If you’re a Tyler/Caro fanatic like me, there’s no doubt that your head is spinning like that chick from The Exorcist at all of the Forwood spoilers that have been making their way from The Vampire Diaries camp of late. Not to mention the fact that we have been seeing hints of Jeremy in Tyler/Caro scenes! Yippee!
I need 15 Sept in my life right now, but I figured the next best thing is kick-starting another batch of Got Forwood rewinds!
It’s so much fun going back and recapping earlier episodes with the benefit of hindsight. There is A LOT of foreshadowing in Bad Moon Rising – for future T/C interactions but also Ripper!Stefan and Caroline’s potential to be his new Lexi now that he is on the dark path again. A werewolf even pins Caroline to the ground and drools all over her, and even though it isn’t Tyler, it IS a Lockwood!
Plus, who can forget Tyler’s very erotic little forest hump move just after he came back to Mystic Falls last season?
I’m just saying, Tyler/Caro are bound to get down and dirty, though hopefully not as down and dirty as the graveyard sex between Bill and Sookie.
Before I get started, I thought I would create a glossary of common terms that come up in Got Forwood recaps because I know there are some newbies to this blog (*waves at Alyssa, M et al*). Also, I’ll include some new ones that are likely to be used in future recaps.
Forwood unicorn – mythical creature that emerges from a mist of glitter and Rainbow Care Bear flares any time Tyler/Caro are in close proximity to each other and not making totally idiotic choices to get in their way of their soon-to-be-lovefest. As baby vamps and baby vampires are mythical creatures on their own, I thought that a pairing of the two deserved a nickname that reflected the uniqueness of their bond.
=
Trevino!Ass/Tyler!Ass – What Tyler has a pocketful of when wearing his hallowed pair of skinny black jeans, which Gen from txgirl0302 has promised to gif the hell out of for me should they make a triumphant return in season three.
She made the quality GIF above for me after my newfound little obsession 😉
Walksexing – What Tyler does when he moves. He is walking sex, ergo he walksexes.
Lupining – pining by our favourite werewolf (lupine guy) Tyler. Happens when he is friend zoned in favour of Matt, or believes he is out of Caro’s life for good, or when he is at that awkward tipping point in his relationship with Caro where things could be more but the girl kinda rejected your smoochies and he doesn’t want to rock the recently mended boat.
Caratt – that annoying thing that gets stuck in your teeth, the pebble in your shoe, the hair in your soup, the pregnancy of a nun AKA a Bad Thing. Also, my anti-love shipper name for Matt/Caroline. My position on this, unlike other TVD ships, is unflincing at this point. I am generally flexible and will take each episode as it comes, but see my earlier Forwood posts for why Matt’s passive-aggressive treatment of Caroline, my beloved baby vamp, means I could never ship them together, Tyler or no Tyler.
Coed Naked Forwood Couch Cuddling (TM KJewls). Tyler/Caro cuddling post-wolfing out. Julie Plec confirmed that Tyler was indeed naked under the covers, despite Candice Accola’s denials to the contrary.
Shirtless Salvatores – An endangered species in season two, hopefully will become like the plague of humanity and thrive like amoeba in season three.
Dark!Matt – A creature who I hope comes out to play in season three, since I think he would make an interesting antagonist or thorn in the side of the Salvatores, especially with the return of Ghost!Vicki. If Matt does go dark, what might my reaction be? “Not a total Baldwin, but a vast improvement”.
Bad Touch – Originally the way Jeremy/Tyler interacted and sparked their secret BFFs if they could just get over themselves status. Eventually became my term for whenever Tyler gets up in someone’s grill or vice versa, which is like ALL THE TIME.
Bondage Stefan – a sexy creature that emerged when Stefan was tortured half naked with vervain ropes in season one. I have high hopes we will see it again.
Foe!Yay – a derivation of Ho!Yay, where homoerotic tension between straight characters becomes so intense you just can’t help but make mention of it. Tyler/Jeremy, Damon/Elijah and Klaus/Stefan have it in spades. Not to be confused with slash, Foe!Yay is just about me basking in the deliciousness of how much chemistry can be generated when two insanely hot men on this cast are in the same room or torture chamber.
Legal to Lust Over (TM Amy from Imaginary Men) – Can be used as a verb (example of usage: “Thank God he is Legal to Lust Over, so I don’t have to feel like a dirty old/young lady”), but generally a noun specifically referring to Jeremy Gilbert. One of the hottest guys on the Vampire Diaries cast who we are supremely grateful is played by an actor in the legal age for us ladies aged 20+ to lust over, it is no wonder this has become his nickname for me and blogger pals Amy and Julie.
Thing One and Thing Two – Amy and Sarah, the two drunk chicks we have to contend with until they are helpfully dispatched by Katherine’s hands or manipulations in the Masquerade episode.
