‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 8, episode 10 review: Bonnie, Enzo, and a great Candice King performance
The bad news entering tonight’s new episode of “The Vampire Diaries” was that for Damon and Stefan Salvatore, they were still firmly under the control of Cade. Not only that, but there was also Sybil lurking around out there being terrible.
In the early going of this episode, our resident Siren called in to Damon with a favor she wanted him to do — one that involved him turning up at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant with the striker. As you may recall, this is a Pageant that holds a very dear place in Damon’s heart. It is the spot where he started to fall for Elena, and it is the site of arguably the most romantic place in the history of the show.
Basically, Sybil screwed up by bringing Damon there for some manipulation. She underestimated the emotional pull that this place would have on him. Caroline took it upon herself to serve as the one responsible for bringing Damon some essence of his humanity back, and this meant many different things. She tried to remind him of the emotions he felt towards Elena, and over time, he started to feel her presence in the midst of the all-familiar dance. Yet, he told Sybil still the location of where he hid the striker when prompted, which made us think that despite the memories, maybe he still wasn’t craving his humanity all that much.
Or, was he? This is where we started to wonder if there was something more to Damon’s plan. Could he be tricking her? As it turns out, the answer there is “yes.” While Damon couldn’t feel her in the way that he wanted, he at least understood that having her there was far better than having Sybil haunt him. He knocked her on the head, and the majority of the show’s viewers probably commenced to cheer … at least temporarily. After Damon took Sybil out Stefan then turned up, telling him that he was ditching him because of Elena. He simply didn’t want to deal with that, which is probably why HE STAKED HIS OWN BROTHER. Not cool, Stefan. Not cool at all. Granted, Evil Stefan is typically 100% more evil than evil Damon. He turned a bunch of beauty queens into vampires and went down a whole “all vampires are linked to Hell” shtick.
Hey, credit to Caroline for staking her own fiance before he had a chance to do anything else. This led us to surprisingly the most touching scene of the night: Caroline comforting one of the beauty queens now infected, and telling them that things could be okay even if she was damned to an eternity of drinking human blood. Stefan eventually woke up, where Caroline confronted him and it appears that for the time being, the engagement is done. No more June wedding?
Damon’s cliffhanger – Eventually, Sybil woke back up, and Damon proceeded to berate her and call her an “unlovable little girl.” For a brief second she was vulnerable — she actually even teared up! That’s when she chose to torment him in a very unexpected way: She gave him his humanity back, and the sea of guilt and pain that came along with it.
Would Bonnie become a vampire for Enzo? – After a trip to France, these two lovebirds spent plenty of time discussing this question. For Enzo, of course he selfishly wanted her to become a vampire — he’s stuck living forever, so of course he wants a little bit of comfort. However, Bonnie knows that this is very complicated. After all, her dying means that Elena comes back to life, and there are so many complications that would come with her living. This isn’t just about her. While there was a part of her suddenly okay with the idea, she still couldn’t do it, and that is why she gave back the vial of his blood. She didn’t want Enzo to think that it was a promise she could not keep.
It wasn’t until later where we got the sense as to why Enzo cared about that necklace so much — it was always his get out of jail card in the event something happened to Bonnie. Maybe he’d be more okay if she was to go down the road, but he certainly doesn’t want to see her die now. This was enough for her to put the necklace back on, though she’s still not going to turn. Instead, she asked him if he was interested in taking the cure.
Matt on the run – For a former cop, Matt sure does face a lot of resistance from some Sheriffs! In his own search for the bell, he encountered quite a bit of resistance courtesy of some compelled souls. The problem was that Seline had done her part to try to ensure that he didn’t get away with it. This was the story that may have needed more time in order to properly focus on this journey.
Overall – For nostalgic fans of the show, there was a lot of good stuff in this episode. For fans of Caroline, this may have been our favorite episode in a long time. Candice King was fantastic through most of the hour, bringing us so much passion and humanity to Caroline. This episode was a great reminder of why we like this character so much. Grade: B+.
Next week – Believe us when we say that things are going to only get crazier from here. Want to know more about it? Then be sure to head over here! (Photo: The CW.)