The Vampire Diaries review – 5×05: ‘Monster’s Ball’

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Between lovers two thousand years ago, to delinquent werewolf boyfriends, to mothers and daughters, the women of The Vampire Diaries are struggling with their hurt in ‘Monster’s Ball’.

Let’s bitch it out…

Well can’t say I saw that coming. Who knew that Nadia the traveller (Olga Fonda) is actually Katherine’s (Nina Dobrev) long lost daughter from over 500 years ago? The illegitimate child that got her banned from Bulgaria, which led her to Klaus (an unseen Joseph Morgan) and life as a vampire? Certainly not me, that’s for sure. I sure hope Katherine isn’t dead, because I would really like to explore this a little more.

First of all, it’s jarring because Nadia looks significantly older than Katherine, yet Katherine is her mother. Secondly, Nadia seems to have such hate that Katherine killed herself and became a vampire, but she did exactly the same thing so she could chase her mother across the world for five centuries years. I would like a little more info on why Nadia thought this was a good idea, and why she needed to know Katherine so badly. I mean, it’s a tragedy and all, but she would’ve been living with an adoptive family of some kind, and the Petrovas went to such lengths to hide the existence of the child, so how did she find out who her mother was? Beyond that, how did she come to terms with it so quickly, then make the decision to get herself turned in to a vampire to try and reconcile with her mother? Like I said, I need some more answers before I can fully commit to this storyline.

Everything about Katherine’s storyline is cuckoo. Is anyone else shocked that Damon (Ian Somerhalder) actually sacrifices Katherine for the greater good of the group? I didn’t realize Bonnie (Kat Graham) meant so much to him. Oh wait…pretty sure he doesn’t. Let me clarify: I guess this proves how much he cares about Elena (Nina Dobrev again) and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen). Damon’s obsession with Katherine has been so pervasive over the years, it speaks volumes that he’s so willing to throw her to the wolves to in order to honour his end of the deal with Silas (Paul Wesley).

Moving on: ladies, I think we can all learn a lesson from the cautionary tale that is Tessa (Janina Gavankar). At some point, you need to let go of your ex, or else you will spend thousands of years holding onto all that hatred (and still want him to want you!). And that’s not good for anyone involved. You will look crazy. Two thousand years after betraying her at the altar, Tessa still wants Silas – she even still gets pissed off when she realizes he thinks she’s a joke. You’ve gotta protect your heart ladies, or you will end up full of hate and the butt of a joke that lasts forever. I will say this for Tessa, though: girl has got a temper. Every time she gets pissed at Silas, she either murders his new bride in a violent, bloody massacre, entombs him, erases his powers, or stops his heart. No big deal. If I were Stefan (Paul Wesley in his second role), I would tread carefully and be sure to stay on Tessa’s good side. As Silas notices during their dance, Tessa seems to love his face, and she’s turned her attention to Stefan, which means our favourite amnesiac should probably be watching his back right about now.

Other observations:

• Well well well…is Tyler (Michael Trevino) going to make the jump over to New Orleans to battle the Original family? Looks that way after Tyler leaves Caroline (Candice Accola) in tears, choosing his hatred of Klaus over his love for my favourite girl. I guess there are no more wolf packs in the mountains that need his help now that he can concentrate on his own vendetta instead.
• Do I sense a new love interest for darling Elena? Maybe she wouldn’t be so whiny if she has a third man in love with her. Whatever Aaron’s (Shaun Sipos) story is, he sure is being set up as a kindred spirit for Elena – an orphan and someone who has lost everyone close to him. Delena and Stelena fans better watch their backs, as it looks like there’s a new man on campus. (I’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out what their relationship name will be. There’s too many vowels for me to think of something clever).
• At the beginning of the episode, Dr. Maxfield (Rick Cosnett) refers to his latest experiment as patient 62, 547 (approx). Do you really think he’s done this to 62 thousand people?! That’s impossible… right???

What did you think of tonight’s episode? Do you see Aaron as a new love interest for Elena? What do you think Dr. Maxfield is up to? How do you think Katherine lived through that blood drain? Sound off below!

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