Episode 4×23, “Graduation.” So, um, we’re seriously going to be wrapping up their high school careers while Bonnie is (hopefully temporarily) dead, eight million other vindictive dead people are suddenly back in town, Elena has a short window of time to spend with her temporarily not-dead brother, the world might be ending, and these people never even bother going to class 9/10s of the time anyway? Can’t they just graduate offscreen like they went to high school offscreen? Okay, old lady grumble over. So, “Graduation.” Everyone seems to be expecting their diplomas, which makes Stefan Salvatore and Edward Cullen more tragically similar than I’d like to believe, and also means that the episode is skipping ahead a bit in time, even if just several hours. So, there will be some glossing over what should be awesome. Anyway, what do I care. This is a Vampire Diaries season finale, so if it somehow manages to not be amazing than even that, even in and of itself, will kind of be a twist ending.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Cold Open
- Did I miss something? I thought Jeremy rekilled Kol. So is this a dream sequence? Or can an un-undead-dead person not be re-killed again? Or am I just an idiot who didn’t follow a basic plotline correctly? I’d go back and recheck but the whole point of reactions is to, you know, honestly react. Anyway, I hope it’s possibility B because that’s the most interesting.
- Um, are we supposed to be recognizing these extras?
- Bon Jovi! I always think of Lexi when I hear this song. Her, and Barney Stinson. Which is a very weird combo I realize, but it makes sense if you follow these two shows.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Everything up until the first commercial break.
- I meant everything I said in the 162 Candles entry, Lexi just brings Stefan to life in a way that just about no other character does. Love! (P.S. love Lexi’s hair).
- Okay, so it’s full moon tonight. I think that makes it…three days since the last episode, right? Or just two days. Anyway, dead Bonnie should be a lot more rotted looking. But that’s an aside. It’s good to get a sense of how much time has passed. Also, I’m a bit appalled at Caroline’s weird priorities. I get that it’s in her character bible but that doesn’t mean she has to act that way even unto the apocalypse.
- Am I wrong about the time frame? Everything else makes so much more sense if it’s only the next morning. I’m officially not caring until I actually need to.
- Damon doesn’t even look to see who’s at his door? Even with the veil lifted? (or dropped or however that analogy works?) Snort. Damon, I had such hopes for you. Seriously, you and Bonnie, mostly, were the only ones kind of sort of paying attention to this whole apocalypse thing most of the time and then you go and do shortsighted stuff like this.
- Dude, Rebekah left you to starve, Vaughn, not Damon. I’m kind of sort of sure of it. And since this Hunter mythology has the consistency of an old man who’s run out of fiber and you never haunted anybody (nor did Jeremy and no I’ll never forgive that) I guess I’ll never know who killed you until I rewatch the season. But, I’m almost certain it was Rebekah. Go kidnap Rebekah. You have this really weird bondage fixation for Damon.
- “This is my bar pal. Nobody’s going to blow it up.”–Alaric. Dude, that is both badass, and, more importantly, hilariously charming. Protect the booze and your sentimental attachment to all your bromantic occasions with Damon spent drinking all that booze. Please quit your new show, Matthew Davis, and come back to this one. We miss you so much.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Everything up until the second commercial break.
- So anyway, was that Winnebago and all the C4 and weaponry inside just lying around all year with no one bothering it, or did the undeaders just reclaim the vehicle from the car lot (it does, at least, look like it’s parked there, though that does raise some new questions) and head out to Walmart and buy a whole new arsenal?
- Aw, Rebekah and Matt really kind of work for me. Of all the popular Original ships (Klaus/Caroline, Kol/Bonnie, Rebekah/Matt, Elijah…?/umm, he’s the hottest, I’m not sure why he’s not part of a ship) I actually like them the best. Which is odd, because I like them the least as characters. But they do have this odd kind of sweetness together.
- “And here I was hoping the ghost of anyone would have killed you already.”–Bonnie to Katherine. Yes! That’s what I’ve been saying! Not that I want Katherine dead, because I definitely don’t, but because I would have liked to have seen someone dead try. I mean, so many undeaders have both valid and invalid reasons. Let’s see….tomb vamps, Trevor, Rose, Jeremy, Lexi, Mason, Emily Bennett, Mikael, Doctor Martin (the dad witch from Season Two), Pearl, Jenna, Jules or any or her werewolf pack, and something like the million people we’ve never found out about that she’s screwed over in the intervening four centuries. Any of these fights would have been so interesting.
