Reactions: Ep 3.16 “1912”

What’s up, House Guests?! Damn, it certainly has been a while. We’ve been doing a little light spring cleaning around the house in prep for actual spring, so we’ve been keeping busy. Hope everyone had a good hiatus, but we are officially back. And here we are with our reactions to last night’s ep “1912.” We had a lot of feelings y’all. About a lot of things. Personally, I’m disappointed that there were ZERO references to the Titanic. I was really hoping that Zachariah Salvatore had been killed on the Titanic, but noooooo. He had to go and get himself murdered by a fucking townie. Ugh. But that’s neither here nor there. Without further ado, I give you — our reactions!

Main Players: Cin, Christina and Abby (SBH staff); Stephanie, Melissa and Erin (SBH contributors and friends).

HOLY CLIFFS OF INSANITY!!!
Cin: IT’S AN INSANITY RING!!! A RING OF INSANITY!!! This shit is buckets of cray ya’ll.
Abby: Am I the only one that wasn’t surprised? I liked it as a story choice, but I was in no way shocked. I’m not amazed. I’m not wowed. I liked it, but I feel like everyone else is reacting like this is huge. Maybe it’s just me.
Christina: I wasn’t shocked that the ring is making him crazy, BUT it makes sense now why they kept relentlessly killing him. I mean, that was getting REALLY tedious, but now at least it had a purpose. And I retroactively accept that.
Melissa: I liked that it wasn’t the theory I had. I hadn’t tied the ring and the killings together. I suspected Alaric as the killer and I felt like the ring was wonky but I didn’t see the two being connected. Which seems stupid in hindsight because hello, this show doesn’t do unconnected red herrings. But shocked? No. I’m impressed by the precedent set by having Samantha Gilbert go through it already. And the possibility that it explains why all the Gilberts went insane but not other founding family members. So yeah, I’d say I’m with you, Abby. As a story choice, I’m quite a fan. I’m just not floored by the development.
Cin: I kinda wish it had been Jeremy all along. Then again, we get to see Matt Davis be crazy again so that’s a win for everyone.
Christina: And we ALL know the level of cray that Matt Davis can achieve when he sets his mind to it. I really love him for it. 🙂 #longliveErnestoRiley
Erin: I must be a world class fool. I was kind of shocked. I knew something was up with that ring but THIS is not at all what I guessed.
Melissa: You are so not a fool. 🙂 I think this is one of those cases where knowing even a few spoilers, or even making a habit of discussing theories all the time (as I am prone to do) leaves me with few ways to be surprised. That’s not always a bad thing on a show with great character development but it does take away the thrill of being completely shocked by a twist.
Stephanie: Guys, I’m so pissed that it wasn’t Jeremy that was slaughtering the poor (dumb) people of Mystric Falls. His emo-ness plus the insanity ring would have been the best thing ever. Also Alaric should really look into Groupon for a discount on an exorcism. Just sayin’.
Abby: HA! You’re right. Jeremy would have been way more fun than Alaric as the murderer, though I have to admit that I am looking forward to seeing Matt Davis unleash his crazy.
Cin: ROFL! See what I get for commenting before I read the entire section, but yes – Jeremy being all ax murderer would have been a hoot, and he needs a purpose. Alaric has a purpose. He’s Damon’s bff and is a lush. That said…
Stephanie: Matt Davis crazy really is the best, isn’t it? Alaric being possessed by Klaus is still one my top Alaric moments. I mean, he was perfect at it.
Melissa: Jeremy could still end up murdering people! I mean he has died quite a few times as well and who knows what that mountain air in Denver is doing to him. I’d be so entertained if it took the Mystic Falls gang a couple episodes to realize that Jeremy is a Gilbert (so prone to crazy) and dies a lot with that ring and starts to check on him only to learn there are a lot of dead people in Denver lately.

It’s all Damon’s Fault
Abby: Has Damon ever been more big brotherish than in tonight’s episode? I mean, that was the vampire equivalent of holding your kid brother’s hand while he crosses the street for the first time.
