Now tuning into Earbud Media... [Intro Music] Ally: I don't know why, but right now the BuzzFeed article that we have is showing me the biggest advertisement for just Jason Mantzoukas's face. It's not promoting anything. It's just his face.
Yeah.
And I don't know how to feel about this right now.
Just wanna, you know, just to remember, you know.
Just to let me know and be aware.
Yeah, he's still around, you know. He's still a guy. He's here.
I don't know how this happened, but I am acutely aware of the fact that Jason Mantzoukas is allergic to eggs. I don't know when that happened.
Sure.
But like when I think of him, I know that about him.
Yeah. Well, that is a fun fact.
I can't tell you what I had for breakfast yesterday, but I do know that he is allergic to eggs. And that is an unfortunate part of how brains work. Welcome into the toilet. Hello.
Hey, we're here.
We're all here. We're here. We are alive. We persist. How are you?
I'm here. I'm living.
Okay.
Yeah. I wanna bring — I'm bringing a show to the space, okay? We're doing a little cheeky little show.
I'm really excited about this.
And it's called Overcompensating. And I've seen.. listen, I've seen people dogging on this on twitter.com.
Oh.
People have been taking some clips out of context. People have been and yes, are all these people like in their thirties playing college students? Yes. Fucking it's fine, right? It's fine, okay?
Well, that's the whole thing.
I know, exactly. That's what I'm saying. And I was like, okay, but let me watch though 'cause I know people who have watched it. A friend recommended it to us and I was like, let's fucking do this, baby. And it's fucking funny. It's a good fucking show. So I'm here. I'm here to defend. I'm here to honor, to prop up a fun gay show.
Okay.
Because we need more of these in these times.
Hell yeah
It's fucking funny. It's — I don't know the creator guy. I guess he's like a TikTok dude or whatever. He's — he seems fine. I don't know his content though. But he wrote and created this. It's very like pseudo autobiographical about being like gay in college, but also being like very like straight passing, you know, and being like, what if I just made my life easier and did like frat stuff and sports stuff, but also like I gotta figure out my shit, you know, kind of stuff.
Oh yeah.
Which is fun. It's a fun concept. And this whole cast is just like many like alt comedy legends.
Yeah.
Most notably, Caleb is also in it very briefly. We love that. He's wonderful. Um, but my dog, my road dog, Holmes, previously on A Happy Thing, I think Welcome to Flatch and also other things, also frequent guest on podcasts that I like to listen to and frequent just funny person.
And the work that they do in this show, the line deliveries that come out of their mouth is so beautiful to me, so special to me, 'cause they're very much playing like very straight like girls girl, but like in a way that is so diabolical and so like your first roommate in college kind of vibe that you're like, what is happening? What is going on here? And I'm obsessed with it.
This sounds good. I don't know why people are hating. They must just be hating to hate, which is rude.
Yeah. Yeah, I think mostly it's because there is a brief Charlie XCX cameo in it. And people have taken that to be like, oh, she's not a good actress and she has all these projects lined up, right?
Oh.
But also very contextually in this, she is playing herself. She is Charlie XCX in the show and it's just like a very over, you know, very uh boisterous version of herself. So I'm like, this is just not the critique you think it is.
Oh, okay. Now, I am looking at the IMDB page for this and you are burying the lead that Connie Britton is in this.
Oh my God.... Okay, yes. Connie Britton and Kyle MacLachlan are the main guy's parents in the show and they're first of all, inspired parent casting, by the way. Like if I made a show about myself, absolutely that's what I'm doing. Come on now. Absolutely.
Yeah, no, I would do that too. Are you kidding?
Are you kidding? Yeah, it's incredible. Um, so they are in it somewhat briefly, but there is a Thanksgiving episode in which they are there much longer and that is it's so beautiful. They're so good. I'm obsessed with them.
Wow.
But it's just very funny. The writing is very good. It's very like, you know, not a typical queer coming of age kind of story, but still familiar in beats and very much about also like friendship and figuring your shit out and who you wanna be when you're in college, you know? It's fun. It's a fun time.
I have only heard good things about this show, but I have not looked for it on twitter.com. So that might be why.
Yeah. And that's fair. That's fair. Yeah.
I am excited about this. I — if I was making a show, why would you… especially if it was in college, I would also put Charlie XCX in it right now. Are you kidding?
