, was this blood thing mentioned before?

Anna and Pearl: Pearl can be HBIC when she needs to be, but she can also be sweet when she wants to be. Anna says her mother is honestly sorry for what happened with Stefan two episodes ago, but that Pearl doesn’t do apologies. Damon also learns the only vamps now left in the house are Anna, Pearl, and Harper, everyone else has left town. Damon mentions the invention to Anna and to ask Pearl if she knows anything about it. By the end of the episode, Pearl tells Damon that because Anna is happy here, she wants to stay in Mystic Falls. As a peace offering, she apologizes and gives Damon an invention she stole from Grandpa Gilbert. She doesn’t know what it does, and there’s not telling if this is the invention Uncle John wanted.

Stefan: But the main storyline of the episode is Stefan. Poor, Stefan. This is Paul Wesley’s episode as Stefan really goes through a range of emotions. I’m not sure where I expected the writers to take his renewed thirst for human blood, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t this way.

I like that it’s not simply just Stefan struggling with avoiding his cravings, but it’s become Stefan struggling with himself. The human blood has essentially made him a completely different person, an addict who will do anything to keep up their addiction. And it makes me wonder just how much of a vampire’s personality is decided on by their diet. On the other hand, Pearl and the other vampires are also dining on human blood, right? So, maybe the problem is as Damon says:

Damon: He spent all this time fighting it, when he should have be learning to control it.

From hiding his diet from Damon and Elena, to hiding the fridge of blood in the basement, hiding the bags of blood in his trunk, and whigging out at school when someone gets injured, it’s one thing after another that says Stefan is not as ok as he says. It all comes to a point where Damon can’t keep the secret to himself any longer and tells Elena at the pageant. Now that he’s been found out, like an addict he changes his tactic to escape blame.

Stefan: The blood? It doesn’t change anything.
Elena: It’s changing you.

Elena isn’t buying his excuses, and Stefan leaves the pageant frustrated. He spots fellow pageant contestant Amber, cleverly introduced earlier in a scene with Elena, who he takes outside, compels her, and taunts himself with in a splendid drink or not drink sequence.

Stefan: I don’t hurt people. I don’t do that. I’m the good brother.

It’s like Jekyll and Hyde, but Hyde wins as he bites her neck. We’re left to wonder if Stefan’s really going to kill her.

Bonnie: Bonnie’s back! And she’s been missed. But I’m not sure I like this new Bonnie. She’s clearly still grieving the death of Grams, but she’s also avoiding Elena. In a cute aside, Caroline mentions she’s been in touch with Bonnie everyday while she’s been gone. Bonnie blames Elena and especially Stefan for her grandmother’s death. She says she’s not going to force Elena to choose between them, but essentially that’s what she’s doing.

Damon, Elena, and Bonnie go into the woods to find Stefan snacking on poor Amber, and yell at him to stop. But it isn’t until Bonnie uses her powers on him that they’re successful. Whether she wants to stay out of it or not, she can’t avoid Elena and what’s going on forever.

Stefan and Elena: I love how through everything Elena hasn’t turned her back on Stefan, and the writers are still going through with Stefan and Elena. Stefan can be very cute when he’s happy, and I loved their dance rehearsal for the pageant.

But their relationship can also be tragic when Elena doesn’t know what to do about his new blood thirst. Or when Stefan flees the scene after Bonnie stops him from killing Amber. With the blood all over him, it’s so real and so tragic.Elena confronts him at home and Stefan lashes out before once again breaking down in her arms.

Stefan: The blood brings out what’s inside of me. If you think any differently, you’re an idiot.

They are so sad and so sweet. Which makes the next moment all that  more poignant. Elena stabs him with a vervain dart, and I just know it’s a plan between her and Damon to help Stefan get better. But it’s still sad.

Elena and Damon: So, I’m not an Elena and Damon fan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the dynamic they have with each other and the way the writers are working them in together despite Elena’s indifference towards him. In past episodes I didn’t like the way the writers were trying to place him into situations with Elena and it seemed forced to me. Within the last couple episodes, I’ve noticed a difference in the way it’s been done and I haven’t minded as much.

The way Damon quickly stepped in as Stefan’s replacement, and then the dance, well, that dance with the not touching and the tension was cleverly made just for Damon and Elena. That dance is essentially them. And I like the fact the writers referenced earlier in the episode to the brothers having learned that dance in the past, so it’d already been explained that Damon would already know the dance in order to step in.

