THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: The Sacrifice

Stefan: Promise me, whatever happens, you’ll protect her.
Damon: Promise.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is currently living in this magnificent second season bubble of goodness. Even when an episode doesn’t completely knock my socks off, it’s still usually one of the best things about my TV week. Such was the case tonight.

Per usual, a lot was happening with the residents of Mystic Falls and their supernatural friends. Elena and Jeremy both set out on independent suicide missions. Tyler freaked out about the freak he will soon become. Stefan went and got himself locked up in the most inconvenient way. And Bonnie…well, that girl was just flat out dumb. I didn’t think tonight’s episode lived up to the doozies we’ve had this season, but it was still pretty damn good all the same.

Let’s not bury the lead here. Stefan is now stuck in the tomb with Katherine! He unselfishly went in to save Jeremy from the torturous hands of Ms. Petrova. Bonnie isn’t strong enough to get him out on her own, so he’s going to have hang in there until they find a way of freeing him. Of course whatever spell would free Stefan will probably afford the same opportunity to Katherine, but I guess that’s a different problem for a different day. (Don’t even get me started on what they showed in scenes for next week?!)

Damon promised to take care of Elena while Stefan was stuck in his prison, and I’m sure Damon wasted no time in thinking of all the ways he could indeed take care of Elena. Now we all know that Damon has allowed himself to access more of his human emotions since returning to Mystic Falls, but he’s still Damon. Will he take advantage of his brother’s absence to find his way back into Elena’s good graces? Will “good graces” become a euphemism for something more? Sharing is caring, especially between brothers.

Sometimes I wonder why either Salvatore brother would waste their time with Elena. Face it, Katherine is way more fun, and less bratty (as long as she’s not trying to kill you I suppose.) Now I don’t mean to hate on Elena, but that martydom shit she pulled tonight just drove me crazy. I get that she didn’t want others to risk their lives to save her, but there’s more at stake here. Summoning Elijah might not have worked out as well as it did. No one saw that coming…especially Elena.

So why is it that Elijah is so hellbent on keeping The Doppelganger safe? Is it in his personal best interest to keep Elena from Claus or does Elijah serve another God, one we haven’t yet seen? What’s his motivation? Is he perhaps on Team Damon and he really just wants these crazy kids to have a chance at love? Probably not, but it’s anyone’s guess right now, so I’m throwing that out there.

You know I love me some Salvatores, but this gal’s heart belongs to one Jeremy Gilbert. It’s not natural hot much hotter that boy gets every week. Bonnie sees it too, but for some reason she isn’t willing to act on it. Why, because it’s her best friend’s young brother? Newsflash Bonnie – Elena has bigger fish to fry. I don’t think she’s going to care if you’re getting it on with her brother. Bonnie spent a fair amount of time bemoaning her lack of strength. Maybe she couldn’t open the tomb, but she managed to walk away when Jeremy was within kissing distance. That takes a lot.

Jeremy put his life on the line to save Bonnie tonight. Yes, getting the moonstone from Katherine helped his sister, but Jeremy’s rash decision to go into the tomb alone was all about trying to stop Bonnie from hurting herself.

I’m interested to see that Bonnie’s new connection (and I do mean that literally) with Luka means for the two down the road. Will Luca be the one to help Bonnie find the strength to open the tomb and free Stefan, or will daddy dearest shut him down? As for Jonas, it seems he has a stake in keeping Elena safe, but what is his connection with Elijah? I wish there were a few munchkins around to let me know if this guy is a good witch or a bad witch.

There were a lot of people to feel bad for in this episode. Quite a few of our favorites seemed to find themselves in less than ideal situations, but my heart really ached for Matt. Sweet, unassuming, human Matt. The boy lost his girlfriend to vampirism. His best best friend to wolfdom. And based on what we saw tonight, he might be losing Caroline all over again. (I’ve been calling the Tyler/Caroline thing for quite some time, but I still can’t get behind it.) Poor Matty just looks lost and hurt. He’s carrying all kinds of guilt for his role in the death of that drunk girl (sorry, can’t remember her name and I’m just too lazy to look it up, but you know who I’m talking about) and seems to be hurting so much more than Tyler who definitely played a bigger role in her offing. It’s been a tough year for Matt and I’m truly worried about what the future holds for him. Humans are seemingly expendable in Mystic Falls. Here’s to hoping Matt will defy the odds and live. At the very least maybe someone can throw this kid a bone so he has a reason to smile.

Speaking of throwing bones, maybe the newest dog in town could use one too. Tyler Lockwood has always been a bit of a douche, but having him watch his Uncle Mason go through his first transformation from human to wolf was so sad. Wolfing out is an inevitable at this point, and I’m sure Tyler wishes he didn’t know what was coming his way with the next full moon. I’m not one to advocate for such horrible things, but if I were in Tyler’s shoes, I’m not sure I would stick around to find out just how many hours it takes to go full on Cujo. How can he continue to go on knowing the horror that faces him the rest of his life? It sucks to be a Lockwood.

Before I turn it over to you…for the record, if Alaric says he’s naked then don’t show him walking away in his boxer briefs. That was such a tease.

So much to discuss. Thoughts on tonight THE VAMPIRE DIARIES? I can’t wait to chat with you about it!

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