The Dinner Party

This review will probably so suck because I'm tiiiiiired.

I LOVE THIS SHOW! Have I ever mentioned that? What's that? About 50 times? Oh, yeah.

For the first several mins., I thought this would be another slower one, but then it just (like the entire show itself) hit a point and started rolling like a freight train! Where to start? How often do you wish I'd do these things in proper chronological order? Just let it go, it'll never happen. I'm gonna start off with Lexie. Wow, what a surprise! I don't tend to find spoilers on T.V.D. I'm all for seeing a spoiler if one lands in my lap, but I don't hunt for them, same as with any show. "Supernatural" spoilers tend to fly at me from all directions, thanks to twitter and 2 forums, but, basically, if helps doesn't post some T.V.D. ones, I don't see them. I rambled all that to say this: I had no idea she was going to be in this episode! God, maybe I should try being spoiler-free for a while; it really was a fantastic surprise! HOW FUCKING TRAGIC! I got misty-eyed a few times. Wow. Stefan was that fucked up, and SHE'S the one who fixed him. Obviously, she'd have helped Damon, too, if he'd not pussed out and stuck around. Damn it, Damon. I loved seeing the deep regret on his face, but he needs to actually vocally apologize for this one, that's all there is to it. Truly, killing Lexie was just too horrible; even more so than we realized before. Equally as cool was the expression on Stefan's face. I expected pure hurt, accusation and anger but instead it was more complex. How to explain it? Like, "I love you, brother, and I know you're probably sorry for this somewhere in there, but you've never expressed it and I can't just let you forget it." Make sense? You have to hand it to Paul's complex, mature way of portraying a vampire. He's an awfully young guy to be able to project the personality and subtle complexities that an old vampire should have the way he does. He sets the bar for vampiric behavior, if you ask me. You can complain about him being "boring" all you want, but he does have this much down, big-time. There's always a lot going on behind those eyes and it's very realistic and cool.

This was probably the sweetest Stelena stuff ever. Instead of the typcial, sappy "Ooh, kissy-kissy by the lake, we're so in love" stuff (which, again, I do think is adorable, but . . . yeah, sappy), we get substance. Stefan finally facing up to his past (you probably judge him for it taking her reading the journal for him to do that, but I don't. No sense in being on high horses here. Who among us doesn't sometimes refuse to face shitty things about ourselves until and unless we're forced to?), baring his soul about the monster he was, telling the story about Lexie, even though it hurt like hell, and using it all to try to make his woman understand that she needs to fight for her life. Awwwwww. That was good stuff. More Stelena of that variety, please!

Elena was also bad-ass in this. I was sitting there, actually saying outloud, "Yeah, do it! Just do it!" when she threatened to stab herself. Then she did it! Woo! I know, I know, not as brave when you've got 2 vamps there to save you, still, you think stabbing yourself, stone-cold sober, could ever be an easy thing? Hell, no! That's my girl! She redeemed a lot of her horror-flick chick behavior with that move. And Damon stabbing him next? Did NOT see that coming! Bad-assery all around in this episode!

That Salvatore/Elena cellar scene toward the end? YES. More please. The 3 of them have such chemistry together!

Alaric! Elijah! Dalaric! Dalijaric! What the holy epic motherfucking hell! All that mess was AWESOME! (*^$*&^$@# What?! Forgive the gibberish that follows, as I can't even articulate this stuff: DALARIC!! The friendship! It is EPIC! Alaric saving Damon's life, Alaric so close to the vampire he's brave enough to shove him--TWICE--to make him look at him so he can get it through his thick, self-loathing, vamp skull that HE IS HIS FRIEND, so he deserves to be told the truth. And Damon's casual, petulent, shruggy "OK" response? That was totally Damonese for: "Wow, man, thanks. It's great to have a friend; it's been a damned long time. Sure, I'll back off on the dishonesty, bud." Alaric was all kinds of bad-ass and hurtiness tonight. Elijah's stabbin' was BAD-ASS! More, more, more! Has he done anything bad-ass since he & Damon went on that vamp killing spree? I don't think so. Smart guy, seeing a chance for distraction with Andie's notebook! Awwww, he and Jenna, noooooooo! His ring given back to John, nooooooo! This cannot fucking be! Damon must get his pal his ring back for him. I insist upon a Damon-threatens-the-ever-loving-holy-HELL-outta-John-to-get-Ric's-ring-back scene! That would be adorable bad-ass! Matt was excellent in this one. We got sweet, protective-of-his-girl Alaric, bad-ass Alaric, pissed-the-hell-off Alaric, sad Alaric. Oh, and I don't care if she did it just for Jenna, I MELTED when Elijah said Alaric was on Elena's list of "loved ones" (LOVED ONES!) not to kill. D'awwww. That's sweet, Elena. I do like you sometimes. Ya know, when yer not acting like a retarded horror-flick chick.

For that matter, everyone did great in this one.

I was pissed off that Elijah was dead (yet, absolutely thrilled at all the Alaric bad-assedness at the same time. It was a very confusing moment for me!) for about 10 seconds before it occurred to me that, duh, of course he's not going to be really dead. They wouldn't take him from us, how silly. Elijah is majorly Damonesque, it's official. Calm down, helps, don't get on that plane to come down here and kick my ass, no one measures up to Damon, but Elijah's already pretty close. I want him to be in that same vein, does terrible things but ya love him anyway, however, for some reason, as I think I've said, I think I can always adore him even if he's straight-up evil. I just don't get straight-up evil vibes from him though. Is that weird? By the way, can they not burn him to nothing? Can't they reduce him to "ashes," then destroy the ashes, then atomize the dust, then flush the dust down the toilet or something? They need to explain their vampire situation better. Originals are fireproof or what? Anyway, bottom line is he's with us, so, YAY!

I heard Ty may not be back anymore this season, is that true? Interesting how Damon just literally said that chapter was closed.

Katherine! Whaaaaat?! Interesting. I don't even know what to say. Crafty little bitch! Can't say I don't like it. So, is she gonna kill Andie? At least it's a way for her to be out of the picture without Damon going against Alaric's wishes. So, what? Is she gonna be good now? I hope not. Boring! Is she going to hook up with Damon for a while? Ugh, wait, no, that'd be so very sick. Of course, it'd show how messed up Damon is right now . . . but, no, EWW. Yuck.

Oh, Bonnie, you silly girl. What kind of friend would Elena be if she wanted to keep you from her brother? What would that say about what she thinks of you? The heart wants what the heart wants. Quit being silly and grab that adorable boy! Oh. Now that her powers have been magically stolen (whaaat?!) she'll probably be a broken mess who can't resist leaning upon Jeremy.

Did I miss anything? Probably. So, YOU cover it, then! :-D

P.S. I know this is weird. I already know. But, um, the Salvatores look kind of hot all vamped out with bloody mouths. Should I seek therapy for that thought?

P.P.S. I'd welcome more Lexie flashbacks any time.

P.P.P.S. Once again: Damon's flashback hair! I'm sorry, I just think it's kinda horrible. Stefan's, however, is hot; maybe hotter than his "now" hair.