Yeah. Come on. And she also did like all the music for the show too. So it's like there are very good needle drops in here. There's a vroom vroom needle drop in which they're like on a golf cart. It's great. I had a great time with it. I think it's very cute. I really hope there's another season of it because the way it ends, I would like to see more of what happens here, okay?
Okay.
I wanna see more. I'm hooked.
Okay. All right.
This is my truth.
I love that.
Um, yeah. How are you doing, birthday girl? What the fuck's up?
Uh, I'm here. I'm a year older than I was last week. A we're recording this, I turn… I had my birthday yesterday, which was great.
What the fuck's up, girl?
Um, my happy thing this week is I ordered myself birthday cake from… I had a gift card, okay? Everyone shut up. I had a gift card to a place called Goldbelly, which I had never heard of before I received this gift card.
Oh.
And so I needed to figure out how to use it. And this site has food from all different places. And I was like, well, I should probably use it for something for my birthday. And the problem was a lot of the birthday cakes that were offered on there were like whole cakes.
Sure.
Which is nice, right? But storing that is awful. Yeah. And I was trying to figure out I was like, well, of course I could get it and then I could do it. I could manage to like cut it and then put it in the freezer and save it for later. Or I could find something where it's already done. That would be ideal. But and this is not fuck, I wish this was sponsored. It's not. I just honestly had a fucking gift card for this place and I wanted to use it.
Yeah.
But apparently there's I was searching on Goldbelly and they had cakes from fucking Duff. They had Martha Stewart. They had Ina Garten, all these things. But here's the thing, okay? They were all fancy, right? They were like, here's, you know, do you want a coconut firework cake? And I was like, literally no.
Hello.
Sure. They were like, do you want a cake with a house inside? And I was like, no, I just literally want — I just want a confetti cake. I just want something that I could get at the store downstairs.
Sure.
Uh, you know, like I down the street, but I wanna use this gift card so I don't have to pay for it. TLDR, I ordered from this shop called Daisy Cakes. Okay. I think it's in uh Missouri, maybe. Okay. And I'd literally never heard of it before because why would I have?... And they all came in their own little containers, so I could keep them in the freezer and when I wanted a single serving of cake, I could keep it and I could take it out.
Oh, yes.
Which was just so much more convenient than ordering a whole ass cake.
And then you get a bunch of little cakes.
Exactly. No, exactly, right? And so I tried it yesterday for the first time. It was delicious. That's the dream. That's the dream. It was sweet, but not like makes your teeth hurt sweet.
Sure.
And it was exactly what I wanted. Um, they had a mix and match and I was like, no, I just literally want all I want all of them to be birthday cake. Please and thank you.
Yeah.
Um, I don't wanna try the other flavors 'cause I'm… that's just who I am. But they were great. Um, and so I left them a nice review and I was like, these are perfect. Thank you. But this is just a shout out to Goldbelly 'cause y'all have a wild assortment of shit that I've literally never heard of before.
Sure.
Um, so love that gift card. And then also Daisy Cakes, that was great. Appreciate it. We'll probably order from there again when I don't have a gift card, which is nice.
Hell yeah. Wow.
I just love a single serving. It's just the exact amount of cake that I want. Yeah.
That's genius. That is it's such a good strat and like because, you know, cake is great, but it can be overwhelming. You're like, do I have to store it? Do I have to … am I just … are these just gonna sit in my freezer until I feel bad and then just throw them away 'cause it's been too long, you know? 'Cause there's just so much cake. You can't eat it all.
Well, 'cause here's the thing, right? If I order a cake, right? That could serve, I don't know, all of the ones I was looking at say they serve like four to six.
Right.
If I just get that and I keep it in the fridge, then obviously I'm just gonna eat the goddamn cake, right?
Right. Right.
It's gonna be a fucking Matilda situation. I'm gonna eat the cake and I'm gonna get a stomach ache. Yeah. And I don't wanna do that to myself, right? In the moment it'll feel great, but then I'm gonna have a stomach ache and who caused it? Me.
Right. It's all my fault.
It's nobody's fault but mine, right? So I could do that and then potentially waste it 'cause then it's dried out or Sure. I can take two seconds and think ahead and just, you know, keep them in the freezer and they'll be fine and then just take them out when I want a cake, just a little serving of cake.
Yeah.
Fucking genius. I love it when these bakeries they're living in the year 3000, you know what I mean?
