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Girl, you really got me now
You got me so I don’t know what I’m doin’
Girl, you really got me now
You got me so I can’t sleep at night
(Source: entreprendres)
As brilliant and outstanding as tonight’s episode was, I was still waiting for a Ken/Peggy closure scene at the end, right before she left the firm. Their last encounter was him trying to comfort her and her throwing it in his face. And you can’t tell me that’s how they parted ways. Yes, no one knew about her departure the moment she left Don’s office, but I was hoping to have Ken come out of the conference room and see her walk down the corridor and call out to her to come join the party. She’d smile and shake her head, telling him they could raincheck. He’d suddenly notice she was carrying her stuff, she’d smile again in sadness and wave at him. For a moment he’d stare back in shock and disappointment, but it would only last a second, he would immediately understand she did the best thing for her, especially since he was by her side every time she got placed second. He would smile nostalgically and wave back, mouthing a quiet: “Don’t forget our pact”. Peggy would nod her head affectionately and turn away.
I really wanted this to happen since their friendship has been such a wonderful constant this season and I wanted it to be acknowledged. Well, amazing episode anyways.
Kind of late to state this, I know, but I really wish they had done something with Evil!Abed/Annie in the finale.
I mean why, among many other things, build up an episode where they spend all that time in the dreamatorium, trying to understand some of their self-destructing obsessions and then not have them work out this major issue together? At this point in the season, Annie would be the only one who would know how to deal with this. Troy is trying to sort out his own issues with air-conditioning and he is not as prepared for Evil!Abed as Annie would be, because not only has she seen his uglier sides, but she has not embraced them. Troy’s attempt to deal with Abed’s recklessness (which culminated in a blanket and pillows war) ended up making him even more permissive and attentive than before.
Which is not okay. Not all the time.
So why the heck didn’t they use all that great character development?
Sorry, but Jeff’s speech shouldn’t have been enough. It was lazy and overused.
P.S. I imagined a Fight Club-esque finale with Abed as the narrator, Evil!Abed as Tyler Durden and Annie as Marla Singer. Don’t judge.
Dear Gossip Girl,
Awwww, it’s the season finale and you’ve already lost your dignity in the first five minutes. Guess you couldn’t stand the pressure of being half-decent for once. Better to disappoint now and give up all expectations than admit you’re not ready to be a proper show.
Don’t worry. I think I’ve finally got you pegged.
You’re that twelve-year old girl on fanfiction.net writing a Blair/Chuck romance and you’re begging for reviews every second chapter, writing endless author’s notes about how much you “wuv your audience” and how “Chair is like true love and they’re so hot and yummy together!!!! Pls review!!!! XOXO” .
Then halfway through or near the end of your story because really you could end it any time you wanted (let’s say around chapter 35), people start getting bored and suddenly ask for you to write in a triangle, just for the sake of it. So you do it, of course, because you’re insecure and you need everyone’s approval. But wait, it seems that somehow this new development has attracted new readers to your “Dark Moonlight Lovers” fanfic and it’s all because of Dan/Blair. Unbeknownst to you, your brain took over and you’re showing actual maturity and some modicum of narrative coherence. Even Blair is more likable. You’re still rooting for Chuck and Blair but how is a little bit of fun going to hurt anyone? Because it’s just fun, you guys.
So you pump up Dan and Blair as much as you can and demand more and more reviews: “Pls guys let’s reach 1000!!!lol”. You even make him write her wedding vows, tell her they’re equals, that they respect each other; you give Blair the courage to go to Dan’s apartment and tell him Chuck no longer has her heart; they go to brunches together, read his novel, watch fancy movies, plan great parties, sleep together without having wild sex 24/7, mock each other and laugh about it. Yup, all of these. Not because you’re invested, but because the positive reception is your brand of crack and you need more crack so you amp it up until Dair is almost *gasp* close to endgame.
