Happy 20th Birthday, Buffy! - Now Supergirl Slays (W/ SPOILERS)

     This past March, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In April, Entertainment Weekly reunited the cast for a chat about the show's impact. Star Sarah Michelle

Buffy explaining her relationship with
Angel - via GIPHY

Gellar and creator Joss Whedon agreed that their literal manifestation of "high school is hell" often played on multiple thematic levels and that their portrayal of happy relationships were far and few between. Gellar looked radiant sitting next to the still-hot David Boreanez, who played the sensitive soul-cursed vampire Angel. She admitted her personal choice would be for Buffy to live happily ever after with Angel instead of Spike (James Marsters), a bad vampire that gained his own conscience after falling in love with Buffy in the later seasons. Boreanez and two other cast members, Alexis Denisof (Wesley) and Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) left he show after the 3rd season for Angel's spin-off, where the vampire "moonlighted" as a detective and saved L.A. from demons and lawyers. Carpenter incredibly looks as young as she did when Angel began filming 18 years ago. Denisof's rugged looks won him the hand of another cast member, Alyson Hannigan. The couple married in 2003.

The wisdom of 'Oz' via GIPHY

     There were deeper issues to discuss in the reunion than choosing a side in the Spike/Angel debate. Actresses Amber Benson (Tara) and Hannigan (Willow) spoke about their beautiful lesbian relationship on the show and how it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable on TV as little as 15 years ago. As Hannigan's other major love interest, Seth Green spoke more in this interview than his entire time on the show as laconic musician/werewolf, Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne. He offered to host cast potlucks! The loveable duo  Nick Brendan (Xander) and Emma Caulfield (Anya) agreed their characters would have stayed together if Anya hadn't been killed in the final episode.  By the end, Caulfield performed a dramatic then performed a eulogy for her character, who despised bunnies.

'The Body' - Season 5 via GIPHY

     The effervescent Kristine Sutherland (as Buffy's mom Joyce Summers) spoke about her role as the clueless mom and how she slowly became a mother to all of Buddy's marginalized friends, her ball of energy fake sister Dawn (Michelle Tractenberg), and some demons (Clem!!). This sometimes came at the expense of getting kidnapped or knocked unconscious. Sutherland spoke highly of the cast and their commitment to telling stories with multiple levels. Sutherland's character's unexpected death in the 5th season had a dramatic impact on the season, and I would go as far as to say, the course of the last two seasons of the show. Whedon addressed the story (Buffy's mom had first a brain tumor that made her see demons, and after healing, was found unconscious from an aneurysm.) and Buffy's absolute helplessness. There was nothing she could kill or beat up to help her mom, and she went through all of the feelings of grief  in one scene. Whedon also shared his mother passed away when he was a teenager. As he worked through his feelings, the writer found a catharsis and was grateful for fans to share their own experiences of losing a parent too young.

My signed postcard from
Sarah Michelle Gellar, 1999.

     In my 90's Buffy binge haze, something has become abundantly clear to me. While some of the fashion fuzzy sweaters camisoles over t-shirts, knee socks) and  Xander's dialogue is questionable, the messages and themes still hold up. The lessons are timeless and the gains are huge.  Buffy has very heavily influenced the current CW show Supergirl. Read on as I discuss both shows and the continuing legacy of kick-ass female superheroes.

Image from Comic Vine

TROPE: The Dual Identity
     This is pretty obvious, so I won't spend too long on this point. Gellar's Buffy always looked chic, and in the early seasons, Buffy seemed to own an unlimited closet of trench coats and leather jackets for all of her lurking.Buffy spent her high school career sorting through pencils and stakes in her bag and running from math class to stakeouts to graveyards.  She struggled to hold down a job after dropping out of college, although construction work seemed promising given her super strength.  While she didn't often get a restful night's sleep, being the slayer is her calling. She doesn't have a choice. She's lied to her family, dates, hospitals, police, and the entire town. In the end, her graduating class knew there was something funky going on and awarded her the class protector award.

Image from GIPHY

     As you may know, Melissa's Benoist's  Supergirl has a disguise. I'm not saying it's clever, but taking off the suit and throwing up a messy bun and thick glasses transform the hero into plain old Catco Media worker Kara Danvers. I am seriously in love with her red Supergirl boots! In her daily life, Kara dresses pretty boring, classic sweaters and button down shirts, trousers and pencil skirts. A casual game night will land her in some jeans. In her demure persona, Kara get bullied by both of her bosses. First, as an assistant to Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart), she gets shade for the the long coffee runs end with defeating aliens and warming up the coffee with her eyes.

GIF from Timblr

     In season 2, she moved up to the rank of  magazine reporter (yes, that's still a paying job in National City). At times Kara stands up for herself to her Editor-in-Chief Snapper Carr, but writes way too many basic pieces about her buddy, Lena Luthor. She, like Buffy, fired. Then like Buffy, she saves the world, stops an alien registry (so timely with politics), gets re-hired by Catco. Cat reveals after a traumatic battle that she knows Kara (often purposely called Kira by Cat, like in Devil Wears Prada) she's Supergirl. Cat had a great friendship with Sueprgirl over the course of season 1, but was always tough on Kara. On top of all of this, Kara is a super hero because she's an alien that crash landed on earth. She was supposed to protect her baby cousin, but she got lost on her way to earth, and he was grown up and fighting bad aliens off his new planet by the time she arrived. With her powers from her homeland and parental-instilled sense of right and wrong, Kara can't sit by and watch other aliens bring chaos and destruction.

