LIVE Raw thoughts - May 28, 2012

11:09 - I was actually really impressed with that show ending beat down.  Initially, I had wished Big Show did something cheap to get such an immediate upper hand on Brodus, but since he did essentially blindside him and he did use the table pretty early on, I was okay with it.  And using that plank of table -- instead of, say, a chair -- made for a great visual and really did look brutal.  The addition of Kofi and Truth worked as well.  While it was risky having one guy single-handedly dominate your tag champs, they both went down fighting so it worked.  And, again, Show throwing Kofi through the barricade looked painful.

I was REALLY glad that John Cena didn't show up, though.  So much damage had been done that if he had shown up, he would've looked like a massive jerk for not coming to their aid earlier.  Plus, Lawler going out of his way to tell viewers that his comments were "pre-recorded" now make sense.

This episode of Raw was a big improvement over the past few weeks.  Great job.

10:58 - Add Brodus Clay, Naomi, and Cameron to the list of people who get a special introduction.  And I said it before, but I hate that Brodus now introduces Naomi and Cameron.  It kills the momentum and build to HIS entrance.

10:49 - By the way, a pet peeve of mine is after each patriotic occasion, when WWE puts together one of their great pieces on the military, and there are cynical fans out there who go off on how self serving it is.  WWE goes above and beyond what they need to do in order to achieve good PR.  I legitimately believe that Vince McMahon has an extremely appreciative sense of respect for the military and that these packages come from the right place.  Not everything is so devious.

10:42 - That Memorial Day piece is another example of the great value John Cena -- the face -- brings to WWE.  He'd be a tough person to replace should they ever take him out of that role.

10:37 - What, did the writers read a psych book on logical motivations or something?  Miz bringing up the fact that he won Johnny control of both shows, yet everybody else seems to be benefiting from it.  Excellent point.

10:31 - To be fair, Eve did say "coffee" and not "iced coffee."  And you gave it to her in a coffee cup, not an iced coffee cup.  Sorry Teddy, but you were wrong.

10:24 - When they initially announced Jericho's suspension I thought nothing of it.  However, it did strike me as odd that Jericho was conveniently absent from the Smackdown tapings (which occurred before the suspension) and they just announced the suspension on-air in a rather awkward fashion.

By the way, Christian vs. Miz would've been an awesome feud when they were both being pushed as main eventers.  Not so much when Miz is on jobber duty.

10:19 - I have to say, overall, this Punk/Bryan/Kane/AJ thing is pretty interesting.  A LOT more interesting than Cena/Ace/Big Show.  Or even Lesnar/Triple H.  I don't have any issue with special attraction matches, and I'm not saying this as an Internet fanboy, but I really think the right decision here would be to close the PPV with Punk's match.  It's got intrigue, the fans are into it, something big is sure to happen, and it'll deliver....big time.

10:17 - Great use of AJ here, as it creates a sense of wonder about whether she meant to distract the ref for Punk or if she just messed up.  Plus, her giving Punk the chair not only ensured that Punk would remain safe, but it also allowed him to fight off Kane while he was beating on Bryan.

10:06 - Oh, and there's AJ's involvement!  This match just went from "like" to "LOVE!"

10:02 - By the way, I do have to admit that I do think that Kane's involvement in this feud has added a new layer of complexity.  And I do think that Kane is a relatively capable performer and potentially interesting character.  I don't mind him being inserted in the story -- BUT, I would like to see Punk vs. Bryan one-on-one at No Way Out (perhaps a submission match), before moving on to a three way feud with Kane.

9:59 - So what are the chances that Sheamus/ADR actually happens at No Way Out?  Hasn't this one-on-one match been canceled from the last two PPVs?  And rightfully so -- it's a dull match!

9:53 - I love that Punk's crazy beard is back.  And that he's on the cover of WWE 13.  But it seems like he's being used to shill the Cena/Ace storyline more than his own.

9:51 - "This game is gonna be bigger than Pac-Man!"  Awesome line.