Yeah, the innovation is wild.
The innovation is just it's just a single serving cake. Single serve cakes.
Yeah, for sure. That's huge. That's a huge development.
Oh my God, speaking of developments, um, can we talk about we have a little bit more Cannes news.
Oh, let's go.
We've got tattoo news. Could you tell the class about this tattoo news?
This tattoo. We do have tattoo news. First of all, slight uh K-Stew fashion corner 'cause we did spend a lot of last week kind of ripping uh what she was wearing to shreds a little bit. Um, but she's got a cute outfit in this one. It's nice. It's like a little suit moment. She looks like she's, you know, in like a fancy
Yeah, feels like very Heathers. Like she's gonna play croquet, but also like in a sporty cool way.
She's got a cool hat.
Yeah. Cody: I love it. Um, but folks have noticed that she's got a tattoo above her knee that says mine. Hello. Hello. She does.
And it's cute. And it's cute.
It is.
I love listen, I love lesbians and their just very outward stampings of their loves in their life very visibly.... I think it's very great.
I agree. Um, Leyla Mohammed, thank you for this piece uh on on BuzzFeed. I appreciate it. Um, for one for that and then also these great photos of Kristen. Mhm. Here's the thing. This photo of Kristen's tattoo does not make me jump to the conclusion that Layla does, which is, hey, does this have any connection to Guilty as Sin from Taylor Swift? Mhm. But sure. Sure. Yeah.
I can see how you got here. Yeah.
Let's debunk where this is from. 'Cause it's her knee and not her upper thigh, 'cause why would we see someone's upper thigh walking the Cannes red carpet? But no, it's from — it's from a scene in the Chronology of Water.
Mhm.
So of course this new tattoo would be coming out and premiering itself during the premiere of the Chronology of Water.
And sick of just being like, you know, mine also in a sense of like my wife, right? But also like this is my fucking debut. This is my time, baby, you know? And like paying homage in multiple ways and I think that's cool as fuck.
Right. Yeah, it could mean what it the actual context from the movie.
Right.
And it can also mean a lot of different things. It's a word.
Mhm.
It's art. It's about marriage. That's kind of how tattoos work, folks. They have a lot of different meanings, which is great.
Yeah.
Yeah. Uh, I think it's great. Uh, I love it a lot. This fit has my stamp of approval. It's much better from last week, which I appreciate.
Yeah. She looks great.
No complaints. I'm so over not being allowed to use my ad blocker on Vampire Diaries Wiki. Yes, of course I want you to get ads and support.
Yeah. Ally: But also this place is. Yeah. You gotta turn that on reader mode, baby, 'cause it's otherwise that site is unusable.
It's terrifying without it. Um, when we were here last week, we got some amazing content of our girl Elena and Rebecca living their truth in New York, Bonnie and Clyde-ing it out of the city.
Yeah.
Damon left.
Just queening out together.
Next week's episode. Exactly, exactly. I am so curious to know how you feel about this week's episode.
Uh, listen, we got our girl Katherine back in the biz.
Yes. Cody: And I — I love the interactions of New Elena TM plus Katherine plus also Rebecca because this is a girl squad. Plus Katherine’s three wigs.
Yes. Right. Exactly. And I think if they all just like worked it out on the remix, they could be really powerful together, you know what I mean?
Oh.
But I understand. They have different motivations and that's okay and they are at odds with each other and I understand that. But it just — it makes me sad because I love seeing them.
There is kissing and fight each other all the time. I love it. There is a sick amount of tension between Rebecca and Katherine this episode.
Yeah. And we thought there was tension between Elena and Rebecca and there is. Don't get me wrong. It still exists this episode 'cause Elena's fucking tired of Rebecca's bullshit this episode, which is funny. Yes. It's not usually that way. It's usually the other way around. But Rebecca and Catherine and the stabbing this episode. Hello. And the grabbing in diner booths. Hello. Folks. I can't. I'm physically unwell.
I love too that like, you know, they're on this wild goose chase to find Catherine because they stole the, you know, letter of all the little potential spots, right? And you know, they're on this road trip, whatever the fuck and Rebecca's on business. Rebecca's like, hey, we gotta get to the next one 'cause I'm just like fucking over this and we need to just figure this out and find her. Yeah. And Elena's like, yeah, yeah, for sure, but also I'm hungies, so I'm gonna let
me just take a little pit stop, right? Right. And now Catherine's whole gambit, which is very smart, by the way, is chilling out in Willoughby, Pennsylvania or whatever. It's so good.
