The Great Gatsby (On Acid: The 3D Nightmare Viewing Experience)

As a recent English Literature graduate with a love of literary adaptations, The Great Gatsby has been something I have been looking forward to. I love the work of the American authors writing in the 1920's (The Sun Also Rises, anyone?) and The Great Gatsby has always conjured up for me a vision of subtle, pastel colours, beautiful, shimmering scenes, and an elegiac, fading tone of loss and sadness. Therefore, I almost went into shock when I saw the first trailer. And that was nothing compared to the film. I am a big admirer of Baz Lurhmann's Romeo and Juliet, which is one of the best adaptations I've ever seen, as it picked up so well on the subtleties of the script (such as using a gun titled a 'sword', and the fancy dress). I know he likes bright colours, fireworks, and zooming camera work. But all that combined to dizzying heights in this film to create a nightmare viewing experience that completely overshadowed everything that was amazing about it. 

THE BEST

1) Certain Faithful Moments To The Book- When looking at the best moments, I am going to pretend they weren't compromised (I always feel like a secret agent when I use that word- 'Bond, the plan has been compromised!') by 'The 3D Nightmare Viewing Experience' which I will discuss later. Certain things were captured well; T.J.Eckleburg, the atmosphere of the tacky apartment party, the dog in the apartment party, the beautiful scene where Daisy is throwing up her hands amidst the floating fabric and laughing happily. 

2) Visual Spectacle- Spell-binding. The costumes, the glitter, the scenery. I was gaping in amazement at  what Lurhmann had, at times, managed to pull off, allowing the viewer to become lost amidst a whirlwind of beautiful hedonism. I loved the visual aspects of scenes like this: 

and this:

and this: 

Just the right amount of sparkle, with the dream-like and sad quality inherent in the book. 

3) Casting- For me, Carey Mulligan as Daisy was good, Jordan was good, and Daisy's husband (Joel Edgerton) was amazing. And, although people have been making fun of Tobey Maguire for looking stoned, he is how I imagined Nick to be. Plus, hasn't he always looked a little stoned? Why are people just realising this now? 

THE WORST

1) Leonardo DiCaprio- It's not that he's a bad actor. He's an amazing actor. And he didn't act badly in this movie; he was great. It's just...I think he is too famous to be Gatsby. Gatsby is meant to be elusive, a mysterious enigma, and I always imagined him with a slightly anonymous, typical American handsomeness. DiCaprio has a very distinctive face, is incredibly well known, and the film became a bit more The Great Leonardo than The Great Gatsby. Especially this shot: 

Plus, in my opinion Carey Mulligan looks too young, and Leo too old, for them to work visually as an effective couple. And finally...it's 'Old Sport'. With a 't'. As well as being outrageously overused, it is NOT 'Old Spor' which is how he pronounced it EVERY SINGLE TIME and it was SO ANNOYING. On the plus side, at least he wasn't wearing eyeliner this time.

2) Every Single Thing About 'The 3D Nightmare Viewing Experience'- SNOWFLAKES GLITTER FIREWORKS WORDS VROOOM VROOOM (CARS) GLITTER PARTAYY JOLTING CAMERA WHY ARE THE COLOURS SO MUCH DIMMER BEHIND THESE GLASSES ZOOMING CAMERA GREEN LIGHT FIREWORKS GLITTER PARTAYY VROOM VROOM SPINNING HEADACHE NAUSEA CAKES FLOWERS RAIN VROOOOM VROOOM OH GOD GET ME OUT OF THIS CINEMA GREEN LIGHT WHAT THE F MORE GLITTER STARING AT FRIEND IN SHOCK AT THIS NIGHTMARE VIEWING EXPERIENCE GREEN LIGHT VROOOOM VROOOM SWOOSH SWOOSH SPIN SPIN SPIN CAR CRASH GUN SHOT GREEN LIGHT SNOWFLAKES WORDS WORDS WORDS THE END. Was it fun reading that? No? It's a lot less fun seeing it.

'We need more dancers!'

