The Vampire Diaries: Nostalgia's a Bitch (8x10)

As a person who only watches this show because the Stefan/Damon dynamic is so deliciously angsty and wonderful, I had a pretty good time watching this episode. As an objective observer who knows this show should have died seasons ago, I definitely had some complaints.

Cons:

The premise in and of itself lead to some really neat character dynamics, but it also felt really hokey. We learn that once assembled, the magic bell needs to be rung twelve times by Matt or somebody from his family line. Once that happens, it'll open, like, a Hellmouth or something, and it will destroy the Sirens... and everybody else, too. Basically, Mystic Falls is a goner if this bell gets rung. I really think this show should stay away from big destroy-the-town concepts, because it just keeps reminding the viewer that Mystic Falls hasn't existed as a concrete place in the story in forever. I've lost track of how many times all the people in that town should have been dead or evacuated forever. Why is there still a human population?

The other story that intersects with this one is that Damon has retreated into his mind, traumatized by his return to humanity. He basically needs to get people's forgiveness for what he's done wrong. Caroline and Bonnie spend some time in Damon's brain, a place where Damon died as a human. Caroline gets to see her mom, Bonnie gets to see her Grams, and then we learn how Damon's mind really works: he needs Stefan to come inside his mind so that he can forgive Stefan for turning him into a vampire.

We've already done this. This season. With the whole Siren parallel thing. And here's what annoys me: this could have been a perfectly fine idea if Damon had "forgiven" Stefan for making him a vampire, and also acknowledged that his anger was completely illogical and unfounded. I mean, yes, Stefan made Damon turn. But blaming Stefan for all the horrible things Damon has done since then is sort of like murdering somebody and then accusing your mother of the murder. If you had never been born, the murder wouldn't have happened! That kind of logic falls apart really quickly. I guess what I'm saying is that I think Damon's irrational anger at Stefan is a perfectly legitimate character trait. But only if they had admitted that the anger was irrational. Which they did not.

Pros:

Other than that rather large problem with the whole forgiveness plot, I really liked the setup that they had for Damon's return to humanity. I'm going to ignore all of the logical fallacies and just talk about the direction it pushed our characters. In essence, this episode was about how to get Bonnie, Caroline, and even Matt to a place where they might conceivably be able to forgive Damon. Not an easy task.

For Caroline, we focused in on the fact that Damon and Liz were quite good friends, and that Damon was, oddly, the person who helped Caroline the most with her mom's passing. It was a good move, and it brought us to a place where when Damon wakes up out of his psychotic break, he and Caroline can smile and be allies in trying to stop Stefan from destroying the town.

For Bonnie, the focus was all on the letter he wrote her before he decided to desiccate himself and wait for Elena. She never read the letter, but while inside Damon's head, it was Bonnie who figured out the trick of his psychosis, and brought Stefan in to talk to him. The fact that she knows him so well is really important. Later, when Damon is awake, he recites the letter to Bonnie. It's a great letter, talking about how much of a coward he is, and how much he cares for her and wants her to have the best life. Bonnie forgives Damon, which we all knew she would. It was a well-earned moment.

Matt's situation is the most complicated. Basically, Stefan compels him to ring the bell that will destroy the town. He gives him an out, though. If Matt can manage to forgive Damon for Vicky's death, he will not have to ring the bell. Stefan does this so that destroying Mystic Falls will be Matt's choice, sort of. That way, his soul will go to Cade. Matt knows he can't forgive Damon, and so he asks his father to kill him. Of course, his dad won't do that. Damon ends up showing up in time to stop Matt from finishing ringing the bell. He never made it to the twelfth time. Matt thanks Damon for saving the town, and Damon apologizes for Vicky's death. Matt of course does not just instantly forgive him, but he says he's not ruling anything out.

This was probably the most happy I've been about Matt's role all season. I love bringing Vicky back into the story, although I was a little nonplussed that Tyler didn't play more of a role. I guess the logic here is that what Damon did while under Sybil's control really wasn't his fault. What he does sans-humanity, however, he's still held accountable for. I actually sort of like that, and I like that we get to see that Matt is a good person. Of course he and Damon are never going to be buddy-buddy, but Matt has a big heart. I loved the moment when Damon apologized, and Matt's reaction was just to be like, "Oh, so you're humanity is back on." Matt knows the score. He doesn't necessarily believe Damon is going to be a good guy from here on out. So he challenges him to prove himself.

The stuff with Matt and his father was pretty intense, too. Of course Peter wouldn't consent to killing his son, and of course Matt would insist it was the only way. Thank God Damon turned up in time to stop this issue from coming to a head. Matt obviously has a lot of pent up rage issues with his dad. Hopefully we get some semblance of a resolution for this plot arc before the show ends.

Stefan and Damon. This is where the meaty stuff is. I mentioned that I didn't much like Damon "forgiving" Stefan, because the show seemed to be implying that Stefan somehow actually was responsible for all of Damon's evil deeds. But setting that aside, I love this dynamic here, with ripper Stefan still caring about his brother in some undeniable way, and Damon clawing his way back to humanity, knowing that his brother is an emotionless killer on the other side. Inside of Damon's head, Stefan doesn't take too kindly to being forgiven, and he pummels his brother to a bloody pulp, all while Damon continues to forgive him. This was pretty intense. Damon also says "I love you" to Stefan, returning the phrase to him after all these episodes. That was delightful. As the episode ends, we see that Damon is back and better than ever, and now Stefan is the one tied up.

Then you've got to throw Caroline into the mix - she has been killing it the past two episodes. This is an impossibly difficult situation, and I really admire the way she's been handling it. Basically, she decides to reward Damon for his struggles, and help him in whatever way she can, and she also decides to put Stefan in his place. I love the moment at the end of the episode, when Stefan is restrained in the Salvatore mansion, where Caroline talks about the fact that she loves the old version of Stefan, but she has nothing but contempt for the current version. And then she says the best thing ever: she's aware that Damon means more to Stefan than Caroline ever will. Caroline loves Stefan, and if Damon is going to be the one to break through and get him to turn his humanity back on, then so be it. Caroline will do whatever it takes to make that happen.

Now, a part of me hopes that Caroline is right, and that Damon is the one to save Stefan from himself. But for the sake of the story, and for Caroline's character, I really do hope it's a team effort. I may not be a huge Caroline/Stefan person, but I do love both of the characters as individuals, and want them to find happiness.

Sybil and Seline are dead! I think! I hope! Cade shows up in the mortal realm, apparently called by the near-completion of the bell ringing. He decides to dispose of his incompetent former employees, and we see them going up in flame. God, I hope they're really out of the picture now. They served a purpose, both as a plot catalyst and as a foil to the Salvatore brothers. But I'm over it now, honestly. Cade can be our Big Bad for the remaining six episodes. There's a lot of intricate character stuff to unpack here, and I hope this show manages to find a way to keep us out of convoluted mythologies for the remaining weeks.

Nina Dobrev is coming back for the finale - any guesses as to how that will play out? Will Bonnie become a vampire, and Elena will wake up because Bonnie is "dead"? Will Stefan and/or Damon become human before this is all over? I'm actually pretty anxious to find out!

7.5/10