Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT And Where Did That Get You?
By Cindy McLennan | Season 2 | Episode 19 | Aired on 04.21.2011
adly want to figure out Elijah and his pretty, pretty hair.Anyhow, while Elena is off with Elijah for most of the episode, Damon is having big fun with poor, compelled Andi Starr. Stefan continues to try to shame Damon into leaving our ace reporter alone. As the episode progresses, Damon gets more and more angry that Stefan and Elena are shutting him out, ignoring his suggestions and otherwise talking about him as if he is so impulsive as to be inessential to the fellowship. Near episode's end, Damon is down in the dumps, drinking and just wants Andi to leave him alone, but he doesn't compel her to do so, so she waits him out in his bedroom, wearing nothing but her skivvies.
When Stefan taunts Damon about Andi, Damon makes it clear that he's just distracting himself from being in love with Elena. Stefan rubs Elena's love for him in Damon's face, adding that he's the one who has her and her respect -- something Damon will never have, so he's just fine with Damon loving his girl, because that means he'll protect her. The boys are attacking each other when Elena brings home Elijah, and informs them that the Fellowship of the Falls will be working with him to help with the Klaus killage while trying to keep Bonnie and Elena from dying. Damon flips out when Stefan agrees to go along and trust Elijah. And I know Damon is dangerously impetuous, but I can't help but think he's right in doubting that the surest way to save Elena is to sign on with Team Elijah. Elijah promises he will not bring any harm to the two Salvatores, provided he can have one thing from them in return -- an apology. Stefan apologizes for his part in killing Elijah, but makes clear that he only did it to protect Elena and that he will always protect Elena. Damon, on the other hand, tells them all to go to hell.
When Damon swans off to his room, Andi is lying in wait and throws herself at him, pleading with him to let someone care about him. Damon warns her off, but she won't stop being there for him. He swoops in on her and tells her she has to leave because he's in a dangerous frame of mind. When she refuses, he sinks his fangs into her throat, drinks and then tosses her on the floor. Andi sobs until Damon drops to his knees and compels or maybe just barks at her to leave before he kills her. She grabs her clothes and looks back at him one last time and then exits his room, with her clothes in hand. I love this scene like chocolate, first of all, because Damon is so conflicted and second of all because Damon is so conflicted. I mean it. I've kept my mouth shut for the last few episodes, but I was really wondering what happened to the screwed up Damon who Hamleted all over that girl he killed on the road, who was pretending to keep it together on the outside, but so screwed up on the inside, because Elena, darn her, was making him feel. Thank you, Show!
Elsewhere, Klaus-as-Alaric has gotten Jenna to agree to meet with him despite nearly every person in the Falls warning her to stay as far away from "Alaric" as she can. Since Jenna doesn't know the truth, she has no reason to think Alaric isn't Alaric -- no reason to listen to anyone. Stefan rushes to Gilbert Gables and tries to interfere, but Klaus-as-Alaric proceeds to tell Jenna all about vampires. At first she receives this information as if he's insulting her intelligence, but then Klaus-as-Alaric and Stefan get physical with each other. Stefan vamps out during the fisticuffs and orders Jenna to run while in full game face. And run she does -- but to Mossy Manse, which seems weird, since she just saw Stefan's true nature. I doubt she knows that the boys have signed it over to Elena, because until this second she didn't know about invites and safe-houses and all that jazz. At any rate, she's shaking and crying when Elena finally finds her at the Manse. Jenna recalls all the stories that Miranda (Elena's adoptive mom/Jenna's sister) told her about vampires when they were little. She's marveling that they're true. She is also hurt that she is the last person to know about vampires (it especially stings that John knows). She is pissed that Elena was trying to protect her, when it's her job to protect Elena. And most of all, she is scared. Poor Jenna. Great work by Sarah Canning here, by the way. I'm so glad her character is no longer in the dark. That, right there, my friends, was the only storyline this show can be accused of dragging, and since I like how the reveal plays out, I'm happy to have sat through it for nearly two seasons. Great job, gang.
Meanwhile, Katherine, who has been ingesting Vervain again, is pretending she's still compellable to Klaus-in-Alaric, but when he's gone, she's boozing it up and dancing like no one can see, which is a great philosophy, but kind of a dumb scene. No matter. By episode's end, she's no longer dancing. Instead, she has a front row seat as a seemingly happy and devoted Greta (daughter of the late Sr. Manwitch and sister of the late Jr.) and Klaus's other manwitch (Maddox, is it), pull Klaus's essence out of Alaric's body and return it to Klaus's body, which they've been keeping in a giant... footlocker? No. Really. After the spell, a confused Alaric looks at Katherine and understandably says, "Elena," and then falls, seemingly lifeless to the floor, but it's not May sweeps, so I don't think he's dead, at least not yet. But who cares, right now? Here's Klaus, he is back in his original Original form. Hello, Salty Goodness.
I'll be back with the recaplet of the antepenultimate episode of the season on Friday morning. Yeah, I said antepenultimate. I love that word -- also defenestration, chiaroscuro, portmanteau, and anthropomorphic. In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page and then join us in the forum, where Klaus is always writing Alternative Universes fan fiction.