 

'We need more flowers and cakes!'

'We need more glitter and Leonardo in the same frame!'

 3) Frame Narrative- I don't know why it needed the boring frame narrative of Nick being in a miserable rehab centre in a very snowy town writing the novel himself. Everyone knows Fitzgerald wrote 'The Great Gatsby'. The words on the screen also made this already pointless and irritating theme become part of 'The 3D Nightmare Viewing Experience'. 

4) Music- It worked so well with 'Romeo and Juliet', but I don't think it worked well here. It enhanced the visuals that had already gone too far. I get what he was going for, though, and it was cool at times. 

5) Certain Unfaithful / Hideously Over-exaggerated Moments of the Book- Where was the tragic, and touching, scene where Gatsby's working class father attends his funeral missed out? I would happily have sacrificed a minute of the glitter, or zooming cars, or flowers, or Leonardo DiCaprio, or words on screen, or boring frame narrative, or green light shots, for this. Speaking of...did you know there is a green light on Daisy's dock and it's a symbol of Gatsby's unyielding idealistic dreams he has attached to his love for Daisy and he likes to reach out for it at night?

No...what green light? 

END

For me, this was a disappointing adaptation. I don't like 3D movies anyway, and this was so overdone, it completely obliterated the delicate beauty of the book. But, then again, I can't imagine it being turned into a completely successful movie anyway; it's hard to translate such subtle symbolism on screen without it being turned into, well, the above picture. I read an interview where Lurhman says he wants to do Hamlet, and I think that could be incredible. He's a fantastic film maker, he just picked the wrong book. 

The Office Finale

This is a sad day for me. I am a massive, MASSIVE Office fan, even though, let's face it, it has gone massively downhill. Apart from occasional episodes, I don't think its managed to reach the high level of humour and quality it had in seasons 1 to 4, and who doesn't miss Michael Scott? Still, this finale was heart warming and fun and wrapped up all the loose ends.

One Year Later...

The episode opens one year after the documentary aired (can't believe we are supposed to pretend a crew dedicated 9 years of their lives filming a documentary 24 7 about a paper supply company, but who cares). It opens with my favourite character....Dwight!! The documentary crew are back, getting 'bonus footage'. Oscar is running for state senator! Dwight is getting married tomorrow! There is a panel for the documentary crew actors. There is a flash back to a few months ago, where Stanley retired, and Dwight fired Kevin by giving him a thickly frosted retirement cake with 'Get Out' iced on it. 'The cake has spoken Pam, sorry'. Toby is also fired. Poor Toby. One of my favourite quotes was when Michael called him an 'Evil Snail'.

After the cold open, the next scene begins with my second favourite character...Jim! He bikes to work now (a flashback to the third season, I guess?) and Pam has painted a (shit) wall mural. I can't even describe how much I love John Krasinski, so I'll let this picture speak his cuteness for me:

Dwight is imitating Japanese business practises. Creed faked his own death after the documentary aired. By the way, the actor who plays Creed is 71! Whaaat? Phyllis is trying to fatten up the 'new' Stanley. Jim is Dwight's 'bestesch minch' (best man). Sorry for firing random information but its being fired pretty rapidly on the show. It seems Jim wants to be a nice best man, to make up for all his Dwight pranks. Darrell and Andy both show up at the airport. Darrell avoids Andy; when did Darrell turn into such a douche? Andy talks about his audition from the last episode. His crying fit went viral as 'Baby Wah Wah'. The Office has massively strayed into the unbelievable now, I liked it better when it was more realistic. Catherine Tate is also back. Toby is also back! Someone asks Pam how she is and she says 'We're fine!' and it really annoys me. Be an individual, Pam! Darrell says Austin is 'awesome'. Pam looks sad and Jim tries to act casual about it. Okay, laying the ground work is done.