Stephanie: I absolutely LOVED big brother Damon. The brother relationship has always been my favorite on the show. Their interactions just pull at my heartstrings every time. I think it might be cause I can relate more to Damon when it’s just these two brothers interacting because I am the big sister and you just feel this need to watch over and protect your younger sibling from themselves and the big bad in the world. Seriously, I could watch every Stefan/Damon scene from last night over and over again. Plus I’ll say it again, Damon Salvatore is perfect.
Christina: I like him SO MUCH MORE when he’s concerned about Stefan as opposed to obsessing about Elena. (Confession: I totally almost wrote Sookie there… I think that says a lot… the both of them with their goddamn magical golden vaginas.).
Erin: I cried. Not gonna lie. I cried A LOT!! Damon is trying so hard to help and take care of his brother. Something he has not done EVER!! (or since they were human at least). My biggest issue with this episode is that 1912 Damon was supposed to be hating and torturing Stefan and he wasn’t. HUGE continuity fail if you ask me.
Cin: Wait, I’m lost. What made you cry? On the opposite end of the spectrum I laughed A LOT in this episode, and not always appropriately.
Abby: You know Erin, I was thinking about that. The early “I promised you an eternity of misery” Damon has pretty much never been seen again. I feel like if he’s gonna do this much beating himself up, he ought to have done worse than just let Stefan walk away after popping a girl’s head off.
Stephanie: I totally laughed at the head popping off. It reminded me of a Jack-in-the-box. I don’t know why. As for the whole Damon guilt thing despite promising a life of misery, I believe that when Stefan ran off Damon KNEW that he would become blood hungry and savage in his eating patterns yet he sort of didn’t care because he felt Stefan might have deserved it for making him a vampire. Fast-forward to present times, Damon realizes that his anger towards his brother back then was ridiculous since Stefan gave him this gift that has let him see the world over that last 150 years (or so I believe). Their relationship is just like every other sibling relationship in that you may hold a grudge for a while but you get over it because when it all comes down to it nothing matters more to you than your sibling and your relationship with them.
Abby: I love how he tried to PUT THE HEAD BACK ON. You know, oops, popped your head off, here let me fix that for you. It was simultaneously adorable and demented. Oh, Stefan. Never change, just stay kind of evil, okay?
Stephanie: Right?! It’s like when you used to brush your Barbie’s hair and the comb would get stuck so you wank it to get it out and, viola, the head comes with it so you try to put it back on but it’s never really the same. Or maybe I just had a fucked up relationship with my Barbies. I don’t know.
Cin: Stefum trying to put the head back on the Barbie was my very favorite thing since the Originals were all on screen. It was glorious.
Melissa: I’m so torn on my continuity feelings. On the one hand, I do find that a little frustrating because yeah, that wasn’t exactly hating Stefan. But then I think it kind of fits with Damon’s character to search for his brother again. I mean that’s kind of his thing right? This craving for humanity & for family. Damon has that so much more than Stefan does and so I have one continuity fairy yelling & another saying but this fits Damon’s character. Of course he’d give his brother another try because Damon needs his little brother to admire him, just as much as Stefan needs his big brother to take care of him. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love brothers on this show?)
Erin: Sorry Mel. Not buying it. Still going with my continuity fail. Damon of season one was NEVER the guy that gave his brother a 2nd chance, regardless of what he needed. THAT Damon had no feelings. REMEMBER? Anyways… 2012 Damon blew me away. THAT guy would totally do anything to help his brother. But you know what they say about best intentions…..

Alcoholaric™
Cin: You guys, the drinking is a legitimate plot point. Is this still funny or are we moving into after school special territory? Nah, it’s still funny. And as if I didn’t think Meredith was crazy enough already she tells Elena that Alaric is a ‘borderline alcoholic’. Borderline is where I’m living with this show right now, there is nothing borderline about Alaric’s relationship with bourbon.
