The Lady is a Vamp

The Vampire Diaries

Season 4 episode 1 – "Growing Pains"


Dear Diary,

You would not believe the week I’ve had. Seriously, if you made a list of the worst possible things that could happen to you, put them in secession, times it by ten thousand and then made it dance in public you would have my week. I dare you to find someone who could have possibly had a worst time than I have... what happened to Elena?

Hit her head. Drank funny tea and was kidnapped. Thought every vampire she cared about was going to die. Elijah only came back for a second. All of this other horrible but extremely well written and acted stuff here. Accidently ate something funny and possibly life changing at the hospital.
What happened to Matt’s Truck!!!

Maybe, we should just talk about what took place after all that went down instead. Yes, let’s do that.

Season 4!!

And we’re back. Welcome. Did you survive the wait? Too soon, sorry. I guess, we all handle grief in our own ways. Some people use humour or go into denial, other people may self-destruct, some could find that the sadness consumes them, other’s mourn but eventually find peace and some take their anger out on perfectly innocent Quarterbacks who did absolutely nothing wrong and don’t deserve that kind of treatment. I am talking to you Damon, you are on the list.

After last season’s fantastic closing act, "Growing Pains" had a lot of ground to cover and it did it very, very well. Was it perfect, is anything (maybe Jeremy or Matt or Elijah or Dean Winchester I’m off topic,) but it was able to hit and tie up most of last season’s cliff hangers, throw in a few gut retching emotional moments, blow up a few cars and council members and oh yeah Elena Gilbert completed the transition and became a vampire.

Typical day in Mystic Falls really.

We open to a white screen which either means an island has disappeared in the south pacific or it was time for Elena to wake up. After a series of random noises picked up by her transition vampire (bat) ears, the recently deceased Miss Gilbert awoke to find that vampires in love really do watch over you while you sleep.

Elena as expected, was devastated to learn that she was in phase one of her possible afterlife. The tragedy of what was happening to Elena was incredibly well done in this scene, not only was it heartbreaking to see Elena learn that the one thing she had never wanted was happening to her, after she had knowingly sacrificed herself for her friend but on top of that to hear an eighteen year old girl scream that she was ready to die is very distressing.

Unfortunately it is after this that the issue of Elena not wanting to join the un-dead goes from being an issue of "if" to "when." As an audience we know that Elena is not going to die, she’s on the DVD cover I just bought (Season 3, good times, better wigs) but instead of spending time coming to terms with Elena’s loss we are thrust into a life or death battle where Elena isn’t really given an opportunity to grieve for all the human things that she is about to lose forever.

Elena's first entrance as a vampire was very epic and totally necessary (seriously stop the attacks on Matt, I don't think I could take a whole season of this) but instead of Damon acknowledging or grieving the fact that Elena is now a vampire, it turns into a discussion about the state of their love triangle.

It's like we missed the scene we're Elena decided that she was ok about going through with the transition. The episode was very focused on showing how horrible the physical process of becoming a vampire was but lost track on the emotional side of it. Maybe if there was a line of dialogue before she reached the point of nearly dying or was cut off from a human blood source, that said she would go through with it if Bonnie's spell hadn't worked. The fact that she had to fight so hard to get to the yummy guards blood kind of did that, but maybe if she had paused before she put her fingers to her lips, in a sort of silent acknowledgment and farewell to her humanity, showing that while this was not what she had wanted for herself, she wasn't just scared but that she was choosing to survive.

　
Death becomes her and everyone else

Now, before you fire up the torches and sharpen those pitchforks, remember I did love the episode, the physical side of the transition was extremely well done and showed how disturbing and traumatic it is in a way we didn't get to see with Vicki or Caroline. Plus having Elena literally walk into the moments that Damon had compel her to forget was brilliant. That scene, wow. Forehead kisses and returned cursed jewellery for everyone.

Other stuff that happened this episode:

- After a thousand years Klaus has finally learnt why you never let younger siblings near your stuff. They are always breaking something.

- Bonnie went to the dark side again and instead of a T-shirt-shirt and an alive friend, she got her ghostly Grandmother re-killed. RIP Grams, you'll always be awesome, no matter how many times they murder you.

- How awesome was Michael Trevino portraying Klaus. Very, that's how awesome. I know some people had a problem with the fact he didn't use an English accent, but when Klaus was controlling the late and great Alaric, accents never changed, so I didn't have a problem with it here. It's the walk not the talk.