Locket!Horcrux (TM 12_12_12) – Matt’s role in Caroline’s life. Just like the locket containing an evil part of Harry Potter villain Voldemort’s soul brought out the worst part of Ron by playing on his insecurities, Matt tends to bring out the worst in Caroline.
Sex rays – something transmitted by the soulful eyes of many men on the Vampire Diaries cast, kind of like they are Hot Cyclopses or something.
Titanic – Your Mother Ship. (Example of usage: “Tyler/Caro and Damon/Elena are my Vampire Diaries Titanics! “)Seemingly unsinkable in some cases, but given this is a supernatural drama you just know that things are never going to be easy but a hot guy of Leo proportions will make the ride worth your while.
Iceberg – a character whose sole purpose is to sink your Titanic AKA Mother Ship. Examples of usage: 1. Rose. 2. Brrr, it’s cold enough out here for blue balls, but jesus, I hope that we can steer through that motherfucking iceberg that is Caratt and get to Tyler/Caro goodness. Icebergs may also take the form of eye-roll worthy plot developments that act as roadblocks to these ships.
Swimfan – Obsessive fan like me who likes taking a dip in the shallow end every now and again, or every other sentence. Synonym = stan (though, Trevino, if you ever read this, I promise not to drive off a bridge with someone locked in my car trunk in a desperate bid to get your attention. I have my limits).
Steaming hot biscuit. Something that you want to put in your mouth and savour. In a PG 13 way. Also, girl code for a really hot guy from my high school days. Cos my friends and I were stealth like that.
Salvatoreo – Chocolately goodness with a creamy filling. Why Salvatoreo? Because why choose between Damon and Ripper!Stefan when I can ask to be the cream filling sandwiched between their chocolately goodness?
Stewardessing – Fangirl resuscitation after a particularly satisfying gratuitous shirtless moment. I’ll do the equivalent of directing you to a drop-down oxygen mask like they do in planes, usually by going back to serious analysis.
Fetch – Something that will never happen, at least, not in my recaps. Unless wolf!Tyler decides to fetch the paper or something.
Also, you may see pictures of the ridiculously attractive Music Sex God, Brandon Flowers from The Killers, appear randomly throughout the recaps, for no other good reason than that I like looking at him. Blogger pal Amy introduced me to him, and my standards for male hotness have never been the same again.
Now, with that out of the way, let’s get cracking on this recap!
In this episode, Papa Stefan and his baby vamp Caroline bond over bunny blood, Serious Vampire Looks, and the understanding of the danger they bring into the lives of their human lovers, Elena and Matt.
Caroline chews up and spits out Caratt for Matt’s own good, but is sad because she doesn’t know that dessert is forthcoming.
We are treated to a werewolf walk of shame from Mason, and I curse dirt and strategically placed shadows for blocking my full view.
We learn that Stefan takes the whole friends don’t let friends drink friends philosophy seriously.
And Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson also commit the ultimate fangirl offence by keeping Matt and Tyler FULLY CLOTHED at a swimming hole party. (seriously, it bugs me to this day that for all their talk of not being gratuitous with shirtless scenes, they don’t capitalize on this opportunity for torso porn organic to the storyline. Lift yo game up, yo! Life yo game up, yo!)
Our first Forwood-related scene features Running Man Tyler shadowing Mason as he goes for a jog in the woods, trying to work out what is up with his uncle.
This is intercut with Damon, Stefan and Elena grilling Alaric about using his dead, not dead vampire wife Isobel’s academic connections to try to work out what Mason is.
“If this Wolf Man thing is true, I’ve seen enough movies to know it’s not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real-life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney, Jr. which means Bela Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed.”
I love references like this which make the Salvatores’ age really obvious. We’re all about Team Edward and Team Jacob, but I love this old school supernatural stuff!
After trailing Mason to the old Lockwood cellar, Tyler starts trying to pump his mother for information about it. She clams up, claiming that no one likes to reminisce about “the old slave days”, and to this day I wonder how much she knows, or doesn’t know as the case may be, about the werewolf gene running in the Lockwood family.
The other thing that is interesting about the scene is how much Tyler’s relationship with his mother has changed, as it has with females across the board throughout the season.
Tyler is clearly touchy as hell, still feeling angry and abandoned by his dead, physically abusive father he had an extremely complicated relationship with. Carol has apparently checked out as a parent at this point. I mean, when Tyler says he is thinking of inviting some friends over to the swimming hole and she tells him to be careful because the family is liable for anything that happens on their property, he bites back sarcastically, “Of course.”
Tyler doesn’t trust Mason and assesses his motivations to Mason’s bloody end, but it’s clear that Mason becomes his surrogate mentor/parent figure, with Carol only really stepping up when it appears Mason has defected to Florida. Over the course of the season, we have some genuinely touching scenes between Tyler and his mother, like the dick/jerk scene in Masquerade (which sounds way dirtier than it actually is, though recapper Price Peterson made a good point when he said that the chemistry is sometimes uncomfortably strong between Trevino and the lady playing his mother). In the hospital scene after Tyler’s mother has been fallen down a flight of stairs under compulsion, you can see how much they adore each other. In fact, they might have the only unfucked up parent/child relationship in Mystic Falls at that point, which makes the whole Romeo/Juliet, warring families storyline it has been hinted Tyler/Caro will have in season three all the more interesting. There is actually something at stake, because I feel like the dynamic between Tyler/Caro and their mothers is really well fleshed out.
