The wait for this episode felt longer than usual. Actress Nina Dobrev, who plays Elena Gilbert and Katherine, said that this was one of her favorites. Actor Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore) claimed that the episode almost killed them all, in a good way. Producer and writer Julie Plec said she was “kind of obsessed” with Memory Lane. What resulted was a complex episode that alternated between a a barbecue at the Gilbert’s and an emotional showdown featuring vampire exes Katherine and Stefan (Paul Welsey).
Memory Lane unsettles the viewer by beginning with what appears to be a flashback (there is even a “1864 - Lockwood mansion” subtitle), but it is in fact a dream that moves between the past and present. At the Founders’ Ball, Katherine lies that Stefan dances better than his brother Damon, and Stefan proves again that he doesn’t like the no touching rule while dancing (he commented in Miss Mystic Falls that the near-touch was “overrated”). Stefan turns towards his brother to see that he also has an escort--Elena, dressed in modern clothes and heading for a pool table.
He wakes to find Elena in his arms. Within a few seconds, he realizes that she is in fact his (identical to Elena) ex-girlfriend Katherine. She admits to manipulating his dreams with her vampire powers, prompting him to attack and her to toss him to the ground. Katherine wants to be civil, though, noting that deep down inside his “gorgeous body” (her quote, not the nodding fans’), he still loves her.
At the Mystic Grill, Damon greets Elena who says that she wants nothing to do with him. He replies, “OK. See you at Jenna’s barbecue.” He has convinced Elena’s aunt Jenna (Sara Canning) through her boyfriend Alaric (Matt Davis) to invite newcomer Mason Lockwood (Taylor Kinney) to a little get together. Damon’s plan: to put silver into Mason and prove he’s a werewolf. At a party? That’s just rude. Meanwhile, Mason is hilariously chill in the face of his nephew Tyler (Michael Trevino) discovering his secret: “What do you want me to say, man? Yes, turn into a wolf. No, it’s not going to happen to you.” Tyler is understandably furious, but his uncle refuses to explain exactly why Tyler won’t turn into a wolf.
Meanwhile, Katherine twirls her hair and acts Damonesque while Stefan, surprisingly calm, gives her a drink. She reminisces about the past and asks Stefan the question many viewers have wondered: why did he keep her photograph? She suggests that Stefan came back to Mystic Falls hoping to find her. He touches her face and says some sort of romance novel line before kissing her, faking the phony sentence well enough to keep the audience nervous. Then he stabs her in the back with a shot of anti-vampire vervain, recalling the time when Elena had to do/did the same to him.
Stefan chains her up in the basement and tortures her with vervain. (What makes the scene more uncomfortable, other than him putting on gloves and saying “we’re playing by my rules now,” is that Katherine looks exactly like Elena.) Katherine tells him that he didn’t have to do this, and answers his interrogations as to why she’s in Mystic Falls with more stories from the old days. Back in 1864, Katherine became aware that some of the Lockwoods were werewolves who planned to frame vampires for their own murders. (She also clarifies that vampires are stronger than werewolves in their human forms.)
Mason joins Jenna and Alaric, suggesting a whole new possible love triangle. (Jenna deserves it after the jerks she’s fallen for.) Damon arrives in full faux friendliness mode, responding to Mason’s comment, “I’ve heard great things about you,” with, “Really? That’s weird. Cause I’m a dick.” He smiles. Caroline (Candice Accola) munches away to fight her new-found craving for blood, commenting that Stefan hates that Elena is a constant temptation. Clearly doing Katherine’s bidding, Caroline continues to note that, "The desire to rip out your jugular every time he's with you--trust me it's there." Barbecue’s ready!
Katherine insists that she and Stefan still love each other, recounting his declaration after the Founders’ Ball. In Katherine’s flashback, Stefan stuns her by saying, “I look at you, and I see an angel.” As soon as she leaves him, Damon pounces on her. She forces him to go, meaning that she is either leaving something out or that Damon lied when he said they spent that night together. Whatever the case, she seems to be affected by Stefan’s innocence.
