Contributor: John Keegan
Written by Charlie Charbonneau and Jose Molina
Directed by Jesse Warn
The end of the previous episode strongly suggested that Damon had intentionally sired Elena to ensure that she, as a vampire, would be completely under his influence. This episode muddies the water quite a bit more, in a way that should be a lot more satisfying to those seeking a definitive Damon/Elena pairing. At the same time, it puts Damon in a position where he could end up being even more unsympathetic in the long run.
Damon, it seems, had no idea that he had been siring Elena, so the thought never occurred to him. It’s not as obvious a process as everyone had been led to believe, and that means that Damon and Stefan have to delve into their past yet again for answers. Meanwhile, Elena has a girls’ night with Bonnie and Caroline, which means a few moments of salacious fun and a ton of revelations when things inevitably fall apart.
The big news on the Elena front is that the sire bond is not a matter of control, because if there wasn’t an emotional connection to begin with, it wouldn’t be established. And that means that Elena had been holding feelings for Damon for quite some time, as so many fans had noted. Of course, that realization doesn’t necessarily mean very much, because at the end of the day, the sire bond is still a matter of co-opted agency, and love is not about control. Even Damon is fairly clear about that!
It’s mildly convenient that Damon and Stefan recall a time in New Orleans when Damon sired another young woman, who is still following his last instruction, all those years ago. It also serves to reveal that Damon, for all his selfishness, is a lot more complicated than his detractors would admit. He’s sacrificed for the sake of his brother before, and he’s willing to do it again. That’s not exactly new, but the writers do try to use this as a nice way to distract the audience from the glaring fact that Damon never once mentioned siring someone, despite the prominence of the subject in the past two seasons!
The takeaway, however, is that Elena has determined that she doesn’t love Damon because of the sire bond, but Damon has already promised to break the bond for the sake of Elena’s freedom. If Damon doesn’t do it, everyone will just assume (especially Stefan, who is at his most moody in this episode) that Damon is being selfish. But is he, if Elena truly wants to be with him?
The logical thing would be to get everyone in a room together and have Elena explain the situation. The irony is that everyone is attacking Damon for potentially doing what they all do on a regular basis: deciding what is best for Elena, without actually asking her what she wants. Now would be a perfect time for Elena to take the reins and start gaining control over her life.
One very nice touch was Tyler’s unexpected decision to take up leadership of the hybrid pack. It was one of those moments that made me wish the writers for this series would give a few pointers to the staff over at “True Blood”. Of course, the fact that Hayley has Tyler wrapped around her hot little finger means that the hybrids will either make a perfect army or the perfect sacrifice, depending on where Professor Shane’s evil plan takes the plot.
Ultimately, the episode suffers from the massive inconsistency with Damon’s history and the notion that he never would have mentioned anything about the sire bond before this moment. Given that he killed several people in the attempt to break it, one would think he would remember. It feels more like a way to insert the information about “expression” magic than anything, and there had to be better ways to accomplish that task.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Score: 7/10