They say that name 16 times this episode.
Yeah.... You gotta … you gotta remember it's Willoughby, okay? You gotta remember where you are. The tourism board is probably thrilled of the representation of their fine city in this program. But like Catherine has all of these like friends or whatever being like, hey girls, um, but is compelled they're all compelled to be like close or whatever with Katherine,
but like not know who Catherine is when she's talking to anyone but Katherine. And the way that works out of Elena talking to this woman and being like thinking she's Katherine and being like, hey girl, I know you were gonna snap my neck and sometimes you prefer that, but I told you I really liked it from my wrist, so is that okay if we do that instead? Thank you. Please and thank you. And Rebecca's trying to be like, okay, what do you know, bitch? And she's like, who are you?
Who is Catherine? Why are you talking to me? It's so funny. Oh, it's so good. It's so good.
I appreciate it so much. I'm so smart. Her mind. Because Katherine was so confident that no one would find her in this random ass place. By the way, if you live in PA, can you tell me a little bit more context? Were you watching this show when it happened? What was the hubbub around Willoughby? What the fuck? Because everyone seems to know this place. Damon even got excited about this town and I don't understand.
It's like, my dog, you were just in New York City. Why are you
Right.
Excited about Willoughby, Pennsylvania?
Okay. What the fuck is everyone talking about this city? I've never heard of it in my entire life. Uh, I'm so confused. But okay, maybe it's an East Coast thing. Katherine was so on it thinking no one will ever find her that she never thought about the loophole of, hey, there's another person not even in this world in a couple of miles, right? In a couple — in a drive's distance that has my face. Maybe I should plan for that when I'm compelling people.
Right. Ally: But no, it doesn't matter. All I need to worry about is that someone has the cure and it's not me. I have a decoy in my granny house and then I'm gonna get dicked down from Elijah and that's all that matters.
I love her for that, first of all. Second of all, when Elijah showed up.
Dude, dude.
I feel like if there had been a camera on me when I was watching this episode, I would have turned into fucking just anime red cheeks on my face.
Right. Ally: I was not expecting him to be there. I didn't even think about it being initials instead of a nickname. Uh-huh.
I—in a good Zebo, I was ascending.
Yeah. I'm obsessed with this lavender marriage.
No, literally.
They are just—they're here to queen out together and I love that. You know what I mean? Because we said this about even Elijah and Elena. Like, they vibe, you know, they just want to—they need to just queen out, right? But I also am fine with it being not Elena in this moment because I think this is also great. I think this is a fine supplement to that. I think it's beautiful and I like seeing Elijah because he's my boy.
Here's the thing that is very confusing to me as someone who has to, like, the Stardew Valley mines, has to engage with AO3 every week. I have seen the Elena/Elijah tag before come up. And I've been very confused about it because we have been very adamant that those two queen out together. They love to gossip. And it has been very platonic and I have not understood why are y'all trying to force something that's not here. It's just both of
them are very serious. Elijah just looks at people like that. I don't get it. Why are you doing this?
Right.
And then you give this episode and this motherfucker just smooches Elena.
Yeah.
And I say, oh well, oh, well, maybe that's why. Maybe that's why that tag exists, okay? Elena had the audacity to take almost all of the accessories off of Katherine. She took her shoes, she took her bracelets, almost all of it.
Yep. Ally: She took her jacket and she didn't think, oh hey, I have a daylight ring that Elijah has seen before. Yeah.
And he's an original who's really smart.
Come on, girl. I appreciate the attempt, but...
Yeah. Let's—let's be real. Okay. She kissed back though, I'll say that.
Yeah. All right. She committed.
Interesting is what I will say.
Yeah.
Uh, he was so—he was like the Pikachu shocked emoji this whole episode. And I—
Yeah.
Poor Elijah.
No one is telling him jack shit, which I—listen, I get it because he is a gossip, right? So maybe that it is in their best interest to not tell him important information. But every scene he is in this episode, he is like just blindsided fully by information.
It is so funny to watch him, who's supposed to be one of the most powerful people in this universe, just be shocked at every possible opportunity. Because what do you mean that you didn't know all this information? And also you didn't suspect that Katherine was lying to you. My good guy.
Right. Mhm.