Our crew of two vampires, one werewolf, and two humans are now playing pictionary. This is an awesome party. Damon draws a picture of a dog in a tutu. Poor Mason calls it correctly: Dances with Wolves. They all insult Damon’s drawing as he traipses off to harass Elena in the kitchen, noticing Jenna’s silver collection. He hands a peach cobbler with a silver knife in it to Mason who uses his hands to help himself and apologizes: “I’m an animal.” Alaric subtly marks his territory with Mason over Jenna, but she is too drunk to notice the jealousy. I love how the behavior of these alpha males reflect pack mentality. Mason toasts “to new friends.”
Stefan learns that, in exchange for her freedom, Katherine sold out her vampire friends to George Lockwood and promised him a special something. She says she did this all without blinking, but her somber face may indicate that there is more to the story. Stefan is clearly shaken by all this, the fact that she never compelled him to love her, and that he and Damon died needlessly trying to save her.
Now that Jenna wants to break out guitar hero, Mason wants to bail. After another barb from Damon, Mason concedes, “You win. You’re hilarious.” He wants to be above a blood feud, but Damon hates people who are too good to fight and accuses Mason of trying to kill his brother. (As Damon once said, if anyone’s going to kill Stefan, it will be him.) Mason says he has no control once he changes, and Damon retorts, “What, no obedience school?” Mason is either very nice or very duplicitous, and since it is The Vampire Diaries, possibly both. He leaves, and Jenna enters, responding to Damon’s attempts at camaraderie with, “You’ve never dated you. I’ve dated many yous.” This isn’t quite true, since Katherine is a kind of Damon. The scene ends with Damon covertly grabbing a silver knife, practically whistling to semble innocence.
Elena goes off with Caroline to find Stefan, who hasn’t been returning her calls. Elena doesn’t seem to consider that her friend, now a bloodsucker, may be less than safe. Caroline secretly lets the air out of a tire and during the drive harps on Elena’s and Stefan’s relationship: “You are going to be 70 and in diapers, and he’s still going to be smoking hot.” When the tire goes flat, they pull over and Elena insists on walking to Stefan’s. Caroline is terrified, most likely about Katherine but possibly also about the fate of the poor tow guy who just arrived.
Damon follows Mason and stabs him in the stomach with the silver knife. Unfortunately for Damon, Mason heals almost instantaneously and declares that Damon has made a new enemy. Mason has been so cool about Damon, he deserves what he gets from Mason. Burning bridges is Damon’s forte.
As Elena heads towards the Salvatore mansion, Katherine threatens to kill Elena and everyone she loves. Stefan moves to stake her, but he looks like a fool when he hesitates. Katherine notices this, breaks free from her restraints, and once again knocks Stefan onto his rear. Apparently Katherine has built up an immunity to vervain over the past century and a half. She was just playing along, meaning his hardcore plan is a failure. At the sound of Elena’s voice, Katherine incapacitates him with a stake in the leg. Katherine approaches Elena, who asks how they look alike. Katherine brushes against Elena in a believably narcissistic manner and tells her that perhaps she isn’t asking the right question. With that, she is gone, Stefan appears, and both he and Elena are visibly unnerved.
Katherine meets a terrified Caroline in some bathroom, confirming that Caroline was working for her. First she was Damon’s lackey, now Katherine’s.
Tyler is waiting for Mason at home to ask him about how one becomes a werewolf and if Mason ever found the moonstone he was searching for (and Tyler is hiding). Frustrated, Mason reveals that killing someone triggers the curse. As violent as Tyler can be, he is shocked, but still keeps the moonstone to himself.
Stefan, Elena, Caroline, and Damon hang out at the Grill. Stefan and Elena sit at their own table and have a tense conversation about Katherine. Stefan indicates that it’s dangerous to be together, and Elena says that if they separate, they following Katherine’s plan: “She wants to get between us.” Stefan replies, “She already has.” Elena walks off. Caroline hears this and looks relieved. Damon listens in but his expression is ambiguous, a mixture of puzzled and amused, neither devastated nor pleased.
