A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-5

Man, does any community have more town events than Mystic Falls?

So this episode was a bit of a game shifter, in my view. It portrayed Caroline and Damon in a far brighter light, while shedding some darkness on Liz (Caroline’s mother) and Mason. Speaking of Mason, I don’t know why, but I got a kick out of him telling Tyler that he has to be careful – as if killing somebody is just one of those things that might happen on the way to school. Of course, I do realize it COULD easily happen at any given time, but his delivery made it sound like it almost certainly WOULD happen if he let his guard down. And while on the topic of killing people, how about Liz shooting Stefan without total confirmation that he was a vampire? Sure, she got some pretty damning evidence against Damon, but her classification of Stefan was based on pure presumption.

Wow, how’s that for a tangent?

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Right, so this episode established Caroline as a sympathetic character. Not only that, but she’s pretty damn aware as well. She understands her faults and her insecurities, and she knows when she’s doing something wrong. In the end, she had to decide between helping her friends and protecting her relationship with her mother – and she made a selfless choice. And when it became apparent why she was helping Katherine, it was clear that she was doing it out of fear and a desire to protect those she loves. She wasn’t manipulated and she wasn’t acting out of bitterness or insecurities. To be honest, I never cared much for the Caroline character – this was the first time I found her likable.

Her mother, meanwhile, came across far more negatively. While I understood her feeling of betrayal and her limited knowledge, I was a bit taken aback by how quickly she resorted to torture and death when she was holding the Salvatore brothers hostage. And when Damon pleaded with her, “But we’re friends…” I got the sense that there was a certain level of sincerity. Sure, I don’t believe for a second that Damon’s feelings were hurt, but I do think he was surprised that she was behaving in this manner. And I do think, over time, he did come to consider Liz something of an ally – no merely a pawn to avert the attention from him and Stefan.

And while I appreciate that Liz actually reacted to the fact that her daughter is a vampire (take note, Elena), her response was downright cruel. Again, even Damon was put off by her behavior.

Which leads me to the elder Salvatore brother. First, he showed compassion towards Liz, despite the fact that she had tortured him, by opting to compel her instead of killing her on the spot. Hell, he’s even providing her room and board! Then he tried to convince her not to simply write off her daughter as some dead monster. Capping it off, he tells Elena that Damon didn’t betray his belief system, but talked her into giving him her blessing to do so. Pretty positive episode for him, I’d say.

And finally, there’s Mason. For the first time since his introduction, I found him downright dirty. Despite the fact that he basically had an “out” through a truce with Stefan, he still conspired with Liz to eliminate the brothers. Then, when given the opportunity, he did not hesitate to use Elena as a human shield, even tightly holding her around the neck. By the end of the episode it was obvious to me that he’s not a nice, good guy at all. Yes, his pathway began as a victim of circumstance, but at this point it seems like he’s up to no good.

I think the most fun and interesting revelation, though, was that Katherine pretty much arranged for Mason to become a vampire. And it’s actually her who wants the moon rock. So I have to ask, what are the predictions (predictions – not spoilers!) on what the moon rock does?

By the way, it was good to see Jeremy again. And while his budding friendship with Tyler could have been predicted since, say, the first episode, I think it’s a good thing. They’ve both developed into pretty interesting characters.