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Well, that was much better -- at least the scenes I could bear to watch. I have a hard time watching people vomit -- even fictional vomit -- even fictional blood vomit. It gags me so much that I can't be all that objective about whether or not it "adds" to a given show or film. It will always detract from it for me. Of the scenes I could watch though so many hit just the right emotional moment, that I'm still well pleased with "Memorial" (once I block out all that puking).
Stefan and Damon disagree on how they should raise their new baby vamp, Elena. Damon is a breast feeding advocate more or less. He says their girl needs warm blood fresh from the vein. Stefan insists she'll be better off on the bunny diet. In a feeling parents know all too well, he wants to keep their baby from making the same mistakes he (and the rest of his race) have made since time immemorial.
Damon, the pragmatist, is right of course. Elena's a vampire now -- the top of the food chain. She needs vampire food. People are vampire food. Where my new parent analogy falls flat (or turns rather creepy) is that both of Elena's daddies are desperately in love with her, and well, the feeling is sort of mutual (even if Elena won't admit it to herself… but let's not worry about that for now).
In an episode that revolves around a memorial service for Reverend Young (and the rest of the reformed and exploded Council), Elena deals with her blood aversion and blood lust and Stefan and Damon deal with their myriad of issues. The Rev's delightfully awkward daughter, April (Grace Phipps), has left boarding school to mourn her dad and attend Mystic Falls High. Raise your hand if you thought, at least for a second, that Anna was back from the dead sporting brilliant blue contacts.
There's a new vampire hunter in town, Connor Jordan (Todd Williams) who has specially marked (and maybe magical) wooden bullets, that he keeps pumping into poor Tyler Lockwood. At the memorial service (and I will have religious nitpickery about this in the full recap), April is in the balcony rehearsing her dad's eulogy when Connor knifes her, in hopes that her yummy delicious blood will be too much for our vampires to resist. They do pretty well, but poor Elena is starving since she has already puked up deer blood, bagged blood and even Damon's blood (more about that in the recap too).
Matt offers himself as her first meal. While I adore Matt, I don't particularly 'ship Matt and Elena, and yet I can't help but like that Matt is what Elena needs right now -- more than Stefan or Damon could ever be. I don't know if that subtext is intentional, or simply a product of my Pudding Pop love, but Elena's Matt-meal mitigates some of my dissatisfaction with the failure of "Growing Pains" to mourn Elena's humanity. It also, I hope, mitigates some of Matt's guilt.
Elena not only feeds off Matt, but she, with the help of Caroline, passes her first test in controlling her blood lust when she heals April and compels her to forget the horrors she's just endured. The episode ends with the gang sending up memorial lanterns to honor all those they've lost. Damon pretends he has no inclination to mourn, but we know he's lying even before he retreats to the cemetery and numbs his pain with booze and a heartfelt (if a little corny) monologue aimed at Alaric's headstone. Too bad Damon didn't take Jeremy with him, because Alaric's spirit is sitting right to Damon the whole time.
Highlights
Elena drinking Damon's blood is hot. Stefan's reaction to learning about it is heated too, if not hot (and its maybe kind of hot).
Every scene with April.
Damon telling every single person who tries to sit to his left at the Mystic Grill that the seat is taken manages to be both funny and touching. Seeing Alaric's spirit with him at the end is perfect, although I do wish he appeared on Damon's left. I can torture a metaphor out of that, and perhaps I will, in the recap.
I'll be back with the whole story in the full recap. In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page and then come on over to the forum, where only one seat is reserved.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Okay, so I've had a lot of problems with "Memorial." And yes -- all of those problems stem from the vomit. Other than that, I loved nearly everything about this episode. I loved everything about the episode, except having to watch (and watch and watch) it, so heaven knows where this recap is going. It's hard to type when you're using your hands to shield your eyes. This is our fourth season together though, my dearest fang gang, so you're ready for that, right? Good.
The opening montage is about the same as last week's, but it now includes a few clips from the season premiere. At the end of the voice-over narration, Stefan says that Elena is "one of us" now, and he'll do anything to help her survive, which is a little goofy, considering she's now pretty much immortal, provided she wears her new ring, and avoids getting staked, decapitated or burnt alive. Oh wait, this is Elena we're talking about, so maybe I owe Voice-Over Stefan an apology because while our little show that could certainly can make Elena fierce on occasion, it also loves making her into a damsel.
Stefan and Elena wake in a sun soaked woods. She sighs and says, "Hi." Stefan returns the favor. We cut to the interior of Mossy Manse. Stefan seems to be packing for his...um camping trip? I don't know. I find this confusing. I guess we're privy to his memories here. As a viewer, I love these scenes that cut from the past to the present and back. As a recapper, I find them a ginormous pain in my arse. Anyhow. He's arguing with Damon. Stefan wants to make their girlfriend into some platonic vampiric ideal. Damon just wants to rip off the bandage and see what happens when Elena feeds, because sooner or later, all baby vamps go overboard and kill their human prey.
