User Reviews

Interesting to see that Stefan was leaving a message on Elena's phone as she drove away. Shame that the footage of the mysterious stranger in the middle of the road snapping his leg back into place lacked the actual *SNAP* sound effect from the last episode and was actually different/newly-filmed footage. Weird hearing Damon sound actually worried for Elena. Seriously, Ian Somerhalder's voice sounded different from the usual voice he uses for Damon.

Oh no, now we have Alaric voice-overing. All was forgiven, though, on account of the appearance by MIA KIRSHNER (or, as I always think of her, Mandy from 24)! Whoo! Mia Kirshner! She rocks! And I immediately agreed with what she said (I hate morning people too). I liked the song playing during their scene.

Elena telling Damon that he's "not funny" - I actually found to be pretty funny. Interesting that he said he could very easily make her "agreeable"...and yet he hadn't (and yes, Elena, did you suddenly realise that removing your Vervain necklace wasn't very bright?). Damon showing genuine concern for Elena was kind of weird to me, but his answering "Elena's phone" when Stefan called was good, as was him relaying Elena's message to Stefan and saying "You have a good day, mmhm? Bye now." and causing Stefan to throw his phone angrily - that's the Damon we know.

So I guess Alaric isn't a vampire if he "lost" his ring, yet was standing in sunlight before finding it.

Nice to see Gina Torres/Zoe from Firefly. Not so nice seeing her smooching Damon (how much older is she than Ian?). After getting over the initial uncomfortableness of seeing Elena hanging out with Damon in the bar, the scene became easier to digest (her awkwardness at hearing how Damon is in the sack was amusing).

I liked the scene between Elena and Damon in the bar where they discussed what Elena's possible connection to Katherine could be, whether Stefan's only interest in her was because of her Katherine resemblance, the fact that vampires can't procreate (wouldn't count on that, just ask Angel) and that they can eat food like pickles (gah, pickles!).

Good on Elena for doing shots/getting drunk (loved her little victory dance). Drunk Elena was fun.

Nice of Elena to shout out a "Damon, no!" warning to Damon...even though it didn't save him from getting beaten with a baseball bat (his "Ow! The hell?!" amused me) and having gasoline dumped on him. Whoo! Revenge for Lexi's death! Glad that they hadn't forgotten the fact that Lexi had said the love of her life was human (I guess she just left out the part about turning him). I'd been wanting someone to get revenge on Damon for killing Lexi (some actual *satisfying* revenge, not like your half-assed attempt, Stefan). While setting Damon alight would have been brutal...a part of me wanted it to happen. He's gotten off way too lightly for killing someone as good as Lexi was.

I liked the revelation that Lexi had been a friend of Gina Torres' character (and, really...I can understand that. Lexi seemed like someone hard *not* to like). That was pretty brutal - Damon shoving his fist into her... but then again, her warning him that she had Vervain in her wasn't exactly smart (if she hadn't, he probably would have fed upon her, then been incapacitated. Her telling him about the Vervain just led to him getting creative/finding a way around it).

Good scene between Dobrev and Wesley. Nina especially did a good job conveying the emotions Elena was going through. The reveal that Stefan was the one to save her from her parents' car crash and all of that was well-done (though his talking about having watched her from a distance, etc kind of came off as a bit unintentionally creepy/stalker-y). Bad job deflecting Elena's question (of why she looks like Katherine) with "Elena, you've been through so much...", Stefan. Elena was adopted? Hm. I'm glad that the two of them kind of made up by the end.

The ending (with Alaric looking ready to take revenge against Damon)? Interesting (was his shaking hand perhaps signifying that he was going to change into something? Or was that just pent-up rage? Or both?). Seems Damon's ticked off his fair share of people (and vampires) by killing their significant others. Can't say I feel too sorry for him when vengeance comes his way. This was...a bit of an odd episode to return with, but not too shabby at all. Was actually quite good. Answered some questions, raised some new ones and things look to be getting VERY interesting. Welcome back, TVD!