Bachelor / Bachelorette Parties

Dwight:  Dwight gets to play with a bazooka, he's great at aiming it. I bet Rainn Wilson had some fun with that. Andy reveals he has a job at the Cornell admissions office and no one believes him. Dwight mistakes a stripper for a waitress, and asks for an 'onion roll' and a list of their 'hardiest soups'. Oh, and a 'twice baked potato'. Must be an American thing. He has eaten 'too much bone marrow'. The four most Dwightiest foods I could imagine.

Angela: Angela has a perky, pretty blonde sister who seems a lot more fun than her. A stripper arrives and it is Meredith's son. Ewwww. Meredith loves it and is in her element. I find Meredith hilarious, but also the most uncomfortable character to watch.

The definition of a normal mother-son relationship

Angela gets kidnapped by Mose, Dwight's cousin. He has apparently pulled off a ceremonial bridal kidnapping, where Dwight has to find him at a pub, and buy everyone drinks to get Angela back. Considering this is about the Schrutes, it seems surprisingly normal.

But...Kevin is the bar tender! He says 'well, well, well, well. That's six wells'. HE IS NOT FUNNY. Eurrghhh. Kevin and Dwight make up. So far its an okay episode but not great. Angela has been locked in a trunk and swears like a demon. Jim looks into the camera with world weary eyes. I'm glad he is back to his old, adorable self.

Saturday Morning Panel

 The panel is in a massive church that looks like a medieval monastery and which I definitely didn't know existed in Scranton, which has always been portrayed as some sort of suburban wasteland.

Stanley rocks up from Florida. Nobody is in the audience, apart from a smattering of people. Andy thinks it is because people hate him due to his viral video, which has been autotuned into a surprisingly catchy little number. Andy goes to leave but, surprise surprise...THERE ARE CROWDS AND CROWDS OF PEOPLE. Why did those people have to queue, and the previously mentioned smattering not? Anyway, questions questions. The characters are now being questioned by the audience, who are loving on Jim, because, who wouldn't? Pam is asked what romantic thing she did to pay back Jim for leaving Athlead. Erm, she didn't. Jim says 'She pays me back everyday by being my wife'. Awwww his cuteness steals the show yet again! Pam is also asked, what was in that teapot letter? She wants to keep it private. Boooo. I don't think the audience likes Pam very much. Meredith defends her drunken behaviour by saying she was getting a PHD and the documentary crew didn't show it. Pam describes her romance with Jim. 'It's better than a fairy tale. It's like a long book you never want to end, and you're fine with that, because you never ever ever want to leave it'. Hmmm. First not completely logical, annoying thing Pam says this episode. Also, 'fine with that' doesn't sound super enthusiastic. This scene ends with Erin finding her birth mother, who is the head teacher from School Of Rock.

Wedding!

Dwight and Angela's wedding day has arrived! Everyone brings real life cats as a present, ha. Kelly Kapoor is back! Amazing, I love Mindy Kaling. Aside from being a great actress and writer, she is also a very dedicated instagram uploader. And she (Kelly) is with Ravi, eg. the scientist off Heroes. Ryan is back! B.J.Novak (B.J.? hehe) and Mindy are my favourite celebrity on off couple / best friends. Ryan has a baby called Drake, 'a mix of Drew and Blake'. Kelly calls premature babies 'total ugos'. Ha. Anyway, Jim can't be Dwight's best man because he is younger than Dwight. So...MICHAEL SCOTT IS HERE! Ahhhhhhh!!! I'm SO HAPPY he came back for the finale! Steve Carroll is such a nice man!! and...also very, very grey? How has he aged this much in two years? What has Holly being doing to him?

Who cares, because, Michael's back! Dwight whispers, 'I can't believe you came'. Michael whispers, 'That's what she said'. Awwww.

Wedding ceremony time. Phyllis carries Angela on her back down the aisle, Angela and Dwight stand in shallow graves. Michael is completely silent throughout the wedding and looks content and mature, a far cry from weddings in the past...remember Phyllis's?

Ryan gives his baby an allergic reaction to talk to Kelly. Ryan and Kelly run off together and...leave the baby??? With Catherine Tate?? Whaaattt? Ravi says, 'The baby will be better off in foster care than with Ryan'. Wow, slightly dark story line. Probably true, though.