I love Elena. I am extremely invested in her story. Were Tubey to shut down TWoP tomorrow, I'd keep watching The Vampire Diaries and I'd probably keep babbling about it on the internet, too, and I'd do so because of Elena Gilbert. She's not the only character I love, but love her I do. I mention all that, because I must confess that I do hope she kills someone -- an innocent someone -- specifically because of her bloodlust. Maybe that's weird, but she's a vampire now. And that's what I want her to be -- a vampire. I do not want her to be Saint Vampire, though. This writing team has managed to keep Caroline and Tyler sympathetic, even though they've killed. Heck, they've managed to keep Stefan and Damon sympathetic, and they're actual serial killers. I'm pretty sure they can create a situation in which Elena does a wrong and very bad thing, and it won't ruin her forever. I just hope they do. Go there, Team Plec. Go there. Um, just don't let her kill Matt, m'kay? Oh crap. I should have just kept my feelings to myself.
So, yes. Damon says it's inevitable that Elena will kill. Stefan, meanwhile, is trying to keep our girl from making all the mistakes he's made. Damon favors a "rip off the bandage" approach. Stefan favors the control freak approach. Oh, these boys. Sometimes, their scenes must write themselves. I mean that in a good way. Everything about this argument between Damon and Stefan has been set up over the past three seasons. It would be impossible for them to not have this argument.
Damon doesn't want to see Elena deny her nature and turn into some Ripper freak. Stefan doesn't want to see Elena indulge her nature and turn into some Ripper freak. He also doesn't want to see her turn into a Damon, though. Damon knows this and calls out his brother on that very fact. The one thing Damon doesn't do here? He doesn't confess that he doesn't want Elena to be like him, either. He doesn't say it, and probably couldn't admit it to himself, but what he wants is for her to be just corrupt enough that Stefan falls out of love with her -- corrupt enough that Damon will be worthy of her without all this bothersome growth and change.
During the argument, Stefan notes that Elena's compassion is her Achilles' heel, and because she's a baby vamp, all of her feelings are magnified right now. We cut to a scene of Stefan and Elena hunting a baby deer. Back at Mossy Manse, Damon says, "You'd better hope she's not a fan of Bambi."
In the woods, Stefan tells Elena to close her eyes and then rushes at the fawn. At Mossy Manse, Damon notes that baby vamps need blood -- from the vein. Stefan blahs about killing people. Damon blahs back about how the bunny diet creates Rippers. In the woods, we see Elena feed on the deer. When she rises up from feeding, blood drips down her face. It's not as gross as all the blood vomit in this episode, but it's enough to activate my gag reflex.
At Mossy Manse, Stefan frets that if Elena does something awful, the pain and guilt might make her switch off her humanity. Damon continues with his it's inevitable argument. "She can't learn to control the bloodlust if she's never experienced the bloodlust. It's a cheat. It's like giving a kid a calculator before they know math."
Back in the woods, Elena has time for tears, even before she has time to wipe her mouth. Gag. Stefan assures her that, as a larger animal, the deer will heal. He praises Elena and I'm... Okay. This is another part of the episode I don't love because, sure, she's compassionate, and were vampires real, but not necessarily evil and soulless as they are in so many stories, it would be emotionally challenging to feed off a baby deer, but tears? Come on. I know, I know, her feelings are magnified, but it's not like human Elena was a vegetarian.
At Mossy Manse, Elena walks in and knows the boys are arguing. Stefan says it's just a disagreement about process. Elena knows Damon is no fan of the animal diet. As she and Stefan leave, Damon says, "You're a vampire, Elena. Be a vampire." When he doesn't get the reaction he wants, he adds, "Vampires eat people! It's part of the natural food pyramid. Trust me. You're going to be miserable." He's such a grumpy old ray of sunshine.
Woods. Stefan is trying to teach Elena how to... I don't know, maybe how to Stealth-Salvatore, but when he touches her, her heightened senses can't help but be turned on. This, in turn, turns on Stefan. It's not long before they're making out and ripping off each other's clothing. Then Elena zoops away and pukes up blood. The Damon/Elena shippers cheer. Title card.
A new character, Connor Jordan (Todd Williams) investigates the charred remains of the Reverend Young's ranch house. He notices the cigarette lighter lying on the floor, then opens the oven and finds an enveloped marked, "April."
Mystic Grill. Damon is drinking at the bar when Liz Forbes arrives. When she tries to take the stool to his left, Damon says, "This seat's taken." Aw, Alaric. Sob. