The Vampire Diaries was back with a bang this week. The episode left me with an OMFG reaction, primarily because I truthfully didn’t see that curveball at the end coming. But let’s start at the beginning.
In the fall finale Elena drives off in a huff after learning she and Stefan’s former flame Katherine share an uncanny resemblance. In the midst of a mental breakdown, she runs over someone, or perhaps something, in the middle of the road. Cue the opening scene of this new episode where Elena is rescued by none other than the delicious and mostly evil vampire, Damon. I tend to read a few spoilers here and there, so I was none too surprised at the identity of Elena’s rescuer. Damon proceeds to take Elena on a joy ride to Georgia to visit an old friend of his. Cue the music of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” in my head.
Back in Mystic Falls, Stefan and Bonnie begin to make a connection. In the wake of Elena’s disappearance, Stefan asks Bonnie to use her witch powers to help him locate her. Unfortunately, Bonnie’s talents are blocked. I think the CW does a fantastic job of bringing these two characters together. As the best friend and boyfriend of Elena, they should be forming a relationship. I love Paul Wesley and think he is great as the brooding vampire in search of his soul mate. He can convey so much with those brows of his. We begin to see here how everyone and everything in this show are connected.
During the car rides to and from Georgia, a softer side of Damon comes out. He acts nice towards Elena and says she really isn’t the worst company in the world. Aww. Is he changing his wicked ways? Nah, where would the fun be in that? Now we all remember Lexi, right? The old friend of Stefan’s who visited him a few weeks ago and was subsequently staked by Damon and blamed for the “animal attacks” of Mystic Falls. Well, her boyfriend shows up and tries to do some serious damage to Damon as payback. We never learn his name and I like the mystery of that. All we know is he was so in love with Lexi he let her turn him into a vampire so they could be together forever. Talk about romantic. After throwing Damon against a wall, covering him in gasoline and threatening to light him up, the romantic in Elena comes out and she talks Lexi’s boyfriend down from murdering Damon. He eventually leaves and Elena rushes over to Damon, making sure he knows that she saved his life. Elena:1, Damon:0. I like that Damon is protective of Elena and honors his promise not use his mind control abilities on her now that she has removed the necklace Stefan gave her. After seeing how well Elena can get along with Damon, it makes me wonder who she is really meant to be with. Damon or Stefan? Just like Joey Potter and the question of Dawson or Pacey. Will nice guy Stefan lose out to the power of the bad boy just like poor Dawson? Only time will tell.
Once in Georgia, Damon takes Elena to a bar where a former flame of his, Bree, works. Bree is played by the always amazing Gina Torres. After playing Vanessa’s mom on Gossip Girl and now Bree on The Vampire Diaries, Torres should totally get her own CW show. But, back to this one. Bree is a witch Damon had a thing with twenty years ago. Damon wants Bree to help him gain access to the tomb where Katherine is buried. After she finally gives up what she knows, Damon kills her by pulling her heart out of her chest. Ouch! I started to think that maybe Bree was Bonnie’s MIA mom because it couldn’t be a coincidence that she knew Emily was a witch, and was the right age to be her mother. However, considering she’s dead now, I no longer think that idea holds much water.
Meanwhile, Bonnie goes to the cemetery to try and get her powers back and Stefan visits her Grandmother to find out where she has gone so he can help her. Well, here’s a shocker for you. Stefan and Grandma Bennett know each other from back in the day. He relies on the protection her family can give his. I love that everything has a way of coming back to the original families, just generations later.
Now finally, on to the really juicy stuff! SPOILER ALERT! Stefan and Elena finally meet up at the end of the episode, after some serious phone call ditching on Elena’s part. Stefan is the one who saved her from the car accident that killed her parents! I can now say that that whole “I have to know her” line from all the previews makes sooooo much more sense! And here’s the kicker: Elena is adopted! And Jenna knew the whole time! Whoa! There’s some serious drama up ahead, and I’m totally looking forward to it.
All in all it was a great episode. The one thing I noticed that bothered me though was the complete lack of the supporting cast. I really like Matt and Caroline, but they were entirely absent, as was Michael Trevino’s Tyler. I realize that there are three main “stars” of this show, but I consider it an ensemble cast and find myself enjoying it a little less when not all the characters are present – or at least explained.
The sub plot involving Jeremy did pique my interest slightly. He met a new girl at the library when he was doing research for his extra credit project. She is a strong believer in the existence of vampires and shows him papers documenting the animal attacks. She was definitely cute and I can see her recurring in some fashion as Jeremy’s new love interest. But I’m not quite over Vicki yet, so we’ll see how long it takes to warm up to her in that aspect. I do agree with him moving on in some way though. It’s smart of the writers to not keep Jeremy in a depressive slump indefinitely.
This episode was a rollercoaster ride I did not want to end! Kudos to the writers for actually providing answers to some of the series’ biggest questions. But now I find myself wanting more!
What did you think? Was it as satisfying an episode for you as it was for me? Why do you think Alaric Saltzman dislikes Damon so strongly? And how much do you wish Stefan looked you in the eyes the way he does Elena?
Note from The Televixen – I am thrilled to introduce Lauren Strupp to the blog as a Review Vixen, covering The Vampire Diaries. She brings a wealth of knowledge as a blogger, writer, editor, anchor, and producer. What makes her the perfect person to cover our favourite fanged brothers? Lauren is not only a fan of the vampire genre (and TV in general), she’s been following Paul Wesley’s career since he first appeared on The Guiding Light, and Nina Dobrev since her Degrassi days. Let’s all give Lauren a warm welcome!
Photo courtesy of The CW
I enjoyed the episode as well, but I am going to say that as a die-hard Buffy fan, I find the Vampire Diaries uses a lot of other people’s materials. This episode, where Stefan says that he watched Elena for years because he saved her is very Buffy/Angel. Angel watched Buffy as she rose to become a slayer. It just just felt very familiar to me. Further, earlier in the season when Elena was figuring out the whole vampire thing it was VERY Twilight.
But I love that SPOILER!!! (Elena is adopted). This means the plot could go anywhere, old relatives could come back and lord knows what else! She could channel Katharine! LOL It’s endless. I am hoping for some more fun and maybe some originality to end season one.