 |
| 1920s? Close enough. |
Klaus’s art is interesting, but I can’t help but laugh
every time we see him paint. If we just saw the aftermath, that would be okay,
but showing him draw only after it was mentioned feels like an afterthought.
“Rebekah” (Esther) supposedly gives Klaus the last white oak stake, which he
throws into the fire. He wants to leave now that Stefan has turned him down,
but his sister/mother asks him to go to the dance. She mentions Caroline. He
shows some emotion but says that means nothing to him. “Bekah” then says that
he should go for her, his sister, and, after a suspicious look, he agrees. The
originals seem very incestuous, but that’s the least of their problems. Also,
Caroline/Klaus is the one ship I do not in any way get. Why, just, why would a
mass murdering psychopath who cares only about blood relatives and a
bloodthirsty vampire go for a bubbly and inexperienced teenager? No eighteen year
old would be a challenge for a one thousand year old. Caroline puts up less of
a fight than any normal human would.
Alaric’s evil alter ego pretends to be his good self,
lying to Damon that he doesn’t know what happened to the stake, and he has to
head out into the woods. “Rebekah” returns and refuses to tell Alaric where the
real stake is until she’s back in Esther’s body. Alaric stabs her with the
special dagger dipped in oak ash. She falls to the ground and the real Esther
wakes up. If Esther in Rebekah’s body is still a vampire, how was she able to
walk into the cave? I don’t usually care much about inconsistencies like this,
but The Vampire Diaries has had one too many mess-ups. It’s getting confusing
as to when something is actually important or just a mistake on the writers’
part. On another note, is anyone else sorry that Rebekah will miss yet another
dance?
Caroline wonders why Rebekah didn’t show up to set up her
own dance. She also ships Matt and Jeremy who are hanging up stars. Caroline’s
fairly nonplussed about Elena’s makeout session with Damon, but she insists
that Elena take Stefan to the dance. Caroline really likes them together, maybe
because of what Stefan’s done for Elena and Caroline, maybe because Caroline
doesn’t want anyone to suffer her ex. To be honest, it kind of makes me want
Caroline and Stefan to get together down the road, though I love her with
Tyler. Also, Bonnie asked Jamie to the dance. Caroline’s probably hoping for a
date, as well.
 |
| Is Matt the bus boy, no matter the decade? |
Elena calls Stefan and awkwardly asks him to the dance.
He accepts, and looks concerned but happy. Damon quips about accidentally
stabbing Elena in the chest with a corsage, indicating out that Stefan isn’t
exactly a safe choice, anywhere. Damon visits Doctor Meredith. He searched
Alaric’s apartment, and found that Alaric hadn’t been taking Bonnie’s herbs.
Meanwhile, Esther leads Alaric to the place where Klaus ripped out her heart,
which is now a tomb. She convinces him to give over his ring. She drops it in a
large chalice, melts it with magic, and dips the oak steak into the liquid
metal. It hardens. Now it will not burn up after staking one original. She
rather cheesily dubs it “the ultimate weapon for the ultimate hunter.” This is
explained later, but initially I was puzzling over this phrase. Alaric is a
horrible hunter. He couldn’t even kill his very human girlfriend. The ultimate
prey, she meant? Except they’ve managed to establish that originals are pretty
easy to kill.
At the dance, Caroline tells Matt that Elena is spoken
for, and he should watch out for his safety. She then leaves him forever alone
at the sight of an adorably dressed Tyler. He certainly fits into the time
period. He says that he’s jealous of Klaus, but he’s also competitive. (Would
you be jealous of Ted Bundy?) He literally sweeps a giggling Caroline off her
feet. Jeremy awkwardly runs into his ex, Bonnie, and her date, the sweet Jamie.
She is worried about him still wearing the ring, but Jeremy says that he’ll
take off his ring when his sister stops hanging out with vampires.
Stefan picks up Elena from her house, and they share a
moment, joking about how they have to go to the dance and live their lives.
