A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 3-18

“Stop! Before you hurt yourself!”

I loved Klaus’ delivery of that line. It was just the right amount of awareness without achieving over-the-top sarcasm. Just perfect.

So while conquering Klaus has been an ongoing story throughout the season, there have been so many twists and turns and shifts that I’ve wondered what the climax might be. Initially the story seemed to be Stefan acting as Klaus’ companion as they kept Elena’s survival from him. Then it seemed to be Stefan acting as Klaus’ eyes and ears, as Stefan was forced to turn his emotions off and Klaus discovered that he needs Elena alive in order to create hybrids. Then it seemed to be Stefan wanting to get revenge against Klaus as he reluctantly worked with Damon and Elena. Then they were teaming with Elijah. Then they were turning against Elijah to work with Esther to take out ALL of the originals. And Stefan was now attempting to redeem himself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a really focused and well developed progression. It’s just difficult to gauge what the climax will be going into the finale.

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Well this episode gave us the latest twist, and it’s made things REALLY interesting. Honestly, I think this is an awesome turn for the story to take. The good guys FINALLY manage to kill an original, but only moments AFTER Bonnie was forced to overturn the spell that had linked them all together. Of course, this turned out to be somewhat serendipitous, as Stefan and crew discovered that any vampire that comes from the bloodline of the original that was murdered also dies. Thankfully (yet not overly convenient to an unrealistic level), all of our central vampires (Stefan, Damon, Katherine, Caroline, and even Bonnie’s mom Abbey) are all from the same bloodline. So the story now shifts to everybody trying to trace back their vampire history in order to discover which of the four remaining originals they must spare in order to stay alive.

Of course, there’s an additional complication with their end game of killing Klaus. The one thing they do know is that Tyler was sired by Klaus, so if they kill the original, their friend dies as well. This is a clever and effective way to build tension. And as I alluded to above, I’m actually really impressed with how none of this seems contrived. One might say, “Well isn’t that convenient” when they note that all of the central characters have the same bloodline (and therefore, either all of them or none of them are at risk), however that’s something that’s been long established since the beginning of the series. And Klaus making a vampire out of Tyler was something that was developed long before this story arc was introduced. And, in fact, that event made sense within the confines of the story they were telling at that time. And one more conflict: Alaric’s vampire hating alter ego apparently hid his stake, and is willing to eliminate any original that comes his way no matter the lineage it may impact.

My guess? It turns out Elijah is their ancestor. We can trace their lineage back to Rose, and if I remember correctly, Elijah seemed to have a special bond with her. Plus, we’ve been trained to have a certain amount of sympathy towards him, so sparing him is the least evil of all the options. Besides which, not giving them an easy “out” on not having to kill Klaus will create a great deal of tension as it relates to sacrificing Tyler.

Overall, this was a very interesting episode that really seems to set the path for the rest of the season. Oh, and we’re FINALLY back to normal with Stefan and Elena, with the two of them admitting that they still love each other and that they’re even willing to move past the strangeness that they’ve experience the past season. However, I did appreciate the fact that Elena didn’t say she loves Damon. I can’t help but feel like the “L” word is tossed around way too casually in these teen dramas. Does Elena have feelings for Damon? I think that’s hard to deny. But to outright say those feelings are love seems like a stretch. Again, I’m really interested in seeing where all of this is going.