I like that Jeremy is a medium, but it does lessen the impact of the deaths on the show. And it makes some things make no sense—like why he never sees Alaric. I think he would have come through to support Jeremy at some point, and while I understand Matt Davis has had other commitments, that doesn't equal an in-show…

Here's the interpretation of A!Stefan I'm coming around to: Stefan is way more disturbed by his amnesia, his vampire urges, and what he's learning about his life than he's letting on. The confidence is just a front to cover for the fact that he's really disoriented and freaked out and unbalanced. So he's grasping at…

To your third point, YES. I know they were trying to ease Stefan into the horror story that is his life, but he knows enough now to also accept that him being the Ripper hurt the people closest to him and damaged those relationships. I love Stefan, but he was/is certainly a monster, and him being the Ripper was a bit…

I love that the constants in Stefan's life aren't only Damon and the doppelgangers, but his awesome blonde best friends. When I imagine the end of the series, the thoughts that make me sad have nothing to do with any of the romances—I would hate it if any of the platonic/fraternal relationships on the show were…

For what it's worth, I found the episode pretty satisfying overall, and I really hated last week's episode, so I was glad that the show got back on track a bit. I gave it a B, but that's in relation to the rest of the series, and I don't think anything this season (or last season, aside from Memorial) has lived up to…

Ha. But I assume Bennett is probably a slaveholder's last name. Emily Bennett probably being one of the first with that last name in the family line. But you know TVD doesn't like to talk about slavery, so they don't really get into that. What really still will never make sense is Bonnie having her mother's last name…

I love this whole thread, and all of you, and all of your thoughts. @avclub-519b02fcf268e5bb1ca64009341ff77b:disqus I think you hit the nail on the head with why they're screwing this Delena thing up. I was a multi-shipper until halfway through Season 3, when I went over to the Stefan side. Partly because I just…

I think maybe what sounds like exposition to you is really just normal conversation on this show. If you're immersed in the vocabulary of the show, all the mythology talk makes more sense. It's like if the show were about football, and they spent time talking about gear, plays, rules, positions, etc. Once you…

@avclub-06b6610df0c2a2d4be303f2d81e9e5d3:disqus I should have been more clear. I like Damon, and I actually think he cares a lot more about people than he likes to let on. But that's the point. He needs to walk the walk if he's a long-term option for Elena. I'm not saying he should choose Jeremy over Elena if they're…

But do you think Elena is really OK with who Damon is? I don't think she is. I think in the three months they've been together (not counting sire-bond time), there hasn't been a real test. But their basic conflict—Damon does not truly care about her loved ones unless Elena or their relationship is also threatened in…

Silas was able to simply overpower him (there was a part where he took Jeremy's hands and twisted them off of him), so I guess he's slightly stronger than a hunter but weaker than a vampire? This is hard to figure out.

I liked her moment with Matt too, at the end, for the same reason. Except I find the concept of Matt and Katherine less disgusting than Jeremy and Katherine. And it's amazing that Dobrev could have chemistry with Matt as Katherine, but not really as Elena. I love her.

I don't know any spoilers, but I'm very hopeful that he isn't actually going to be the Ripper again. There was nothing about his hallucination that made it seem like he was teetering on the edge of turning off his humanity. So where would that come from, aside from hunger? Stefan's been coming to terms with his Ripper…

I agree that if Damon were just lying to Elena about one thing, she would be annoyed but give it a pass. But he's now lying to her about at least three major things. 1) Katherine is in town and (was) staying at the mansion. 2) Silas is alive, is Stefan's doppelganger, and is on a manhunt. 3) Stefan is suffering…

And she's been alive long enough where that would have been the only option, right? (Though I really have no idea when women started shaving their legs regularly.)

Yes, I think Bonnie was supposed to be the third roommate, but because she never registered (we assume), she wasn't assigned housing. That's why Caroline and Elena were calling her to come home to fix this mess, because I think they thought there had been a mistake.

A few years ago, there was an ESPN special about the best WSs or best Championships or something, and the '91 series was #1. It still holds up.

Well, it’s funny. My parents are both from Massachusetts 
And I was kind of raised to be a Red Sox fan. 
Of course my parents moved to Minnesota when I was in grade school
and we’d go to Twins games and I liked them,
But I wasn’t full-on until 1987. 
That fall, I got my driver’s license
and my first girlfriend 
and the Twins…

@avclub-71348decaf1df2bb85be2ece24cc2a1d:disqus That's a valid point, and I understand that at one point all of the non-regular characters were "new." Audiences are more accepting of new characters early in a series because everything is new and the show's universe is still being sketched out. My point is that when…

That's what I'm saying - new characters aren't working.