9:41 - I actually like Brodus in this role.  His undefeated streak has to come to an end at some point, and the real challenge for him as a character will be how his career responds after that (I actually thought it would be cool if Brodus, Ryback, and Tensai's streaks culminated with the three facing each other), and here he gets to lose (I assume) and still look good by standing up to the challenge.  As long as it's not a squash -- and I highly doubt it will be -- I see this as a good thing.

9:31 - You know, I just noticed that we have quire a few Superstars who have somebody introduced just to introduce them.  Alberto Del Rio.  Dolph Ziggler.  Jack Swagger.  Anyone else?

9:24 - I don't know what it is, but Santino just bores me so much.  The US title is being wasted on him.  Why not give it to anyone else?

9:11 - While Big Show kicking off the show initially made me sigh with disappointment, I actually thought it did an effective job of explaining his motives.  He's right.  He did JUST get fired and suddenly Brodus and Kofi and Truth are dancing around celebrating.  And Cena did essentially ignore what happened to him.  Surprisingly effective promo.

8:16 - I hope everybody has had a safe and fun Memorial Day Weekend.  We really lucked out with the weather, huh?  Let's just hope the nice weather is here to stay!  Anyway, before getting to Raw, I thought we'd begin with a pre-show discussion.

You frequently hear from fans on Twitter, message boards, and other blogs that the WWE Championship needs to be re-established and "saved."  But my question is, does it really need to be saved?  I mean, sure, as "savvy" viewers we recognize that CM Punk and the Championship isn't closing the show, but does your typical fan see it that way?  The Internet Wrestling Community is constantly reminded that we're a small portion of the audience, which may be true, but we may also want to step back and recognize that our particular mindset is probably in the great minority as well.  I remember thinking back to when I was younger, and when Bret Hart won the Championship.  I didn't think to myself, "why are they giving this midcarder the championship?"  I just thought, "Bret's the champion now and he's a big deal."  Yes, there's the big difference here that Bret was then TREATED like a big deal.  But CM Punk has as well.  He's cleanly beat each person he's faced.  Has he wrestled in the last match of the night?  No.  But to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure a lot of fans make that connection.

Could they be doing more to make the championship seem more special?  Yes, of course.  But I also wouldn't say that what they're doing "isn't working" or that it doesn't hold any value.  I honestly do believe that your typical fan sees the belt as a big deal.  What are your thoughts?

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LIVE Raw thoughts - May 21, 2012

11:04 - Am I wrong that Zack Ryder didn't even get to run out with the rest of the babyfaces at the end of the show?  Yikes, that's not cool.

10:47 - Yeah, that was the problem with the Tensai character.  The "Lord" and robe.

10:42 - Cue the people talking about how Sesame Street or some other show has aired more than 1,000 episodes.

10:36 - Glad to see Kelly get the win but I'm surprised they had Kelly lose after being put on the Maxim list.

10:29 - There's nothing creepier than those segments where they show a Diva walking around backstage smiling.

10:23 - I didn't see Over the Limit last night and it seemed somewhat ambiguous whether or not that was an OFFICIAL face turn for Christian.  I figured that his opponent tonight would determine if he's a heel or face.  And since he's in there with a heel, I'm guessing this is officially stating him as a face.

I personally prefer Christian as a heel but he's effective as a face as well.  It's tough to say, though, whether this is a step up for him.  As a heel he'd be behind Daniel Bryan and arguably Alberto Del Rio.  But as a face he's behind Sheamus and Randy Orton.  Tough to say.

10:17 - Any combination of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and AJ is absolute gold.  Can the WWE Network PLEASE give these three a sitcom????

10:08 - I found that whole Punk/Bryan/Kane exchange pretty fun.  Reminiscent of some great Eddie Guerrero chicanery.

9:59 - House is over and I'm met with a Daniel Bryan promo.  Talk about serendipitous!

By the way, evidently they did explain the Big Show contract thing.  I guess he and Johnny had a verbal contract on Saturday, but didn't sign til after.  There ya go, good enough for me.

9:48 - I don't know what it is, but I hate the Samuel L. Jackson/Siri commercial.  Not nearly as much as the Zooey Deschanel one, though.  It drives me crazy that she looks out the window, sees that it's pouring, and asks "is that rain?"

