The Vampire Diaries 3x06: Smells Like Teen Spirit

Original Air Date: 20 October 2011

Storyline: On the first day of their senior year, Elena, Caroline, Bonnie and Matt are still reeling from recent events, while Tyler seems to be enjoying everything a little too much. Damon is annoyed by a new houseguest, and everyone is surprised by the arrival of a new student in Alaric's history class. Matt asks Bonnie for help when he realizes he made a serious mistake. Meanwhile, Stefan continues to carry out his latest assignment from Klaus.Best Quote: 

Elena: I'm having fun, Stefan. You got a problem with that?
Stefan: All right, take it easy. We both know you're kind of a lightweight.
Elena: Uh-huh. Really? You think I'm going to let a blood addict tell me how to drink?

Damon's Best: I'll do whatever it is you need me to do, Elena. No one's going to hurt you. Especially not my brother.Katherine's Best: A little blood will grease those muscles up real quick. I’m just saying.Review: Does anyone else think this show is getting more and more random? There's a lot of chaos and after finishing watching this episode, I felt like I had just gone on a ride in the Space Mountain, and not in a good way. Characters are popping out of nowhere and most storylines are not even finished properly. There's too much going on and maybe some of this writing energy can be redirected to TVD's sister show, The Secret Circle, where there's not enough going on. 

Another thing I absolutely must complain about is the huge number of characters just waltzing around. Why bring back Anna and Vicki, just to cut their stories so short? OK, so technically Anna will still be around, but Vicki came and went without doing as much damage as she could have and that just pisses me off. She appeared, messed with Jeremy and Matt's minds, tried to kill Elena and then... pouf! What's up with that? Also, how come Anna is now corporeal too? Does anyone else think it's a tad disturbing that Jeremy has now a real life girlfriend and a ghost one, whom he can... fondue? (Just seen Captain America, so forgive the reference, please.) And speaking of too many characters, Mason? Really? Definitely a shocker, but how? And why? My mind just cannot wrap around this one. What's next? Bring Jenna back from the dead as well? It's definitely clear that dead doesn't necessarily mean dead in this show.
All this is taking too much airtime that could be used on the main characters. We've had our share of nasty Stefan in this episode too and for once I find him very entertaining. How can he not be, when he turns the Salvatore mansion into a bloodhouse and plays twisted twister with young, beautiful and very much compelled women? Also, being Elena's personal bodyguard is kind of cool, even if he calls her a blood bag.
Rebekah sticking around is also a lot of fun. She's sexy as hell and takes every scene she's in to a whole new level. Plus, you know, we don't want Caroline and Tyler to be together eternally before giving them some obstacles to cross and Rebekah seems quite interested in Klaus' new asset, as Tyler himself calls what he is now. Speaking of Tyler, he's always been a messed up kid, but having Klaus as his sire definitely brings forth a whole new persona.
Moving on to Elena, she may just start to become the person I've wanted her to be since day one. Yes, she's still "pathetic" in hoping that Stefan can come back to her, but at least she's bench-pressing and devising plans to take him down. She was also uncharacteristically sarcastic with him (and for a moment there I thought she might have switched places with Katherine again) by throwing him a couple of well-placed lines. I hope this new her will stick around for longer than one episode this time, cause in the past she kept disappointing me every time I thought she'd finally grown a pair.
Other stuff: I cannot help it but have my heart melt every time Damon and Elena are in the same room (or even talking on the phone). He's definitely committed to her and can make even vampire staking tips sound sexy. No to mention he still has the best lines (calling Rebekah "Barbie Klaus", making Buffy references to Elena, mocking Stefan and his lifestyle...)
Katherine is more of a filler character than ever. Which is too bad, seeing how she's one of my favorite characters in this show. She's got style and spunk and it was boring seeing her taking on the job of being Mikael's baby-sitter. So is she really dead? On one hand, it would be ironic and kind of appropriate to be killed by the one person who could finally end her centuries of running away from Klaus; on the other, I'd surely miss her.
Bonnie's role is more and more that of the problem fixer. She doesn't have a storyline of her own and is called in to solve what the others screw up. Kind of lame, seeing how she's supposed to be a powerful witch.
Mikael is only feeding on vampires. Wow, that was a revelation! So what, is his ultimate plan to rid the world of vamps? But what will happen then, what will he feed on?
Before ending this article, I can't help myself but point out the annoying plot holes: how was Rebekah capable of entering Tyler's home, if she hasn't been invited in? Not even Originals can do that (remember Elijah?). Also, how could she enter the Salvatore house, wasn't it supposed to be owned by Elena? I don't think she signed it back over to Damon and Stefan, or did she? And another one: Caroline pinned the keg party flyer right on the high school's announcement board, weren't any faculty members worried about promoting a party where booze was a given? 
The Vampire Diaries 3x05: The Reckoning
Back to Season 3