Damon heads outside to find Katherine lounging about. “Bad day?” she asks. “Bad century,” he replies. She warns him about playing hero around deadly werewolves and asks if he’s jealous she spent the day with Stefan. This time, he blows her off. Once again, Katherine has gone to Damon after Stefan rejected her, indicating that she might care more about him than she lets on. Why else would she plan to turn him into a vampire? (Perhaps she didn’t want Stefan to miss his big brother.) Damon and Katherine indeed have a lot in common, especially if Katherine’s tale of loving the unattainable Stefan is true.
Elena goes to her room, where Stefan awaits. They embrace, mulling over their apparently fake breakup manufactured to trick Caroline and appease Katherine. (Because I bought the breakup, Stefan’s presence in her bedroom momentarily worried me.) Elena asks, “All this to get you back?” Stefan smiles at her incredulity and assures her that Katherine doesn’t love him. No matter what Katherine claims, she is incapable of love.
As he says this, Katherine stares at the moon and remembers running off with George Lockwood. In a flashback, she gives him a moonstone, the same one Mason has been seeking. Before leaving Mystic Falls, she runs back to Stefan’s dead body and kisses him, repeating her line from his dream: she loves him and promises that they will be together again. (Like she told Stefan earlier, she can wait.) In the present, Katherine touches her lips and smiles. She may be psychotic, but her love for Stefan comes across as rather tragic.
This intense, frightening, funny, and strangely romantic episode left me with one important question:
Why doesn’t anyone have a Southern accent?
Memory Lane unsettles the viewer by beginning with what appears to be a flashback (there is even a “1864 - Lockwood mansion” subtitle), but it is in fact a dream that moves between the past and present. At the Founders’ Ball, Katherine lies that Stefan dances better than his brother Damon, and Stefan proves again that he doesn’t like the no touching rule while dancing (he commented in Miss Mystic Falls that the near-touch was “overrated”). Stefan turns towards his brother to see that he also has an escort--Elena, dressed in modern clothes and heading for a pool table.
He wakes to find Elena in his arms. Within a few seconds, he realizes that she is in fact his (identical to Elena) ex-girlfriend Katherine. She admits to manipulating his dreams with her vampire powers, prompting him to attack and her to toss him to the ground. Katherine wants to be civil, though, noting that deep down inside his “gorgeous body” (her quote, not the nodding fans’), he still loves her.
At the Mystic Grill, Damon greets Elena who says that she wants nothing to do with him. He replies, “OK. See you at Jenna’s barbecue.” He has convinced Elena’s aunt Jenna (Sara Canning) through her boyfriend Alaric (Matt Davis) to invite newcomer Mason Lockwood (Taylor Kinney) to a little get together. Damon’s plan: to put silver into Mason and prove he’s a werewolf. At a party? That’s just rude. Meanwhile, Mason is hilariously chill in the face of his nephew Tyler (Michael Trevino) discovering his secret: “What do you want me to say, man? Yes, turn into a wolf. No, it’s not going to happen to you.” Tyler is understandably furious, but his uncle refuses to explain exactly why Tyler won’t turn into a wolf.
Meanwhile, Katherine twirls her hair and acts Damonesque while Stefan, surprisingly calm, gives her a drink. She reminisces about the past and asks Stefan the question many viewers have wondered: why did he keep her photograph? She suggests that Stefan came back to Mystic Falls hoping to find her. He touches her face and says some sort of romance novel line before kissing her, faking the phony sentence well enough to keep the audience nervous. Then he stabs her in the back with a shot of anti-vampire vervain, recalling the time when Elena had to do/did the same to him.
Stefan chains her up in the basement and tortures her with vervain. (What makes the scene more uncomfortable, other than him putting on gloves and saying “we’re playing by my rules now,” is that Katherine looks exactly like Elena.) Katherine tells him that he didn’t have to do this, and answers his interrogations as to why she’s in Mystic Falls with more stories from the old days. Back in 1864, Katherine became aware that some of the Lockwoods were werewolves who planned to frame vampires for their own murders. (She also clarifies that vampires are stronger than werewolves in their human forms.)
