My Analysis of Bamon 4x15
I think I’m finally feeling sedated enough to actually form more coherent thoughts now. Don’t know how long it’ll last, so I better hurry & get this out. LOL ;)
For me 4x15 was an extension and a reaffirmation of everything alot of us Bamon fans have pointed out about Bamon’s development in the past. I certainly did not see anything that happened to be OOC nor did it create any worries in my mind that Bamon will be rushed.
The episode that had the most Bamon progress before 4x15 was undisputedly 2x18 and the point that Bonnie & Damon reached then was not destroyed by their lack of scenes in S3 and beginning of S4 imo. Yes there were some huge moments between 4x15 & 2x18 that obviously have been seen by some to have been a deal breaker i.e. Damon turning Abby. Everyone’s entitled to what they feel about that but from my personal standpoint the facts were made pretty loud and clear. Damon did not INTEND for Bonnie/her mum to be hurt. This was something brought to HIM and was forced to do NOT something he had orchestrated himself. If he had orchestrated that shit, then heck YES, I would’ve been one of the first to do a head-dive off this ship but no that’s not what happened; so based on that fact, the Bamon moments in 4x15 were absolutely realistic and in perfect harmony with the moments they shared in 2x18. We were getting answers to all that foreshadowing we’ve been picking up on.
➻ Damon CHOOSES Bonnie over Elena - Now before anyone jumps on me, I do not mean in the romantic sense but rather in relation to whom he chose to be there for FIRST. It’s incredible when you consider how many instances were created in which Damon had to make this choice in this episode. Starting from the first moment…he had Elena in that cave devastated, yet he chose Stefan to take her home when the obvious person to do it would have been him since he’s her current lover. It made perfect sense for the rest of the characters to be perplexed at him choosing to find Bonnie rather than staying with Elena and you don’t understand how happy that made me. It was Rebekah’s comments that made me grin the most especially when she said,
❝ Stefan could’ve done that ❞
THIS THIS THIS!!! This has been what we’ve been saying since season 1! Since that moment it was revealed that Emily chose Damon to be the saviour of the Bennett line. WHY NOT STEFAN?…he’s the one with the “pure heart”. Throughout all the seasons, the most significant turns in Bonnie’s life have involved Damon. From as important as her finding her mother to Bonnie always calling Damon instead of Stefan in times of need and vice versa. I always loved this fact and have said there’s no way it’s just coincidence. The writers have made the conscious decision to give this exclusivity to Damon not Stefan or anyone else and we got perfect confirmation that we were absolutely right to believe that by JP actually showing us in dialogue.
OMGAWD you guuuys, do you realise the significance of this?! It means, there’s finally something, a connection with someone that doesn’t make Damon feel inferior to his brother. And that connection is with BONNIE BENNETT. All his life, Damon has played second best to his brother…from his relationship with his father and both doppelgangers he has fallen for. With Bonnie it’s different. Somehow despite their contemptuous relationship, Bonnie has grown to rely on Damon more than Stefan. He’s the first person she thinks of to call when she has information, he’s the first person she’s willing to tell her decisions to NOT Stefan (even though she does trust Stefan). I think Damon has somehow realised he has a superior connection with Bonnie than Stefan and in this episode you could tell he wants to maintain that. Which is why he wasn’t happy at all hearing Stefan tell him to leave Bonnie and come home. Even when he knew Stefan would do just as much of a thorough search to find Bonnie, he wasn’t satisfied. He protested leaving that island without her and the pain was so evident in his voice & on his face. I mean LOOK at him!!! *sobs*
❝ I can’t, I can’t just leave her behind. I can’t show up without BONNIE! ❞
He got a lead on getting the cure and even Rebekah was shocked that he was leaving that to her knowing full well that if she got her hands on it first, she’d take it herself and Elena would forever stay a vampire. He chose to keep looking for Bonnie despite all that and when Rebekah confronted him, he got all defensive that he’s only doing it cos Elena needs her best friend. BULLSHIT as always. That’s what he tells himself cos he’s clearly in denial and what better proof do we have than THAT HUG! If we’re supposed to believe his entire beautiful quest to find Bonnie was for Elena, then hugging her would be the most pointless thing for him to do. He could’ve just been like GOOD YOU’RE HERE, LET’S GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE, MY PRECIOUS ELENA NEEDS YOU!!! but NO my dears, he was more concerned about telling her he wanted to hug her. What he was more concerned about was finding out where she has been. His only concern was being concerned about BONNIE BENNETT and finding an outlet to all the frustration he felt when he was unable to find her and the relief he felt seeing that she was safe.
