The Vampire Diaries - Brave New World / Bad Moon Rising

Typically I’m on the treadmill when watching The Vampire Diaries, so often I’m taking mental notes as I go along. Two key storylines are offered in the early part of the second season: Caroline becomes a vampire and Tyler will learn about his werewolf lineage. What these two storylines do is address sub-characters who were often mishandled and / or often left completely at arm’s length by the writer’s room, but the second season has given both Candice King and Michael Trevino badly needed developmental time for their characters. I kept saying to myself: if I could just get a reason to like Tyler, to not just hate the guy. I was also telling myself: if they would just quit putting Caroline in this pitiful box of obnoxious victim and allow her to gain in strength and maturity. Maybe the second season will heal my woe. Tyler is asked about a “moonstone” as Uncle Mason is bandying about the estate looking for it. Tyler acts as if he doesn’t know anything about it, but when Mason leaves for bed one night, Tyler goes into his father’s study, opens a secret door on the floor under the rug and removes it. During the night of the full moon, Tyler will see Mason as a werewolf, introduced to a curse upon his family line he’ll eventually suffer.

In Brave New World, Caroline learns that she is developing into a vampire. Damon’s healing blood and Katherine’s smothering her with a pillow, accompanied together, leave Caroline awakening with a thirst for blood, soon feeding from a blood bag and then a nurse! Sunlight’s sting keeps her at bay and when Matt visits, she is apprehensive of the day. Eventually leaving the hospital at night, she meets Matt at the Mystic Falls annual carnival, noticing a new rival named Aimee (Tiya Circar), vying for his affections. Aimee digs Matt and when following Tyler later in the night during the episode, Bad Moon Rising, down in the Lockwood plantation dungeon for a makeout, she makes it clear that his friend is her interest. So Tyler is in many ways like Damon, the other guy that the ladies just aren’t interested in romantically…or the certain ladies they are interested in. Caroline has to somehow adapt to halting her hunger and feed from animals, not humans. But she is weak and her thirst for blood is insatiable. When she feeds from Matt in Bad Moon Rising, it occurs to her that the desire for blood is quite overwhelming. In Brave New World, a poor carnival worker named Carter (BJ Britt) is not only compelled by Damon to pick a fight with Tyler just to see if Mason responds in a way quite inhuman (and get socked into the middle of next week) but he happens to suffer a cut as Caroline walks past, still unstable when it comes to bloodlust. Unlike the lucky nurse who Caroline didn’t feed from completely enough to kill her, Carter isn’t so fortunate. Caroline is ferocious and Carter’s neck happens to be just too desirable to not tear into. Bonnie and Carter seemed like an interesting potential couple for a small subplot but that is taken care of real quick-like. Poor Carter got picked on by the writer’s room.

Stefan, Elena, and Damon need information on the Lockwoods, quite insecure of just what they’re up against. Lycanthropy is considered by Damon as a myth, Universal Studios fantasy, even name dropping the Chaneys. Alaric is their go-to for potential understanding of werewolves because his wife, Isobel, researched the occult a great deal. This is also a research trip to Duke to visit Isobel’s office, hoping to also learn of information on Katherine, not just werewolves. During that trip, Damon spends a great deal of time attempting to win back some of Elena’s trust and friendship. He even takes a crossbow arrow from a grad student mentored by Isobel at Duke because Elena was believed to be Katherine. He gives Elena a book on Katherine that might teach her a thing or two about her “doppelganger”. He does admit, too, that he didn’t know the resurrection ring was on Jeremy’s finger, copping to how Katherine had enraged him and he acted out impulsively with Jeremy in his path. Elena just can’t forgive him for that and she simply seems to refuse to accept the possibility of friendship with Damon. Damon, in turn, confronts Elena with just how she manipulated him to get what she wants—info on Katherine—and isn’t altogether not like her.

Stefan takes it upon himself to handle Caroline a bit differently than Vicki. In the first season, as Damon, reminds Stefan and Elena, it was during a Mystic Falls event that Vicki was an out of control vampire that could not be controlled. Damon believes Caroline will be just like her. Stefan realizes that all the things a human is before being turned is only amplified—magnified—after turning vampire; therefore, the neuroses, insecurities, and control-freak nature of Caroline will increase!

Bonnie isn't dicking around with Damon's dick antics! Damon makes a crack about Carter and Bonnie just drops him! And dumps gasoline and lights it...and soon him! I can't stop using exclamation points!

Speaking of Bonnie, she's convinced by Stefan to infuse a ring with day walking magic so Caroline won't be condemned to night. That and the writer's room would be quite limited in how to use Caroline if she couldn't walk in the day. Caroline is dumped by Matt with the accompaniment of that obnoxious Dawson's Creek soft rock. I celebrated because Caroline needed to be free from Matt so that Katherine could *have fun with her*. Yay, Caroline can be further victimized!

Obviously of continued importance is Elena's misery. Vampires have sure complicated her life beyond measure. Jeremy is killed right before her, recovers, and there's Damon to mock him at the carnival. Jeremy threatens to expose him, but later proves a point to Damon about his abilities to kill him. Vervain and a badly carved wooden stake, Jeremy had equipped himself with the tools to hurt Damon. An odd truce develops. Jeremy tries to do that with those he has beefs with. Elena, however, has an enemy in Katherine so any truce seems unlikely.