Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Vampire Diaries - Ghost World (Season 3 episode 7) Recap

Thursday night's episode of The Vampire Diaries was chock full of the good, the bad, and the dead. While this show is normally always a mix of all three of these components, this episode leaned more heavily on the dead side of things. It turns out that when Bonnie brought Jeremy back to life after his foray into dead-dom she left a metaphysical door cracked leading to the other side. When she put Vicki back, ironically enough, the doorway became even larger, thanks mostly in part to a long-deceased witch that has a beef with the Original Vampires.
 
So now not only is Mystic Falls crawling with vampires, witches and werewolves, we now have ghosts creating all sorts of chaos.
 
Bonnie uses a spell that makes "veiled matter" (AKA ghosts) visible, so instead of just Jeremy being able to see the ghosts, they are visible to everyone.
 
Grams is the one who fills Bonnie in on why the ghosts are back. The original witch that is the catalyst of all this is drawing power from a talisman that is still over on our side. Said talisman is none other than the necklace that Stefan presented to Elena way back when.
 
Mason Lockwood comes back to ilk an apology out of Damon, and once Damon actually offers a feeble one (his so-called apology sounds more like a reiteration that he can just be an asshole sometimes and sidesteps using the actual words, 'I'm sorry.') Once Mason is satisfied he offers to help Damon find the secret to killing Klaus. Mason's motive is saving his nephew, Tyler and the not so small issue of Redemption.
 
Anna and Jeremy still have their other-worldly thing going, and they take it to the next level when Jeremy plants a kiss on her in the bathroom of Mystic Grill. Elena walks in on them and is not happy about what she sees.
 
Lexie finds Elena and offers to help eradicate "The Ripper" and help turn Stefan's humanity back on. She starts this process by confining Stefan in the city jail vampire room that Caroline spent time in during previous episodes.
 
She somehow accelerates the process of drying him out from human blood so that in about a minutes time he is having withdrawal effects equivalent to 5 years of being off the sauce. Then in an effort to make him feel human emotions again she stabs him periodically, listening to him snarling and spitting all the while.
 
The ghosts of the evil tomb vampires are back and seeking revenge on the founders of Mystic Falls. They not only murder history teacher Tobias Fell, but also string him up in a tree in all his bloody glory for all to see in the middle of Illumination Night.
 
The way to return all the apparitions back to whence they came is to destroy the necklace, which of course happens to be M.I.A. when the gang needs it. It finally turns out that Anna is hanging on to it in hopes of being reunited with her mother. She finally 'fesses up and gives it to Jeremy who passes it along to Bonnie.
 
Bonnie and Grams get their witch on and close the door to the Other Side. Much to the chagrin of some-- (Damon, because Mason was just about to clue him in on how to destroy Klaus and Elena, because Lexie was detoxing Stefan) and relief of others (Caroline, who was in the middle of fighting the tomb vamps that were going to lay the smack-down on Mrs. Lockwood and Bonnie herself, because she was having to compete with Anna for Jeremy's affections.)
 
In the end, Elena still hasn't given up on Stefan, but has at least decided she's not going to wait for him forever (literally, in his case). Bonnie can't accept that Jeremy wasn't ready to let Anna go gently into that good night and tells him to go, she doesn't want his explanation. Not long after Jeremy leaves, Bonnie sees that even though the necklace should've been melted in the fireplace, it is still intact.
 
Damon and Alaric take a step towards becoming bros again, when Alaric comes to help Damon after Mason disappears. They discover something in the underground Lockwood tunnels, but no details are revealed yet.
 
The only mention of Michael during this episode was by Mason when he told Damon he knew that trying to bring back Michael to kill Klaus did not work. Nothing was said about Katherine's fate.
 
Overall this was a pretty good episode. I liked that Damon and Ric may be patching up their friendship a little bit. I was disappointed that Jeremy and Bonnie are on the outs now, although I don't blame Bonnie for not wanting to compete with dead ex-lovers. Elena, while giving a speech to Jeremy about having to move on and not love a ghost for the rest of his life, realizes that she is doing that very same thing by holding on to the memory of what Stefan was.
 
My questions about this episode, more for the curiosity factor than problematic loose ends are:
 
How did Damon get loose from the chair that Mason had him chained in during the beginning of the episode? That was never addressed. He went from being roasted by the sun to pulling up in his convertible outside of the school to talk to Bonnie and Caroline.
 
