The Vampire Diaries – What Are You?

By starrymag | February 17, 2017

By: Luke Joseph

 

 

Ring My Bell

The episode starts off with Matt (Zach Roerig) dreaming about the moment when the Maxwell Bell rang out and burned one hundred witches alive. Waking up in a sweat and completely disoriented, he finds that somehow he ended up in the Armory tunnels where they had discovered Ethan Maxwell’s remains. It’s Alaric (Matt Davis) that discovers him, causing him to sit a very confused Matt down in hopes to figure out what the hell is going down. Thankfully, Alaric and Dorian (Demetrius Bridges) have been keeping themselves busy and they lay it out on the table that Matt wasn’t dreaming, but more so reliving a memory of Ethan’s. Do you remember how Bonnie was connected to Emily Bennett back in Season One? Well, now it looks like Matt is connected to Ethan thanks to the talisman necklace. Intern Dorian (who doesn’t get paid enough for his job) believes that there might be a link between Matt and Ethan. Unfortunately, theory time has to be put on hold when Alaric gets the call revealing the sudden turn of events.

 

I Grieve For You

When you lose a loved one you go through the stages of grief and Bonnie at the moment is in denial because she refuses to believe that Enzo (Michael Malarkey) is fully gone. Since Caroline can’t be there as she’s on her way to deal with Stefan (Paul Wesley), she sends the next best support, Abby Bennett (Persia White). With both mother and daughter no longer with magic, they decide to lay Enzo to rest. However, Bonnie (Kat Graham) is convinced that Enzo is trying to reach out to her. Not wanting to disappoint her daughter and deciding to humor her, they decide to ask for a sign and shockingly Abby is greeted to the moment of Enzo’s death. Pain is what she is met with and suddenly she’s letting it sink in that Bonnie most likely opened a portal to what might be hell. Now knowing this, Bonnie is one hundred percent on board to get Enzo the hell out of hell, but Abby is warning her that whatever has trapped Enzo also wants Bonnie.

 

Collapsing to the ground and in a moment of panic, Abby does the only thing that makes sense – burning Enzo’s body. This results in the connection being severed. When Bonnie comes back to reality she’s angry with her mom, but Abby explains that whatever darkness Enzo is in he’d never want Bonnie to be dragged into it. As hard as it is for her she finally moves onto the stage of acceptance and lets him go.

Life’s Tough Get a Helmet

It’s been less than twenty-four hours and already Stefan proves that he’s not so great at being human. While Bonnie continues to mourn over the loss of Enzo, Stefan just bounces because he can’t handle the guilt and he certainly can’t apologize to Bonnie because he knows it’s not enough. He looks like crap as he races down the road, blood on his hands and his face even paler than those from the Cullen clan. Blue and red lights catching his attention as he sees in the rearview mirror that a police car is behind him. Since there’s nothing he can do to get out of this he pulls over. He had gotten in the car not bothering to wash the blood away, speeding down the road drawing suspicion and now the officer is realizing something isn’t right. It’s easy to understand why cuffs are being snapped on Stefan. How do you like humanity so far?

 

Being the good on again and off again fiancé that Caroline (Candice King) is she heads to the police station to bail Stefan out. Meanwhile, Stefan is being presented with the photos of each of his victims along with the guilt of knowing he’s responsible for it. Hey, look at that Stefan has thirty two new names he can add to his murder wall! The prints all match with Stefan all in the last month, but before Stefan can be locked up Caroline breezes in and compels Stefan’s sins and jail time away. As they are about to leave the station Stefan overhears a little girl talking to the cops hoping they can help her find her mother. As Stefan and Caroline listen in Stefan realizes that the little girl’s mother was Bonnie’s real estate agent who Stefan had left for dead in the trunk before going off to kill Enzo. With the hope that she’s still alive, Stefan and Caroline decide to try to find her so that something can be made right.

Vampire Gone Rogue  

It’s awful when you’re greeted to the fact that your brother now has your happiness running through him. But what’s worse? Finding the devil in your own house. That’s what Damon (Ian Somerhalder) is met with when he spots Cade (Wolé Parks) sitting in the parlor room. So good news with this visit? The deal now is officially void considering the deal was for two immortal beings, but now that Stefan is human Damon is free to go. Now before we celebrate, don’t because he’s the devil and obviously he wants more which consists of Damon delivering the Ethan Maxwell journal to him by midnight. What’s the consequence if Damon doesn’t complete the task? Cade will kill Stefan and drag him to hell. Oh no, how awful.

 

Showing up at the Armory Damon is quick to explain to Alaric that he needs the Maxwell journal. Considering that Damon shows up needing it for Cade and with Matt’s memories, Alaric knows this isn’t just a coincidence. He tells Damon he’s not giving it up to which Damon says he’s not leaving without it. Knowing he needs to take matters into his own hands he knocks Damon out and locks him into a cell. Wow, did we all just dream of the Alaric and Damon friendship because honestly I no longer see it. When Damon finally comes to he sees that Matt is in a hypnotic state because Alaric and Dorian want to trigger the visions. They believe if they are lucky by triggering the visions they’ll find the answer in Matt’s head.