But slowly and almost unnoticeably, your larger Chair fanbase starts to complain that your fanfic, which was initially supposed to be a Blair/Chuck epic, turned into a giant Dair parade. Uh-oh. Your low self-esteem and lack of judgement start to spiral out of control. You’ve got to do something. People are unfavouring your story, taking you out of their “favourite authors”. Girls are leaving hurtful comments: “WANT CHAIR, Dan is gay and he’s Serena’s and giving someone a fake tiara is soooo lame, ugh, real Chair, real diamonds!”. Sure it’s only a bunch of them and you’re still getting reviews regularly, the quality of writing is better and you feel more comfortable with this because you don’t always know where to go from Chuck punching glass into Blair’s face….BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?
It’s. Not. Enough.
You need to get back on that throne, no matter what it takes, so in the last chapters, you bring back Chair. Just like that.
Continuity? On what planet? Character integrity? Pfffff, nerd.
It doesn’t matter that Chuck is a different person now, that Blair has long moved on from this relationship, that Dan’s turning into a bitter mysanthropist, that Lily and Rufus have been that constant bright light in this otherwise thankless fanfic. Whatever. You’ve finally reached 1500 reviews and it’s all cuz of this Chair reunion.
You go to bed happily tonight after turning in the latest chapter and you can’t wait to wake up before going to school tomorrow to see the PMs you received, praising and adoring you for such an amazing twist: “YES! Chair is baaaack, bitchez!!! I knew you wouldn’t disappoint, cuz who can stand between these two?? You’re amaaaazing and I love you and you should write limousine sex next chapter so it can be like first chapter all over again! Then Chuck should propose to her on the beach, naaaaked (XD), and you gotta link the wedding dress in your profile, but like twice as cute as princess dress, mkay???”
Oh, no, wedding dresses. You forgot about that. You gotta google for the best. And they have to be better than the one she wore for her royal wedding.
But it’s all worth it. A writer’s job is never done, right?
P.S. In case the allegory was too nuanced for you, Gossip Girl, here, I’ll say it again; you’re fucking twelve.
The funny thing about Pete’s narcissism is that it won’t allow him to form meaningless attachments. He loves himself too much to allow that his feelings be superficial in regards to a woman he (“the King”) has handpicked to embody the perfect feminine image. It’s his image, after all, and no matter the woman he attaches it to, he respects and honours it because it’s his choice, it says something about him.
Ergo, the woman is and will always be special, because of him. She’ll always matter. But giving a woman more meaning than his own self simply because she represents what he perceives to be the best part of him actually leads him to forego his own interests and dedicate himself to her entirely (and the ideal she embodies). Yes, he has had several affairs so far, but think of it this way; is this the same kind of behaviour Don evinces throughout his nonmarital trysts?
Not quite. Don is always absent somehow, finished before it even started, already searching for the new idea, the new something to give him the satisfaction and meaning he couldn’t find there. He doesn’t cheat for the woman, he cheats for himself.
While Pete is just as irrationally dissatisfied with his life, he never looks on these affairs with a nonchalant, detached eye. He can’t. He’s always in the midst of it, sometimes willing himself to fall in love, sometimes trying to recover from the disappointment of unrequited feelings, but he’s nevertheless there. He cheats for the woman. Perhaps the best way to define him would be as a selfish romantic who somehow, along the way, manages to transfer his self into the woman and become selfless.
That is why when Beth “shows up” into his office wearing only a furcoat and delicate pearls around her neck, it feels more emotional and intimate than it should. It doesn’t feel like a random sexual fantasy. Pete wants recognition (Beth “remembered” him from the newspaper article), admiration, commitment, dedication (in Pete’s eyes, her showing up almost naked in his office constitutes as an effort and risk on her part) and everything his own embittered and rational conscience cannot give him.
The look on his face during the fantasy cements this idea. He is in a state of revery, not of lust.
Mkay, unpopular opinion probably, but I really didn’t like how Peggy acted towards Ginsberg this episode. I know she’s been a bit standoffish in regards to him from the beginning, so last night’s episode should make no exception. But until now Peggy’s dislike did not affect her work ethics, or her aesthetic taste.
I could clearly see it written on her face; she knew Don’s idea wasn’t as good as Ginsberg’s, in terms of immediate effect. She also knew that if left to her own devices, despite it being clever, she wouldn’t run with Don’s idea, she would stick with her team’s. Not out of comradery, but because she’s good at what she does.
Not so now.
And it wasn’t the fact that Roger picked Ginsberg to work for him this time around. This happens much later in the episode.
