The Vampire Diaries – You Decided That I Was Worth Saving

By: Luke Joseph

“Somewhere along the way you decided I was worth saving.” Any loyal “The Vampire Diaries” fan when hearing this speech is immediately brought back to Founders Day in the Season One finale – standing on the porch with Damon and Elena (actually the elusive Katherine Pierce) as he thanks her for seeing that somewhere along the way even the bad brother was worth saving. Flash forward to last Friday’s episode and we can understand why “You Decided I was Worth Saving” was a fitting title choice. The entirety of this episode is based on a choice of who should be saved between Enzo (Michael Malarky) or Damon (Ian Somerhalder) thanks to Sybil, but first things first let’s start at the beginning….

The episode starts with a crash; no literally it’s an actual crash because it’s the night that the Gilbert’s car ran off the bridge killing both Miranda and Grayson Gilbert. “Miranda, Grayson…” Sheriff Forbes says and then pauses, swallowing the sob that wants to escape her, as she finishes with “and Elena Gilbert.” Wait a second! Hold up and rewind because “The Vampire Diaries” fans know that Elena (Nina Dobrev) had survived the night of the accident so why are we seeing her in a body bag? Pan to Damon and Sybil (Tristin Mays) standing at the edge of the police line watching the bodies get wheeled away. That Sea Witch! Of course it’s her doing and matters are only made worse when she asks Damon, “Did you know her,” to which he replies, “No, I never met her.”

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Sybil is trying to coax Enzo to flip his switch, but he isn’t having it because he still wants to keep his love for Bonnie (Kat Graham) alive. So, Sybil goes onto give the boys a history lesson about herself of how she’s taken control of 50,000 men over the years. Damon seems to be snoozing during this lesson as he continues to read Fifty Shades Darker (he’s really breezing through this saga) only for Sybil to stop his reading session and instruct him to go kill Bonnie.

Back in the land of complete bliss, Caroline (Candice King) sleeps soundly in Stefan’s bed only to wake up as Bonnie congratulates and surprises a newly engaged Caroline. Bonnie seems genuinely happy for her friend, even bringing up the “June Wedding” that every SC fan can’t stop talking about. After spending a few moments walking down memory lane, they decide to get to planning and take a trip to the bridal shop (wow, Caroline moves fast).

Bonding time is cut short though as Damon makes an impromptu appearance, snatching the bouquet mid air (does it count if a man catches it because if so start planning that DE wedding Julie Plec). Spotting the ring on Caroline’s finger, he gives a sarcastic “consider this my RSVP” as he tosses her into a sample rack of dresses or maybe he was recommending one for her? Thankfully, the girls are able to work together to knock out Damon and make their escape. Sybil and Enzo are late to the party, but upon noticing Damon’s hesitation to kill Sybil once again enters his mind and gets presented with a flash of memories of their relationship (mostly including them trying to constantly kill each other like when Bonnie set him on fire). Shifting through the memories though, Sybil is able to lock onto the moment they died together and got taken to the prison world. Playing the wicked sea witch that she is she, Sybil manipulates the memory so that it’s now her standing with Damon instead of Bonnie.

Meanwhile, back at the house Alaric (Matt Davis) continues to look into the lead he and Georgie had discovered last week (pitchfork) proving more and more that the Scooby Doo Gang might be battling with the devil himself. Alaric is still learning the dos and don’ts of being a father like don’t leave any supernatural weapons around the house because it might result in your kids playing with it. Being the curious ones that they are, the twins begin to play with it only for Daddy Ric to demand they drop it and they do. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise because the second that it hits the ground the girls scream, covering their ears and we find out this artifact is a tuning fork.

Though Wedding Planning didn’t turn out the way that they had hoped, Bonnie and Caroline still try to salvage the day. Unfortunately, that’s a bust too as Sybil strolls into the Boarding House, makes herself comfortable and acts like she’s actually wanted. Sorry Blondie! It looks like your talk of the wedding will have to be put on hold as you endure Sybil giving some grand ole speech about herself. Too bad curiosity can’t kill the sea witch because she has a lot of questions like why everyone seems to be so crazy about Bonnie (hey Sybil, have you met Katherine and Elena?). Sybil seems really interested in Bonnie and Damon’s relationship even inquiring if Damon and Bonnie ever hooked up in the prison world (okay Sybil are you interested in Damon or Bonnie?). After much back and forth, Bonnie finally answers no shutting Sybil up but making those diabolical wheels in her head start to spin again.

Over at the high school, everything is all applesauce and penguins. No, really, it is because the conversation that takes place between Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon is far from helpful as Damon explains to his brother that anytime he tries to explain how to be saved it all comes out applesauce and penguins (nonsense). Stefan being Stefan, of course, believes that Damon has reached out to him in the hopes to save him. Sadly, that’s not the case at all as Damon pop opened the trunk of his car and reveals the real reason, Enzo.

