The Vampire Diaries Round Table: Remember 1994?
Leigh Raines
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The question of the hour was: Who is Damon Salvatore?
But our Round Table for The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Episode 2 is way more concerned about the significance of May 10, 1994. What does it mean? Who finished Bonnie's crossword?
Join Miranda Wicker, Leigh Raines, Matt Richenthal and Heather Vee (from Love You To Death) as we break down the second episode of the season!
What was your favorite quote or scene from The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Episode 2?
Miranda: All things Enzoline, particularly the part where he snapped Stefan's neck for making her cry. Seriously. If those two aren't a match made in vampire heaven, I don't know who is! Make it so, writers!
Leigh: Really, really enjoyed Damon jamming out in the kitchen to "Whatta Man." You bet your booty I was singing along.
Heather: The "Whatta Man" moment will surely go down in TVD hisotry as one of this show's most unexpected and hilarious moments. I'm pretty sure I felt Tumblr quivering with potential GIF sets as it was happening. It will now haunt Ian Somerhalder for the rest of his life at awards shows and conventions. As for my favorite moment, I'm going to pick something very, very specific- the look on Enzo's face when Caroline started crying int he car and his realization that Stefan was responsible. But I really loved the overall compulsion thread between Elena and Alaric this episode, too.
Matt: I actually enjoyed the Delena flashbacks. They weren't overdone. They were woven in well with the storyline and, with the series have lasted for as long as it has, they served as a nice reminder of how far we've come.
Enzo's back: REACT!!
Miranda: What was that you were saying? I've been too busy imagining myself as the garment attendant on the verge of spilling all of my secrets. (In case that wasn't a clear enough answer, I am very, very happy that Enzo is back. NEVER LET HIM LEAVE EVER.)
Leigh: Mmhmm do I love an accent!! I love that he's already been working with Alaric too. But what I REALLY adored was that Enzo saw Caroline crying int he car and went back inside to stand up for her. Snapping Ivy's neck was not cool, but he does bring some pizzaz back to TVD! Also ENZOLINE.
Heather: ENZOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I'm not sure I'm shipping Enzo and Caroline, truthfully, so much as I love that he's obviously fond of her and considers her a friend whether she likes it or not. Since he arrived on the scene, I think Enzo has clearly proven himself to be a good friend and ally when his own issues are not clouding his judgment.
Matt: I don't wanna rain on the handsome, snarky, sexy Enzo parade... but dude snapped the neck of a totally innocent young woman. I know it's cute to be damaged and I'm all for morally grey characters. But is he even grey at this point? That was a purely evil act.
Do you blame Stefan for giving up? Or at least trying to?
Miranda: Blame him? No? But I think it's a dick move. Damon promised Stefan a lifetime of misery and Stefan has never given up on Damon in the past, no matter what terrible, horrible things Damon may have done. Damon might be "dead" but they don't know that for sure. I can't see why now should be any different.
Leigh: No, everyone processes pain differently. We don't know that he's truly given up, just that right now his way of grieving and getting through it was to check out. However, Caroline was his very close friend. This isn't even about them potentially hooking up. He shouldn't have completely peaced her and ignored her voicemails.
Heather: I don't blame Stefan for giving up on the quest to get Damon and Bonnie back, but I do blame him for giving up on his friends.
Matt: I don't think he has given up. I think he was pumping Ivy... for information. That doesn't forgive how he's treated Caroline, however. Nothing on television is sadder than seeing her cry.
Why are Bonnie and Damon stuck in Mystic Falls on May 10, 1994?
Miranda: A quick Google tells me that on May 10, 1994 a solar eclipse happened and Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first Black president of South Africa. So I'm going with it has something to do with the eclipse.
Leigh: Okay, did some Olivia Pope style research. It's not Elena's bday (June 22, 1992). First, all of the titles released from TVD season 6 are songs from 1994. So the big event they kept alluding to was the eclipse. In many cultures, eclipses are regarded as either supernatural, a bad omen, or a push for change. This particular one on May 10, 1994 occurs every 18 years and 11 days putting the next one right around the time Elena died and turned vampire. Coincidence? I think not.
Heather: Leigh I'm most impressed with your sleuthing! And now I can't stop mulling over the possibilities there. It's been well-established on TVD that a major astronomical event can be used as a power source for a huge spell. So now the question is what witch did what spell in 1994 Mystic Falls, and WHY? And surely it's not a coincidence that our resident witch is now trapped there? Als (and I just check the Love You to Death timeline to be sure), it was mentioned in the The Vampire Diaries Season 1 Episode 1 that the last time Stefan and Damon had seen each other prior to the fall of 2009 was in 1994. Also, in 1994, Jeremy Gilbert is not born yet. Not sure if either of these things are significant, but you bet your ass I'm going to start noting every little timeline thing from this point on. Also, it's important to remember that Grams arranged this- there's definitely a very specific reason why she sent Bonnie here.
Matt: I can't possibly compete with any of that, ladies. Well done.
How long will Elena's compulsion last? And will she be more or less whiny now that she doesn't remember?
Miranda: Ugh. The scenes with Alaric and Elena and the flashbacks broke my heart into a trillion pieces. I'm hoping that when he returns what we get is something like whatever that movie with Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams was where she had amnesia and he had to make her fall in love with him again. That one had a good ending, right?
Leigh: Miranda, that movie made me sad. It had a good ending, but it was no Notebook. I know Alaric can take away the compulsion, but I'm guessing it will stick until they find their way back. As for what happens then? Not sure.
Heather: I thought that entire thread was so nostalgic and heartbreaking and really well done, though I kind of wanted to smack Alaric around for where he landed Elena. That's your drinking buddy, dude?
Matt: As my first answer details, this was all very well done. However, I am not remotely looking forward to Damon finding is way back home... only for Elena to have forgotten everything special about him. This reeks of an impending amnesia/soap opera-like storyline that has been painfully done to death a million times before on television
Who is in the house with Damon and Bonnie?
Miranda: Uncle Zack.
Leigh: Grams, but she's def giving Bonnie the cold shoulder for bringing Damon along.
Heather: I'm guessing it's someone connected to the Gemini Coven we've been hearing about, and possibly connected to Liv and Luke.
Matt: I have no idea why it would be, and I'm sure it's not, but please be Lexi... please be Lexi... please be Lexi...
BONUS: Name your favorite song from 1994!
Miranda: I'm going with..."Stay (I Miss You)" by Lisa Loeb. The title even kind of fits wit the current storyline. (It is NOT "Yellow Ledbetter" since, as I told Matt, I spent nearly half an hour scouring the lyrics for a clue about Bonnie and Damon.)
Leigh: Well I was in fourth grade and I used to call Z100 to request Real McCoy's "Another Night." Is that embarrassing? Maybe. Am I ashamed of it? No way.
Heather: Oh, 1994. If I go by what was popular on the radio (I was a burgeoning teenage goth at the time), I'll say "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I was obsessed with that song and video and you could not escape it.
Matt: Let’s just say that I quoted All-4-One’s “I Swear” in my wedding speech to my wife. (And, no, she didn’t immediately file for an annulment!) I really hope we see Damon and Bonnie go to the movies at some point, though. What will they go see??! The Shawshank Redemption? Forrest Gump? Pulp Fiction? The Lion King? Speed? Four Weddings and a Funeral 1994 was, inarguably, the greatest year in big screen history.
Need to catch up on TVD? You can always watch The Vampire Diaries online via TV Fanatic.
