The Vampire Diaries 3.05 “The Reckoning” Review

This review could simply read ‘that was awesome’ but then this would feel more like Twitter and less of an actual review, I need to get my brain focused after all that crazy bananas action to make this more cohesive. Klaus (Joseph Morgan) returning to Mystic Falls and spending the majority of the episode in the nearly deserted school, made this one tense Vampire Diaries that led to some major events that will shape the rest of the season.

It’s never a good sign when a character talks about making the following year great, even if that character is Caroline (Candice Accola) who can find the optimism and pep even in her darkest moments. Also have they not been to all the other events and parties where someone inevitably ends up dead or a little beat up? You would think that they would be prepared for such occasions, especially ones that are for ‘making memories.’ So memories were made; ones so bad that Damon (Ian Somerhalder) offered Elena (Nina Dobrev) compulsion as an option that she refused, as she needs to remember the good and the bad. So what could have transpired that would have Damon offer the option to forget?

There is a catalogue of sights that I’m sure Elena would rather unsee; probably starting with witnessing Stefan (Paul Wesley) in full ripper mode, feeding on and killing ‘red shirt’ characters Dana (Anna Enger) and Chad (Mark Buckland). Having to run for her life from Stefan would probably be high on the list as well, but at least in this moment he was using all of his strength and love for Elena to be stronger than the blood lust and Klaus’ compulsion. This strength however led to Klaus’ ultimate act of devastation for Elena as he compelled Stefan to ‘turn it off’ and now Stefan is what a vampire should be with no humanity to ruin that. He is now well and truly Klaus’ lapdog and all those feelings he had for Elena have been buried deep.

This is a huge moment for the show; empathy was always Stefan’s ‘thing’ and without it what will he be? The brothers have well and truly swapped position and Stefan is now everything that Damon claimed he wanted him to be. Think he might change his mind now that they are living together again. Stefan is now back in Mystic Falls for the foreseeable future under Klaus’ orders to protect Elena, awkward of course and which will make Elena less inclined to drop round any time soon. The fact that he is invited in to the Gilbert house could prove problematic and this scenario will give Paul Wesley the opportunity to rock the super cold and detached look that he got to show off in “The Reckoning.”

There were many horror movie like moments in the school, particularly with Matt (Zach Roerig) and his heartbreaking quest to contact Vicki (Kayla Ewell). Bonnie (Kat Graham) may think that he is better off without the supernatural stuff in his life but that doesn’t make up for the isolation that he has felt in the past year (it’s crazy to think that the first two seasons don’t even cover one full year). Matt is a problematic character for the show in the sense that he is missing a supernatural element, but at this point does he need to have something supernatural to stay relevant to the show? Now after his trip to ‘the other side’ will he be like Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) and be able to see certain ghosts whenever he wants? I can see there being a power struggle between Anna (Malese Jow) and Vicki through Jeremy and Matt in the not too distant future.

Jeremy’s interactions with Anna have proven useful for the ‘how to defeat’ Klaus part of the story as we get to find out a little bit more about Mikael (Sebastian Roché). Mikael is the key to killing Klaus dead dead and is a vampire who also happens to be a vampire hunter, interesting huh? Mikael is who Klaus and Rebekah (Claire Holt) were hiding from back in Chicago in the 1920s and the mere mention of his name had Klaus backing off from Damon. The episode ended in typically good cliffhanger fashion with Jeremy and Katherine finding Mikael in a tomb that when they opened it so did Mikael’s eyes.

Other observations:

• Damon really does seem like he is over Katherine as he rebuffed her advances twice.
• Tyler (Michael Trevino) got to go through another painful transition as he became Klaus’ first successful hybrid experiment. The key was the doppelganger’s blood, a failsafe that the Original witch had put in because the doppelganger would be dead right?! Tyler felt fantastic after and went with Caroline’s ‘amazing year’ mantra. Caroline did not look so happy with this change.
• Glad to see that Anna is still smart and angry enough not to trust Damon and Katherine from beyond the grave.
• Rebekah’s jealousy of Elena is amusing, particularly as she scrolls through Caroline’s phone and discovers her necklace around Elena’s neck. Also amusing is Klaus referring to her as a “petty little thing”.
• Weird parallel but Klaus is similar to Matt in his loneliness- hear me out it’s not actually that weird. Klaus has spent all these centuries trying to discover a way to make more hybrids so he isn’t the only one, all he wants is for there to be others like him. Matt has spent the last year discovering that everyone he knows has some kind of supernatural specialness and his attempt to reconnect with Vicki and become like Jeremy is his version of Klaus’ hybrid project.
• Ghost can text from beyond the grave and appear as ‘unknown’ as the sender.
• So the Original witch doesn’t like Klaus, not a shocker. But surely this is something Elena et al can use to their advantage, especially as Damon stole the necklace back off Katherine.

There are not enough words to praise this episode and how consistently good The Vampire Diaries is; week after week more story and sometimes new characters get added without feeling bogged down. Stefan’s journey this year was already compelling (pun intended) but with his compulsion to not only do everything Klaus says but to not feel on top, has made this show even more unmissable that it already was.

What are your thoughts? How do you feel about Stefan’s compulsion and permanent return to Mystic Falls? Will Tyler’s hybrid status change his relationship with Caroline? Are you looking forward to seeing Michael? Let us know in the comments section.

Next week: the school year begins with an unwanted classmate. To see the promo for this episode head here.