The CW
The Vampire Diaries needs to stop with the emotional torture! Last Thursday was spent screaming at the television while this week’s episode induces sobbing throughout the final 20 minutes. We’re starting to get a Thursday night complex. As you’ve probably guessed, TVD once again pulls out all the stops and leaves us no room to pause and contemplate the extreme stories they continually throw at us… but that’s kind of what we love about it, right? Anyway, here’s a few of the best, worst (and unbelievably sad) moments from “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
Stefan 2.0
The episode starts off with a fun- and violence-filled vampirey trip down memory lane. Stefan still doesn’t have any idea who he is (thanks to 2,000 year old witch Qetsiyah), so Damon digs out all of Stefan’s old journals in an attempt to jog his memory. When that doesn’t work, and Stefan mistakenly calls Damon the boring brother, Damon quickly corrects him by speeding down a back road and wrecking the car. This causes the two to climb out and laugh, resulting in Stefan proclaiming that Damon is in fact the fun brother. Ah, how we’ve missed the bad-boy Damon! Afterward, the two go to the bar where Damon gets Stefan drunk in an attempt to unleash the ripper so that Stefan can at least remember some part of himself. When all of Damon’s over-the-top antics don’t work, Elena steps in an tries to get Stefan back her way: cue the cheesy relationship stories and almost kisses.
Caroline and Jesse
Leaving the Damon/Elena/Stefan drama for a moment, TVD of course offers up some new relationship drama in the way of Caroline and Jesse (you know, that hot lab assistant who may or may not know about vampires). Caroline takes it upon herself to study up on her science terms and gets close with Jesse in order to find out if his teacher/boss, Dr. Maxfield, covered up the vampire murder of Caroline and Elena’s roommate. But, let’s be honest, she also does this because she’s totally into Jesse. When Caroline invites him back to Mystic Falls for the graveyard party (yes, you read that right), the cozy atmosphere naturally leads to a make-out session, which leaves Caroline frazzled, and hastily explaining that she has no idea where her relationship with Tyler is going, let alone knowing if they are even still together.
Stefan pouts
Back with Elena, Stefan becomes upset with the revelation that Elena and Damon are a couple, and, on a more basic level, that his brother stole his girlfriend – to be fair, it does kind of suck to relearn that whole saga. Stefan angrily heads to the cemetery to get drunk with the rest of the town, and finds himself running into Caroline and Jesse. Apparently, Stefan decides Jesse smells too good to resist, and Caroline compels Jesse to hide. However, Stefan quickly finds him and almost literally bites his head off. Caroline, of course, saves Jesse by feeding him her blood, and Stefan goes home to burn his journals, declaring that he doesn’t want to be the person described in them, and packs a bag to leave Mystic Falls.
Matt is almost supernatural
Does anyone else continually feel bad for Matt? The poor guy is one of the only humans left in the show, and as a result, he gets constantly taken advantage of. In this episode, Matt is still dealing with the whole Gregor-inside-his-head situation. Matt knows he’s losing time and so he sets up cameras all around his house to see what happens when he blacks out. A super-creepy scene ensues when Matt wakes up with a bloody cut on his hand with no idea how he got it. As he watches the tape, he sees Gregor take over his body and speak directly to the camera, telling Matt that he will cut his throat the same way that he cut his hand. Naturally, a freaked-out Matt calls Jeremy demanding to see Bonnie, hoping her witchy magic will get this “passenger” dude out of his body.
Bonnie is dead, seriously
Jeremy finally makes the decision to tell everyone about Bonnie’s death. Too many people are now asking questions about where she is, and he can’t find it in himself to continue to keep this secret. So, at the Salvatore house, Damon and Jeremy have a heart to heart where Jeremy explains how Bonnie saved him, switching out her life for his, explaining; “Magic finds a balance. I’m not supposed to be here.” Damon, who seems genuinely upset over her death, gives Jeremy a manly hug and the two are overcome with emotion (an “aww moment” at it’s hottest). Unfortunately, Damon then realizes he has the sh***y job of telling Elena that her best friend is dead.
The funeral
After Damon breaks the news to Elena, the crew gathers in the cemetery to say goodbye to Bonnie. Damon, Elena, Caroline, Matt and Jeremy all bring Bonnie-related items that they lay on a tree while giving her a heartfelt goodbye; cue the weeping. Just when you think it can’t get any sadder, Bonnie speaks through Jeremy, giving everyone a personal farewell, making them all, including Matt (in all his blue-eyed glory), break down in tears. Then, just as we thought we could put the tissues away, Tyler shows up, wearing a classic black suit and carrying a single white rose, which he lays on Bonnie’s tree. (Seriously? Twist the knife a little harder, TVD.) Now everyone is crying, and everyone has a shoulder to lean on – Elena and Damon, Bonnie and Jeremy (in their weird I-can’t-really-touch-you-but-I-am way) and Tyler and Caroline – leaving poor Matt to cry by himself. Honestly, the shot of a lonely looking Matt may have been the worst part of it all. Can we please get this guy a story line that involves a girlfriend and some sort of power? Geez.
The cliffhanger (as always)
In case the tragic farewell wasn’t enough, TVD throws in a cliffhanger to really fuel the drama. For the last few seconds of the episode, we jump back to Jesse, who is explaining to Dr. Maxfield that he can’t remember his night with Caroline. After the Doc. runs some tests, he concludes that Jesse has vampire blood in his system and that he was probably compelled to forget about whatever happened to him (a.k.a the Stefan almost killing him incident). Maxfield says that someone may be trying to turn him into a vampire, explaining that vamp blood in your system is “step one” in becoming a vampire. Shockingly, Maxfield then grabs a syringe and stabs Jesse’s arm saying, “This is step two,” leaving us with a dead Jesse, and wondering if another vampire will be joining the cast.
Phew! As per usual, this episode left me reeling and with a whole bunch of new questions. Will Stefan ever get his memory back? Will he become a new person and forget about Mystic Falls altogether? Is Tyler back for good? Can Elena deal with Bonnie’s death, or will she fade back into her depression/insane vampire phase? Will Matt ever get this “passenger” out of his body? And, most importantly, where the hell is Silas and Qetsiyah? You can’t just introduce these huge important and powerful characters then just exclude them for an episode! What do you guys think, is the show living up to your expecations?
The Vampire Diaries airs Thursdays at 8 PM ET on The CW.
