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Vampire Diaries: Klaus

“I believe the term you’re searching for is OMG.”

Quite a bit happened in this episode. The Vamp In Black finally stopped possessing John Locke’sAlaric’s body. JacobElijah, momentarily resurrected, revealed his relationship with the Vamp in Black, and Desmond Elena continued to struggle with her role as the doppelganger who has the unique power to save the Islandmaintain the curse. And we’re left wondering if BooneJenna will be the sacrifice the Island demands.

You might have guessed already: I’m not much a fan of this episode. It was interesting and many things happened. Even the exposition was broken up for those of us with short attention spans, and the director has obviously seen enough Aaron Sorkin shows to know that talking while walking is always more exciting than just talking. Our boys got into a fight…in other words, all the pieces were fine.

But the overall arcs are rather maddening. Turns out, the sun-and-moon curse was manufactured by Klaus to spur all the vampires and werewolves to find the doppelganger and the moonstone. He “etched” the “Roman” “parchment” “scroll” (all those quotation marks are ironic, because that sentence doesn’t make paleographic sense). He added a dollop of shaman and a dash of African carvings—all to break a different curse that applies only to him. Descended from a werewolf and a vampire, Klaus has the potential to be a new hybrid monster, but the curse has kept him from realizing his full potential. Elijah wants to stop him because a super-powerful werewolf-vampire hybrid half-brother is bad news. And he has a solution, involving a super-powerful witch.

In other words: Bonnie is still a secret weapon, Elena is still in danger but not doomed…but the entire curse backstory was untrue. Did this bother you as much as it bothers me? Maybe it doesn’t matter: I never thought the curse would be broken. But this sudden change rubs me the wrong way.

Meanwhile, Jenna finally knows. Klauric (or “Alari-Klaus,” Damon’s preferred term) spurred Stefan to reveal his inner vampire, and Jenna is heartbroken that the universe has different rules than she thought, and that everyone—including Sark—knows the truth. I continue to suspect that Jenna may not be long for this world.

Damon’s peace of mind is suffering, too. He has really amped up the lovelorn angst, with the morning drinking, pouty kisses, and fight with Stefan. His treatment of Andie was fairly awful: it’s easy to forget that she’s being compelled not to be afraid of him, except that Stefan reminds us every 15 minutes or so. Are we supposed to admire him for not killing Andie in his moody rage? It’s hard for me not to detest a line like “You know what happens when I'm upset.” Wife-beaters have been using that sort of deflective, impersonal language for centuries.

Also: parallel structure—vampire brothers torn apart by their desire for a beautiful woman. Noted.

Bites:

• Andie: “What are you doing?
Damon: “Splitting from the team. Going rogue.”

• Klaus: “She is human. Her life means nothing.” I don’t think we’re supposed to root for Klaus.

• Klaus: “Love is a vampire’s greatest weakness.”

• Stefan: “You’re right. Thank you, for being in love with my girlfriend.” Snap!

• Damon: “A—what?”

And Pieces:

• I’m not too up on 15th century protocols for addressing nobility, but is “I’m introducing the Lord Elijah” really correct? Why not just “Lord Elijah”?

• Vampires drinking coffee, like vampires cooking, always makes me happy.

• Why, oh why, does a vampire in late fifteenth-century London know that the Aztecs even exist?

• Seven Originals. Do you think we’ll get to see the other five someday?

• I really, really wanted a screencap of Stefan crying with empathy for Elena and Jenna. Alas, it was not to be.

• Katherine drinking was funny. Her decision to pretend to pout when Klauric came home was funnier.

• Do you think the Big Box of Klaus was filled with special dirt?

I’ve been wrong about the Vampire Diaries before: Katherine in the tomb is a good example of a plot I didn’t like at first but then came to enjoy. So maybe I shouldn’t rate this episode. Maybe I’ll like this turn of events more in a week or two.

What do you think? How many... um... funny objects?

Josie Kafka is a full-time cat servant and part-time rogue demon hunter. (What's a rogue demon?)

