A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-10

I like to report when my shows are recognized by major publications, so let me congratulate The Vampire Diaries for ranking in at #1 on the Must List of the latest edition of Entertainment Weekly. Great job!

And Nina Dobrev continues to bring the goods in her dual portrayal of Elena and Katherine. I don’t want to sound like I’m going overboard with the compliments, but it is very easy to forget that the same actress is portraying both of these characters. She’s so deliciously devilish as Katherine. I loved the way she toyed with Jeremy when he was in the cave with her – the way she nonchalantly (and literally) tossed him aside as she noted that he can’t die, so she’ll just continuously feed on him. And I just loved her satisfied smirk when Stefan rushed into the cave to rescue Jeremy, thus trapping himself in there as well. She’s doing a really great job in that role.

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Meanwhile, she continues to play Elena with such softness and innocence. Considering that these two characters are identical, it would be easy to view Elena more negatively because of the monstrous actions of Katherine, but that doesn’t happen. In fact, it’s actually quite fun seeing the two characters interact with each other. They’re able to be “civil” – for lack of a better word – because Elena legitimately wants to understand why Katherine is doing what she’s doing. Meanwhile, Katherine just enjoys toying with Elena, and thus doesn’t need to resort to physicality or violence.

I could also sympathize and understand Elena’s desire to sacrifice herself in order to save those she cares about. Jenna’s near death experience should have been a real wake up call for her (in many ways, I feel like the rest of the characters haven’t reacted with the appropriate level of severity) – and unlike Katherine, it appears that these original vampires have no desire to “play” with Elena. They just want her. And that possibly makes them even more dangerous.

Speaking of characters not reacting to something properly, I’m glad Elena finally brought up the fact that Rose is not some friendly ally. She was perfectly willing to use and sacrifice Elena for her own benefit (ya’ know, the very same thing that Rose is condemning Katherine for doing). It seemed somewhat strange that Damon was willing to jump into bed with the woman that was so willing to harming Elena.

On the topic of Damon, his relationship with Stefan remains one of the true highlights of the show. I think back to the early episodes, where Stefan actually plotted to kill Damon, and I remind myself how much more enjoyable things are now. I enjoyed the way Stefan waited for Elena to leave before re-emerging from the cave, and having a nice heart to heart with Damon. Damon assured Stefan he would get him out of there, even though it didn’t benefit his chances with Elena. And Stefan made Damon promise to look after Elena, even though it could potentially bring them closer together.

I am intrigued by these new warlock characters. Initially the father seemed villainous due to his association with Elijah and his desire to pry into Bonnie’s life, but now I’m not entirely sure it’s that simple. I do think we will learn that they’re not traditional “good guys” – because, even though I don’t like the fact that they’re screwing around with him again, I do think Bonnie will eventually give Jeremy a shot – but I’m not sure they’re out-and-out bad either. For some reason, they want to protect Elena, even though the chance to abduct her was right there for the taking.

And it appears that, for at least the time being, Bonnie has shot down Jeremy. Like I said last paragraph, I think she’ll end up choosing him over this other guy, but I do think she’ll be drawn to him because of their supernatural similarities. So, for the time being, he’s being screwed over by a girl yet again. And in other relationship developments, it does look like they are moving forward with the Tyler/Caroline possibility. This could be interesting, and as the season draws on, Caroline continues to become a more likable character.