It’s the fact that Peggy has a weakness for Don. She’s not the type to go with whatever the boss says, simply because he’s the boss. It’s Don as a persona, a model, even an archetype. She still craves to impress him, to be his apprentice, his number two, his reflection.
Maybe she’s already aware that it would only harm her, that she can do better, but deep down she still seeks for his approval.
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Here’s a thought: dark!Bonnie is going to need someone to snap her out of it.
Yes, I did enjoy her finally taking matters into her own hands and I love her new-found confidence, but it was misused; she basically doomed the friends she was trying to save. I understand why she did it and frankly, she needed to act selfishly for once. But it’s going to harm her a lot more than the others.
We all know she needs someone to bring her back from the dark.
Stefan will be busy training newly-vampired Elena.
Caroline will have to deal with the (fascinating and terrible) switch and the consequences; she will have a pretty hard time falling out of love with Tyler.
Rebekah and Elijah will try to find a way for Klaus to get his body back, maybe even by resurrecting Klaus’ real father or some other relative. They’ll have that on their plate.
Matt - we don’t know yet. But even if he did survive (most probable) the swim in the lake, he won’t stand much of a chance in front of hurricane Bonnie.
Jeremy, like Stefan, will be devastated and horrified by Elena’s transformation and will have a hard time accepting it. Plus, he’s always got some ghosts pestering him, doesn’t he?
Tyler/Klaus will encourage dark!Bonnie.
Bonnie’s mother will have little influence on her because, most likely, Bonnie will resent her for being the indirect cause of this change.
So, who’s left?
Yeah, you might think he’ll be just as invested in Elena’s transition as Stefan, but Damon also gets invested in pulling people from the edge.
Of course he’ll be there for Elena all the time. But seeing Bonnie in her current state, he will be reminded of his brother and he will feel guilty.
This episode basically sets up the fact that both brothers are incredibly noble and altruistic in their own way; Stefan chooses to stand back, Damon jumps in recklessly, but both are willing to give up everything for a loved one.
There were little hints in The Departed that Damon does a lot more good than we know. I like to think they weren’t there for nothing. Damon will realize he indirectly caused Bonnie to snap and he will feel compelled to bring her back.
It doesn’t even have to be his main plot in season 4, but it would continue Damon’s evolution.
Think about it; given the current situation who will need his help more? Who will have no one to help her overcome this? Who will understand why and what she’s done? Who will forgive her? It would make more sense for the man who wreaked havoc out of misery to not only understand Bonnie, but also stand by her side and defend her.
That’s why Bonnie needs Damon specifically; he’s been on both sides, he’s survived both natures; Stefan is still fighting his own.
But if they are going to take the plot in this direction, I don’t want it half-assed. I don’t want Bonnie to recover after five episodes. It should cover the entirety of season 4.
I realize it’s probably not going to happen, because the writers have been known to miss a lot of great opportunities in the past, but this, I think, would be one of the best ways for a Bonnie/Damon story to run its course.
Crazy speculations corner:
- and then, of course, at the end of season 4, the choice will be Damon’s this time around. either try to save Bonnie and chase her down - let’s pretend she ran away because she hates what she’s become - or stay with Elena to help her with her vampirism. and let’s give it symmetry; he has to either drive back to Mystic Falls, or ahead towards Bonnie. and he will give Elena a call too. and he’ll tell her that because he cares about Bonnie he won’t let her go, because sometimes you don’t have to let them go, because Elena was wrong about that and he’d keep driving. and Elena would smile knowing the Damon she loves did the right thing and went after Bonnie. -
Wow, this episode was legitimately good. I am kind of overwhelmed.
Say what you will about Elena’s choice, but it was so much more than that, it didn’t really revolve around it, it was a meeting between Elena’s past and present, as a kind of summation before her transition to a new stage, that of a vampire. She is leaving both the past and the present, whereas Elena was only ready to part with the former. The conflict is there from the start and it makes so much more sense when you watch the episode again, knowing what will happen. It was really well done. The last seven minutes were truly wonderful. We really saw Elena’s real strength; the way she insisted and demanded Stefan save Matt first basically spells out why these two brothers are in love with her.