On The Vampire Diaries, Damon and Stefan moved forward with their plan to get Elena’s humanity back without any hesitation about what they had to do. In “She’s Come Undone,” they tortured Elena with whatever means they thought would get her to break. In the end, were they able to get the Elena they loved back? That remains to be seen.
Breaking Elena
After keeping Elena locked up and hungry, the time had finally come for the Salvatore brothers to get dirty and put their plan into action. With each step they took, they seemed so sure that they would finally break her. In the end, it was probably the compilation of all their actions that finally brought Elena’s humanity back.
Missing Out: After the vervain blood had no effect on Elena, Damon invaded her mind and showed her the happy life that she was missing out on. The peace of attending school with her friends, laughing, and having a jolly good time. Elena saw through the illusion and mocked that life.
Caroline’s Turn: Even though Elena tried to kill Caroline, her best friend wasn’t going to give up on her. She brought her non-tainted blood as a peace offering of sorts. Elena took it without hesitation, but in return ridiculed Caroline’s determination to remain friends and even her excitement for graduation. When Caroline turned her back, Elena tried to kill her again. Instead, Caroline broke Elena’s neck and told Stefan to do whatever they had to do.
Sunshine Torture: Damon took Elena’s bewitched ring away while she was unconscious from her broken neck. When Elena woke up, she was bound to a chair in the living room in position for the next round of torture. Elena didn’t believe they would really hurt her, but they proved her wrong. Stefan moved the curtain and burned her. She was surprised, but her humanity remained locked away.
To see how far they would go, she exposed her whole body to the sun and burst into flames. They put her out and she taunted them with their humanity. She knew they wouldn’t let her be really hurt.
Bringing in Katherine: Damon and Stefan realized that they needed someone that Elena would really fear and who wouldn’t hold back. They recruited Katherine to torture Elena. At first, it seemed like it could work. Katherine reached inside Elena to feel her heart. And, Elena through Elijah’s abandonment back in her doppelganger’s face. Not even Katherine made a dent in Elena’s determination to remain humanity free.
Katherine decided to test Elena by setting her free. She didn’t believe the humanity-free vampire could survive without those around her’s help.
Matt’s Sacrifice: Matt went after Elena and tried to talk her into remembering their long friendship. Instead, Elena just saw a meal and drank from Matt, but didn’t kill him. Damon and Stefan cut her off from Matt to protect him.
But, then Damon took drastic measure. He admitted that they couldn’t hurt her, but they could hurt Matt. He threatened to kill her friend if she didn’t start to feel. Elena thought he was bluffing and then Damon broke Matt’s neck.
As Matt laid dead on ground, Damon reminded Elena of what Matt meant to her. Elena started to cry and feel for her friend. Then, Damon showed Elena that Matt was wearing the ring to bring him back to life.
With that Elena returned and the flood of emotions overwhelmed her. Stefan told her to focus on what inside her made her strong. She did and gradually she was got control over her emotions.
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The Plan
In the end, Damon and Stefan found a way to bring Elena back. Matt was more than willing to do it to help Elena. She sacrificed herself to let him live after the car crash and this was how he paid her back.
As soon as Damon threatened Matt, it was obvious as a viewer that Matt was wearing the ring. It was a little surprising that Elena didn’t consider that, but given her hunger and previous torture, she wasn’t entirely lucid about what was happening.
It was also a bit surprising that the death of a friend would reach her like it did. She had tried to kill both Bonnie and Caroline, so what made Matt different? My guess is that it was because it was someone else that killed Matt and so brutally. Plus, she had been through quite a bit.
In the end, it was a well-written ending to the less-than-stellar storyline of Elena’s lost humanity. Now, that Elena has her emotions back, she ready to put them to work and on getting revenge against Katherine by killing her. That’s going to be an interesting battle to see.
Bonnie and the Veil
Bonnie has decided that she’s going to bring down the veil, but not for Silas. She has her own secret reasons to do it, perhaps to bring Jeremy back? In order to bypass Silas, she needs to do it prior to the full moon, so it’s a surprise.
Instead of drawing on the power of the lunar cycle, Bonnie approached Katherine for Silas’ headstone. With the rock, she would be able to draw on the blood of her ancestor witch’s power.
In exchange for the headstone, Bonnie told Katherine that she would find out the spell that made Silas immortal, so that Katherine could have it for herself and could stop running from Klaus.
While Bonnie pursued her own plan, Silas used Caroline to summon Bonnie and remind her of their plan. Silas nearly killed Caroline’s mother, but she was saved with her daughter’s blood. If Bonnie betrays Silas, how many of her friends will be harmed?
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Matt’s Human Troubles
With all the supernatural stuff happening all year, it was nice for there to be a mention of school. How did none of Matt’s friends realize that they were harming his life and future with all their antics?
Even though Rebekah was the one that was responsible for nearly killing Matt and the circumstances that lead to Elena becoming a vampire, it was touching for her to try and make amends.
She’s not the only one that has hurt the Mystic Falls friends throughout the years that has been forgiven. Damon, Elena now, Caroline, and even Bonnie have made decisions that have done harm.
It was refreshing for Matt to play an important role in Elena’s recovery, but also that he was able to see some goodness in Rebekah and help her find her humanity in a way too.
Now that Elena has her humanity back, will she really kill Katherine? Will she give up that quest in order to help Bonnie bring down the veil? Or, will their conflicting plans wreak havoc for each other?
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(Image courtesy of the CW.)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