Meanwhile, Papa Stefan is busy getting Caro a shiny new piece of jewellery, a daywalking ring spelled by the reluctant Bonnie.
Bonnie was such a spunky, lovely best friend character in season one, but she lost a lot of sympathy from me in the scene where she sternly lectures Caroline that the witch who spells the ring can also de-spell it. Caroline was basically brutally murdered by Katherine before coming back as a vampire and was overcome by her vampire urges and killed a man before Stefan started acting as a mentor for her.
Bonnie is right when she says that the man is still dead, but let’s not forget Caroline is a vampire indirectly because of Bonnie’s doing – Bonnie insisted that Damon feed Caroline blood when she was close to dying in the hospital, and didn’t bother to keep a close eye on her even though having vampire blood in her system left her vulnerable to being turned.
So Bonnie not showing an ounce, or even a gram, of sympathy, made me hate her a little.
Ah well, Bonnie pulling back the curtains of the room they are in dramatically to prove that the sunlight flooding in now longer had an effect on Caroline had one hilarious result…
Caroline shrieking, “Well, what if it hadn’t worked, Bonnie!”
Later, Stefan shows her the ropes of being on a bunny diet when he takes her on her first hunting trip in the woods.
Caroline: “Isn’t killing cute, defenseless animals the first step to being a serial killer?”
This line was totally adorable, and a great hint at the dark side of Stefan. I mean, Stefan may be on a bunny diet at this point, but his inability to control himself when he becomes Ripper!Stefan is why he restricts himself to this. I liked the reminder that Stefan may try to deny his vampire nature but it is always there.
I also loved her little rant: “I haven’t been in the sun for days, and everyone’s at the swimming hole having fun, and Matt is there, and he finally told me that he loved me, but I’ve been blowing him off, and now you want me to eat bunnies, and I’m kind of freaking out, okay?”
Stefan’s amusement at her mini-freak out is just adorable in every sense of the word, and it’s so great seeing him loosen up for once.
Her Annoyed Vampire Look in response to his laugh, the one she gives right before she snaps, “What?!” is also fabulous.
Stefan explains to her that natural behaviours of humans are amplified when they become a vampire. Caroline realizes this means she has become a “neurotic, insecure control freak on crack”, but what is so great about this is that her flaws as a human are part of what make her the Little Vampire That Could. Having heightened control is what allows her to get her baby vamp impulses under control in record speed, unlike Vicki, whose addictive personality as a human meant controlling her cravings as a vampire was near to impossible.
The turning point of becoming a vampire means that she can more easily give into her jealousies (like compelling Thing Two), but also show more self-control (learning to hunt animals so she doesn’t have to feed on humans, orchestrating a fight with Matt so he’ll break up with her, ultimately protecting him from herself).
I love Stefan, but I must admit that his little, “my flaw is caring too much for people and this was amplified” speech kind of made me throw up in my mouth the first time I watched this episode. I remember thinking that it would have been better if he had chosen a negative trait, so that Caroline could relate more easily to him as a fellow flawed being rather than, That Guy, as Matt dubbed him – the one who seems to have everything, and everything, even being a vampire, comes easily to him (even though this is far from being the case, as Caro learns after acknowledging he is a problem drinker).
In retrospect though, I quite like his “as a human I cared deeply for people, how they felt, if they were hurting I felt their pain and I felt guilty if I was the one who caused their pain” speech. It fits in with his obsession as a human and a vampire to be seen as a the “good brother” or “good son” (like him telling the Miss Mystic Falls contestant he compelled and fed on that he shouldn’t hurt her because he’s the “good brother”).
Plus, it makes his descent into Ripperdom even more interesting. If feeling the guilt of his actions has the potential to weigh down so heavily on him, he is bound to have the switch of his humanity so firmly turned off he will do some despicable acts, and I think the moment when he reclaims his conscience is going to be incredibly powerful.
Stefan also redeems himself in the scene with his unbelievable sweetness when saying, “Hey, listen, let’s hunt, and after that, we’ll go to the swimming hole”, which earns a hopeful, adorable “Really?” from Caro. ❤
At the swimming hole, Matt and Tyler share a scene and I’m reminded of how nice Matt can be when not around Caroline. I mean, I just loved his reaction to Tyler’s comment, it was so cute!
Tyler: “Is it me, or did Amy Bradley’s ass get hot?”
Matt: [chuckling] “All class, all class.”
