Saturday, November 14, 2015

The Vampire Diaries, Season 7, Episode 6: Best Served Cold



And Bonnie finally finished her ultimate act, using Elena’s freshly crushed heart as an ingredient for the spell that killed every last member of the cast but her. And lo there was much rejoicing, considerably less death and an end to the global whiskey shortage

…damn I fell asleep and started dreaming while recapping Vampire Diaries.

So it’s to the actual show beginning with another 3-years-in-the-future scene – Damon is visiting Rick and warning him that his fiancée will be used as bait for Stefan – that fiancée being Caroline (uckies – that’s technically a teacher/student romance) and they’re already too late as she’s already blood stained on TV with a message for Stefan

To the present and Stefan dreaming about the kid he ever had and waking up to the awkwardness of Caroline learning Valerie stayed the night. Stefan explains why he is trying to protect Valerie – Caroline sees absolutely no reason why this is their problem, even a little. Valerie likes the idea of escaping because the Phoenix stone has another downside – it turns people mad which makes Julian scary

Julian and Bo are playing with swords at the mansion and Lily is all love struck. She warns Julian they have enemies – her sons – and decides to deal with that by inviting Damon and Stefan to a little party (they’ve already completely written off Valerie).

Meanwhile Rick is still all sad panda, Jo is still possessed and Bonnie isn’t happy being recruited to play stalker and watcher over the who-ever-it-is possessing Jo. Bonnie being dragged into a menial unpleasant task that she has no motivation for? Surely not!

Stefan wants to go to party, Damon doesn’t. Stefan wants to kill Julian right now. Damon wants to wait until Lily has got used to him being back so he can then crush her heart with his death.

Personally I think killing either of them while surrounded by beings that are immensely more powerful than Stefan and Damon is a bad idea which needs a bit more planning – but they’ve always thrown themselves hopelessly against powerful enemies (if it weren’t for plot armour, both Stefan and Damon would have been killed by Katherine, Elijah or Klaus several seasons ago).

Clearly this needs more relationship drama so Valerie pokes Caroline about the big-secret of being pregnant with Stefan’s child that Stefan is keeping from her.


Time for the party, beginning with Nora appealing to Julian to get Lily to let them to leave town and more tensions between Mary Louise and Nora. Stefan arrives to find a house full of compelled house guests – which Lily calls “what peace looks like.” There must be a new record for patheticness set when you have to compel people to come get free booze. And Damon is there to stop Stefan murder Julian (and Damon still doesn’t know the pregnancy secret)

Matt is also invited because someone cares about this character. Apparently. Alas he doesn’t die. Why oh why doesn’t he die? And Enzo and Bonnie go – apparently, Enzo has told people Bonnie is his date because we need that.

Julian continually treats Beau as a servant, confides that he may be having mental issues and asks Beau to find something he’s lost. Overheard by all that super vampire hearing he’s whispering around. Including Enzo who Julian treats like one of the staff so Bonnie plays girlfriend to make Lily jealous because she cares about Enzo because… oh, wait, she doesn’t. But of course Bonnie is happy to serve

Mary Louise is still having Nora issues – and Julian decides the best way to address this is to encourage her to eat the catering staff, despite Lily’s rules.

The Salvatore brothers keep fighting over the timing of their murder of their mutual enemy. And people wonder why I drink? Anyway, this plot limps on, Julian is introduced to a crowd that doesn’t care, Stefan and Damon dance around trying to murder Julian, continually arguing until Stefan gets Matt to vervain Damon to stop him interfering

Because taking out one of your allies before you take on a much older vampire is definitely the best plan here.

Stefan attacks and it all goes terribly wrong. They end up being sat down and lectured by Julian about his personal hell and how he’s totally not a monster. Julian and Stefan fight and as he rages and attacks Lily tells her sons to leave. Because raging vampires are really so unusual and shocking

They go home and Damon pokes Stefan repeatedly asking what has got him all raging and killing until Stefan snaps and smacks him before telling the whole story of Valerie, the baby and Julian’s brutal beating. They talk with actual understanding – and draw comparisons between Julian and Guiseppe Salvatore – their dad. Damon is now on side on the Julian kill.

Lily tries to talk to Julian to understand where his rage came from but he just scorns her. She insists that she wants her children alive. He blames his issues on the Phoenix Stone in blatant manipulation. She falls for it. And agrees for the whole family to co-operate to make him feel safe from the Salvatores

While this is going on, Bonnie and Matt follow one of the guests leaving the party, clearly compelled. He goes to the school along with dozens of others – all donating blood and unresponsive.

Alas we now have to join Rick and not!Jo  and not!Jo has a nose bleed. Caroline is called to provide healing blood for the nose bleed and cough – and she throws it up. Valerie suggests that a vampire soul in a human body apparently doesn’t work. Caroline takes Valerie aside for a brief lesson in tact

Jo – or Florence as it turns out – and Rick have a tearful goodbye

The aftermath of this is Valerie watching Rick’s tragic wedding video and realising that the Gemini witches who were chanting weren’t trying to imprison Kai (which probably wouldn’t have worked because of the whole siphon thing), but were safeguarding the next generation of Gemini twins – Rick’s children. Because twins are so special to the Geminis.

With the help of Valerie’s woo-woo they find the location of the babies – inside Caroline, apparently. Vampire pregnancy?





The Phoenix Stone turns people “mad” which makes Valerie even more afraid of Julian. Um… Julian is a man who brutally beat her to force a miscarriage, he’s controlling, cruel and evil. Exactly how does mental illness make him worse or scarier? This is how embedded the pathologisation of mental illness is in our media and society that we can have this nonsensical idea – that this man, this terrible man, is not truly scary and a threat because MADNESS.  Or that we needed some other reason to hate or fear him beyond what we’ve already abundantly seen.

Can someone tell me why Stefan, Damon, Caroline… anyone are still in Mystic Falls? I mean, really, they don’t even have Elena’s body tethering them there any more. Why attend a Witchpire party? What could they gain? Why not just… leave? Caroline jokes about getting Valerie out of the country well… why not? Why don’t all of them just take off and fly to New Zealand or something? (my apologies to kiwis for wishing this on them).  Is it just revenge?

And why why why why does Lily control the Hybrids? Mary-Louise and Nora want to leave town, exactly how will Lily stop them? Can this be addressed? Why do they have to appeal to Julian to intervene?

I do like Bonnie and Matt both epicly shooting down the whole “hey let’s start afresh!” plea. Yeah because no. Really, no. What is it with Mystic Falls and these awful, pointless awful parties. Why would ANYONE attend this? I mean, I’m almost insulted it WASN’T an ambush mean to kill them all! Anyone walking into such an obvious trap deserves to be chopped into itty bitty pieces.