Vampire Diaries: The Sun Also Rises

“I still have you.”

This episode was simultaneously engrossing and maddening—as long as I pushed myself to remain fully invested in the perils on screen, it was great: passion, death, fire, blood. But as soon as I let that focus slip, bad thoughts started to slip in. Comparisons to reality TV abounded. I started to think about why the writers had made the choices they did, and that’s usually a sign that a show is starting to wear a bit thin. In the spirit of my ambivalence, I offer you two reviews:

My Cynical Review

Watching VD is like watching a reality TV show. We know someone—maybe lots of someones—will be eliminated, and it becomes a guessing game to see who. The interlocking circles of fire would make a great set-piece on the stage of The Biggest Loser, as candidates that slip below the yellow line are slaughtered one by one. Next week: with the Klaus Challenge overcome, the contestants tackle the Great Werewolf Challenge, with an inevitable twist you never saw coming! Who will be sent home?

I suspect now that the Great Sun and Moon Retcon was planned from the beginning, as Elijah and Klaus—and likely their undead kin—will prove to be useful big bads for next season. Not killing them, though, was horribly unsatisfying, making the ritual seem like a handy device to kill Jenna, eliminate Luka’s sister the witch (who never really lived up to her potential), and re-affirm the complex relationship between Elena, Stefan, and Damon.

Damon’s little nip returns us to the status quo of loss+love+impending threat. I wish the writers had left us in the dark about Damon’s bite—it would have made a great surprise if he knew but we were kept in the dark, wondering why he seemed so weak and angry. Of course, the impending threat will require a sacrifice we don’t expect, as writing Damon off would just be silly. And, next season: lather, rinse, repeat.

The Emotionally Invested Review

This was heart-wrenching. Jenna’s death, and the time the show took to let her say goodbye to Elena even as she fought for her life was unbearable. I’ve always liked Jenna and the role she plays in the lives of Elena, Jeremy, and Alaric. Now Elena and Jeremy have very little family left, and Alaric is once again doomed to the burden of a dead vampire ex.

Everyone’s willingness to sacrifice themselves both spoke to the inherent goodness of most of these characters and ratcheted up the tension to an unbelievable level. Jon’s sacrifice was one I didn’t see coming, because I’ve never really trusted his character—in part, because Jenna and Elena never did. (And I still think of him as Sark.) Jon gave Elena the one thing that proved his goodness, finally. It was touching and low-key.

Stefan was just as willing to sacrifice himself, reminding me of his line in an earlier episode that he has lived and the non-immortals are still in their youth. Good guy, Stefan. Bonnie, too, fought the good fight. As did Jenna. And Elena. Really, everyone was good and no one was a chicken. But, like Spanish fascists, the immortals always win, and the fighters lose something in the process.

Damon’s arc is so tragic: throughout the show, he has vacillated between his desire to do good and his inability to control his baser urges. His ending should be epic, a Hamlet-style blowout. So it is even more upsetting that his doom might come from a little nip, as it is such a small thing, so accidental, and so random. I hope he survives, and I wonder how the experience of survival will change him. Damon has proved willing to sacrifice himself for others, especially Elena and Stefan. Would anyone sacrifice themselves to save him?

Stefan might, although I think he would bear in mind how that would affect Elena. But his pain at knowing what the heroes are up against in the coming days was wonderfully played. I don’t give Stefan enough credit sometimes.

Bites:

• Caroline: “My mom knows?!”

• Damon: “You’re a day late and a daughter short, Jon.”

• Damon: “How does one go about killing an all-powerful wolf-vamp and his two-faced older brother?”

• Damon: “More of a nip, really.”

And Pieces:

• Matt, Caroline, and Tyler are still in the game. I assume the relevance will become clear soon.

• This is me not making an untimely joke about a body not being buried at sea.

• Elena’s dress was too short for a funeral, even an unofficial one. With that statement, I officially turned old.

• They buried Jenna sub rosa (pun!), which means Elena and Jeremy likely won’t need to be given to a new guardian.

• I really wanted a screencap of Stefan and Damon talking in the graveyard. Stefan is a close-talker!

• Totally unrelated to VD: Did any of you watch the first part of the Community season finale? That was so awesome!

This easily could have been a season finale, which makes me wonder what tricks and turns the writers have in mind for the next episode. Last season, they left us with a whopping cliffhanger. As so many threads were resolved (or zoomed off into the ether like the Immortal Brotherhood), I don’t know how VD can leave us hanging next week, unless it has something to do with Damon and whatever lengths the heroes must go to in order to save him. That makes me nervous. I suspect more contestants are going to be eliminated, and I don’t want that to happen. Which, I guess, means I’m still completely invested, after all.

Three out of four nips.

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

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