Definitely one of my favorite episodes from this season. Pretty light for the most part. I loved how Elena saved Damon from Lexi's mad ex. Bonnie's power part was predictable. Of course she'd get scared and uncomfortable with her powers before she eases into it and gets stronger. Bonnie's grandma is literally skin and bones, it's ugly to look at. It was pretty petty of this witch that Damon visited to sell him out. She got what she deserved. Overall, I see most witches seem to be extremely self righteous and judgmental, on a high horse. They can do no wrong, they give themselves some kind of godlike place to decide who gets punished for what and how. Elena being adopted doesn't change much for me either way.

Until this episode, I always considered Elena a character who was able to stand up to herself, considering that she knew how many good people died at the hands (or fangs) of Damon, and thus always made sure she kept her distance from him. When it was possible, anyway. She called him out on killing people, she said he was a bad person, she even punched him several times because she hated him so much. And that's why I liked Elena. She had a conscious.

Well, until this episode of course. What is she doing, for God's sake? Yes, I understand it wouldn't be too smart to try and escape. Yes, I understand that she doesn't fight him because she knows he's stronger than her. But here's the thing: she's actually enjoying being kidnapped. Why did she not answer Stefan's call to ask him to PLEASE take her away from this psychopath? And most importantly: why did she desperately stop that other man from killing Damon? Before, when Stefan said he was going to kill Damon after Lexi's death, Elena said: "I'm not protecting Damon, I'm protecting you. Please don't kill him." And that's completely understandable, that's noble. For the sake of Stefan's mental state. But this? When she saw Damon on the ground, FINALLY about to die at the hands of a guy who deserves his revenge more than anyone, it was clear she only tried to stop him to keep Damon alive. I mean, why? She knows that he won't stop killing people, doesn't she? Oh man, she came across as such an unsympathetic character in this episode. It's a shame, really.

(On a side note: villains are always my favorite characters from any book, show or movie. Always have been. But villains only work when the protagonist of the story understands that they ARE evil and actively work against them. Which is why Elena not caring about Damon being the villain of her story, automatically waters down Damon's entire presence. Which is maybe the saddest thing of all, considering he was so terrifying in the previous episodes.)

The good parts of this episode were Bonnie, her grandmother, and Stefan. It was great to see Bonnie find the tomb, and Stefan's interactions with her and her grandma were amazing and heartwarming.

This is the first episode of this show that contains the thing I dread most when consuming any work of fiction: a villain who starts to lose his menacing presence.

I just hope it doesn't devitalize to the point where I simply lose interest.

Draw the parallels. I've heard that the original writer wrote this series back in 1991. Well before "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel" and "Smallville." Since I haven't read the books, I can only conclude that the screenwriters decided to mold the characters after three well-known predecessors--even if they aren't from the same show.

I'm eleven episodes in. So far, the series has had its "ups" and a few "downs." What bothers me is how unoriginal the characters seem to be. The stories, so far, have been mostly intriguing with plenty of mystery to keep me vested.

However, the three main characters have been annoying to the point that I prefer the peripheral side-characters much more. Why? Because they seem--for the most part--to be unique, unlike our so-called "stars" who seem more like carbon-copies of previously done characters.

Stefan is much like Angel. He's doing his best to be good and not harm humans any longer. He's even a bit brooding like Angel. The two characters could be twins, except that Angel was a far better character than Stefan, with a lot more depth and complexity. And, as far as shows go, Angel came first.

Damon is kind of like Spike. He's reckless, doesn't give a damn about who he hurts, and he's obsessed with Katharine. Gee, does that sound familiar? Spike's obsession with Buffy. Frankly, Damon is my favorite of the "trio" but even Damon is a poor imitation of Spike, who was arguably the best character of the entire Buffy universe. Makes me miss Spike all the more!