- OMG, I am so happy that Damon gave Elena the Cure. Not because I give a crap that he gave her the Cure, but because he did it in one sentence with no moral angst and now we don’t have to witness the epic wangst I feared was coming. I’m liking everything in this episode so far but the absence of that plotline just made this episode escalate to perfection.
- ….And Elena’s not Sired. I didn’t think she was, but this also settles the other big drawn out issue of the Season. And also in one rapid exchange. Yay! This scene is the best scene for dispelling all of the earlier repetitive scenes. Thank you for whoever gave it the green light.
- And Vaugh’s alive. I guess that’s how Kol was alive in the Cold Open.
- Yes!
- Damon, you are just…you will throw happiness away with three hands if someone offers it to you with two won’t you.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Everything up until the third commercial break.
- R/M, very sweet first kiss. I would like to have witnessed the physics of them switching places though, because, umm…
- But this switch is seriously, primarily about Matt’s not missing graduation? Seriously guys, I’ve graduated from high school. The only time that it’s not boring are the few times where it’s incredibly boring. Oh, and the time when your parents take you out for a nice meal afterward. And the after parties. But then, everyone in this town parties every week, and everybody’s parents are dead, so..where was I? I guess just go hang out with Stefan, Jon Bon Jovi and their booze, since they’re the only ones this episode who have put graduation into its proper perspective (and you can just get your diploma from the principal’s office afterwards).
- Oh Jeremy, not you too. FFS, you just came back from Undead Heaven or whatever, you know that you probably only have one day back on Earth anyway, and you knew more than anyone else (of the teenage crowd) that school was bullshit even back when you were still alive attending it. This episode is starting to feel like a weird propaganda piece, like they’re trying to make up for four years of their characters never even attending classes by making the graduation ceremony some equivalency in accomplishment.
- Kat Graham, you’re breaking my heart a bit.
- Hey, it’s Bonnie’s dad. I wonder if she’s even going to remember to say goodbye to him before she dies. [just snarking here, and I guess that just counted].
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Everything up until the fourth commercial break.
- Bonnie….even past death you’re still strong and quick on your feet and badass. I have zero doubt that you’ll live because the writers don’t know how to write without you, but my god I’d miss you if somehow you’d die.
- What in the hell is that graduation cap made out of? Bwah!? And I’m not laughing because it’s unrealistic. I’m laughing because I one hundred percent believe that if a small town would fabricate titanium weapons grade caps for their annual graduation it would absolutely be Mystic Falls.
- Aw, I think Caroline’s heart just grew three times for Klaus right there. And I don’t even mind that much.
- Shirtless alert. I think it actually has been multiple episodes now.
- “Even when I was at my worst you never gave up on me”-Elena “I kind of owed you one.”-Stefan. I appreciate the sentiment but come on, Elena instantly killed one waitress and failed to kill a few other people; Stefan spent months slowly tearing apart over a hundred terrified victims. So…not entirely the same, right?
- I guess I kind of like this aesthetic, all three of them getting the chance to consider taking the Cure. It does mean, by that same turn, that all three have to turn down the Cure, but still. For the first time in a long time I’m getting really curious as to who is actually going to get it.
- And also, what happens if you give it to an Undeader vampire (like Kol or Lexi or Alaric or whoever? Do they get to become regular living humans again? shrug.)
- Aw, Klaus. That was win. I’ve liked you as a villain (in the past). I’ve rarely liked you as a Romantic Anti-Hero (or whatever they’ve been trying to pull) but that was total win.
- Delena! At last, no impediments. Good speeches too (Damon’s was better written).
- It must really suck to have vampire hearing and live in a house with Damon. I mean, forget the time he dates your ex. Now I’m just thinking of all the compelled sorority girls and what not. And your physically forced to eavesdrop. Anyway, poor Stefan. No ex should be forced to listen to that.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Everything up until the fifth commercial break.
- Alaric’s gone. Is this about to commence a non-musical montage of everyone I love blinking out of existence mid-conversation. Fine. I’m glad Jenna didn’t show up then.
- “Elena was the one. Contrary to popular belief, there are actually multiple “ones”. Especially if you’re a vampire.”-Lexi to Stefan. Yes. I like Stelena quite a bit. But this is a beautiful sentiment and I’m glad that someone is forwarding it. Stefan needs to graduate.
- Jeremy’s alive. Bonnie’s dead. I have too many feelings.