As mentioned earlier, my faith in the Vampire Diaries producers was severely shaken by the fact that unlike virtually every extra in this scene, Matt and Tyler are both fully clothed. Luckily, this faith was restored with the appearance of Bondage Mason later on.
Mason drives up in his truck and we get a great little homage to Twilight when he drives past Stefan, with the dark glares he exchanges with Stefan mirroring those between Edward and Jacob’s dad.
Caroline teases Stefan about the Serious Vampire Look he got on his face when Mason went past, and I fell in love with Stefan a little more when, after initially being startled by the comment, he laughed happily at himself. I love when this show and its characters don’t take themselves so seriously.
Thing Two starts flirting with Matt until Caroline walks up and compels her, telling her to go stalk someone single.
Matt is upset that Caroline is rude to “harmless” Amy, but seriously, I’d be pissed if any boyfriend of mine was flirting back with another girl like that. When he gives her an ultimatum later that if she doesn’t stop being such a jealous freak they can’t be together anymore, I basically hoped Katherine would come along and eat him up for those blue eyes of his she loves so much. I mean, let’s not forget that the episode before he was declaring his love for this girl and saying he didn’t want to lose her, plus she had ALMOST DIED in a car accident, yet a little IMO completely justified jealousy is enough to set him off? He should’ve been the one apologizing for flirting back with Amy! BAH!
I did love Papa Stefan’s little rebuke when Matt stalks off.
Stefan: “Caroline, I saw what you did, you compelled her.”
Caroline: “Yeah, she deserved it.”
Stefan: “Caroline, no one deserves to have their mind messed with for shallow reasons.”
Caroline: “Why is everyone sticking up for Amy freaking Bradley?!”
Stefan: “You’re letting your jealousy get the better of you.”
Caroline: “Great, now I have magnified jealousy issues. I may as well have stayed dead, my entire personality is killing me.” [off Stefan’s barely suppressed friendly laugh] Shut up.”
Aww! On the one hand, Stefan and Caroline have a mentor/mentee relationship, just as he had with Lexi, who helped get him out of his original Ripper days. They also just have that easy chemistry together that makes me believe Caroline is a perfect fit as a future best friend for him. I really hope that she has a prominent role in pulling Stefan out of his current descent into darkness under Klaus’ influence, because she is the New Lexi in my eyes.
Miss u, Lexi! ❤
We discover that Thing Two did indeed find someone single to stalk… Tyler Lockwood!
Tyler takes her down to the old Lockwood cellar because apparently he has no game whatsoever and things creepy crawlies won’t matter so long as you have romantic dim lighting, I guess. Despite her dark colouring, the actress isn’t actually African-American (yes, I cared enough about Thing Two to Google her!), so at least we avoid the truly horrendous faux pas of taking an African-American girl down to an old slave cellar to make out.
At the Babies Who Bite thread, we talked a little about how the kissing scene with Thing Two almost blatantly contrasts with the Tyler/Caroline smooch.
Tyler kisses TT on the neck and hardly looks at her face and though his hand is on her waist their bodies are practically a foot apart; it’s clearly all about sex and there is no physical or emotional intimacy between them (this fact is emphasized by Tyler’s lust-filled “Is it me, or did TT’s ass get hotter?” question earlier). Whereas in The Descent, Tyler gives Caroline a relatively chaste, tender kiss on the mouth, before drawing back to gaze deeply into her eyes, so he can gauge her reaction and see that she is on the same page before going in for more. Tyler/Caro are also pressed up close together and he cups her face, which is something all good TV Boyfriends so.
TT, who starts coming out of her compulsion, pushes Tyler away, and he goes, “What’s the deal? Come on” and starts kissing her again until she pushed him off. He also asks her why she came down with him if she wasn’t into it. Look, if a girl says no, a guy has to accept that, no matter what all of her earlier behavior has implied, and these were deeply dick moves.
I will say though that my immediate thought after, “why so jerky, Tyler?” was, “how these chicks turn this guy down, I’ll never know”.
I’m a swimfan, remember 😉
Anyway, during the Caroline/Tyler kiss, C pulls away and Tyler immediately drops his hands and even actually APOLOGISES when she tells him “you can’t do that”, even though a second go they were both Doing That.
I liked the touch of Amy saying that she liked Matt, not Tyler before scurrying away. Even though Caroline doesn’t say it explicitly until the morning after her first kiss with Tyler, a major reason why she cuts the Forwood unicorn moment short is that Matt is still in the picture for her.
Mason had planned to use the old Lockwood cellar as his transformation safehouse, but hearing TT and Tyler approach he scooted out, before he was caught in the compromising position of explaining why he was locked up half-naked in chains and bolts and locks.
Mason ends up trying to lock himself in his truck, and even though he screams of agony made me feel supremely sorry for him, I can’t be the only one who thought his truck looked like a Shaggin’ Wagon with all the bouncing around it did while he transformed, right? Right?!
We cut to Caratt making out after Caroline promises to never act the part of the jealous girlfriend again so he won’t have cause to flounce off again like he did earlier.