➻ He kinda loves her - Elena claiming he LOVES Bonnie after Matt said it was weird that he went to find Bonnie when he hates her. Yeah yeah LOVE may have been a strong word but there must be an even stronger reason which made Elena believe that and for the writers to put that there. I’m excited as hell to see them explore that. It sure isn’t farfetched imo to think that Bonnie has a place in Damon’s heart cos come on, we’ve always wondered why he’s treated Bonnie so differently since the beginning. Why he cares to understand her emotions towards him even when she hated him instead of just ripping her heart out like he did to so many others who opposed him and didn’t give him what he wants. Why he gets affected by her words and actually takes them on board when even those he openly claims to love have failed to get through to him countless of times. There’s something there and I personally don’t need Elena to narrate what it is cos I’m more than happy to watch Damon deny it and fight it tooth n nail before finally coming to that realisation and admitting it to himself and eventually to Bonnie. *sighs dreamily*
➻ Symbolism & THAT HUG - I can’t get over just how perfect and symbolic their first hug was! The way he first gave her a pre-warning (lol) that he wanted to hug her and the way he opened his arms and gave her that OPTION to accept rather than pull her into the hug even though I’m pretty sure it took some level of restraint for him not to pounce on her. ;) Guys this move by Damon reminded me of how their dance in 2x18 began. He first asked her to dance politely and even when she nodded her acceptance to dance with him, he didn’t immediately just grab her hand. He held up his hands and waited for her to choose to bridge that gap and put her hand in his. LOOOOK! *FLAILS*
This may seem like a small detail to point out but it’s HUGE in my eyes. It’s so damn symbolic of Damon’s relationship with Bonnie. It shows he respects her, it shows he understands it’s her right to accept or reject letting him come closer to her. He has always been this way with her right from the beginning when he used to ask her for a truce and for a second chance. He prioritises her CHOICE in their relationship. He’s SELFLESS with her. In those little physical gestures, he has shown her this in volumes and I believe Bonnie has definitely picked up on this aspect which is why she let her guard down and has gradually let herself trust him & relies on him more n more because she knows she’s in control. When he opened his arms to her, it was almost like a reflex the way she instantly stepped into them. She closed her eyes and was clutching him to her like he’s all the solace she needed in that moment.
I think her complete lack of hesitation even took Damon by surprise cos here’s the guy who just a day before thought the idea of anyone using him to get to Bonnie to be the most preposterous thing ever yet here he was being hugged back by that very same girl with complete trust and I love that he didn’t break physical contact even when the hug ended (he held her by the arms) and he didn’t care one bit about putting up a front nor did he spoil the moment by calling it one of the “stupid things” he does. It was like he was saying ‘Yes Bonnie, you CAN actually start to think I care because I DO!”. This has catapulted their relationship into a whole other realm of flawlessness and I’m crying as I type this. *sniff*
❝ How did you find me? ❞
When Damon asked her this question, it reminded of yet another parallel from 2x18. When Bonnie was running away from Alaric!Klaus and was clearly terrified cos she knew he was after her not Elena…who was it that she found in that moment?…*sing ittt* ♪ DAMONNN ♫ and she looked up at him when she told him about Shane’s plan with the same hope she had in her eyes when she told him Klaus was trying to kill her. The hope that he would be the one to help her. She found Damon and like some of the lovely Bamonistas pointed out, it’s pretty amazing that Shane!Silas guided her to Damon. Again this is clearly something conscious the writers have done. It was even made more amazing by the fact that Damon again had that same “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you” expression as he looked into her eyes. Which is why I’m pretty much sure that it’ll be Damon who’ll help her through this crazy brainwashed-by-silas situation just like he did when he thought up the plan to make Klaus believe she was dead to stop her from being his target (putting Elena back into the firing line btw).
❝Caroline! I need to talk to my brother.❞
So Damon Salvatore finally makes it home to be with Elena but rather than rush into that house immediately to make her feel better with that good ‘ol sire-bond, he chooses to have a meeting with his brother to vent his worry over BONNIE losing her mind instead??? I mean Stefan would have been informed anyway since Bonnie was more than eager to tell everyone about this plan to kill 12 people but Damon had a NEED (not want) to privately speak in detail about this and he was all stop wasting time blondie, I got important things to discuss! Lol. He wants his Bonnie (yeah she’s HIS according to Encyclopedia de Vaughn ok!) back because he knows she’s being brainwashed, he knows Bonnie would never willingly want to hurt anyone let alone murder 12 people and it’s amazing that he didn’t react like the rest calling her crazy and whatnot. This just sealed the deal for me…he’s gonna be the one who pulls her through this cos if anyone understands the feeling of wanting to get back someone you love without caring about the consequences/destruction it could bring, it’s Damon. Bringing back all those supernaturals will clearly spell doom just like those 27 vamps Damon released from the tomb almost did. What’s beautiful is he knows Bonnie’s not cruel at heart and he’ll do everything to keep her from making the same mistake he made because unlike him, she won’t have this “switch” inside to turn off her guilt. It’ll tear her apart. :( Help her baby Help her. I have full faith you’re the man to do it Mr. Damon Salvatore.
