The Vampire Diaries – Episode 3.02 - The Hybrid - Review

The Hybrid gave us some interesting clues tonight as to where this season of The Vampire Diaries is headed. First of all, I was relieved to see that Elena hadn’t given up on Stefan. Yes, he’s turned into Klaus’ right hand, but there was never any real doubt (especially after last episode’s silent Happy Birthday call) that deep down he still cares very much for Elena and also for Damon, as was reaffirmed in The Hybrid.

Elena set out to track down Stefan with Alaric on the night of the full moon. While I can’t argue with Alaric and Damon trying to stop her from doing this on such a particularly dangerous day, I really don’t see why Damon pushed her into the lake when he caught up with her and Alaric. Did he think that getting her all wet was going to deter the headstrong Elena from looking for Stefan? I surely didn’t think it was going to. Anyways, their scene in the lake was a strong moment of this episode. Elena’s need to at least try her best to redeem Stefan was heartfelt and Damon couldn’t deny her her biggest wish, so he agreed to help.

With Klaus’ mission of creating a hybrid army Stefan had his hands full and although the hybrids all died Klaus didn’t turn on Stefan. I’m starting to wonder if Klaus isn’t getting suspicious. After all he knows the hybrids should have lived with the curse broken by the sacrifice of the doppelganger. The only logical conclusion therefore is that the doppelganger didn’t die or the curse wasn’t broken for some other reason… Klaus knows all the mythology. If he, being an Original, doesn’t, who would? He should figure out what prevents him from successfully creating hybrids pretty soon.

Meanwhile in Mystic Falls things were getting rough for Tyler, as he realised that his mother had tested him with vervain. It was interesting to learn that vervain actually has a distinctive taste… maybe it was mentioned before, but if it wasn’t I’m wondering if only werewolves can identify this particular flavor or if humans can also make it out.

Tyler’s confrontation with his mother and his deliberately revealing his werewolf nature to her were heartbreaking. For the first time I actually feel the character of Mrs Lockwood coming to life as a mother. Unfortunately she couldn’t get rid of the ghosts she had called before her son revealed himself to be a ‘monster’: the mysterious man she called in to help her with the “little vampire situation” refused to just let Caroline go. I was surprised that this man turned out to be Caroline’s father and there seems to be little hope that daddy will take pity on his little girl and let her go. Let’s hope Tyler is not too burned out from his transformation to come to Caroline’s rescue!

I really didn’t care much about Jeremy and Matt trying to make contact with dead Vicki, except it gave Matt an actual purpose and some good lines. I think Zach Roerig is one of the most underappreciated actors on this show and at least he got to show some of his skills when Matt was reminiscing about Vicki. Jeremy was cautioned about Vicki by his other ex-girlfriend Anna’s ghost, which was just creepy. I know Jeremy explained why he doesn’t want to talk about this to the strangely absent Bonnie, but I still don’t buy it. As a witch she might actually be able to help him with this problem and I don’t see why he should have any reservations about explaining the situation to her.

The Stefan tracking mission also turned into quite the situation with some hybrids on the loose. Damon once more demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice himself for Elena and Alaric overcame his apathy and took charge again after a pep talk with Elena who pointed out that they are sort of a family now. Damon and Stefan’s confrontation in the woods was intense, but as much of a ripper as Stefan may have become he saved Damon’s life by killing one of Klaus’ precious hybrids.
 
The fact that Elena more or less felt Stefan’s presence was particularly sweet as it shows just how connect these two are. Damon on the other hand very honestly let Elena know that he wants her to remember how she felt about him during Stefan’s absence. He is going to help her to redeem Stefan, but at the same time he fears that she will forget about him once Stefan is back. I like seeing some simmering anger and conflicting emotions in Damon, because that’s what makes his character so special!

I’m looking forward to seeing Damon, Alaric and Elena embark on their mission to save Stefan and I hope we will soon find out what Klaus’ ulterior motive is!

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