By the Light of the Moon
Vampire Diaries Episode Review
In which there is no stupid. The Vampire Diaries reaffirms my confidence in the show by not only not being stupid but by following the not-stupid with some pretty cool plot twists. Again.
What Happened
When Elena won't stay put, Bonnie puts a spell up that locks her in the house until they figure out how to let Stefan out of the tomb. Damon's totally all set to babysit Elena (if you know what I mean), but Alaric calls from the Grill. Some blonde named "Jules" has been by the Lockwood place asking what happened to Mason. Suspecting - for some reason - that Jules is a werewolf, the duo try to trick her into drinking some wolfsbane and fail miserably. Jules tells Damon that she knows he's a vampire and that could be a problem for him tonight - full moon and all.
Elijah tricks Jenna into letting him into the house, but assures Elena that he means no harm. He admits that he doesn't actually know where Klaus is, but hopes that Klaus will come out of hiding to get his hands on the doppelganger. Then, Elijah will have the opportunity to kill him. If Elena simply sits tight for a bit, Elijah promises to protect her family and friends from Klaus. Elena agrees - but only if Elijah adds one more favor to the list. He has to get Stefan out of the tomb and away from Katherine.
Caroline takes Tyler to the old Lockwood cells to help him prepare for his first transformation into a werewolf. It's as painful and scary as advertised, but Caroline stays with Tyler as long as she can before locking him in. Bonnie asks Luka for helping destroying the moonstone. He agrees, but puts on a pretty light show to fool her, then pockets the rock when she isn't looking and hands it over to his father. Before the moon sets, Luka and Jonas cast one more spell and open the tomb for Elijah. Stefan walks out, but Elijah orders Katherine to stay put until she's called for.
Damon gets home to find Rose waiting for him, full of apologies for running off when Elijah showed up last week. As they are arguing, a werewolf crashes into the living room and attacks. Rose is bitten before Damon drives it off. They are both relieved to see the wound healing and wonder if the story that a werewolf bite is fatal was just a myth. Until later - Rose's shoulder is sore and the wound has reappeared, worse than before.
The Good
- "Vampire Barbie." Never not funny.
- Everyone picking on Elena. Her dumping Jeremy on the floor.
- Elijah! Where'd you come from?
- Bone sounds are scary. Tyler's transformation scene worked.
- And Stefan gets out. Happy reunion.
The Bad
- How long has it been that Jeremy's neck is healed from last week? Aren't these kids in school?
- Rose's shirt. All weird strappy bits.
- And she's crying again!
The Cliche
- Dream sequence: Katherine and Stefan. Tomb sex.
- Sidekicks in love: Bonnie and Luka get flirty with each other. Then he turned out to be evil!
- Seeing someone get bitten after all the talking about it: Rose gets bit by the werewolf.
Best Lines
Tyler: "I don't think it's like the Hulk, where I get to keep my pants."
What Did I Think?
I'm thankful that they didn't get stupid, but annoyed that I totally fell for the promo mislead. I'm worse at this prediction stuff than I'd like to think. More importantly, I'm obviously over-investing in this show. (But it's so. much. fun!)
I've been spending a lot of time watching television via Netflix, which has the advantage of rolling out four episodes at a time - or an entire season if it's streaming - but I have noticed that resulting in a bit of detachment. One big difference between Netflix and "real time" is that if the series is over, there's simply no point in throwing a conniption about things, either good or bad. So it's more of a intellectual engagement than a emotional one. I'm curious to see what will happen, but not dying to see what will happen.
Then there's the fear of disappointment. Particularly the disappointment that happens when I suspect the writers are just making things up as they go without thought to what's come before or what might come later. There is an immediate pay-off to Stefan and Katherine hooking up: juicy sex scene, potential drama when Elena finds out. It's tempting to throw that out there. I get that. But I would have still lost a lot of respect for Stefan, which would have damaged the character for me. That's kind of a problem with your romantic lead.
But there was no disappointment here. There was - in fact - all kinds of other great stuff going on, like Elijah and Elena cutting their deal. And Bonnie and Luka getting all flirty and witchy with each other. And Jules ought to make for an interesting antagonist.
So now, all I have to complain about is that there won't be any new episodes until the end of January.