Abby: Borderline was definitely the wrong word, but I liked that Meredith told it like it is. I mean, he did just kind of randomly move in on the Gilbert family and they were all YAY, WELCOME! Mystic Falls is so weird.
Stephanie: Hahaha. There’s two things that this show shouldn’t mess with: 1) Alaric’s love for drinking any time and 2) his friendship with Damon. Together those two things are pure MAGIC. Also ,I just really don’t want to see what kind of intervention Elena would throw.
Cin: Totally. If Elena’s chat with Matt showed us anything it’s that Miss Gilbert is in no position to throw any kinds of stones (although that’s never stopped her before) since she self medicates with the undead. Also, is it wrong that I got a little charge when Stefan said that Alaric was Damon’s BFF? The bromance is a very f-ing powerful thing.
Christina: It’s not wrong that you got a charge. Their bromance is the bromance against which all other bromances are measured. Other bros WISH they had the kind of bromance Alaric and Damon have. Also, about the alcoholism… still funny. I mean, alcoholism isn’t funny, but ALARIC’S alcoholism is funny as shit, y’all. Also, when Meredith was explaining the blackouts and things caused by the ring… did anyone else go “well, alcohol ALSO causes blackouts you dumb bitch”? God, I hate her so much.
Stephanie: Their bromance should be the end-game. At least Stefan recognizes that Alaric might take his place one day as Damon’s favorite “brother”. And Christina, yes I said the same thing to myself. I’ve had WAY too many blackouts in my life to just let his alcohol consumption fall to the wayside as the reason for the blackouts.

Matty is Perfect. Again.
Christina: It’s official. Matt is the sanest person in this town.
Abby: Also possibly the smartest. Sneaking the journal? GOOD CALL, MR. DONOVAN.
Melissa: Or walking away from two feeding vampires instead of trying to talk them down or explain the whole concept of blood bags? Also pretty darn smart. Matty is and will always be one of my favorite people on The Vampire Diaries.
Cin: Word to ya motha. I love that Matt is awesome and sane and sweet. Next thing you know he’ll be baking and then he’ll be perfect. Now would someone please sex that boy up good and proper, I think he’s earned it.
Erin: I didn’t want to mention it in my recap and I am still not sure I want to say it out loud here but… Matt & Elena are GREAT together. And more than that, Matt Donovan is sweet and sexy and smart and I just love him. I want to SQUEEZE HIM so hard. His little smiles. Asking the right questions. I just….. I just love him. *sob*
Cin: I’m not scared to say it. I like Matt & Elena much more than I like her with either Salvatore. Matt is kinda like Caroline and Elijah to me, they just elevate the person they are in scenes with. Except Bonnie. She can’t be helped by their collective magics or her own BUT yeah, I’ll say it forever: Klaus was onto something you guys when he suggested a safe normal life for Miss Doppleganger USA. She needs a normal guy. He’s not only the safe and sane choice but the guy is all kinds of amazing in his very own way. He’s a Peeta. And Peeta’s are hard to f-ing beat.
Melissa: SQUEEE!!!!! Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I love when people love Matt. And omg you guys he totally broke my heart when he said that you never really forget someone you fall in love with and he just looked at Elena which such longing and she totally got it and tried to be nice and tell him that he didn’t have to talk to her about her feelings towards other guys and Matt was epically perfect and said he didn’t mind. And he was being all protective earlier by the Salvatores. And stealthy. Basically…MATT DONOVAN IS BETTER THAN YOUR FAVES.
Abby: Chemistry or no, Matt Donovan needs to stay as far away from Elena as possible. That girl is a magnet for all the things Matty does not need in his life.
Cin: Even with what I said above, I can’t argue with this either Abby. Matt is too good for her and her buckets of drama. Although I still like the idea of him being under Klaus’ protection until the day he dies. I could get behind that.
Erin: I like to think that part of him was also thinking about Caroline when he said that. About love that you never forget. Totally missed her perfection during this episode.
