“How are we going to get out of this Twilight Zone?”
That”s what we ALL want to know Damon. That”s what we all want to know. And now I suppose we do, thanks to crazy serial killer Kai and his own hellish purgatory that Bonnie and Damon are now stuck in. But seriously, haven”t we all heard enough one-hit wonders from the mid-90s yet?
If Soundgarden was stuck in your head throughout “Black Hole Sun” no one would blame you. Yes, the term refers to a sun during an eclipse, which is part of how Bonnie and Damon are supposed to get back. But the episode was also an homage to the song commonly associated with grief over Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain”s death. We had a fun easter egg when Damon held up the front page news during his flashback scene with Stefan to prove it. Oh to relive your youth. But I digress.
What was significant about the song then and what was relevant about it in the episode is that it was a way for shocked fans to death with their grief. And while there is always plenty of grief to go around during an episode of “The Vampire Diaries,” Thursday night was an especially painful one. With Elena having all but forgotten the love of her life, she regressed back to a version of her former self-the too-positive, do-gooder gal we knew from the early seasons who still carried a torch for Stefan. While it was fun to see that for a little bit (mostly because it gave Caroline some fun stuff to bounce off of last week and this week it led to a fun-but-skeevy diner proposal), I”m already over it. Her relationship with Damon made her a better character because it gave her balance, and I miss that.
I miss that in Damon, too. Through the flashbacks we were reminded of all the truly horrible things he”d done in his past lives, like killing pregnant women and living to pay his brother back for all eternity. With Elena his softer side came back to life, and it”s why he became so endearing to viewers. Or Delana shippers, at any rate.
There”s no doubt that those two will be reunited at some point, and it will be all kinds of “Vampire Diaries” levels of epic. Now that the Fight Club version of Stefan has put the judgmental version of Elena in her place and told her what she had Alaric do, she can make some more informed decisions going forward. I get why she doesn”t want to have her full memory restored right away, but if Alaric is the only one who can actually give her those Damon memories back, then I worry for Alaric”s safety in future episodes. (OK maybe I only worry a little; everyone does always seem to come back on this show, don”t they?) Either way when Damon comes back he”s going to have to work for Elena”s love again, and viewers are going to get to watch that journey like the good TV trope it”s meant to be. Swoon.
Inside Mystic Falls we also had several key developments. Jeremy continued his vagabond ways while Alaric gave him some fatherly advice, Matt grew closer with Tripp in his bid to uncover the Vampire Hunters, and Sarah made the biggest revelation of the episode: she”s actually Gail”s daughter and blood relative of the Salvatores. Bonus points if you saw that one coming.
While I”m sure we”ll explore all of that in upcoming episodes, all we know for sure right now is that when Damon comes back from “hell,” he might just want to go back there with so many key developments happening while he was away.
Sinking our teeth in:
*** Let”s just say together what was glaringly wrong with the episode, shall we? Not. Enough. Caroline.
*** There are going to be some seriously sketchy Enzo torture scenes coming up, me thinks.
*** Who else noticed Stefan working on Damon”s car? Now that”s brotherly love.
*** Only Alaric, the newbie original vamp, would let a bloody nose distract him from a shiny new potential relationship with a hot doctor.
*** Kai”s backstory was creepy, but I have to say the way he downs jam is even creepier.
*** I KNEW Sheriff Forbes always had a thing for Damon.
*** Ivy coming back felt unnecessary, right? Or was that just me?
*** Before we sign off, let”s repeat our new life motto one more time: Snatch, eat, erase.
What did you think of “Black Hole Sun?” Happy that Damon and Bonnie seem to be on their way back? Excited that Elena knows what she did? Looking forward to learning more about where the heck Sarah has been ALL this time? Sound off in the comments section below.
“The Vampire Diaries” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.