Michael has kids! And he has two camera phones to show the photos of them. Very cute. Toby starts sobbing. This is almost as dark as the baby story line. Things lighten up when Phyllis and Stanley dance and he makes her a whittled bird. Michael is sobbing with happiness. 'I feel like all my kids grew up and married each other. It's every parents dream!' I think they handled the Michael return really well, they managed to totally wrap up his storyline without having him overshadow everything.

Pam and Jim rock up at home and...Pam is selling Jim's family home as a grand romantic gesture without telling him. Ha! Pam! So Jim and Pam are moving to Austin. The next scene is back at the warehouse. Pam has painted yet another mural. She has painted 'The history of us. All of us'. Hmmmm.

The next couple of minutes focus on Pam. Pam goes behind reception and answers the phone in a nice twist. I do really like Pam, but this is the cheesiest, most awful speech I've ever heard on The Office. 'It would be great if people saw this documentary and learned from my mistakes...it would make my heart soar if someone out there saw this and said to herself be strong, trust yourself, love yourself, conquer your fears, and go after what you want, and act fast, because life just isn't that long'. MAKE MY HEART SOAR. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Pam and Jim tell Dwight they are leaving, and he fires them to give them severance pay. Awwww. There is a great final Dwight speech, where he asks if he gets along with his 'co-workers', which he quickly changes to 'subordinates'. He calls Pam his best friend. Awwww. Andy also has a nice ending as it is revealed he does actually have his dream job at Cornell (if his dream job was to work in the administration office). Oscar is pissed off the documentary crew never showed his origami. Everyone is looking sad and a bearded Creed (who was actually in a famous band in the 60s) plays a song on his guitar. I reckon this is to promote the actual Creed Bratton's new album. 

Jim says, 'Imagine seeing a tape of your life...you guys gave me an amazing gift'. Phyllis says the office Olympics were fun. Creed still has his medal. Kevin is...gay? No, Kevin is not gay. Creed is singing again. Emotional flashbacks. Erin says, 'How did you do it?? How did you capture what it was really like?' Pam takes her painting of the office (remember when Michael bought that and she started crying? Awww) and Creed gets arrested. Everyone is happy and hugging. Jim says his first line from his first episode, 'My job was to speak to my clients on the phone about quantities, and types of copier paper'. He says, 'everything I have I owe to this job'. And what is so adorable is I know John Krasinski said that in an interview about The Office, because that's how he met his wife Emily Blunt. D'awwww. The episode ends with Pam saying, 'There's a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn't that kind of the point?'

End

I thought this was a good finale. It was never going to reach the comedic heights of the first seasons (my favourite episode is either 'The Injury' or the one where Andy punches through the wall), and put emotions in front of laughs, but it was a nice send off to an amazing show. I'm going to miss so much about this programme; Jim's pranks, Jim and Pam, Michael Scott, Dwight in general, all the other office workers, the randomness, the musical numbers, the sarcasm, the on going jokes. Here is one of my all time favourite moments to see you off: 

The Vampire Diaries S04 E23: Graduation (Or, Stop Trying To Make Both Silas and 'Shadow Self' Happen)

People scoff at 'The Vampire Diaries', but I love it! Yes, it makes no sense and it's stupidly dramatic and emotionally manipulative and cheesy, but its SO GOOD! (Not least because of Ian Somerhalder and Joseph Morgan). So I'm blogging the final episode of Season 4. Before this episode, Bonnie went power mad and died. Ghosts are roaming around Mystic Falls. Does Elena want to be with Stephan or Damon? Read on...

Ghost Drama

The episode opens with Col (who has the worst English accent I've ever heard), speaking to some random hybrids and witches amidst dramatic shots of cheerleading pompoms blowing in the wind. Col says Mystic Falls is going to become 'hell on earth'. I don't really care about Col or any of the hybrids. We cut next to someone doing some awful cheesy dancing. Who the f....Oh, it's Lexi. Yes, we get it, she's a crazy fun barrel of laughs.