And then there’s the last scene where Elena tranqs Stefan. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a plan between Elena and Damon to help Stefan. But the scene that really got me was when Elena said she was going to stay behind to watch over Stefan, and then Damon stayed behind, too. I don’t ship the two of them together, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love their relationship. And at the least, I could probably go for a Stefan-Elena-Damon threesome.

I’m expecting more heartbreak next episode as I’m sure Stefan’s addiction won’t go away quietly. I can’t wait for next week.

Damon: Today has been a no-good, very-bad day.


The Vampire Diaries (s1ep19): Miss Mystic Falls – ****

This week on Vampire Diaries, more about Elena and Caroline compete for the title of “Miss Mystic Falls” during the Founder’s Day Gala; John tries unsuccessfully to intimidate Damon; and Damon learns that Stefan harbors a secret that could affect the entire town.

It’s time for another event leading up to Founder’s Day, stomach and this week it’s the Miss Mystic Falls pageant where our girls get dressed up in beautiful gowns. But with everything that’s been going on lately, Elena’s rightfully forgotten she even entered back when here parents were still alive. And she wants to back out, but decides to go along with it anyway in memory of her mother.

Johnathan: The whole town is once again in attendance for this event, including Johnathan Gilbert. He offers to take Jenna and Elena to the pageant, but thank goodness Alaric is already on the way. Keep your icky paws off of Jenna, Uncle John.

Uncle John is also busy working his way into the Founder’s Council’s good graces by noticing that a shipment of blood for the hospital was stolen and then the evidence covered up. Sheriff Forbes asks Damon, still amusingly the Founder’s Council’s right hand man, and Uncle John to look into it together. Oh, joy.

Mostly though, Damon is more interested and suspicious of whether this missing blood shipment has anything to do with Stefan’s new happy go lucky attitude. Stefan is still swearing to Damon and Elena that he’s off human blood and doing much better.

Damon: You spent the last century and a half being the poster child for Prozac. Now you want me to believe this new you has nothing to do with human blood.

He’s so good at lying, and this is Stefan we’re talking about, that you believe him. That is until you realize he’s keeping a freezer with packets of human blood in the basement.

But there are bigger problems afoot, Uncle John comes by the house to tell Damon he’s in town looking for an invention made by Grandpa John Gilbert. He wants to know if Damon’s aware of a vampire named Pearl, who is supposed to know the whereabouts of this invention. Damon gets smug and realizes this means he doesn’t know anything about Katherine like John had claimed, seeing as Katherine and Pearl were BFFs, and threatens him and kicks him out of the house.

Damon: I’ll sever your hand, pull your ring off and kill you. Do you understand that?

Uncle John spends the rest of the episode at the pageant observing and learning. He overhears Anna talking to Jeremy and learns from Jenna that Pearl is Anna’s mother. Uh, oh.

Caroline and Matt: Caroline has also entered the pageant, but boyfriend Matt is conspicuously absent with work. First when they’re in dance rehearsal and Bonnie has to fill in and then at the actual pageant when another guy has to fill in. I actually missed, Matt. But I did like that Caroline’s bad luck seems to be changing, first Matt and now she wins Miss Mystic Falls.

Anna and Jeremy: Anna and Jeremy are the cute couple of the week as Anna admits she has feelings for him and Jeremy admits he read Elena’s journal and now knows everything. He also tells her he’s upset Elena erased his memory, but on the other hand he’s glad he doesn’t have to remember Vicki as someone who wanted to kill him. It seems they’ve also made up for Jeremy wanting Anna to turn him just so he could be with Vicki, since Anna only befriended him in the beginning to get his blood for her mother. Now they’re even. But did I miss something, was this blood thing mentioned before?

Anna and Pearl: Pearl can be HBIC when she needs to be, but she can also be sweet when she wants to be. Anna says her mother is honestly sorry for what happened with Stefan two episodes ago, but that Pearl doesn’t do apologies. Damon also learns the only vamps now left in the house are Anna, Pearl, and Harper, everyone else has left town. Damon mentions the invention to Anna and to ask Pearl if she knows anything about it. By the end of the episode, Pearl tells Damon that because Anna is happy here, she wants to stay in Mystic Falls. As a peace offering, she apologizes and gives Damon an invention she stole from Grandpa Gilbert. She doesn’t know what it does, and there’s not telling if this is the invention Uncle John wanted.

