Well, we all knew there had to be a catch in Elena's not-so-perfectly thought-out plan to have her memories of loving Damon erased by Alaric. I'm sure some of us were just waiting to know what the reason would be why she ultimately wouldn't be able to get those memories back, given that Damon has returned and they'd sure come in handy. That further Delena-frustrating twist came in this episode, along with (naturally) a huge change for Alaric. Meanwhile, Jo revealed more of her personality and background, while Stefan and Caroline's complicated disputes continued. And as Damon struggled to communicate with a changed Elena, Tripp continued to loom large as a threat to vampire safety among our core set of characters.
"You have no idea how long I wanted to hear you breathe." Okay, lines like that are a little cheesy, sure, but they get me every time. I really enjoyed the lavish sentimentality that was put into the Damon and Elena scenes this week. It takes the edge of off the irritating, harder-to-believe as the episodes go by fact of Elena's voluntary memory loss. Because instead of hatred for the man she sees only as a monster, Elena reacted to Damon's return more with nervousness and indecision. Somewhere in her abyss of not remembering that love for him, Elena does seem to have a tiny little feeling, an inkling that's pushing her in the right direction - and I don't mean out the window. So yes, the hands-on-opposite-sides-of-the-door type angst was oddly satisfying, while Damon's funnier antics were a breathe of fresh air to a previously awkward storyline. I loved him drawing himself into Elena's graduation photo and checking his appearance out in the mirror in anticipation of seeing her again. That preview for next week makes it seem like Elena will still remain painfully unaware of sweet flashback moments with Damon, yet she was ready to regain the memories in the very same episode when Damon returned, another good sign (like her panic over Damon in danger, as well). Even though its start was somewhat hard to believe, I'm hoping that the memory loss storyline continues to yield sweet and moving moments like it did in this episode.
Sarah's search Sarah is a fairly cool and intriguing new character, and I think she'll be more so when she gets to interact with her fellow Salvatores instead of just Matt and Jeremy. She's still digging into her history and seemed unfazed by Matty's advice that she avoid Damon and Stefan. I'm still in hate with that whole twist of Damon having killed Sarah's mother, and that's sure to lead to some unpleasant scenes down the line; it kind of interferes with the otherwise fun idea of introducing a new Salvatore, but it wouldn't be TVD without the melodrama.
Meanwhile, Alaric also had an awkward reunion with Damon that sort of broke my Damon/Alaric bromance-loving heart a little bit. Aww, guys. Well, it's no worse than when Damon actually killed Ric back in season 3, and they rebounded from that. Anyway, it was pretty hilarious that rather than lashing out physically, Damon simply retorted to Alaric's decision to wait for Elena to say it was okay to return her memories by swiping his bourbon. Plus, Ric totally looked wounded by that, haha!
Overall, this episode had a winning blend of quasi or actual romantic drama and big plot shakeups, along with some steady new character development (mainly Jo, but slightly Sarah) and another heart-pounding big action sequence with Tripp's vehicle launching several of our vampy pals into Mystic Falls. In addition to his scenes with Caroline, I also enjoyed seeing Stefan's continued reunion with Damon and his commitment to help his brother even if that meant helping Enzo as well (I'm hoping Enzo gets a bit more to do soon, btw). The only drawbacks to the episode were the lack of Bonnie (not too much of a drawback though, since it only intensifies the suspense of what's going on back in 1994-land with her and Kai) and the continued boredom of the Matt and Jeremy roles. Alaric being human again is, as Elena was kind enough to observe, a wonderful thing to him in many ways as he really never got comfy with vampirism. I might have liked to have seen a bit more detail of how he adjusted and the usefulness of his Original powers, but oh, well. I'm looking forward to seeing how the stories of Season 6 will continue to build!
What did you think of this episode? Share your thoughts in the comments! And don't forget to catch an all-new The Vampire Diaries, Thursday at 8/7c on the CW.
I really loved the last couple of episodes. It had really original VD groove it really draw me back to the show, anticipating every little sneak peek, spoiler etc etc.
ReplyDeleteI loved Damon this week. The moment he saw Elena, his eyes were so deeply devoted to the moment of seeing him. Great work Ian. Great work Ian. I mean the memory thing is quite easy to resolve, as Elena has to just cross the boarder for a minute or two during night or Jo bring them back. Remember how easy Davina it did back in 1x09. I hope they don't drag it along to much midseason is long enough.
Steroline was great. Stefan really needs his ass kicked. People go to easy on him and Caroline goes to hard really hard. I hope he starts to woing her with some shirtless moments and googly eyes. ;-)
I hope Jeremy is not able to cancel Bonnies phone because I hope we get a lot more Damon - Bonnie conversations, loved it. I really hope it is going to be Damon who saves Bonnie, I like that friendship the two have now. They were hilariously funny together, and I will miss the bickering.
ReplyDeleteAlso great Damon-Alaric moment, exactly how I imagined it, bringing Alaric back to the show, best choice ever! I liked Alaric being a vampire, but ok I understand why they did it. Also loved the brothers at the end, insecure Damon was cute. Damon's character development is something I like, he is acting more mature and hopefully that stays that way a bit. Ian really killed it in every scene.
I am glad that Caroline did not forgive Stefan, I like her better with Enzo anyway, those two are also great together. I like the situation in the bar reversed and eventually Damon giving Stefan some advice on his love life.
