Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A | 87 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT And The Black Guy Always Dies
By Cindy McLennan | Season 5 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.21.2013
Lab. Maxfield says if vampires don't have to feed on humans they won't be a threat. When Damon can't buy it, Maxfield expounds, "Human blood will only satiate Jesse, temporarily -- until he gets a taste of what he really craves." Damon would sure like to know what that is. We cut back to the...
Party. Jesse kisses Caroline's neck. He breaks into game face, but pushes it back down. Caroline kisses him full on the mouth. When he accidentally bites her lip, she pulls back with an, "Ow! You bit me." Jesse turns away from her. His game face re-emerges. She asks if he's okay. He gets it under control and tells her he has to get out of there. Commercial.
After the break, Aaron finds Elena (who is handing out jello shots) and admits this isn't the lamest party. When she's surprised he made it, he suggests he may have fallen asleep, but it's clearly all hazy because these people have compelled the shit out of him. Elena tries to block out that fact and hands him a jello shot. Aaron says, "Now I know why Wes told me to stay away from you." He raises the cup to his lips and says, "Cheers." After they suck down their shots, Aaron declares Elena trouble. I want to stick up for her, but he's not wrong.
Elena learns Wes is Aaron's legal guardians because his parents are dead. She one-ups him by confessing both her birth and adoptive parents are dead. Aaron pronounces her situation dark and asks about her past. She tells him about the Wickery Bridge accident that took her adoptive parents, and then asks for his story. When Aaron was six, his family went camping. He woke up to his mother's screams. There was blood everywhere and his parents had bite marks all over their necks. "...They said a bear got into the camp. So I've shuffled around to distant relatives for a while. Eventually, Wes took me in, so Wes is the closest thing to family I have left." Elena is wowed by this. She says so, thanks him for coming, and offers to get them another round of jello shots.
Caroline finds Elena and asks if she's seen Jesse. Elena says, "No," and rushes past. Caroline asks where she's going. Elena: "To call Damon -- to make sure he doesn't kill Dr. Wes." I'm trying to think of another drama where the characters are such moral relativists, but I'm drawing a blank. Elena was fully willing to gamble with Maxfield's life, until he mattered to her. We cut back to the...
Mystic Grill. At the bar, Stefan downs shots until another panic attack kicks in. I have panic attacks. Booze can do plenty of bad things to you, but it doesn't trigger panic -- it quells it. Not listening to me, Stefan crushes his glass in his hand, and then stumbles outside. Katherine finds him mid-flashback. He warns her off, but Katherine is persistent. She tells him to relax. Even while he throttles her, Katherine asks him to tell him the name of the first person he killed. Stefan answers, "Giuseppe Salvatore." She makes him focus on the subsequent names: Thomas Fell, Honoria Fell, Marianne Lockwood, Christopher Gilbert, Margaret Forbes. Once Stefan is calm, he thanks Kiki for her help. They're interrupted by Nadia, who says, "You're right. Gregor is dead. Happy now?" Kiki tells Nini she deserves better. Nini says, "Rot in hell." We jump to...