‘The Vampire Diaries’ - History Repeating

‘The Vampire Diaries’ - History Repeating

Living forever does seem like much fun if you’re trapped in a tomb

By TIFFANY VOGT
11-16-2009

This article may contain spoilers.

As the series continues with its break-neck pace and with each episode revealing yet one more major surprise, this week’s episode was no less a roller-coaster ride with major reveals regarding Damon’s (Ian Somerhalder) master plan, Katherine’s ultimate fate, the story behind the crystal and a surprise visit. To their credit, no one died in this episode which was a nice break from all the tear-jerker episodes of late.

Returning to the classic noir story-telling technique of having one of the primary characters dream they are in peril, only to awake and find that reality is perhaps stranger than fiction, Bonnie (Katerina Graham) dreamed she was in school and haunted by her long-lost ancestor Emily -- only to awaken in the woods and, worse yet, to find out that Emily could haunt her while she’s awake. With the cryptic message, “This is where it started. This is where it has to end,” Emily warned that something bad loomed on the horizon.

Later when Damon confronted Bonnie in order to convince her to willingly relinquish the crystal, he warned her, “so the next time [Emily] comes out to play, you tell her a deal is a deal.” However, Bonnie, anxious to get rid of the crystal and not be prey to any further visits from Emily or Damon, tried to get rid of the necklace. But it kept coming back like a bad penny -- or, in this case, an enchanted amulet. Emily’s magic was clearly strong and the crystal followed Bonnie around until Emily could successfully take possession of Bonnie and destroy the crystal once and for all.

While Bonnie struggled with Emily and the crystal, Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon were engaged in another kind of psychological tug-of-war. Sensing that Stefan had less than pure motives in inviting him on a night out, Damon called him on it and said, “I’m impressed, Stefan. Fun with booze and darts, sentimental football and now a starry night. What do you want?” To which Stefan replied, “What do you want with Katherine’s crystal?” Damon calmly said, “I am going to bring her back.” And with that startling revelation, Damon’s plan was revealed. He had struck a dastardly bargain with Emily: in exchange for protection of her lineage, Emily agreed to seal Katherine in a tomb beneath the church using a protection spell.

However, in the past 150 years, Emily had a change of heart and vowed to not let Damon use the crystal to release Katherine. It was only after Stefan rescued him from where Emily had staked him to a tree that Damon admitted his darkest secret, “To save her, I had to save them ... with one comes all.” Stefan was clearly shocked and said with disbelief, “This isn’t about love. This is about revenge ... 27 vampires. You can’t just bring them back!” But in the end it was not their decision, Emily destroyed the crystal. However, Emily’s actions came at a price: Damon attacked Bonnie and shattered her world forever. As if it wasn’t disillusioning enough to find out that she was a witch, she was now confronted with the reality that vampires exist too. Made for a hell of a nasty day -- though perhaps not as bad as Damon’s as he had lost the love of his life yet again to a cruel twist of fate.

Then not content to let the sun fade with our two vampires wallowing in guilt and despair, the show ends with Logan (Chris J. Johnson) arriving saying, “Hello, Jenna. Aren’t you going to invite me in?” This also bodes badly for the future since the last time we saw Logan, he had been killed by Damon.

What Worked

With some of the best writing of the series, there was some great exchanges between Stefan and Damon who mocked each other by pretending to be each other. Also, Damon finally catching on that their game was something more said, “I’m on to you. Reverse psychology? It’s a little transparent, but I admire the effort. ... Seriously, what game do you think you’re playing?” Stefan responded, “That’s a funny question, considering I’ve been asking you that for months.” Damon merely replied, “Frustrating, isn’t it? Touché.”

There were also some cool exchanges between Bonnie and Caroline (Candice Accola) as they tried to address their crossed-signals of communication. Such as, when Bonnie just wanted to get rid of the necklace and threw it away, she explained, “The necklace was giving me nightmares. I had to get rid of it,” and Caroline could only stare at Bonnie’s stupidity and wailed, “You could have given it to me!” Also fun was when Bonnie tried to tell Caroline that she never listens and Caroline exasperatingly said, “I listened. When do I not listen?!”

Then the most surprising turn of the night was not all the big revelations, but rather the smaller one between Caroline and Matt (Zach Roerig). Caroline called Matt on his casual manner toward her at school only to find out that he had snuck out the morning-after because her mom is the sheriff and “hey” is all he has ever said to her. The expression on Caroline’s face as she recognized the truth in that was priceless.

Then later, when Matt snuck back into Caroline’s bedroom, Matt admitted, “Look -- earlier today. I lied. ... About being in bed with you. We cuddled and it creeped me out ... it’s just I don’t like you. I never have. But it was nice ... being in bed with you. It felt nice and so I was thinking about it and I thought I should tell you. I stayed the night because you were all sad and alone and I felt bad for you.” As Caroline stared in horror and shock, she snippily replied, “Well, thank you. Love being a charity-case. You can leave now.” Matt tried to further explain by saying, “No, because I know. With Vicki gone and my mom with Peter-whoever, it’s just me. So I know.” And with that look of understanding between them, they finally understood one another. They were both simply alone in the world. Their bonding felt very natural and heart-warming in the midst of all the other epic drama going on.

What Didn't Work

It was rather absurd in the end when Elena (Nina Dobrev) declared, “You don’t have to push me away. I can do this,” and Stefan stiffly replied, “I can’t. I have to leave, Elena. Too many people have died. Too much has happened. Coming here was a mistake.” It was very 'Twilight'-ish and did not ring true after all that Elena and Stefan have gone through together.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"History Repeating" was written by Bryan M. Holdman and Brian Young, and directed by Marcos Siega. "The Vampire Diaries" stars Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Candice Accola, Katerina Graham, Michael Trevino, Zach Roerig and Sara Canning. It airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.

About the Author: Tiffany Vogt is a contributing writer for Rabid Doll and the BlipNetwork. She loves science fiction and is addicted to sci-fi films and television shows and attends as many conventions as her busy work schedule will allow. Vogt hails from Los Angeles, Calif.