The Vampire Diaries – Episode 3-7 Review

Reviews, Shows

Believe it or not, I actually almost missed this week’s The Vampire Diaries.  I didn’t recall seeing a preview following last week’s episode, and I noticed that quite a few shows were airing repeats this week.  As such, I took my time getting home from work, even making numerous stops to find the final touches to my Halloween costume.  I got home pretty much exactly at 8, and figured I might as well double check to see if it’s on.  And lo and behold, it turned out to be a pretty great episode.

 

As speculated from last week’s episode, the ghosts of the characters we’ve seen killed since the beginning of the series all made their grand return.  I actually really enjoyed the way they were introduced, jumping from character to character, with each one being confronted by somebody from their past (Bonnie and her grandmother, Stefan and Lexi, and Alaric and Damon with Mason).  One thing I didn’t quite get, though.  They went out of their way to explain why Lexi returned (Elena was just thinking about her), but why was Mason back?  I find it hard to believe that Damon or Stefan were thinking about him, and there’s no reason to believe that Tyler was either.  What gives?  For what it’s worth, I expected to see Isobel return when Alaric and Damon were at the bar together.

 

So Mason returned, but we would come to learn it wasn’t for revenge.  Instead, he had plans of saving Tyler from the fate he had suffered. There were a few hiccups along the way, as we (and Damon) wondered if Mason could truly be trusted.  It turned out he was a man of his word, and he came to discover a cave with hieroglyphics (presumably from the original vampires).

 

Speaking of reunions, we also saw Damon reunite with Lexi.  She attempted to “detox” him in order to rid him of his Ripper ways.  I found it interesting that she was able to compel him, though.  They seemed to make a big deal out of the fact that the original vampires were capable of compelling fellow vampires – it seemed odd that an ordinary vampire like Lexi could do it.  Nonetheless, I thought they did a good job of further establishing their history and how much they care about each other – as well as how far Stefan has gone.  Even though you could telegraph it a mile away, I liked how Lexi vanished before she could finish the job, leaving Elena and the viewers wondering if this rehab had any impact on Stefan.  By the way, I was glad that Elena echoed the words she had said earlier to Jeremy, about holding onto a ghost, because I was somewhat disappointed that he didn’t call her out on it.  I mean, what lengths has Elena gone to in order to keep Stefan?  For all Jeremy knew, Anna was back for good.

 

Remember my disappointment a couple weeks ago regarding the fact that we never got to see the softer side of Vicki?  Well, I feel the complete opposite about Anna.  During her initial run, I wasn’t immediately sold on Anna, but by the time she was killed, she had really grown on me.  And this season alone, I’ve really enjoyed her brief appearances.  This episode, however, did an incredible job of genuinely making me care about her, to the point that I really, really wanted her to have a happy ending.  They also did a fantastic job of not making Anna unlikable (given her relationship with Jeremy, who’s in a relationship with one of the main characters).  When she talked about being all alone, I felt bad for her.  It’d be too bad if she’s gone for good, but I was left satisfied with the ending of her story (the reunion with her mother).  It’s also pretty cool that Anna’s good bye was the last and most significant, especially given the semi-big characters that returned.

 

Speaking of Anna and Jeremy, while I understand that Caroline’s allegiance is to her friend and not Jeremy, I found it strange that she couldn’t think of a lie when Bonnie asked about the boyfriend ghost drama.  I mean, Jeremy is essentially being haunted by his ex-girlfriend – that’s pretty dramatic in and of itself.  Why couldn’t she just leave it at that instead of revealing the kiss?  Seemed a bit contrived.

 

By the way, I forgot to ask this last week, but did Katherine die?  I kinda hope not….

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.