The Vampire Diaries is back and Season 7 is already a fascinating one, filled with massive changes, powerful emotions, tantalizing mysteries, and new villains galore. I missed Elena, but she still feels like part of the show to such a seamless extent that I was able to put that aside and enjoy the reset and freshness of the episode.
"Three years from now..." The episode began and ended with a fabulous tease of a crazy situation that awaits the Salvatore brothers a few years down the road. Stefan burst into a truck where Damon was sleeping in his coffin, having requested to remain so until Elena awakens. But Stefan needed Damon awake now! Why? It seems that a female archer is after them, and somehow, Stefan's awful-looking injury alerted him that she would soon be on the hunt once again.
Who is the mysterious figure hunting Stefan and Damon? One of the Heretic ladies, or even Lily? Someone we haven't met yet? Or even a character we currently know as good, who somehow turns dark and against the Salvatore bros? My money is on the last option. What if this is Dark!Bonnie? That would be so cool. But really, the possibilities seem endless and I'm excited to hear some of your theories in the comments.
Lily's "pet" Malcolm seemed like an annoying brown-noser, so it's probably a good thing Damon ripped his heart out to protect Bonnie. But is this really the last we are going to see of Malcolm? Those Heretics don't go down easily, as evidenced by the way they all survived Caroline, Stefan, and Matt's attempt to blow them up.
Nora and Mary Louise are wrapped up in each other and seem ambivalent to much else, but now that Malcolm has been scratched off, it should be interesting to see how they will react due to their strong bond with their "family."
Given Lily's obsession with that family, I was expecting the Heretics to be a whole lot scarier. Honestly, even given their combined vamp and witch powers and the bloody mayhem they wreaked at Matt's police graduation, they don't seem like anything our heroes can't handle or worse than much else they've faced before. However, what with Lily's bizarre need to be a mother to anyone except for her own children, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Heretics are a gaggle of immature whiners. Even so, I think there's plenty of room for strong character development to make each Heretic a cool addition to the show in their own right. There's a risk that otherwise, the Heretics are just going to come off as The Originals Lite, so we'll have to wait and see how well the writers can work that out.
Lily herself continues to be a marvelously multi-layered character, despite the fact that a lot of what she does is creepy and disturbing. It's nice to see that her intentions were good in teaching her family to acclimate to society without indulging in any murder sprees, but there's something undeniably chilling in watching her embrace and cry over her dead surrogate son Malcolm when she claims to be unable to feel for her own sons. Especially since we know she may very well demand bloody vengeance against Damon and Stefan for Malcolm's death. It looks as though she's starting her revenge by kidnapping Caroline with a little help from Enzo. Speaking of...
Enzo, a character in search of a purpose: Oh, I had high hopes for Enzo right up until the end of the episode, when he stabbed Caroline with that needle and professed his allegiance to Lily. Ugh, no. Come on! I loved the idea of Enzo manning up and becoming an ally to Caroline and the gang. But instead of growing a backbone, Enzo's just going back to being Lily's errand boy? After he did such a good job of telling Lily off on this very score earlier in the episode? Plus, the witty repartee between Caroline and Enzo was back in such fine form that I really hope they can continue it even on opposite sides of the battlefield.
Alaric, a character with new purpose: If the writers dropped the ball (seemingly - it's only the season premiere) with Enzo, they did a fantastic job with Alaric, a character who had a bit of a rough adjustment back to being a series regular in Season 6. Now, in his quest to bring Jo back from the dead, Alaric has an awesome subplot to call his own, and one that I hope continues to gain speed and complexity. I also loved that he tricked Damon into thinking he was on a nonstop European bender when in reality, Ric never lost sight of his goal of resurrecting his wife. This in no way detracted from the adorable bromanticness of said trip, or Alaric's statement that he was glad to have his buddy Damon with him. Aww!
"You can either resent me or love me, but you're stuck with me." We all knew that with Elena gone, there was going to be a strong focus on "Bamon" in Season 7. This episode left us in zero doubt that it will indeed be the case. But whatever aspect of Damon and Bonnie's relationship you enjoy, whether it's the friendship or potential romantic side, there was plenty to have fun with here. Bonnie, in her usual warm and supportive, yet dryly amused manner, chaperoned Damon and Alaric on their Eurotrip. Neither Bonnie nor Damon has found a way around the incredible awkwardness of the fact that Elena's return to life depends on Bonnie departing it. There was a dizzying confusion to the scene with Damon saving Bonnie from the speeding truck. First, we had the undeniable flash of chemistry between the two of them, which even as a die-hard Delena fan, I can't possibly deny. Then there was Bonnie feeling upset that Damon hesitated three seconds before saving her.
And the duo's admissions that they are "stuck with each other" were fantastic. This will be a rich and rewarding friendship to watch unfold over the season.
Bookends: In addition to the opening/ending flashforward sneak peeks, we also got to see exactly how Mystic Falls got to be a boarded-up ghost town with officer Matt on patrol and Damon lurking on the clock-tower above. The structure of this episode was well thought out and effective.
One last question: What made Damon give up on living his life while he waited for Elena, as she asked him to? What drove him back to his coffin? Hmm!
What did you think of the season premiere? Share your thoughts in the comments! And be sure to catch an all-new The Vampire Diaries, next Thursday at 8/7c on the CW.