TROPE: The adopted sister/Protecting Family

GIF via FanPop

     Buffy was an only child until some  monks with no eyes combined a dimensional portal into a human body (season 5). They called the teenage girl 'Dawn' and wrote her into everyone's memory. This was an interesting plot choice and became the key arc of season 5. A demon (Hell-God if we're being precise) named Glory (Clare Kramer) was trapped in our dimension and wanted to go home. The way out was a portal with a special key, which was running through Dawn's veins. This led to the phrase "Dawn's kidnapped? It must been Tuesday night."  A super creepy guy named Doc (the legendary Joel Grey) finally lured Dawn away and put her up a big tower in  a junkyard as her blood began to open the portal. In order to save her sister and the dimension, Buffy jumped in to use her blood to close the portal, killing herself in the process. Buffy's sacrifice (in the 100th episode, titled The Gift)  is one of the most devastating season endings of any show. Joss broke the rules by killing off his heroine (twice), during a time of network uncertainty and a season already marked by Joyce' death weeks earlier. The show was cancelled by the WB after contact renewal discussions and "The Gift" ended with a sappy title card from the network thanking the show for 5 years.

     Buffy didn't take things lying down. The show was quickly acquired by UPN and lived on for two more seasons. (Ironically both networks merged a few years later to form the current CW). Whedon also found loopholes to bring Buffy back after both deaths, however damaged she might be. Both times, Buffy's friends jumped in to rescue her. If she was a typical slayer, Buffy have no friends and would have probably died the second she arrived in Sunnydale. But as the every-woman slayer of the 90's/2000's, Buffy made connections with friends that were committed to save the world. As Xander once said, "Here to help. Want to live..." 

Kara and Alex celebrate a rough day. - via Tumblr

     Supergirl had a different family structure from the start. Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) became Kara's big sister when the young alien landed on earth and met up with her cousin, now known as Superman. Kara's cousin placed her with the Danvers family because they protected and raised him.  This new family struck Kara odd at some points but provided her a foundation for being a normal kid.  Sure she could melt things with her eyes and fly, but she was asked to keep those under wraps. As the younger sister, Kara always wants to please Alex. First, she saved Alex's commuter plane,  revealing herself to the world as a superhero. In their many adventures with the Dept. of Extraterrestrial Operations (DEO) Alex has dram jumped and done many stupid things for a human, all in the name of saving her much-powerful sister. The girls became very close to their mother as teens, much like Buffy and Dawn, although for much different reasons.

     The Danvers girls were told their father died on a professorial mission, which was a lie because it was  a mission for his secret DEO work and he is very much alive, minus a hand. Read my take here. The Summers girls were a product of divorce. Buffy's unpredictable all-night slayer schedule and school trouble for 'fighting' put a strain on her parents' already-fragile marriage. Mom moved the girls to a new town and their dad just stopped showing up after a few years. Even Angel came to Joyce's funeral, but Mr. Summers was off on an island (allegedly with his secretary).

     In both cases, the girls became close to their mothers out of necessity. In the season 2 thanksgiving episode, both sisters were trying to outbid each other to out themselves to their mother. Kara planned to come clean about being Supergirl (where has her mom been living by the way? How could she not notice or suspect?). and Alex about her newly discovered feelings for a woman, Maggie. The Danvers girls found a great amount of respect from their mom when everything resolved, which took a lot longer for Buffy. In late season 2, she began letting her mom in on more things, explaining her creepy (vampire) ex was not invited inside the house anymore. The season closer finally brought Buffy, Joyce and Spike to a conversation where Buffy declared herself a slayer. "Did you every try not being one?" asked Joyce. While the subtext for a different coming out is here, Joyce represented the 90's parent, much more naive and willing to believe her kid was out doing good instead of bad. But after a summer, [Buffy ran away to be a vampire-free waitress (possibly the longest non-slayer job she ever had] she returned home again and was welcomed in with a new sense of understanding and maturity.
   
Other Future Tropes to Discuss:

• "GIVE ME SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT!" -Musicals
• The Surrogate Father
• The Delicate Balance: Romance Vs. Saving the World
• The Scoobies vs. The Justice League

Same Stars Hollow, Different Gilmores

(c) PipPepPop
X-mas present- Luke's shirt

     I watched the Netflix original revival Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life  5 months ago. I have written about it for days at a time. I have lost a little bit of sleep over it. I have read all of the fan theories.  I have had endless conversations with my mom, out of the blue, about the final 4 words. TV critic Michael Ausiello loved the ending. I differ in opinion. We do both agree the show reached a natural conclusion (see below) that a 2nd season would be overkill. It would take away from this gift season. We both agree that the story reached a natural conclusion, as I will outline below. In brief, I didn't love it. While I (and apparently Rory herself) didn't hate it, but I'm somewhere in the middle. One thing is clear, all 3 generations of Gilmore Girls are going through some growing pains, as seen in the trailer.



