Friday, October 29, 2010

The Vampire Dairies: Plan B (Season 2, Episode 6)


In Plan B, our heroes have tough time. In fact, everyone has a pretty bad day. But the episode is so fun it almost feels like a direct thank you to fans. And I thought this would be a low key episode.

Let's begin with Mason, who had the worst deal of them all. The highlight of his day must have been the morning romp with Katherine. (That excellent opening scene featured both Katherine/Mason and Elena/Stefan sex scenes.) A few hours later, Bonnie gives him multiple aneurisms, Stefan and Damon knock him out, and Damon tortures him with a hot poker and anti-wolf devices. Actor Taylor Kinney shows more emotion here than he has so far. Mason is sympathetic, protesting that he loves Katherine, making him one of her many saps. After an unpleasant afternoon, Damon rips his heart. A very bad day indeed.

Stefan foolishly jumped into a dark well full of vervain, which acted on him like acid. He survived, only to have his girlfriend dump him that night.

Katherine compelled Jenna to spy on Jenna's own niece (and listen to her have sex with her boyfriend?!) and then stab herself with a knife. Miraculously, she survived. Still - pretty embarrassing.

Caroline proved herself by helping save Stefan. More importantly, "Bonnie wasn't mean to [her] once!" She explained to her bigoted mother the ways of the vampire, noting that she was better at controlling herself around blood than Stefan the addict. Even though her mother accepted and validated her for perhaps the first time, Caroline knew it wasn't safe for her to know about the Salvatores' vampiric natures. She thus brainwashed her mom into forgetting everything related to that fact - including their recent bonding.

Katherine lost her werewolf lover but made up for that by having 25 backup plans.

Tyler thought his uncle Mason abandoned him. (Is that better or worse than knowing he suffered a painful death?)

Damon's day wasn't as bad. He mutilated Mason and even laughed in his face, but he did express some sympathy before putting Mason out of his misery. Then Damon showed unbelievable stupidity by calling and taunting Katherine. Stefan could only shake his head at this. (The two of them were adorable together. At one point, Stefan chastised and smacked Damon on the shoulder for dragging Jeremy into danger.) Ultimately, Damon got hit with a good dose of guilt.

Jeremy joined the team and didn't heed Elena's warnings since it was her fault he was involved.

Elena showed stunning bravery when she jumped into the (snake infested) well to save her boyfriend and retrieve the magical moonstone. After her dazed aunt stabbed herself in front of Elena, the girl tearfully told Stefan it was over. She has enough courage to go around. (And enough nosiness. She had to know everything that was going on. Makes sense.)

Bonnie pleased everyone by befriending Caroline and overcoming her prejudice. (And shows again that a girl can knock Mason down.)

In the final reveal, Katherine compels Matt into pursing Tyler until Matt is dead and Tyler is a werewolf.

Ah, Plan B. Where everyone endured heartbreak and tried to band together.

2 comments:

  1. LOVE your new blog! This particular format and layout really suits your TVD theme. I'm definitely going to add it to my blogroll!

    This was a fun recap. I like the way you broke down the episode, from each of the characters' perspectives.

    Interesting theory, regarding Aunt Jenna and Katherine. Aunt Jenna's line about Stefan and Elena being "loud" during sex, was just so bizarre and disturbing! Watching the episode, I just couldn't figure out what would possess her to say that!

    As it turns out "possess" is the operative word here. Although they never explicitly point out when exactly Katherine figured out that Stefan and Elena were lying about their "breakup," your theory as to the source of the discovery, makes a lot of sense.

    So, thank you for clearing that up for me! I can't wait to read your future recaps! As you know, I love talking TVD with you! :)

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  2. Thanks! Yes, Jenna's comment was a little creepy - but Stefan's hilarious expression made it so worth it.

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