- Oh, Zach Roerig. That…really could have used another take. You were shooting for boyishly charming and hit smarmy instead. A more polished take could have made it work. Meanwhile, Claire Holt (who’s doing it right) is gazing at him with stars in her eyes, and given what she’s reacting to it’s pretty hilarious because even a smarmy Matt is probably still the nicest a man has been to her in like…ever. Well, anyway, fanfic and bombthreats can make you two great. Have fun in Italy.
- My immediate reaction: yes, yes that was a good unexpected way for the Cure to go and fight to end and so on. But my second and almost immediate reaction is that Katherine Pierce, of all humans on Earth, will find a way to turn vampire in 2.5 seconds. Something further needs to happen for this to have any meat as an actual plot development. That said, great looking fight.
- I am so fantastically happy I don’t have to wait a whole summer knowing that Stefan is trapped in a box. And okay, I’ll admit, I accidentally got spoiled over the Stefan doppelganger thing, but not about the box drowning thing, so that’s a surprise.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Everything before the end.
- Whoops, clearly I missed a commercial break. Hard to tell on Netflix streaming. My bad.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Some Final Thoughts
- So, is this the first finale where every single main credits character ended in a scene alone (in the sense of, without another main credits character)? wow.
- You know, I’m surprised that Silas was so terrible to Stefan, given that they’re lookalikes and all that. But then I remember that the whole point of doppelgangers is that they’re supposed to torment and be bad to their other halves. Courtney Ford made that exact point all the way back in episode 2×3. It makes perfect sense that Silas and Katherine are such dicks to Stefan and Elena so way to go consistency.
- But, a few episodes ago didn’t Silas tell Bonnie that Qetsiyah’s curse on him included permanently disfiguring his face? I know Silas lied all the time but that seemed like it was meant to be a pretty big deal to not be true. Or, at least, to not be specifically addressed as false (Qetsiyah gets a bad rep, she needs to show up at some point and cut a bitch). So anyway, the whole doppelganger thing seems a bit…I dunno. Does their identicalness matter that much when Silas is A) permanently disfigured, and B) a shapeshifter who can look like whoever he wants to anyway?
- And on that note, when will we see Qetsiyah? Is she going to make a Season Five appearance? Because I’m still really excited to see Tatia and she was forecasted over a season ago.
- Will I be watching The Originals? Absolutely I will be. Am I glad Klaus is leaving? Absolutely. Am I glad Caroline is staying? Thrilled. All the same, their scene together was very nice. Putting that kind of stuff earlier could have made me actually root for them. Anyway, very nice.
- I need to laugh at the glass vial of humanity Cure. This here must be the strongest glass container in the world…I mean, considering it’s 1000+ years old to begin with (glass didn’t have preservatives back then, and glass, chemically, is actually a liquid, albeit a super duper thick one), but in the past few months it’s been thrown, submerged, tied tightly and hung up like a necklace, pressed in hands, pulled from throats, clasped in baits and switches, et cetera et cetera without even cracking, because this was magical glass, and yet tonight, just being shoved into Katherine’s open, gasping mouth was enough to make the glass instantly burst open and drain down her throat. Maybe there’s some Harry Potter shiz going on where it has as much to do with intention as physical properties or something.
- I already addressed it, but I loved Stefan hanging out with Lexi. She brings him to life, and she gives him the best advice. I always like seeing the actress, but I have to saying I think she’s been kind of underserved her last few cameos. She’s strong here. Watching her snipe rudely with Damon for no decent provocation at all in New Orleans, or get tricked into sleeping with Damon because he’s an asshole in New York…this is not a great use of a Lexi cameo. Not compared to watching her rocking out with Stefan to Bon Jovi and reminding her literal BFF that there’s a world beyond school and a hot’n’cold brother and one particular love of his life. So anyway, this was great.
- And Alaric. I don’t know what the actor’s been up to but he was so fresh and energetic and playful. It was awesome.