Mason joins Jenna and Alaric, suggesting a whole new possible love triangle. (Jenna deserves it after the jerks she’s fallen for.) Damon arrives in full faux friendliness mode, responding to Mason’s comment, “I’ve heard great things about you,” with, “Really? That’s weird. Cause I’m a dick.” He smiles. Caroline (Candice Accola) munches away to fight her new-found craving for blood, commenting that Stefan hates that Elena is a constant temptation. Clearly doing Katherine’s bidding, Caroline continues to note that, "The desire to rip out your jugular every time he's with you--trust me it's there." Barbecue’s ready!
Katherine insists that she and Stefan still love each other, recounting his declaration after the Founders’ Ball. In Katherine’s flashback, Stefan stuns her by saying, “I look at you, and I see an angel.” As soon as she leaves him, Damon pounces on her. She forces him to go, meaning that she is either leaving something out or that Damon lied when he said they spent that night together. Whatever the case, she seems to be affected by Stefan’s innocence.
Our crew of two vampires, one werewolf, and two humans are now playing pictionary. This is an awesome party. Damon draws a picture of a dog in a tutu. Poor Mason calls it correctly: Dances with Wolves. They all insult Damon’s drawing as he traipses off to harass Elena in the kitchen, noticing Jenna’s silver collection. He hands a peach cobbler with a silver knife in it to Mason who uses his hands to help himself and apologizes: “I’m an animal.” Alaric subtly marks his territory with Mason over Jenna, but she is too drunk to notice the jealousy. I love how the behavior of these alpha males reflect pack mentality. Mason toasts “to new friends.”
Stefan learns that, in exchange for her freedom, Katherine sold out her vampire friends to George Lockwood and promised him a special something. She says she did this all without blinking, but her somber face may indicate that there is more to the story. Stefan is clearly shaken by all this, the fact that she never compelled him to love her, and that he and Damon died needlessly trying to save her.
Now that Jenna wants to break out guitar hero, Mason wants to bail. After another barb from Damon, Mason concedes, “You win. You’re hilarious.” He wants to be above a blood feud, but Damon hates people who are too good to fight and accuses Mason of trying to kill his brother. (As Damon once said, if anyone’s going to kill Stefan, it will be him.) Mason says he has no control once he changes, and Damon retorts, “What, no obedience school?” Mason is either very nice or very duplicitous, and since it is The Vampire Diaries, possibly both. He leaves, and Jenna enters, responding to Damon’s attempts at camaraderie with, “You’ve never dated you. I’ve dated many yous.” This isn’t quite true, since Katherine is a kind of Damon. The scene ends with Damon covertly grabbing a silver knife, practically whistling to semble innocence.
Elena goes off with Caroline to find Stefan, who hasn’t been returning her calls. Elena doesn’t seem to consider that her friend, now a bloodsucker, may be less than safe. Caroline secretly lets the air out of a tire and during the drive harps on Elena’s and Stefan’s relationship: “You are going to be 70 and in diapers, and he’s still going to be smoking hot.” When the tire goes flat, they pull over and Elena insists on walking to Stefan’s. Caroline is terrified, most likely about Katherine but possibly also about the fate of the poor tow guy who just arrived.
Damon follows Mason and stabs him in the stomach with the silver knife. Unfortunately for Damon, Mason heals almost instantaneously and declares that Damon has made a new enemy. Mason has been so cool about Damon, he deserves what he gets from Mason. Burning bridges is Damon’s forte.
As Elena heads towards the Salvatore mansion, Katherine threatens to kill Elena and everyone she loves. Stefan moves to stake her, but he looks like a fool when he hesitates. Katherine notices this, breaks free from her restraints, and once again knocks Stefan onto his rear. Apparently Katherine has built up an immunity to vervain over the past century and a half. She was just playing along, meaning his hardcore plan is a failure. At the sound of Elena’s voice, Katherine incapacitates him with a stake in the leg. Katherine approaches Elena, who asks how they look alike. Katherine brushes against Elena in a believably narcissistic manner and tells her that perhaps she isn’t asking the right question. With that, she is gone, Stefan appears, and both he and Elena are visibly unnerved.
Katherine meets a terrified Caroline in some bathroom, confirming that Caroline was working for her. First she was Damon’s lackey, now Katherine’s.
