The Vampire Diaries: Brave New World (Season 2, Episode 2)

There is something peculiar about the second episode of the second season of The Vampire Diaries. Perhaps it is the sense that months, not hours, have passed since the smashing premier. Whatever the case, the plot is very Vampire Diaries: as heroine Elena and her best friend Bonnie set up a Mystic Falls carnival, their friend Caroline wakes up in the hospital as a vampire. Meanwhile, vampire brothers Stefan and Damon check out potentially paranormal dudes Mason and Tyler. Since this is such a character driven episode, I’ll comment on each character’s journey.

Elena is remarkably composed considering her brother Jeremy died in front of her only the night before. Granted, he came back to life thanks to a magical ring, but she didn’t immediately know that. Her complete denial (she refused to discuss anything supernatural) is believable, but her ability to focus is not. What works is her eventual emotional disintegration. She refrains from confiding in her boyfriend Stefan (gasp!) and states that recent events were nobody’s fault. Hanging over her statement are the facts that recent disasters were indeed individuals’ faults and that her boyfriend’s vampiric nature compounds matters.

Bonnie goes from cracking lines about Caroline killing them if the festival is a failure and being out of team Jacob t-shirts to watching her friend turn into what she hates most. After Caroline kills Bonnie’s new crush, Bonnie nearly kills Damon with her witch powers. While her reaction is irrational (“everything is Damon’s fault”), it is a tragically believable demonstration of her festering hatred against the vicious Damon.

Jeremy is understandably confused and angry after Damon snapped his neck. At first, against Stefan’s advice, he confronts Damon and is bested. However, by the end of the episode, he nearly turns the table on Damon. Last week, his conversation with his vampire hunting uncle foreshadowed a Jeremy who had vampire hatred in his veins. Instead, he admits that killing Damon and other vampires won’t change anything, and that his attempt to kill Damon is more due to an identity crisis than vengeance. [Damon is impressive. Both men he’s killed (Alaric and Jeremy) seem to think of him as an okay dude.] Their conversation is actually quite funny and poignant. This scene demonstrates one aspect of the show that viewers appreciate: characters demonstrate unexpected maturity. Though this can be a contrivance (no one kills Damon because they are “better than that”), it is something lacking on television that people crave.

Tyler confesses his anger management problems to his curious uncle Mason. Though Mason is still not particularly compelling, I like Tyler. He initially came across as a stereotypical jerk, but soon genuine emotions surfaced. Mason’s mystery, lemur-like acrobatics (his excuse: Brazilian martial arts), and interest in a family heirloom pique Tyer’s interest. He is aware of vampires though he claims not to believe in them, so his reaction to the vamps in Mystic Falls should be intriguing.

Caroline is the heart of this episode. Her transformation is marvelous. “What’s that smell?” she asks the orderly when she wakes up hungry. (Blood bags.) Sunlight stings, as does her vervain (anti-vampire herb) laced necklace. Her face transforms in painful and terrifying ways. In these eerie scenes, Caroline is in turns repulsed, famished, overly peppy, and anguished. She discovers her ability to brainwash, and instructs one victim to attribute her bite marks to a kinky husband. In true Caroline style, sporting fabulous heels, she faces her former abuser Damon, knocks him down, and tells him, “You SUCK.”

Her all-American boyfriend Matt is, of course, in for a ride. Though he is one of two boyfriends in this episode who sneaks into his girlfriend’s bedroom, he earns points by immediately confessing his love for Caroline. After so many doubts on his end, as they embrace, Caroline is the concerned one. But thanks to Stefan the vampire sponsor, she is able to control her urges to drain him dry. It’s a relieving scene for a somewhat rocky couple.

Both Damon and Stefan seem to have miraculously recovered from the previous day’s train wreck. Damon is still fixated on Elena. He asks if he’s in her every conversation; unbeknownst to him, she has forbidden anyone from mentioning his name. He is also gung ho about ending vampire Caroline. He underestimates her and asks if anyone remembers the “tragic story of Vicki Donavan,” the last young lady turned vampire. (Stefan staked her when she tried to eat Elena and Jeremy.) Damon goes in for the kill, causing an intense but ridiculous moment between him and Elena as she leaps in front of Caroline. Though Damon is flippant about what he’s done to Jeremy and the poor man Caroline eats, he seems more miserable than dangerous in this episode.

To raise his spirits, he becomes hilariously obsessed with Mason and Tyler Lockwood. He and Stefan have a brilliant conversation as they, two vampires, observe Mason and Tyler, two werewolves, arm wrestle. Damon volunteers Stefan to go against Mason. Stefan lets him win, but notes that Mason was stronger than a human. Damon: “If they’re not vampires, what are they?” Stefan: “Ooh, maybe they’re Ninja Turtles.” Damon: “You’re not funny.” Stefan: “Zombies. Werewolves.” Damon: “No comedic timing, at all.” (Incidentally, Damon refers to them as Combat Turtles, and Stefan corrects him. Could Damon be unaware of the Ninja Turtle phenomenon?)

This brings us to Stefan, who is behaving rather bizarrely. There appears to be three possible reasons for this change: 1) he’s drinking human blood again; 2) Katherine’s appearance has shaken him; 3) the writers want him to have more “personality.” The new Stefan is all good, but I miss calm Stefan. He jokingly calls Elena a slave driver, describes Jeremy’s snapped neck as “a little bit of an ordeal,” and concludes the episode by pulling an Edward Cullen: he sneaks into Elena’s bedroom and whisks her into the air. (They kiss at the top of a ferris wheel.) He also contradicts Elena’s comment about Katherine’s ill deeds, “She’s doing this to me, isn’t she?” He responds, “Actually, she’s doing this to me.” This may be an attempt at comfort and he may be right, but disagreeing with Elena and directing attention to himself are uncharacteristic. Absolutely in character is his counseling of Caroline. That very sweet scene indicates that he is convincing both her and himself that control is possible. However, it makes one wonder if Stefan is taking on too much. He is now determined to protect Caroline, her potential victims, Elena, and Jeremy.

Brave New World ends somewhat ominously. There is no twist. Instead, Elena asks if things are going to get any easier. Stefan replies, no, they aren’t. This episode felt off, but perhaps its intent was to unsettle.