Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A- | 249 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Yeah, I Don't Do Teen Drama
By Cindy McLennan | Season 4 | Episode 5 | Aired on 2012.11.08
SPOILER WARNING: Sort of. This recap contains no known spoilers for future episodes of the show, but there might be mentions of what happens in the book series. Now, don't worry about me spoiling you too much. I haven't even read the books. My 14-year-old has, but that was a couple of years ago. See, there's a thing that happens in the books that I don't want to happen on the show. Since I can't un-know it, I can't really talk about one without the other. Please don't be too afraid of being spoiled. The book series inspires the TV show, but it's not a roadmap for it. For example, Caroline isn't even a vampire in those books. Book-Meredith is Elena's best friend, age-contemporary, not the town physician, and also dates Alaric, who isn't nearly as involved and doesn't die (or maybe does, my daughter says, "That part's fuzzy..."), and book-Klaus is way different. My point, and I do have one, is that I'll be darned if I know which book events are going to happen on the show; I just want to kvetch about the ones I don't want to happen. Whether they will or not is anyone's guess. I just don't want you to get your knickers in a twist if book events I mention later come to pass. While I'm at it, I may also mention the preview that aired at the end of the episode broadcast. Caveat lector.
Currently, on The Vampire Diaries... Once again we're treated to this season's cheesy recap montage. I like cheese. It sets the mood. The voice-overs are basically the same, but now Elena's freaking out because she had fun at a frat party. Klaus knows Connor's tattoo is a map to the vampirism cure. With the montage finally over, we open on Connor's camper. He enters and throws a bloody pillow case down on his table. It clearly contains a head -- Nate's. We cut to...
Whitmore College. Connor tells Professor Shane that he spent the past couple of days chained up by Klaus. Shane knows Klaus is an Original. Connor explains that he's a hybrid and notes hybrids are hard to kill (decapitation, or de-heartization). Dude, those won't even work on Klaus, but I'll let you find that out for yourself. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.
During their conversation, we flash back to Connor drawing werewolf venom from Nate's gums. We're two minutes in (including the montage and the buffer time I include at the beginning of my recording) and already I've had my fill of gore for this week. I might later opine on the Season Four gore. Right now, I'm just complaining. Connor is sick of Shane not sharing knowledge and answers. Shane: "We had a deal. I'll give you answers about your hunter's mark when it's grown to completion." Connor: "In other words, kill as many vampires as possible." Shane: "Come on, Connor. Why do you think I sent you to Mystic Falls? There's no shortage of vampires. That town's practically infested." Science fact.