 

Sweet Dreams Are Made of Sirens & A Bell

 

Meet Ethan Maxwell. He could be Matt Donovan’s doppelganger, but instead it’s just Zach playing another character. In his hypnotic state, Matt takes us back to the witch house where they had all been burned at the stake. Ethan and Beatrice Bennett (Jaz Sinclair) are putting the last touches on the bell to keep the beasts away from Mystic Falls. Ugh. Before it can be finished Sybil (Nathalie Kelley) shows up. Great, just when we thought we were free of her we have to endure her again, lovely. Sybil didn’t come alone because she’s with her sister Seline (Kristen Gutoskie) and they do their siren thing by getting Ethan to help with Cade’s plan for the bell. Cade, being the devious devil he is, has made a few improvements. Now, with the tuning fork and bell rung twelve times hellfire will rise. Since mind control is a real b—h Ethan can’t say no.

 

Ethan might not be able to say it, but he can code it which is exactly what he does. Matt’s ancestor is smart because he’s able to find a loophole within the mind control. Coding in the message to Beatrice about the hell that is about to come which results in her sharing this with the witches. As Ethan is forced to find the bell the witches do the best to stand together and fight the hellfire that is threatening to rise. Luckily, they are able to save their town, but all one hundred of them die because of it. Meanwhile, in the Armory Matt starts having a heart attack and Damon uses his blood to save him. Releasing him, Damon gives Matt his blood and it’s enough for Matt to find the answer they are seeking. Back in the memory the sirens request Ethan kill Beatrice, but she uses her magic so that she can lock him in the tunnels. Ahhh, before Beatrice can leave him behind he claims he knows how to kill the devil causing him to leave a coded message in the journal. That same journal Damon just swiped.

 

Into the Woods for a Body They Go

 

Deep into the woods Stefan and Caroline have located the trunk where Stefan had left Karen. But guess what? She’s not there. This might be good news because that means the Ripper hadn’t left her for dead, how kind of him. Eventually, Stefan finds her but Karen doesn’t see hero hair. She sees the monster. We can’t blame Karen for her next action as she stabs Stefan, but once again Caroline comes to save the day saving Karen and feeding Stefan her blood. Remember when Caroline fed a human Katherine her blood what happened? Katherine coughed it up and now Stefan’s doing the same because he has the cure in him. Since nothing else can be done they’re forced to do the human thing and wait for the ambulance. During their wait Caroline tries to give Stefan a “Yeah, you killed many people and they’re dead, but you’ll be okay” pep talk. Leaving the hospital, Stefan confesses to Caroline how things have changed and they can’t be ignored. Caroline being Caroline though tells Stefan that everything they have doesn’t deserve to be thrown away. Maybe they are unsure how to make things right, but they decide the best way to start for Stefan is with Bonnie.

 

Possible Redemption & Surprising Return

Stefan lives to see another day thanks to Damon who has delivered the Maxwell journal to Cade who in turn burned it. Before Cade leaves, Damon’s curiosity gets the better of him when he asks Cade if it’s possible for someone to ever earn their way out of hell to which Cade adds to the disappointment by saying no. Of course, Damon won’t be revealing this to his brother anytime soon. “Do you think that there’s a chance for us, for redemption,” Stefan asks and since Damon doesn’t want to take the last remaining hope Stefan is holding onto Damon lies and answers with “absolutely.” The scene is quite tender between the brothers, but what the hell Stefan? He thanked Damon for saving his life, but failed to apologize for taking his?

 

Though Stefan had every intention of speaking to Bonnie it never happens because someone in a hood tazes him before he has a chance to make it to the front door. That’s not the biggest shock though; it’s during the closing scene between Alaric and Damon. Wanting to make things right he apologizes to Alaric and it’s the same ole deal with Alaric his once drinking buddy calling him selfish. Damon confesses to Alaric that if fate is kind he’ll have eighty years to make peace with the fact that his brother is going to die. Maybe his reasoning had been selfish, but it had been done out of love. Still, it’s not enough because Alaric is ticked off that Damon handed Cade the journal. Fret not Alaric because Damon isn’t an idiot. He planned ahead, read the journal and now believes he knows how to kill Cade. Showcasing to Alaric the dagger, explaining that it could be a weapon used against him “when the ash and bone of Cade was forged into glass by the fire of hell’s creation” he explains. So, will they be using the dagger to kill the devil once and for all? Maybe but someone has another idea. Someone we haven’t seen for a very long while. Here’s a clue – he’s a murderous psychopath, likes Bonnie’s palms and enjoys eating pork grinds. Yup, Kai (Chris Wood) is back and there’s only one thing we want to say to him: Wake our girl up!