The Vampire Diaries: What Are You (8x12)

I loved this episode. In some ways it was just dealing with the fallout of last week, and setting up how we're going to finish things off for the next few weeks. In other words, it balanced all of the craziness it needed to balance.

Cons:

I'm the tiniest bit tired of Matt's role in events. We see flashbacks through hallucinations that Matt has been getting through a journal written by one of his ancestors. (That's a convoluted sentence right there). Apparently, the secret to killing Cade is written in this book. Sybil and Seline had planted it there, telling this old Maxwell family member about it but prohibiting him from telling anybody else. The long and short of it is that the journal holds the secret to killing Cade, and Damon figures it out. The rest of this flashback crap is pretty unnecessary, and felt like a flimsy excuse to a) bring Matt even further into the mythology of this final season, and b) get some of our actors in period dress so we could look at all the pretty outfits. In all, not impressed.

Pros:

I liked the relative simplicity of the setup, here. While Bonnie is dealing with her grief over Enzo, and Caroline is dealing with a grief-and-guilt-stricken and newly human Stefan, Damon is on a mission: get the journal from Matt, Alaric, and Dorian, since Cade will kill Stefan at midnight unless he gets that journal. Damon of course succeeds in getting said journal to Cade, who promptly burns it. Even with the flashbacks and all this boring crap about the Maxwell bell or whatever, this episode managed to not be too talk-y or filled with new mythology. It's basic: there's a way to kill the devil. We're not sure what that is yet, but it doesn't matter. It's more interesting to focus on the character work.

Most heartbreaking is Bonnie, of course, who is in so much pain over losing Enzo. I love that even with all the other crap going on, each one of our other characters wants to take care of Bonnie. Damon calls Bonnie to see if Elena is alive, and when he learns of Enzo, he immediately just wants to go to her and be there for her. Of course, Bonnie says to stay away. Caroline too is rejected, as Bonnie doesn't answer her many calls. No surprise there. So, Caroline calls Bonnie's mom to come and help her. The two of them try to reach Enzo, wherever his soul has gone, because Bonnie feels like she can still sense him nearby. After Bonnie is nearly pulled in to some dark void, Bonnie's mom burns Enzo's corpse, breaking his ties to the mortal realm forever.

I love how heartbroken everybody was for Bonnie. I love that this episode actually took the time to focus on her grief, and on her reaction to all of this, even if I think killing Enzo was a bad move on principle. Other things are going on, but Bonnie was the heart of this episode, and I really appreciated that. Matt going to see Bonnie was probably the best thing about this episode. These two humans, in a sea of supernatural strangeness. Matt knows what it is to lose the people he loves. He knows there's nothing he can do to make Bonnie feel better, but he wants to be there for her no matter what.

Of course, we've got to talk about Stefan. He's so guilty, so screwed up, and so, so bad at being human. He manages to get arrested, stabbed, and then, as the episode ends, kidnapped. I love his incompetence, because it really reminds you how hard it is to be a human in this world. Stefan has taken for granted all of the special perks that come from being a vampire, and to be without them now is no easy thing. I also really appreciate the fact that while other people are giving him a break and telling him it's not his fault (mostly Caroline and Damon), Stefan is not. He feels guilty and he feels responsible. It makes it easier to get aboard the whole "redemption for Stefan" train. Obviously, this show asks us to forgive our lead characters for a lot of crap. It's easier to do that knowing how much Stefan truly owns up to what he's done.

One of the best aspects of this episode was Damon's reaction to everything. He's really back on the wagon, and he's doing his best to keep everybody safe and alive. He grieves Enzo briefly, but most of his focus is on saving Stefan's life. He compartmentalizes really well, going after the journal that Cade wants, and not letting anything distract him from his goal. I love that he helps save Matt's life when he starts dying under hypnosis, then just takes the journal and runs. When Alaric accuses him of destroying their chance to kill Cade, we learn that Damon knows how the journal ends, and thus has an idea of how to stop the devil.

Underlying all of this is, of course, the fact that Damon just sort of lost his brother. I mean, sure, they've got decades left, but Damon is going to have to spend the rest of Stefan's life contending with the fact that one day his little brother is going to die. I really hope that we get an exploration of this dynamic. You'll recall that when Damon decided to take the cure to be with Elena, Stefan was not happy about it. Damon, per his self-admitted selfishness, was okay with waiting out the years of Bonnie's life, then taking the cure when Elena wakes up, leaving Stefan to spend the rest of eternity without him, once his human life ran out. Now that the tables are turned, and Damon is going to have to watch Stefan get old and die, how is he going to react to that? Like I mentioned in last week's review, there's just no scenario here where everybody gets to spend their lifetime with all of their loved ones.

When I was watching this episode, I was just sitting there, playing sudoku, kind of spacing out, and then Kai walks in as Damon and Ric are talking about killing Cade. I literally jumped back and gasped. Like out loud. What the HELL?!?! Kai?! Really?! I'm so pumped. That smug bastard is one of the awesomest villains we've ever had. On the heels of losing snarky Ripper Stefan, we now get back the king of snark himself? I'm beyond excited for this.

I guess I'll stop there. This was about as good as a late-season episode of The Vampire Diaries can get. It wasn't one of those episodes that contained big revelation after big revelation, but it capped off an hour of intricate character work with one great twist, and that makes it a stand-out episode in my book. Plus, Stefan has been taken... I'm excited to see how that plays out!

9.5/10