    At least I am relieved not hear  "Who is Rory (Alexis Bledel) going to end up with? theories anymore. This issue was resolved in a way, but also not resolved. On an episode of "The Shipping Room"podcast, Will Choi (co-host of another podcast with Gilmore Girls actress Keiko Agnea) remarked that Rory should choose books! I'd be happy if Rory would choose something, a home, a career etc... While there was closure to her relationship with Dean (Jared Padadecki), she had odd interactions with Jess and Logan. I was originally on "Team Dean" back when I had my first Baby-G watch like Rory. Once that ship sailed (and Dean cheated on his wife with Rory), it was time to move on. I always disliked Jess. He is rude. Despite his emotional growth (off-screen) in the later seasons, he is not right for Rory. People have called him the Luke of this relationship, but I feel like he is more of a young Christopher. Jess knows Rory so well, but in the long-term they're not compatible. Maybe it's due to timing, but they're never been in the same place emotionally at the same time. In the words of Joey Tribbani, it's a moo point.

Rory lamenting to Jess about Logan
Gif from Celebuzz

     I have a severe problem with Jess and Rory being together and Lorelei and Luke being together. The only relationship I dislike more than this on the show (and I really love the townspeople and their quirky relationships like Babette and Morty) is Lane and Zach. All I'm going to say about them is that I feel bad for Lane. She's trapped (my opinion but I'm not alone)  in a marriage with Zach and they have twin boys and she just didn't measure up to her greatest potential. I blame Dave Rygalski's (Adam Brody) leaving in season 3 for all of it. But, let's get back to the potential kissing cousins. (SPOILER- Lorelei and Luke got married, and with their marriage, Rory and Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) are cousins. Jess's uncle married Rory's mom and they're cousins through marriage. The two couples being together would be some serious backwoods stuff. IT'S CREEPY!! They cannot date without a whole lot of weirdness, if they were to ever date again. It's already been weird enough having a family dinner with Emily, Lorelei, Rory and Luke. If we throw Jess in there, it's going to go from a Neil Simon play to a Chekhov play. This is another reason I'm on team Logan.

     I have a lot of problems with present Rory as a character. She is extremely entitled most Yale grads. Old Rory never smelled of privilege, always remaining humble and classy. There is a complete lack of responsibility for present Rory. She's unmotivated and she doesn't want to get a real job like any other respectable 30+ year old. In sharp contrast to this, Lorelei at the same age was working full time, dating, working on her relationship with her parents, and raising a teenager. I'll get to her in a bit, though. Where did she go wrong with Rory? Rory went to great schools and had amazing opportunities. She wrote one amazing article a ways back, and the only gainful employment she can muster up is to be the unpaid editor of the local town paper. She blows her meeting with Conde Nast, as well as her interview with website Sandee Says. Rory expects that Sandee will hand her a desk. ll she prepares is her lucky outfit, which she spends months looking for in various cities. Rory cannot find any of her clothes because they are in NYC with Paris, in Stars Hollow with mom or with Lane, at her grandmother's in Connecticut, and in London with Logan. I'm all for living a multi-city life, but Rory is literally running from one town to another. She is throwing up major flares,  making a desperate attempt not to put down roots. It's downright embarrassing.

     In a long list of embarrassing things Rory is doing, she is still sleeping with Logan Huntsberger (Matt Czuchry). I may be on team Logan, but it's got it's flaws. Rory and Logan are not in a relationship. She has a oft-forgot (and joked to death) boyfriend, Paul.  He seems like a nice guy, so he is clearly wrong fro Rory. She doesn't deserve a nice guy. Logan has an absent fiancee and is based out of London. When Rory is there, they adapt a French casual "what happens in London stays in London" attitude. Give me a break! Does Rory have so little self-respect that she would continue shacking up her playboy college boyfriend? Maybe you do this for a couple of years in your early 20's and you convince yourself it's NBD. Now it's just pathetic. Logan still calls her "Ace" like they're in a 1940's detective movie. It's wrong. as much as I want to hate him, they're equally to blame for this bad behavior. Logan's parents never thought highly of Rory, despite her attending the best schools in Connecticut and being the granddaughter of the Hartford Gilmores. Mr. Huntsberger offered Rory a job on his newspaper in college,  warning that she might not be able to cut it as a reporter. It's almost as if he had a crystal ball, because she seems to really suck at it now. When researching lines in NYC, Rory fell asleep, ditched her mom in line, and slept with a guy dressed like Chewbacca.

Gif from Buzzfeed

     Rory was always hungry for knowledge, strong-willed and optimistic, but her greatest accomplishment in the first two episodes was sleeping with a guy in a Wookie (yes, a Chewbacca) costume while researching a story about lines. Which brings us to the final four words: "Mom, I'm pregnant." Rory ended up in the same spot as her mom, an unwed mother with an unsettled life. But as mentioned before, Lorelei pushed away her boyfriend Christopher. She got a job and supported a child without help from her parents. She was strong enough to raise a kid by herself. I'm not sure Rory can handle it. She's been coddled most of her life, and everyone is telling her how great she is. Logan and his merry band of Life-and-Death Brigade buddies were bid a fond farewell by Rory. It seems clear she doesn't want him involved in the child's life. Let's push aside all of the crazy theories (it's the Wookie's baby, it's Jess's baby, it's Luke and Lorelei's surrogate baby) and face some cold hard facts. This had to be Logan's baby and after talking to her dad, Rory seemed convinced she could do this alone.  Rory now has to make some choices. She needs in this order: a steady job, a permanent home, and a partner.