- Okay, so because everything was great I just have to comment on the only three things that weren’t so great:
- Katherine getting the Cure. like I said above, Katherine is all about self-preservation and using people. She can turn back into a vamp immediately if she wants to, so unless something further happens to prolong her humanity, (like Klaus getting a hold of her, except that he’s heading off to New Orleans so that won’t happen), this was a wasted opportunity of a conclusion they spent an entire season building up to. So here’s hoping, but…
- Normally I don’t much like to point out similarities to other series (except in jest) just because genre shows are all inevitably going to touch on the same issues and plotlines, it’s all part of following the same genre conventions and archetypes. So I don’t want to be the kind of fan who pitches a fit when two shows in the same genre do a similar thing. But the Stefan thing…This is just way too similar to Angel being trapped in a car filling up with water at the bottom of the ocean with no one else knowing about it at the end of the third season of Angel, up to and including happening during the last minute of the season finale so we’d have to worry all summer. I mean, it’s a safe instead of a car, and a doppelganger instead of a son, but…and I’m not screaming rip off or anything like that because I hate when fans do that. Two writers can independently think up the same thing. But. Given that Angel and VD are in such similar wheelhouses, it’s irresponsible for the writers to be unaware of how freaking similar these plotlines are. So.
- The returning massacre victims. Letdown of the season? Possibly. Episode? Absolutely. I get the point of them being there, namely, they had to be because it would be weird if they weren’t, and plus the episode needed an antagonist. But…they did almost nothing and then poofed out of existence with one head chop from Klaus and then one spell from Bonnie. They were a step below filler (because filler can be entertaining).
- But now back to the things that were great!
- Jeremy and Bonnie loving each other. Also, let me tabulate this. They’ve shared kisses as: human/human; human/ghost; ghost/human; and ghost/ghost, is that right? It would be a dark horse win but they might actually win out for epic couple of the series.
- Klaus knew to show up because Caroline sent him a graduation announcement. Caroline Forbes, ladies and gentlemen. I love that lady so much sometimes.
- Elena saving herself. It wasn’t exactly a decisive victory over someone else, but I am happy that at long last Elena saved herself from certain death without someone running in to save her. She fought hard and made it.
- Elena and Damon. Sweet and hot. And no Sire bond. And no one’s evil. And they finally seem to accept each other, and what that says about themselves.
- Alaric and Damon. Miss them hanging out. It felt different somehow. I guess because Alaric didn’t get exasperated a single time? Making him different than human Alaric. But just love them together.
- Alaric and Lexi. They love their Salvatore loved ones. They’ve really accepted an eternity of soundlessly warning their friends out of bad situations, but at least they’re glad for the chance to do it. I don’t know, I’m not doing the scene justice. It was very sweet.
- The graduation ceremony, in spite of all forecasting, actually only took up like a minute. It didn’t deserve more and the show wisely knew not to show more.
- And it was either shoddy writing that they were like half of the senior class graduating, or hilariously on point writing because so many classmates have died. And I should point out that, yet again, it’s another party that Rebekah has had to miss.
- The doppelganger reveal. Like I said, I was spoiled a few weeks ago. Still though, it was a good reveal. Definitely didn’t see it coming.
- So now, with this Salvatore-doppelganger reveal, the Forbes and the Donovans are literally the only mundane bloodlines on the show. Like, Gilbert=Hunter’s legacy, Gilbert (via Elena’s mom)= Petrova doppelganger line, Mikaelson= Original vampire/hybird/Original witch, Bennett= Qetsiyah line, Lockwood= werewolves (in Season Two they pretended that was rare), and…yeah, so Caroline and Matt are just boring regular people who somehow fell in with a crowd of extraordinary superstars.
- Silas. If there’s one thing funnier than a morally upright, 162 year old vampire going to high school and pretending to like it, it will be a 1000+ year old vampire pretending to be that other vampire going to college and pretending to care. Can’t wait to see it.
- You know what I love? And I mean this with 100% sincerity, since inflection gets so lost. That Elena’s choices and deliberations give everyone such headaches, and that she often chooses things thing for herself that others would not, and that everyone else (being stronger than her, especially collectively) could actually make her do what they want, and even so, in the end, they respect her choices. Like in the scene where Damon and Jeremy try to give her the Humanity Cure (and Stefan’s in on it right downstairs), and are all letting her choose whether or not to be human. They even all use the word choice like a million times. It’s just so rare to see a genre show that respects a woman’s right to make choices for herself as thoroughly as this one does. They’re not consistently perfect at it, of course (there’s been some sporadic memory erasing, et cetera), but by and large the track record is awesome for a bunch of alpha males. And anyway, that’s what I love, the struggle and negotiation between wanting to let her choose and wanting to do what they feel is best, and ultimately letting her choose. If it’s easy it isn’t real. Anyway, I’m rambling. This show is very problematic, gender wise, but I also give it baskets of cookies for the things it does right because it can be spectacular.
Conclusion: Weaknesses? sure. Who cares. Perfect episode. I love this show so, so much. I give “Graduation” forty Cure rejections out of forty.