On this episode of The Vampire Diaries, Katherine faces a problem with no solution. Silas decides not to resurrect Bonnie. Stefan can’t free his mind from an endless loop of dark thoughts. Bonnie develops a Plan B.
Last week’s episode left me wondering, “Are all 2,000 year-old ex-girlfriends bat crap crazy?” It also had me questioning just how many doppelgangers are too many, even if they are super good-looking.
Love Stinks
Silas is alive and well after his one true love tried to drain him dry to cure herself from immortality. He’s just a little bitter that the girl he’s been pining for, well forever, didn’t have a more heartfelt reunion in mind. His neck is hurt and his soul is crushed. Maybe he should consider it cosmic Karma for all his naughty behavior. But, he’s heading back from the Garden State to Mystic Falls for closure.
Old Memories, New Problems
Stefan wakes up with his memories, both good and bad, fully restored courtesy of Tessa. He also gets to meet Amara, who is still hearing voices, and who Damon is keeping in the basement. As long as he keeps her alive, the other side stays open, and they can try to bring back Bonnie. That job would be much easier if Amara was still immortal, not insane, suicidal and on Tessa’s bad side.
Jeremy breaks the news to Bonnie that keeping Amara may present more of a challenge than they can handle. Bonnie waxes existential about what awaits her after the supernatural purgatory ceases to exist.
Aging Not So Gracefully
Dr. Maxfield runs a battery of tests on Katherine, who’s convinced she’s got a brain tumor or some other inconvenient fatal disease. The good doctor informs her that she’s simply aging. I thought this might be a delayed reaction to being drained by Silas, but it turns out it’s just one of the downsides of being mortal. Maxfield tells her that if she continues to age at this accelerated rate, she only has a few months to live. I imagine she won’t be looking too pretty within a few more weeks.
No Take Backs
Damon calls Silas urging him to hurry back before Amara kills herself thus eliminating any chance of Bonnie getting a change of clothes in the near future. A brokenhearted, disillusioned Silas is a man not eager to grant favors, especially to happy couples. He informs Damon that if he doesn’t bring Elena’s friend back this prevents Damon from keeping the promise he made to Elena. Silas, who is most definitely anti-lovebirds, is certain this will put Damon and Elena’s relationship in jeopardy, and he takes perverse pleasure in Damon’s predicament.
Elena continues to weigh their options even after both Damon and Stefan are ready to let Bonnie rest in peace. Stefan says it’s time for Silas to die and put them all out of their misery. He also plans to be the one to kill Silas.
Plan B
Bonnie watches as Jeremy brings Amara food. Amara immediately recognizes him as the vampire hunter. She questions how he can be alive when she knows he was killed. Amara deduces it was Bonnie who brought him back. Yes, Amara can see Bonnie. As the anchor to the other side, she can see everything. She’s also able to feel Bonnie’s touch.
The voices Amara has been hearing are not imaginary ones in her head but the endless yammering of every inhabitant of the other side. She has a foothold in both places at the same time. Bonnie believes she could replace Amara as the anchor. So, all they need is a witch to perform the spell. Since killing Amara and keeping the other side intact is of the utmost importance to Tessa, the gang decides to ask for her help.
Tessa’s down with the idea but lacks the power to pull it off. Tessa tells Damon that using a doppelganger could work; they are naturally occurring, mystical and powerful.
Maternal Extinct
Nadia pays Katherine a visit to Whitmore. Since their brief mother/daughter bonding time, Kitty Kat has been avoiding her offspring. Nadia accuses Katherine of abandoning her all over again. Katherine argues that Nadia was snatched from her by her father who thought she was a shameful slut. She also thinks that after 500 years, staying estranged would be much easier. Caroline interrupts, so she can whisk Katherine, who has doppelganger blood pumping through her veins, off to the Salvatore mansion. Nadia is left once again.
Quid Pro Quo
Katherine makes it clear to Tessa that she’s only there to try and serve her own selfish interests. She explains that once Silas drained her, she started to age. Ahhh, so Silas does have something to do with her current predicament after all. She orders Tessa to make something to help her, or she won’t cooperate. Tessa says once the ritual is finished, she’ll find a way to stop Kitty Kat from dying.
Party Crasher
Tessa starts to work her magic. She procures doppelganger blood and starts speaking in tongues when Silas shows up to spoil everyone’s fun. More specifically, he makes his presence known through witchcraft. The lights go out, and Amara and Tessa disappear.
Tessa and Silas rehash old grievances, and it looks like Silas is going to kill his ex when he receives a call from his doppelganger. Stefan’s got his own agenda and that includes Amara. He tells Silas he has Amara, and Silas has 10 minutes to find them. Silas makes it clear he doesn’t care if Stefan kills Amara. Even though his crazy-pants ex stabbed him in the neck, he’s making allowances for the fact she might be a tad stir crazy. He still wants them both to die and not live happily ever after in the hereafter. Stefan threatens to take Amara away and keep her alive by any means possible while everyone else hunts down Silas like a dog.
Death Becomes Her
Silas finds a much more lucid Amara tied to a tree in the woods. After a heartfelt albeit brief reunion, Amara tells Silas she’s ready to die. Just as he’s ready to slash her throat, Stefan shows up for payback. What does someone have to do to die in this episode?
Silas gets in some last minute torture, toying with Stefan’s mind while crippling him physically. But, Silas’s head isn’t fully in the game, and Stefan manages to kill him.
Elena sends Damon out to look for his brother, and he arrives just as Amara stabs herself. He tries to feed her vampire blood, but she won’t ingest it. He struggles to keep her heart beating. She tells him she’s been in hell for 2,000 years, and Damon, in typical Damon fashion, asks her what’s another five minutes?
Happily Never After
Just when things look completely bleak, Bonnie returns to the land of the living, sort of.
Everybody gets a happy ending: Caroline and Elena get their friend back, Stefan gets to exact vengeance on Silas. Tessa guarantees the permanent separation of Amara and her ex, Jeremy and Bonnie get to make out and stuff, and Damon scores big points for keeping his promise to Elena.
Wait, this is The Vampire Diaries, there’s no such thing as happy endings. Tessa refuses to meddle with life expectancy ever again, so Katherine gets the shaft. Tessa’s ready to die (again) and stalk Silas on the other side. And, as Bonnie predicted, there’s a stiff penalty in store for her as payback for cheating death for like the umpteenth time. She’ll feel the death of every supernatural being as it passes on to the other side. Stefan still can’t forgive Elena and Damon for not being the ones to save him. He’s also apparently doomed to relive his safe ordeal over and over in his mind.
The Vampire Diaries airs Thursdays at 8 pm on the CW.
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
