The Vampire Diaries – Episode 3-8 Review – “Family Matters”

Reviews

Big background episode and don’t worry- I’ll explain it all! Let’s sink our teeth in, shall we?
Right away, Alaric and Damon inform Elena that the cave drawings Mason Lockwood led them to last episode are Viking script telling the story of the Original Vampire family. And how might they know this? The names Elijah, Rebekah, Klaus, and MIKAEL are carved into the wall. Who called it back in episode 3? Oh, right, I did: Mikael is “Papa Original.” Okay, so I’d be more proud of myself if I called the next big reveal about the Original family later in the episode, I admit it.
Immediately, we get our first Original family flashback scene of Rebekah, circa one thousand years ago, carving the drawings into the wall. Very cool that in this scene, Rebekah and Klaus are actually human. So- let me get this straight- am I really supposed to believe that one thousand years ago the Original family of Vampires settled in Mystic Falls, Virginia, the same place where the Original witch put the Hybrid curse on Klaus in which the Doppelganger must die to break it, and then one thousand years later the Doppelganger came to live in the exact same town?? Fine, I’ll go with it, but just this once.
Alaric goes into full History geek mode trying to decipher the rest of the drawings while Elena argues that it would simply be easier to go straight to the source of the story: Rebekah. Did I forget to mention the casual awesome-ness of Elena and Damon practicing her Buffy moves? It mostly consists of Elena trying to “kill” Damon and him lazily swatting her away.
Elena then goes to cheerleading practice, where she knows she’ll find Rebekah. Rebekah is busy doing more back handspring step outs and impressing me. Elena lets her know they found the cave drawings. She doesn’t really care until Elena mentions they will* wake Mikael from the Cemetery if Rebekah doesn’t spill. Oops, Mikael’s already awake- Katherine saw to that.
In a Chicago-level cool flash back, we meet non-Vampire Mikael, Mama Original named Esther, and a young Original brother, Henrick. Elijah is there too, yay! It’s not pleasant family time, however, because when Mikael catches Elijah and Klaus fooling around with swords he gets super angry. Like whoa. He’s pissed the boys are finding time for fun, when they should be fighting for survival, and expresses said anger by flattening out Klaus and stabbing his sword fiercely in the ground. I guess you had to be there, but it was intense. Here’s when I started feeling sorry for #PoorKlaus. Don’t worry, it didn’t last long.
Back at History camp, Alaric is making headway figuring out (through pictures of the cave drawings) which symbols mean Vampire, Werewolf, Hybrid, and Witch. Bonnie goes over to deliver the Original Witch’s necklace, which will help with verifying that the Witch symbol on the wall matches the necklace. Alaric just keeps becoming a better and better dad with every episode: “Jeremy is an idiot and I know this with certainty because I was once a Jeremy. Trust me, we learn… eventually.” That was actually a very sweet moment.
On the other side of town, Damon pays Stefan a visit: “It’s family day at Vampire rehab.” Who writes Damon’s lines? Marry me.
In a surprise move, Damon frees Stefan from the torture chamber. Bad decision, however, necessary for the turn of events in this episode. They head straight to a bar- duh. Stefan gets a bite out of bartender “Callie,” who- oddly enough- my viewing partner Elena knows in real life from Florida State. Weird.
Eventually, Rebekah comes around and invites Elena over to help her pick out a homecoming dress. I’m serious. She’s compelled a fashion show of girls wearing her favorite dresses and demands Elena pick one or she’ll kill each model one by one. Gotta love a horror high school show. It’s juicy goodness every time. Of course, Elena picks the hottest one, suggesting she still doesn’t know that Rebekah is Stefan’s Ex. Or she’s just really that nice. Rebekah begins telling her story:
Mama (Esther) and Papa (Mikael) Original were indeed landowners in Europe. A plague took the life of one of their children, so when Mama Original spoke with Witch Ayanna (who I am now assuming incorrectly to be the Original Witch) they decided to go to a new land Ayanna told them about. There everyone is healthy, speedy, and strong. Because they’re werewolves! So they pack up and head to Werewolf country AKA Mystic Falls. They lived in peace with the Werewolves for twenty years, only having to hide from them in caves once a month, and had more children. One day, Klaus took little Henrick out to watch “the men turn into beasts” and one of the werewolves killed him. That ended the peace with the Werewolves.