- I'm also glad the Klaus/Tyler hybrid never got past many bases with Caroline. That would have had too many shades of season 1 Caroline-Damon ickness to it.

- Stefan and Elena in the cattle pens. I was smiling and crying too.

- The last five minutes. Woah! Way to go out with a bang (sorry, too soon, that was too soon) Goodbye weird council who despite years of random "animal attacks" only got their act together for one episode and sorry to all those actors who thought that they were going to be this years main villains, maybe they need some more adults on Teen Wolf (Teen Wolf is awesome!)

Well, that's it for the first episode of Season 4. Wasn't bad, I might just stick around and obsess over the next twenty-one as well. Next time funny enough is episode 2. Entitled "Memorial" we may be getting a chance to mourn Elena humanity along with a cast of a thousand council members as well.

So some questions to finish:

Who will be the seasons big bad now the council and earth have parted ways?
Is it lamps?

All this and more on the Vampire Diaries.

Enjoy your week, I'm off to make "Leave Matt alone" T-shirts. I hope that you will be doing the same,

x0x0

Hanniebee

　

The end where I begin

The Vampire Diaries

Season 3 episode 22 - "The Departed"

Dear Diary,

What would you do if you knew this was your last day as a human?

Spend it with loved ones, give up, fight to hold onto your humanity, run wild in fields of vervain, walk into places you've never been invited in.

Unfortunately for Elena Gilbert her last day as a human was filled with heartache, despair, terror, loss and the occasional kidnapping, though to the anointed that’s typically just a day in Mystic Falls.

One of the strongest character traits Elena has had was her resolve to never become a vampire. Katherine turned herself to avoid being sacrifice, Isobel used Damon to turn her for undisclosed reasons, but Elena had chosen to never go down that path, a choice that was respected to the point her birth father (Uncle John the Jerk) gave up his life so she would remain human.

Unfortunately life doesn't always respect your choices.

Holding on and Letting Go

The Departed deals with the life that Elena no longer gets to have. She'll never have the normalcy she had with her parents post-vampires and she desperately clung to and craved. But if Damon is to be believed she never really meant to or at one point wanted a normal life.

But that's easy enough to understand. When you're in high school, I imagine particularly in a very small town like Mystic Falls, you want nothing more for something exciting, an adventure. But her passion for life and thrills changed once her parents died and reality sunk in.

It doesn't matter what she wanted before that point, because since then she has to try and survive in the darkness that followed and never fully recovered. It's that pain and stark reality, vampires aren't sparkly and people get hurt and die sinks in and you just want things back the way they were. Unfortunately for Elena that's never going to happen.

It is my opinion that the Vampire Diaries is one of the best written television shows on at the moment. Yes they have been high and low points (which really the lows are only low compared to the extremely high standard of this show) If you look back and take in Elena's arc for this season it’s been more than love triangles and Originals, it's been the lead up to this game changing moment. (Plus how many shows would have the guts to kill off one of its leads and bring them back as a vampire.)

We started Season 3 with Elena's birthday, the starting point for the next stage of someone’s life and we ended it with Elena's death, mirroring the point when her normal life ended ad signalling the next stage, her afterlife.
　
Most people think that their problems are the worst or that something is the most horrible thing that they could possible go through until it’s not. For Elena once upon a time her biggest problem was that she didn’t know if she could break Matt's heart or not, than her parents died. That caused a series of events more frightening and difficult than she could have possibly imagined. They were highs (Hello Salvatore brothers) but there were definitely lows, but it came back to that one horrible instant when her parents died. That’s when a new Elena Gilbert was born. Matt and Elena discussed this on the bridge in "Our Town" (again kudos to the writing team A pluses all around) Elena was a new person because of that event and it is that new person that fell in love with Stefan Salvatore.

Elena off handling mentions that if she met Damon first maybe she would have chosen him and I think that is true. The Elena that Damon met, before that accident would have chosen Damon. He was exciting, dangerous, the kind of excitement that you wouldn't normally get living in mystic falls. The Damon that Elena met that night would have welcomed and love the adventure and challenge that being with Damon brought, but that Elena hadn't met reality yet and felt the excoriating pain of losing someone.

