There’s an added layer to this with The Vampire Diaries. Part of its fundamental nature is the fact
that it thrives on constant cliffhangers and twists. It tries to shock us
regularly. And when it does, it achieves it almost unlike any other series out
there. But when it fails, it just feels like good old Vampire Diaries trying to scare and surprise us. How
quaint!
The show would be finding itself saddled with this problem
even if it weren’t having significant plotting problems this season. But it’s an added element playing against the
show. There remains to be scenes and moments that are great. But holistically
episodes have been leaving a lot to be desired. Part of that problem has to be chalked up to
ineffective cliff hangers, i.e. cliff hangers that are easily overturned or don’t
advance the plot.
Very few scenes or sequences of late have truly made me go
OH MY GOD! The stakes just don’t feel nearly as high. There’s not a single
character who feels like they’re fair game to die anymore. I still remember
when Jenna died at the end of the second season that that was a death I never
expected and it was shocking, emotional, and a great plot decision. With
vampires, werewolves, hybrids, and witches running amuck, people should at
least feel like they could die at any moment. But this sense of hanging dread
that anyone could die at any moment doesn’t exist. When Bonnie and Jeremy get
taken as hostages by Shane at episodes end, it just feels like the series saying
“Okay, what big cliffhanger can we leave it on this time?”
The only scene that completely took me unexpectedly was
Klaus attacking Caroline. Klaus is so deeply in love with her that it’s not something
I didn’t anticipate. It makes sense that he would do it out of frustration and
anger, and it’s pretty inspired that he creates a situation in which he’s the
only one that can save her. But Caroline has been around for so long that she’s
become a mainstay of the series (and one of its best characters).
Not only did it take me by surprise, but it leads to the great
scene between Klaus and Caroline, and it’s played so well by both Joseph Morgan
and Candice Accola. When Caroline starts talking about the good she sees in
Klaus, it doesn’t strike me as being entirely a lie to save herself; she seems
to, on some level, truly feel sympathy for him, but, the other hand, she still
can’t overlook all the awful things Klaus done. Caroline is such a sincere and
good natured person that the gesture is just her being her typically honest
self.
Now why Caroline and Tyler weren’t included on the excursion
to find the cure, I’m not entirely sure other than for the desire to create a
subplot. Though the storyline feels really disconnected from the A-plot, it’s
still interesting enough that it’s not a distraction. The scenes between Tyler
and Klaus are also great. Watch as they have an angry stare off that ends with
the great Klaus line, “Let me tell you, your mother was a fighter”. Equally well done is the scene where Tyler
begs for Caroline’s life, offering up himself in order to save her.
Elsewhere, we finally got some necessary backstory on Shane and his whole
deal. Shane’s addition to the story, much like April’s, has never felt
well-integrated. He’s been more of a plot device than a real person. Sure, he’s
mentioned that wife and son of his before, but we never really got a good sense
of what made him so obsessive about finding Silas and the cure. Here we’re
given some flashbacks that don’t necessarily provide as much information as
they probably ought to but fill in some gaps of information.
And, lastly in Love Triangle News: I’m not sure what’s going on with Elena and Damon anymore at
this point. It could have been potentially very interesting to confront whether
Damon wants to take the cure or not and what that means for the relationship,
but it gets annoyingly, overly melodramatic and lacks nuance. The show should
settle on this love triangle thing for at least a little while; it was
intriguing earlier in the series and the writers have handled it well in the
past but ever since the sire bond twist, the show has consistently been murky
on the matter.
Murky is an apt word for this episode in general. This is an
episode too hesitant to know what it wants to be, and filled with too much
stalling that is so very clearly stalling.
Stray Observations:
-The whole deal with the Native Americans on the island was
a little strange.
-May be it was just the setting, but much of the scenes in “Novia
Scotia” felt very awkwardly shot.
-“It’s all an act. Being a vampire is miserable” - The Rebekkah-Steffan's scenes are great though. Rebekkah becomes a better and better character with each episodes. Her explanations for her unhappiness and desire for the cure are very revealing.
-“If I took the cure it wouldn’t be for her, it would be for
me”
-Damon hasn’t gotten to torture anyone in a while. Not sure
what it says about me that I find these scenes to usually be pretty
entertaining.
-“I’ve caught myself wishing I could forget all the terrible
things you’ve done”
Grade: C+
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