9:40 - Yikes, even the commercials during House are better than the ones during Raw.

9:28 - Alright so I guess I missed Big Show's explanation, where evidently he revealed that he was rehired Saturday.  Of course, that means he was a Superstar on Sunday, and thus should have been fired since he interfered in the match.  That's not even a logic gap -- it's a completely avoidable (and inexcusable) mistake.  Yikes.  What I do like, though:  Sheamus' new shirt.  Also, Johnny Ace's hoveround.  The wheelchair MADE Mr. McMahon's character in its early inception.  This scooter could do the same magic for Johnny Ace.

9:09 - I know people will be annoyed with Cena's (brief) jokey spiel, but I am a sucker over the fact that he name dropped the Anonymous Raw General Manager.  And I appreciate the fact that they're actually covering the arguable logistical gaps:  Why didn't Cena just pin Ace instead of toying with him?  Why did Big Show sell out when he could have just seen Ace get fired and then get rehired by the next GM?  Bravo to them for that.

9:08 - So far, House is winning.

8:09 - Alright, so here's the deal.  There WILL be a LIVE Raw post tonight, but it's not going to have my full attention.  While I haven't watched House in probably about 4 or 5 years, I am intrigued by the series finale, so I'm probably going to be flipping between that and the first hour of Raw.  However, I'm not entirely married to each show, so they'll basically be competing for my attention.  Whichever program I find more enjoyable I'll be watching, while the other will be viewed during commercial breaks.

But do check the blog at 9:00 for some (possibly) sparse thoughts, and then the second hour will be my usual routine.

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Once Upon a Time Opening Sequences

I will discuss the season finale of Once Upon a Time (as well as American Horror Story and Ringer) over the next couple of weeks, but before that I'd like to share a cool video from ABC.com.  At the beginning of each episode of Once, during the title sequence you see an image in the background that hints at the episode's central story.  Well, here's a video of each of those sequences.  Pretty cool!



Oh, and to those of you who haven't checked out this show yet, I HIGHLY recommend it.  In fact, Hulu has all of the episodes online.  It would make for some great summer viewing!

http://www.hulu.com/once-upon-a-time

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48 Things That Will Make You Feel Old

I'm sure you've seen this list floating around the Internet, but it's a rather humorous (and surprising) collection of 48 facts that will make you feel old.  The first item shocked me right off the bat (11 years?!?!?)  Check it out:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/things-that-will-make-you-feel-old

Oh, and if this list shows you anything, it's that all young actors seem to grow up into scary ass adults.

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A Must Read

Please take a moment to read a great blog entry on the LIVESTRONG website about one of my best friends, Neal.  You might remember Neal from his Oblivious to Melody blog, although it hasn't been updated in a couple of years.  Perhaps because he's out there accomplishing amazing things.  Give it a read, and consider supporting him as he prepares for another New York City Marathon run.

http://blog.livestrong.org/2012/05/15/an-ing-new-york-city-marathon-story-neal/

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LIVE Raw thoughts - May 14, 2012

10:47 - By the way, while I love that they're doing something with AJ, I do think they disbanded the unique dynamic Bryan and AJ had as the d-bag guy and sweet innocent girlfriend.  Crazy obsessed girlfriend and d-bag guy is a different relationship -- and it'll work -- but I think it was a bit too accelerated.

10:38 - I was about to take a bathroom break, and I would've missed a segment with AJ and CM Punk.  And that would've been a damn tragedy.

10:28 - In storyline terms, why would anybody want to sign with A.W.?  He signed Primo and Epico, but he hasn't done anything with them.  In fact, he's actively putting off their rematch.

10:20 - I don't know what it is, but for some reason Brodus introducing Cameron and Naomi really kills the rhythm of his entrance.

10:14 - That was a very, very long segment.  My guess is that this leads to Big Show helping Johnny Ace beat Cena at Over the Limit.  Big Show is rehired as a heel.

10:11 - Just because Big Show is a good enough actor to pull off crying doesn't mean he should be scripted to cry.

10:07 - Contracts, lawsuits, and public apologies.  All this and more on tonight's Raw!