This is why her choice to be with Stefan makes sense. The brutality of losing her parents changed her, she wants security, safely, a love she can always be sure of and Damon can't provide that for her (yet?)

Stefan is the love of her human life and that's ok. She's allowed to feel that. The same way its ok for to her have feelings for Damon but not choose him.

Things look all sparkly and new

That being said Vampire Elena is a whole other story. Now all the cards are off the table and the table has been blown to hell, stomped on, had the ashes, set on fire, scooped up and thrown to the wind than eaten by a pterodactyl.

Having Elena become a vampire resets everything, the love triangle is fresh again with anyone now a chance at being endgame, Klaus has lost his way to produce his hybrids friends, Matt will have to deal with the guilt of being the one to survive, Jeremy who has lost so much to vampires will face the last member of his family becoming one after trying so hard to save her, Alaric is gone to the ghostly world of vampire diaries cast casualties, and Bonnie and Caroline will have to deal with the fallout of the new transition to their best friend.

Some people may be concerned about how Vampire Elena won't be any different from Katherine, but I have faith that Nina Doberv who has handled and excelled any part that they've thrown at her will be nothing short of fantastic.

(Besides who thought that the romantic lead of this show would spend half the season trying to tear everyone's throats out and excel about convincing us that the old Stefan was gone as well as being awesomely evil and sympathetic at the same time- these guys know what there're doing, it's cool)

So many emotions

Other stuff that happened that I should probably talk about:

- The whole episode completely slayed me. From the look at life for Elena before, seeing her parents and Jenna, footballer Matt and psychic Bonnie to the finally heartbreaking ten minutes, the juxtaposition between Elena's father giving up his life for Elena as Elena was doing for Matt, was really emotional for me ok, and it was ok that I was crying no matter what my brother says. Stefan sitting there in the morgue watching over Elena's body, ok now I'm crying again.

- I thought I was done mourning Alaric after "Do not go gentle" but damn it if I didn't literally feel my heart being ripped from my chest as the real Alaric, ghost style said goodbye to Jeremy. From Jeremy facing having lost another loved one to realising what it meant for his sister. So many emotions during this hour people, I honestly don't think I've quite recovered from it. 

- UbervampRic stabbed Klaus in the Chest. HE STABBED HIM AND HE CAUGHT FIRE. I don't even, what, how, noooooo. Pretty much sums up my reaction to that experience. I'm pleased to say that news of his death was greatly exaggerated because Bonnie swapped his handsome English self into the body of his former protégée Tyler, the beau of the girl that Klaus currently fancies. I see what they did there.

- So evil Bonnie's happening right? RIGHT. 

-People need to stop trying to kill Jeremy and Matt. There are plenty of other people in town. Just leave them alone. Sincerely, Hanniebee.

-So much happened I didn't even get to the fact that Elijah back, Elijah was back, Elijah was back. Ok I’m done. 

-If I was Rebekah I'd just leave town, no dance is worth going to for what she's about to face. 

- I'm excited to know what is going to happen to Meredith after this. She was one of my favourite characters in the books as I might have mentioned and BOOK SPOILER: Alaric was her primary love interest there and how she was connected to the gang in the television series: OK DONE- so it will be interesting how she is integrated further into the story, now that the council knows her secret and she is responsible for helping Elena to transition. I’ve heard that a position for a day drinker just opened up in the Gilbert residence.

Well, that's it for this season, thank you so much for reading, I've really enjoyed writing about and hope to continue to do so next season (which is Wednesday the 17^th October on Fox8 6:30pm non-daylight savings, 7:30pm daylight saving for you Australian viewers playing along at home)

Wahoooooooo!

Ok, back to maturity now. That was one hell of an episode to close off one fantastic season.
　
Until next time, if you hit your head really hard than drink tequila make sure you check first what the doctors trying to give you.

Always and forever,

Hannie Bee

No Mr Mikaelson, I expect you to die.

The Vampire Diaries

Season 3 episode 21 "Before Sunset"

Dear Diary,

Have you recovered? Are you good?

I'm not, I'm still a mess and the emotional turmoil I experienced throughout this amazing episode probably didn’t help.

I’ll start by saying Rest in Peace Alaric. I say that because that thing that was wandering around the halls of Mystic Falls high, spending way more time in a classroom than any of his students probably  ever have was not the real Alaric. That was ubervampRic, a monstrous creature who kidnaps fantastic characters, pins them to desks with pencils and gags them with soggy vervain soaked rags and for that he must die.