18 comments:

  1. I liked this episode.. It wasn't quite as good as the best ones, but I still thought it was good...

    In the usual VD way, a lot of things changed (that's why I love these reviews, they help me keep track)
    I actually found it kind of funny that the sun and moon curse doesn't exist. It says a lot about Klaus' character.
    Do we know how old Klaus and Elijah are? A few years older than Katherine, I would think.. maybe they've traveled the world and learned about aztecs..?

    I did not like Damons behavior in this episode! He was to selfish and mean.. but then again, that's Damon- isn't it?

    I wonder what happened with Alaric when Klaus left his body.. I hope he lives, and that he'll make up with Jenna :)

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  2. I actually enjoyed the change in the curse of the sun and the moon, mostly because every time it came up I started wondering "Why on earth would an Aztec shaman decide to take a vacation in Bulgaria of all places just to place a curse on vampires and were wolves". This was compounded by the fact that as you pointed out the legend of the curse was being written about in the late 1400's and in since "in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue" and Bulgaria was not one of the better known seafaring nations (being landlocked and all. So Klaus deciding to be adventurous, buying a ship and a bunch of galley hands (otherwise known as food) and setting sail to try to get to China by sailing west to get east and accidentally finding Mexico, doesn't bother me as much as the first rendition of the curse

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  3. Loved your comment, Percysowner. :)

    I get the best of both worlds with Vampire Diaries. It's one of the highlights of my week -- plus, I get to read Josie's reviews afterward instead of writing my own. And I enjoyed this one a lot. But I seem to be enjoying every episode of VD a lot.

    Josie, you have a point. I wasn't sure what to think of the Big Moonstone Rewrite. We've had that Moonstone stuff going on forever and all that plot just got twisted out of existence? And Klaus was a lot scarier when he was in Alaric's body. (Alaric had better be okay.) I guess we'll see.

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  4. You're not the only who didn't like the retcon, Josie. The new curse is fine. It makes Klaus a more menacing Big Bad. It raises the stakes yet again but I was invested in everything with the first curse. I don't really care about Klaus' plans because we met him one episode ago.

    Plus, I lost confidence in the writers' confidence in their own story because of that damn retcon. I'm worried about the final two episodes now.

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  5. A few things:

    1. I'm glad they got rid of the nonsensical "Aztec-Bulgarian" curse -- not only for the geopolitical paradox, but also because it never made sense why Klaus cared so much, given Originals can walk in sunlight. But I don't think the Klaus-is-part-werewolf curse is that compelling. Just doesn't seem all that important, I guess. (Klaus will be... even *more* immortal and indestructible? Eh.)

    2. Elijah is hot. And kind of awesome (not with the awk flashback hair though). Did they make Damon so gross this episode so he wouldn't steal Elijah's hotness thunder?

    3. There was nothing cool about not telling Jenna that HER BOYFRIEND WAS POSSESSED BY AN EVIL SUPERHUMAN KILLER. They have cell phones...

    4. Any Caroline-less episode is bound to be a disappointment. Period.

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  6. I liked this one quite a bit! And I was happy with the fact that they changed the curse because it never made much sense for it to have been an Aztec curse... way too young! That would have made the curse about 500-600 years old, tops (no big Aztec empire before the 1300-1400s), and it seemed like "originals" should be way older than that!

    @johanne: we don't know how old Klaus and Elijah are, but I'm guessing at least 2000 since they mention the Romans, probably older to fit in with the height of the Egyptian pyramid building...

    "Katherine drinking was funny. Her decision to pretend to pout when Klauric came home was funnier."
    lol! indeed! :o)

    Happy to see Elijah back, I liked him!

    Is anyone else worried about Alaric? The way he just fell like that when he was de-Klaused... if he's still alive, what's to stop Klaus from making a meal out of him??? :s

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  7. three out of four “etched” “Roman” “parchment” “scrolls”

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  8. Hilarious first paragraph Josie :) also some very pertinent and amusing comments! I thought this episode was necessary to introduce us to the 'big bad' and make the forthcoming fight between he, Elijah and the Scooby Gang more personal.

    I do think the reveal that the sun and the moon curse is going to lessen my enjoyment whenever I get around to rewatching VD from the beginning :( there simply won't be much resting on the moonstone struggles.

