The Vampire Diaries - The Return

What has made the Damon character so interesting is the conflict inside him. Every time he is about the make that step forward towards being a “better vampire” something happens that drives him right over the impulsive edge. Most of the time, he seriously maims or kills somebody. In The Return, Katherine is that nudge over the cliff, down the ravine, into the abyss. Katherine knows what buttons to push, and does she ever push them! A shared kiss between Damon and who he thought might be Elena aggravates Stefan big-time. Stefan arrives home and Katherine pretends to be Elena only for him to call her bluff. There is a lot of aggression. There is a lot of bad ju-ju going on. Katherine is the catalyst in it all. Bonnie, with her powers, realizes that she isn’t talking with Elena, tries to give Katherine a nasty migraine, and is startled to find out that being a centuries-old vampire has its perks. Katherine has a few moments with Stefan as Tyler’s mayor dad’s funeral reception carries on. She makes it clear she returned for him. Obviously he has no interest and warns her to leave or he’ll rip her heart out! Stefan means business! Okay, so I do get excited when he lets go of the soft guy act for a bit and gets the mean out as that’s what happens when danger approaches Elena. Damon continues to do that “Elena, there’s something between us, don’t you realize it?” bit and she doesn’t adhere to it. She wants him to just admit he cares, has feelings, and isn’t a total sociopath. Then Damon listens to not only Katherine tell him she never loved him but Stefan, only to hear Elena say the same thing. And he snaps Jeremy’s neck! That’s what Damon does. He snaps…both emotionally and literally! Stefan is such the desirable Salvatore…as of now.

It is fun watching Nina Dobrev get to play two roles. She’s been kind of shoe-horned into the same box as Stefan, as the pure-hearted, emotionally stable, thoughtful soul who puts others and their feelings before her own. Stefan has been allowed outside the box from time to time thanks to feeding from Elena, but after the human blood leaves his system he’s returned to his kinder, gentler self. But if Elena’s wellbeing is at stake or someone decides to get between him and his girl, out comes the meaner, scarier Stefan. So watch out!

If anything, the second season opener sets up a fresh new villain and in her web is everyone Elena cares about. Caroline, bless her heart, continues to be the go-to victim in Mystic Falls. She just won Miss Mystic Falls then Katherine arrives in town to thwart her temporary happiness. Bad relationships, a promising new romance, Tyler wrecks the car, and she winds up in the hospital. Katherine finds Matt fetching and, like others, finds Caroline someone perfect for victimizing. While in the hospital, Caroline was on the verge of dying from internal injuries. Damon, for Elena (as Bonnie proclaims), will give Caroline some of his life-saving, health-renewing blood, so perhaps when Katherine smothers her with a pillow (!) she won’t kick the bucket. The episode is certainly busy as all get out, with the opening of the second season loading up the 45 minutes with a lot of meat to chew on.

Even Tyler is included with his own subplot, learning of a curse on him from returning Uncle Mason (Taylor Kinney; Chicago Fire). Why is he always so angry? He will soon learn how to control it Mason says. The show keeps having Jeremy and Tyler meet up, with this awkward truce existing. Like they had their row regarding the whole Vicki ordeal and now try to get along. Losing their fathers has given them a commonality.

John Gilbert had his fingers lopped off and was stabbed in the gut by Katherine, leaving him in bad shape, thankfully rescued by his daughter, Elena (still a rather odd development that I have a hard time getting used to…) who calls the paramedics. In the hospital recovery, Gilbert spitefully addresses Stefan with hate and vitriol while Elena just scoffs at his nastiness. Stefan feeds him some blood and tells him to get out of town or he’ll be turned! So Gilbert takes a hint and happens to leave Jeremy with a special gift that comes in handy…the immortal ring that allows those killed to return to life. So Damon’s antics aren’t life altering for Jeremy although Elena now hates him. Stefan is there to help her cope with what his brother done.

“Game on” says Katherine, leaving Caroline to lie seemingly either dead or unconscious. It was clever bait for the viewer to return to the next episode. Oh, that moment when Damon wants to talk with Elena about the kiss and realizes it was Katherine instead (the “a-ha!” on Ian Somerhalder’s face is bitchin’) is just a gnarly moment in the episode. I really liked how Somerhalder did that. Somerhalder has a good episode and really gets to go through a lot of different emotions and has plenty of ups and downs. And Nina finally has the chance to go bad—really bad—with Katherine and turn the screws on all those close to Elena. That sequence at the funeral reception where she gets to alternate between two characters, both having time with Stefan (and Paul Wesley getting to work with those two characters and react to them differently), is really neat to watch. Clearly Nina is having a ball.

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Not on topic, but Wesley looked awfully frail in this episode. He must've lost weight during the time off between season and took the part to heart. His Stefan is stabbed by a mad Katherine and I was convinced he'd be a goner. By the way, when Damon learns 145 years of waiting and agonizing for Katherine was for naught, after a near passionate sexual encounter, that look of devastation just writes itself serious melodramatic aftermath going forward!