Let's discuss shall we.

Rubbing Salt in the wounds

The day after the decade dance or as I like to call it the day everyone wakes up and says "why do we still have those things?"

Between body swapping hi-jinks, lines of salt, VW bugs, mass casualties, learning the Charleston and finding the time to dye your eyes to match your gown, it's a lot of effort for a dance.

We open the episode with UbervampRic just chilling like a villain waiting for the cleanup crew to arrive. A cleanup crew, which apparently consists of only two people, one that went to the dance and one who didn't, who must have gotten there really early to clean up all that salt (sorry, the whole salt thing bugs me 1) how did no-one notice a crazy lady pouring all that salt around that gym or did she promise everyone who saw enough tequila to match and 2) Why did no one just try sweeping the salt aside? The Winchesters would have done it. I'm just saying.)

Within the few seconds it takes from UbervampRic when appears chasing the two vampires through the halls of Mystic Falls High to snapping Caroline's neck and dragging her back through the damning sun, it is made very clear that the old Alaric is gone. The imagine of the once heroic Alaric dragging the lifeless body of Caroline, fighting the pain while he burns,  pulling her back into the darkness, is one of two haunting images that stayed with me for a long time after watching this episode.

I love it when a plan comes together

UbervampRic’s mission was simple kill the Mikaelson’s. All of them, Elijah (he better not touch Elijah) Kol, Rebekah, Klaus and once all the Originals are gone, every single vampire in the world will follow.

Simple right?

Nope! Turns out wiping out an entire race of monsters is not that easy.

While the Mystic Falls Band of Merry Vampires and Friends (this time including Klaus) are terrible at successfully pulling off their own plans, they are even better at screwing up the plans of others.

In quick succession they manage to rescue Elena and Caroline from vampRic, only for Klaus to kidnap Elena for his own personal blood drive, before they get her back again and manage to successfully put down Klaus (the task they have being trying to pull off since season 2) by using the plan they were going to use to silence vampRic.

Earlier in the episode, Bonnie the every friendly, broke out the remembrall and recalled the vampire dehydrating spell we had learnt about sometime mid-season.

The gist was that Bonnie would give the vampire rescue heroes some of her blood, kill a human being and while one of the vampires had a grip on vampRic she would desiccate the afterlife out of him.

The tides are soon turned however with the spell used against Klaus (who had actually spent the first half of the episode on Team Salvatore’s side till he learnt how to kill ubervampRic -Common goals be damned, he had a hybrid army to build and only so much doppelganger to do it with.)  

For me, the second most haunting scene this episode for me and the one that instantly comes to mind when I think about “Before Sunset”, is the look on Joseph Morgan’s (Klaus) face as the ancient hybrid slowly started to desiccate, being held down by his former friend and his once sire bound protégée. That expression of shock, horror, pain, grief, sadness and betrayal that cross the actor’s face is truly heartbreaking and wonderful. There is no way that Klaus is staying in that coffin right? Even though his siblings would probably find some poetic justice in that. 

Dude’s dead, let’s party!

Note to self: Head trauma, severe blood loss and paint fumes do not mix.

 After a very bad day that included: being held hostage by the parental figure she had just started mourning, threatening to kill herself in order to destroy that parental figure, nearly being drained dry to create a hybrid army for the fiend who had killed you, your Aunt and basically been a thorn in your side since day one and still after all this having to try and make a choice between the two loves currently circling around her, you can’t really blame Elena for wanted to join in the spontaneous party to celebrate Klaus’s “death.”

After all, wasn't that what they had been trying to achieve since season 2? Time to party! The whole kitchen scene with the original Mystic Falls gang toasting to a Klaus free life was very touching and extremely sweet and totally meant that something very bad was about to happen very soon.

And very bad it was. Elena, while trying to paint away the bad memories from Alaric and Jenna’s old room suddenly collapsed.

 I’m no doctor but when your unconscious and blood starts coming out of your nose that can’t be very good.

I’ll huff and I’ll puff

Other stuff that happened this episode:

- The soccer ball siege of Gilbert Hall may just be one of my favourite things ever done on this show, “Missed Me!”