Stephen is drinking whiskey from the bottle and doing some fist pumping himself. Damon walks in and Lexi grabs him round the throat and pins him against the wall. She is remarkably restrained considering Damon killed her for no reason. Stephen is being a little bitch. 'I should be upstairs grooming my hero hair'. Lol, what? Damon asks if he is drunk. 'I don't know mum, am I?' Lexi sniggers. Oh, you two. Crazy kids. Also, it's Stephen's 17th graduation? I thought he just went to high school for Elena. Apparently not, he just enjoys hanging around people 100 years younger than him (at least) doing basic level math and watching the cheer leaders in the gym. Weirdo. That's the problem with these vampire shows, however romantic you try to make a relationship between a human and a vampire, inevitably, the vampire will always be a bit of a paedophile. Logical problem number one. But let's forget and move on!

Bonnie rings Caroline and says she has hit a 'snag' fixing the ghost problem. Caroline is whining about it, as Bonnie looks miserably at her dead body on the floor.

Caroline says, 'promise me this will be a friend day'. Bonnie agrees. Erm....I don't think you have time for 'friend day', Bonnie. Jeez. Because of your psycho power trip, you are dead and there are hundreds of vengeful ghosts roaming free. 'Grams' (?) coldly says, 'I'll make sure no one finds your body'. She doesn't seem to care Bonnie is dead that much. Join the club.

We cut to Elena, Alaric and Jeremy in a grave yard with emotionally manipulative upbeat music that makes it seem the most fun thing ever. Elena is very happy, which you can hardly tell from her understated acting.

Okay, that was mean, Nina Dobrev is okay. 

She starts crying. 'I did some pretty terrible things'. Yup. Alaric is handsome as always. Connor (remember him? The hunter? Yes, but you don't really care? Same) rings Elena. He is going to blow up The Grill. Rebekah's ex boyfriend, the Scottish hunter from the medieval ages, Alexander, is adapting incredibly quickly to the modern age, as he has set up a very complex bomb. Matt is on the bomb, because apparently Matt and Rebekah are a thing now. They want Silas, and they want the cure, because 'Katzeiah' (which is a more stupid name, Katzeiah or Klaus? Close call) wants him to have it. Damon is talking to another Scottish hunter. I have no idea why they are all Scottish, but Scottish Hunter 2 has a terrible Scottish accent. He shoots Damon with bullets laced with werewolf venom. Alaric appears at The Grill and whisks Connor away before he can blow it up. Yey Alaric!

Cure Problems

Matt is still standing on the bomb and I'm finding this scene boring because I don't care about Matt or Rebekah that much and the Scottish hunter annoys me. Rebekah says, 'It's been settled. I'm going to show you life you've only dreamed of'. When was it settled? Must have missed that. Matt says 'It's a date', because he likes Rebekah now and has apparently forgot that she killed Elena and nearly killed him? 'I'm wearing the Gilbert ring, maybe if you blow me up I won't die'. Erm...I don't know if the ring can magically put together a billion pieces of your scattered body back together, Matt, but you aren't the smartest tool in the box. Somehow, Rebekah ends up on the box and everything is fine. Boring.

Katherine is with Bonnie and calls her 'BonBon' which is funny, although I think Katherine is an irritating nightmare bitch. Apparently Elena is not her doppelgänger any more, but her 'shadow self'. The writers are clearly trying to introduce a new word for it because everyone is fed up of hearing 'doppelgänger'. 'Shadow self' is even more annoying.

Damon gives Elena the bottled cure. She won't take it. Sorry Elena, I forgot about a trillion people died to get the cure for you because you are such a little whiny child you couldn't handle being a vampire when every other vampire in the entire world could. I agree with Damon when he says, 'Take the damn thing'. But no, she won't. Jeremy, you died in vain. Jeremy is actually lurking in the shadows, and says, 'You're my sister and I love you'. Great, that helps no one.We are back to crazy Lexi and Stephan. They are talking about Elena. 'She will always be the great love of my life'. Eurgh no she won't. If she won't take him back, 'maybe I will move to Australia. Live in a Yurk'.

