Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B | 8 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Utterly Compelling
By Cindy McLennan | Season 4 | Episode 11 | Aired on 01.24.2013
The sire bond comes in handy, in that Elena is so overly sensitive to Damon that she knows something is wrong. When she asks, Damon -- who is still scanning the room for his prey -- says, "It was Kol. He must have compelled me." I'm glad Damon is able to think his way around this, despite the compulsion because I find the whole thing frustrating. Damon comes clean with Elena. "If I find Jeremy, I'm going to kill him." He then vamp-runs (I'm still doing penance) to the tunnel opening and disappears through it. Elena is left gasping us into commercial.
There's a lot of tunnel wandering that doesn't need recapping. What's worth noting is that all the while Damon is stalking Jeremy, he has the presence of mind to shout out to the boy that he's been compelled to kill him, and that he'd better run. We cut to...
Shane's Office. As she is using Shane's ceremonial dagger to torture Randy, Becky takes a lick of his blood and realize he's full of vervain. Since that's the case, she figures he's not compelled. Stefan points out that perhaps he was compelled first, and dosed with vervain after. Anyhow, Rebekah wants to know who is after the headstone, so Stefan suggests taking Randy home, wait 'til the vervain is out of his system and then compel him to confess. While I'm wondering if Stefan should even think he can override one compulsion with another, Randy goes and bites off his fool tongue! His own fool tongue. Before Rebekah can force Randy to write down what he knows, he grabs the dagger and stabs himself in the neck. Oh, Randy. Well you came and you gave without taking, but then you bit off your tongue and killed yourself. It's going to take some work to make that scan. Looking at the now lifeless Randy, Rebekah asks Stefan, "Was it my bastard brother, or yours?" Stefan adjusts his thinking cap and suggests, "Maybe it's option number three. There's another team in the race." Oh, great.
Back at Gitmo, Bonnie warns Shane not to play on her Grams-induced guilt. Shady insists he isn't playing on anything, and then continues to do just that. When he reminds Bonnie that her reckless use of magic brought on Grams' unending spiritual torture, Bonnie loses both her temper and control. She Expresses herself by mystically squeezing Shane's hand. He doesn't know enough to shut up and blathers about her being out of control, so Bonnie hurts him a little more. When Interim Dad bursts in, Bonnie throws water at him, which becomes a barrier of flames in front of the doorway. Interim Dad tries to appeal to the good in his interim daughter, but it's Professor Shady who finally gets through to her with the magic words. "Bonnie, look at me. Now take a deep breath. I'm right here with you. You are in complete control." When her face goes blank, Shane smiles and says, "That's it." The flames vanish. Bonnie releases her magical grip on Shane and looks at him with a tear running down her cheek. When she leaves the room, Shane tells Interim Dad that Bonnie is a prodigy. "With my guidance, she can be one of the most powerful witches in the world, but without it, she is a time bomb." When my oldest son, who just turned 17, was little, he loved the Disney version of Aladdin. Specifically, he loved Jafar and would repeat his lines. I can still hear his little-boy voice saying he is the most powerful sorcerer in the world. No, I don't know why I shared that, except that his birthday fell between the episode and the recap, and while I'm so pleased with and proud of the young man he's become, I wish I had that little boy back, too. [Note: Loving mom aside, it's kind of like how Jafar thought that as a genie he'd be all-powerful, but the way that he asked for it ended in him getting thrown into that little lamp forever. Maybe? -- Rachel ] Anyhow, Interim Dad glares at Shane as we cut to...