     Compared to per best buddy Paris (MD, JD and mother of 2), Rory is a fast food employee. At Chilton career day, Rory was offered a teaching position by the headmaster. I think that was a perfect option, but Rory shrugged it off. It would mean going back to school for a masters, and we know Rory is allergic to responsibility. Rory seemed skilled enough to excite her teenage charges, and she really thrived when she went to Chilton. They all thought she walked on water when she went there. In comparison, Paris Gellar McMaster (Liza Weil) is falling apart at career day. She may have peaked too soon and passed her mania about the real world to the Chilton students. Paris had it all, but her kids were a little uptight and being raised by a nanny they may love more than mom. Paris seems dangerously close to turning into her own absentee parents.  The only thing working against the nanny is that she hated the 5 flights of stairs in their brownstone. Paris is also on the brink of divorce with her husband Doyle, who sold a screenplay and became a West Coast duchebag. Nobody is perfect, but Paris represents a completely different take on the 30-something life than Rory.

Image from Tumblr

I'm going to switch gears to discuss the aforementioned Lorelei (nee Gilmore) Danes. We pick up with her and  Luke where we left them 8 years ago, just hanging out. They're in their late 40's and they don't want to be married. they don't want a baby (After Paris's scary fertility clinic pitch, it's clear they don't want to raise a baby together either. A third option they also turn down is Emily's offer to pay to expand  Luke's small hometown diner. This almost ends their relationship because Luke keeps the offer a secret from Lorelei. The couple reverts back to the same communication problems they had the last time, together but they're not committed, feeling things, but not sharing them with their partner. We also can all admit that it's taken years for Luke to get over his gruff old-man way of communicating with people (still giving out a fake Wifi password for the diner to people that linger like it's Starbucks). So they're chugging along with their quiet life in Stars Hollow, attending town meetings, movie nights, and the occasional secret speakeasy. With the passing of Lorelei's beloved father Richard, she begins to reassess their situation. Lorelei selfishly lashes out at her mom, Rory and "her guy" about the stupidest things, refusing to let Rory write a book about their life as a mother-daughter duo.  Both members of the couple are restless in this current state, both scaredy cats, for lack of a better word (thanks Rugrats) to pull the trigger and make a commitment.
 
     What's going to give them pair a push to move on? I had to remind myself the pair were engaged once before.  Lorelei reminded us they both have taken the plunge (she with Christopher and he with Nicole) with other people. It didn't last for either couple. Are they so emotionally damaged that they can't function? No, I think the problem is rooted in each of their fears. Lorelei loves so openly and freely that love seems to scare her. Her parents never seems to return her affection, and people always leave. Her best friend Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) went away for a short class and ditched her husband and kids to study roots in Vermont. What kind of friend and business partner does that? Lorelei is trapped professionally too. She has to keep breaking in new chefs at the Inn, and the threat of her front desk manager Michele leaving is all too real. She couldn't expand the inn, but they desperately needed more space so they could continue to do business. If she could raise the money to buy an abandoned convent (just go with it), she could expand the inn and do something professionally stimulating.

     On a "Wild" themed hiking trip, Lorelei remembered a story about her dad. She never shared it at the funeral, and it almost ruined her relationship with Emily. She calls her mom to share the story, and in that moment, Lorelei realized her dad did love her. She's ready to move forward with Luke and she knows that love is real. She needs that official recognition of them as a couple and she even wants to have the same love her parents had.  She finally makes peace with Emily,and I think this is the crucial step for Lorelei to move forward. It takes the breakthrough about her dad to give Lorelei the courage to ask her mother for a loan. She promises more Friday night dinners with her and Luke in exchange for the money to buy the convent. In the end, like the beginning, the Gilmores take a small step toward being a family.

     On the other hand, Luke is still working on trying to verbally identify his feelings. They have to meet in the middle to progress. As an example, Lorelei offers Luke money for his daughter April's summer trip to Europe and he turns her down. He hasn't reached that level of their relationship that it's okay to share stuff, money, kids etc..  In the past, he shut out Lorelei from getting to know his daughter, which drove a wedge between them. It takes several encounters with Emily to make Luke (a) extremely uncomfortable and (b) desperate to make Lorelei happy. He may never be Mr. Happy, but he can handle being Mr. dinner with the in-laws.

Emily talking smack. Gif from Celebuzz.

     Emily (Kelly Bishop) is the final Gilmore Girl and had the most dramatic journey of the series. She commented when Richard had one of his heart attacks that she only knew how to be Richard Gilmore's wife. While she was not as stuffy as Richard's mother, her place was clearly established from the day she said "I do." It was full of work dinners, yelling at the maids, galas, DAR meetings, garden clubs and grand European vacations. She may have come from a plain background like Rory, but Emily became someone who mattered. She became so self-important she was downright rude. She definitely could have gone easier on Lorelei as a kid. That could have changed a lot of things. When Richard passed away, Emily was lost. She lashed out at Lorelei way more than she should have, but she literally didn't know what to do because she had been operating the same way for over 50 years. I was so satisfied when Emily told off the DAR after they humored a trophy wife with an interview. She used her tenacity to finally stick it to people that deserved it for once, instead of the maids, the caterers, and her family.

