The Vampire Diaries - Episode 5.17 - Rescue Me - Review

"Rescue Me" was an awesome episode replete with so much romantic angst that there was just about room to cram in a bit more Traveler exposition and the fate of Stefan's doppelgänger Tom Avery.  Let's review and discuss the latest crazy TVD developments!

I'll be using some lyrics from Cher Lloyd's "Sirens" in this review, as they connect with the heavy feelings of love and longing amidst despair and conflict that we saw with Damon and Elena, and that we are starting to see develop between Stefan and Caroline.

"I carry the weight of you in my heavy heart
And the wind is so icy, I am numb
I carry the weight of you heading back to start
With a thousand eyes on me
I stumble on..."*

The ruthlessly efficient Sloan was intent on getting rid of poor, noble paramedic Tom, and in order to protect Stefan from her vicious investigative techniques, Caroline had been forced to team up with Enzo to kill Tom.  The enjoyably sly, amusingly self-serving Enzo used a veneer of flirtation with Caroline to cover his true intentions of making sure the job got done, as the Travelers had promised to return his long lost past love to him in exchange (doesn't it seem like long lost past loves are always bargaining chips on TVD and The Originals?).  Caroline tried to convince herself and Enzo that she was capable of murder.  Yet, "perky blonde angel of death" or not, Car is too much of a goody two shoes to kill a sweetheart innocent bystander like Tom, even to save Stefan.

Steroline shippers can rest easy on several accounts after this episode, as there is certainly no doubt of the depth of affection Caroline feels for Stefan.  Her loving and protective mode was turned up to a billion, especially when she was forced to listen to him (via phone) being tortured by Sloan probing his mind.  The panicked tears and harsh anxiety that racked Caroline in those moments were incredibly intense and revealed how attached she has become to Stefan without even fully realizing it.  

Speaking of lurve, Damon and Elena woke up after their break-up sex with an awkward task before them: to start living separate lives despite the magnetic draw that irrevocably binds them.  I loved the humor and pain that fueled the scene, from Damon admitting he'd been awake, silent, for three hours, to Elena's weak attempt to reconfirm that they were still a) bad for each other, and b) broken up.  Check and check, Elena, but when a naked Damon blocked her path and tried to re-seduce her, it was just the first of many hot scenes of temptation between the two this week.  It's funny to me that now, when they've never been more resigned to splitting up, Damon and Elena seem closer and more swoon-inducingly romantic than ever.  Surely that's part of the charm of TVD: its ability to giveth and taketh away, sometimes simultaneously, in ways that make our heads spin.

"I am tired, I'm growing older
I'm getting weaker everyday, yeah
I carry the weight of you
I carry the weight of you"*

Once Elena evaded Damon's advances, she had to confide in Bonnie about her break-up and subsequent sexy-times / resulting confusion.  Still livin' la vida Bon Bon, again Bonnie was in the midst of her own problems, such as having no clue where Jeremy had slept last night, what Liv and her twin brother Luke were up to, or what new mischief the Travelers had planned.  Actually, Jeremy was hanging at the Mystic Grill with the mysterious Liv, whose motives have shifted from the facade of a clueless newbie, to a shameless hussy flirting with Jer, to a powerful witch who - with Luke - is trying to thwart the nefarious Travelers.  Damon also went to "friends" for advice about Elena, or you know, the closest people he has to friends - Matt and Tyler, who exchanged insulting quips with him in a hilarious scene. 

Caroline and Enzo found Tom being protected by a witch named Hazel, who was promptly dispatched by Enzo, throwing a wrench in the plans of Liv 'n Luke in the process.  While Caroline seemingly prepared Tom for his demise by compelling him into trusting her and posing as if to break his neck, her real plan was to take Enzo out of play long enough to figure out what to do with Tom.  Unfortunately, after learning that Tom was, indeed, an almost angelically good man, Caroline was unable to get him on a train before he was murdered by a back-in-action Enzo.  Of course, those sketchy Travelers had no intention of releasing Stefan, but at least his mind was saved any further violations for the time being.  Time will tell what will happen when Enzo's ex-g.f. returns, but my guess would be "nothing good."

Speaking of those pesky Travelers, we learned a teensy bit more about them in this episode.  Basically, they are an entire class of people who add up into a MacGuffin that's keeping the season 5 storylines chugging along.  I feel like the Travelers' motives and game-plans are always shifting based on what's convenient for the current plot, and that's pretty much okay with me - but the writers can't go much longer without fully revealing the cult's intentions and backstory in more detail.  The vagueness is getting awkward.  So anyway, the Travelers really, really want Elena and Stefan to be the only living doppelgängers so that their blood will be incredibly powerful, and then the Travelers can use that bloody Gummy Berry juice to do....something.  The witches, long-time Traveler enemies, are definitely keen to protect themselves from that something.  Is there another big bad coming to play a Silas-esque game with our TVD scooby gang?  I hope so, as we need the succinct realness of a solid threat we can put a name on.  Perhaps the leader of the Travelers will take on that role.