Stephanie: He really needs to stop making me want to kiss him every episode with his sane logic. If he doesn’t grow up to be a family psychologist I’ll be so disappointed.

Hi, my name is Joe Stefan, and I’m a Bloodaholic.
Christina: You know, Stefan is a fucking vampire. I’m getting really fucking sick of Elena being all judgy whenever he feeds. Does she think that he can just shove blood suppositories up his ass and he’ll be full? Vampires fee, Elena. It’s what they do. Why do you have to be so goddamn scandalized every time someone does it? Yeah, whatever, she’s traumatize by the whole Rippah thing, but what the fuck ever. She can get over herself. At this point, I hope he DOES go Rippah and kills her. Too much?
Abby: Elena needs to decide if she’s a badass or a shrinking violet. This back and forth thing is making me crazy.
Stephanie: WORD to you both. She acts like he was actually he eating one those puppies she and Damon discussed back in season 1.
Cin: Triple word score. I mean, what the hell is up her butt? He’s a VAMPIRE. Did she even know he was on the damn wagon? If she did why did she think it was a good idea, I mean haven’t we been over this? UGH!
Erin: I love Stefan Salvatore more than I love air. And I want him to be happy above all else. And if having Elena will make him happy, I want that for him. He is trying so hard. And I get what Damon did. Damon is right (forget I said that, please) but Damon knows his brother. He knows that Stefan needs help with the “moderation” thing. Christina makes a GREAT point about Elena needing to get over her stupid shit. BUT. When you are trying to win back the heart of the woman you love, getting caught in compromising positions is NOT going to be great for your cause. This was not good.
Christina: No, it wasn’t. And I agree with you — what Damon did was right. HOWEVER, if Stefan really is a bloodaholic… maybe he should just stay away from the sauce. But, I don’t think that’s really how the blood-drinking works. He’s a vamp, and he needs blood to stay alive. Human blood makes him stronger than animal blood, and Elena just needs to get over herself. She supposedly accepts that he’s a vampire, then why does she have such a hard time with the whole drinking blood thing? Obviously she doesn’t accept that. And that sucks. That sucks so much. Poor Stefan. Come, Stefan. Come to my bosom and I will make it all better.
Melissa: Ya’ll know I have to defend Elena a teensy bit. It’s like in my blood or something. I can’t help it. But only a little bit this time because I think ya’ll are right to a point. It’s just, I was saying on twitter last night that Elena really doesn’t know a Stefan who drinks human blood on a regular basis like an actual vampire. She knows the Stefan who insists on total control, only drinking Thumper or the Ripper who is completely off the rails and shuts everything off. And in the last couple episodes, Elena’s seen that Stefan is trying to be his old self, the guy who is always in control. So I get Elena being shocked and upset because the Stefan she loves and that loves her, isn’t a guy who lives like a real vampire and practices moderation. That’s obviously proven to be a problem for Stefan, hence Damon’s intelligence (did I just say that?!) in making Stefan feed but not kill. But I think it does make sense why Elena would be upset since she really doesn’t know THIS Stefan. Hell, none of us know what a Stefan who acts like a vampire, not a ripper, would be like. But I do agree as well that Elena needs to accept that shit gets crazy when you hang out or date vampires and that you won’t always like their manners. Sorry kiddo, but that’s how this works.

Sage Advice
Abby: It took me a few minutes to figure out what was bothering me about the Sage/Damon thing, and it’s this: I feel like we missed a bunch of scenes. Maybe some got cut, or maybe the ringside chat with the “Go get her, kid!” was supposed to be all of it, but it felt abbreviated somehow. If this was the character who “made Damon Salvatore who he is today”, then shouldn’t they have talked more then a couple times? Maybe had a discussion. I feel like Damon went from “I shall sully myself with my vampire nature as little as possible!” to “Bring on the booze and babes!” waaaaay too fast. Like I skipped a chapter in a book.
