A Night of TV: Elena Lives and Beauty Meets the Beast

Disclaimer: Spoiler Alert! For 10/11/12 ‘s episodes of Vampire Diaries and Beauty and the Beast.

Well, was able to catch the premiere of The Vampire Diaries tonight and decided to stick around for CW’s debut of Beauty of the Beast. It went something like this:

The council finally has enough of vampires in Mystic Falls and decides to enact their revenge. Meanwhile, in the middle of this is transitioning Elena, who is reassured by Stefan that there is a third option – Bonnie is, of course, set the task of working on it.

Caroline’s mother loses her job; the mayor, (Tyler’s mother) gets arrested and Dr. Fell is threatened. And although Alaric is gone, he has managed to leave a legacy in his wake: a very determined council. The council captures Stefan, Elena and Rebecca, hoping to flush out the other vampire’s: Rebecca’s siblings and Damon.

They do manage to flush out one, however, Klaus in Tyler’s body is too busy rescuing Caroline, a fact that does not go unnoticed by Rebecca as she was left behind. And if the council thinks that any of the original siblings care a lick about each other anymore, then they are just as stupid as they look.

Damon blames Matt for Elena’s predicament, something that Stefan also beats himself up over, but like always, it was Elena’s choice. And because it was Elena’s choice, it had to be the right one, right?

Bonnie goes to the other side to try to bring the alive part of Elena back, but is warned of dark magics by her Grandmother and cannot complete the task. She is, of course, confronted by dark magic as she returns to restore Klaus back to his body and Tyler back to his, and her Grandmother gets punished for it.

The highlight of the night was Caroline discovering that Klaus was in Tyler’s body. Something that surprised me, because I thought it would be a storyline that the show might want to drag on for a while, especially considering Klaus’s feelings for Caroline. Hmm. But we’ll accept Michael Trevino with his shirt off any day. Klaus or no Klaus.

A good portion of the council gets blown up, Elena feeds and becomes a vampire and the show ends on the note that although she is now one of the undead, at least she’ll be with Stefan forever. And as nauseatingly sweet as that sounds, it also sounds rather boring. At least Elena has all those memories of Damon now, though.

As far as it goes, I’ll give it a B minus. There was a lot going on in this episode, but then, none at all at the same time. For a series that kept the audience hopping with all its twists and turns the previous season, this episode was rather predictable.

They couldn’t make Elena human again because of the fans and they couldn’t let her die. Ah, oh well. Maybe she’ll complain less now that she has super powers. But who will Damon and Stefan rescue now?? Matt??

Beauty and the Beast 

Surprised me with its lead character, “Cat,” a kick-ass detective who does what she does best, sticks her nose in where it doesn’t belong. At least this show knows how to respect the female protagonist. And there are a few of them here and done well for a show that doesn’t seem to have a high budget. (The special effects weren’t that great.)

The story is as follows: “Cat’s” mother is killed one gloomy and creepy night by a group of men and would have been killed her self, if it weren’t for the help of a ‘beast.’ A man with strong capabilities and beast-like physicality, but everyone tells her she must have been imagining it.

Four years later, she’s working as a detective for the LAPD and she encounters another anomaly: DNA that is not quite human, evidence that was also found at the crime scene of her mother.

She meets Vincent, a man who is supposed to be dead but isn’t. This is the man who saved her the night her mother died, and the whole truth comes out. Vincent was in the military and was selected for a special project. They were given something that was supposed to enhance the soldier’s capabilities. Well it did. But with startling results. Once the adrenaline kicks in these “super-beings” become beasts and there’s nothing that can stop them.

Except annihilation from the very own people who created them, of course. But it looks like Vincent, and several others managed to escape and now live in secret in the city, helping women in need from the “human monsters” that prowl the streets at night.

Although predictable, and “Cat” (Beauty) and “Vincent” (the beast) have no chemistry, the creativity of the story and bad-ass female leads surprised me. I’ll probably tune in for another viewing.

10 Reasons why you should watch Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog Tonight

Well, as emphasized in a recent blog post, you all know my love for Joss Whedon. I believe he is an amazing writer, a talented director, and just a great example of a person who loves great entertainment and wants to share that love with others.

During the writer’s strike in 2008, Joss Whedon, with the help of his brothers, Zach Whedon and Jed Whedon as well as actress and writer, Maurissa Tancharoen, created a musical web series: Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog.

The short film is about Dr. Horrible, or “Billy” (Niel Patrick Harris) who longs for the love of a young woman named Penny (Felicia Day). In the midst of an evil plot to do wrong in order to be considered for the Evil League of Evil, he final meets her, Penny, the love of his life. But like all of his plots to do wrong, he is immediately pushed aside by Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), his arch nemesis.

So, WHY should you be tuning in to see Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog on the CW at 9pm tonight?

  • Joss Whedon! Joss Whedon! Joss Whedon! – If you like great writing, you’ll pretty much love anything he’s involved in. ‘Nuff said.
  • Great cast – Nathan Fillion (Castle), Niel Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother),  and Felicia Day (The Guild).
  • Nathan Fillion – Just ’cause I love him so much!
  • Great music – You’ll be surprised how talented the Whedon family is as emphasized by the creation of this film.
  • Catchy songs – You’ll want to sing along with it. Durrh!
  • Great Story – It’s cleverly written, funny and oh-so-very entertaining.
  • It’s award winning – It’s won 7 awards already!
  • Great Characters – Never thought you’d feel sympathetic towards the bad guy? Ohh, think again!
  • Niel Patrick Harris – Great singer, great actor, great looking, great everything!
  • It’s Intelligent – Like everything Whedon is involved in, it’ll make you think and surprise you!

Okay, now I’ve given you my reasons time to find your own! Be sure to tune in tonight at 9pm on the CW!

Here’s a look at the first act right here, the rest is, of course, available on youtube:

And if you’ve already watched it, leave a comment and let me know what you think! I’d love to hear from you! 🙂