‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 8, episode 5 video: Stefan’s debate; elevated lives
“The Vampire Diaries” is, at its core, a show that has to deal with death — and often. It’s a program that really immerses itself in pain, but to a certain extent, that’s what happens when you center a show around immortal people who can do very little other than watch the entire world around them constantly die.
With that in mind, there is a sort of elevated life that exists for the vampires on this show. Imagine it like this: You were abducted by aliens, and there are only a few hundred people around the world who you also know to have underwent something like this. Of these people, maybe you know around four or five of them closely, and you have to make a decision to eliminate one of them from the world. You are severing ties with one of the few people who understands your story and your struggle.
For Stefan Salvatore on Friday night’s “Coming Home Was a Mistake,” that’s the heightened position he is in. It’s not just about potentially killing his brother Damon (or putting him in a coffin for a long time); it’s about severing a lifelong connection with one of the few people who understands you. He may have Caroline, but how many other close friends are there for him? So many others are going to die eventually.
Putting down your brother is no easy choice, and we imagine that there are two primary questions that go into it.
1. Is this really Damon anymore? He doesn’t have many of the same memories or experiences. Thanks to Sybil, he may not even be aware of Elena’s existence.
2. Can he be saved? We believe that he can be, given that so much of the torment in this show seems to be reversible. Much of it here is just about whether or not he can recover even if some of Sybil’s influence is gone.
The extended promo below offers up a little bit more insight — and also a carnival, just because we all need something fun to serve as a distraction.
For more this weekend on “The Vampire Diaries,” head over here to read about whether or not Tyler Lockwood could really be gone from the show. (Photo: The CW.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNuhl78Wc1M