Next, we have Elena. She doesn't remind me of Buffy. She reminds me of Lana Lang from Smallville. Always flip-flopping her feelings. Has major trust issues. Is extremely naive and not nearly as bright as she likes to think she is. In many ways, she's even moodier than Stefan, and she already has a track record of rash, unstable reactions whenever she feels slighted in the least. In short, she's very immature, even for a 17-year-old, as this episode depicts. Hell, Nina Dobrev even has a similar look to Kristen Kreuk. Was this by accident? Sure doesn't seem like it. In any case, Elena is the most annoying character of the show. Hopefully, this will change.

In this episode, Damon hauls Elena off after her accident. She's angry with Stefan. Again. He takes her all the way down to Georgia in order to find a witch whomight be able to help him unlock the tomb. Aside from a mild reaction, Elena seems to not mind being dragged all the way down to Georgia. Hell, she had her phone. Elena just made love the night before with Stefan, tells him that she loves him, and next, she's out the door. Sometimes writers overlook the obvious. Most people would ASK questions rather than bolt! It made no sense at all.

The better stories involved Bonnie and Stefan, as she seeks to find out why her powers are gone. And also Jeremy and Anna studying the history and origin of Mystic Falls. I actually wanted more of these stories than listening to Elena moan and groan throughout another episode. Her act is already very tiresome, irritating, and very unrealistic.

At this point, I sure hope the series improves its writing as far as the characters go, or Season 1 may also be my last as far as this series is concerned. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" were vastly superior shows, mostly due to the writing and better characters. I'm still waiting for "The Vampire Diaries" to prove me wrong. As of right now, I'm not hopeful.

This episode was absolutely ridiculous, all of a sudden Elena trusts Damon and now she doesn't want to take a phone call from Stefan it made no sense not only does Damon kidnap her and take her to Georgia... We already know she doesn't feel safe, she's terrified and then she asks the most stupidest question ever, she knows she does not have the necklace that Stefan gave her which protects her from mind control and she still asks Damon, "can I trust you, you won't do that mind control will you, will I be safe with you?" This made her look so naïve and so stupid... like are all women this stupid and idiotic?

I honestly don't know what the writer and producer was thinking when they made Elena ask those stupid questions and then proceed to trust Damon knowing full well how many people he has killed and he has no remorse afterwords and how much he hates Stefan. I honestly believe this made Elena and all women look naïve, idiotic, vulnerable and stupid I really don't think any woman would trust a psychopath like Damon and really if there is somebody out there like that they're just idiots. This made Elena the character look stupid and just naïve and it was rather disappointing... And then of course once she is reunited with Stefan he keeps on telling how much he loves her and then drops the bomb shell that she's adopted but then still wants to let her know that "he loves her"... Like bro, come on I think the last thing on her mind is, "if you love me" you just told me I was adopted like what the hell?!?!?

I think overall this was written in poor taste I don't know why the writer and producer would think the people out there who are watching this would accept this lack of quality in a show like this. I really do like to show but I think there are some episodes especially this one that were just not fully thought out and like I said before make women look really weak and very naïve... In my opinion...

Why would Elena be mad at Stefan about Katherine looking like her but not Damon too...? She's just chilling with Damon and then saves his life from that vampire but for what?? He killed Lexi for no reason...his reasoning was terrible and could've killed any other vampire.

It's like the writers forgot how much Elena doesn't like Damon and just forced her to go on a road trip with him for a episode... so dumb.

Elena sees a photo of Katherine and is deeply disturbed. She runs off taking her car down a creepy road. She runs into someone and Damon saves her. Damon takes her to Georgia to a bar where his old friend Bree is at, a witch. Bree calls someone and Elena is kidnapped to the back. Damon goes to save her but it turns out it is Lexi's boyfriend who willingly turned into a vampire to be with her forever. Bree asks Damon why he did it - Lexi was her friend. Damon kills her. Damon and Elena go back to Mystic Falls where Stefan explains everything. He was there at the crash and saved her as per her father's urge before saving himself. Stefan was shocked by the resemblance and went to go do a background check. Turns out Elena was adopted.