Now that all the townspeople saw Tobias Fell's mauled corpse on display will anybody follow up on what happened there? Along those lines ... Mystic Falls seems to have an abundance of disappearing and/or murdered people. Is all that being covered up by the Town Council?
 
Although I don't think he did, I was unsure for awhile about Mason not having an ulterior motive for bringing Damon into the underground tunnel.
 
What happened to Katherine and Michael?
 
What are your theories about this episode?
 
'Til next time ... goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the vampires bite.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Recap of The Vampire Diaries Season 3, Episode 6 - Smells Like Teen Spirit

Stefan is still frustrating Damon as he continues to stay at the house, wreaking bloody havoc with the vampire version of Twister. To make matters worse, Klaus abandoned Rebecca so she moves herself into Salvatore Manor becoming an annoyance to both brothers.
 
This is the gang's first day back at school for their Senior year. Although Caroline, Bonnie and Elena are all having their own unique blend of man trouble they are trying to make the best of it as well as at the back-to-school bonfire party that is planned for later that evening.
 
You know, there were parts of high school that really sucked sometimes, but looking back, at least I never had to deal with the guys in my life becoming vampire/werewolf hybrids, losing their humanity or seeing their dead girlfriends. So I guess I gotta be thankful for that.
 
Elena doesn't get much of a chance to act on this new leaf she's turning over before Stefan shows up at school so he can continue to be her undead guardian. His new term of endearment for her is "Human Blood Bag." Aww, how sweet, I might swoon.
 
In one of the few bits of time that Elena has where Stefan is not shadowing her, she meets with Damon, Alaric, and Caroline to talk about a plan to vervain Stefan and lock him up until Michael (the vampire, vampire hunter) is back in commission and kills Klaus.
 
After last week's brush with death Matt is still able to see Vicki and she starts trying to recruit him to help her come back from the Other Side. He finally agrees and performs a blood ritual involving candles and a picture of them together as children.
 
At the bonfire, Elena starts to put her plan into action by (mostly) faking being drunk and luring Stefan off to the bleachers. She climbs over the railing near the top and then purposely (I think, maybe it was unintentional, I haven't decided yet) falls off. Stefan comes to her rescue, catching her before she hits the ground. They share a brief OMG-Is-Stefan-coming-around-moment? before Ric comes up and knocks Stefan out with vervain.
 
After Matt brings Vicki back, she informs him that her repayment to the witch who helped her is to stop the creation of hybrids. To do this, she intends to kill Elena. She clocks Matt with a tire iron and heads off to the bonfire.
 
Alaric and Elena have Stefan loaded into an SUV. She gets in and waits for Alaric to get in on the driver's side. Before he is able, Vicki drops a lit joint into a puddle of gasoline that not-so-coincidently has been spread under the SUV and around the tires. The car bursts into flames with Elena unable to get out because a ghostly Vicki is now in the car with her, holding down the door locks. Alaric tries but is having a hard time getting the window to break so he can help Elena. Elena manages to wake up Stefan enough so he can kick the back door off the vehicle. Alaric gets her out and then she makes sure they get Stefan out as well.
 
In the meantime Bonnie has met up with Matt and they are trying to undo him bringing Vicki back. Bonnie successfully gets the spell started, but in order for it to work Matt has to release the emotional hold that he has on his sister. He is sad about it but manages to do so, and she disappears.
 
 
Later once they are home and Elena's wounds are tended to, Stefan observes that she didn't have to save him from the burning SUV. She lets him know that she hasn't given up on him yet ... and for all those that are hoping that Stefan becomes the less evil version of himself ... well, you better keep hoping. He proves he is still an ass by telling Elena that she is pathetic to still believe in him. But, (yay girl power!) Elena uses a glove like device that Alaric made to jam wooden stakes into his stomach, which effectively ends his smugness, well at least for this episode.
 
Also noteworthy this episode: Bonnie is understandably not happy that Jeremy is able to communicate with his dead ex's, although after banishing Vicki now she only has to worry about Anna. And, she probably should be worried seeing how as at the end of this episode Anna appears to Jeremy (because he keeps thinking about her) and when they touch they can feel each other. Uh-oh. Smells like trouble.
 
Tyler has been acting loyal towards Klaus. It turns out that he's been "sired" which in vampire lingo means that you form an attachment to the vamp that created you and you want to impress them. He seems to snap out of it a bit when Caroline calls him on it, but by the end of the episode, Rebecca shows up at his place with a little snack for him, which to his credit (I guess) he tries to resist, but then can't hold himself back anymore and sinks his teeth into said snack's neck.
 