At the bar, Damon and Stefan have brotherly bonding time and it’s super weird to see how the roles have reversed. Damon used to call Stefan out on trying to get him drunk and vulnerable. Now it’s Stefan’s turn. I want to pay attention, but I’m terribly distracted by blondie on Damon’s lap. I don’t like him with anyone else but Elena.
By use of a clever line along the lines of ‘why don’t you go compel yourself a friend’ Elena gets Rebekah talking again:
The Original Witch is the one who not only put the Hybrid curse on Klaus but also turned them into Vampires. First shocker: I thought Witches were hardcore anti-Vampire? There’s more. Ayanna wouldn’t do the curse. So Mama Original had to because she was a Witch, too! THAT one I didn’t see coming a mile away. Let’s be honest: all Witches have looked alike on TVD. Mama Original is blonde with fair skin. Opposite of every Witch so far in the show. Rebekah is kind enough to explain the logistics:
The Original Witch is called Original Witch because she was in the Original family. For example, the Smith Family is to the Original family as Mrs. Smith is to the Original Witch. Best way I can explain it. She also never turned because she was a servant to nature. Vampires are an abomination to nature. Helluva sacrifice if you ask me… pun intended. But apparently Mama Original Witch (that nickname is hereby too long) wanted to give her family the best chance at living. Papa Original just wanted to be stronger than the Werewolves.
So here’s how it went down:
Mama O called upon the sun and the ancient oak tree to give them life. They drank wine laced with blood. Then Papa O drove a sword through all their hearts, killing them in an excessively brutal way. He then brought them a girl bleeding from the wrists to drink from. Voila! They’re Vampires. However, Ayanna was right. The “spirits” turned against them. For every strength a weakness. The sun and the oak tree, which gave them life, could also take it away. (Luckily for them, Mama O made them special rings. And they burned the tree.) Even the flowers at the base of the tree burned them and prevented compulsion. (Vervain.) Neighbors could now shut them out of their homes unless they invited them in. (Explaining Rebekah’s popularity complex.) And then of course, there was the obsession with blood, which lead them to killing.
Damon and Stefan meanwhile argue about Klaus at the bar, basically repeating what we’ve heard before. And then whoa! Mikael is there. Now, they don’t know it’s Mikael or Damon would have known to STFU. Mikael begins to question Stefan on Klaus’ whereabouts, which Stefan can’t answer because he’s compelled not to. That doesn’t stop Damon from adding his snarky little two cents.
Rebekah continues story-telling time:
Mama O had an affair with one of the village Werewolves and Klaus was the result. When he killed someone for the first time as a Vampire, his Werewolf gene triggered and he became a Hybrid. Mama O tried to make it right by carrying out the Hybrid curse. According to Rebekah, Mikael was so enraged about the affair, he ripped Mama O’s heart out while Klaus watched. The family then scattered, leaving only Rebekah and Elijah standing by Klaus’s side.
When Elena asks Rebekah how she still loves Klaus after he locked her in a coffin for ninety years, Rebekah responds: “He’s my brother. And I’m immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead?” What a poignant Vampire. Finding she’s giving too much away, Rebekah asks Elena to leave. Elena demands one good reason why they shouldn’t awaken Mikael. Rebekah sure has told her a lot of good reasons why her and Klaus don’t want him free; however, she hasn’t given any reasons that would convince Elena that it’s in her best interest not to wake him. Rebekah warns her again that waking Mikael would be at her “own peril.” I don’t really understand why though, does Mikael want to kill all Vampires, including the ones that freed him? Even the Doppelganger?
