This wasn’t an all-out Halloween themed episode of The Vampire Diaries but the timing of the Whitmore homecoming corn maze certainly felt appropriate as things quickly turned bloody.
It would be easy to pin the events of the night all on Stefan. After all, if he didn’t give up on Damon so easily and turn into the biggest jerk, Enzo never would have snapped Ivy’s neck. Ivy is the typical annoying newbie vampire that Stefan essentially dropped on Caroline’s doorstep for her to deal with. If she wasn’t so eager to run out and feed on innocent people, Tyler wouldn’t have hit a kid in the road. Actually that part could have happened either way because Tyler was texting and driving, but I think I made my point that this is the worst version of Stefan we’ve ever seen.
Luckily, he’s starting to realize the error of his ways just in time for Damon to return. I mentioned in my review last week that their reunion was the one I was anticipating the most, and the writers definitely did not disappoint! For a second there it seemed like it would’ve been perfectly cheesy for Damon to pop back into Elena’s dorm room just in time to see her kissing Liam. (More on that in a little bit!) Instead the Salvatore brother reunion was exactly what both characters needed and it couldn’t have been better.
Now let’s talk about Bonnie. She sacrificed her only chance to escape Kai’s hell so that Damon could at least get out without them unleashing a serial killer into the world. Saint Bonnie has put her life on the line countless times for her friends before, but when will she put herself first? Of course there’s going to have to be another loophole to save her eventually and hopefully Damon doesn’t waste time figuring out a plan to help from the outside. We’ll probably meet these famed Gemini witches as they were mentioned to have created this realm as a prison for Kai.
Elena is at a weird point in her life. She’s aware of her decision to have Alaric erase all happy memories of Damon from her mind, yet she’s content with moving on anyway. Last week she was trying to set her new friend Liam up with Caroline but he only had eyes for her. After Tyler literally crashed into the corn maze party and injured several people, Elena saw firsthand how Liam was a hero using his medical skills to save lives and she’s into him. This should be interesting to watch develop now that Damon is back, but also because Liam has to be hiding something. No one on this show is ever without baggage. Maybe he’s a part of the Gemini coven?
Speaking of witches, Liv saving Tyler from his werewolf curse by literally killing an innocent guy was unbelievable. Tyler’s so grateful that she “saved” him but I don’t like it in the least bit. The logistics of his crash are confusing. Are we to assume he swerved to avoid hitting the guy that was running from Ivy, and he crashes through some/most of the corn maze while dragging the guy on the front of his car? The guy never stood a chance at surviving from the initial blood loss and trauma. What really gets me is that Tyler was so scared that any deaths caused by the accident would trigger his werewolf curse. He’s relieved that Liv chose to kill a man for his own sake. Really awkward start to the new relationship between these two.
Alaric finally stepped out of his reclusive shell, thanks to Elena setting him up with Doctor Jo. Something about her was bugging me until I realized that she looks so much like April, the pastor’s daughter who Elena fed on in season 4. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the two actresses look so much alike but it would be cool to see if they’re related at all. Jo definitely has some secrets of her own. It’s likely she couldn’t be compelled because she’s on vervain but nothing is ever that simple.
Lastly, Tripp picked Ivy up in his van. He’ll probably throw her in the same vampire torture cabin he’s keeping Enzo in, but now Caroline and Matt at least know what he’s capable of. I hate to say it but I doubt anyone will be rushing to save Enzo or Ivy unless Tripp takes another, more essential vampire prisoner.
What are your theories about all the new people this season?
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Very good review, and yes, the logistics behind Tyler killing the guy who would not have survived Ivy’s attack and the whole crash are a bit wonky. The more I reflect on things thus far, though, it’s really only Stefan who has been grieving and going through the process of his loss in any way that makes any sense. We know he followed every single lead Alaric sent him, and he did it alone. Where was Alaric and Enzo and Caroline and Elena? Oh, that’s right, they were a bit busy starting up a life as a college professor, banging coat check girls on leads that have already been covered by Stefan, pining outside Mystic Falls for home and going back to school all while using a witch to give her a drug to “see” Damon. Meanwhile, Stefan is tracking down every lead, getting into bar fights, where he loses, just so he feels something, and rebuilds his brother’s beloved car just so he can have something of Damon near him.
To top it all off, Alaric, supposedly Damon’s best friend, compels the love of Damon’s life to forget all about him, and he has the nerve to call Stefan selfish, I think Elena is the worst with Alaric a close second since he helped her in her selfishness, and apparently lifted not a finger besides calling Stefan to find Damon. As for Enzo, he didn’t love Damon enough to not simply walk through Bonnie the anchor without waiting for Damon, Stefan wanted to wait for his brother. Bonnie falling caused Stefan to reflexively reach out to steady her, inadvertently leading to him crossing back over. Lexie showed true friendship by sacrificing herself so as to try to give Damon time to get across; Enzo is a poor friend to Damon. Stefan, destructive as always, grieved heartily, all while trying to find a way. I totally agree with you on their reunion: it was epic!
You make a great point about Stefan. Even though there was a 3 month time jump between the events of the finale and the season premiere, we only know the specifics of what Stefan was up to, which included traveling the globe to get answers, but we can only guess what everyone else was doing. In that sense, Jeremy and Caroline are the only ones who are dealing with their grief naturally.
I love Alaric but his attitude towards Stefan this week was uncalled for, I’ll give you that much. He used to be such a great character but since his return he’s really been underutilized. Everyone sees him as this great powerful Original vampire but they don’t seem to care that he’s still adjusting to the whole coming back to life as a vampire thing. He chose to die in season 3 because he didn’t want this life, and now he owes it to his (not so lost anymore) friend Damon to take this second chance at life.
As for Enzo, I think he’s slowly but surely starting to change. He was incredibly selfish last year, but I especially liked how he defended Caroline when Stefan made her cry. I don’t exactly pity him yet but I think he’s on the right track.