-  Limiting vampRic’s time to Elena’s lifespan was very clever and a pretty good way to keep your show’s lead alive.

- Really, again with the Jeremy killing, don’t you understand what that does to me?

- Anybody else get Dark Willow chills when Bonnie was doing that spell or was it just me?

- VampRic ratted out everyone to the council, uncool man, uncool.

- I liked Tyler this episode. He was good. I approve.

-  Did you really think that there would be a resolution to the show’s major love triangle in the second last episode? Clearly you have never watched television before.

Next time, the season 3 finale! Wahoo. Will Elena be alright? Will she pass away before even  making a choice in the world’s cruelest love triangle twist ever, leaving thousands of fans heartbroken? Will Bonnie go evil? Where is Elijah?  What happened to Jeremy’s dog?!!!

These are things we need to know.

Until next episode, which just between us girls, I’m kind of excited about. 

XOXO,

Hannie bee

The History Teacher

The Vampire Diaries

Season 3 episode 20 "Do Not Go Gentle"

Dear Diary,

Life is a lesson in tragedy.

They stood in the candle light. A silent salute for the man they loved. The man who had saved them, befriended them, took care of them, believed in them, died for them, drank with them.

This was the last stand of Alaric Saltzman.

In his final moments, Alaric, the hunter, sat with the vampire he had come to town to kill. The vampire who, to prove a point, had killed his teaching predecessor.

The vampire who since then had become his murderer, his confidant, his drinking buddy and best friend.

This moment was only for Alaric and Damon. Two men, who both had been damaged and consumed by the Petrova women they had loved and somehow survived. Who had both had found a life there, in Mystic Falls.

As a single tear rolled down his face, he took one last drink.

Alaric was ready. He was prepared to die, if it meant protecting the people he loved. And in his life he had found love. He had found a friend. He had found a family. Two children, as lost in the world of the supernatural as he was, who needed him in their lives, just as much as he needed them in his.

He would have given his life for them, and so, with his last act of freewill, he did.

What he couldn’t have known was that this would not be the way his story would end.

His sacrifice stolen by a mother who could no longer allow the monsters she created, her very own children, to live.

Life is a lesson in tragedy.

At least for the history teachers of Mystic Falls.

Be Still Alaric Saltzman,

Hannie Bee. 

The Talking Dead

The Vampire Diaries

Season 3 episode 19 – “Heart of Darkness”

Dear Diary,

Damon and Elena kissed. Damon and Elena kissed. Damon and Elena kissed.

Kiss and (Mo)Tel

 Episode 19, season 3, what an episode! 

 At Stefan's persistence and because Elena needs a tall, strapping vampire chaperone to go anywhere, the dynamic partnership known worldwide as Delena embarked on an Road/Plane trip to Denver. With a mission more important than any other undertaken on this show (except for those times that they needed to unstake Elijah) they were going to get Jeremy back!! Missed you Jeremy. I'm less anxious when you're on my TV screen instead of faraway places being threatened at a distance.

The mission they chose and accepted was two part. 1) Find Jeremy and warn about his psycho making bling I hope and 2) use his Haley Joel Osment-ness to contact Rose and find out who her sire was and through them what Original bloodline they were linked to. Can't you just imagine the Mystic Falls gang of merry vampire lovers sitting around in a circle, fingers crossed, chanting "please be Elijah! Please be Elijah!"

After a brief interlude and bashing by the “youngest” Original brother Kol, the two Gilberts and one Mr Salvatore ended up at a motel and while shacked up in Denver, with her ex-boyfriend currently torturing/drinking with her step-father-room mate and Damon’s dead ex-flame searching the globe for an original vampire groupie, Elena decided to explore her feelings for Damon. And explore them she did.

That kiss. Wow. I believe Damon said it best in the season 2 premiere: “it's back to fireworks and rockets and back to the glare”

After the kiss was a different story though. Having crushed from the buzz and seeing their last hope of finding the truth about the bloodlines struck out, Elena was not feeling the love and we were back to the will they, won’t they of the Delena/Stelena relationship battle.

While this may seem like a back step, it is actually a baby step forward. Despite the back pedal Elena did something about her obviously confusing feelings for Damon, rather than just saying she doesn’t know her she feels. Elena knows how she feels; she just doesn’t know what to do about it. Which is fair enough, neither brother has been perfect, with the murdering of people and such and there are a lot of factors and possible hurt feelings to consider and for someone who has lost so many people already the prospect that you might lose any one else that you loved would be terrifying.