     I was heartened to see Emily trying to find her bliss, which seems be be working as a museum guide at a whaling museum. Emily's little cottage up in Rhode Island was adorable. She seemed at home for once, surrounded by her maid's various family members and children. Emily even seemed to find a companion in Richard's old friend, Jack Smith (Ray Wise).  This seemed to be brewing as early as Richard's funeral (they move fast here), Jack was there to lend a shoulder, and Emily was not quite interested at the time. This really set of Lorelei and led to the rift-inciting bad funeral story. I'm not saying they need to marry again, but she found someone to  keep her company.  Emily almost didn't need Jack. It was gratifying to see her passing off his briefcase and shooing him away from the cottage when he had to unexpectedly to go back to work. The only thing I cannot wrap my head around is how Lorelei could decide to get married the night before the wedding (because she was so excited/nervous). There was no way Emily could make it there in time from Rhode Island, and I think that was the idea. I also think it was insensitive. Emily has had one hope in her motherly bones, and it's to marry off her daughter to a nice man. It finally was about to happen and she was sitting at home, drinking wine. I'm going to assume Rory, Michele, Kirk, Lane and the town reverend pretended it didn't happen, and woke up the next day to do it all over again. The end!

Cop Fridays 5: After 8 Seasons, the Sheriff Can't Stop Doppelgangers and their Vampire Diaries*

     Happy 20th Anniversary today to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the grandmommy of all teen vampire dramas! We'll touch on BTVS briefly tonight as it relates to The Vampire Diaries but devote more time to it soon.

"Evacuate the town. Yeah, it's another gas leak." -- Sheriff Matt Donovan

     This is the Mystic Falls town slogan. I would also accept, "Come for the vampires, but stay for the lies that everything is going to be okay," because nothing in Mystic Falls is ever going to be okay. This place has been haunted by vamps since the Civil War! I find it ironic that in the last episode of the series, we're going back to the old classics. Similar to the old Buffy adage, "This crime was committed by a gang on pcp." The Vampire Diaries had their share of police cover-ups. In the beginning, Sheriff Forbes and Mayor Lockwood put the town at ease by straight up lying. Vicki Donovan (sister of Matt) was bit by vampire Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) during a party in the woods, and everyone believed she was bit by an animal, another Buffy lame excuse. When in doubt, all of the vampires could glamour humans and make them believe whatever they told them in a trance-like state. It worked fine until Stefan became human again. All of his glamours became undone and the town was ready to riot before the gates of hell were being opened. Much like Buffy, TVD also has a gateway to hell lurking around their school. This is more a recent development as the "Hells Bells" came to town with TVD's siren sisters this season.  
     

Image fro GURL.com

     Let's talk more about the concept of a vampire going back to being a human. This concept has been a big part of TVD and I believe the cure was introduced around season four. The cure would only work for one person, and it looked like a large capsule of blood. Apparently, some Internet reading led me to find out the cure came from a brotherhood hunting The Originals witches as early as the year 1100. It was buried in some remote part of the earth and everyone wanted it for their own reasons. The idea was to give it to Elena (Nina Dobarev) because being a vampire was kinda an accident and it made her miserable.

Multiple Dimensions, Bonnie's Deaths and "The Cure"

     When a few witches created alternate dimensions to trap people {1994 for Kai Parker (Chris

Bonnie and the Bennett Witches
Image from Youtube

Wood) and 1903 for Mama Salvatore}, there were multiple cures created in those prison worlds. This brought the number of cures to 3. The first cure went to Katherine Pierce, a big bad doppelganger of Elena, also played by Dobarev. (The total number of doppelgangers she played was three.)The second cure went to Silas, a doppelganger of Damon's more saintly brother Stefan (only two doppelgangers for Paul Wesley). The third cure went into Elena's body before a season 6 wedding. Instead of Elena dying (and Dobarev leaving the show forever), she was put in a coma, her life tied to her best friend, Bonnie Bennett (Kat Grahm). For all her witchy ways, Bonnie could not figure out how to bring Elena back, aside from killing herself. Bonnie died three times over the course of the series and almost a record 4th time in the penultimate episode (Buffy only dies twice). But Bonnie is a fighter and she made it back through a loophole every time, so things were not looking good for Elena in this lifetime. After the big battle (see below) is over, Elena wakes up. Suddenly, Bonnie realized she knew how to break the spell. This was a stretch of convenience for the last few minutes of the episode. We don't know how she did it after barely practicing magic for the last 3-4 years.  I sincerely hope she channeled the power of her ancestor witches, in the image above. Bonnie used their strength to win the big battle (like Willow when she gave slayer hopefuls their powers early from the cool slayer scythe). Bonnie ends the show along, but she keeps seeing the ghost of her dead boyfriend Enzo, and she seems to be cool with it. Bonnie finally got out of that town and was headed off to see Europe. You go, Bonnie Bennett.

The Big Battle- "I was Feeling Epic"