Tyler is waiting for Mason at home to ask him about how one becomes a werewolf and if Mason ever found the moonstone he was searching for (and Tyler is hiding). Frustrated, Mason reveals that killing someone triggers the curse. As violent as Tyler can be, he is shocked, but still keeps the moonstone to himself.
Stefan, Elena, Caroline, and Damon hang out at the Grill. Stefan and Elena sit at their own table and have a tense conversation about Katherine. Stefan indicates that it’s dangerous to be together, and Elena says that if they separate, they following Katherine’s plan: “She wants to get between us.” Stefan replies, “She already has.” Elena walks off. Caroline hears this and looks relieved. Damon listens in but his expression is ambiguous, a mixture of puzzled and amused, neither devastated nor pleased.
Damon heads outside to find Katherine lounging about. “Bad day?” she asks. “Bad century,” he replies. She warns him about playing hero around deadly werewolves and asks if he’s jealous she spent the day with Stefan. This time, he blows her off. Once again, Katherine has gone to Damon after Stefan rejected her, indicating that she might care more about him than she lets on. Why else would she plan to turn him into a vampire? (Perhaps she didn’t want Stefan to miss his big brother.) Damon and Katherine indeed have a lot in common, especially if Katherine’s tale of loving the unattainable Stefan is true.
Elena goes to her room, where Stefan awaits. They embrace, mulling over their apparently fake breakup manufactured to trick Caroline and appease Katherine. (Because I bought the breakup, Stefan’s presence in her bedroom momentarily worried me.) Elena asks, “All this to get you back?” Stefan smiles at her incredulity and assures her that Katherine doesn’t love him. No matter what Katherine claims, she is incapable of love.
As he says this, Katherine stares at the moon and remembers running off with George Lockwood. In a flashback, she gives him a moonstone, the same one Mason has been seeking. Before leaving Mystic Falls, she runs back to Stefan’s dead body and kisses him, repeating her line from his dream: she loves him and promises that they will be together again. (Like she told Stefan earlier, she can wait.) In the present, Katherine touches her lips and smiles. She may be psychotic, but her love for Stefan comes across as rather tragic.
This intense, frightening, funny, and strangely romantic episode left me with one important question:
Why doesn’t anyone have a Southern accent?
tvrecappersanonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI love reading your recaps, because you always manage to pick things up from the episode that I failed to notice on first watch.
You are ABSOLUTELY right! Not a single TVD cast member has even a hint of a Southern accent. (Although, if I recall, in this episode, "guest star" George Lockwood may have a had a slight one.)
Although the sheer lack of accents is technically inaccurate on the part of the directors (This is supposed to be Georgia, after all!), I have to say I'm a bit relieved about this. While I love HBO's True Blood (a.k.a. TVD's slutty, potty mouthed older sister), the ridiculously fake Louisiana accents in it are, for me, one of the show's worst qualities. And Anna Paquin, who I adore, is probably the worst offender, with her constant (and super grating) war cry of "BEAAAAAAAAL!"
So, at least, when I'm watching TVD, I can focus on what the actors are saying (and how hot they look while saying it), instead of groaning at Nina Dobrev's Georgia tainted cry for Steeeeeeeefyn!
OK. My accent-related rant is over. On to the more important stuff :)
I also like the point you made about Katherine being SO much like Damon, that it can actually be said that he "dated himself" back in 1864 (which would make perfect sense for a classic narcissist like Damon, wouldn't it?). But is it perhaps the other way around? In fact, both Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson mentioned multiple times that Damon learned his devious vampirey ways from Katherine. Like maker, like son . . . I guess.
Thanks, as always, for your beautifully written prose, and for making me delve deeper into this clearly very complex TVD installment.
October 4, 2010 7:38 PM
Elleoneiram said...
Thank you! I still haven't seen True Blood. I should check it out. Elena calling Stefan's name like that would be hilarious. Indeed, it is interesting that Damon picked up so much from her. He's obsessive (I guess Stefan kind of is too, but he knows when to let it go, I think), flirtatious, manipulative, but of course more vulnerable than Katherine at this point. She taught him to be a vamp. It's so interesting (and sad!) that right now she is giving Stefan all the attention.