After she dramatically burned down her family home with Jeremy’s body still inside, Damon and Stefan now wrestle with a humanity-deprived Elena. Can they rein her in while still searching for the cure?
When we left The Vampire Diaries, everyone was converging on Nova Scotia to find Silas and the cure for vampirism. But their search proved fatal when their old enemy Katherine showed up and sacrificed Jeremy to Silas. Jeremy, not wanting to contribute to Silas’ resurrection, broke his own neck rather than let the Original Vampire feed on him.
But because Jeremy became a Vampire Hunter, and thus a supernatural being, his family ring didn’t resurrect him and we tragically lost him. Elena completely fell apart, and in a misguided attempt to ease her suffering Damon ordered her to turn off her “humanity switch.”
But unfortunately for the Salvatore brothers, an Elena with no human emotions is a bit of a pain in the butt! She has become something of a bored teenager, all eye-rolls and huff-offs. It’s all the guys can do to keep her from killing innocent people in her hunger for blood, which could have dangerous repercussions for every vampire in Mystic Falls.
In an attempt to remind Elena what it means to be normal, Caroline and the guys encourage her to return to school. But they soon regret it when she rejoins the cheerleader squad and turns into a deadly mean girl. With the new mayor dead-set on ridding the town of vampires, now is not the time for Elena to go on a killing spree.
Stefan tries to keep an eye on her now that she’s verging on Ripper-status, but not even house arrest is going to keep her from getting her way. She throws a giant bash to ease some of her boredom. After what might be the only time an adult has ever stepped in to squash underage drinking on this show, she actually gets into a scuffle with Caroline’s mom, Sherriff Forbes. Their friendship gets pushed to the limit as Caroline struggles with this new version of her old friend. The tension reaches a breaking point for the girls, and the outcome is shocking.
While Caroline and Stefan keep an eye on Elena and try to keep her out of trouble, the others hunt for Katherine – who made off with the cure after feeding Jeremy to Silas. Klaus and Hayley become unlikely allies now that they have a common enemy in Katherine. Since they have both been rejected by their respective crushes, they might as well pair up, right? But Hayley might be up to more than Klaus realizes, and Klaus may be able to help Hayley in ways she didn’t realize.
Even though finding it could effectively end his relationship with Elena, Damon continues to search for the cure. He runs into Rebekah and the two of them team up to track Katherine’s trail. But they just might end up convincing one another that finding the cure is the last thing they want to do.
I imagine viewers are going to be split on this episode. While I personally enjoy this new direction for Elena’s character, others may find her decisions this week incredibly frustrating. While the writers have removed her humanity, it’s a little hard to believe that would completely kill any loyalty to her allies or her need to stay under the radar.
One thing we can all agree on – a Klaus sex scene was long, long overdue! While I may find his choice of partner questionable, the plot continues to barrel towards the eventual Originals spinoff, so you’ll need to suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the view.
(Getting to see Klaus hot and dirty: 10/10)