Agree with all your points. I'm pretty sure they're going there with Steroline, though I might have preferred her with Enzo myself :)
ReplyDeleteReally good points, especially about the memory loss thing, I really agree that midseason is more than long enough for this to continue. It's been more rewarding and interesting than I expected though :)
ReplyDeleteI thought with Damon back we'll get that awfully pathetic Delena drama all over again. But "Limbo" changed Damon and his moves are mature. The writing is much more appropriate, I like Elena's reaction as well. I mean she wrote to herself and that is a big thing for her but again she is an emotionally driven person. It will be interesting to see how this will resolve.
ReplyDeleteI just don't understand all the Stefan hate. Stefan followed every one of Alaric's leads, and he did it alone. Enzo, Caroline, Alaric, and Elena all stayed behind. Stefan also grieved the loss much more realistically than any of them, Enzo was banging a coat check girl for a lead that Stefan had already followed and found to be a dead end (granted it involved the Gemini coven who we know now to be involved in some way, so more to come there), but other than that, just what did Enzo do during the months following Damon and Bonnie's disappearance? Alaric found all the leads and gave them to Stefan, but that's all he did while Elena got a witch to conjure a potion and Caroline pined at the edges of Mystic Falls. Stefan, meantime, was letting thugs beat him up in an attempt to punish himself all while restoring his brother's beloved car to mint condition. People call Stefan selfish (looking at you Caroline) but Enzo is the one who waltzed across the anchor last season without a care that Damon was still trapped behind. Stefan wanted to wait, but Bonnie's near fall had him react as a caring vampire (?) would, he attempted to steady her which led to his crossing back. If I compare Enzo's selfishness to Lexie's selflessness (What kind of best friend would I be if I denied Stefan the chance to have his brother back?), Enzo comes out with miles and miles and miles of misdeeds to atone for.
ReplyDeleteEnzo definitely has tons of misdeeds to atone for, and it'll be interesting to see if he ever does. I kind of think Caroline is *more* mad at Stefan than she otherwise might be because she just cares about him so much and has complicated feelings about him in general right now.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the Stefan hate either. I think it may just be a lot of viewers siding with Caroline and feel like if they were in her position they'd be pissed too.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving this season, esp Stefan and Damon's character development. The writers went out of their way this episode to make Stefan the hero after being so confused and infuriating he was at the beginning of the season. I'm beginning to remember why he's my second fave character on the show, some of his moments have been killer. And although Damon hasn't had a ton of hero moments (and some pretty cheesy ones), he hasn't lashed out despite having a very rough time, a big step for the huge temper impulsive vamp. But I especially love how the two have become closer and realized how much they need each other. I don't know whats going to happen to delena or or steroline the next few episodes, but at least I'm happy that defan is a team again and we'll get some good brother moments. Now if they can only work on dalaric, what I disappointment their reunion was (not that damon was wrong ;))!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I agree. Those bromances are such a huge part of the show's charm as well as the romances!
ReplyDeleteAww, I see what you mean about When Harry Met Sally. I actually always thought Stefan and Lexi had that kind of relationship (even though they're platonic) but it could definitely apply to Steroline too :)
ReplyDeleteNope. I never thought that about Stefan and Lexi. They were never physically attracted to each other. So they were extremely platonic. As to where Harry found Sally attractive the moment he met her. Same goes for Caroline. Then later (the third time they bumped into each other) Sally found Harry attractive, (like Stefan, as he's stated in the past ) and they each (always) showed moments in the movie where they were attracted to each other. Stefan and Caroline were never like Stefan and Lexi b/c of this. Sure, Caroline's "feelings" left after he rejected her in the pilot, but the attraction never left. (Same as Harry when Sally rejected him) They became friends, got to know each other, and like Harry and Sally have moments where there attraction to one another is shown though not as direct. Some of the fans (both whom don't ship Steroline or aren't exactly against it) used to, still do, always thought, that SC are like/were like SL, I could see why, but they never were. (Imho)
ReplyDeleteYou know what's funny? I came back on to check my messages, at the same moment iI see your comment (and our discussion on Steroline) i'm at the scene where Harry and Sally argue at Marie and Jess's wedding and Harry just said, "why can't we get passed this?" Now of course i'm reminded of Stefan's "Can we just get passed this please?" To Caroline. HahahHahahaha parallels ftw! ; )
Great review!! :)
ReplyDeleteI too am loving this season! Once again TVD has me eagerly anticipating what’s gonna happen next….I LOVE IT!! Bravo for the writing team to get this show back on track with a fresh storyline!! I enjoyed all the reunions, and I like the way Delena is playing out at the moment. I can see that Elena is pulled to Damon but she’s fighting it, I’d be worried if she didn’t have any feelings for him whatsoever, but her panic at the thought of him dying, her avoidance of him, her denial all adds up to feelings strong enough to overcome this compulsion and that they will be back together with or without the memories. I do hope that it doesn’t drag past mid season tho, that would be too long IMO. There were some good ideas about Elena stepping over the Mystic Falls boundary to regain her memories, and with Fell still at large I imagine that boundary line will be revisited again.
My guess on Jo is that she is a Gemini witch and I was thinking maybe the mid season cliffhanger would resolve the Fell situation and bring back Bonnie and Kai. Then he would be the big bad for the remainder of the season…?? Just thinking out loud. I also think by the end of the season Alaric will be a vampire again…..just in time to complicate a blossoming relationship with a witch.
Thanks! I'm definitely expecting Kai to come into the real world - probably at midseason as you suggested - and be the big bad for the rest of the season. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting Bonnie back at the same time! Can't wait to see how it all happens.
ReplyDeleteGotta love pop cultural parallels! :)
ReplyDeleteI do hope they give Jeremy a real storyline soon, preferably one that's linked to the rest of the gang. I love his breakdowns, but I also want a meaty storyline for him.
ReplyDeleteThey definitely need to give him something new to do! :)
ReplyDelete