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So. That happened. Overall, I'm pleased by the developments in the mythology-laden episode, "Klaus," but am withholding my grade until the weecap is published, because I'm feeling a little flat about it. I had to see my Boston Bruins best the Montreal Canadiens 5 to 4 in overtime, bite my nails to the quick, and talk trash with my Canadian cousins, before I watched The Vampire Diaries. I might just be feeling underwhelmed because I went into this episode emotionally exhausted. (Did you SEE that game? Sheeeeesh.)
Elijah reveals to Elena that he and Klaus are brothers. He also makes a point to emphasize the fact that they (and their family) are the world's first vampires. Yeah, Elijah, we pretty much got that the first (or at least by the 100th) time y'all were referred to as "The Originals." But wait, there's more. Apparently their mama had a little something on the side, and Klaus is not the son of Elijah's daddy. The secret wasn't revealed until after the family became vampires, but once it was, Elijah's daddy killed Klaus's daddy -- hence the war between the two species of things that go bump in the night. So, I guess this means that werewolves can be vamped, huh, because it seems to me Klaus must have been born with the werewolf gene. Elijah tells Elena the whole family was human at one point, so he must have been vamped later, not born a vamp. I'm gonna just let that lie, because while I'm not exactly confused by any of it, I do have all these pedantic questions that would probably confuse everyone else.
Elena proves herself worthy of regaining Elijah's trust, first by giving him the dagger, and then by cooperating with him and returning to his side, willingly. He then spoils her (and us) with a wealth of MYTHOLOGY MOMENTS. There is no Curse of the Sun and the Moon. Klaus forged it and planted it and other fanon in Aztec culture and anyplace else he thought he could get both vampires and werewolves looking for the Moonstone and the Petrova doppelganger. I'm not going to poke at this retcon too hard, because that Sun and Moon curse and its Aztec origins never sat right with me in the first place. The real curse rests only on Klaus. Witches are servants of Nature, which abhors not just a vacuum, but invulnerability too, so the witches did Nature's bidding by magically suppressing Klaus's werewolf side. Back in 1492, Klaus sought to sacrifice the Petrova doppelganger and do heaven knows what with the moonstone, in order to realize his full potential as a Hybrid. At first, Elijah was on Team Klaus, but then he fell for Katerina, and started looking for a way to help Klaus without the doppelganger sacrifice. And he says he found one, but Klaus, who was courting Katerina, didn't care about saving her. And our resourceful Petrova Punk went and got herself vamped before Elijah could properly plead her case to Klaus and/or release him from his curse.
And finally (AND FINALLY) the truth -- at least the first layer thereof -- is revealed to Miss Jenna, in a creepy scene in which Klaus-as-Alaric explains it all like Clarissa would. At Stefan's game-face growl, she flees Gilbert Gables for Mossy Manse where she later has a tearfully fearful confrontation with Elena, about vampires, secrets and lies.
Elsewhere, Klaus is done with Alaric's body, so the fandom rises up and gleefully accepts return of it, while the Senior Manwitch's daughter Greta restores Klaus to his original form, which they've been keeping in a handy-dandy man-sized footlocker.
There are some interesting developments and tense moments in the Stefan-Elena-Damon triangle, which parallels the Klaus-Katerina-Elijah triangle in ways I hope are as intriguing as they seem at first blush, because by episode's end, Elena brings Elijah into her safe-house to the horror of our beautiful Brothers Salvatore. When Elijah explains he has a way to save Elena, Stefan buys it, but Damon does not, because where Stefan says he will always protect Elena, Damon, as we know, will do ANYTHING to protect her, and because he's Damon, that could well involve screwing up any plans that might actually protect her, or it could mean that he is once again the one-eyed chick in the kingdom of the blind.
I wish a good Passover and Happy Easter to those celebrating. I'll be back with the weecap ASAP. 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.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Recapper: Okee dokee artichokees. I'm trying something different this week.
Damon: Is it that transcript style thing where we all have to tell our stories?
Recapper: No, something more different. Differenter.
Damon: Differenter? And they pay you for this?
Recapper: Hush, you. And since this isn't one of those transcript things, please shoo.
Damon: Hey baby, I've been invited in. I can come and go as I please.
Recapper: Don't make me turn on my sprinkler system. I've loaded the pipes with Vervain.
Damon: I've been taking a little every day to build up an immunity.
Recapper: Yes, but as we saw when Stefan had Katherine down in the dungeon, earlier this season. If you're doused with it, it's still going to burn and temporarily disfigure you. It will be brief, but it will be ugly, just the same.