Damon and Elena had to go to Jeremy's teacher conferences, because, you know, Jeremy is still in high school (as ridiculous as that seems, it's harder to believe that Elena, Caroline, et al were also still in high school last season.  Oh, television "teens"!).  And they had a series of tragicomic encounters where Damon was able to foist his presence on Elena and continue trying to get back into her good graces.  

Out of all the almost unfairly steamy Damon and Elena scenes that were thrown at us in this episode, I think my favorite was this moment in front of the lockers:

"All I know is that right now I wanna rip your clothes off right here in the middle of this hall and throw you in one of these classrooms and kiss every square inch of your body, while a bunch of people who drive minivans listen wishing they were us." -Damon

I mean, just.  I can't even.  Wow.

However, as distracted as she was by her unshakable desire for Damon, Elena was mainly concerned with some issues raised by Jeremy's teachers about his sketchy behavior of late - then sidelined by Liv, who tried to kill Elena to stop the Travelers from getting her blood.  It seems that although Liv and Luke go about their business in shady ways, they are at least nobly intentioned in wanting to stop the Travelers.  We need to know more about all of these new characters before we can truly judge the situation, information that is hopefully coming very soon.  I did enjoy the way Damon leaped in to save Elena, though Jeremy arrived to explain why Liv needed to live (haha) prior to his forging a shaky alliance with Liv 'n Luke (dragging Tyler and Matty Boo along for the ride too.  Awww, the three musketeers.)

Caroline returned to the Travelers' camp, now set up at a junkyard, and climbed into a car where Stefan was lying down relaxing after a day of torment.  I think this moving and sweet scene is certainly the best one these two have had together yet.  Stefan told Caroline he knew she'd never be able to kill Tom because her goodness is, essentially, what makes her who she is.  Stefan seamlessly adjusted to Caroline's close physical and emotional proximity as if sinking into a realization of feelings towards her he's felt simmering for some time.  Caroline, on the other hand, seemed really thrown, overwhelmed by her emotions.  It's been quite a couple of years for Car's love life, that's for sure.  Even though I come from a place of being a Klaroline and Steferine fan, I find the new closeness between Stefan and Caroline too cute to resist enjoying.  Their snuggles in the car were just absolutely adorable and well-earned.

"Lay down here beside me in the shallow water
Beside me where the sun is shining on us still
Lay down here beside me in the hallowed water
Beside me where the silver lining stays until
The sirens calling"*

However, this peaceful repose was interrupted by the Travelers noisily slurping Stefan and Elena's blood and kicking off some kind of nutty, hella evil ceremony that led to numerous suicides and spirits passing through the ever-set-upon Bonnie.  Once Bonnie was knocked to the ground by the deluge of death, a mysterious new figure emerged and slunk past her.  This is probably the mysterious Markos?  Creepy and intriguing!

Damon and Elena were right back where they ended last week: the Salvatore house, again discussing their problems, but they also had to deal with Jeremy bidding farewell so he can go live with Matt and Tyler (I'm surprised that's taken this long to happen).  After an emotional parting from her brother, Elena was able to retackle her issues with Damon in a more forthright manner, seemingly spurred by yet another reminder of what a terrible influence they are on each other and those around them (though Jeremy does have a talent for continuing onward despite the increasingly weird home life).  The bittersweetness of her speech to Damon about how he couldn't drive her back to college, because she would not be able to resist taking his hand and letting him kiss her was beautiful.  Meanwhile, Damon's kiss to Elena's forehead and resignation to letting her go (again) was powerfully sad and poignant.

What did you think of this week's episode?  What do you want to see happen in the next episode?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

*lyrics are taken from the song "Sirens," written by Cher Lloyd, Ina Wroldsen, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk.

About the Author - Virginia Mae Fontana

Virginia is happy to be reviewing The Vampire Diaries, Hart of Dixie, Nashville, Beauty and the Beast, Elementary, Witches of East End, Covert Affairs, and Devious Maids for Spoiler TV. She is a college English instructor and enjoys obsessing over films and pop music - in addition to tv shows, of course! You can find her blog, SugarRushed, at http://virginiamaeblog.blogspot.com/ and her Twitter handle is @SugarRushedBlog