This is what makes The Vampire Diaries great. There is so much going on that you forget about certain aspects of the world and then bam, they bring them back. As heart-wrenching as “Stand by Me” was, last night’s episode left us with something amazing. We will finally get to see Elena’s true vampire self. We never saw that twist coming and when Damon got down on his knees I definitely squealed. “Turn it Off”, brilliant! Of course the only way for Elena to get through her last family member’s death is to turn off her humanity switch and of course Damon has to be the one to do it, once again sacrificing any happyness he and Elena may have had for what Elena needs in the moment. Damon doesn’t make the best decisions, but the fallout from this one has the potential to be awesome. Elena is also in way better shape to take on Katherine with her emotions off. Elena girl, have some fun you deserve it!
Nina Dobrev killed this episode. It’s great to see such depth on a ridiculous show about vampires. “Stand By Me” had just the right amount of grief and Dobrev’s breakdown was eerily real. It could have been pulled from a drama at Sundance rather than the CW. Matt Donovan’s car crying however, definitely CW. Zach Roering is very pretty to look at, and I’m sure he makes a mean cup of tea but that’s pretty much it. The grief you felt for Elena almost projected itself onto Matt and his mediocre acting was well hidden. So does Matt get the ring now? He is the only human left now. His supernatural skills include the uncanny ability to always be handsome and his mastery of marrying ketchups, but those probably don’t count as supernatural and the ring would still work on him. Damon has it for now, and we should probably keep an eye on that thing. It’s like the white oak stake which I keep on forgetting who has. Rebekah has the white oak stake now, right? The Gilbert ring and the white oak stake are bound to come in useful, so watch the exchange of those items carefully.
Let’s talk Shadypants, Bonnie, and April (yes I know you don’t want to but it has to be done). All the Bonnie/Damon stuff was super weird. Elena saying Damon really loves Bonnie, their hug, it all felt not right. Damon, you’re supposed to be on our side. No one likes Bonnie. Please don’t become her friend.
Bonnie was whiny as usual, crying her eyes out for Jeremy, (Jeremy I am so sorry that all your girlfriends were horrible and you never had the girlfriend you deserve RIP), going insane and deciding to kill 12 people. Come on Bonnie, there has got to be a brain in there somewhere. Forget about Caleb from Buffy, Lord Voldemort, and all the other non cannon supernatural beings Sylas would bring back let’s talk about Mystic Falls. Hey gang do you want to deal with Kol, Michael, and all those hybrids you killed? No, you do not. Bringing back the entire supernatural world is a bad idea. Like Kol said, hell on earth.
Just when we thought Shadypants was dead, Sylas decides to use his body as a vesel or something. So real Shadypants may be dead, but we still have to deal with his smirky face a little while longer. We thankfully did not have to see April in “Stand By Me” but her desperate annoying phone call to Jeremy was enough to bring back our hatred for her. Jeremy has been on an island in Canada for god knows how long and you only try and call him now? If April comes back on the show in pursuit of Matt Donovan I might throw up. Go back to where you came from April, your presence is useless.
Hailey, another hated character, was brought to the forefront in “Stand By Me”. The producers are obviously setting up The Originals with the information that Hailey is somehow more involved in this cure thing than we thought, and that she met Katherine in New Orleans, the site of the new show. We simply don’t care about Hailey, April, or despite Elena’s best efforts to get us to care Bonnie. With Jeremy’s death though, Bonnie won’t be gracing us with her death anytime soon. Maybe when she finally goes off the rails she’ll be less obnoxious, but it’s doubtful.
Last night was a win for Team Salvatore when everyone’s favorite brothers shared their love the only way two such handsome vampires can, with a series of grunts and meaningful stares. The Salvatore bros like to think that Elena comes first, but that’s not true; they are far more loyal to each other than to her. Now that Elena is 100% stuck as a vampire watching the brother’s relationship develop is fresh and exciting. Seeing them try to control Elena without humanity is the making of a set of hilariously fun episodes.
I’m so pumped for this and I hope you guys are too. It’s about time we had some fun in Mystic Falls. While Jeremy’s death is undoubtedly sad, it did not hit as hard as Alaric’s. Jeremy has never had the annoyance factor of a Bonnie or an April, but he also never garnered the love we have for other secondary characters like Caroline or Klaus. While we miss Alaric just as much as Damon does, Elena will miss Jeremy more than the audience once her humanity switch gets turned back on. But for now, lets have some crazy vampire sexy fun times.
What did you think of “Stand By Me”? Are you as excited as we are for carefree Elena? Will her feelings for Damon disappear with her humanity switch? Will Bonnie actually commit this massacre? Unfortunately we have to wait until March 14th to find out. Let us know your thoughts on the episode in the comments.
The Vampire Diaries airs Thursday at 8/7c on the CW
