'The Vampire Diaries' 4.22 Review - "The Walking Dead"

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This week on The Vampire Diaries, we see dead people... more than we usually do!

 We all knew that once the veil was dropped, or partially dropped in this case, we’d be seeing a whole bunch of familiar dead faces again but is it satisfying?  In some cases yes, funnily enough my favorite reunion was Lexi and Stefan. I thought they hadn’t seen each other since season one, but then I remembered the Halloween episode in season three.  I guess Stefan was not himself technically the last time so comparing this reunion to s1 is still more apt.  I dug that and her insinuating that he’d replaced her with another blonde, Caroline (someday Steroline might be more than just a dream in a fangirl’s eye).  The least satisfying had to be Kol, we barely knew ye Kol, but if Klaus and Elijah were around as well it might have been better or at least with more of a point.  The veil isn’t back up yet, however, so that could happen in the next episode. Alaric’s return was also an annoying waste, which is a shame as he only seemed to want to talk about the fucking triangle the whole time.  You’re better than that buddy, come on.

Jeremy also returned this episode to save his sister from ghost!Kol when the latter half-assed a revenge attempt against Elena. This apparently put us back with a more normal Elena, compared to the crazy person she was during most of this episode.  She really needed a tin-foil hat to go with all the conspiracies she had over why everyone was keeping her from killing Katherine.  She was like one step off from the emotions switched off version of Elena, and I was really amused at her thinking that killing Katherine would make her feel better.  It’s pretty much the same thing that’s happening over on Revenge right now. The whole idea that once you get the revenge you’ve been seeking, it doesn’t feel as good as you’d hope it would.   So Elena’s reunion with her brother skipped over that stage of emptiness that would have come had she actually killed Katherine. Assuming she actually would have cared after it was done--this is Elena ‘everything is always about me especially when it isn’t’ Gilbert we’re talking about here.

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Despite all the flashy guest stars, this episode really was all about Bonnie.  Even though you’d never guess that if you actually watched the damn episode from how little she was in it compared to other characters..  The girl had a plan,  and she almost pulled it off until Silas just laughs in her face and goes into god mode claiming he is the ultimate and she never even saw the real him.  After a nice pep talk from ghost!Grams however, Bonnie kicked some ass by turning Silas into stone but he covers his face before we can see what he really looks like.  Budgetary concerns over hiring another actor or... we’ll see it in the finale and it’s going to look like someone very familiar maybe.  I’m not really sure and I don’t honestly care.  Silas could have been a decent villain, but I feel with the flow of the season he has been quite the desperate try to keep the mythology lovers in check amidst the overwhelming tide of love interest stories.

Silas is stone, they’re going to chuck him into the ocean, so all Bonnie has to do is put the veil back up and everything is coming up roses.  Except Gram’s earlier pep talk has worked too well, and Bonnie loses her damn mind, deciding she can keep Jeremy around, veil be damned!.  In a fit of hubris she ends up killing herself in the process.  Goddammit.  However, the veil is still down at least in the triangle so she’ll be around in the finale for sure.  And she’s not the only one, as several past hunters from the show make eleventh hour ghostly returns in their bid to bring Silas down for good. I guess this is their lame way of tying together the so-called season of the hunters to again quell the few people that believe this show still cares about its own mythology.. So the question is, will Bonnie be able to do anything about the veil anymore?  Can she bring it down or put it up at a sacrifice to herself? Or are we going to forever have a ghostly triangle smack dab in the middle of mystic falls?

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At this point I have no idea where we could be headed in season five.  It’s all going to depend on the finale in three ways.  One: who takes the cure?  Right now my bet is on Damon who has it in his grubby paws at the moment.  Two: will the veil be closed?  If not then all death will be even more meaningless in Mystic Falls in the name of a show of nostalgia over what The Vampire Diaries used to be.  Three: will Silas be taken down for good?  If the hunters don’t get their wish or he doesn’t end up at the bottom of the ocean, will he be around to mind-fuck our favorites in season five? Will another villain rise to take his place?  Who am I kidding, by season five it will be all triangle all the time, there’s no more evil to be fought that isn’t about whose dick gets the dopplesnatch! It’s just impossible to see anything else at this point after an entire season of trying with this show. There’s nothing to show for it but a load of disappointment from a series that once had a lot of magic to it.