Damon: Hmmmm. I'm too pretty to be ugly, so let's chalk this up as one of those go as I please moments. I've got some women to enthrall and feed off of, anyhow. TTFN.
Recapper: Thank goodness he's gone. I can't really write with those Evil Pixie Monster eyes blazing in my direction. Now, where were we? Oh yes, something different. Well, if you're reading this, you probably already know what happens in episode 2-19, "Klaus," because you watched it. And if you don''t know what happens, you can access the recaplet via the link at the top of this weecap. I've got Spring fever, so instead of strictly telling you what happened in "Klaus," let's talk about about what happened, and maybe what it means. You ready? Okay.
This week, we get confirmation that it was indeed Elena (not Katherine-as-Elena) who pulled the dagger out of Elijah. I'm glad about that, because it would have made no sense had it been Katherine. Anyhow, when Elijah resurrects, he can't breathe, and quickly realizes it's because he hasn't been invited into Mossy Manse, so he flies out the door (but not in a bat way, just on foot). I like this MYTHOLOGY MOMENT. Part of me can't help but wonder if the writers will make use of it down the line. I also wonder what constitutes an invite. For example, were the Fellowship of the Falls to incapacitate a vampire in the future and bring it down into the dungeon and chain it up, but Elena never officially invited it in, could the vampire be killed that way? I mean, all we know is that vampires cannot enter without being invited. What I'm wondering is whether or not an unconscious vampire can be carried in by people or monsters who can enter the home, or would its head just keep hitting that supernatural barrier? Okay, I'm getting the giggles imagining the Salvatore boys thunking an unconscious Klaus's head against the barrier, so I'll leave this thread be and get on with it. No, wait. Now I'm imagining them doing the same to Katherine. Go on. You try it. See? Funny. Okay, now we'll get on with it.
Elena proves herself trustworthy to Elijah by... being trustworthy to him. In addition to unkilling him, she gives him the dagger that can kill him, and in return, she learns the dagger isn't fatal to Klaus anyhow (but more on the why of that, later). Elena meets with Elijah on his terms. She returns to him after leaving. Blah blee bloo. And by episode's end, she invites him into her Mossy Manse safe-house, shocking both Salvatore boys and pissing off one. Can you guess who? You get three tries and the first two don't count. As an aside, is it just me, or is Elijah maybe falling for Elena a little? They certainly have interesting chemistry.
During Elena's time with Elijah, we're treated to a series of flashbacks to 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. We see Elijah fall in love with Katerina and Klaus use her. We also learn that Klaus and Elijah are brothers. When Elijah reveals this tidbit to Elena, he cracks that he's not exactly hip to current slang, but he believes the word she's looking for is "OMG." Um, Show. No. Please don't try so hard. This is like the time you had Damon actually say, "Dot dot dot." It is too much. Also, while we didn't know for certain that Klaus and Elijah were brothers before now, it's hardly shocking. There is this group of Original Vampires. Is it that stunning that they're somehow related? Not in the slightest. Now, you give us plenty of twists and surprises. I'm not knocking you for being predictable. I like that they're brothers. I'm knocking you for tooting your own WE'RE SO CLEVER horn, over a perfectly ordinary revelation. You know I love you, but when Elijah told Elena that Klaus is his brother, it was not "OMG" I said so much as "No shit, Sherlock."
More surprising and noteworthy are these facts: Klaus is only Elijah's half-brother, because their mama had a thing going on with a werewolf. In a shout-out to the Underworld movies (which I hadn't seen, but which I was just recently discussing with my cousin), Klaus is a hybrid vampire/werewolf. I've seen vampwolf and werepire and all manner of portmanteaux offered up as labels for his breed, but my favorite is blood wolf, so when I'm not flat-out calling him a hybrid, that's the way it's going to be around here, unless and until I change my mind on a whim. Okay? Okay.
