For the most part, this was an adrenaline rush of an episode that packed in the action, suspense, emotion, and twists. Rayna's introduction answered a few questions but posed many more, while Caroline struggled with the birth of the twins, Damon finally learned the truth about his supposed recent "murder" of a loved one, and the flash-forward at the end of the hour had me longing for the next episode!
This woman's work is never done. Enzo had tracked Rayna down by sending out a few of her trademark red "X" postcards to the Heretics and waiting for one of them to lead him to the famed huntress: a solid tactic that paid off. Nora, Mary Louise, and Bonnie found Rayna last week, only for Enzo to swipe the sickly old woman's body and torch it, restoring the huntress to her youth and vigor. The unanswered questions of what Enzo has been up to during his absence (after being vampnapped by Matt) leave us unsure what he wants from Rayna. Though Enzo and his cronies seemed confident that the glass cell would hold her, Rayna quickly escaped, showing off her strength and gutsiness before rushing off to search for her all-important sword.
We got some flashbacks to Rayna's past in the nineteenth century, when she was originally trained by her father to take on the role of vampire huntress...eventually. She was forced to step into the role early when Julian (ugh!) forced her to kill her father in a traumatic moment. A group of Native Americans sacrificed their lives so that Rayna could have many lives, and once again she had to deal with others dying so that she could become a killer of vampires. While the pain of Rayna's loneliness and grief were apparent, revenge spurred her on, and she caught up with Julian and the Heretics, where she promptly relieved Beau of his vocal skills and sent Julian to hell via the Phoenix stone.
Back in the present day, Rayna's first priority was to regain her sword, and then to commence murdering any and all vampires (especially those formerly marked by the blade). Poor Beau finally met his hapless demise, while Mary Louise and Nora were sent running and all other vampires in the Mystic Falls area had best be on their guard. Bold, relentless, driven, and dead serious, Rayna feels like a foe to be feared by our vampire heroes, yet an immediately sympathetic character in her own right, which makes her a new sort of villain or "big bad" for TVD.
Damon and Bonnie and Enzo had some fantastically fun scenes this week. While I did not appreciate "Krystal's" continued presence at the beginning of the episode, at least Damon practically shoved her out the door fairly quickly. Bonnie came in to drink and share her recent problems with her bestie, unfurling an unstoppable and hilarious series of one-liners that made it seem she was making up for Damon's uncharacteristically quip-less mood lately. I think this might have been Bonnie's funniest episode, between her plot recap of last week's episode and her later reaction to Rayna, "and I've seen every Hunger Games movie."
This scene between Damon and Bonnie was a thing of beauty. I loved the blunt assessment Bonnie made of Damon's horrible taste in women, yet acknowledging that it was probably good that he ended his celibacy. The painfulness of Damon's inability to tell Bonnie what he thought he had done to Elena was as obvious as her worried concern at his secretiveness and desperate behavior. The two headed off to bring the Phoenix sword to Enzo, who was actually being held captive by Rayna. After Rayna injured Bonnie, Damon threw her sword out the window and the huntress went to fetch it and cause more mischief elsewhere. I loved the slight jealously clearly on display from Enzo at Bonnie and Damon's closeness while Damon was healing Bonnie's wound and she mentioned his lack of hesitation this time. Little did Bonnie know that Damon had no reason to hesitate, thinking that Elena was already dead. Yet the clear intimacy between them, b.f.f.-fueled though it may be, was enough to ruffle Enzo's feathers. We keep getting small and very satisfying hints of Bonnie and Enzo's upcoming romance, and it's highly enjoyable.
Have I mentioned how much I absolutely love it when Damon and Bonnie call each other their best friend? I even like it when they repeat the phrase back and forth to one another. It's so warm and comforting, and these two characters have come so far in their relationship that it is truly amazing.
Enzo also gets major extra brownie points for revealing to Damon that Elena is alive. Sure, he only did it to save his own skin now that he didn't need her supposed demise to use as blackmail material anymore, but thank you, Enzo! I think I speak for many of us in saying that moping Damon and the rift between him and Stefan had to be stopped ASAP. It does beg questioning why Tyler didn't just tell Damon, or have one of the other scoobies tell him, that the coffin was empty and Elena is safety hidden in New York? This might have saved a little trouble, eh? Gah!
Josie and Elizabeth: After a difficult ordeal wherein Valerie, with some help from her fellow Heretics, managed to coax the babies to allow themselves to be born (sentences one doesn't really imagine ever writing, haha), Caroline finally gave birth to Alaric and Jo's twins. Stefan was there every step of the way, including a sweet "date night" he initiated by entering into Caroline's thoughts to soothe her during the stressful time. However, after being marked by Rayna's sword (to save Damon! My Defan bromance is back on, thank God!), Stefan had to flee so that Caroline would be safe. This gave Caroline's joy at meeting the twins a sad twist, since she has no idea when she will see Stefan again.
Three years from now, Caroline and the little girls, who now consider her their mother, are in the car running away after she has escaped from Rayna. During a phone call to Alaric, he urges her to keep running despite Stefan's dire straits, and we can see how worried Caroline is about Stefan though she heeds Ric's words. Josie and Elizabeth ask Caroline where they are going and she replies, "To New Orleans, to see Mommy's friend." What! Be still my ever-Klaroline beating heart, what?! I am more than intrigued to see what happens next week after this set-up!
What did you think of this episode? Share your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to catch an all-new The Vampire Diaries, Friday at 8/7c on the CW.