Before you gouge out your eyes with a spatula, take heart. Matt gets cut and Caroline loses control and starts munching on him. Huzzah! Too bad Stefan swoops in to stop her.
Stefan knows there is a werewolf out in the woods and tells Caro to run – Damon, Alaric and Elena go on a sleuthing mission in this episode to Duke and discover that a werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire.
It’s kind of hilarious that Stefan and Caro zip off while Matt just lies on the ground, bleeding out his life blood. When Stef briefs Caro about what the Scooby Gang have discovered, Tyler just randomly walks up and interrupts the intense conversation… in his flip flops, a detail that was faintly hilarious to me.
Mason!Wolf pops up out of the blue and pins Caro down, salivating on her neck but not going in for the bite for some reason. Tyler screams “NO!” (hot!) and the wolf listens. Whether it is because Tyler is an alpha, or because werewolves listen to human beings of similar family lines, or what have you, Mason!Wolf stops and trots off. It’s kind of interesting that Tyler’s immediate instinct was to take charge of the situation like that, even though at this stage he has no idea the werewolf gene is dormant in him.
It’s a nice touch that Caro ends up being the one to compel Matt into forgetting, given that she has just drank human blood, and we know that this diet makes a vampire a more successful compeller. Stefan, still on a bunny diet at this point, doesn’t have that advantage.
We aren’t shown it, but I assume that Tyler was compelled by them to forget that they are vampires. For some reason, they don’t appear to compel him into forgetting seeing a werewolf, because later when he runs into a naked, dirty Mason, he says, “It was you!” implying that he knew he was the wolf they encountered. I’m just gonna fanwank that the Salvatores’ interest in Mason Lockwood meant Stefan was prepared to have an unknown variable like Tyler, who is hot headed and suspicious by nature, know that something weird is up with his uncle, if it meant some of their detective work was done for them.
Oh, and Matt and Caroline break up. I cheered it was sad. I did love how much character growth it showed for Caro. After compelling Matt, she talks to Stefan about whether he thinks she should stay away from Matt, and if he ever thought he should do the same with Elena. I was so proud of her selflessness in provoking a break up with Matt by pretending to be jealous of him sitting with Amy in the Mystic Grill. Stefan acknowledged that he probably should leave Elena alone, but doesn’t have the strength to, yet Caroline shows here that she does when it comes to Matt.
That’s part of the reason why her hooking back up with Matt later on is so disappointing to me, because it feels like a step backwards for her character. Yes, I get that she has her impulses under better control, but if Stefan realizes the danger he puts Elena in simply by being around her given his cravings, this issue is never going to go away for either couple.
The episode ends with Katherine coming to claim Caroline as her minion, with promises of hinjinks to ensue.
Fin!
myspideysenseistingling 
July 24th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Ahhh, The Bunny Hunters episode! 🙂 Such memories!
Trolling the internet for TVD Comic Con material has got me going through some serious vampire and werewolf withdrawal. So, thank you for taking the time to give us a little trip down memory lane, with this fun- filled, eye-catching and witty recap. (That “You think I’m too serious” screencap is pure perfection!)
(Speaking of PICTURES, to anyone out there who has that elusive Season 3 NAKED DAMON IN BUBBLES screenshot: I WILL PAY YOU MONEY FOR IT! Just sayin’!)
It must be said that my FAVORITE PART of this recap was when you discussed Caroline’s dumping Matt. The use of subliminal messaging was SPOT-ON, and had me rolling on the floor laughing. No joke!
Reviewing this episode again during the True Blood season, I have to say, I see a lot of parallels between Baby Vamp Caroline and Baby Vamp Jessica. And so begins my mini-essay on the topic . . . 🙂
(1) Both Baby Vamps initially looked to their respective mentors, who attempted to teach them a “cleaner” way of vampire living, so that the newbies wouldn’t repeat “Daddy’s Mistakes.” However, both Caroline and Jessica ultimately rejected Tru Blood Drinking and Bunny Hunting, for more traditional methods of feeding. And yet they still came out the other side of the story as relatively “good vampires,” illustrating that they were more adept than their “surrogate parents” at fighting their “natural urges” – (YEAH, GIRL POWER!)
(2) Both characters started off the series, as fairly sheltered individuals, who were a bit immature, slightly self-absorbed, and more than a little bratty. Ironically, it has been their vampirism that has taught these Baby Vamps maturity, empathy, and self-restraint, in a way that humanity never could.
(3) Both characters have uniquely close relationships with their Vampire Daddy’s . . . relationships, that, in many ways, are closer and more personal than the Vampire Daddy’s have with their human girlfriends. Caroline and Jessica bring out sides of Stefan and Bill that are much softer, funnier and more lighthearted, than we generally see on the show in any other context.
And finally . . .
