A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 4-9

It’s almost as if the writers of this show are reading my reviews, because it seems like they’ve touched upon all of my recent not-quite-complaints-more-like-observations this past episode, most notably the differing motivations and philosophies amongst the various characters coming to a head.

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I actually loved that Tyler brought up something that I hadn’t even thought of:  breaking the curse does more harm than good for the hybrids.  Being both vampire and werewolf allows them to turn on command, and not by the whims of the moon.  If the curse is broken, they lose that control.  Frankly, it’s not in their best interest to put aside their plans in order to allow Stefan and Caroline to go through with theirs.  I was glad that neither side really backed down from their cause, even when the “easy out” presented itself.  This was the first time we really saw a line drawn in the sand between the central characters, and for each side to firmly stand their ground.

The consequences were ultimately severe, though.  It turned out that Hayley (and Professor Shane?) was metaphorically in bed with Klaus and offered up the hybrids as a sacrifice (I lost count of the amount that were killed….was Tyler intended to be one of those 12?)  And while I saw the murder of Tyler’s mom coming, it was a downright chilling scene.  There’s something about a brutally violent scene playing alongside a soothing musical number.  But you had to know her number was up when she had repeated scenes where she was so overwhelmingly happy with and supportive of Tyler (plus the mentioning of how proud his late father would be).  Oh, and the showrunners touched upon another one of my critical observations – the fact that it doesn’t feel like these people are in high school.  I was glad that both Caroline and Tyler’s mom brought up the fact that these kids aren’t allowed to just openly drink alcohol in front of everybody.  Other CW shows might want to take note.

Of course, other matters were addressed as well.  While they’ve hinted at it – sometimes quite heavily – over the past couple of seasons, we haven’t seen them really address Jeremy’s feelings for Bonnie since they broke up.  And while I’m not sure if Shane is supposed to be a potential love interest for Bonnie, but it added to the fun having him there too.

Speaking of Professor Shane, ever since he gave that speech where he gave the history of Silas, I had this deep suspicious that he WAS Silas.  I’m still torn, but my belief was strengthened after this past episode.  His tone, expressions, and manner of speaking were far too personal when he was speaking of Silas’ story.  And the tale echoed his earlier comment about lost love.  But regardless of whether or not Shane is Silas, the bigger question seems to be whether he’s “good” or “bad.”  He’s been working alongside our heroes, and has even helped them on numerous occasions.  Then again, he was aligned with Connor, and it seems likely that he played a role in the mass murder of the founders’ council.  And it seems like he was working alongside Hayley to sacrifice all of the hybrids.  But how much of that can be deemed “evil”?  Sure, he was aligned with Connor, but at the same time, Damon, Stefan, and all of our “good guys” are aligned with Jeremy.  And even if he did turn the hybrids to slaughter, our heroes have been feeding Jeremy vampires as well.  He’s a tough book to read.  And he never seems like he’s giving us the full story.  What are your thoughts on him?  Silas?  Not Silas?  Good?  Bad?

On the topic of good or bad, while I found Stefan’s observation about Klaus’ actions not really being any more evil than any of theirs, did anybody else get the sense that he was talking directly to the audience?  It almost felt like the writers were saying “Hey, we might want to make him a permanent character to work alongside the good guys…..so remember, he’s not ALL that bad.”  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not even against that – Spike was my favorite character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Then again, I HATED the way the good guys constantly worked alongside T-Bag on Prison Break, so I guess we’ll see which route this alliance ends up taking.  They’ve certainly put some work into humanizing this season.  Ya’ know, when he’s not murdering mothers.

I’m still not quite sure how I feel about the handling of the Elena/Damon sire bond, but I appreciated the apprehension they both felt.  I also liked the different way the two handled it.  Damon’s inclination was to pull back, while Elena attempted to grow closer.  Where we go from here, with Damon finally turning her away and Stefan now fully aware of the fact that the two slept together, will be very interesting.

Alright, folks.  That’s it until the show returns in January!  Just a reminder to keep visiting my blog during the hiatus, and as always be sure to follow me on Twitter.  I’ll work on getting these bad boys up in a more timely manner going forward (believe it when you see it).  Happy holidays and happy new year to all of you!  Namaste!