Christina: I agree. I don’t get what all the fuss over Sage was about. At all. She didn’t really do much but… basically be a madam. And, like, cool I guess. But if they want me to be invested in her just a little bit, or at LEAST interested in what she and Damon did, she needs more screen time to do something interesting. I mean, as it is now, she could be gone from the show forever, and I’d be fine with that. I get it. She made Damon a Bloodslut. Neato.
Cin: My fuss about Sage is and was about Cassidy Freeman, who I adore. That said, she’s not done yet. I felt cheated that they used her as sparsely as they did in last nights episode. I look forward to some fun times with her when she shows up in real time.
Erin: I should probably care more about Sage but I just don’t. Where is Caroline? Where is Klaus? Are they on holiday together? I am sure I will be sorry for not caring about Sage at some point but it just feels like another Rose to me. YAWN. Whatev.
Christina: They’re holed up in the SBH having the sexy times.
Abby: YAY!
Stephanie: I’m probably alone in this but I sorta like Sage. I think she has potential. Do I wish they would have spent more time showing how she made Damon into who he is today? Fuck yes because, like y’all, I think they just totally jumped those parts. I needed more. I wanted to see Sage teach Damon the way of seduction and how to enjoy finding the pleasure of being a vampire. Do I think she has great potential for future episodes? Yes. I just want more dammit!
Cin: You are not alone, Stephanie. I might be a little Cassidy Freeman biased, but I don’t think that is all of it. I like sassy female characters who aren’t brats. Most of the fandom has fits seeing a highly charged sexually liberated WOMAN and I never ever have a problem with seeing that on my television. That said, I’m a bit disappointed with how little they gave us and the Finn thing has me worried.
Abby: I want to see where they’re going with her. Hoping there’s an angle or something coming up. I don’t yet buy her as Damon’s muse, we just didn’t see enough.
Stephanie: Agreed. I just didn’t see the whole Lexi analogy that everyone kept using.
Cin: Lexi? *shakes head* See, this is why I’m glad I don’t pay attention to the rest of the fandom 90% of the time.
Stephanie: It wasn’t the fandom. It was the writers, reporters, and actors. I think they got ahead of themselves with that comparison.
Cin: Ah, see I’ve read some of the press. I think they might have latched on trying to say she was like a mentor to Damon in how he has evolved from where he was back in 1864 like Lexi was for Stefan. Although I got to say, Sage was a bit more successful considering how off the rails Stef can go with that blood issue. LOL
Stephanie: LOL. So true!
Melissa: I may be alone in this but I hate Sage. The only other lady on this show that I have hated from the beginning was Greta and I still hate Sage more. She disgusts me and pretty much makes me want to vomit in her face. Okay so now to really get into it. I have two massively huge problems with the character of Sage. One on the character and another on the writers. And ya’ll know that I am pretty big on not attacking the writers but I am that livid about this. First, let’s talk about Sage, with her whole fucked up “women are for pleasure” and “take it” bullshit. Now granted, she’s a vampire and vampires do not live by human standards. But we’ve also seen from every other vampire on the show that they are still aware of morals and virtue as well as the fact that after about a hundred years, emotions can’t be turned off. Since Sage liked Finn 900 years ago, she obviously isn’t in a flipped the switch phase. So if she’d started telling Damon that ‘PEOPLE are for pleasure’ and to take what he wanted from people in general, and Damon’s vampire nature also took that to mean sex? I wouldn’t like it but I could understand that. It makes sense to me if I try and look from a vampire perspective. I mean, they don’t see humans as equals but as food. So I GET THAT. But to focus it on women? As a woman? THAT FUCKING PISSES ME OFF. Beyond belief. And that’s where I get even more upset with the writing. Why? Why is there a need to have, on a show that is one of the better ones on television to feature strong, kickass ladies who fight for what they want and don’t let themselves get walked all over, a new female character who flat out encourages the rape of other women? And I won’t buy some sort of justification on this. Sage didn’t tell Damon to take whatever he wanted from humans because that’s what they’re there for. She said to take whatever he wanted from women. I do not in any way absolve Damon for his own actions (and in complete fairness to Damon, he would be the first to take responsibility, that’s one of the best things about him) but GOOD FUCKING GRIEF. I have so much disgust for the writing of this character. To have a woman encouraging rape of other women? I am so livid, I don’t even know how to truly put my thoughts into words.
