At last! The return of The Vampire Diaries is here. After a horridly long break, we are brought back to the world of Mystic Falls where deceptions, supernaturals, and world-shattering havoc are always lurking around the corner. There is a serial killer running about and Alaric is taken prisoner as the prime suspect. Damon is threatened to stay out of it or he may very well be in the same place as Alaric. Stefan is still very distant and on guard towards Damon, partially because of their scuffle after Damon kissed Elena and partially because he has been cold and antagonistic to everyone since Klaus brought out the ripper in him again. Still, Damon gets him to realize they’re closer to this than anyone else. A very similar set of murders occurred in 1912 in Mystic Falls. It’s up to them to see the pattern and figure out who is responsible for the mass murders now.
We are given classic Damon here. Unfortunately, that means shielded Damon. Elena actually has the nerve to give him the “you can’t keep pushing people away” speech. I could hardly believe it since he has opened himself to her so fully and put every part of himself on the line for her again and again and she is the one who is always pushing him away because of some unfounded qualms she seems to have. Elena seems to open herself up to everyone except for him, which is mind-boggling considering the passion, connection, and obvious love she has for him no matter how much she chooses to deny it. It will always be there.
The good thing about shielded Damon though is this is also bad ass and cunning Damon. Stefan has grown remarkably as a character, but especially at the beginning it was Damon’s witty quips, mocking his lackluster lifestyle and morals that really made it stand apart from the typical mourning vampire scenario. We get another example of that as Damon pokes fun at Stefan’s diary entries and how the littlest thing seemed to plague him greatly. Damon is also unrelenting, fierce, and determined as always, really being the only one who is truly fighting to find the truth on the murders going on and bringing Stefan and him back to the last time they happened. Damon makes fun of him, but this also brings light to the fact that Damon truly does care for his brother and won’t give up on him again, not like he did when he originally went off the deep end all those years ago.
The Vampire Diaries is known for unbelievable twists that you never see coming. Sometimes even once they hit you it’s a bit difficult to fully conceive. This week’s revelation is a prime example of that. It really asks us to change our perception of a character we have known and witnessed to be a certain way for quite some time. To be honest, it’s a little hard to swallow and hard to believe that what we are presented with really is the truth. Everyone has their own agenda and is out for themselves aside from Elena and those closest to her in the show. We are forced to question someone who is very close to her and had gained trust long ago. This doesn’t appear to be the typical case of deceiving those around for selfish reasons. It is likely that there was no knowledge of this at all, even by the person who brought it out. The connection to the original murders might be even more scarcely close than they seem.