    By the way, I have forgotten - what did Klaus initially want Katerina for? Was she previously a doppelganger? Of whom? And How did the doppelgangers get worked into the Sun/Moon/Hybrid curses in the first instance? Or has that last part not been explained?

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  9. It's looking like Katerina was a doppleganger herself, definately to somebody both Klaus and Elijah cared for. Maybe one of the other origonals.
    I really enjoyed this ep. Nice to finally meet Klaus. But I agree; the curse being fake kind of makes me think an urgent rewrite has gone on; like they couldn't find anywhere to take it.
    Still excited for whats coming!!

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  10. I like all of the crazy! It makes it exciting for me =). Also about Katherine, yeah I think she was a doppleganger, but then turned herself into a vampire (or maybe Trevor helped her? I can't remember, but I think they went over it) and escaped the whole thing. That really pissed Klaus off. I think only Elijah loved Katherine because in that one flashback scene Klaus goes on about not caring about people and only needing Katherine for his ritual, etc. Just watched the most recent episode can't wait for the next review!

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  11. Sooo, if Kath was the first doppelganger.. how did they know she was that?

    And if Klaus needed a doppelganger to break the curse, would it then not be a bit stupid to kill all her family in revenge...

    Just saying...


    (fun review Josie, especially the not being supposed to root for Klaus comment, thanks!)

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  12. Good that Damon didn't say: "You wouldn't want to wake the dragon". Although it's good that they haven't forgotten Andie Star.

    The episode would be a 3 out of 4 for me at least. Definately minus points for no Caroline

    Lots of questions still unanswered: How did the originals become vampires? Why are the vampires they sired weaker? Who's doppelganger is Katherine? Can you make more werepires by killing a werwolf with vamp blood in his system?

    No Bonnie, Jeremy, Matt, Caroline, Tyler, Sark or the sheriff. The cast is growing so i'm expecting a bloodbath soon.

    Does anyone else think that all this talk about Katerina made Katerina Graham ask the producers to shorten her name in the credits? :P

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  13. A little comment: Nina Dobrev's British accent is impressive. Perfectly subtle.

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  14. I didn't mind the episode overall.

    I disagree with Rish: Nina Dobrev's English accent was passable (especially since fortunately for her Katerina was faking an English accent) but it wasn't impressive.

    Why the heck were Elijah and Elena wandering around the Lockwood property? That walking and talking thing was totally out of place and a really bad choice by the director. That conversation would have held much more weight in the doom and gloom of the Salvatore house.

    Agreed on Damon acting like a domestic violence perpetrator in this episode. Not cool, or sexy.

    Finally, I don't really care about the retcon re: the curse. It's always bothered me how easily Bonnie made Caroline's ring. None of our vampires care about the "curse" because it doesn't apply to them therefore I've never really been invested in all the breaking the curse talk.

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  15. I'm not convinced that the writers retconned the curse. I think the explanation given for Klause's disinformation campaign makes sense; no vampire or werewolf would welcome the coming of a hybrid race that could wipe out their species. In that context, I think the disinformation campaign was a shrewd move on Klause's part. To me, the internal logic is sound, which means I don't really believe that the writers lost confidence in their story.

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  16. Aly, assuming Kathryn was the first doppelgänger, she was the double of someone. So the witches who cast the curse in the first place linked it to someone that I imagine Klaus and Elijah knew and Kathryn is the doppelgänger of that person. And your other point is a good one that I hadn't thought of. =)

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  17. One thing that's still not clear to me is why Elena is Katerina's doppleganger. Didn't Klaus kill all of Katerina's family so she couldn't have any living relatives? Why should the offspring of Uncle John and Isolde be a doppelganger, or is there some witchiness involved? If Isolde's been working with Klaus since her pregnancy, I guess he could have found a witch to cast a spell to make her offspring a doppelganger?

    Maybe I'm being a bit pedantic but the references to Bulgaria in 1490 seem off. Would anybody have actually been calling that part of the Ottoman Empire Bulgaria at that time? There had been a Bulgarian Empire some time before that, but that wouldn't have been the name the Ottomans used.

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    Replies
    1. magritte, I think they did Bulgaria because Nina Dobrev was born there. Maybe they didn't do a lot of research. :)

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