Cin: Ok, it’s been long established that this show has a different set of morals for vampires and most of the time everyone turns a blind eye to it. What is the difference in what Klaus does when he gets human girls to wait around and serve him dinner only to be dessert too and actually compelling woman to have sex? Nothing. But nobody had a stroke about that. And a mindrape is still a rape. Period. As for Sage, if it were another girl vampire I think she would have said the same thing about a man. But are you implying that she started Damon down the road of being a serial rapist? Personally if we are going to be all righteous about it I think we should be outraged every single time a woman or man is victimized on this show in any way – but if we did that we wouldn’t have a show to watch. At least the victims on this show usually (unless they turn into vamps themselves and remember past compulsions) either forget what they went through or end up dead. And we kinda have to look at it that way to get threw the show.
Christina: I think it would have turned out the same way if Damon had been into dudes. I think probably Sage was into turning Damon into a horrible monster. If Damon had been gay, she would have told him that MEN were for pleasure too.
Melissa: Took a few hours away and figured out my thoughts. I’m utterly disgusted by the insensitivity and the unnecessary nature of Sage’s ‘lesson’. Let me reiterate the unnecessary part first. Damon is a hot vampire so odds are that most women and men would be happy to have sex with him. Second, as he is a VAMPIRE, he can exercise COMPULSION and get sex that way. Now I am not in any way advocating compulsion because I still classify that as rape. But it is part of a vampire’s nature. So I can, on a fictional level, separate enough to understand why it happens, even if I don’t think it should happen. Finally, the point here seems to be that people are for pleasure. Humans aren’t on the same level as vampires and shouldn’t be treated as such so use them for your own pleasure. Like I’ve said before, I don’t like that, but I get it. But the thing is, we know all of this. Every Original has reiterated it, Damon’s said it, even the “good” vamps like Stefan & Lexi have superiority issues that come out from time to time. So the need to have a speech where Sage, A WOMAN, tells A MAN that women specifically are for pleasure and if they won’t give it up, he should just take it, is nowhere to be found. NOWHERE. It is a completely unnecessary piece of advice.
Cin: Now this I totally agree with. We need to take it with a grain of salt and the writers need to stop making it be more about the female extras being snacked on and used. But that is where a character like Sage could spice things up. Katherine did it to a degree, and Isobel was just disgusting with it, but with Sage we could see more of that.
Christina: Are you talking about Kathi and Isobel using male extras as objects of pleasure like they use the female extras? Yeah, I guess that’s an issue or whatever but the POINT of all this is that vampires live by a different code than everyone else. I was bothered by the fact that Sage was all, “Women are made for pleasure.” I think I actually “OH NO YOU DI’N’T!” at my TV. But… it’s part of the story.

