Oh boy. Next week's episode looks like a doozy, and I can't wait. But for now let's talk about this week's adventures. Things are certainly heating up!
Cons:
But before we talk about the good stuff, let's talk about the annoying stuff. First of all, Enzo got a little subplot this week. It goes something like this: he asks Lily to run away with him so she'll be safe from Julian if things go wrong with Stefan and Damon's plans to kill him. Enzo and Lily share a kiss, but Enzo doesn't get the girl in the end, as Lily decides to stick around and help her sons. Enzo, depressed, decides to feed on a girl to achieve a "buzz." Matt stops him just in time, and tells him that he's totally useless and nobody wants him. Enzo retaliates by saying that Matt is pretty ineffectual too, as he has no real chance against Julian and the gang. Enzo goes outside, and is immediately hit with vervaine darts and carted into a truck. Matt appears and says he's enlisted some help to rid his town of evil. Enzo asks who these people are, but Matt says that Enzo should wait until they introduce themselves.
Ugh. One of this show's main problems, historically, has been overcrowding and convoluted storylines. I really don't need the introduction of some new shadowy group of vampire hunters, or whatever they're supposed to be. On top of that, when Matt and Enzo were talking about how useless they both were, I found myself totally agreeing. The show just doesn't know what to do with either one of them, and it's frustrating as all hell. I like Matt, and I think Enzo has real potential when it comes to the whole Enzo/Bonnie angle. But this week just served to highlight how little I care about what's going on with either one of them at the moment.
The other flaw is the continued saga of mystically pregnant Caroline. She tells Stefan about the babies this week, but as Stefan has other things on his mind, he doesn't really know how to respond. Later, after getting some advice from Lily he calls Caroline and tells her that he loves her and he's not going anywhere. I ship Caroline/Stefan. I really do. But with everything else going on in this episode, this brief little scene was sort of lost in the shuffle. Stefan telling Caroline that he loves her is not something that should have happened over the phone. And Caroline being pregnant continues to be pretty stupid. But whatever.
Pros:
Despite those long paragraphs detailing the flaws, the main plot of this episode was really awesome, and that's the most important thing.
Basically, Stefan, Damon, Lily and Valerie need to get the rest of the Heretics on their side in their quest to kill Julian. The goal is to unlink the two of them so that when the Salvatores take Julian out, Lily won't die too. Stefan is all for this, while Damon wouldn't mind Lily dying in the mix. But he defers to Stefan's better judgment.
Meanwhile, Mary Louise and Nora are celebrating their 133rd anniversary. Julian throws them a party in style, with a bunch of compelled human guests to dance with and snack on. Lily disapproves, but she feeds from one to keep her cover with Julian. Julian gives Mary Louise a ring to give to Nora, and she proposes. The two of them share a happy moment as they contemplate their eternity. However, things go bad from there. Valerie and Lily gather Mary Louise, Nora, and Beau to tell them what's going on. Valerie tells everybody about Julian beating her and killing her baby. Beau and Nora hug her and accept her words as truth. Mary Louise has her doubts.
Meanwhile, the Salvatores have subdued Julian and tied him up. Everything seems set - once the Heretics free Lily of the bond, Damon can kill Julian. But Mary Louise confronts Valerie, wondering how she can trust that she's telling the truth about having been pregnant with Stefan's child. Mary Louise knocks Damon and Valerie out and then, unbeknownst to the others, unlinks Julian and Lily. Julian tells Lily to choose between Damon and Valerie - one lives, one dies. Lily can't make that choice. She stakes herself instead, thinking that it will kill Julian. But of course this doesn't work, as they're already unlinked!
Nora gives Mary Louise back the ring, saying that it's a symbol of Julian's ability to manipulate them. The Heretics and Stefan each say a tearful goodbye to Lily. Stefan begs Damon to bury the hatchet, but Damon's last words to his mother are "you made your bed... have a nice nap." Ouch, Damon. The woman just committed suicide to save you.
All of this was so great. First of all, Mary Louise and Nora getting engaged was actually rather touching. I'm fascinated by their relationship - not in the way I normally am with fictional couples. I don't ship them per se. It's just a cool idea - immortal lesbians who have actually been together for 133 years. It's sort of uplifting that they survived through a long history of hatred to a point where they can actually legally tie the not. And then there's the rift between them. I sort of love that Mary Louise doesn't accept Valerie's story. We know that Valerie is telling the truth, but it makes sense why there would be some doubt. I mean, come on. Valerie did kill Oscar. And she never told Lily about Stefan before now. There's actually a lot of reason to suspect Valerie. And after Julian's kindness and attention to Mary Louise, who we know can be very changeable and shallow, of course she wouldn't just hop on board the murder train. I wonder if the eternal couple of Mary Louise and Nora will recover from this rift.
Then there's Lily and Stefan's talks. It seems clear by now that Lily was never cut out to be a villain. It was very smart to introduce Julian so that Lily could become a sort of uneasy ally for our heroes. In this episode, she and Stefan spoke like mother and son, as Lily gave Stefan advice about Caroline, and they discussed Damon's ongoing hatred of his mother. Stefan promises Lily that Damon just needs time - after all, Damon has looked at his own brother with the same in hate in his eyes many times over the last 150 years. Of course, Lily's death cuts short that chance of reconciliation between Damon and Lily. The look on Lily's face when she heard Damon's final words to her... ouch! And the look on Stefan's face as he looked at his brother... double ouch!
Julian really is a fantastic villain. It's so interesting to see such a lunatic in the main villain role. He doesn't really have a grand master plan, and he genuinely loves Lily, as evidenced by his hysterical grief upon realizing she was going to die. But his love is obviously warped beyond redemption - forcing her to choose between her son and her (sort of) daughter was really intense. I can't wait to see what he'll do now that he's got to contend with the grief of losing his beloved.
Finally, there's the flash-forward. Picking up from last time, Damon is now tied up by his assailant in the TV studio, where he went to try and stop Stefan from falling into the trap. The assailant reveals herself... to be Lily! Lily tells Damon he's been hit with werewolf venom, and she can't save him. Damon says that he has to tell her something - it's been weighing on him for a long time. He's so sorry for what he said to her. "Lily" then smirks, mocking Damon for calling her "Mom." Turns out, Damon has been hallucinating because of the werewolf venom. We see a figure, definitely not Lily, lunge out at the helpless Damon, and the screen goes dark.
I. Love. The. Flash. Forwards. A lot. I really cannot wait to see how all of this comes about. And what a clever way to frame the episode this week! The first little flash-forward scene ends with Lily coming out of the shadows. So when Lily dies in the present-day storyline, I wasn't thinking it was real. I thought there was a way for her to come back. Then, we get the episode's end, where it turns out Damon was just hallucinating her. It seems like Lily really is gone! Woah! Also, Damon has werewolf venom in him?! Uh oh! That was another clever subversion, because I expected those darts to be of the standard vervaine kind. This is a lot more intense than I first imagined. I'm a lot more interested about how things are going to commence from here than I have been in a long time.
So, there you have it. Despite some annoyances in the subplot arena, the main plot this week was rock solid, and it brought things one step closer to what I'm sure will be a very intense mid-season finale. It looks like this season has recovered from its early slump after all!
8/10
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