Why I believe the Delena 3x22 Scene was not OOC
I’ve decided I’m no longer going to go along with the idea that the “Damon and Elena meeting first scene” was OOC for Damon. Now don’t get me wrong. Prior to now, I did think that the scene was a little odd. I loved that they met first and it made the episode at least the slightest bit more hopeful when it came to Delena, yet something made me think that it just didn’t flow well. But after rewatching a few hundred times, I’ve come to realize that the moment was in character and perfectly reasonable.
Besides the obvious (they both look much older than they did three years ago), I thought the scene could have been a totally reasonable move for Damon’s character at that time. Let’s remember that Damon at the beginning of the series was still 100 percent mourning and in love with Katherine. He was still on a mission to free her from the tomb and hadn’t seen her since the 1860s. So there he is, doing what he did best, preying on innocent victims to drain, when he hears the voice of a girl who sounds eerily reminiscent of the woman he loved and still loves. Even more off-putting is that, once he approaches her, he realizes she looks exactly the same. In that moment, Damon sees Katherine standing four feet away from him. I can’t even imagine the thoughts that were going through his head. But with that smile, you can see it’s something akin to jubilation.
But alas, it’s not Katherine. (Something, I’d like to note, that he recognizes immediately). Now many of the scene’s critics assume Season 1 Damon would now just immediately see her as an attractive teenage human, with a beating heart and blood pumping through her veins. But I don’t think he could get over the remarkable resemblance so quickly. He has never seen something like this in his life, a doppelganger. And not just any doppelganger but Katherine Pierce’s doppelganger. This is something Stefan had months to come to terms with and we’re expecting Damon to get over it in a few seconds?
Now you can tell Damon does not like where his mind was going. He’s supposed to be out here scouting for a meal. This teenage girl should not be making him feel this out-of-control. (Because, let’s be real, don’t all good fictional characters have control issues?) So he begins to start his spiel. ”I’m Damon.” They do a bit of cautiously flirtatious talking, but Damon’s still not fully there yet. Note his facial expression when Elena says “It’s Mystic Falls. Nothing bad ever happens here.” He didn’t jump at that comment that was just begging for a witty rebuttal. He didn’t even laugh. His face still screams “holy crap how in the world am I staring at a Katherine Pierce clone right now?” But he wipes it off.
This is season 1 Damon. I can easily see Season 1 Damon going along with this girl’s insecurities and deep thoughts, even if it was just to get into her pants or her neck. He even feeds her that line that would make most girls swoon.
You want a love that consumes you. You want passion and adventure and even a little danger.
This is prime season 1 Damon. He’s back in control, flirting with a gorgeous girl and manipulating her emotions. I know this scene is supposed to be heartbreakingly romantic for all of us Delena shippers, but let’s be real. This Damon does not love Elena Gilbert. Heck, he barely knows her. This is the Damon, who in about half an hour, is going to have a new set of victims to drain.
Now do I think that if they hadn’t been interrupted Damon would have killed her? No. Actually, not at all. Look, cool, confident Damon was completely knocked off his feet by this girl. By her flirtatiousness? No, not necessarily. But by her looks. We have to understand that both of these brothers, these brothers who were manipulated and torn apart and turned into monsters by this one woman both had to encounter her doppelganger. It’s hard to wrap your mind around, even when you’re a supernatural creature. And this girl, on top of it all, is kind. She’s innocent and naive. Heck, she’s eye-sexing an older guy in the middle of the street alone and at night, expecting no harm to come to her.
Damon is blown away again by her question: “So, what do you want?” If this was any other girl, he would have been witty. He probably would have told her right then and there that he wanted her or even her blood, producing the fear in her eyes that he so desperately craved before compelling her to stay calm. But this isn’t just any girl. This is the girl that’s making his heart ache for the times he loved her identical twin. This is the girl who makes him lose that control. You can see as he looks down at her body, as almost if reminding himself “Do what you normally do!” But he can’t seem to.
And then the Gilberts show up. And Damon goes to compel her. Now this was a partially selfish compulsion. He didn’t want it to get out that he was in town. He wanted to stay covert. But this compulsion was also a sign of his humanity. Spotting this Katherine look-alike is instantly reminding him of his life as a human. And the fact that he sees this girl and wants her to get everything she’s looking for? Think how similar that is to his own goal. He uses the word “looking for.” He’s “looking for” Katherine in Season 1. He believes that he will find her and then get his happily ever after. He wants her to do the same.
So would he have killed her if her parents hadn’t shown? No. Would he have taken an interest in her, one similar to Stefan? Probably. Would his interest have been a little less kinder than Stefan’s? Probably. I guess we can thank God for the fact that Damon didn’t get that opportunity because I could honestly see Season 1 Damon entering into a relationship with Elena similarly to how he did with Caroline.