I actually like Stephan, but still. Lexi sniggers again. Damon is now grimacing in pain. 'Take off your shirt Damon'. 'Elena, there are children present'. Love the witty Damon one liners. They need Klaus's blood! No, Damon must take the cure! No, Damon decides to go dig up Silas with Scottish Hunter 2! I don't know why this is relevant. I don't know why Silas is still relevant. It baffles me. Jeremy randomly and grandly says 'It's settled, Elena. You're going to your graduation'. People can't keep 'settling' things by themselves in this town! Little dictators. Jeremy can't attend Elena's graduation. Well he can, seen as disguises do exist and he could even just wear sunglasses and people probably wouldn't recognise him because, let's face it, he only had about 3 friends when he died and they all know he is back to life as a ghost, but, no, he can't and we must accept it. 

Graduation

GRADUATION! Red robes abound. Matt tells the gang he has been 'dodging death by vampire' and no one comments on it or seems to care. Instead, 'Where's Elena?' Here she is. Group hug! Grumpy Stephen says, 'I don't hug'. Erm...

Liar.

I don't know why Stephen is being so odd in this episode. Anyway, graduation. Some very emotionally manipulative, elegiac, tragic music is playing. Bonnie graduations and has a heartfelt moment with her dad. Matt graduates and no one cares. Caroline graduates and everyone claps really loudly. Elena gets a mediocre clap. Col 'I'm meant to sound English but actually sound South African' Mikaelson is back. Basically, the graduation crowd is 'scattered with two dozen supernatural faces whose lives were sacrificed for your expression triangle'. Bonnie tells him to stop 'harassing' her. Erm, Bonnie? At least 12 of those people died because of you. I think they have a right to 'harass' you. Col wants her to keep the other side down. She says no and traps Col in an invisible box in the with room with her body, which they have both arrived at incredibly quickly, seen as in the next graduation scene the names are still being read out. 

Damon is now on a random island with Scottish Hunter 2. He gets shot with more werewolf bullets. Alaric appears and saves Damon. Alaric now has the cure! (Who honestly cares). Back at graduation, all the vampires are suddenly clutching their heads and shrieking. 

Dead witches are abound. Not for long though, because Klaus decapitates them with graduation hats. HA. 

Boss. 

Klaus is so funny and sexy. But still, we are apparently all supposed to forget he has gone from being the most evil of all vampires on earth, who killed Elena, Elena's aunt and Tyler's mum, to being a grumpy, brooding anti-hero with a massive crush on Caroline who we are all supposed to like, or at least tolerate. Anyway, he 'can do this all day', and is looking dapper in a suit. Klaus is the VD's Chuck Bass (although he is leaving, so not for long). 

Romantic Scenes With Emotionally Manipulative Music Abound

We are back at the Salvatore Mansion. Elena punches Damon. Lexi sniggers. Lexi and Alaric have a DMC about The Other Side. Lexi mentions Silas to remind us that we are supposed to care about Silas, who no one cares about. Elena and Stephen also have a DMC. She thanks him for everything he has done and gives him the cure. 'The only person worse than being a vampire than me is you'. WOAAAHHH. The vampire who has saved you, and others, COUNTLESS times?? BITCH! Stephen is a great vampire!

Klaus and Caroline are alone on the football field. Klaus makes a joke about Caroline's graduation invite being 'subtle'. Turns out he was already on his way to see her graduate. Caroline makes a joke about a mini fridge (?) Klaus says he wanted to give her a ticket to New Orleans but knew she would say no. Instead, her present is Tyler's freedom. 'He's your first love. I intend to be your last. However long it takes'. AWWWWWWWWWW. 1000 year old and 18 year old lovers woohoo!

