And The Vampire Diaries season premiere Oscar goes to Michael Trevino. It is really a shame that we only got one episode of Klaus/Tyler. Klaus would never be that honest with Caroline so quickly. It was actually honorable to see him reveal himself. Watching Michael Trevino try to pull off being an English megalomanic while using terms like “bloody” and “love” was the highlight of the episode. It was the best thing Michael Trevino has done since they taught him to take off his shirt. He stole the show last night amidst the woes of Elena turning into a vampire and Bonnie turning into a less frightening (or believable) version of “Dark Willow”. Overall this was a decent episode, but pretty predictable. Check my article from yesterday “5 things to expect from the season 4 premiere” to see just how predictable.
The love triangle was in full force with Elena remembering the Damon necklace scene and confessing to Stefan that she chose him. “Growing Pains” brought Stefan and Elena’s relationship back to the beginning. They have been through so much and now with Elena as a vampire they will get a chance to start over. It will be nice to see their new relationship develop over the coming weeks, but here’s hoping Damon finds himself a new girl or girls to make Elena insanely jealous.
Klaus and Rebekah broke up yet again. Really, when you are that old you need to realize that family is all you’ve got and get on with your life. Did Klaus only have 4 blood bags from Elena? If that is true, Klaus now can’t make any new hybrids. So, hopefully there will be some awesome Caroline/Tyler/Klaus scenes ahead of us. Now that Rebekah has shunned him Klaus pretty much has nothing better to do than stalk Caroline. Let’s hope that her older brother’s actions don’t push Rebekah out of town. Claire Holt truly adds a level of awesome to the show and it would be a mistake if she doesn’t stick around.
Poor Matt Donovan, that boy can’t catch a break. We knew that everyone would be pretty annoyed with him about the car accident, but Damon trying to kill him was overkill. Like Elena says, it isn’t his fault it’s hers and Stefan’s that she died. The Stefan/Matt fight felt much more real than the Damon/Matt fight. Paul Wesley gave his best performance of the night in that scene. The sting of telling Matt that every day he wakes up he better earn it was so much harsher than Damon’s physical attack. The way each brother handled Matt perfectly showed the difference between them.
The subplot of “Growing Pains” was confusing and as the “bad guys” seem to have blown themselves up at the end; it didn’t really have a point. Who was the crazy pastor? If they all died will there be anyone to continue the mission? Also, does everyone in Mystic Falls know about vampires now? They were talking pretty loudly throughout the whole town during this episode. It seems like the secret is out. What does that mean for Mystic Falls?
TVD left us with a lot to deal with at the end of Season 3 and “Growing Pains” handled it well. Hopefully in the coming weeks we will see life get back to normal a bit. Matt and Jeremy, at least, will be back in school and we’ll have a better sense of the effect Alaric’s confessions had on the town. All signs point to a more cohesive episode next week, but TVD Season 4 sure started out with a bang. Now we know once and for all, Elena is a vampire.
Let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments. What are your predictions for this season?
