This episode has a good title. I mean, it's a really obvious reference, of course, but it fit very nicely with the themes of the story. I'm starting with the title because I really don't want to talk about this episode. I mean, my God. What are they doing to Stefan's character? He's never been particularly well developed or consistent in the past, but are you kidding me with this crap? My eyes were rolled almost permanently back in my head over his antics here. I feel bad for Paul Wesley, because he's a genuinely talented guy who has some crappy luck with the role he's playing.
But let's slow down and look at the episode a bit closer, because it did have some very nice elements to it as well.
Mystic Falls is celebrating a Remembrance Day to honor the dead, in which people ring a bell for their dead loved ones. I liked this setup, because it came across as a meta reference to the absurd amount of people who have died in this town. This framing device sets up a lot of the smaller stories in the episode.
First, there's Matt, who has discovered thanks to video cameras set up around the house that he has been possessed by Gregor. He also has a mysterious knife on him, and Gregor (through a video) warns Matt to protect the knife, or else he will be killed. I'm not sure I like where this plot is going, since it seems ultimately not to fit with everything else that's going on. However, I did like the scene that Matt had with Jeremy, where he's freaking out. Poor Jeremy was dealing with his own problems, however, of which I'll talk more about in a moment.
Meanwhile, Caroline has been hanging out more and more with Jesse. She even brings him to the Remembrance Day event at the cemetery so that they can continue to study together. This culminates in a kiss, which Caroline feels guilty about because of Tyler. However, she is pretty certain that her relationship with Tyler is ending anyway - that is, until he shows up to Bonnie's funeral in the end. Jesse, meanwhile, nearly gets killed by a very angry Stefan. At the end of the episode, we see the mysterious Dr. Maxfield turn Jesse into a new vampire. This plot has potential, especially if they actually let us see Caroline and Elena at college. It will be a nice departure from Mystic Falls stuff, if they can actually follow through. I'm not all that happy to see Tyler back, because he's not very interesting, but on the other hand I do want Caroline to be happy.
Then we've got to talk about the two main plots. Stefan has no memory, so Damon decides to start telling him about himself. There was so much bromance in these first few scenes that I couldn't stop smiling. We had Damon being the "fun brother," the two of them doing shots... the awkward moment when Elena comes in was also a highlight. She discovers that Damon still hasn't told Stefan about her, which is strange to say the least. The fun part of events comes to an end when Stefan almost kills a waitress at the bar. Damon and Elena are both worried about the resurgence of Ripper Stefan.
They go to the grave yard to get him away from temptation, which leads to a scene full of fantastic dark humor, wherein we get quite the comprehensive list of all the people who have died over the years. Jeremy calls Damon and demands that they meet, leaving Stefan and Elena alone.
Now... we get to the stuff that annoys me. Elena tries to help Stefan remember by showing him moments from their time together. It's supposed to be all sweet and romantic, but all I kept thinking was how unfair this was to both Stefan and Damon. It's just another example of Elena's indecision causing the Salvatore brothers pain. Anyways, Elena decides to wait until just before Stefan kisses her to drop the bomb that she's dating Damon. What an idiot. These scenes with Elena and Stefan made me really angry. What the hell was Elena thinking? And also, Stefan's characterization felt all wrong. I understand it must be upsetting and overwhelming to have no idea who you are, but he was doing just fine when he was flirting with Elena, but once he learns about her and Damon, he totally flips out. He doesn't even remember Elena! Why would he have such a bad reaction to this news?
I will say, I felt very unsettled by the romance angle going on between Stefan and Elena, and that may have been the point - their weird doppelganger bond is supposed to be a bad thing, and if the episode was trying to showcase that, I guess it did come across okay. However, it still makes no sense to me that Stefan would be so upset by all of this that he would go crazy and nearly kill Jesse because of it. Enter... Caroline! To save the day!
Now, the Caroline/Stefan friendship is one that was handled very well here. It was sweet to see how much she wanted to help and how much research she did to figure out what was best for Stefan. In the end, I was really annoyed by Stefan's hissy fit, but I think it was a strong narrative choice to have him basically dump Elena and Damon and choose to place his trust in Caroline instead. I've always liked their friendship, and even though I don't like it when the brothers are at odds, I'm excited to see how it plays out when Stefan remembers who he is.
Now for the most emotionally gutting part of the episode. Jeremy is tired of pretending Bonnie is still alive, especially since all of the friends are trying to get in contact with her to ask for her help. Matt thinks she might be able to figure out this thing with Gregor, and Elena and Damon are counting on some Bennett magic to fix Stefan's head. Of course, she can't exactly answer the phone. What I loved about the early parts of this episode is that they showcased one of the biggest things about Bonnie's character. She is ridiculously selfless. Everyone always expects her to find the answers and save the day. For the first three episodes of this season, nobody has been worried about Bonnie at all. They've tried to get in touch with her, but for the most part they've just gone about their lives without her. Now, when they need something from her, the search intensifies. It was a very good commentary on how her character has been treated all along.
Of course the emotional moments in this plot thread were pretty intense. Jeremy tells Damon, who reacts with anger - now, he'll have to tell Elena the truth and she'll be devastated. However, Damon knows that his anger is at the situation, not at Jeremy, and he gives him a hug after learning the news. This was a beautiful moment of acting from Ian Somerhalder. Nina Dobrev also knocked it out of the park with her emotionally charged reactions. The funeral scene was very potent. Through Jeremy, Bonnie was able to impart goodbye messages to Matt, Elena, and Caroline, which broke my heart into a million pieces. I thought that Tyler showing up actually broke the mood of the scene a bit, so that was a small flaw. However, overall the Bonnie part of this episode was handled very nicely. I'm glad to see that she feels able to move on now.
So, what do I think? There were a lot of things to love. This Jesse business is intriguing. We finally got a real sendoff for Bonnie. Caroline and Stefan's relationship is a good thing to focus on. But... there were also a lot of things to hate. Matt's plot feels unfocused and strange, so that's one thing. The biggest thing, as you probably guessed by the way I keep mentioning it, was the treatment of Stefan's character. Is he really so shallow that he would throw a fit upon learning about Damon and Elena? I also think Elena handled the situation very poorly. Frankly, as much as I dislike the way Stefan behaved, I think Damon and Elena sort of deserve to be dumped by him. They haven't been all that considerate of his feelings. This problem with the episode was big enough that it really made it hard to like anything else.
Anyways, we'll see where this goes next week. There was a noticeable lack of villains here... beyond Dr. Maxfield of course. I hope we get Katherine, Silas, or some of our other new bad guys next week so we can continue pushing those plots forward.
6.5/10
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