The Vampire Diaries: Football and Fangs
The Good
Machinations
We love watching the brothers maneuver around each other. Damon wrangles an invitation to Elena's house, and Stefan counters with a vamp-blocking herbal locket. Well played, sir!
Grudging respect
Bonnie wants Elena to take it slow with Stefan -- intimations of death will do that to a girl. But Elena invites the two to dinner, and Stefan wins her over by putting the best possible spin on the Salem witches: they're "heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Hey, we'd like him too if he said that about us!
Then there's Matt, who's torn between hating Stefan for stealing his girl (and he still refers to Elena as his girlfriend during a heated exchange. Oops!) and being the nice guy he is. He finally comes around on the Stefan question when he sees our fave vamp defend Jeremy during a fight with Tyler. This will actually be problematic for Stefan, as Elena saw his palm slashed with a broken bottle, then saw it completely healed moments later. Eventually she's going to start putting the pieces together...
There's more after the jump -- read on!
Bonnie's reactions
We love that Bonnie remains so real, even with the psychic flashes. She's convincingly freaked out -- especially when she realizes that the numbers she's been seeing were what surrounded Tanner's body. We thing she should register a complaint to the psychic-flash department, though -- what good was the parking space number really going to do for her?
Caroline
We weren't particularly sold on Caroline to begin with, but this episode changed that. Her terror as she attempted to escape from Damon was heartbreaking, and we like to think that she was gone from school all day because it took a while for Damon to work his mind-whammy on her. But we're wondering if her mean-girl tendencies are stronger because of Damon's influence, or if this is her true self?
Damon's humanity
It is there! We see it when he's stroking Elena's cheek while she sleeps. It could have been a purely creepy moment, but instead, it turned into something sad and touching due to the look on Damon's face. Well done, Ian Somerhalder!
The Not-So-Good.
Football
We can't get around one nagging problem -- football is a bad thing for a vamp to play. First, he's going to have to keep his super-strength in check at all times to avoid ripping a defender apart. Second, when someone tries to tackle him and ends up bouncing off him like a brick wall, that's bound to cause comment. And finally, the rough-and-tumble game seems like a great opportunity to lose the ring that keeps him from turning into dust. And hey -- would they really let him wear what amounts to a brass knuckle on the field?
The adults
Apparently, there's only one, and he's (1) and ass, and (2) monster chow. Why would Tanner engage in a battle if wits with Stefan in the first place? Where the hell are Caroline's parents when she (presumably) brings home a guy to sleep with, and then gets chomped on? And will we ever meet this mysterious Grams of Bonnie's? At least Elena has a reason for being adult-free -- what's everyone else's excuse?
What's your take on the ep? Talk about it in the comments!