(4) Both Baby Vamps attempted to dump their Human Boyfriends for said boyfriends own good, only to ultimately take them back, and (I’m predicting here, in terms of Jessica’s story) eventually, BE DUMPED by those boyfriends again. As a result, both Baby Vamps end up making serious sexy time with their new SHIFTER BOYFRIENDS, who understand them in ways that their human boyfriends never really could. (Jessica and Jason, anyone?)
Now, that I’ve finished my mini-essay, I will say, that I love the massive amount of foreshadowing you managed to mine from this episode. It was refreshing (and more than a bit symbolic, I think) watching Tyler instinctively attempt to rescue Caroline, even though it meant choosing her over his “family’- Mason Wolf. I think you may be right about Tyler ending up being some sort of Alpha Wolf, which would explain how he was able to dominate his older, stronger uncle, even in human form. (Jules certainly thought he was important!) We also see Caroline, in her dumping of Matt, rejecting her more human lifestyle, and begin to accept herself as a vampire. I suspect we will see more of Caroline embracing her true nature in the episodes to come.
Oh, and by the way, I LOVE Katherine’s Purple French Maid Costume in the final scene, where she’s standing, perfectly coiffed, over Poor Bed Head Caroline. I’ve seen pornos that started this way . . . Man, if only had the legs to pull off a costume like that. 😉
Is it September 15th yet?
July 28th, 2011 at 4:24 am
I know what you mean about withdrawal symptoms. I met someone with the surname Lockwood the other day and my instant thought was “Vampire Diaries!!!” and it just hit me how much I’ve been missing having a new episode each week to overanalyse and pick to death with all of you guys. Not to mention, I need my fill of the hot cast, I won’t lie.
The Soapsuds!Damon screenshot remains elusive! I tried tracking it down for you, but with no luck. At least you know you have that gem of a scene to look forward to in the season three premiere.
You know, as bad as I feel about loving a break up scene, I keep it real in these blog posts and I let out a “huzzah” the first time I watched Caroline provoking Matt into breaking up with her, pre-Forwood stuff. Mostly, I was proud of how well-fleshed out her character was becoming, and that the writers were daring to show just how tragic a figure Caroline actually is now. I’ve also been in relationships where there has been an undercurrent of passive-aggressive fuckwittery, so seeing hero drop that zero of a boyfriend (at least in the way he treats her) was just gravy.
Your parallels between bb vamps Caroline and Jessica are awesome! Makes me think that as much as I liked the idea of Caro/Katherine slumber party, it would work much better if there was a Vampire Diaries/HBO cross over.
It’s always made me wonder why some vampires are able to control their impulses better than others on True Blood. On Vampire Diaries, it has been established that if you are a control freak or an addictive personality as a human, this will be heightened as a vampire. It’s interesting to think about whether it is nature or nurture that plays a bigger role on True Blood. I think the Maker relationship has a definite impact on how well-versed a vamp becomes in curbing their natural impulses and managing their supe sides. We’ve also seen that without a human support system, TB vamps can create enclaves of their own kind that become progressively more evil and cut off from their humanity. I do agree with you though that shifters like werewolves are pretty much the ideal partner for a vampire, because the shifter can understand the conflict between human and supernatural sides of their personality and makeup. Not to mention, they are often more durable and therefore can engage in much more hard-hitting sex!
I’m really excited that it sounds like Tyler and Caroline will be discussing their supernatural impulses more and how this effects their day-to-day life. I really am interested in how being a newbie vampire or werewolf with strong, recent recollections of being a human deal with their powers as opposed to vampires who have been around for centuries.
Another commonality between Caroline and Jessica is that everything was heightened even more than usual when they were first turned. Who could forget Jessica’s glee in discovering that she could spout off any swear words that she wants without fear of repercussion from her bible thumping parents any longer flipping dramatically to sobs about how much Bill sucked as a maker to her giggling like crazy about the pun she had unintentionally made. Her rollercoaster of emotions definitely matched those that Caroline went through.
I’ve often though it was interesting how Caroline was so willing to deliver Katherine’s message of “Game on” to Damon compared with how scared she later was of Kat. Did she have her humanity switched off at that point? I think it was after killing that guy at the carnival that she realised she didn’t want to hurt anybody else.
I’m forever impressed by the foreshadowing and payoff that underlies all of the Tyler/Caro storyline – that is why it is my absolute favourite. Show Don’t Tell techniques of writing are almost always employed with them, which means there is always so much to unpack and analyse with them, which makes it fun as a recapper. DE, Stefan/Katherine and the Salvatore brother relationship are also fun to analyse for similar reasons.