The Moral In The Story
Melissa: Now the insensitivity on the part of the writers. When a statement like that is put into a show, there needs to be a reason. And in the case of the Vampire Diaries, few things are ever said without reason. But I see no justification or reason for Sage’s words. Which makes them pointless and insensitive to women who fight everyday against the attitude that men can control them and take what they want. When I started venting earlier about this, I was met with two primary criticisms. 1) It’s fictional and I can’t expect or demand real life morals in fiction. 2) I can’t expect writers to try and look at a speech or message from all points of view. As to the first one, what a load of horse shit. Fiction tells us better than real life often does about the differences between right and wrong. It presents the idea of morals and of endlessly gray areas that ultimately come down to a character needing to make a black & white choice. Good vs evil, right vs wrong, morality…these are central themes throughout fiction of all mediums. So yes, I can expect morality in the Vampire Diaries. As for the second issue, WHY THE FUCK NOT? Why can’t I expect a writer to consider other viewpoints? The thing is, when people put ideas like that out into the world without justification or purpose behind them, it creates a very subtle attitude that this is normal, that maybe things you think are wrong can be, if not right then at least understood in certain circumstances. And you will never convince me that a writer does not have a responsibility there. Purposeful writing is admirable. Throwing a line in that adds nothing and does a great disservice to female characters is despicable. And on a deeper level, I think a line like that is very similar to lines that joke about rape as though it is akin to losing a ping-pong game. It denigrates the concept of rape into something we excuse or justify. And that ultimately leads us to women WOMEN OF ALL PEOPLE, arguing that a girl asked for it or deserved it or that it wasn’t really rape. These ideas, these horrific arguments and justifications for rape are absolutely influenced by movies, books, and television shows. To think otherwise is to bury your head in the ground and wonder why it’s dark. Sage’s words, written by a real person, have no place. They don’t serve a greater purpose, they don’t enlighten our understanding of a character. It’s an idea, a justification of evil that disgusts and disturbs me.
Cin: Do writers have responsibility? Yes. Has The Vampire Diaries ever capitalized on that when it comes to vampires superiority over humans in any way? No. So yes, it does reflect back on male/female relations and it does concern sex and some of that sex is not mentally consensual. On both parts. Are women objectified on this show? You betcha. All the time and not only concerning sex. Bonnie is used for her witchiness. Elena is used to make hybrids. Caroline was used often for a slew of reasons. By male and female vampires. Hell, she’s a vampire BECAUSE a female vampire wanted to send a message. How is that for having your control stripped away? And Jeremy is mindraped as often as it becomes convenient for anyone in the story too. So much so I really thought this season they were going to have HIM crack instead of Alaric, boy that would have been fun, but bygones… The issue is that we don’t have female vampires using male characters on equal measure. But with a character like Sage I think that could change. I know she’s not long term, but I would love to have her stick around and take Katherine’s place objectifying men for a change.
Christina: I don’t think that the writers are trying to teach people things or dictate things about society. I don’t think that was a throw away line that was meant to degrade female characters. They’re not advocating that people (or women specifically) are purely for pleasure and that we should take each other as such. This is supposed to be realistic, right? We’re supposed to believe that these vampires actually exist in the society that we know. Well, we have an expectation for them to behave badly from time to time. They have been around for so long — and Sage especially, who is at least 1000 years old. We already know that vampires have “skewed” world views. And haven’t we already established the whole moral decay over time? I don’t know. Sure the message that WOMEN are play things is wrong, but I don’t think that’s necessarily what we were supposed to take away from these scenes. We were supposed to get that Sage is a monster and that she turned Damon into a monster, but because Damon was born with a little thing called a conscience, he isn’t ALWAYS like this — though it can be argued that it’s his default mode. These monsters are created, both physically and mentally. Sage created Damon, and Damon created Stefan (and Klaus exacerbated it). In a way, it’s very much like a zombie apocalypse scenario: the bad situation creates the human monsters. Moral decay. Under stressful situations, some people become more human and some people become less. As a vampire, your world gets turned upside down, and shit changes. THAT, I think, was the point of all this.
