It’s hard to even sum up this episode as it went from such extremes. Most of it was much slower paced and somewhat uneventful. I really don’t mean that in a bad way, I enjoyed every second of it. It was just more of a subtle build up on. It had a higher concentration on the characters and general situation and tone instead of the edge of your seat, mind blowing action that we normally get. Plenty of unexpected action and violence does follow; this is still The Vampire Diaries after all. More importantly, there are some great dramatic scenes and things turning in different directions.
Last week there wasn’t any further development on the extremely intriguing Klaus and Caroline angle that was introduced a few weeks ago. I was afraid they were just dropping this and not going any further with it. Luckily, Dangerous Liaisons dives deeper in to it. Klaus asks Caroline to a welcoming ball his family is holding for the town. Caroline reluctantly goes to keep an eye on Matt after she finds out Rebekah will be his date. Of course, Klaus uses this as his opportunity to romance Caroline.
Like most of the girls on The Vampire Diaries Caroline her evil-natured, but charming admirer. Sure, he’s a powerful and immortal original who has joyed from slaughtering too many bodies to count, but hey no one’s perfect. When it comes down to it the two of them have the same nature even if they haven’t embraced it in equal measure. I really hope Caroline is able to let go somewhat of her inhibitions and see where this intoxicating connection between them can go. In any given situation Klaus’ next move never fails to be completely enthralling and I’m not expecting this to be any different.
On the romantic front, things in the Elena-Damon relationship are certainly tossed all over the place. Elena is another one who just needs to accept her love, passion, and need for Damon. She’s put him through enough, especially since she is claiming he cares too much and is a liability, yet she’s the one who doesn’t let herself give in to her feelings for him. It’s either one of the other. There are some promising moments between them though. Elena seems to be sharing the Salvatore brothers, going from one to the other at the ball. After realizing Damon won’t let her anywhere near the original witch who has asked to speak with her alone, she knows she has to take drastic measures even if it means hurting Damon. Elena takes this a little too far and wounds him so badly that he is pushed to someone else in a very steamy and thrilling ending, although I wish his partner could have been swapped out.
I have always been indifferent to Elijah. He has often offered interesting material, but there was nothing about him in particular that really drew me in. His material has been getting better and better lately though and I have found myself liking his character more and more. Seeing Esther, the original witch and mother of Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah, was pretty intriguing. She really hits all angles, seeming like a whole other entity, so much more honest, genuine, and forgiving then the rest of her family. It’s when we see her true colors when things really get interesting though. There are clearly going to be major changes for the Mikaelson family. This episode leaves us with a “death sentence”, the only question being whose it will be when the truth comes out.