Ok seriously I need to stop typing now cos I’m still in complete shock at the incredible moments we got and as a result could keep gushing forever; but one final thing I’d like to say is: It is just NOT OK for Bamon to sneak up on us all like “Yo Angel Of Death! We got dis shift covered!”
Reaction to 4X15
Before it even started.
The episode starting with Elena holding the picture frame.
What if that’s not Shane? What if it’s Silas?
Stefan and Caroline talking about needing Damon there to use the sire bond on Elena.
Damon and his “not caring” about Bonnie. Damon logic. <3
Bonnie wants to kill 12 people and unleash all kinds of supernatural nasties back on the world.
Elena finally breaking down.
Damon tells her to turn it off.
Matt crying in his car. Alone. After being so strong for Elena.
Shane is still on the island.
Brotherly bonding between Stefan and Damon.
Elena actually burning the house down.
I am not ok.
The part where you said Damon chose Bonnie over Elena. Even if you like this, I think even tho he still wanted to find Bonnie, the msot important thing is that he didn’t want to deal with Elena and deal with her problem.As soon as he understood that Jeremy was dead, he chose to find Bonnie, looking for Bonnie is a way of avoiding Elena’s situation.Because like he said, he is not enough and he is well aware of that.
He said “not enough” which to me didn’t imply that he felt Elena didn’t need him at all but rather that she needed all the support she could get INcluding HIS. Even if we were to believe he wanted to find Bonnie just to provide Elena with maximum support of her friends…it sure as heck doesn’t explain why he enlisted himself to find Bonnie when Stefan would have been more than capable to look for her. It’s this fact which made me say Damon chose Bonnie over Elena although I did clarify I didn’t mean in the romantic sense but more in terms of which of the girls he chose to stand by when they needed it.
I don’t think it’s pure coincidence that in an episode called “STAND BY ME”, the writers chose to make Damon spend majority of his time mentioning Bonnie and searching for Bonnie. Nor was it coincidence that this episode came straight after 2 episodes in which the writers put emphasis on Damon saying he doesn’t “give a crap”/”care” about Bonnie and him finding it ridiculous that anyone could use him to get to Bonnie. Therefore, It’s not crazy to believe everything BAMON that happened in 4x15 was a narrative exclusive to their relationship with one another and a response to previous foreshadowing.
“I can’t show up without BONNIE!”
I know most of BD fans like this quote but I didnt because what he meant (for me again :P) is more like “I cant show up without a plan = Bonnie” because like we saw, Bonnie was Elena last hope., She kept telling “Bonnie will fix this blablabla” and then Damon say he couldn’t come back without Bonnie? It’s not a coincidence imo. BUT “I cant leave her behing” line KILLED ME and this, was completely about BOnnie.
Ah but Damon was already thousands of miles away from Elena searching for Bonnie when she got the “FIND ME BONNIE!!!” fits all up in Meredith’s face. Someone could counter this by saying all of them instantly believe Bonnie will fix everything and so Damon wouldn’t need Elena to tell him to get Bonnie for that purpose. However as someone who actually believes Damon cares for Bonnie, I didn’t think for one second he asked about Bonnie’s whereabouts in the cave just so he could tell her to rectify the situation. Why? because it was but a day or so ago when Damon found out the danger expression magic posed to Bonnie’s life. Why would he want her to attempt using this type of magic to do a spell which tampers with the balance of life & death? Everything that he DID imo pointed to his genuine concern for Bonnie and that HUG pretty much blew everything he said to contradict that out the water. His immediate words when Bonnie found him and the questions he asked her after the hug certainly didn’t highlight him seeing Bonnie as nothing but a “PLAN”. All he expressed both verbally and physically was his genuine concern for Bonnie. Stop fighting it gurl, believe it…HE CARES ABOUT BONNIE more than he even knows I’m sure.
As for the quote “I can’t show up without Bonnie!”, you’re right it does come off as if he was saying he only wanted to bring Bonnie home for someone else’s sake but I still loved it cos it came AFTER “I can’t just leave her behind!” which is the line that indicated his personal reasons for wanting to bring Bonnie home safely. The order of the quotes through my lovely Bamon goggles indicated that perhaps Damon remembered he had an audience (i.e. Stefan on the other side of the line) and quickly rushed to cover up just how much the thought of leaving Bonnie behind affected him. lol ;)
BTW I’m I the only one who thought it was fucked up that both Elena and Caroline somehow felt Bonnie should try to bring Jeremy back when they are aware of what happened to her the last time she tried to bring back a soul [Elena’s] from the other side? And strangely enough neither of the Salvatores mentioned Bonnie attempting to do that. Infact the only “plan” the Salvatores seemed to have was Damon using that sire-bond to stop Elena from going nuts. Atleast that’s what I understood from Stefan’s phone call to Damon.
