The gang was almost back together this week as Tyler repented after his vicious attack on Caroline, seeking treatment for his sire-bond problem from her scary-looking father, and Stefan, Bonnie, and Elena continued to search for a way to open the mysterious fourth coffin they are holding hostage from Klaus. Bonnie’s dreams told her that her mother may hold the key to opening the coffin so the girls decided to go on a road trip. Of course taking Damon along after he and Elena shared a passionate kiss last week was out of the question, but no worries, Stefan followed them instead. Unfortunately Klaus’s minions beat them to Abby Bennett Wilson’s (Girlfriends star Persia White) house, compelled mommy-dearest, and ultimately allowed Klaus to retrieve three of his four coffins. All save the un-openable, all-important one. Meanwhile, Alaric, known for his great taste in women, bagged yet another psychopath, Dr. Meredith Fell (played by Paul Wesley’s wife, Torrey Devitto). According to EW, she plans on sticking around. We’ll see.
The Bennett witches reunion had little of the emotional gravitas that the writers seemed to have intended. Nothing truly compelling ever happens during daylight hours on this show. They should have known better. But it did allow Elena and Stefan to have the quick heart-to-heart (after dark of course) and catch up, so to speak. Thus, Stefan’s personality disorder was in full view once again as the once prim-and-proper Salvatore brother unleashed yet another attitude adjustment on the good people of Mystic Falls. With so little consistency week to week, it is quickly becoming impossible to tell the act he’s supposedly putting on for Klaus’s benefit apart from his full-time persona. Is he good? Is he evil? Is he just unhinged?
Let’s review the facts thus far. Two episodes ago, Elena informed him Klaus was trying to kill Jeremy; Stefan claimed indifference and sold it by doing absolutely nothing to save Elena’s incredibly annoying younger sibling. Luckily, Jeremy lived to whine another day. In last week’s episode Stefan kidnaped Elena, convincingly threatening to turn her into a vampire as she screamed uncontrollably into Klaus’s ear. Tonight, however, he expressed remorse over said actions and got all misty upon hearing of Elena’s budding romance with Damon. What a difference a week makes! Does this mean he’s done playing “the better villain”? Probably not. The writers will most likely try to give Damon and Elena a few more episodes before kicking this love triangle into high gear yet again.
Thankfully, there will be plenty for distractions until then. In usual Vampire Diaries fashion, the writers saved the best twist for the last 2 minutes of the episodes. Welcome back, Elijah! Turns out Damon revived Elijah before surrendering the coffins to Klaus and given how the two brothers ended things last season (Klaus staked him just ‘cause), this promises to be a fun development. As the season moves full steam ahead, I do have one minor worry that the show will jump the shark and OD on the supernatural. The first two seasons were still grounded in reality thanks to the parental oversight of Jenna, Sheriff Forbes, and even Matt. As the humans inevitably move into the background and the action heats up, Vampire Diaries threatens to lose a compelling aspect of the show by shifting all the focus to characters blessed (or cursed?) with special abilities.