Courtesy of The CW
It seems the writes of The Vampire Diaries have finally gotten the message: if you want to bring this reviewer back from the edge, bring back one of the only characters I love as much as my dearly departed Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen).
Let’s bitch it out…
I realize that it may be a little obvious that I have been losing faith in this show over the past few weeks… ahem.. possibly months… but I am all in on ‘American Gothic’. This week’s installment does the only thing that can save this show for me – it brings back the Original gentleman, Elijah (Daniel Gillies). As I pick my jaw up off the ground from seeing my long lost Original finally brought back to me, I realize that I am suddenly SO much more invested in the show! I’ll admit I’ve been watching out of commitment rather than out of enjoyment but ‘American Gothic’ flips the switch. Anything that involves Elijah is something that I want to be a part of…
…except for a love affair between him and Katherine (Nina Dobrev). While Katherine is entertaining as a character and great for a dose of suspense on the show, I’m sorry to say that she is just not good enough for a man of Elijah’s calibre. Sorry sweetie, but I hope he leaves you in the dust.
I’ll also admit that I had a few moments of disbelief about halfway through, when Rebekah (Claire Holt) takes what we think is the cure. All I can think about is how completely anti-climactic it is. And how quickly it happens. And honestly, this all leads me to think “man…now we’re stuck with Emotionless Elena (also Dobrev) forever and I am done with this show”.
In hindsight, I should have known better. If the vial that Rebekah takes was really the cure, there would have been much more of a lead-up and much more of a fight for it. So naturally it’s not the cure, which means that there is still a chance for us to ditch Emotionless Elena because we know Klaus (Joseph Morgan) will put up a fight to get his human blood bag back.
Speaking of Klaus, I am much happier with his interactions with Caroline (Candice Accola) this week as opposed to last. He seems to finally make progress and potentially realize his mistakes. Now all we need is for Caroline to stop bringing up Tyler (an unseen Michael Trevino) every two seconds, and maybe Klaus will have a chance! Sigh… a girl can dream.
Courtesy of The CW
Other Observations:
- One thing that bothers me about this episode is just how easy it is for everyone to find Katherine. I’m sorry, but Katherine has been running for 500 years and we’re supposed to believe that the doppleganger and the blonde Original with a death wish can find her in 24 hours? And somehow Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) get there shortly thereafter with no troubles at all? It just doesn’t seem realistic but hey, I’ll go with it because it brings back my favourite Original.
- You know what I’m not upset about? An episode without Bonnie (Kat Graham), which means no one’s life is ruined. I guess she’s resting up from last week, when her best friend killed 12 witches to save her life because she screwed up so badly. You know, the usual. Life is tough for Bonnie Bennett.
- The moment that Emotionless Elena tells Elijah about Jeremy’s death is absolute perfection. I could not have asked for a better version. His surprise and her nonchalance = perfection.
- You know what we don’t need? Another Katherine. You know why? Because we already have one. So Emotionless Elena playing this whole “I’m going to kill an innocent person every time you guys try to change me” bit is old hat for this show. Too little, too late. We’ve seen this a dozen times before and it’s played much better by Katherine. This is the epitome of what my problem with Emotionless Elena (besides her burning my beloved’s body to the ground): there’s no new ground to cover so it’s a waste to have to go through it again with Elena.
So what did you think of tonight’s episode? Have you been talked back from the cliff as well? Or am I the only one who loves Elijah this much? What do you think the Original siblings will do with the cure? Sound off below!
The Vampire Diaries takes another loooong break and returns Thursday April 18th at 8pm EST on The CW