...cant tell if its heavy sarcasm or ur having a go at the rest of us for our (valid) criticisms? a ramp up? a ramp up to what? they're supposedly in the middle of a war, yet theres surprisingly little fighting going on. i dont TRUST this show to ramp up anything to a logical or entertaining conclusion. that went out the window years ago. now i think most of us are just expecting to be entertained. and not bored.

this show is a series in the vein of ANGEL. same blueprints, but 50/50 when it comes to execution. u can't even admit that? i been a big fan of the show its entire run, sung its praises for season 4 through to 6 when most ppl seemed to be jumping ship (it was a solid entertaining run). but this is episode 4, in its final season, of 10eps in total? and it's the first one that's really been anything *close* to TB's best? that doesn't warrant a conversation? lol. cmon.
i think far from blaming a culture with shorter attention spans and the need for a big finale, some of us actually are judging this shit based on what we see and have seen. and if it's doo-doo, it's doo-doo. no explanation necessary really. sheit, even Alcide agreed about some of the shows drawbacks.

i say this with even more certainty after i been rewatching ANGEL for the 20th time all the way thru recently. TB (and the chick who wrote the novels) clearly used the school of Whedon as an influence, but it was again the execution that lacked on TB after a while. how a show on the WB managed to be so epic for so long on not much of a budget...is just pure talent. ANGEL's the GOAT vamp show and had nary a bad spot in its 5 seasons of existence, cos there was quality control. there was an actual longterm PLAN. there was consistency. the show had something to SAY lol. TB's had a fucking SPOTTY run at best, man. characters have gone through shit for absolutely no good reason (see: Tara. again), storylines introduced (and thought to be important and interesting) were suddenly dropped. and now in its final season, the powers that be have made mind-boggling decisions regarding who dies and how (Tara, off-screen. Alcide, shot in the head naked in the woods by a random...these dont qualify as WTF moments? and they make.no.sense). overall seems like all these changes and upheavals in the background spilled over into how inconsistent the show eventually got/has become. same thing happened on ANGEL, but it was virtually unnoticeable ON screen, cos ppl kept their shit intact, cos the ppl handling the words and the cameras still had a fucking plan (or backup plan).

i dunno, i dont really get u defending this show from criticisms. like, at all. ive loved the run, seen some things i will never forget (Bill fucking his maker and rotating her head 360 degrees while doin it, for one). and when it manages to balance all its elements of action/drama/camp/comedy (see: the formula perfected by ANGEL), it's one of the most entertaining things to see. but there's been too much below average fuckery going on, masked by production value and the fact that its a vampire show on HBO and they can do and show watever the fuck they want. however this season has been particularly iffy due to the aforementioned insulting character deaths, and yes, lack of a "ramp up". TB isn't some nuanced fucking show lol. mofos got 10 eps left (well, 6 now), they need to bring all this fuckery to a head. unless they wanna bow out by insulting the audience too. but its OUR fault, right? lol.

V.