In Mystic Falls they sure know how to throw a big, fancy party with a little death and danger thrown in for good measure. After last weeks jam packed outing, “Masquerade” followed with as much blood shed and game changing action that I wonder what they have in store for us for the rest of November sweeps. For a more detailed account check out Mark O. Estes recap here.
The central focus was to kill Katherine and the worry was that someone would hesitate at the vital moment as Stefan had done a few weeks back. Each character was given an opportunity to do so; both Jeremy and Caroline had moments where fear could get the better of them, Jeremy may have a ring but Katherine reminded him what she did to John. Caroline used her fear to trick Katherine in to thinking she was giving up the moonstone, a good ploy that allowed Caroline to grow in confidence once again. Bonnie’s concern was that others would get hurt, which did happen and more would have been killed if she hadn’t of been involved I would suspect. The brothers Salvatore were of course the most likely to hesitate, Stefan had done previously and we all know how unstable Katherine can make Damon.
The other kink in the operation would be Elena of course who was excluded from the entire operation, of course this doesn’t mean that she won’t get involved. It was a good thing she turned up otherwise she could have taken a stake to the heart via the spell that linked Katherine’s injuries to Elena. Using Elena in this manner was a genius move from Katherine and one that I didn’t see coming and it allowed for a superb scene with Katherine, Damon and Stefan trapped in the room together, first with the fight then with the mind games . Katherine mentions how she has been checking in on Stefan (and not Damon of course), including the 1987 Bon Jovi concert and all I can say is flashback please, would love to see 80s rocker Stefan.
Stefan figures through Katherine’s plan and shows that he is the more logical brother when it comes to Katherine when he realises that she is running from something. It’s a shame that he couldn’t figure out that because some one is after Katherine then they too could be after Elena, but that would ruin a perfectly good cliffhanger wouldn’t it? Despite Katherine being dealt with it would have been too simple to have Stefan and Elena reunite this quickly, and even if her excuse seems pretty weak it is understandable considering how much she has been through, though would she really walk to her car by herself after this ordeal?
Waiting over 140 years for love that isn’t there is going to do something to a guy so I was glad to see that it was Damon that truly dealt with the Katherine situation. Her punishment wasn’t death but way worse (and of course means that Katherine will be back), he locked her in the tomb under the church where he thought she was for all those years. Ian Somerhalder was terrific in this scene as Katherine begs for her release, and once again Nina Dobrev took Katherine to a whole new level of desperation that we haven’t seen before. Dobrev in these dual roles has been constantly fantastic this year, and goes far beyond hair and costume to show the difference between the two.
You would think that the plot to get Katherine would be enough for one episode but not for The Vampire Diaries which also explored important stories regarding witches and werewolves. We met Lucy a witch, who at first was an enemy but because she too is of Bennett lineage the witch bond trumps the vampire one. I was glad to see Bonnie get to do something rather than just reiterating how she doesn’t want any one to get hurt and I’m sure we will see Lucy again soon. The flirtation between Bonnie and Jeremy was well handled as even though he is her best friends little brother they have upped his level of maturity this season and with this upped his hotness, could this flirtation develop in to something more?
The werewolf story also included a super big development with Tyler activating the curse by accidentally killing his drunken friend Sarah after she was Katherine’s plan B for getting Tyler to kill a human. Sarah wasn’t the only Katherine collateral damage this week with Amiee (the other drunk friend/red shirt) also ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then ending up in the boot of the Salvatore’s car. So Tyler is now a werewolf and with Caroline revealing some hint of knowledge of what he is, as well as showing off some super moves to knock Matt out can a friendship develop here to end the vampire/werewolf feud? They are both going through a similar transition and both have taken human life, will the show explore these parallels?
“Masquerade” shows that the tables have turned, the danger of Katherine is out of reach for now, but there is a danger in Katherine not being there as Elena is now the sole target for the mysterious kidnapper. Tyler’s transformation happened much sooner than I expected and with Mason out of the picture it will be interesting how he deals with this alone. A strong episode, though not quite up to last weeks extremely high standard. B+
What did you all think? Were you surprised by any of the twists and turns? Are you glad to see Katherine gone for now? Is there any hope for romance between Jeremy and Bonnie? Why has Elena been taken and by who? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or join us in the forums.
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