When Mikael realizes that Stefan may be a dead end, he shoves his fist up Damon’s chest to get him talking. Stefan reacts! He seems surprised and protective over Damon- shocker! Mikael is way too close to ripping Damon’s heart out when Stefan finally croaks out: “I can lure him here.” Ah, the loophole in Klaus’s compulsion. Stefan can lure Klaus to Mystic Falls where Mikael will kill him. If Stefan fails, Mikael will quite easily kill Stefan instead.
Elena finally leaves the mansion and meets up with Bonnie and Alaric in the cave. They’ve translated almost all of the cave drawings and all of the stories, particularly the one about the ancient oak tree being a weapon against the Originals. (Which they already knew.) They’re hung up on the story about Mama O’s death. Elena takes one look at the Hybrid symbol and figures out that it was the Hybrid that killed Mama O. She immediately runs (Really, Elena? No back up?) to tell Rebekah. Oh hey, your brother killed your mother, not your father. Be on our side now, yes? (I’m going to ignore the fact that the supernatural lie detector that is Rebekah didn’t know Klaus was lying for one thousand years.) Understandably, Rebekah looses it a little bit, first by rounding on Elena (who basically says, if you don’t believe me then why are you so upset) and then by completely breaking down in tears. I kind of expected and wanted Elena to comfort #PoorRebekah right now. Wonderful performance and so heartbreaking.
The brothers finally leave the bar. Damon chides Stefan for not having a breakthrough until the last minute: “Careful Stefan, your humanity’s showing.” Brilliant. Stefan snaps back that he didn’t do it to save Damon, he did it so he could be free to leave Mystic Falls. Yeah, right. Damon counters with the declaration that since Stefan is in this mess because he saved Damon’s life, he couldn’t let him go on living like he is or leave him rotting in a cell. (Also suggesting he still doesn’t know about Stefan’s past friendship with Klaus- the real reason Stefan is in the mess he’s in.) Stefan responds with a right-back-at-ya: “Better be careful, Brother, your humanity’s showing.” Damon proceeds to thoroughly kick Stefan’s ass. It’s nice to see a little brotherly fighting, as well as Damon back to being stronger than his little bro.
When Elena goes to climb in bed, Damon, as always, is there waiting for her. Normally she acts all jumpy when he pulls these little stunts but this time she barely flinches. He fills her in: We got Mikael. Which is cute because I love their little team they have going on right now. Also, he got Stefan: “a dick that’s on our side.” She’s not angry for letting Stefan go. Thank you, Plec/Williamson, that would’ve been exhausting. She puts up a weak fight to roll Damon off her bed and then givens up and climbs right in. She lets Damon know she got Rebekah on their side, too. Both are kind of proud of each other and so cozy in that bed together that I just want to pinch Delena’s cheeks at the adorableness. Elena says that she learned Rebekah is just a girl who lost her mom too young and loves recklessly, even letting it consume her. Wow, sounds like Elena just described herself. And then she says she learned that “nothing is more important than the bond of family,” which is tragic since the only family Elena has left is Jeremy. And then the pillow talk revelation of the night: Elena tells Damon that he’ll be the one to save Stefan. “It won’t be because he loves me, it’ll be because he loves you.” I think this is the most mature and moving thing Elena has ever said. Finally, it’s time to go to bed and Elena promises to tell him the rest tomorrow, you know, because he’ll still be there tomorrow (fingers crossed!). The episode ends with Damon just watching Elena, all vulnerable and trusting, falling asleep next to him. God, I love this show.
All in all I was surprised they chose not to show the most violent parts: Mikael killing his children and then Mama O getting her heart ripped out by Klaus. Also, not going to lie, Elijah looked kind of beautiful in this episode. Confession: I’ve fallen so in love with all these characters that I’m selfishly hoping Plec/Williamson find a super creative way to keep all of them around forever.
What I think we’ll see tonight: The Homecoming dance is going down, which means everyone will be dressed to impress and head will roll, like always at a school function. I’m not picky tonight because I trust Plec/Williamson, but I do want to see a really good cliffhanger to keep me all stressed out until January. Happy Mid-Season finale!