Vampire Diaries: Heart of Darkness

“He changes her, too.”

This week’s episode focused on difficult encounters between characters, as well as the revelation of various secret longings, dark hearts, and veiled emotions, from Evilaric’s hidden stake (and not-so-hidden rage) to Elena’s ambiguous desire, Caroline’s alleged feelings for Klaus, and the last-minute revelation about Rebekah that I totally didn’t see coming.

Damon and Elena’s quest for ancestral answers led to two major Kol smackdowns (the baseball bat thing was horrifying because it was so quick), but the highlight was probably Elena and Damon finally getting their mack on. Probably? Well, it depends on how you feel about Elena and Damon. I’m inclined to agree with Rose, who helpfully provided us with an interpretive framework for this twist to the triangle: could be great, could be terrible. But the purity of Elena’s love with Stefan, while charming, makes for rather dull television. At the very least, she should [cough] explore her options.

It’s not surprising that we still don’t know which Original started the Rose line. (That feels like a Da Vinci Code joke.) The Originals have a lot invested in keeping that a secret, they tend to win every fight they get into, and they cahoot well. The return of Mama Original was a shock, and that she took over Rebekah’s body was a double-shock to me, even though I’d thought about Klaus taking over Alaric’s body more than once during the episode.

Does this mean Rebekah’s dead? Mama did say, “She’s dead,” but she might have just been playacting for Klaus’s benefit. I doubt they’d kill off Rebekah that quickly, especially given the wacky half-fake, half-real flirtation between her and Matt. It’d be great if Mama Original could kill the Originals. Except whoever started the Rose line, of course. (My goodness, this is complicated!)

Because of my Tyler-antipathy, I’m having a hard time caring about his fate being tied to the potential death of Klaus. Tyler’s quick-draw jealousy didn’t help the issues, as Klaus drawing a picture for Caroline is hardly proof of her secret heart’s infidelity. If she can forgive him for biting her, he can surely wrap his head around Caroline fake-flirting with Klaus, right? Unless we’re meant to believe Caroline has a thing for Klaus and just hasn’t realized it.

Alaric has gotten some meaty plots lately, and his philosophical inquiry into his own “darkest parts” and how they relate to his “failure” to live up to his hunter potential was quite depressing. It probably motivated his willingness to have the gumption beat out of him by Stefan, too: catharsis by vampire. Alaric’s villainous side is a bit less scenery-chewing, too, which is a delightful turn. Perhaps his two sides can merge? Or is he doomed to Dr. Jekyll’s fate, and Captain Ahab’s?

Alaric’s not living up to his own expectations, and Stefan and Damon have a similar problem. Damon doesn’t want to be good because it requires too much commitment to the consistency of goodness; Stefan is struggling with staying in control (particularly hard given the amount of bloodletting that happens each week in Mystic Falls). Damon’s refusal to be his usual bad-boy self is a fun twist, and it’ll be interesting to see if his secret chewy center has any staying power. There are always bumps in the road of life, especially towards the end of the season.

Bites:

• Elena: “Who did you have to compel for that?”
Damon: “Please! I used miles.”

• Damon: “Dead vampire is redundant.”

• Alaric: “Maybe his alter-ego is a pot-smoking, hippie pacifist.”

• Jeremy: “What? So you guys can make out some more?”

• Damon: “It’s like Vampire Hoarders.”

• Damon: “What? I said creepy, not ugly.”

And Pieces:

• The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing was pretty funny, even if Elena didn’t think so.

• It was great to see Lauren Cohan again.

Three out of four motels.

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

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