10:05 - I'm confused, is Johnny Ace fighting John Cena or Big Show at the PPV?

10:01 - You know, I almost forgot that this Sunday is the PPV.  This feels like a severely lackluster card.  The title matches and Cena/Ace are fine, but what else is there?

9:53 - I cannot adequately express how little I care about this Big Show/Johnny Ace storyline.  But hey, great seeing David Otunga back.  And yeah, I'm not being sarcastic either!

9:44 - I said this on Twitter last week, but a lot of people get on WWE's case for the times they pat themselves on the back.  But you know what?  It's stuff like this that they completely deserve it.  The fact of the matter is, they don't HAVE to do this stuff.  And they don't have to do it to the extent that they do.  And yes, they publicize it, but so what?  If you sit back and actually watch these pieces, they're actually really touching and sweet.  And I respect the fact that they help kids with terminal illnesses.

9:35 - I think the Cobra is the most asinine finisher since the Worm, but I have to admit that I laughed when Cody Rhodes walked into a GTS because he was afraid of getting hit by the Cobra.

9:22 - I think you all probably know that I'm not in that "Zack Ryder was buried" boat, but I do have to wonder why they took the US title off of him.  When he held the belt, people cared.  They were happy he won it, and they wanted to see him keep it.  Then he lost it to Jack Swagger, who went on to only defend it on Superstars.  And he went on to lose it to Santino, who rarely defends it and rarely even wins.  There really was zero benefit to taking the title off of him.  If it's just a prop, why not use it on a prop where people care?

9:15 - So I'm guessing somebody just ran into the ring?

Anyway, I'm not quite sure what to make of that opening promo (although I'm guessing Scott Keith hated the Brock burial).  Most of me wishes they just found a more creative way to keep Lesnar off of TV without resorting to this contract/lawsuit stuff.  It goes over a lot of people's heads, and most people just don't really find it interesting.

And is it crazy that Johnny Ace is juggling storylines with John Cena, Triple H, Big Show, and to an extent CM Punk?

9:04 - The one downside to Triple H appearing on Raw so infrequently?  WWE feels the need to reshow footage of him explaining why he's not on Raw over and over and over again.  Who else remembers when they showed the footage of Kevin Nash knocking over Triple H in the stretcher three times in the span of 20 minutes?  This Brock Lesnar stuff reminds me of that.  How many times do we need to see that attack?

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Straight out of a TV show

We've all had those moments that felt like they were so perfectly scripted that it seemed like it was straight out of a TV show.  Well, I just had that moment yesterday.

Over the past few years we've had some pretty vicious rain and snow storms (okay, not this winter), so our deck furniture really needed to be replaced.  Friday night my dad told me that I'd need to take the old furniture to the dump so that it's out of here for Mother's Day company on Sunday.  So I woke up Saturday and before even talking to anybody, I filled the trunk of my car up with two chairs, two footrests, and an end table and headed to the dump.

Because the furniture wasn't even THAT damaged, I even unloaded and set it up nicely when I got to the dump, instead of just tossing it.  As I'm driving out, I get a phone call from my dad.  Apparently, my aunt wanted to take the furniture and we weren't disposing of it after all.  I pull a U-Turn (as I'm still in the dump) and as I drive towards where I left everything, I see the chairs and other furniture in the bucket of a loader.  And before I know it, the furniture is getting dumped into a dumpster.  And as I'm saying to myself, "Well, that's not so bad.  Maybe they'll let me go into the dumpster to get them" the operator uses the bucket to crush the furniture he had just dropped into the dumpster.

So, suffice it to say, I was unable to save those particular pieces of furniture.  But the way everything played out....scripted straight from a TV show.

Oh, and happy mother's day, everybody!

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 3-22

I usually include a short introduction on my reviews, mostly so that I can do a page break on my blog to protect people from spoilers, and I want to also make sure that spoilers don’t pop up on my Twitter feed (since parts of the first sentence are usually included). But I’m at a bit of a loss right now. I honestly do not know what to discuss that won’t give away something huge. So let’s get straight into what happened in the finale.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 3-22"....