Still, has the love triangle gone on for a very long time? Yes. Do you have a right to be frustrated by Elena's indecision? Yes. In reality hearing someone constantly complain about having to choose between two extremely handsome suitors who would both go to ends of the earth for you is a legitimate reason to unfriend someone of Facebook, you betcha.

But when you look at the show's original pitch, it's basic premise, the hook that made it somewhat different to Twilight, it wasn't about family or friendship or loyalty or ancient bloodlines or a town called Mystic Falls and its madcap inhabitants, the doppelgangers who visit and it's inept police force, it was about a young girl who had experienced a tragedy and the two vampire brothers who love her. In short, relax the love triangle between Elena, Damon and Stefan is the show's home base, it's not going anywhere. Worry about end game at the end of the game. In the mean time please enjoy the generous amount of screen time given to Ian Somerhalder's torso.

A Rose by any other name needs to but out of it. 

In saying all that about the love triangle I really didn't like the way they used Rose to explain it during her final scene with Jeremy.

I understand that the writer's want to lay everything out so as an audience we understand why Damon after everything is a legitimate contender for Elena's affections but in my opinion I felt that it needed to Elena, not Rose, saying this or coming to the conclusion that Damon is either the best or worst thing for her, in order to give if he her ultimate choice some strength or justification. Despite all the other characters and plot twists and moon stones, this has always been Elena's story and as an audience we need to discover and see how she feels about Damon and see her struggle with decision, not hear it explained by another secondary character to someone else who doesn't ultimately play any part in the decision (even if they wanted to have an opinion.)

Agree or disagree?

Quite Contrary 

Other stuff that happened this episode:

- No wonder Alaric couldn't sleep after reading Moby Dick, "An aggressive hunter, completely consumed  with his hatred and obsessively chasing down the monstrous creature that could led to his doom" And they thought Dr Jerkyl and Mr Hyde was symbolic. 
- To whoever chose Matt Donovan/Zach Roerig t shirt this episode, you are a hero among men and women and should be knighted immediately.
- Despite my earlier complaint I was really happy to see Lauren Cohan aka Rose again. I liked her character and was sad when she died, but having just watched the second season of The Walking Dead was awfully confused and upset when Daryl Dixon (the ultimate squirrel eater) didn’t appear.
- So Rebecca is now Esther, everyone thinks that Esther is dead and Body swapping high jinxes will ensue, it really must be time for another decade dance.
- How with all the baseball bats being thrown around and used to stab people this episode did no one stop and think to make a Vampire Bat joke?
- After Tyler's reaction to Klaus's pony picture of Caroline anyone else struggling to see the difference between pre and post sire bond breaking Lockwood?
-Why did no one think of the No-Vamps allowed cave? Why are they not trying to create more No-Vamps allowed caves? I've said it before; get that spell on the Gilbert household stat.

Next episode: Suits!

Ta ta for now,

Hanniebee. 

Your ex is on fire

The Vampire Diaries
Season 3 episode 18 - "The Murder of One" 

Dear Diary,

So much has happened since the last time we spoke. After the disaster of a ball, which you would think after one whole day of planning might have gone better, things kind of started to unravel.

Firstly, it was a bad day for mothers and their children in the land of Mystic Falls. Mrs Mikelson linked all her kids together with a magically blood tree than she tried to kill them all using a plan that involved all manner of Bennets, past and present. Naturally it was doomed to fail with someone being turned into a vampire than pouting about it (I miss the Martins; I know nobody else does but I do.)

Elijah wore a lot of black so you knew he was upset about something (it's the same way you knew Zac Efron was going to sing an angry song in High School Musical) Rebekah trapped Elena in the eternal cave of 'go away Vamp" and threatened her with matches and filmed ancient cave drawings that revealed that the Great Papa Oak tree was a rolling stone.

Elijah left again. Flashbacks ensued. Alaric was evil. He tried to kill everybody. Like Frodo before him it could all be blamed it on the bling.

