The Vampire Diaries: Miss Mystic Falls

Hallelujah, Bonnie is back! More on that in a minute.

I tend to read spoilers about my favorite shows, which obviously includes The Vampire Diaries, and this episode really seemed to explain many of the scoops I’ve read the last month about the shift in Damon and Stefan’s personalities. Stefan is going somewhere dark, but how dark and where he was going wasn’t fully answered until this episode. Clearly, drinking human blood doesn’t sit well with him. You know it’s bad when even Damon is trying to stop you from drinking blood. Damon is such a rational guy these days, I don’t quite know how to wrap my head around it. I do like it though.

Stefan is lying to everyone about consuming human blood and is even stealing it from blood banks and hiding it in the trunk of his car and the basement. In the words of Damon, “you’re a closet blood junkie.” It’s interesting to note the reversal in roles here. Stefan is now the one lying to Damon.

This episode had a split focus, some of which was on the Founders’ Court. When Caroline reminded Elena about it, Elena learned that Bonnie and Caroline had spoken every day she’d been gone. Talk about a serious blow. Eventually Elena gets Bonnie to reveal that she blames Stefan for her Grams’ death and doesn’t want to force her to make a choice between her best friend and her boyfriend. “I’m just having a hard time with it, OK.” Therefore, Bonnie and Elena are no more. For the time being, anyway.

Uncle John shows up at Damon’s because Sheriff Forbes decided the two of them would work together to find the vampires. John tells Damon the original Jonathan Gilbert had an invention that was stolen by vampires back in the 1800s and that all he wants is to retrieve it. Apparently, that is what Isobel wants as well. John says Pearl is the one who probably took the artifact.

Meanwhile, Stefan is spiraling out of control. Outside the school someone scrapes his knee on the basketball court and Stefan fights, almost unsuccessfully, to restrain himself from going after the blood. Alaric comes up to him and asks if he’s OK, but Stefan hides it and says he was just feeling a little sick. Definitely the understatement of the night.

Damon is trying to find Jonathan’s missing artifact before John does, so he seeks out Anna to ask her for help. Anna says she’ll see what she can do and ask her mother Pearl. At the end of the episode, Pearl approaches Damon with the artifact saying she doesn’t know what it is exactly. Damon asks why she is so forthcoming. Her reason? Consider it her apology. She and Anna want to stay in Mystic Falls, so she’ll do whatever she can to help those who will enable her to do so. Smart thinking, Ms. Pearl.

Damon then goes to Elena to tell her something, only because it could create consequences for himself. What is it, you ask? That Stefan lied, and actually is drinking human blood. Elena tries not to believe it, but then Stefan shows up and admits it. He still says he’s fine, but we all know that isn’t true. “It’s changing you,” she tells him. Like I said, it’s as if Damon and Stefan have completely switched roles. Damon is the one who comes through for Elena at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant when Stefan runs off with fellow contestant Amber and drinks her blood. Damon becomes Elena’s escort and does the dance with her and they make flirty eye contact. The music during this scene was a little much, but the point of a possible shift in feelings definitely came across. Do I sense a romantic change brewing in Mystic Falls?

Jeremy and Anna finally meet up at the party, and he tells her he knows all about her plan to use him to get her mother back. They talk it through though because now both of them tried to use the other one for something selfish, and in the end both care deeply about each other. It appears to be a much deeper connection than either one of them realized or even expected.

In the woods Stefan is trying to decide if he is going to drink from Amber. He definitely wants to and is going back and forth about actually doing it. Eventually he gives in and takes a bite out of her. She is under his compulsion and says it’s fine if he does it again. Amber says Stefan seems sad. His response: “I’m not sad. I’m freaking hungry.” Stefan claims to just want one taste, but that is never enough. Stefan begins freaking out and tells Amber to run away from him. She does, but he goes after her and drinks more. Elena and Damon leave the gala after Caroline is crowned to try and find Stefan. Damon and Stefan are fighting until Bonnie, who followed Elena and Damon into the woods, uses her powers to make him stop.

Amber’s memory of the event is erased and Bonnie and Elena tell the police they didn’t see what happened.

The end of the episode shows Uncle John learning Pearl has a daughter who is also a vampire. I’m not sure if he thinks this is a good thing or a bad thing. But, I’m sure he plans to use Anna to find her mother.

Back at Casa di Salvatore, Elena shows up to tell Stefan everything will be OK. He fights her on it and says, “The blood brings out what’s inside of my and if you think any differently than you’re an idiot.” Not exactly the most romantic comment. Elena insists and as they embrace and she stabs him with the last of Alaric’s vampire stunning needles. Damon and Elena then lock him up to try and wean him off the blood. I can only imagine what Stefan’s reaction will be next week once he wakes up.

Favorite quote of the night: “Nostalgia’s a bitch.” Damon to Anna.

I’m so excited Bonnie is back. I also love her new bangs! Caroline winning Miss Mystic Falls was predictable, but I was happy about it. And she was right, she did deserve it. With only a few episodes left in the season, I’m dying to know what will happen! Do you think Stefan will recover and return to his good guy roots? Or is blood-drinking Stefan here to stay a while?

Lauren Strupp is an NYU grad and New York City based television addict and media professional. She’s worked at several national magazines including Us Weekly and in broadcast news at CBS. Obsessed with television, Lauren is known as a walking IMDB.com by her friends. Not only does she love all things vampire, but she’s been following Paul Wesley’s career since his days at The Guiding Light. She is thrilled to be joining TheTelevixen.com as a reviewer!

Photo courtesy of The CW