The Vampire Diaries review – 5×11: ‘500 Years of Solitude’

In a tribute to all the ways Katherine (Nina Dobrev) has wronged them, the gang tries to deal with her impending death in the show’s 100th episode.

Let’s bitch it out…

If ever there was a way for this show to win its way back in to my heart, it is to reminisce about the beloved characters we’ve lost and bring back a few of my favourite people.

YES! Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Caroline (Candice Accola) are reunited once again. I had almost forgotten the chemistry these two share together on screen but there’s no forgetting how steamy their scandalous sex scene is. Guess Caroline spoke too soon! I understand that the writers were cementing the fact that Klaus has his place somewhere else now, and won’t be coming back and forth between New Orleans and Mystic Falls to see Caroline, but I do hate how they toy with my emotions like this. I miss Klaroline (… I might have just made that one up, but let’s get it trending, shall we?!)

If there is one person that is guaranteed to make me cry, it is Alaric (Matt Davis). When we see Jenna (Sara Canning) and John (David Anders) at Katherine’s bedside, I’m sure I’m not alone in noticing that Alaric was missing from this little reunion. So imagine my surprise when he shows up in the living room with the gang. I gasped, and tears jumped to my eyes as I remembered how much all these people love Ric, including Damon (Ian Somerhalder). Their friendship is one of the great relationships on this show. Seeing it again is amazing, but also sad – it reminds me of what we’re missing. This episode is a roller coaster of emotions for me.

Matt’s (Zach Roerig) semi-reunion with his sister Vicki (Kayla Ewell) is also sweet and much needed. This show sometimes overlooks just how alone Matt really is. He literally has no family and lives alone in Tyler’s (Michael Trevino) family mansion. He works as a bus boy at the grill and sometimes buddies around with Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen). He’s also the only human left in the group and is constantly being beaten, used as bait or used as a pawn. I think the writers glossed over how depressing his life really is, so being able to hear it from his sister is a much needed moment that I hope brings him peace.

As for the big “twist” involved in Katherine’s death? I’m just going to say it: I KNEW she wasn’t going to die. This is Katherine Pierce we are talking about. She is not the kind of woman who will go gentle into that good night, so the fact that the writers even trying to convince us that she was going to die is completely unbelievable. If you know this show at all, you knew that something was going to save her or she would find a way to survive in the end.

With that said, it is really touching what Elena (also Nina Dobrev) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) do to try and bring Katherine peace in her last few moments. Ok, well Stefan anyway. I get that what Elena does is more for herself than for Katherine but hey, she kind of tries. But back to Stefan: that is the sign of a good man. (Are you listening Delena fans?? Stefan is a good man, and Damon is selfish and bad. Just in case you missed it…) Now we all know how I feel about the flashback sequences (to recap: there’s a whole lot of bad hair and really stilted, proper conversations), so I’ll admit I was a little worried about Stefan and Katherine reminiscing. While we do get a few  flashbacks, I found the one where Stefan brings her peace and takes away her guilt for the death of her family to be really touching. It actually had me doubting myself and trying to figure out how this show would go on without the Katherine character. Thankfully a few minutes later I got to scold myself for even thinking of it as Katherine once again finds a way to come back from the dead. Well played, TVD writers.

Other Observations:

• I’m absolutely begging the writers not to drag this whole “Traveller taking over Elena’s body” thing on too long. I beg you. There’s only so much I can handle. I would have preferred having Katherine take over her annoying daughter’s body instead and having to suffer through that woman for weeks if it meant I didn’t have to put up with this storyline. This episode is good from start to finish…except for this one storyline.
• I’m assuming we are going to revisit the fact that a house full of random Czech Traveller witch type people drain Stefan and Elena of their blood and then just let them go. This seems like something that will have some repercussions later, am I right?
• I wasn’t even going to mention the return of Tyler because it means so little to me, but I want to address this one fact: clearly his character couldn’t carry his own weight when he crossed over to The Originals, so the writers scratched that plan and sent him home. Perhaps they should take their own hint here. The character washed out on this show, then couldn’t hack it on the spin-off, so now he’s back on the mother ship? How about he just finds another werewolf pack in the mountains or something and never returns?
• Finally, let’s just address how very strange it is to have Stefan giving love advice to his brother and his ex-girlfriend. Too weird for me and not at all realistic. No one is that good a person. Plus, it makes me worried that Stefan is really over Elena, which causes problems for my love of Stelena. But don’t worry friends, I will continue to keep the faith that they will be together again. Doppelgangers and fate, remember?

What did you think of the show’s 100th episode? Did you love the return of the beloved characters as much as I did? What do you think those strange people want with the doppleganger blood? Sound off below!

The Vampire Diaries airs on Thursday nights at 8pm EST on The CW. Next week everybody wants Katherine’s body. Check out the preview below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj04Vzb4nqU