Talk About A Hot Dream… Review: The Vampire Diaries – “Pictures of You”

Season 4 Episode 19

Air Date: Thursday, April 18, 2013, 8/7c on The CW

RATING: ★★★★★

“I will die before I let you control me.” – Bonnie Bennett

Real talk, folks: these latest episodes of The Vampire Diaries (TVD) have been subpar. I’m not sure what’s going on in the TVD camp, but I’m not happy with the direction the plot is going. Nothing makes sense anymore and things that did seem to be sloppily thrown together as a quick fix. I’m not interested in anything going on anymore nor do I think any of the little gimmicks—the cliffhanger endings, Tyler (Michael Trevino) showing up, or Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) making appearances in Bonnie’s (Kat Graham) head—will keep my attention. There’s only so much one can take before getting tired of the same old same old. Silas (Scott Parks) is becoming a novelty act and won’t be around for much longer; Elena (Nina Dobrev) and her bad girl act is getting old; and Bonnie probably won’t get a handle on her magic ever again. I’m playing the world’s tiniest violin right now.

Observations and thoughts:

Elena looks stunning, but a mean girl lies beneath that stolen dress.

I didn’t think Elena could get any meaner, but damn if she doesn’t prove me wrong. I don’t get where the attitude is coming from considering she’s only had her humanity turned off for a short time. Does that mean she has to be evil? So are the writers implying villains don’t have emotions? I don’t think it’s that clear cut considering any feeling you have would be an emotion of some kind. But she’s acting as if she hates everyone and everything, which would be expressing a human emotion, right? I would expect she’d be more nonchalant or impassive about things.

Dobrev does such a horrible job as Elena during this episode that I no longer care whether the character lives or dies. Her painful cries are so overdone, you can plainly see she’s acting (poorly). Maybe she’s become complacent with the role or doesn’t know how to deliver sobs effectively. Whatever it is, it needs to stop.

Stefan (Paul Wesley) reeks of desperation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him try so hard to get Elena to want to be with him. The love triangle hasn’t been in effect for too long but since its inception, Stefan has been putting his best foot forward to prove to Elena he is the guy for her. His ploys to get her to remember how it feels to be with him are pathetic at best. I’m surprised he doesn’t whisper dirty little snippets in her ear to get her to remember how good the two of them were “together” (you know what I mean).

Does anyone else get the feeling Silas might have been masquerading as Elijah (Daniel Gillies) at one point? It could just be Gillies playing the character with such panache making me feel like I was being duped. He’s good; maybe too good for TVD.

Rebekah’s (Claire Holt) plea to Elijah tugs at my heart: “Elijah, being human means a fresh start. I can grow old, have a family, and fill my days with meaning knowing that each one matters.” The test Elijah requires to decipher whether she’s genuine about becoming human is a good one. It didn’t occur to me that Rebekah might be reveling in certain emotions because she has the opportunity to become human. She is a teenager, after all.

Klaus (Joseph Morgan) gets an adventure handed to him by the lovely Katharine (Dobrev). So that’s next week’s plot, but what does he do in “Pictures of You” that’s of any interest? He goes back to being the a-hole we’re used to seeing. He doesn’t pull any punches when interacting with anyone. I’m never amazed at the way he treats his beloved sister, though I have to admit he’s being rather harsh just to save his butt. He’s on a mission for something much more than that though. He’s lashing out at everyone around him because he’s frustrated. So what happens when he finds what he wants? Will he go back to being sweet or turn into the kind of vampire Caroline (Candice Accola) can stand to be with?

Oh Caroline, why don’t you just admit your undying love for Klaus already!

So yeah, showing up at Klaus’ place to find a prom dress does not say ‘I hate your guts,’ Caroline. Does no one else find this odd or even oddly endearing? Why go to him? Is there some secret I want to be close to him feeling coming to the surface? Makes me excited for what could possibly happen between the two. If she’s going to him for dresses, soon she’ll be going to him for comfort.

The pictures floating across the screens during the prom are not doing the job they were meant to. Everyone seems to be affected except for Elena. I’m not sure what they can do to get her to turn her humanity on. At this point, she’s a lost cause. If I were anyone who was once close to Elena, I’d write her off as such and worry more about Silas and his endgame. ‘Cause it’s obvious no one’s thinking too hard about the dead supernaturals that are supposed to come back.

Memorable lines:

Damon: “Yeah, how you gonna make an emotionless vampire want anything?”

Stefan: “Get her to flip her humanity switch.”

(Yeah, because that’s proven to be so easy…)

Klaus to Rebekah: “When you’re sick and dying and you beg for my blood, I will laugh in your face and compel you to forget me.”

Rebekah: “Why is it so hard for you to let me be happy?”

Klaus: “Because your happiness comes at the expense of my sanity; because I refuse to entertain yet another one of your whims because you are bored and you’re looking for a reason to matter. Thankfully, I don’t have to waste any more breath fighting you on the subject.”

Rebekah: “Nik, what does that mean? What does that mean?!”

Well, this relationship lasted all of two seconds.

I know what that means. We’ll get another week of mysterious ‘what’s to be done now’ drama while nothing really happens. I’m bored. I’m sorry to say “Pictures of You” didn’t do it for me this week and I don’t expect things to get better anytime soon. What the hell happened to the TVD awesomeness of last season?

Tune in to The Vampire Diaries Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.

For more on the show, visit the official site.

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Follow The Vampire Diaries cast on Twitter: @ninadobrev, @iansomerhalder, @josephmorgan, @katgraham, @paulwesley, @michaeltrevino, @candaceaccola, @claireholt.

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Writer, mother, realist, cloud lover, daydreamer, dessert enthusiast, sweet tea addict, perfectionist, and lover of life and Christ, but not in that order. http://www.fanfiction.net/~vikingloverelle