[Thrillerboy]

Chiaro and Viewer are both right. Even as starved for content as we are right now, this show does not exist to cater to the tf community. It just doesn't. Adjust your expectations if need be, but that's the long and short of it. The show is aiming to tell the story put forth in the book, and werewolf transformations, particularly of Elena, are nothing more but just another vehicle to tell that story. You shouldn't expect a transformation at every turn.

Now, with that said...

I do agree that it is kinda stupid for them to gloss over tfs, if they've already steered things towards one. Having everyone prepare themselves, and strip down, only to not show the transformation, then half-ass one all of five minutes later is disappointing. At that point, the argument of whether a tf is necessary there goes out the window. You've already set up for one, so why not just show it? If you didn't think the transformation itself added to anything, have them discuss going out as wolves that night, then cut to them exploring as wolves, having transformed already. I personally do think budget has something to do with this, although a good chunk comes down to how the director wants to present things. In the latter case, I think they played this one poorly, but that often seems to be the case with these things.