So the mystery throughout the episode was who Elena would choose. Even in the first ten minutes, they built a bit of mystique around it by being ambiguous about who Jeremy called when Elena was in the hospital (even if that may have been unintentional). If you recall, last week I predicted that she would pick Damon. And throughout the episode, my suspicions only grew stronger. I felt like they were hinting so strongly at Stefan that they would surprise us by having her go with Damon. First Stefan won the coin toss in order to head back to Mystic Falls to protect Elena. Then he gave her the kiss good bye. And Elena even had a talk with Matt where she seemed like she wanted to be convinced to give Damon a shot. There were just so many signs that she was going to choose Stefan that I was convinced we were being set up for a twist. Instead, she did the obvious (which is not the same as bad) thing and picked Stefan. I was pleasantly surprised by her decision. They sustained the suspense throughout the entire hour, and they did a really great job of creating a sensible circumstance for her to have to pick between the two of them.

The episode was also highlighted by a number of flashbacks of Elena’s life before the emergence of vampires. It was a remarkably fresh look at some of these characters, particularly Elena. In the three seasons that we’ve come to know her, could you EVER imagine her jumping out of bed smiling and dancing to a (crappy) Pink song? It was just so unlike the emotionally tortured girl we’ve come to know. It was sweet seeing her innocently interact with Jenna (why haven’t we seen her ghost yet?) and her parents, and it was almost surreal seeing her deal with regular, immature teenage problems. They really did a great job of accentuating how much their lives have changed in just a couple of years. And it really exemplified the themes of the episode and emotions of the characters fantastically.

Probably the best and most significant flashback was the revelation that Damon and Elena actually met before the fateful car crash that took the lives of Elena’s parents. It was a really great scene, and played into the whole theoretical scenario Elena proposed when she picked Stefan, but I had one small issue with it. Essentially, Damon was far too nice and sweet. If you recall the first several episodes of The Vampire Diaries, Damon was a terror! Yes, he was charming and humorous, but he was also vicious and nasty. He killed people for no (or little) reason and tried to make things miserable for Stefan. Damon’s general behavior during that scene – where he was sweet and playful and kind – just didn’t seem to ring true to the character at that time. That complaint aside, it was a great scene.

The big news of the episode, of course, was Elena’s shocking death. Leading up to the moment, I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting much. I thought the episode would end with Elena seemingly dead, and then we’d return next season and find out that she somehow survived. I mean, it’s not as if they’d kill off their star and the central character. What actually happened, however, was far more surprising and significant. As it turns out, Elena legitimately did die. However, Dr. Fell had given her vampire blood while she was in the hospital, and Elena is now becoming a vampire. That completely alters the show, and I’m extremely interested in what’s going to happen next. It’s very, very intriguing that Elena now won’t be the traditional damsel in distress.

I also loved the rather clever ways they allowed each character to find out about Elena’s demise, despite being in different locations. Damon’s was particularly touching, as at the end of his physical battle with Alaric, the vamp hunter collapsed and started to fade away. Damon, with tears in his eyes, grabbed his former friend and allowed him to die in his arms, as he quietly cried “you can’t be dead.” Of course, he was referring to Elena, but it was a fitting visual since Damon is probably the character you would most associate with Alaric. Speaking of Alaric, he played a role in how Jeremy found out as well. Jeremy was in his home and was greeted with Alaric’s ghost, who warmly said good bye to the teenager he was once a guardian for, and assured him that he would always be watching out for him. This scene not only allowed Jeremy to receive the news of his sister’s death, but it also gave Alaric the opportunity to say farewell as a good guy. It was a nice way to say good bye (I also found it sweet that, upon death, Alaric’s first impulse was to say good bye to Jeremy).