You are absolutely right about Tyler instinctively attempting to rescue Caroline, even though his latent werewolf gene was there below the surface. He was remarkably Oz-like in how unperturbed he seemed to be at seeing Caroline knocked down by a hulking big wolf after being in a super intense discussion with her friend Elena’s boyfriend. The way he said “NO!” and stood his ground was either very brave, very stupid, or just very hot, I haven’t fully decided which one is more the case yet 😉
July 25th, 2011 at 12:30 am
“Walksexing”, Bondage Stefan AND Music Sex God!! By god woman, you know how to get me to read a post about Tyler ;-00
July 28th, 2011 at 9:44 am
Haha! As much as I love TC, I also adore the Salvatores, Brandon Flowers and many other genetic gods, so I figure, if I’m going to be objectifying one man in a blog post, why not spread the love?? 😉
July 27th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Cherie you glossary of terms is brilliant lol. I was laughing inwardly reading them all. I cannot wait for S3 to be upon us so we can get those terms going again. I need Forwood Unicorns back in my life.
Spoilers! OMG the spoilers! I am so ready for the season premiere it’s not even funny anymore. 50 more days!! Wooo!! I’m insanely excited for a few scenes and seeing Trevino, McQueen and Candice all in one shot together has me insanely giddy. I’ve been longing for Tyler and Jeremy’s friendship to make another appearance and unfortunately that didn’t happen in S2, but I think with the ghosts of girlfriend’s past coming back I think it would make for a great opportunity for these guys to start hanging out again. I need Tyler to have more guy friends and I think it would be awesome for him, Jeremy and Matt to somehow be friends. I’m hoping that the damage done to Tyler-Matt’s friendship will be repaired and I’ll have my bffs back. Of course all that excitement pales in comparison to how I feel about T-C this coming season. There is a certain line that Julie Plec says Tyler says that I need in my life like now. She also said T-C will also start discussing their respective supernatural troubles and compare notes. I LOVED when they did that in “Rose” and I’m so happy that it’s making a comeback.
Believe it or not, but I was watching this episode a few days ago. I’m in the process of downloading HD/logoless versions of S2. Seeing Mason Lockwood all chained up in HD was amazing lol. Anyway, I love that you brought up the contrast between the T-C kiss and the Tyler kiss with TT, you could even throw in Vicki in there as well. None of the kisses with these girls were ever as intimate as T-C’s. Le sigh.
I can still remember when this episode aired. I was really nervous about Caroline being a vampire, but I open to the idea that maybe she would go completely darkside and I would fall more in love with her. So that didn’t necessarily happen, BUT I think I love her more now than I would have if she did go darkside. The Katherine scene at the end had me all kinds of worried and excited, but in the end I’m glad Caroline was able to stay the peppy awesome girl that she is. Ssh, but a part of me would like to see some dark!Caroline. Don’t judge me.
I instantly fell in love with the Caroline-Stefan friendship. They have genuine moments with each other and the trust between them is something that I believe will stand the test of time. They are wonderful together and like you I hope Caroline plays a part in bringing Stefan back from the brink. Back to the episode, Caroline was flawless in this. We got to see the aftermath of her transition and her heightened emotions. Come on, her “I’m an insecure neurotic control freak on crack,” line was made of so much win it’s ridiculous. I think it was in this episode that by the end of it I was so Team Caroline that I couldn’t believe it. Especially with the ending of Carrat I was in such high hopes that T-C might have a scene or two I was foaming at the mouth lol.
Now onto Tyler. Good Lord those Lockwoods. Can we have more morning jogs in s3 please? Thank you. So we pretty much knew by now that The Lockwoods are indeed werewolves, even though TVD seemed to drag it out forever but then we find out they are werewolves, Tyler triggers his curse and then he turns and it was awesome. I really liked Tyler in this episode, because not only were we seeing more of him (in more ways than one. God Bless that green tank.), but he wasn’t being a supreme douche, he was actually trying to figure out what the eff was going on. He had questions and wanted answers for them and if he had to do the sleuthing himself then he was going to get to the bottom of it. Plus anytime Tyler and Carol have scenes together makes me happy. I’m looking forward to more of those in S3.
I just want to say I had the same reaction to Tyler and TT’s “kissing” scene. I was like, “Don’t be a dick Tyler but WTF chick?! You don’t tell Tyler Lockwood no! Look at him!” LOL.
I was/still am confused about whether or not Tyler was compelled or not. How did that story work? Did Stefan tell him you saw a wolf but not us? That’s weird, but whatever, if it meant getting to see Mason Lockwood all nekkid and dirty then by all means! *Sigh* Forever in my heart Mason. You were taken from us too soon. *Wipes tear*
Another great re-wind Cherie. I can’t believe this episode aired almost a year ago. My does the time fly. Looking back now, I had high hopes that maybe, just maybe, my crackship would get a few scenes together, but what I got was so much more than I ever hoped for. I went from wanting a hook-up to wanting them to love each other forever and ever lol. These two characters have completely stolen my heart individually and together have destroyed me from ever shipping another couple this hard again. They are my OTP.