Damon and Elena. Big heartfelt speeches, fire lit scene, they feel 'alive' with each other, they kiss, Elena chooses Damon, emotionally manipulative music, they love each other, big kisses. It feels a bit contrived and I feel sorry for Stephen, although Damon is my favourite. I just think Damon and Elena are terrible for each other, and he isn't a very supportive or able boyfriend, as proved when he basically handed her over to Stephen when she turned her emotions off. Stephen is eavesdropping and its very sad. Stephen leaves with Silas's body and a little table.

Stephen is 'not unhappy' for Damon. So noble!

Jeremy and Bonnie are in a dramatically lit cave with more emotionally manipulative music. Jeremy left Elena a letter and won't say goodbye to her. Mean! Alaric says goodbye to Damon. 'You got the girl man'. He disappears silently mid conversation. Lexi disappears silently mid conversation, after a sweet speech about how Elena was 'The One', but 'there are actually multiple ones, especially for a vampire'. Eg. CAROLINE! Predicting that one. Stephen decides to go to Portland. Congratulations, what an incredibly boring place to pick when you could go anywhere (no offence to the people of Portland, I have only seen it on the first Twilight film so it could be the best place ever to go visit, I don't know, but still). BONNIE HAS DONE A SPELL AND JEREMY IS ALIVE! YEY!...and Bonnie is still dead. Yey! 

I'm assuming we will never know how Bonnie brought him back to life, but hey, we know that this is the most illogical show ever with a huge tendency to make up and change its own made up rules. Jeremy learns Bonnie is dead and is sad but he won't be sad for long so it's fine, because Jeremy can see ghosts so they can talk 'whenever they want'. Oh God, she hasn't left the show, has she? She wants Jeremy to tell Elena and Caroline she has left for the summer. I'm actually impressed by her selfless and noble exit, well done. 

Whaaaattt?

We are back at everyone's least favourite, and most random, couple, Matt and Rebekah. He won't let Rebekah in the house. ROMANTIC! Basically, they are travelling around the world together. Although it won't end happily because Rebekah is leaving to be in 'The Originals'. That boring scene is thankfully replaced with Katherine beating the crap out of Elena. Katherine is blaming Elena for stealing 'everything' from her, which I don't really understand...Katherine abandoned Damon and Stephen and all her friends multiple times, so she really stole 'everything' from herself from being such a evil psychopathic bitch. Whatever, she is clearly having a bad day and wants to take it out on someone. Also, Elena's really annoying, so I understand why she picks her. It's actually a really graphic and disgusting scene, ew. As Katherine has her hand in Elena's chest about to pull her heart out (ewwww), Elena shoves the cure in Katherine's mouth, smashes it, and makes her swallow it. 

I KNEW they wouldn't be brave enough to make one of the main three take it. So now Katherine is human, which means we have to tolerate both Katherine and Elena in full force next season, which is horrible. 

Stephen is at the quarry and Silas's body casket has been smashed...oh dear. Silas is apparently Elena now. 'Here's where the mystery of me comes full circle'. The boring mystery and the tedious and pointless circle are about to be revealed. I'm terrified for a moment Silas is the original Petrova doppelgänger and we will have to tolerate THREE of them next season but no thank god it's....Stephen? Whhaaat? He is Silas's 'Shadow Self', which explains why Katherine was using the word earlier. 'Hello, my Shadow Self'. THIS MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!!!!! AND STEPHAN IS NOW IN A BOX AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE! Out of all the characters, Stephen did NOT deserve this ending, poor boy. 

End

This was a very dramatically impressive finale for Season 4 which solved a lot of questions and resolved a lot of plots, but also introduced a new one...Silas-Stephen-Shadow-Self? Whhaaaattt? I DO NOT CARE ABOUT SILAS! STOP TRYING TO MAKE SILAS HAPPEN! Also, Katherine is such a non entity to be given the cure, which the entire show has revolved around for the past year. And Bonnie is not gone for good. Booooo. But, Jeremy is back, and I'm sure next season will be equally as amazing and also make equally as little sense. I'm excited to hearing the phrase 'Shadow Self' aplenty!