Contributor: John Keegan
Written by Jose Molina and Julie Plec
Directed by Rob Hardy
Anyone who thought that things were going to get easier for Elena probably hasn’t been watching “The Vampire Diaries” very long. Even so, it’s painful to watch her suffer through the process of adjusting to the vampiric way of life. It doesn’t help that the Salvatore brothers have very different ideas of what she needs to do.
Stefan doesn’t want Elena to deal with the burden of harming people, even if she could handle it, so he convinces her to experiment with the notion of starting with a human-free diet right off the top. This does not go well, and while it’s not the primary focus of the episode, his plan to use his newly transformed girlfriend as a lab rat isn’t going to win him any favors.
Because Elena’s humanity was one of the big reasons why the whole love triangle plot thread was getting old, since either option was not entirely viable, her new status changes things dramatically. Stefan isn’t dealing with it very well, and Elena needs someone to help her get through the hunger pangs. Damon is happy to provide assistance, and it’s telling that their chemistry remains far more convincing than when she’s with Stefan. (Aided, I’m sure, by the fact that Nina and Ian have been together for a while.)
Having Elena navigate these waters with the Salvatores makes sense, but I was wondering why she didn’t turn to Caroline for a bit of sisterly advice. After all, Caroline went through the same experience just a couple seasons ago, which translates to much less time within the story. Then again, when Caroline’s side of the story involved a great deal of undressing, I can hardly complain if the writers preferred to go with that.
Because nothing is ever easy in Mystic Falls, a new threat in the form of a hunter named Connor arrives, just in time to use the memorial service for the town council as a battlefield. He shoots Tyler right in the middle of his speech with a wooden bullet, which is one way to announce your intentions. Connor is going to be a serious problem, especially if he is only the beginning of the latest round of vampire hunters to come to town.
Which brings me to April, the daughter of the pastor from the previous episode, and Connor’s initial victim. She’s pretty much the new infusion of human blood, since there’s precious little of that remaining in the cast these days, and everything about her seems designed to get Jeremy’s attention. It’s also a fair guess that she’s going to be trouble.
And as usual, while the vampires are seen as a problem in the general community sense, April has been warned by her father that there’s something even worse coming down the pike. This would seem to be the natural excuse for the gang to band together and fight a common threat, but what would be the fun in that?
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Score: 8/10