So, what’s more awkward than having to do a sit in at the Boarding House with Sybil? Try a road-trip to the school as gloats about how she pre-programmed Damon and Enzo to fight to the death. Once the clock strikes three the battle begins. Best part? Caroline and Bonnie calling Sybil out pretty much saying for the “ultimate evil” she’s not all that evil when her main concern is getting her evil henchmen to bring her fast food and manipulating minds for companionship (if you’re looking for friends Sybil they have apps for that). When Sybil admits that Bonnie has to choose between Damon and Enzo it seems that Bonnie has had enough causing her to slam on the breaks and throwing Sybil straight through the windshield (that’s why people wear seatbelts Sybil). This quick little stunt giving them time to step on the gas and gun it to the high-school in hopes to stop the fight. This doesn’t halt Sybil’s plan though as she rises from the pavement battered and bruised using Uber 2.0 with her um seductive skills to deliver a driver to her location (pretty sure the ride was free and the driver’s tip was being her snack).

Back at the high school, Stefan finds out that Damon didn’t call him in to help fight his link with Sybil, but instead fight Enzo to the death. Bros before…well anyone. But Stefan remains Team Switzerland, believing that this can be stopped. Oh Stefan, silly naïve Stefan. Don’t you realize how stories with clock works? The second it strikes something magical happens, but this isn’t a fairy tale it’s Mystic Falls and the end result is far deadlier as Damon and Enzo come at each other throwing punches left and right. Realizing there is no way out of it Stefan tries to intervene and just as he’s about to stake Enzo, Caroline shows up to stop it. Why do Stefan and Caroline have trouble grasping that Enzo and Damon are being controlled? Snap! Both the newly engaged couple’s neck getting snapped now leaves Bonnie to try and convince Damon to let Enzo go.

Words are just words though and they don’t stop Damon causing Bonnie to finally give into Sybil’s request as she shouts out, “I choose Enzo.” (Honestly, I was waiting for her to throw a pokeball). Bad guys never stay true to their word so before you take a breath of relief that it’s over prepare yourself for Sybil’s next move, telling Enzo to flip his switch or he and Bonnie both will die. Believing that Bonnie’s love will be enough to bring him back, he gives one last kiss to Bonnie before giving into Sybil’s demand. Realizing that she’s screwed, Bonnie high tails it out of there as the chase begins.

Since he is a vampire, Damon catches up to her outside and just as we think she’s reached her end CRASH – a car hits Damon out of nowhere. Displeased by this sudden turn of events Sybil begins to deliver her outdated evil speech, but the high pitch sound ringing in her ears is enough to shut her up. Thank you Indiana Ric for coming to the rescue and putting that tuning fork to good use. Finally, the Scooby Doo Gang gets the upper hand with Stefan snapping Enzo’s neck and Caroline knocking Sybil out. Damon doesn’t want to stick around to see how it all pans out explaining to Stefan that “applesauce penguin” still needs to happen and with that said he drives off leaving the rest of the gang (including ourselves) confused as ever.

Looks like Sybil has been brought back home to the armory as she remains locked up and looks somewhat miserable (Boo! Remember the diet that she’s on and the messes she is causing). Bonnie confronts Stefan asking if he was planning to save Damon. Stefan ends up admitting that he was willing to let Enzo die to save Damon. Both Stefan and Bonnie seem conflicted wondering if Damon is worth saving (guys, he’s not choosing to willingly do this so cut him some slack).

Even with Damon away from Sybil, she’s still able to communicate with him as his mind recalls his time on the other side only he’s not making pancakes for Bonnie, now it’s Sybil (alright how many people is Sybil going to replace?). “I’m only here because you obviously want me here. I think you’ve seen the light Damon. You know that true devotion to me is the only way to save you from that which you fear the most but we still have a lot of work to do,” Sybil explains to Damon as he’s chomping on pancakes causing his curiosity to peak. “You still have too many attachments, too many people willing to fight for you. They still believe you can be saved. We should work on that,” Sybil explains to him.

In the closing scene we find Damon lying in the middle of the road only it’s not a random stranger that encounters him, it’s Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino). We come to find out that it looks like Tyler is on Team Armory coming with the intent to kill Damon if need be. Thankfully, it seems Damon is one step ahead of him. “Think about what you want, think about who you want,” Tyler tries to reason with him but Damon isn’t biting (yet). When that doesn’t work, Tyler tries another tactic by telling Damon to kill him, egging him on and giving him a choice. Damon can let Tyler walk away or he can kill him, which means Damon can continue to fight and get his life back or give into the darkness. With Damon turning away, fans are led to believe he’s choosing to do the right thing but then Damon hears Sybil’s siren song which draws the monster out of him as he strikes and pierces his fangs into Tyler’s throat. So, did Tyler go to Doggy Heaven? We’ll find out on next Friday’s all new episode of “The Vampire Diaries.”