Thursday, October 3, 2013

'The Vampire Diaries' 501 "I Know What You Did Last Summer" Review

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Despite the fact that everyone’s going to start their review in a similar fashion, I still have to say that shifting a high school show-themed show to college is indeed a tricky endeavor. The thing about The Vampire Diaries though, is that it may actually be one of the better things to happen to this show in years. Splitting up characters into different locales paves the way for new story opportunities and character interactions. Plus, what is college for most freshmen if not parties and skipping classes anyway? Two things that Elena and Caroline get top marks in. Their story line also shows Elena's and Caroline's shared talent for getting instantly wrapped up into a deadly mystery that could threaten their well-being in addition to their vampire secret. It also gives the viewers a chance to reacquaint themselves with the character of Elena outside of her romantic attachments. Back when she had a life of her own, when she went to parties and such with her friends, and her every move wasn't dependent on something the brothers needed of her. Her college mystery plotline also proves that it doesn’t matter that she moved away, the ever-mysterious Elena Gilbert remains an important part of most of this show's stories.



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That’s fine as long as other characters get their own issues to deal with as well and so far it seems that the writers are using this chance to do just that. Matt Donovan is a character that, despite a few efforts made in various seasons, has never really been given much to do that didn’t hinge on much besides his ability to be a milquetoast mortal love interest. It seems like this year he’s getting something special of his own now that his current lover Rebekah is off to New Orleans to join her brothers on The Originals. At least the effort is being made because I do admit to being curious now what was up with this Nadia chick and her unnamed accomplice jumping Matt and giving him Supernatural-approved black demon eyes before he passed out cold. Unfortunately for Matt, there’s a much bigger story line happening in good old Mystic Falls and it has to do with a familiar face but a very unfamiliar M.O.
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Remember back in the glory days of TVD where threats weren’t just to main characters but to the town as a whole? I love Klaus as much as the next but he was ever so short-sighted in his goals on the show that Silas’s grand coming out at the end of this episode immediately established that this is a character who cannot be allowed to continue for long. At least morally speaking he can’t, personally I want him to continue to make Mystic Falls and its townspeople his bitch for many episodes to come. In fact, in many ways Silas is like TVD’s Klaus redo. He too wants to find and likely murder Katherine (he already tried once) and I’m reasonably sure he won’t be handing out pony drawings during his path of chaos. Paul Wesley is clearly enjoying himself again in the role like he used to when he got to play Ripper!Stefan and when an actor enjoys the work that can be an infectious delight which a show that’s been around for a while can really gain from having around. This ‘don’t call me a vampire’ vampire has new tricks up his sleeve which also ups his ability to be a real threat to anyone who’s left in town to deal with him. 

Right now that seems to be Jeremy, Damon, and Ghost!Bonnie with special emphasis on
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Bonnie after he killed her father in front of her eyes. Leaving her without a single family member left on this show. I get that slicing the throat of the mayor in front of the town is quite the message to send but it just seems like there is truly no end to the misery Bonnie gets thrown her way. After her epic fridging last season, the only person she can even communicate with is Jeremy and if the show thinks that the visual of Bonnie walking alongside her one-time future fellow college freshmen pals is as good as the actual thing happening well they’re very wrong. It only illuminates how much TVD puts Bonnie on the shelf behind a pane of glass marked ‘only break when needed for spellwork’. 



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You could go ahead and argue that the show fridged Stefan too in his underwater tomb but hey, at least the guy has a rich inner life filled with fantasy versions of his brother and his ex to pass the time with instead of being limited to only speaking to one other person. It’s so clear that the show was throwing a bone twice tonight to Stelena shippers when Stefan imagined Elena pleading with him to hold onto his humanity and when Elena lingered over Stefan’s name in her phone contact list. I wonder how his eventual return will effect Delena now that they’re a true couple dealing with one of the most normal of situations for anyone that’s dating: the dreaded long-distance relationship. It would be nice to think that the show will one day stick with single pairing and let the fandom consequences be damned, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to continue to flip-flop Elena’s affections until the series finale comes around. But that’s the price you pay for establishing early on the ‘epic’ importance of both ships to the lead character and there’s probably no chance of some sort of polyamory to make everyone satisfied. 
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Overall, I think the season premiere of The Vampire Diaries actually had elements worth looking forward to seeing how they play out in the weeks to come. The split location gave most of the characters their own path to travel, and it felt close to classic seasons now that there’s a major threat in town that is down to cause all kinds of trouble for everybody not just a few main characters. There was an energy fueling this getting back to basics idea of mystery, mythology, and maybe just maybe no more twenty minute makeout montages. At least for a while anyway. Maybe Tyler will even get a chance to have his out of town werewolf pack exploits featured on the show instead of being an awkward bit of fill-in exposition to assure fans that he will be back on at some point. I know his pack activities probably don't have a thing to do with Elena or her family but I can dream anyway right?

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