     A few episodes ago, Bonnie injected some of  the cure out of Elena's sleeping body so she could give it to her boyfriend, Enzo. Then sweet Stefan went evil (just like Angel lost his soul and became Angelus) because he turned off his humanity to serve the devil for a few years. Also known as "Cade", the devil made the Salvatore brother work for him collecting bad souls in exchange for not taking Caroline and Ric's twin witch toddlers, which is like a magical full house. Bonnie punished Stefan by stabbing him with the cure, and turning him human for the first time in 150 years. At this point, the cure rules become unclear. Stefan got the cure, but it's still in Elena's sleeping body. It does, however, becomes clear that doppelganger Katherine is pulling the strings in hell. Surprise! She's had Cade torturing the gang since she died a few years ago.  Through Stefan and Caroline's wedding, they lure Katherine back to town. Here's the plan, trap her in the underground tunnels, and hope Bonnie can channel hellfire through the tunnels (like when an earthquake swallowed Sunnydale into the Hellmouth) to swallow Katherine back to hell and destroy the whole construct, once and for all. Stefan volunteers, he has a family to protect now. Damon volunteers, because he's done some bad stuff and has spent the last season pondering if he would ever be worthy of Elena when she wakes up. As Heath Ledger said in 10 Things I Hate About You, "Does this chick have beer flavored nipples?" The blind love and devotion for Elena is at times, completely revolting. So  now Damon is going to trap Katherine in the tunnels. Psych! Stefan comes at the last minute and stabs his brother with (you guessed it) the cure, so he can also be human, and live out a human life with Elena. Stefan goes down in hellfire with Katherine as a hero. He is officially, dead. Everyone was pretty upset about it, especially his brother (after 150+ years on earth, you get attached). I was near tears when they had a  "woods funeral" for Stefan, playing The Fray's Look After You. This song was significant for two reasons, it was callback to Stefan and Elena in the pilot, and Candace Accola (Caroline) actually married one of the band members. We saw Stefan pass over as he jumped into a car with his old (dead) pal, Lexie, where he proclaimed, "I was feeling epic!"

What exactly is hellfire? 

      Now we come back to Sheriff Matt Donovan and what he did for the town. First of all, Matt is the only character on the show that (a) did not die and (b) remained human the entire time.  Secondly, he only became the Sheriff because enough people died, moved away, or quit that he was the only one dumb enough to stick around in a town that was at one time, preventing non-vampires from entering at the "welcome" sign.  Does that make him a good cop? I can't say. I can say that Matt was the Mystic Falls equivalent of a Xander Harris. He had a pure heart, and he needed to do just one thing to prove he was worthy of being part of this extraordinary group. 

     Matt finally got parents this season, and they revealed he was from one of the founding families (he could have been Miss Mystic Falls). This means Matt wasn't the white trash he always believed he came from. The Maxwell family designed the founders' town bell, and the Bennett witches put a spell on it to drive away sirens. But a different number of rings would open the gates of hell, located just under the town square (just like the high school library). Before the grand plan to eradicate Katherine was developed, Matt agreed to ring the bell.  Then his 20-years absent dad jumped in to ring it, but hey changed their minds after hearing the town would be eradicated. Then Matt's mom came back from the dead (don't feel bad, Matt didn't even know she died) and got his (also dead) sister Vicki to ring the bell, bringing hellfire. Matt and Damon tried to kill Vicki, but remember, she's been dead since about episode 5. At least by this point, the crack team had a plan in place to take down Katherine and preserve the town. The town later presented Matt with a bench (for still having a town to come back to) while the ghosts of his sister and friend Tyler watched.  

Caroline/Rick/Stefan- One Happy Family?

     Caroline and Stefan got married in the penultimate episode. I know they've been engaged all season, but something about their relationship has never won me over. Maybe I am a sucker for the chemistry Stefan first had with Elena, and that fact that they're doppelgangers, souls reborn into identical bodies over and over again. That means something! Does it mean something that Caroline was hard core hitting on Stefan in the first episode? I choose to believe it was just a way to show her personality at that time, she was a boy-crazy friend of Elena, light and airy until she (within the first half of the season) became a vampire. That being said, a more grown up Caroline was forced into this family with Ric because she was gifted with carrying his wife's mystical twins. We all remember Jo's devastating murder at the hand of her twin brother (Kai) during her wedding. She is the only mom these kids will ever know, and Ric is the dad to all of the kids in mystic falls, because they have terrible family situations. Ric almost married Elena's aunt at one point (before she died), and it turned out his first wife was Elena's biological mother. Talk about an awkward family reunion... So Caroline and Ric called off their wedding a few years ago because she was really in love with Stefan. But, I always believed Ric had fallen in love with Caroline and I wanted to see them end up together. With Stefan gone a day after he got married, I am hoping Caroline and Ric come together again, this time with love and gratitude fro what they've faced with these twin terrors (siren nannies and the like). Their last scene is opening a magic school (just like Charmed) with Elena's brother Jeremy, much like the Derek Zoolander center, except books catch on fire and there may be Harry Potter robes. I guess the idea of the school is to prevent kids from spinning out and becoming magical super villains, like Kai. Despite their generous endowment to begin the school from creepy vampire Klaus, I choose to believe Caroline and Ric are together. 

Elena and Damon- Happily Ever After, or Are They Dead? 

     Elena and Damon are living happily as humans. I'm not happy with it, but I'm accepting it based on the circumstances. Elena writes in her journal, with a big rock on her finger, back in the graveyard again. In the first episode, she went to the cemetery to feel close to her recently deceased parents. Now, I think it's mostly for Stefan's benefit. I assumed she was writing ho him in her journal. As a typical back from the dead over-achiever, Elena completed college, med school, and actually became a doctor. I guess she handles blood well. She finished journaling and Damon met her to walk somewhere. There's a crow in the graveyard. It's another callback to the first episode. I also think Stefan's soul may be in that crow. Yes, it's a stretch, but it makes me happy.