But all right, sure. Okay, Elijah. All right. Love that for you and that you're just always in suits, but bless your heart. I have to for the sake of myself not talk about Damon and Stefan right now because these two—
Yeah.
—are just running in circles this entire episode.
Um, Tweedledee and Tweedledum over here. Jesus Christ...
Just cannot get—not even get ahead of the game, but just on the pace of the game to save their lives. Um, what I really appreciated this episode that we have not entirely seen before was Rebecca going like full German Shepherd mode.
Yeah. Uh-huh.
And I enjoy this aspect of her character a lot.
Yeah.
It is more interesting to me than her pretending to be rude. It is far more interesting to me than her wanting the cure and being like a hopeless romantic.
Right.
I like it when she's just rude to Katherine. I like that.
Right. It's really good.
I love that and I would like more of it. I would love to know your thoughts on the decoy cure in the fish tank.
Oh my gosh. This—listen, what the fuck is going on here?
I don't—this house is confusing to me.
This is sick, nasty work because what? What do you mean? And like, God, I felt—I was so like for a brief moment, I—you know, I willed myself to believe, right? Of being like, maybe Rebecca can get the ending she wants, right?
Yeah.
Maybe she won't get boned by the narrative again, you know?
Wouldn't that be nice?
Or her family, which always fucks her in the end, you know, in really hurtful ways. And just even the fact of her for like a second being like, oh my God, I feel alive, you know? And that not being true because she's still a fucking vampire and it didn't fucking work because really she just took like a shot of her vein or whatever. Fuck. Fuck.
It was such nasty work.
Yeah.
For that to happen. It made me very sad because even though—even though I like Rebecca, I think it is more interesting for me to watch her when she is fighting with Damon, when she is fighting with Katherine. The character deserves—like she talks about with Elijah at the end, she deserves the agency to choose and she wants to be a human.
Right.
So of course I want that for her. Um, yeah. I don't know that it will necessarily be the most engaging thing if that happens, but I want that for her.
Right. And even like, you know, the conversation she has with Elijah, right? Of him being like, okay, if this is what you think you want, like it might not be the, you know, cure-all that you think it's going to be, right? It might, you know, sure it's a—it's a new start or whatever or it's a do-over in a way, but like you'll still have the same problems internally with yourself or with relationships with others that no
longer being a vampire will not necessarily solve immediately. And she's like, got it, for sure. I know that and maybe it won't be great, right? Maybe you'll still feel like shit or still like hate myself or whatever the fuck. But also, I want the ability to make that decision for myself. And if it's a flop, it's a flop. Whatever, but I did it, you know, rather than being this, you know, trapped in this against her will, you know, for a long time. And it's like, fuck, dog.
It is—it sucks. I feel really bad for her. Knowing how this show works and the way that they treat women, I don't think that it's going to happen.
Yeah.
So I'm trying not to put all my bets on the table for it.
Right. Yeah...
But I do think that I would like something good to happen to Rebecca. She does deserve that.
Yes, just once, you know, I—God.
Yeah. Yeah, it would be nice. Uh, I—I am worried. I'm worried about Elijah and Katherine. I'm not—he seems a little bit more skeptical by the end, thank goodness.
Mhm. Yeah.
I am surprised that he let himself walk into that again, but I shouldn't be. Uh, this is Katherine's whole thing. She's really good at manipulating men.
Mhm.
But who's to say? Um, I—I keep saying that the originals are really powerful and strong, but they uh, they're pretty fallible actually.
Yeah, for sure.
Um, speaking of—I—Klaus is going through it this week.
Dude, there's like a—I just—in the background just like a torture chamber going on inside Klaus's mind that is really like totally a big—a big shift from everything else that's going on here.
Because we are kind of having this like Tom and Jerry-esque thing happening in Willoughby. Because it is serious, but I mean this is kind of—I—I don't want to call it a filler episode because there are things that happen, but it isn't as significant as the last few episodes that we've had where it's like snap necks and fate and curses and shit like that, you know what I mean?
Sure, sure, sure.
So we have this, you know, this—this rock and sockum happening over in Pennsylvania. And then cue back to Mystic Falls and Klaus is just in a torture chamber in his minds.