Abby: My general feel about The Vampire Diaries is that it’s more a story about growth than it is about goodness. The story isn’t about making good choices or being good people, it’s about broken families, lost children, and monsters. A main focus is the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things that people/monsters do, or have done and must try to recover from doing if they want to ever find goodness in themselves or in life. It stands to reason that some characters will be irredeemable., unpopular, and morally bankrupt. I’m not sure where Sage will lead us (if, indeed, she leads us anywhere, she might not) but I do think that her remark about women being for pleasure was more about creating a really big obvious connection – Damon was all chaste and gentlemanly, then Sage came along and now he’s a raging hedonist. It might also have been as simple as SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY YOUR MEAL, DUDE. It’s really hard to tell with the tiny snippets of scenes. The blood-taking/sex parallels are so OBVIOUS, and so pervasive, that it’s hard to tell which one any vampire is talking about at any given moment. Was Sage saying that Damon should make them beg him to take blood (presumably by seducing them and making them wild for him to touch them in any intimate way) or was she talking about sex? I think the muse part of Sage’s character may just be that she taught Damon to revel in his own power and be a sensual being. The feelings and rights of the humans -men or women- aren’t a consideration. I don’t find that offensive in a vampire character, it seems like a normal attitude. As an alternate theory: maybe SAGE hates women and has some need to see them treated as playthings. It may be part of her story. Maybe Finn was a raging womanizer [SCARY THOUGHT] [Christina: GROSSSSSS!]. Maybe he ditched her for mortals and is all gentlemanly and lovely to them, and was a jerk to her, or they had a fundamental disagreement over The Rights Of Humanity. Maybe he bailed on her because she’s too callous and monstrous. We just don’t know yet.
Cin: Abby, you are the keeper of the awesome for a reason, and that is because you are MADE OF WIN! You said what I think Christina & I were trying to say but with more brains than we could muster. And you bring to me another thought I had this morning. Why is it that these big ‘Twwuuuee Wuuuvvvv’ couples are always such opposites. How exciting would it have been if KOL had been Sage’s one and only? That would have been SO FUN. It’s always rascals falling for damsels or vixen’s falling for churchboys on this show. I’m bored of it. Give me a wicked power couple like Spike & Drusilla any day of the week.
Abby: What I wouldn’t GIVE for a Spike & Drusilla. LORD. Your observation is A+ spot on, imho. Opposites attract only goes so far, and we passed FAR ENOUGH many episodes back. Of course, maybe we aren’t being fair to poor Finn. Maybe he was a wild and crazy seducer who went around sexing up and snacking on anything that would stand still. Maybe HE’S the one that changed and now Sage needs to change him back. Maybe she was trying to turn Damon in to the old Finn! Maybe his Mama put the mind-whammy on him from the Other Side and made him all dreary and repentant! Sorry, it’s a tangent. I’m just having a really hard time figuring out how Finn could be anyone’s idea of a delightful lifetime companion.
Cin: Word, and plus who doesn’t need more Kol? I know I need more Kol and imagine them being all Angelus & Darla and seducing couples through the ages. (I could make a TB reference but when it popped into my head it made my stomach turn over and I’m trying to enjoy this fantasy. LOL)
Abby: I support any theory that allows us to see more of Kol.
Cin: I mean, why in the fucking hell would they try to make more story line for FINN instead of Kol?!? This is possibly the stupidest thing since daggers!
Abby: Maybe to give him depth before they kill him?
Cin: Spits!!! Not an acceptable reason, but does bring us full circle to yet ANOTHER issue of mine with this show. I should shut up while I’m ahead before people start asking me in the comments why I even still watch the show if I just hate on everything so much. I promise the answers are as vain as you can imagine. The short answer: Elijah is still a living (unliving) character and I’m a masochist.
Abby: EEEELLLLIIIIIIJAAAAAAH. I missed him. Also Klaus. I MISS MY FAVORITE ORIGINALS. I WANT THEM BACK. And Caroline! This episode had a serious lack of Caroline, Elijah and Klaus.
Christina: The lack of Klaus and Caroline (and Elijah) too physically pained me. I need them. I NEED THEM.
Cin: They are all I need. Morals, plot, logic be damned!

From the Tweetosphere:
@thomascgalvin: The fact that Damon talks the most sense out of anyone is still terrifying. #tvd
@Nomadic_Rose: Drinking again, Alaric? You aren’t a good role model for those eight students.
@caulkcrinolines: Everything was a lot more fun in the twenties, sweetheart. #TVD
@TikisGrandad: Stefum was home too. The two a them just hangin out together…Darren pianoing & Stefum journaling. They’s warm my heart.