Stefan: But the main storyline of the episode is Stefan. Poor, Stefan. This is Paul Wesley’s episode as Stefan really goes through a range of emotions. I’m not sure where I expected the writers to take his renewed thirst for human blood, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t this way.

I like that it’s not simply just Stefan struggling with avoiding his cravings, but it’s become Stefan struggling with himself. The human blood has essentially made him a completely different person, an addict who will do anything to keep up their addiction. And it makes me wonder just how much of a vampire’s personality is decided on by their diet. On the other hand, Pearl and the other vampires are also dining on human blood, right? So, maybe the problem is as Damon says:

Damon: He spent all this time fighting it, when he should have be learning to control it.

From hiding his diet from Damon and Elena, to hiding the fridge of blood in the basement, hiding the bags of blood in his trunk, and whigging out at school when someone gets injured, it’s one thing after another that says Stefan is not as ok as he says. It all comes to a point where Damon can’t keep the secret to himself any longer and tells Elena at the pageant. Now that he’s been found out, like an addict he changes his tactic to escape blame.

Stefan: The blood? It doesn’t change anything.
Elena: It’s changing you.

Elena isn’t buying his excuses, and Stefan leaves the pageant frustrated. He spots fellow pageant contestant Amber, cleverly introduced earlier in a scene with Elena, who he takes outside, compels her, and taunts himself with in a splendid drink or not drink sequence.

Stefan: I don’t hurt people. I don’t do that. I’m the good brother.

It’s like Jekyll and Hyde, but Hyde wins as he bites her neck. We’re left to wonder if Stefan’s really going to kill her.

Bonnie: Bonnie’s back! And she’s been missed. But I’m not sure I like this new Bonnie. She’s clearly still grieving the death of Grams, but she’s also avoiding Elena. In a cute aside, Caroline mentions she’s been in touch with Bonnie everyday while she’s been gone. Bonnie blames Elena and especially Stefan for her grandmother’s death. She says she’s not going to force Elena to choose between them, but essentially that’s what she’s doing.

Damon, Elena, and Bonnie go into the woods to find Stefan snacking on poor Amber, and yell at him to stop. But it isn’t until Bonnie uses her powers on him that they’re successful. Whether she wants to stay out of it or not, she can’t avoid Elena and what’s going on forever.

Stefan and Elena: I love how through everything Elena hasn’t turned her back on Stefan, and the writers are still going through with Stefan and Elena. Stefan can be very cute when he’s happy, and I loved their dance rehearsal for the pageant.

But their relationship can also be tragic when Elena doesn’t know what to do about his new blood thirst. Or when Stefan flees the scene after Bonnie stops him from killing Amber. With the blood all over him, it’s so real and so tragic.Elena confronts him at home and Stefan lashes out before once again breaking down in her arms.

Stefan: The blood brings out what’s inside of me. If you think any differently, you’re an idiot.

They are so sad and so sweet. Which makes the next moment all that  more poignant. Elena stabs him with a vervain dart, and I just know it’s a plan between her and Damon to help Stefan get better. But it’s still sad.

Elena and Damon: So, I’m not an Elena and Damon fan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the dynamic they have with each other and the way the writers are working them in together despite Elena’s indifference towards him. In past episodes I didn’t like the way the writers were trying to place him into situations with Elena and it seemed forced to me. Within the last couple episodes, I’ve noticed a difference in the way it’s been done and I haven’t minded as much.

The way Damon quickly stepped in as Stefan’s replacement, and then the dance, well, that dance with the not touching and the tension was cleverly made just for Damon and Elena. That dance is essentially them. And I like the fact the writers referenced earlier in the episode to the brothers having learned that dance in the past, so it’d already been explained that Damon would already know the dance in order to step in.

And then there’s the last scene where Elena tranqs Stefan. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a plan between Elena and Damon to help Stefan. But the scene that really got me was when Elena said she was going to stay behind to watch over Stefan, and then Damon stayed behind, too. I don’t ship the two of them together, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love their relationship. And at the least, I could probably go for a Stefan-Elena-Damon threesome.

I’m expecting more heartbreak next episode as I’m sure Stefan’s addiction won’t go away quietly. I can’t wait for next week.

Damon: Today has been a no-good, very-bad day.


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