Yeah. And the fact that like he's like, you know, he's got this like white oak shit in him and he's fucking losing it. And Silas is becoming like the manifestation of Caroline. Loved it. Loved it. As a delusion. Which is bonkers. Um, and having this like back and forth and it could be anyone. It could be any manifestation of any person, but like it keeps being Caroline is like oof, ouch. Like, okay, okay, buddy. Jesus.
I—I loved that Silas became Caroline the first time.
Mhm. Ally: And I loved that as an audience member, I was not sure if it was really Caroline the second time. Right. Yeah, yeah. Because it's like at this point, real Caroline, it's like, motherfucker, stop texting me. Stop leaving me messages. I am on three prom committees right now. I have fucking work to do. You are annoying me, okay? Enough. And Klaus is like, fuck you, Silas. Don't fuck with my brain again. Stop it. She's like, what are you
talking about? And like the fact that it's like their banter kind of back and it's like, oh shit, this is like for real Caroline. Um, and her just being fucking pissed at him because she's like, I'm booked and busy, dog. Like, I don't know what the fuck's going on here in your mind of, you know, your mind place of horrors, but fucking let me do my shit. Let me rock my shit, okay?
And that it—you—you know that it is Caroline because she—she's like, well, I'll only help you if you call off hunting Tyler. And he's like, no, fuck you, I'm not going to do that. And she's like, all right, fine. And then just holds up on her phone. And he's like, well, I'll stay here until you decide that you're good. And her just checking her phone casually while we think that this chip of the stake is like moving closer and closer to his heart is wild.
Yep.
Hello. Uh, it—this is why I—this is far more of a testament to these characters because again, they don't like each other. Caroline as far as we can tell would rather Klaus holed up and die. I think it is also a testament to these actors because they have chemistry here.
Mhm. Ally: But I enjoyed this scene. I liked it when she had the pliers and was like, oh, you do have a heart. Yeah.
Uh, but it did not—She's so good. Uh, because Caroline is great and she's amazing. I—it did not—none of this felt romantic to me at all.
Yeah. No.
Uh, it—If anything, they ended this interaction as very lukewarm—not even friends, like just on the same side, right?
Yeah. You know, like not even like truly there. Like obviously they're trying to make this feel a lot more resonant in romantic ways. But again, I don't think we've had any real evidence to suggest that is warranted more so than just being like, hey, can you stop like being mad at my ex-boyfriend and trying to scour the entire country for him for the rest of his eternal life. If we're good on that,
then I think we'll just be like fine. We could just like shake hands, call it a day, you know?
It is—and Klaus is like, well, you'll notice that like I haven't been chasing him around. And she's like, that doesn't mean fuck all to me.
Right.
I know that you have people around the world that could do that for you.
Yeah. And you change your mind about everything every second of your life.
Exactly. Exactly. So like, you know, could be one way today, next thing tomorrow, you know? It is uh, I agree. I don't know that they're acquaintances. I don't think that they're friends. I think it is more so of a like we're just not enemies at this moment.
Mhm.
I think that—It's like a temporary truce, you know? Exactly. Yes. Especially when Klaus realizes, right, that like he wasn't dying. This was all just Silas giving him the pain and he was like, this motherfucker. Uh, he's nasty. Um, this actor is unfortunately really good at acting in pain. He's doing his teary eyed eyes a lot in this episode and that's unfortunate because he's really good at that.
Yeah.
So that's annoying. Um, it—the one thing that I uh, is unfortunate because these actors do have chemistry and I—I remember that we wanted to talk about this is that um, Candace, who plays Caroline, is now engaged to Coach Ben from Yellowjackets.
That's…what a pairing.
A lot of apparently he—the actor Stephen—is in The Originals. In what context I have no idea because The Originals canonically does not start until season five.
Mhm.
So confusion right now. Uh, but I am hoping that we get to a point where there is no longer this overt push towards Caroline and Klaus.
Yeah. That would make me feel better.
I would love that more than anything.
I would be—free me from this. It would be nice.
The one thing I am curious about, because if canonically the show The Originals does start in season five—
Mhm.
Y'all are going to need to tell us how you want us to watch that. Cuz—
Yeah.
Do we need to be watching them at the same time?
Oh jeez.
I'm going to need some—question—y'all are going to need to let us know because I'm afraid to investigate it online for spoilers.
Yeah.
So please let us know. One of the standout moments for me this episode was when Elijah told Rebecca that she does not have a smart brother.
Mhm.
