This episode was loaded with big moments — tearful goodbyes, weepy flashbacks, rollercoaster plot twists, and more than one character was sent packing. In truth, the body count was pretty damn high. Given we had so much to digest, I'm not sure I felt the feels I was expecting. Too often I felt as if I was cued by the music to register, “NOW FEEL SOME EPIC SAD, DAMMIT,” before the plot whirled on to other matters.
Anyway, one of the epic sads (more or less) was Nadia's untimely passing due to Tyler's hybrid bite. I got the impression that there were probably more flashbacks before the script was rewritten (just a guess), because the ones we did get felt too short to really tell us anything we didn't already know. Hey, she's looking for her mom! And, again, she's looking for her mom! Hey Matt, I'm looking for my mom! I liked Nadia and was always intrigued by the relationship between her and Katherine, but I felt that I never knew her beyond her fondness for Matt, a tendency to steal jewelry, and her desperate yearning for (guess!) her mom. Of course, she had to go because the plot to take down Katherine wouldn't have worked if she'd stuck around. RIP, Nadia.
While Katherine was far less sympathetic than Nadia, and Nina Dobrev isn't going anywhere, I was still sad to see this bad girl go. At the end of the episode, it really seemed as if Katherine had cheated death once again when Bonnie couldn't pass her through to the other side — but it was even better watching Katherine get whisked away by some evil, angry force that Hoovered her right out of the church. Whoosh!
It seemed a little tidy that Katherine was able to say a long goodbye to all of the Mystic Falls residents who were lined up to kill her (or at least watch her be killed), but I'll let it pass because these goodbyes were mostly good fun. Hey, Damon? Sorry I didn't let you die in a bloody heap on the battle ground and shame your father! Psyche!
That Stefan was the one who thrust in the knife was a moment we all saw coming a mile off (allow Katherine to be vulnerable and confess her true feelings, then take her down!) but it was still a resonant moment. Even with the lovey dovey stuff, Katherine wisecracked until her last breath (“So this is how our love story ends?”), and it made me a little sad to think this trouble maker won't be around to turn people into vampires, run from Klaus, and do generally naughty things like make sure Tyler heard Caroline cheated with the Original he hates most. Who is going to make Mystic Falls interesting now?
Certainly not Wes, who Damon performed amateur surgery on (i.e. tortured) unto death. I knew Wes had to go sooner or later, but offing him in an episode already so full of offing seemed unworthy of a pretty skilled adversary. That Wes went down in 1) a spectacularly gross way and 2) by Damon's hands, however, was more than fitting. Plus, he unintentionally leaves us with a gift that will keep on giving — a syringe of possibly crazy-making killer toxic stuff (hmmm, listening to Wes' notes doesn't guarantee this is what she thinks it is, though) which Katherine shot into Elena's body, knowing she would be leaving it. Katherine is like the ultimate crappy roommate who smears dirt and maple syrup all over the carpet when she moves out just so you can't get your deposit back.
While it's a nasty move, Katherine has said before she hates that Elena has had the life she wanted — and she no longer sees any point in living if Stefan will never love her and her daughter is dead. Katherine always seemed like a “never say die” personality, but I guess if she was ever going to have a reason to go, these two are pretty compelling.
While Katherine, Nadia and Wes' deaths took up most of the show (and more of it featuring the Scooby gang trying to sort out ways to trick Katherine into coming over, and Damon trying to trick Tyler into getting within arm's reach so he could escape his cell), we did also see a blossoming conflict in Jeremy and Bonnie's relationship. That conflict came in the form of Liv, who is turning out to be pretty ungrateful to Bonnie for all her witch pointers. While Bonnie needs her for every locator spell (this time, to find Katherine/Elena), I'm thinking Bonnie may want to consider putting an ad on Craigslist next time. Liv is not at all shy about her interest in Jeremy, and given that she has powers Bonnie no longer has, it may be time to get away from the girl.
Still, it's good to see Bonnie have anything at all to do on this show. When she showed up to talk to Jeremy after the Katherine/Elena reveal, I thought, hey, Jeremy! Bonnie! I forgot they were on this show! If it takes a nutty love triangle to get them in the mix, so be it.
Of course, a love triangle isn't likely to be enough to pull focus from Elena next week. Yes, she's back, but as we know, she's pumped full of some Wes concoction and who knows how that will change things — and how it will effect her relationship with Damon (and that's whether or not he tells her all of the bad, mad deeds he's committed since their Katherine-induced split). While I'm sad to see Katherine go, there's a chance that Elena might be a lot more interesting this time around, too. Fingers crossed.
What do you think is going to happen to Elena? Are you sad to see these three characters go? What do you think of the love triangle between Bonnie, Jeremy and Liv?