July 28th, 2011 at 9:43 am
It’s funny, I was reading back through some old recaps just to get in the right mindset for the next batch of rewinds, and I realised that to the casual reader, there is some stuff in there that would be completely mystifying. But hey, half the fun of being part of a fandom is all the injokes that result, so rather than stopping I thought, “Ohh! A glossary would be good!” Glad to read your enjoyed it . I suspect nothing I come up with will ever defeat the awesomeness of the nickname that Charlaine Harris, the author of the Sookie Stackhouse books, gave Sookie to give to Eric’s, well, you know… the Gracious Plenty! I laughed and laughed for DAYS anytime I thought about the phrase. Kind of like how the term “Monkeyslut” still cracks me up even though I have re-watched Misfits more times than I can count 😉
OMG! The spoilers for TC have been so epic, haven’t they? I am so giddy for the season premiere that I think when we do the liveblog things like ahaohgighoblbjjlsss will just spill out of me in all of the excitement. I can’t wait to read everyone’s instant reactions to all of the TC goodness we know will be in the season premiere. Sources I’ve been scouring indicate it should be at least three, plus party stuff, assuming anything isn’t cut out. And you just know I’ll be trolling your blog like a boss for Trevino!Ass, Trevino torso porn et al for when I recap the hell out of it.
My speculation is that, judging from the TCJ pics, the writers are deliberately positioning all of the characters to make the ghosts of girlfriends past storyline easier to write. I desperately want male bonding. Some of my favourite scenes in Vampire Diaries have involved this. The Salvatore bros and Jeremy/Tyler are my fave male pairings, but I also actually like Matt/Stefan (the That Guy scene from the double date), Elijah/plus any other guy, and Matt/Tyler. Not to mention, the Caroline/Bonnie/Elena bonding scenes usually rock the house. MOAR writers, please!
I’d love to comment more on spoilery stuff, but I’m going to do a proper Got Forwood spoiler and speculation post and should probably save it for that in case people want to go in like complete, innocent, unspoiled lambs. I think I know which TC line spouted by Julie Plec that you are referring to 😉
OMG, if I get started on the TC kiss, or I’ll be here for days LOL! Definitely “le sigh” worthy. [dreamy look] and I’ll leave it at that.
I remember when Caroline was first vamped how afraid I was that they would kill the character off. In fact, in an early s2 interview with Julie Plec, the exec producer talked about how doomed Caroline was by her lot in life and how being an interfering busybody and now a vampire meant things would probably not end well for her, and it was a matter of them figuring out how many situations that could get her in and out of undead alive. I think that the popularity of the character means that their original intentions have probably changed a little. Dark!Caroline would be awesome. You know why? Like Stefan, it would have incredible punch because her peppy, sunshiny personality has been so well established that playing a new dark Caroline off of our old perceptions of her would be far more powerful than just bringing in a random character who already is dark. I would love if they at least skirted around Caro’s dark side, even if they never go full fledged down this path. Little moments like her chomping on Matt and losing control despite being deeply in love with him were part of what made her early season two arc so awesome. In the very least, I want to see Caroline struggle with various aspects of being a bb vamp that her human personality amplified makes tougher.
I’m hoping that Tyler and Jeremy have to go on a jog together this season. I don’t really care what reason the writers cook up; I’ll accept any plot device, no matter how flimsy, that makes this happen 😉
I always thought it was hilarious that they held out on the werewolf reveal like it was some big secret. The minute they showed Tyler having rage issues under moon light in The Turning Point, I think even people who hadn’t read the books were pretty clued in. For me, the excitement was in how this werewolf mythology would differ. I like how being a werewolf in TVD is a real curse; unlike Twilight and True Blood this form of shifting is long and incredible painful, rather than werewolves fursploding (TM Cleolinda) out of nowhere.
I am still confused about the Tyler being partially compelled tie up at the end of this episode. Oh well, they gave us naked Mason I can overlook a few things like plot consistencies!
Amen to what you said about being ruined for shipping any characters as hard again. I’ve adored other pairings, with Logan/Veronica being the other one that I obsessed over back in the day, but I’ve definitely devoted more time and energy into speculating about the fate of this pairing more than any other, and analysing all the material we’ve gotten for them so far. They are my OTP too! Just to think, they haven’t even really gone beyond friendship except for one kiss, and we can say that already! Just think what we’ll be like when we get Porch!Sex or even just more hot kissing!!
July 29th, 2011 at 1:16 am
Hello lovely, I just stopped by to tell you that I’m starting to real all your blog posts. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to do it till now, this summer has been kinda crazy for me.
I just love this recap,the glossary is pure genius. I’m laughing out loud like a moron. I won’t comment too much on it because it’s 4 am here and because I agree with everything you say in this post.
But I’d like to say that I need me some new Tyler/Caroline scenes now because the spoliers are killing me and, all the awards, the pictures from set aren’t helping either. So we’ll “talk” more when you stop by my blog or when you make your next post.
And if you don’t mind, I’d like to write something to Jules too, darling, I’ll e-mail you tomorrow from work. Sorry it took me so long, I’ll explain everything, ok?
July 29th, 2011 at 1:18 am
*I’m starting to READ*
Sorry, very tired