     Here's where TVD lost me: the last scene. I'm going out on a LOST limb here, so bear with me. From all the interviews and pieces I have read, we are flashing forward to the end of Damon and Elena's lives. Otherwise, all of this was for nothing because it seems like we're following them into the not too distant afterlife. Elena and Damon were strolling down the street. Elena stopped at her home, (which she burned down upon becoming a vampire) and her dead parents were out on the porch. She ran up the steps, hugging them and her dead aunt, Jenna. Then her dead biological father (Uncle John) came out with a bottle of wine and hugged her. To me, one reunites with dead people when they have also crossed over. The last shot was Damon ringing the bell at the old Salvatore house, which a second ago was being converted into a magic school by Caroline and Ric. Stefan opened the door and greeted his brother home with a hug. The last words are another callback to the pilot, when Damon breezed into town to murder people. He said to Stefan, "Hello brother." If Damon was worried he would never see Stefan again, and here they are together in their home, they must be dead. If they really did destroy hell with it's own fire, they must be in heaven. So it seems like both brothers found redemption for being such vicious killers.

     While that's a great note to end on, I want to believe Stefan got another shot with Elena in the afterlife. They had such a beautiful (but too short) moment saying goodbye while Elena was in her sleeping beauty coma that I can't be completely satisfied with this ending.

 NOTE: A "woods funeral" is a memorial held for someone who is dead on TVD. I coined this term because it's happened multiple times, and at least a few of them were for Bonnie.  I guess this group needs to say their goodbyes in private, so a real funeral may also be held. They meet in the woods near the graveyard, possibly by the Lockwood family crypt. They say some nice things and often leave tokens for the dead. 

     *My original intent was to call this "Twins, Doppelgangers and Time Jumps", but there was only one jump, three sets of twins and a gaggle of vampires, diaries and doppelgangers to discuss., so we paired it down. 

Before Dan Humphrey, Penn Bagley Wrote 'The Bedford Diaries'

Image from Clevvr

     It's the start of a brand new school year, so it's time to reflect on a teen drama from yesteryear. About 10 years ago, the WB premiered The Bedford Diaries, a soapy drama about students in a sexuality seminar at a Columbia-like University. I haven't been able to find the 8-episode series anywhere online, but I'm pushing to get it on the CW Seed. The show was scandalous and provocative by 2006 standards, but fairly tame to what kind of dialogue passes on TV today.

     In typical WB fashion, this show launched the careers of Penn Badgley, who was cast the following year in/as the CW's Gossip Girl and Scott Porter, who went on to play Jason Streets in Friday Night Lights, and later, George Tucker on the CW's Hart of Dixie.  The show continued the career of Gilmore Girls bad boy, Milo Ventimiglia. The students were led by their wily professor, played by Matthew Modine, and the delightful Audra McDonald played another professor at Bedford College. If anyone knows where to watch this, please let me know!

Freeform: Coming to your Local Television

     Tomorrow, ABC Family will change its name to Freeform. Since 2001, they have been known as the gawky teen cousin network of ABC, showing reruns of  Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Gilmore Girls, Step by Step and other 90's and early 2000's shows. The network also launched the wildly successful and addictive Pretty Little Liars (teen murderesses) and a host of other interesting shows and subject matter such as :

• Make It or Break It (gymnastics team with issues)
• The Fosters, (a charming Lesbian couple and their foster children, with issues) 
• and the often dialogue-plagued: The Secret Life of the American Teenager (pregnant teens- with issues)

     According to statements from ABC Family, they are trying to hold on to their 18-34 females demographic and feel this name change will help them become more accepted or cool. I find this a big funny for a network that built it's empire on teen dramas. Let's face it, the WB never tried to be cool, but it drew a huge pull of women in that demographic and both women older and younger than it , and still does as the current CW network. It also calls its demo (or its Demi Lovato, as comedians Nikki Glazer and Sara Schafer referred to the demographic of their short lived MTV show), the becomers. To me, as a woman in that coveted "Demi", I am really creeped out and a little offended. The Becomers sounds like the next Vampire Diaries spinoff. "The Becomers" will get you at 9 P.M. on Thursday night.

     We'll have to see how this all plays out. The same network held a blaze of glory from 1998 - 2001  as Fox Family Channel before it changed over to ABC. I was pretty upset at the time and may never recover from the lack of S Club 7 reruns. (S Club has shows in Miami and Los Angeles and they were amazing). Fergie of the black eyed peas also hosted a show where kids won prizes for the best lip sync to a popular song. It was truly a renaissance. Before that, the channel was known as the Christian-inspired  Family Channel and I'm not too sure it had any appealing programming other than old reruns of Bonanza.  

The Oddest Couple

   Last week, CBS re-launched The Odd Couple. I'm not exactly sure why they did this, but based on the success of Hawaii 5-0, I guess any old show stands a chance these days if it can get some buzz going. Before the show started, I was excited about watching it. Now that I've seen the first episode, I'm not sure it will be holding my interest.

   It's a take as old as time. Two divorced college buddies that are as different as night and day end up living together and navigating the world through their differences in personality. Matthew Perry (Chandler) plays grumpy drinking Oscar and Thomas Lenin is likable as the completely neurotic and on the edge of a nervous breakdown Oscar. Felix is messy and he likes sports, while Oscar is a total neat freak that enjoys opera, arts and cooking. They make the acquaintance of two sisters that live in their apartment building, played by Leslie Bibb (Casey) and Lindsay Sloane (Emily) {it's important to note here as part of the WB network's two stars to a new project rule, both actresses were on the WB, Bibb in popular and Sloane in Sabrina the Teenage Witch}. The opening scenes followed the play version very closely, but with some 21st century upgrades  (lots of TV's, Laptops, cell phones...).

