Review by Mario
Previously on The Vampire Diaries…Dopplegangers, love and a whole lotta cure switching.
The momentum finally reached a boiling point and we were treated to a satisfying resolution, not as twisty an hour as last week’s offering, but still effective at ending this whole Silas storyline. Not a minute too soon.
Guys I wanna take a minute to appreciate the cast of this show. Five years in, and I still wanna praise their performances. They really know their craft. Special props to Paul Wesley, This week’s MVP. He’s really giving Stefan and Silas some much needed depth. His scenes were all supremely well-acted. Somerhalder was this week’s catalyst for basically all the storylines, and acted more for comic relief (ever so efficiently). Nina Dobrev, sometimes I think you’re wasted on the CW. Elsewhere, the lines were perfectly delivered and there were zingers a-plenty. Even Tessa was great this week! She finally came into her own (right before she passed away, but whatever, I’ll live.)
And I know we’re at year five and this is right around the time the backlash is supposed to start. But you really wanna tell me that sequence where half the characters are dying and Bonnie comes back didn’t give you a jolt? The look on Caroline and Elena’s face alone… Don’t get carried away with the rest of the crowds, this is good television. Give it another shot.
Speaking of Bonnie, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t give her more reasons to speak in whine. Not whine as a verb. Speak in whine. Because it’s now a language in its right.
Katherine and Nadia win the tearjerkers award. There’s so much material here to explore. THIS is a spin-off I’d watch. Katherine’s declaration at the end rang true on so many levels and managed to be the saddest thing she’s ever said.
So now we’re left with Bonnie’s struggle, Stefan’s PTSD, and Katherine’s rapid aging. These should carry us to what I assume will be a shift towards the big bad Augustine organization. Guys we’re treading Buffy season four territory here aren’t we? Let’s learn from their mistakes mmkai?
Bits and Bites
– Epic opening sequence. You really shouldn’t just engage strangers at bus stops, kids. They might just liquefy your insides. The part I really can’t get over? “I love love.” Geez Louise Silas. The Aquatones’ You fit it like a glove.
– Elena. Dress. Tilting head. Stefan’s bedroom. Goddamn.
– Jer, your delivery and overacting are causing me actual physical pain in my teeth. And for god’s sake, your hair.
– A puppy dies every time Jeremy delivers grating speeches like the one he made to Bonnie.
– Katherine getting up seductively, throwing something behind the doctor and saying “personality”.
– Catty Care-bear. Oh the ways I love thee Ms Forbes.
– Katherine calling Nadia her stylist.
-Am I wrong or are those… why yes. Stefan bought some balls.
–INCREDIBLE sequence with all the dopplegangers and the spell. One the best produced things this show’s done.
– Masterful reveal of Tessa dying.
– I gotta say, watching Bonnie scream of pain was pretty heartbreaking.
– Katherine and Caroline’s goodbye scene is just so well balanced between gratitude and mutual loathing. TVD definitely doesn’t swim on the shallow end of the pool.
– Do you think Imara’s final “True love prevails, universe be damned” is foreshadowing Elena and Damon’s triumph over destiny?
Vampy Zingers
“We have a situation.”
“Of the doppleganger variety”
“Yeah.”
“Silas made a pinky promise that he’d do a spell to bring her back”
“Let’s hope love is blind. Or at least deaf.”
The delivery is what sold what could have been a menu item at the cheesecake factory.
“Patient is irritable. Not sure if it’s a symptom or… personality”.
Helllooo Doctor. You finally got a good line. Bring out those mini party-hats.
“They prefer administrative assistants now thank you very much. I learned that on the bus”
“This is not the time to have an every-man crisis!”
“I got doppleganger coming out of my ears”
“Now may I be excused, scary vampire daughter?”
“So you live in this giant mansion with a pair of dopplegangers that are destined to end up together… I swear there’s a sitcom in there somewhere.”
“The cute one’s here!”.
YES she is.
“I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be both of you.”
Must-Download Tunes
Afraid Of The Dark by Ejecta
With Love by Christina Grimmie
Afraid by The Neighbourhood
Conclusion
A carefully constructed, well-done hour that neatly ties up the first third of the season. Also, don’t. you. Dare. Kill. Off. Katherine.
Mario Rating
B+
I love how passionate you still are about the show. I myself have lost interest, but this episode was definitely entertaining. And really, with three Ninas, how could it not be so entertaining? But seriously, I need a Katherine spin-off NOW!
Loved the review – just to elaborate on something you glazed over: “True love prevails, universe be damned” – Tessa's quote. Tessa as a character is fascinating because she is a smart, powerful, intimidating woman whose one GINORMOUS flaw is that she is hung up on some dude who didn't deserve her in the first place. Silas – take away the immortality thing, and he's kind of easy to take down (clearly). As a witch/traveler he was definitely sub par, and everything he knew, he learned from Qetsiyah. As a human being, he was despicable. I get he had a chance to be with his one true love, and I don't blame him for taking it. But manipulating Tessa to make him and his true love immortal as opposed to just simply leaving her is just TOO CRUEL. Seriously, who does that? Of course, art imitates life – this scenario is very prevalent, hocus pocus aside, of course.
And so, back to Tessa's flaw – still hung up on Silas, acting like a crazed, scorned woman (and being a crazed, scorned woman) kept up her eternity's worth of revenge. All while claiming that she hated Silas, and that she was over him. Meanwhile, his sick mind was determined to prove she still wasn't.
All to predictable, he was right all along. It was just so sad to see her proclaiming that true love prevailed. What “true love”? Yes, her version of unrequited love can prosper with the object of Silas's affection being gone forevermore. The sham continues but this time, she is the one fooling herself…
So if this is foreboding of DElena, then my fav on screen couple is in danger..
I'm so happy my review sollicited a Wajiha Rant. I miss those 🙂
Fascinating perspective on the topic. The players are definitely different, even if Destiny views Stefan and Elena as understudies to the real thing. They're a lot less… Cruel and “Batshit crazy” respectively. They won't allow things to spiral. I took this line as a good sign to Destiny allowing exceptions to its own rules.
Other people agreed with you: they said that since Silas and Imara are still unreunited, the pull of destiny will continue to push damon and elena apart.