Katerina doesn’t have quite the bang that last week’s episode had, but that’s no easy feat. This week’s episode does give us a completely new perspective as we dig in to Katherine’s past and her uprising to being the selfish, vindictive vampire she has become. Elena is left with the news that Klaus, the oldest vampire in the world, is likely after her; she is the key after all and very desirable to the originals. They really don’t know if Klaus is aware that she even exists though.
Elena can’t take not knowing and just waiting to be hunted down. She pays the one person a visit who actually knew Klaus and might be able to tell her the truth; Katherine. It’s questionable whether Katherine is even capable of the truth, but Elena knows she’s her only hope.
We are introduced to a new character, Luka, during this episode as well. I’m kind of glad he’s getting in between the Bonnie-Jeremy romance. Jeremy deserves better and at least with the revelation that Luka might be more like Bonnie than she anticipated perhaps Luka can make Bonnie a little more pleasant, distracting her from her vampire hate. We can only hope.
At this stage it is far from a romance, but something sprouts up with Damon and Rose, agreeing to turn off the switch that makes them care. After all, caring is only going to kill them both faster; to survive you can’t care about anyone. This ties in to Katherine’s mindset as well. She turns on those she should be loyal to and doesn’t blink an eye when decapitated heads roll. Damon might claim to be able to do the same, but as Rose says after a certain point you’re just pretending.
It was interesting to get a little more of Katherine’s background, taking us to 1490’s Bulgaria. For the first time we are able to understand her struggle and how she got to where she is today. She is a victim in ways, but it doesn’t’ take away from her role as one of the show’s most compelling villains. She never loses her ferocious spirit that charges the character.
There are even new things discovered about Katherine present day, including the real reason why she came back to Mystic Falls. It was hinted at before that she has something up her sleeve with the werewolves and the moonstone. If she wanted to she could have killed Elena at any moment, yet she didn’t because for some reason she still needed her around. We learn what that reason is. Katherine has been on the run for 500 years from Klaus himself. Just as was Rose’s objective, she’s looking to make a trade for freedom. Elena learns it is just her life at risk; many people she loves dearly will be sacrificed in the process. If she runs, there will be no one that will be free of the bloodshed and slaying that is just around the corner. Even worse, Klaus isn’t the only one of the originals after Elena and her friends. Vengeance is heavy in the air and time is running thin.