“So Damon Salvatore finally makes it home to be with Elena but rather than rush into that house immediately to make her feel better with that good ‘ol sire-bond, he chooses to have a meeting with his brother to vent his worry over BONNIE losing her mind instead???”
Even tho I LOVE what you’re saying,I think there is more than that, it’s about Bonnie but mostly about Elena. Bonnie=Plan, so before meeting Elena, he rather warned Stefan than the plan is screwed up because basically that means Jeremy is really dead. And he want to warn stefan because he know he is not enough.
Stefan was gonna find out what was going on with Bonnie anyway since she was simultaneously telling the rest of the group what Damon was telling him. Damon didn’t HAVE to discuss Bonnie being brainwashed with Stefan separately, so the only logical explanation I found for it is that he must be worried about her and felt a desperate need to talk to someone about it. It was not just his lack of hurry to get inside to comfort Elena but even what Damon did once he was finally in a position to comfort Elena that made me feel confident enough to say he subconsciously put Bonnie first in this episode. Lemme give you an example: When Elena completely broke down and was on the floor, you’d think Damon [being her lover right now] would instantly crouch to hold her in his arms but instead, he needed to be prompted by Stefan “Damon…Help Her!” to do that. Now in comparison think about that moment on the island when Damon saw Bonnie was safe…his reaction, his move to comfort her was INSTANT! HE was his only prompt “I could actually HUG you right now”…which he did with no hesitation. [All the while Stefan the fanboy watched and weeped silently in awe from the behind the bushes ;p]
“But there must be an even stronger reason which made Elena believe that and for the writers to put that there[he kinda love her line]. I’m excited as hell to see them explore that. “
I LOVE your otpimist you see that as a foreshadowing whereas for me it’s more like a statement, a result of the last four seasons. I’m afraid the writers were just lazy and rather than show us NOW the evolution of BD [now that the viewers are aware that he does loves her] nothing will change in their relationship because it was only a statement. I HOPE I’m wrong seriously.
Like I said I personally didn’t give too much importance to Elena’s words about him loving Bonnie and I don’t think those words will propel Bamon’s relationship onto the fast track. I have believed Damon had gradually grown to care about Bonnie before Elena said those words and even if his feelings for Bonnie have been described on the show to be “LOVE”, that doesn’t mean Bamon’s journey is suddenly over. It’ll take a considerable amount of time for Damon to stop verbally denying that he cares about Bonnie cos this has been such an ongoing theme and I don’t think the writers are ready to end it too soon and of course he’s still gonna be stuck in that awful triangle longer anyway. As for Bonnie, it took over 3 seasons for her to say Damon is being “less horrible” and she hasn’t gotten closure as far as her feelings for Jeremy are concerned, so there most definitely has to be an even longer build-up of feelings on her side for Damon or it wouldn’t make sense. So far the writers haven’t screwed up Bamon. I just hope they keep this up cos I’m more than happy to wait for their story to unfold slowly and to get bigger answers to all the foreshadowing. For now I’m not even thinking about love-confessions, all I wanna see is Damon help Bonnie through this crazy Silas brainwashing business and watch her trust in him grow even more.
All that in a nutshell: I ain’t worried ‘bout nuthin! My OTP HUGGED!!!
TVD 4X15 RECAP
I CANT I MEAN …
ELENA OMG … SHE LOST EVERYTHING THERE IS TO LOOSE HER HUMANITY EVEN … ,WHEN SHE WAS WALKING OUT OF THAT BURNING HOUSE I DON’T THINK I RECOGNIZED HER , HER FACE WAS BLANK NOTHING IN IT EMOTIONLESS ..AND I JUST WANTED SOMEONE TO HUG HER TO TELL HER IT GONNA BE ALRIGHT
AND DAMON AND STEFAN … PLEASE PLEASE JUST BE BROTHERS AGAIN
THIS WAS JUST..…. ELENA ,DAMON , STEFAN ,CAROLINE, JEREMY ,MATT :( … TO MUCH SADNESS
I CANT EVEN TALK ABOUT THE OTHERS BECAUSE I WAS OVERWHELMED WITH ALL OF THIS … BUT IM PRETTY SURE THE ENDING OF THIS SEASON IS GOING TO BE MOST HEARTBREAKING ,SHOCKING AND -WTF IS HAPPENING- SEASON EVER