Does she really have to choose between brothers? Because I have a longer memory
than the characters, I’m still a little scared of Stefan. She really should
choose neither. Ah well. The two arrive at the dance and joke about Stefan’s
1920s dance moves and blackouts. Killing people sadistically is a barrel of
laughs. She wants to dance it up, the way Damon would, but he waits for a slow
song to make his move. He doesn’t want to hear about what happened between her
and Damon. After all he put her through, he’s just honored to be her date.
Judging by her apprehensive expression, she doesn’t seem to want to think about
what he put her through. He also says
that he will apologize to Bonnie about her mother, though it will probably be
futile. Suddenly, a wild Damon appears.
 |
| This is definitely behind the scenes. No one had this much fun. |
Damon says that Alaric might kill Elena since she
sympathizes with vampires. Oh no, not Elena! Damon wants to put Alaric, his
best bud, out of his misery. Jeremy shows up and says Damon’s out of his mind.
He’s right about that one. Jeremy also seems to be displaying very strong
anti-vampire sentiments. Elena runs outside and into Esther who says that,
willing or not, Elena will come. Elena follows. Damon and Stefan stride towards
Elena only to realize that they are trapped in the school by a circle of salt.
Esther cast a spell.
Jamie likes Bonnie’s friends, in spite of their
weirdness. Poor Bonnie says that they’re the most important things in the world
to her, and Jamie can’t be that normal since he agreed to go to the dance with
her. After she tentatively kisses him, they start making out. Damon interrupts
their “seven minutes in heaven” to announce their problem. On the dance floor, Tyler
senses Klaus’s presence. Klaus asks where Tyler’s been (“mate”) and notes that
he didn’t give him permission to leave. He asks to dance with Caroline. She
says no, but Tyler accedes, to make Klaus think he’s still sired. Caroline asks
why Klaus has to always prove he’s the alpha male. Klaus amazingly replies, “I
don’t have to prove anything, love, I am the alpha male.” He and she dance as
she looks at Tyler. He says Caroline would have loved the wild sexy girls of
the 1920s who danced until they dropped. She should be nice to him since he’s
leaving. She’s unimpressed, but he says that she’ll turn up at his doorstep in
a year or a century because a small town life and a small town boy won’t be
enough for her. Uh, couldn’t she leave both of these without going to Klaus?
Klaus leaves a phone message for Rebekah about how stupid
this dance is. He then asks about the salt surrounding the school. Stefan
helpfully says, “You’re mother’s back.” It’s funny to see the Salvatores,
Klaus, and miscellaneous humans gathered in a room as Bonnie works her magic. Jeremy
suggests that the humans cross the salt threshold to stop Esther, but the
vampires look skeptical. Klaus threatens Jamie so Bonnie will work harder.
Stefan convinces his ex not to hurt Jamie by claiming that Bonnie will let all
the vampires die if they start killing humans.
 |
| I have a weakness for blondes. And guys that use hair gel. |
In a big twist, Esther reveals that she will turn Alaric
into a vampire hunting vampire, like Mikael, as strong as the originals. She
will use dark magic to accomplish this. Every time he died and briefly visited
the afterlife, Esther made contact with him, nurturing his dark hatred of
vampires. Yikes! Unfortunately, I find Alaric’s glowering more humorous than threatening.
Elena pleads with Alaric, saying that this isn’t him, he can’t want this. He
says this is him and Elena only knows his weakest parts. Vampires are evil, and
the blood of their victims are on his hands. First of all, dark Alaric is portrayed
as evil, but the fact that the characters don’t care that their lovers and
friends are serial killers is downright sociopathic. Elena doesn’t hesitate to refute
“evil Alaric,” even after everything vampires have done to her. Second, how
many times have we seen Elena plead with someone she loves, and the person,
usually a man, says this is his true nature? We don’t need any more scenes like
this. Esther cuts and bleeds Elena’s hand with magic. Alaric drinks the blood,
and Esther kills him.
