The Vampire Diaries – Episode 2-9 Review

Reviews, Shows, Top Story

It’s almost as if the writers of The Vampire Diaries read my review last week, because they specifically answered pretty much every one of my questions and clarified any issues I was confused about.  Sure, the episode itself was filmed months ago – and likely written months before that – but still, I was impressed.

This episode, which primarily focused on Elena’s personal interview with a vampire – in this case, her ancestor Katherine – we came to understand the full details of why Klaus and Elijah are after Elena (they need a human doppelganger), why Katherine needing the moon rock (it binds the curse), and why Katherine needed a werewolf (one needs to be sacrificed).  As an added bonus, we discovered that Katherine turning Caroline into a vampire wasn’t some random act of villainy (there must be a vampire sacrifice as well), and we came to understand why she surrounds herself with witches (one is necessary to break the curse).  And, of course, we learned why they want to break the spell, even though they all roam around in daylight anyway (if a vampire doesn’t do it, a werewolf might.  And then they are bound by the spell while the werewolves are released from it).  They really did cover all bases.

And through flashbacks, we came to learn a lot more about the psycho bitch vampire herself.  Her family lineage is a secret because she had a child out of wedlock, and the baby was given up.  We also saw the circumstances behind her betrayal of Trevor and Rose, although I do have to ask:  Did Katherine honestly do anything wrong here?  Sure, she was a little loose, but her relationship with Klaus seemed pretty innocent (on her behalf, anyway).  And I don’t think she even used Trevor.  He willingly told her to go to Rose’s cabin, without any provocation.  Once she arrived, it was Rose who essentially kept her captive and openly stated that she would be turning her over to Klaus.  And when Katherine attempted to take her own life, Rose refused to let her due to her concerns for her own well being.  Rose didn’t offer Katherine asylum out of the goodness of her heart, so I don’t really see how Katherine used them or betrayed them.  Katherine did what she needed to in order to save herself, which is the very thing that Rose was going to do with Katherine.  Even worse, it was the very thing Rose and Trevor were going to do with Elena – an innocent girl who they were going to turn over to Klaus as a human sacrifice.  And we’re supposed to sympathize with this woman?  I don’t buy it.

It does also appear that Rose and Trevor ARE susceptible to sunlight, which was hinted at last week but not explicitly stated (with Trevor forcing the kidnapper to come close to the car’s window so he could attack and with Rose covering the windows of the mansion).  I suspected this was the case, but hesitated to state so because Rose was practically bathing in the sun when she was covering the windows.

I will say this, though:  I was actually quite taken aback by how ridiculous Nina Dobrev looked during Elena’s tearful scene with Stefan, yet how powerful she came across during Katherine’s understated emotional moment at the conclusion of the episode.  It just goes to show you how a talented actress (and I do think she is one, I love her dark and twisted portrayal of Katherine) can miss the beat every now and again.

So the past couple of weeks I’ve talked about how Jeremy has been through so much crap with the women in his life that I don’t want to see him get screwed over once again.  And what happens this week?  The first step towards him getting screwed over.  He asks Bonnie to hang out, and seconds later he’s interrupted by a warlock who hits it off with her.  Then when they meet to hang out, she once again runs into the warlock.  And then Bonnie proceeds to ditch Jeremy to have a heart with this other guy.  Having said that, I do fully expect this guy (can’t recall his name) to turn out to be somewhat sinister –similar to his father (apparently) –leaving Jeremy to ultimately come to her rescue.  Nonetheless, it was tough seeing him get hurt again, even though he took it in good stride.

All in all a fun, informative episode that was highlighted by an interesting dialogue between Elena and Katherine.  This episode helped clarify some issues, and created that sense of urgency that I said was lacking last week.  Overall, this hour earns two thumbs up.

Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into various popular television shows. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.