In addition to Elena no longer needing to be the girl that must be saved or protected, her becoming a vampire really changes things. For one, the relationship between Stefan and Damon could be strained. I loved how they remained close and supportive of each other in what they thought were their final moments. Stefan seemed legitimately disappointed that Damon wouldn’t have an opportunity to say good bye to Elena, despite the way he feels about her. Yet, I suspect things will get awfully messy between them when Damon finds out how Elena died. One point of their most common philosophical differences is the way they treat Elena. Stefan prefers to respect her wishes and allows her to make her own decisions, even when he doesn’t agree with them. Damon, however, tends to do whatever it takes in order to keep Elena safe, whether she wants it or not. With that in mind, there is no way that Damon would have done what Elena had asked and saved Matt first. If they had done things Damon’s way, Elena would still be human (however Matt would be dead, but that’s neither here nor there). I would not be the least bit surprised if Damon blames Stefan for Elena’s death. Likewise, as a vampire, Elena will now retain the memories that Damon had compelled from her – including their meeting the night of her parents’ death. How will that play into her decision to be with Stefan?

Speaking of repercussions, how will the group (and particularly Caroline) react to Bonnie’s decision to transfer Klaus into Tyler’s body? On the one hand, she essentially killed Tyler. On the other hand, if she hadn’t done that, Tyler would have died anyway. Along with Stefan, Damon, Abbey, and Caroline. Nonetheless, will they see it as the lesser of two evils, or as a grave violation? I have a feeling that, initially anyway, we’ll see the latter occur.

It’s looking to be a very volatile season four, with many of the central characters seemingly ad odds with each other. Will Elena feel passion or anger towards Damon when she discovers that they had a quite pleasant meeting before she knew Stefan, but he made her forget it? Will Stefan blame himself for Elena’s death? Will Matt blame himself for Elena’s death? As an extension to that, how will everybody else respond to the fact that Jeremy and Matt took matters into their own hands, and cost Elena her life? How will Caroline react towards Bonnie’s decision to transfer Klaus into Tyler’s body?

And here’s a final question to ponder: Did Elena ask Dr. Fell to give her the vampire blood, or did Fell make that decision for herself (like she had with Caroline’s dad)?

Finally, a lot of people are now wondering who or what next season’s big bad will be. My prediction? The Founder’s Council. Throughout the finale, Alaric repeatedly mentioned the Council’s assistance in preventing the group from succeeding in pretty much everything. He alerted them that Klaus’ body was in a storage facility. He warned Dr. Fell that they would suspend her of her medical license. They almost drove Tyler and Caroline out of town. The message was clear: When this organization is focused, they can be a very effective and dangerous force. And there were two interesting developments that makes me believe that this could be a reality: With the Mayor and Sheriff booted from the Council, they can be portrayed as an entirely antagonistic group. And with Elena now a vampire, the opposition doesn’t necessarily have to be supernatural. In this particular case, it makes perfect sense for the bad guys to be a group of humans out to get any and all vampires.

We’re certainly shaping up for a very interesting season four.

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Mahogany Shoals Bar

I received my latest Dive Bar Shirt Club tee the other day, but I'm only getting around to posting it now.  It's another great looking one -- this one white, with a pretty cool lobster/beer glass logo.  I do have to wonder, though, if it'd be possible to get a ringer t-shirt for one of these designs.  Maybe I'll ask the guys on Twitter!  Anyway, Mahogany Shoals doesn't have a website, Facebook, or any apparent press whatsoever, so I've got to do some legwork here and type out this description myself:

A story old as time, man against nature, man against the sea, man against tuna, striper, blues.  Will a large vessel and impressive equipment be a match for such powerful and elusive swimmers?  More adventures await when you slip your pleasure raft into the laid-back marina of Old Harbor and Payne's Dock.  The salt life pretty much requires a taste for just the essentials and Mahogany Shoals believes that as well.  You can sit with sudsy friends and celebrate your smugglers, shipwrecks, and the ones that got away.  Fog rolls in, details fade, and wet timbers creak and groan under the weight as they shift with the rhythm of Mother Ocean.  This is a place where it really helps to have a long pole and a line a mile long.

Dive Bar Shirt Club: Website - Twitter - Facebook

Dive Bar Shirt Club T-Shirt Gallery

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 3-21

My apologies, but I actually missed the first 10 or so minutes of this past week’s episode (thank you, local chicken wing establishment!)  But I think I got the gist of the episode, with Bonnie wanting to do a spell to stop Alaric’s heart, similar to the spell done to Mikael.

