The Vampire Diaries review – 4×11: ‘Catch Me If You Can’

Aside from the absence of Caroline (Candice Accola) in tonight’s episode, ‘Catch Me If You Can’ feels like a throw back to The Vampire Diaries’ better days where I have no idea what’s around every turn and there is a gasp worthy moment at every commercial break.

Let’s bitch it out…

I can unequivocally state that there were several times that I legitimately didn’t know what would happen next (one of them is when Ian Somerhalder’s Damon is trying to kill Steven R. McQueen’s Jeremy).These are the best moments on this show (RIP Aunt Jenna & Uncle John) that I just feel we haven’t had enough of this season. I know deep down that Jeremy won’t actually shoot Damon in the heart with a wooden bullet, but as we go to commercial and that gun goes off… well I’ll admit that I have a moment of uncertainty! I like being shocked by what comes next and I’ve missed feeling that way. Happy to be back on track right now.

I’m also quite happy with the Rebekah (Claire Holt) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) pairing. She’s right – they just have fun together. She gets rid of brooding Stefan and brings about the Stefan that will tell Elena (Nina Dobrev) to kick bricks. I CANNOT believe the nerve of Elena when she calls Stefan for help to stop Damon, and she has the gall to be upset that he’s spending time with Rebekah?! Every week Elena just gets more and more annoying with her ridiculously selfish behaviour. So thank goodness Stefan is finally able to see through it. I can console myself by believing that Stefan does not go to the woods to help Elena, but because he has a relationship with Jeremy and he doesn’t want his brother to kill the younger Gilbert sibling. Bleeding Damon dry, locking him up and denying Elena entry may also help to solidify his decision.

If we need proof that Elena has it bad for Damon, her decision to go to Klaus (Joseph Morgan) for help to save Jeremy (and by proxy, Damon) confirms it. It’s not everyday that you kill two birds with one stone by begging your enemy for help. Too bad I’m still not sure that Elena actually does have it bad for Damon. Call me crazy, but I’m still convinced that this is all part of the sire bond. She thinks it’s real, and Damon thinks it’s real, but the show  still hasn’t sold me so it just doesn’t count yet. Hear me out: there is a loophole here, and it’s that when Damon sent her away and told her that he wants for her feelings to be real (ie: not due to the sire bond).

So what happened? Elena is now convinced that her feelings are real and it has nothing to do with the sire bond. But we all know that the sire bond makes her say and do whatever makes Damon happy. So Elena saying and believing that it’s not part of the bond is really just the sire bond trying to give Damon what he wants, but it’s still not genuine.

Yes, I realize that all the Damon and Elena fans are most certainly calling me crazy right about now. But I bet that there are some Stefan and Elena fans out there who just jumped right on board with me. So take that!

Other observations:

• Some evil part of me takes such great joy at the look on Elena’s face when Stefan tells her that she’s seeing the real him and she just doesn’t know him when he’s not in love with her. She’s overdue for a few hard (emotional) knocks from him and I’m happy to see that he’s finally giving them out.
• There was a moment of panic when Kol (Nathaniel Buzolic) has a white oak stake poised and ready to kill Rebekah. All I could think of was “OMG it was just last week that I felt a little secure that Rebekah would be staying around for awhile and now she’s going to get killed?!?!” Here I was thinking that she was going to get her revenge and finally be able to dagger one of her siblings, but alas, her bleeding heart makes her hesitate and she almost dies as a result.
• Matt (Zach Roerig) must get awfully tired of being the only human around. He’s constantly being used as bait for vampires and always fighting for his life.
• What in the world kind of storyline do we have to put up with now that Bonnie (Kat Graham) has this uncontrollable magic that only psycho Shane (David Alpay) can help her contain? I literally cringed during that the first scene of Bonnie and Shane in his office. I dread Bonnie getting her own major storyline again because this is going nowhere good.

So what did you think of tonight’s episode? Are you getting tired of my Damon and Elena ranting? Is there anyone out there who actually likes Bonnie and believes she can be useful to the show? (Please identify yourself because I would love to not hate Bonnie so much!) Sound off below in the comments!

The Vampire Diaries airs Thursdays at 8pm EST on The CW