Because the brothers this episode, both sets, were not at their best as far as strengths go. One thing that I appreciated was that Damon and Stefan finally, apparently, looked at each other and were like, hey, so we've been making these same mistakes for 150 years.
Mhm. What if we didn't anymore?
It only took us four seasons.
Great thinking, bud.
Glad we got here. Oh, you identified patterns, destructive patterns that you guys were engaging in.
Yeah. Interesting. Wow.
Wow. It's not like we clocked that four seasons ago.
Right. Episode one. I'm glad you—I'm glad you got here, but like, jeez Louise, man.
It just—you know, they took the whole day where they're following Elena and Rebecca's trail only to be—not on their own accord, anyways. It's because of Liz that they get the call that his car was ditched.
So it's not like they were doing it proactive.
Also, like, the fact that—hey, they are late to this, right? Because they lost them, right? Because they left without them.
And also, they show up at the bar whenever acting like they fucking saved their asses, being like, oh, thank God we're here. It's like, you haven't done shit. Like, this is—you just—you strolled in like days late to this. Like, you're not—you're just here, you know? You're adding more fuck shit to this.
It was wild to see them show up so late into this. I will say I am proud of Damon, 'cause he is very much on the side now of Elena.
Mhm. Needs to get it together.
And apparently his come to Jesus moment was getting his neck snapped to New York. So good on him.
Yeah.
But I was—I was surprised when he came in that he immediately clocked that that was Katherine in the diner and not Elena.
Mhm.
So I fully expected—'cause you know these two, everything goes over their head.
Right, they're not the most perceptive people.
Right. So I fully expected him to see her hair—even though it didn't have the red streak in it at the time—and be like, oh well, that's Elena, of course. Uh, so good on him. Um, and Damon is having a little bit of a tough time 'cause he does get his face, like, full of vervain from Katherine.
Yeah. So not—not his best moment.
One of the—not a great day. Not—not as—yeah, not his great day.Um, weirdly, one of the moments that stood out to me was Stefan trying to be really intimidating with Elijah on the phone.
Yeah. Uh-huh.
This ego between the two of them, being like, you need to stand down. And Elijah's like, you need to stand down...
It's like, okay. Y'all kiss or something.
No, for real. Hey Stefan, do you remember when Elijah almost pulled your heart out? Like the first time that you met him?
Yeah. Why are you doing this?
Hello. Y'all need to—you're embarrassing. It's—so this is not the game that you want to play right now. Um, no. It—it is frustrating to watch. Um, I mean, I'm glad that they are realizing, like, hey, we do need to kind of get our shit together, even though it's taken a long time.
Yeah, it's kind of a problem.
So we're on the same side now. Elena needs to get it together. We're—it's us against her. We need to get her on the same side. And they're like, yeah, totally.
Mhm.
And then immediately fold in that diner.
Yeah. Y'all, what?
I don't understand.
Yeah. Like, what happened, y'all?
I thought we were aligned. You were literally the ripper. How do you not see this coming?
Yeah. Right. Also, like, sidebar—when that scene happens and it's like the waitress and it's like, you guys can stay at anywhere or whatever. I, like, wasn't looking for like a second. Like, I looked away for a second and I just heard the voice and I was like, she sounds exactly like Gypsy Rose Blanchard.
No, exactly. Exactly.
And I was like, I mean, obviously that's not the case 'cause she was not, um, you know, here for this. Uh, but I was like, that's wild. Uh, so that really took me out of this for a moment. I had to, like, go back to like, what the fuck was that? But like, Elena obviously is like, bitches, like, you're—you're never going to get the cure in me. Like, you can do all you want, you pussies, but like, I'm going to be killing people left and right, motherfucker. I'm full
of spite and anger and no emotions, baby. No humanity, baby. Fuck with me. And it's like, y'all didn't think of this. This has been kind of her attitude for a while. Just because y'all finally want to do it doesn't mean she has changed her attitude on anything, you know?
Well, and also I just want to know what Damon and Stefan thought she meant when she said consequences.
Yeah.
Did they think that she was referring to when you're in fucking elementary school and they move you from green to yellow on the behavior chart? What the fuck? Of course she meant killing people.
Yeah. Like, what?
Hello. How is this surprising to any— No, Stefan, she was going to change the Doomsday clock down. What the fuck? Y'all are so embarrassing. I just—yeah, it was disturbing to see, obviously.
Sure.
Get it together.