The introduction of Alaric as the supreme vampire hunter resulted in some fun – albeit brief – alliances.  Notably, Stefan, Damon, Elena, and Klaus banding together.  Of course, this quickly fell apart once Elena realized that she’s Alaric’s lifeline – once she dies, he dies.  I actually really enjoyed the way Elena pieced that together.  It’s unavoidable to make her a damsel in distress, but they do a good job of not making her look completely helpless.  Nonetheless, upon learning this, Klaus kidnapped her with the intention of draining her of her blood.  And he almost succeeded, if not for Tyler’s intervention.  Speaking of which, I really enjoyed Tyler’s “I’m not your little bitch anymore” line.  It was just delivered so perfectly, with the background music intensifying before coming to a complete halt before he said it.

Alaric has always been one of my favorite characters, but it seems like his time on this show is nearing its end (that’s not a spoiler, just an assumption on my part).  While I liked Alaric’s flawed hero character, his recent dark turn has been enjoyable as well.  I especially liked the cool and collected way he outted the mayor and sheriff for hiding and protecting the very evils they’re supposed to combat against.  I’m actually intrigued by what is going to happen with the Founders Council moving forward.  It seems like all of the founding families, slowly but surely, come to the realization that these supernatural entities that their families have spent their lives fighting are not inherently evil.  Elena’s uncle reluctantly accepted this, as did Caroline’s parents.  The mayor, too.  Alaric brought up the guilt-trip inducing comment of whether Elena’s parents would be proud of her.  It’s a good question, but I tend to believe that they’d come to the same realization as the characters above (and even Alaric himself).  Part of me, however, suspects that I’m reading too much into this and the Founders Council will remain a convenient plot device and an excuse to have parties.

The apparent demise of Klaus was handled very nicely, though.  I liked how they turned the plot of the unlikely alliance with Klaus – to stop Alaric’s heart – against him after he had turned on them.  And scenically, the “death” worked as well.  When somebody as significant (both contextually and as a character) as Klaus dies, the proper emotion needs to be conveyed.  If he’s lying there convulsing before turning veiny and deteriorating, the visual isn’t quite there.  What we got instead – Klaus staring into the eyes of Stefan as his heart slowly stopped beating – was far more impactful.  Stefan was actually the perfect person for that role.  Because of their time together – and their former friendship – Stefan is the one person who might have a shred of compassion for Klaus.  I don’t buy that he’s actually dead, but it was a well done scene.  It really conveyed the emotion of an Original vampire seeing his life come to an end.

I’ve also concluded that no matter the dynamic, the Salvatore brothers are absolute gold together.  One thing I couldn’t help but laugh at, though, was Damon’s remark about how Elena will choose, one of them will leave town, and in 30 years the brothers will reunite as if nothing had happened.  Uh….what?  30 years?  Do they really only expect Elena to die before she even turns 50?  Oh, and my money is still on Elijah being the beginning of their bloodline.

So the finale promises that Elena finally makes a choice between Stefan and Damon.  Any regular reader would know that I’m rooting for Stefan, but if I were a betting man, I’d actually guess she’s going to pick Damon.  The past couple of weeks all of the characters have been so (strangely) pro-Stefan that I feel like they’re setting us up for a surprise.  Additionally, I honestly do believe that the end game is going to be Stefan/Elena, so this is a little reprieve to delay and complicate that (similar to Kate’s brief romp with Sawyer in the middle seasons of Lost).  Plus, we’ve seen several seasons of Elena being with Stefan while Damon pines over her, so I suspect they’ll want to mix up that formula.  I wouldn’t mind if I’m wrong, because I like the (generally speaking) good guy to get the girl.  Hey, Elena did tell Tyler to call Stefan when she needed to be saved.  But that’s what I’m guessing will happen.

Anyway, I’ve seen some promotional photos for the episode and it has me pretty excited.  It looks like it’s going to be an exciting conclusion to a stellar season.

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23 Years After Today

As promised on Twitter last night, here is a special video from 23 years ago when my family appeared on the Today Show in a special "Family Vacation" segment. Enjoy!

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