Damon said awesome things. Probably because he was remembering that time he had a crow. Some vampire named Sage showed up, she did things; it made me mad, I don't want to talk about it. There was a bridge. They burnt the bridge. Because of said burning The Originals now think that dear old mum is their only problem. Little did they know that Alaric's lack of commitment to the preservation of Mystic Falls landmarks may just be their downfall.
Raising the Stakes
And we're back. Welcome to the "Murder of One" I don't know about you but I liked it. And by liked I mean loved. And by loved I mean "Did you see what they did there. Did you see what they did there!!!." After a couple of uneven episodes in my opinion, you can disagree with me if you want I'm often wrong, the writer's have managed to pull all strands of story stretching across the seasons, from the blood link to Sage to the white oak tree to Katherine and Rose, together in one massive twist that has serious and deadly consequences for half the series regulars on the show.

As we find out in the third act of episode 18 if you kill an Original Vampire, you no longer just take out the original family or family member as Bonnie's last second reversal spell removed the link, but you take out that Original's entire blood line.

Bravo. All the prizes forever and always. What makes a twist like this work so well is the fact that it has clearly been built up to.

It makes sense that after a season (or three) where blood, blood lines and family have been so important and pressed upon that it would be that same connection dooms them.

In my vast casual television viewing you see TV shows that throw in a twist towards the end of the hour to be note worthy or to shock you but there was no build up to it. It's a twist just for the sake of having a twist and makes just sense in the context of what you just watched. The Vampire Diaries is becoming a master class in how to create a rewarding twist (Sun and Moon curse anyone) It can still shock you in an "I never saw that coming or I can't believe that just happened way" but still work within their own expanding and understood mythology, which for loyal viewers means that the payoff is so much more fun.
　

Vervain Shots, Bear Traps and Blood Vials oh my. 

Some other stuff happened this episode before poor, ancient Finn burst into flames so I should probably talk about that:

- Was it Esther’s plan all along to not only kill her children when she linked them but to also take out all vampires through their blood lines or was that an unexpected side effect? Would an Original vampire’s death have taken out all their vampire “children” anyway?

-Dear villains of Mystic Falls, please stop threatening to kill Jeremy KTHXBYE

-Sage, urgh. That's pretty much it. Which is a shame because I really, really wanted to like the character. Cassidy Freemen was great on Smallville and I met her once at Supernova (it's comic con if everyone was Australian) and she was really, really nice but I just couldn't like her character here so I wasn't very sad to see her go.

Book Spoiler Alert- There is also a character of Sage in the more recent Vampire Diaries novels (The Return series onwards) Sage is a close male friend of Damon, who is described as an old and powerful Vampire who works as a guardian of a magical gate in alternate dimension. So slightly different character portrayal here -OK I'm done.

 
-Klaus: - "Let's all say a prayer for Finn, who slept in a box longer than he lived as a man” I hope someone eulogizes me so sweetly one day - "Hanniebee spent more time in front of the TV than she did outside."

-Matt staked a vampire. Matt staked an ORIGINAL Vampire. That means he's safe forever now, yes? 

-Bonnie was awesome this episode. Bonnie is a character we rarely get to see the emotional side of, with most of her story or mourning period whether for her Grams or Mum always playing off screen but her melt down beside her car after the day she had was beautifully played and heartbreaking. Though spending a day with Joseph Morgan probably wouldn't bother me. 

-Call back to the soap dish!! Love the soap dish. 

- I understand that Stefan (and the world) wanted to get Damon back from "bear trap Beks" but why trade the stakes. Klaus didn't know about them and Rebekah thought they had burnt up the last of the white oak. If they wanted some sort of leverage they should just have made Stefan give Klaus a bff's 4ever bracelet than have him smolder at Rebekah for a couple of seconds and while they were swooning sneak Damon out the back and no original would have been the wiser.

- Evil Alaric has the last white oak stake hidden somewhere. And by hidden they mean he accidentally dropped last time he was at the Mystic Falls Grill and it's still laying on the floor near the bar somewhere waiting for Matt to find on his next shift.

That’s it for the “Murder of One” Thank you for reading!! 

Next episode, Jeremy and Tyler are both back, one or more people may be shirtless and Buffy shows up wondering why Williow never thought of a "killing one, kills all vampires" spell while she was busy floating pencils. 

Until we meet again gentle readers, remember that if the lighting suddenly changes in the mansion where you are being held hostage for no apparent reason it's probably just a dream.

XOXO,
Hanniebee.