The Vampire Diaries: Age of Innocence (7x03)

Okay, guys. I've got some bones to pick with this episode. I must be honest. It's painful to watch a show and understand exactly what they're trying to do, but watch them miss the mark so horribly.

Cons:

Valerie and Stefan's backstory took up a lot of the time this week, and it is a doozy. Apparently Lily wanted to send her "family" to check on Stefan and Damon and make sure they were okay before she turned her back on them for good. Damon got Oscar, which we'll get to later. Valerie, still only a witch and not a vampire, meets Stefan and falls for him. They have sex, she gets pregnant. Then, Lily's beau, a man named Julian, beats Valerie within an inch of her life and causes her to miscarry the child. Lily feeds Valerie her blood, Valerie tries to commit suicide, and consequently wakes up as the very first Heretic. Yikes. Nothing about this story was compelling. I think the goal was to recapture the days of star-crossed romance and adorable human!Stefan flashbacks, but we've already got the best we're going to get out of that idea, and her name was Katherine Pierce, and we should be RESPECTING THE DEAD, not introducing bland characters like Valerie to try and recreate something that was pretty close to perfect the first time around.

Phew. Sorry. Katherine Pierce is a goddess. In addition, there's the introduction of this character Julian, who seems just as bland as all the other Heretic characters we've met. His romance with Lily is unexplained and vague, and his actions with regards to Valerie are even more despicable than I typically find acceptable for characters on this show, and that's saying a lot. Nothing about this is drawing me in.

I'll talk in a minute about Oscar, the other new character we met this week. He was awesome, but unfortunately now he's dead. We finally got one interesting Heretic, who didn't fall in line with Lily's weird forced family that doesn't even seem to love each other, and he's dead. What the hell is that about? Come on!

We also got no Stefan and Damon interaction this week, which was a bummer for obvious reasons. The thing that offended me most, however, was that Damon didn't seem to give a shit about Stefan or Caroline when he was off making deals to get Elena back.  He tells Oscar all about his plan to trade him for Elena, and in fact talks to Lily on the phone, asking for Elena's location and telling her that he knows about Oscar, and how Oscar had checked on him back when he was still human. But at this point, as far as we know, Damon doesn't know that Lily has already released Caroline. Damon, you dick! You're supposed to trade Oscar for Elena and Caroline. Did you forget that?!

And then there's this Phoenix Stone nonsense. Alaric, despite the fact that Bonnie is suffering loss of time and severe headaches, doesn't fess up that he still has the stone until Oscar deduces it. And then, instead of profusely apologizing, he asks Bonnie for her help in using it to resurrect Jo! I have very little patience for a narrative device that continually reinforces how bad an idea is, and then shows us characters who we are supposed to like and respect actually going through with this awful, awful plan. I'm just not interested in desperate, depressed Alaric doing stupid things that we all know are going to turn out poorly. Not even Bonnie Bennett can save this plot thread for me at this point.

Pros:

The three-years-later flash-forwards continue to kick ass. This week, we see Stefan burn his car, ostensibly to cover up his location, as he continues to be on the run. He calls Tyler and asks him to get in touch with Caroline to tell her that shit is going down. Tyler. Tyler?! What the hell? I'll admit I don't pay that much attention to promotional materials for this show, but I honestly had no idea we'd be seeing Tyler again. I'm pumped! Every time we see the flash-forwards, I wish we were watching that story, instead of the one we're stuck with currently.

The only good plot thread this week was Stefan teaching Lily to drive. I haven't been impressed with Lily as a villain thus far, and I think at this point the only way to save her character is to emphasize the relationship she has with her sons. I think these scenes of Stefan and Lily served to remind us why we might find Lily interesting - she's not just an ordinary baddie. She's a woman who held baby Stefan and Damon in her arms and loved them dearly. That makes her interesting and important to us. It's fascinating to watch Stefan grapple with the fact that his mother, who he mourned for years, is now his nemesis. I want to see more of this dynamic, as Stefan pretends to fall in line with his mother and against Damon. I'm thinking the lines are going to start to blur.

Stefan and Caroline had a very sweet scene as well. I continue to enjoy the thought of them as a couple, although I almost wish we could rush past the inevitable drama and see them as an established couple for a while. They're genuinely sweet, but they don't have that burning passion that we got from Elena and both the Salvatores. It's a gentler sort of love, and I actually really appreciate that.

Despite my complaints about Oscar being dead, I really did enjoy his character while he was there. That actor, Tim Kang, is better known for his role in The Mentalist, and if you've seen that show you know how hilarious it was to see him playing a high, giggly vampire witch. He did a great job, and I'm sad he won't be sticking around.

One last cute moment to mention was when Damon announced that just like Lily had chosen a new family, so had Damon. He was talking specifically about Alaric and Bonnie, who he also referred to in this episode as his "besties." I love everything involving Damon having loved ones, and admitting that he cares about people other than his one true love Elena. I wish we could have focused more on that, and less on the Phoenix Stone and the Heretics.

So there you have it. Some disturbing trends in this week's episode dampen my enthusiasm a bit, but the flash-forward stuff is good enough that I'll certainly come back to see what's next.

6/10