For people who are Damon/Elena shippers, they had an encounter that was just below steamy. To demonstrate the best way to get to a vampire's heart Damon holds Elena's hand against his chest to show her how difficult it would be to stab through, then he spins her around and runs his hand over a spot between the bottom of her ribs and hip, explaining that this place in particular would be a much better access point. He tells her that he will not let harm come to her.
Then, even though it was part of "the plan" Elena gets jealous when Damon flirts with Rebecca to distract her at the bonfire.
 
So ... lately I have been finding myself wanting to see Damon and Elena together. I guess I like the bad boy part of Damon, but not the ruthless, bloodthirsty, savage killer part of him. With him, I'm not sure you can have one without the other. But, I have a feeling we are going to find out as the season progresses.
 
Katherine manages to wake up Michael, who informs her that he no longer feeds on living things. She doesn't get the hint quick enough and he makes her his comeback meal.
 
Oh, yes. I almost forgot to mention that Mason Lockwood has returned. We should learn more about that in the next episode.
 
A few random questions I am throwing out there to anyone who cares to comment:

How is it that Stefan has a tattoo? Is that possible? I was thinking the with him being a vampire he would heal too quickly for the tattoo to take, but maybe the tattoo itself would just heal more quickly.
 
How is it that when Matt hugged Vicki after he cut his hand he didn't get blood on her shirt?
 
Doesn't anyone at the school or bonfire think it's weird that Stefan and Elena are no longer getting along? Maybe they just assume they broke up over the summer.


I've been wondering this one for awhile: What happens if Tyler accidentally bites or scratches Caroline when they are getting it on? I've been wondering that since before he became a hybrid. Now I wonder if a hybrid bite or scratch has the same effect on a vampire that a regular werewolf's would?

Yes, these are the things I think about. Welcome to my world.

Friday, October 7, 2011

The Vampire Diaries Season 3 Episode 4, Disturbing Behavior Recap

Episode 4x04 starts in a Chicago boutique with Klaus and Stefan waiting for Rebecca to find an outfit from this century that she likes.  Some what would normally be good natured teasing passes between the three of them, but with this group you can never be too sure that someone's not about to stab you in the heart.

Stefan steps outside to get a little fresh air and sees Katherine across the street.

At the Gilbert household Damon and Elena do a little light flirting over some simmering chili.  Alaric eyes their exchange warily and asks Damon why he is there.  Damon is waiting for the inevitable fallout that Elena is going to experience over having lost Stefan and he will be there to catch her when it happens.  Elena insists she will be fine, causing Damon to point out she was still wearing Stefan's necklace.

Stefan talks to Katherine for a few minutes, long enough for her to drop a few snarky comments and try to weasel information out of Stefan regarding what he is up to.  She knows that Elena has the necklace that Klaus needs.  She tells Stefan that he needs to be careful when dealing with Klaus, and his sister too, for that matter.

Jeremy wakes up from a dream to find Anna laying next to him in bed.  She is ecstatic that he can actually hear her, because she's been trying to communicate with him for days.  He said he happened to be dreaming about her and it seems like that is why he can see and hear her now.

Caroline shows up at Elena's door, along with Bonnie, who is back from spending time with her Dad's family.  As she and Jeremy reunite he catches a glimpse of Anna in a mirror.  He is a little thrown by it, but continues to greet Bonnie.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The Vampire Diaries Season 3 Episode 3 - The End of the Affair Recap

Original airdate September 29, 2011

Damon gets a call from Katherine, who knows what Stefan and Klaus are up to and that Klaus is not a happy camper that his hybrids didn't work.  Damon thinks that she knows where they are and tries to find out what she knows.

Klaus and Stefan arrive in Chicago.  It turns out that Chicago was one of the places Stefan lived for awhile.  This was back in Stefan's Ripper days and Stefan says he doesn't remember much about that time because most of it was a blacked out blur. The time that Stefan was in Chicago was during prohibition.  The show flashes back to that time and Stefan is in the back of a car with a woman and has just finished feeding from her. 

He leaves the car and goes into a speakeasy where there is dancing and drinking.  He makes the acquaintance of a blonde woman who knows what he is and what he's just been doing.  She won't give him her name and it's easy to see that Stefan is intrigued.