Yeah, come on now.
I'm not okay with it, but I—I would be shocked if the writers keep her having a loss of humanity past the season finale.
Yeah. Right.
I'll say that.
Yeah. Something's got to give for sure.
You know what has to give is them showing me dead Jeremy in the recaps each episode.
God. Enough.
I'm so—I'm so fucking over it. You either give him to me back or you stop putting that because I can't emotionally handle watching that and then not having Bonnie in an episode… I don't—mhm. It feels rude to me.
Yeah. I agree.
I don't—I also say the only other thing that I didn't—I have in my notes that we have not talked about. The most surprising thing to me was the fact that when we got to see Katherine's phone, she types in lowercase.
Yeah. Huge. Love that.
What's that about?
She's a casual girly, you know?
That was incredibly surprising and I was not expecting that.
Mhm.
I just assumed because she's been around for so long that she was old-fashioned and formal.
Sure. Ally: But maybe she's just really tapped in. Yeah.
And the opposite. So who's to say? You know what I mean?
Mhm. We never know.
I am very excited, scared, nervous about next week.
Yeah, all of the feelings.
Uh, because it is the—it's the titular prom episode.
Oh gosh.
And y'all know what they love to do about big events on this show.
Right, things famously go really well and according to plan.
Yeah. We never just have a really good filler episode on a big prom.
Caroline just can't enjoy her handywork for one episode and be like, I did a good job and I did a great event, you know?
God. Yeah. She never gets to enjoy an event she did where no one dies. And so I'm scared.
Right, yeah. Not feeling great about that streak, you know?
She looks great though in this photo.
Yeah. It's a great dress.
I'm scared to see it covered in blood or whatever's going to happen. Um, but I'm—I'm nervous. Uh, if this goes the way it usually does of 22 episodes, we're almost there. Next week is 19.
Yeah. So I'm—I'm—it's not looking good, folks.
I'm scared. Uh, maybe—maybe Silas will win prom queen.
Yeah, hey.
Uh, fingers crossed, you know what I mean? Uh, we have some amazing patrons to thank. Would you like to start us off?
Absolutely. Thank you to Grake Lautner.
Ooh, thank you to April Dobrev.
Oh, thank you to Sean Salvatore.
Ooh, thank you to Megan Pattinson.
Oh, thank you to Katya Karp.
Ooh, thank you to Genevieve Morgan.
Oh, thank you to Danielle Burke.
Ooh, thank you to Janae Bennett.
Oh, thank you to Sophia Sallinger.
Ooh, thank you to Dan Zeklos.
Oh, thank you to Emily Ozera.
Ooh. And last but certainly not least, thank you to Jaylene Ivishkov.
Pew pew pew.
So I have a fan fiction for you. This was written by the author Tara—oh no. Tarapsina is how I'm going to pronounce that. Uh, it is titled Initials. This is a one-shot fan fiction. It has 2,000 words and I wish I could read it all for you.
Mhm.
Um, because all of it is really good. Instead of doing that, I'm going to read the summary for you. Um, but I—I would recommend if this intrigues y'all to go to go read it and go give Tarapsina some love.
Oh yeah.
Here's the summary. It was the amusement that tipped Rebecca off. The way that underneath the offended anger, Katherine was just about singing, I know something you don't know, all saccharine pleasure and victory. Rebecca furrowed her brows. Give me that, she said, nicking the phone out of Elena's hand and staring at the two-letter word they'd taken for a nickname just minutes ago. Hey, Elena snapped with barely detectable annoyance. Rebecca kept staring down
at the screen, ignoring the questioning eyes of both doppelgangers. Meet him stared back at her. She cursed under her breath. Not a nickname at all, was it? Or American Gothic, but Elena never gets a chance to pretend to be Katherine. Not that this means there won't be a moment for her and Elijah to share. The sky is still blue after all. End scene.
Damn.
So there was—uh, apparently this has—it falls under the tag of both Elena and Elijah and also Elena and Rebecca. So if that is of interest to you, Tarapsina has got you for a quick one-shot. Um, posted fairly recently, just a couple of months ago.
Thank you to our AO3 warriors.
We appreciate you always.
Love that.
Uh, friends, I have a new television show that I'm going to go watch this week. Especially 'cause when this comes out it's a holiday. So y'all know what I'm going to be doing.
True.
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Ooh. Ow. Ooh.