The Vampire Diaries 3.07 “Ghost World” Review

In a town like Mystic Falls where vampires, werewolves and witches seem the norm it isn’t surprising that there are ghosts lurking around. This is even truer considering how high the body count is on The Vampire Diaries. This season has seen the ghost story center on Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) after Bonnie (Kat Graham) went against the laws of nature and brought him back from the dead. This episode went a step further and saw the return of some very familiar and welcome faces, who returned to settle unfinished business.

The big cliffhanger last week was Mason’s (Taylor Kinney) return and whilst it looked like he might be hell bent on getting his revenge on Damon (Ian Somerhalder), which was only a very small part of his plan. Giving Damon the same hot poker/chair treatment that Mason had received at the hands of Damon seemed more than fair and at least he left his heart intact. Stefan’s (Paul Wesley) reaction to Damon’s predicament showed once again that this Stefan is pretty funny in the dry humor department; though I’m not sure he’ll find the whole thing so amusing later when he too is tied to a chair being tortured.

Mason wants an apology from Damon and to help his nephew Tyler (Michael Trevino) with the hybrid problem. It was a shame that Tyler was missing from the episode but thanks to his inherent loyalty to Klaus (Joseph Morgan) it is understandable why he was absent from the plan. After Damon’s amusing half-hearted apology there was still a feeling that Mason couldn’t be trusted. It is hard for Damon to trust others as double crossing is a common occurrence for him; but Mason’s intentions are honorable and centered on redemption and not revenge (though he did get to see Damon suffer a multiple staking). Even though Mason didn’t get to share with Damon what he found it did mean that Damon could direct Alaric (Matt Davis) to what could be the key to killing Klaus. This meant that we got to see Alaric possibly forgive Damon for the neck-braking incident, but not before there was some magnificent snark between the pair. But really who can stay mad at Damon for long?!

Jeremy was the first to encounter these ghosts and it is not a surprise to see the connection that he has built with Anna (Malese Jow), that replicates how they were when Anna was alive (well not technically alive). When Jeremy says that it is ‘always her’ you know that no matter what he has with Bonnie now, Anna will always be his first. It’s impractical to be dating a ghost especially when there is also a witch girlfriend, but it is easy to see why Jeremy has acted the way he did. Not that this will make it any easier for Bonnie to forgive and this relationship is probably dunzo.

The most heartbreaking scene with Anna though came when she was finally reunited with her mother Pearl (Kelly Hu). All the Jeremy stuff mattered; but once again Anna was trying to find Pearl as she had in season 1, when her mother was in the tomb. The montage of the ghosts disappearing was well executed and the tears certainly came as Anna and Pearl hugged in the street.

The ghost that I was happiest to see was Lexi (Arielle Kebbel), a character that was killed too quickly (thanks Damon) and who has had a lasting impact despite her very limited screen time. The vampire detox she performed on Stefan was certainly unpleasant but the 12 steps to breaking blood addiction were never going to be a breeze. Elena (Nina Dobrev) had a hard time with this process initially but takes her own advice about loving ghosts and acknowledges that she won’t do it forever. Stefan is still chained in the old jail (the new hotspot for attempted vampire rehabilitation), how long will they manage to keep him down there? This might depend on where Rebekah is, wasn’t she meant to be keeping an eye on things?

Other thoughts:

• Alaric seemed on edge about the idea of ghosts being present all the time; this might be thanks to his dead wife and dead girlfriend. Were you surprised we didn’t see either Isobel (Mia Kirshner) or Jenna (Sara Canning)?
• It is unclear where the ghosts have gone when the spell is broken or if the necklace reforming allows for these dead characters to return again. If they are now at piece does that mean they have passed on?
• The big discovery by Alaric and Damon was a series of cave paintings; they don’t know what they mean yet but I’m sure they will reveal clues about the Original vampires (cue flashbacks).
• Those pesky tomb vampires are at it again but this time round they have the fabulous Caroline (Candice Accola) to deal with.
• There was a mention of the Mikael (Sebastian Roché) plan not going so well, so where is Katherine?
• It was lovely to see Jasmine Guy reprising her role of Shelia Bennett at a time when Bonnie really needed her.
• Does Matt (Zach Roerig) appear just to make us feel super sad? If so then it is definitely working as he is the face of perpetual loneliness.
• Nice nod to Damon’s soap bowl hiding place from last season.
• That necklace really is impossible to destroy and because it represents (to Stefan at least) hope does that mean that Elena is right to not lose her hope in him?
• Can Lexi stay forever please?

The ghost portion of the season appears to be over and they closed this story with a touching episode that showed how much has been lost for some of these characters. Whilst there wasn’t the pace and action of some of the previous season 3 outings this isn’t a bad thing, especially as this is a transitional episode both thematically and narratively. The focus will return to the Originals and hopefully this will also include the Original witch who can perform some strong and impressive magic from the other side. Will she be friend or foe in the endgame?

How did you find this episode? Glad to see the ghost story wrapped up or do you want more? Any other long gone characters you would like to have seen return? Let us know in the comments.

Next week: flashback fun with the Original vampires. Head here for the promo photos for “Ordinary People.”