   As much as I like both actors, and enjoy their scenes in the movie 17 Again, it felt like a community theater production put to a laugh track. Only time will tell if it makes it to another season.

A Note About WB Stars Making TV Appearances

     The WB stars of the past and present, mostly the past in this case, have long made TV appearances together on new shows. They're popping up everywhere. Here are 10 great WB reunions in other shows and movies and 3 WB prequel friendships.

Reunited, and it Feels so Good

As part of their packaged deal, I'm convinced, WB stars make TV deals to be in future TV shows with other stars. Here are ten examples:

1. 2010, Life Unexpected 
1. (Shiri Appleby- Roswell and Kerr Smith- Dawson's Creek), as radio cohosts and engaged parents raising her long-lost teenager.
2.  2010, The Vampire Diaries 
1. (Paul Wesley- Everwood, Bianca Lawson- Buffy)
3. 2010, Pretty Little Liars 
1. (Holly Marie Combs- Charmed,  Lucy Hale- Privileged, Bryce Johnson- Popular, Bianca Lawson- Buffy)
4. 2008-2010, Bones 
5. (David Boreanez- Angel, and Brendan Fehr-Roswell)  as his brother.
6. 2008, 90210 
1. (Lori Loughlin- Summerland, Jennie Garth- What I Like About You) and including Shannen Doherty and Greg Vaughn- Charmed, Scott Patterson-Gilmore Girls, and Sarah Danielle Madison- 7th Heaven 
7. 2007, Samantha Who?
1.  (Barry Watson- 7th Heaven, Melissa McCarthy- Gilmore Girls)
8. 2007, Greek 
1. (Appearances by Charisma Carpenter - Buffy/Angel & Jesse McCartney- Summerland)
9. 2006, What About Brian?
1.  (Barry Watson- 7th Heaven, Amanda Foreman- Felicity, and Matthew Davis (The Vampire Diaries)
10. 2006, The Bedford Diaries 
1. (Penn Bagley- future Gossip Girl star, Milo Ventimiglia- Gilmore Girls)
11. 2006, Heroes 
1. (Greg Grunberg- Felicity, Milo Vetmingilia-  Gilmore Girls)
12. 2005, How I Met Your Mother
1.  (Alyson Hannigan- Buffy, and Bob Saget- Raising Dad)                                            with guest appearances by Amy Acker-Angel, Joanna Garcia- Reba, Alexis Denisof-  Buffy/ Angel, Tom Lenk- Buffy, Harry Groener-Buffy)
13. 2004, Fearless (Unaired WB pilot)
1.  (Ian Somerhalder, Bianca Lawson, and Rachel Leigh Cook- honorary WB star).
14. 2004, Jack and Bobby
1.  (starred Bradley Cooper, who links to many proijects with other WB stars, including Greg Grunberg (Alias) , Emma Caufield (I Wanna Marry Ryan Banks), Nick Brendan (Kitchen Confidential)
15. 2003, Veronica Mars
1.  (Guest roles by Alyson Hannigan- Buffy & Charisma Carpenter- Buffy/Angel)
16. 2003, Supernatural 
1. (Jared Paladecki- Gilmore Girls, Jensen Ackles- Smallville)
17. 2002, What I Like About You
1.  (Simon Rex- Jack & Jill, Leslie Grossman- Popular, Jennie Garth - 90210)
18. 2001, Lost 
1. (Emilie de Ravin- Roswell, Daniel Dae Kim-Angel  & GS Greg Grunberg- Felicity)
19. 2001, Alias 
1. (Jennifer Garner- Felicity, Greg Grunberg-Felicity, Amanda Foreman-Felicity, Kevin Wesiman, Felicity)
20. 2000, Gilmore Girls
1.  (Keiko Agnea- Felicity, Danny Strong- Buffy, Chad Michael Murray- One Tree Hill)

     Hold your hats, here we go on some deep dives!

• The appearance of James Van Der Beek on One Tree Hill (2008-2009 season) as a coke-snorting director brought the WB/CW (WC for short) full circle. VDB's director came to Tree Hill to try to direct a movie of Lucas's life story, and the former WB golden boy and resident moody dreamer finally passed on his crown to the WB's reigning golden boy and moody dreamer (CMM), before he left at the end of that season. Now if only VDB had come home  (both shows filmed to Wilmington, N.C.) as his WB character, director Dawson Leary, the earth as we know if would explode. If only....
• Some WB stars were friends before they came to the glorious network, like Lori Loughlin and Bob Saget, who starred as in-laws and co-hosts on Full House. FH stars Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were in a classic episode of 7th Heaven where Simon and a friend go on a double date with the daring twins. The pair also anchored a season of Two of a Kind on ABC, where their uncle was played by Sabrina cast member, David Lascher.
• The original 90210, the one that started it all, starred Shannen Doherty (Charmed, 90210) and Emma Caulfield (Buffy).
• The 1995 Clueless movie and subsequent 1996 TV show starred Elisa Donovan, who went on to play Morgan on Sabrina, and Donald Faison, who played Tracy on several seasons of Felicity. Rachel Blanchard, who played Cher in the TV series, later went on to play Kevin's police partner on 7th Heaven.
• The WB's less publicized shows such as Jack & Jill and Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane (aka Zoe...) launched the careers of other WB stars such as Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville, Lex Luthor), Ivan Sergei (Paige's husband in the last season of Charmed), and Simon Rex (Felicity once slept with him).