I’ll wrap this up by bringing back the statement I made right after the finale. Elena Gilbert has been capable of bringing Damon Salvatore’s humanity out since 2009. For those of you that want this to be a romantic scene, you should take it as one. Did Damon do something uncharacteristic for Season 1 Damon? Yes. But it’s because of Elena, not because the writers suck.
P.S. I would also like to point out that Elena Gilbert’s last happy moment before her parents died was with Damon Salvatore. Just let that sink in for a bit.
I think another important thing that needs to happen in the Elena/Damon/Stefan journey stems from the conversation she had with Matt near the beginning of the episode. After rewatching, I noted that after Elena went on and on about why she loved Stefan, when Matt asked what the problem was (aka “Why are we even having this conversation if you feel this strongly for Stefan?”), Elena replies “The problem’s Damon.”
Now this is where the issue lies. This is the point where I realized (not while watching of course, I was devastated while watching, but after re-watching) that Elena Gilbert is not ready for a relationship with Damon Salvatore. Period. Are we, the fans, ready? Heck yes. But Elena Gilbert is not. I mean, as much as we loved 3x19, the girl was willing to drop Damon simply if he screwed anything up. She went on that trip waiting for the “bump in the road” so she could race back to Stefan convinced that he was the one for her. And that rationale is not right. She shouldn’t choose Stefan just because his brother made an oopsie.
Elena is going to go through a massive life-change in the next season, regardless of the brother she chose. And we’re going to get to watch all of the consequences of her transitioning to immortality. And, yes, we’re going to see Stelena stuff because she chose him. We can’t deny that. I highly doubt she’s gonna race out of that morgue in the first minute of 4x01, tackle Damon, and be like “OMG BECAUSE I REMEMBERED HOW SELFLESS YOU ARE, I CHOOSE YOU lolzjk Stefan bye”. That’s just not going to happen.
I don’t know if Delena’s gonna happen in 4x02 or 4x10 or 4x18 or heck not even until the season finale (I refuse to imagine us having to wait until Season 5 but hey might happen). But Elena needs to want Damon, regardless of Stefan. Or, in other words, I want Elena to let go of Stefan, regardless of Damon.
So Elena shouldn’t say the only problem with getting with Damon or getting with Stefan is the other brother. No, she should want to let go of Stefan because they do not work, because she loves him but is no longerin lovewith him. She should choose Damon not because she’s pissed at Stefan or even because she doesn’t love Stefan anymore. She should choose Damon and let go of Stefan as completely different decisions, one not influenced by the other.
It’s only fair.
I know the ship wars are basically taking over the theories and opinions of the TVD season finale but… Why is everyone so freaking okay with the idea of Elena turning into a vampire? God, it’s the Elena stan in me but are we forgetting how much Elena doesn’t want to become a vampire?! There’s been absolutely no evidence to the contrary. And becoming a vampire isn’t like picking milk over juice in the morning and regretting it. It’s a permanent life-ending decision. And yes, as much as I think it’s going to happen at some point, it should not happen right now. Especially after a whole episode where Elena would be fondly reminiscing on her old pre-supernatural life. Even if it’s an accident, that’s just so cruel. We’ve watched countless people on the show forced to become vampires and how much damage it does. I can’t imagine Elena having to go through even more hell than she already has. Besides, it kills me that Elena wouldn’t be able to have the family she’s always dreamed of. I don’t get why people just seem so willing to accept something that’s just so awful.
opinion on the Canadian promo
in the undercut because there’s some people who have thankfully stayed spoiler-free and i’m jealous
As much as I love Carina and everything she posts, I don’t think Elena’s crying has to do with someone dying.
After Elena’s little trip to Colorado with Damon brings about some new developments, Caroline urges Elena to invite Stefan to the dance.
This to me sounds like Elena realizes her feelings for Damon are a lot stronger than she realized and after telling Caroline, Caroline feels badly enough for Stefan (Steroline feels!) that she urges Elena to go to the dance with him to have one last “test run” so that she can be sure. As much as I realize that this show has other things to do besides develop the triangle, the “sad scene for Stefan” still has to happen.
My optimistic theory is that this dance might be Stelena’s last hurrah, and Elena’s tears are because of that acceptance.
Another point I would just like to make about the triangle:
WARNING: I’m pretty offensive in this so move along if you get butthurt easily
Oh who am I kidding? This is Tumblr.
Btw, I’m not talking about all Stefan fans…. I’m talking about that group
I can’t stand the fact that Stefan’s been “sad” for like three episodes and this horrible section of the fandom has popped up where they’re like “omg Stefan frowned!!! it’s all Elena’s/Damon’s fault. he doesn’t deserve this.”
I’m sorry? What?
My thoughts on the triangle in the final 4 episodes:
Well, I’m unsure how I’m able to actually write this down because every time I think of this, I typically can only speak in gibberish. But here goes…
So, the topic of “who’s it gonna be?” is obviously the big focus at the end of this season. It’s been confirmed that some sort of decision will be made. Here’s my POV right now of what could go down:
Just another reason why I can’t ship Stelena
