Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B- | 160 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Back To School
By Cindy McLennan | Season 5 | Episode 1 | Aired on 10.03.2013
Mystic Grill. Damon tells Stylus he gets why he didn't call him back all summer. Stylus says, "You mean because you stole my girlfriend? I'm over it." Raising his glass, he adds, "Cheers," then takes a peek inside Damon's brain and says, "Katherine's living at Chateau Salvatore." Since they're Italian, shouldn't it be Casa di Salvatore (or given the size of it -- Castello di Salvatore)? When Damon asks how he knows, Stylus first admits he read Damon's mind, then adds, "I'm kidding, buddy. Katherine called me first. Remember. It's always been me first." Ouch. When Jeremy ambles up to the bar, Stylus greets him with a pat on the shoulder, and seems disconcerted like possibly he can't read the boy's mind. I didn't pay enough attention to last season's mythology mess, to remember if the hunters were created such that Silas couldn't enter their mind, but I'm guessing that's going on here. I hope that means some interesting storylines for Jeremy, where he ends up taking the lead, simply because he's less vulnerable to Silas. Once Stylus leaves, Jeremy tells Damon that when "Stefan" touched him he felt a chill where his hunter's mark used to be. He felt the same thing when Silas grabbed him right before he killed him. When Damon reminds Jeremy that Bonnie turned Silas into a rock. Bonnie appears and tells Jeremy that when she died the spell she used on Silas must have been broken. I remember that bothered me last season, because her other spell to raise the veil didn't break, but I'm over it now so I'll just continue. Bonnie tells the Germ that Silas must be free. Jeremy insists to Damon that they were just with Silas. Damon says that is impossible. Really, Damon? Jeremy pulls out his hunter credentials, but Damon says there's no way Silas could convince the entire bar that he's Stefan all at once. I say, "Who says he did?" I mean, I do actually understand that Silas is no longer masking himself. This is his true face. Damon doesn't yet know that though, so my point is: how does Damon know how Silas appears to the Grill patrons? The only people he interacted with are Damon and Jeremy. You're acting like the whole bar NORMed him or something, Damon. Sheesh. Jeremy tries to cut through Damon's denial by asking what Stylus wanted. We cut to...
Mossy Manse. Katherine is taking a bubble bath in Damon's delightful tub, and shaving her legs with a straight razor, naturally. She smiles when Stylus enters because she too thinks he's Stefan. She's tickled when he flirts with her and not unmoved when he says he prefers her as a human. They're about to kiss when Stylus grabs her by the neck, giving us what might be the first TVD throttle of season 5. When he tells her it's time for a field trip, Kiki grabs her razor and slices Stylus on the cheek. He lets go of her, and for reasons that are entirely unclear to me, just kneels there are she gets her robe and flees the room. When Katherine reaches the first floor, Damon grabs her, shoves her toward Jeremy and says, "Get her out of here. Don't tell me where you're going." When Stylus finally gets down stairs, Damon says, "God, you're slow. I guess vamp speed came with the upgrade." No longer having to pretend he's Stefan, Stylus tells Damon to get out of his way and give him Katherine. Damon says, "First, drop the Stefan look." A merciful cut spares us from having to hear, once again, that this is Silas's real face, and Stefan is his doppelgänger. I guess I should have done the same for you. Mea culpa. I know we've just confirmed that Stylus doesn't have vampire speed, but he should still have young man speed, so I still don't get why he didn't run after Katherine? I am glad he has some limits, but that was a dumb scene.