In another MYTHOLOGY MOMENT, which isn't surprising, but works well, we learn that witches in this universe serve nature. Since a blood wolf who was half Original Vampire would be invulnerable (werewolves in this 'verse aren't vulnerable to silver, while the Originals are only vulnerable to that one particular silver dagger dipped in the ash of that one particular white oak) witches cursed Klaus to suppress his lycanthropy, because to nature, invulnerability sucks as much as a vacuum. Now, here I have a little sympathy for Klaus. I mean, he is what he is, yo. It's not his fault that his Original Vampire Mama (OVM) mated with a werewolf. And if I understand Elijah correctly, he, his brother and the whole damned family were humans at one point. So here's this guy, or possibly even a boy, who has the werewolf gene through no fault of his own. Then he somehow turns into an Original vampire. And? This is where I get stuck. Okay, if there were no vampires before the Elijah-Klaus family (EKF) and the EKF members were all human, how the heck did they turn into vampires? Are witches to blame for this, too, or is there something out there even older and possibly badder than Originals? Well, regardless, it is all the EKF's fault that werewolves and vampires are at odds until this day, because when Original Vampire Daddy (OVD) found out about OVM's affair and that Satan Klaus is quite literally a bastard, he killed Daddy Long Dog and set off the epic battle of the supernatural species. And boy, I miss Tyler, which is neither here, nor there. I just do. I expect we'll see him before the end of the season. I'm not spoiled, so that's just wishful thinking, not intel.
In the most important (and my personal favorite) MYTHOLOGY MOMENT of the episode, or possibly the season, we learn there is no frigging curse of the Sun and the Moon. Thank you, because I was really straining to accept an Aztec connection to this story that has largely played out in Virginia, England and Bulgaria -- you know what I'm saying? Had they used North American Native Americans from the outset, it would have made more sense, but I digress. The curse doesn't exist and that's good enough for me. It seems that for centuries, Klaus has been faking up legends about moonstones and the Petrova doppelganger and planting them all over the world, because while the Curse of the Sun and the Moon doesn't exist, the moonstone and the Petrova doppelganger are key to Klaus releasing his inner werewolf. He figures if werewolves and vampires all over the world are all seeking to break some curse they think will free them from their restrictions, someone is bound to happen upon the moonstone and La Petrova, and it'll be all over but the sacrificing and incanting.
Now at first, Elijah was willing to help Klaus in his quest to be his true, gruesome twosome monstery self, but then Katherine, or Katerina as she was then known, did what she does best -- got herself involved with a pair of gorgeous brothers. Because of his devotion to Katherine, Elijah set out to find a way to break the curse without killing La Petrova. And he found one, too. But when he brought the good news to Klaus, Klaus saw no reason to spare Katherine, even though it seems he was spearing her, if you know what I mean. Nope, Klaus was looking forward to sacrificing Katy, because he had bigger plans. Then Katherine fled (and got herself vamped). Naturally, Klaus suspected Elijah tipped her off about the sacrifice. In flashback, Elijah denies this and gives Klaus his word that he will find Katherine. Klaus threatens to kill Elijah if he fails. And his big plans? Well, it seems Klaus wants to start his own hybrid race. So, while Elijah loves/loved his brother, he will not be party to his hybrid procreational plot, especially since his brother threatened to kill him and all. The good news is, it looks Elijah might be partial, or at least amenable, to saving Petrova doppelgangers.
There's one thing I don't get, though. If Elijah is so set on not letting Klaus become a fully empowered hybrid, why was he (Elijah) seeking Elena? If it was just to protect her, wouldn't it have made sense to... I don't know... tell her that from the outset? His quest for Elena made sense when we thought that Elijah too wanted to be free of the Sun and Moon curse, but since that doesn't exist, what's his angle now? The easiest way to thwart Klaus would be to kill or vamp Elena, and yet Elijah has been pretty busy not killing her for weeks on end. The only way to kill Klaus is for a juiced up witch (hi Bonnie) to do it. Oh a little nitpick here: Elijah tells Elena that the only way to kill Klaus would be during a full moon, while he is in transition. It is then that a witch with enough power can kill Klaus (the "safely" is heavily implied). Klaus's lycanthropy is currently, magically dormant, so does this mean the curse has to be lifted before he is killed, so that he can transition and be vulnerable to killing?
Back in 1492, Elijah didn't want to kill Klaus. He just wanted to free him without seeing Katherine sacrificed. These days, he does want to kill Klaus. In the genre, blood magic is generally the most powerful magic there is. Does Elijah intend to use Elena as a sacrifice in the Klaus Killing ritual? Does he intend to let Klaus sacrifice Elena in order to resurrect his werewolfiness, and THEN have Bonnie kill Klaus? Wait. In 1492, he claims to have found a way to break the Klaus curse without the doppelganger sacrifice. Could Elijah be really good, here? Could he be trying to break the Klaus curse without an Elena-shaped sacrifice, but only so he can then commission a juiced-up witch to kill Klaus without killing herself? That's what Elena believes, but there's got to be a twist, right? Ack. I so b
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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.
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