Jeremy donates blood so Bonnie can locate Elena. She
tries, in spite of Damon and Klaus “lurking” over her. Damon doesn’t want to
apologize, since he blames Elijah for Abby’s “death.” Bonnie says there’s
always a choice. Esther is fighting her, so Bonnie can’t locate Elena. Bonnie
guesses that Esther’s channeling a hotspot. Klaus knows where. Caroline is mad
at Stefan for letting the humans leave to find Esther. But she tries to calm
him. Stefan doesn’t want anybody to die, including Tyler, who has joined
Stefan’s “I once loved but now hate Klaus” club. He wonders if killing Klaus
will be the best option. Caroline says she doesn’t want Tyler to die because
she loves him.
Esther tries to convince Elena that Jenna is in a
peaceful place as she was pure, even as a vampire. Also, she refutes Elena’s
claim that she is as bad as Klaus, killing the good with the bad. I have to
agree with Esther—the “good” vampires have still murdered innocents. Klaus has
eaten and tortured countless people who never hurt anyone. Still, Esther is
ruthless. When Jeremy and Matt appear, Esther makes them point their weapons at
one another. Alaric awakens and stabs Esther. He is confused. As Esther said,
he would be himself for a little while.
 |
| I'm serious, Tyler! You're the cutest gangster I've ever seen. |
Klaus blames Stefan for releasing his mother in the name
of revenge. Stefan says he’s done with revenge. Klaus tries to reminisce about
the 1920s, which had real moments of friendship and brotherhood. He says,
“We’re strange bedfellows, you and I,” and I can’t help but misconstrue that.
(Or am I misconstruing it?) Damon jumps in saying Stefan already has a brother,
“not to get all territorial.” Klaus says he knows about the Salvatore’s epic
bond, but it might weaken when Elena makes her choice. Bonnie says the spell is
broken, and Klaus skedaddles. Stefan thanks her, but she says she didn’t do it
for him.
Alaric doesn’t want to complete his transition. Jeremy is
disappointed that yet another family member will die. Alaric says that his
friend Damon will make sure everything goes down. Elena starts blaming herself
again, but Alaric states that taking care of them was the closest to the life
he imagined. I laughed aloud when I saw the townspeople (aka the cast) waiting
outside with torches to honor Alaric. Still, their expressions are somber.
Damon’s is especially heartbreaking. Alaric the unstoppable killing machine
sounds extremely dangerous, so he deserves to be honored for his decision. Matt
and Bonnie are teary about their teacher’s impending death, and Meredith, who
hardly knows him, is also upset. Alaric walks back into the tomb and shuts the
door. Wah!
Klaus undaggers his sister and yells at his mother’s
corpse. He hopes she will be haunted by his existence for eternity. Yadda yadda
he’s an egomaniac, etc. Matt and Jeremy
share a drink at the bar. “To Mr. Saltzman,” Matt says. Jeremy sheds a single
tear after correcting him, “Alaric.” Elena freaks out as she cleans Alaric’s
locker of his vampire hunting weapons. Stefan takes her into the gym and says
that “someone” told him that emotions, good and bad, are what make us human.
She thinks that was horrible advice and can’t accept that she has no one.
Stefan says that she has him.
Damon drinks and mourns. Meredith gave him a sedative so
he wouldn’t suffer. Damon’s insulted that Alaric refused his neck snap option.
Meredith tells him to go visit Alaric. In a painful but poignant scene, Damon
apologizes for killing Alaric, who teases Damon about the romantic dream he
gave to Rose before she died. Tears roll down Alaric’s face, and the two
drinking buddies celebrate the way they always do: with liquor.
Jamie thinks Bonnie’s amazing and asks if she’ll be okay
by herself. She says no, so he plans to stay and comfort her. Bonnie and Jamie
spoon on her bed. She dreams that Esther visits her, saying that her sisters
need Bonnie to finish this. Damon watches his friend die. He stumbles outside
to find Bonnie. He thinks she’s sleepwalking. She gives him a vampire migraine
before stabbing her hand and feeding Alaric blood. He transitions into a
vampire, bites her neck, and grabs the stake. So was all that “goodbye Alaric”
stuff just manipulative, or is that really the last we’ll see of the Alaric we
know?
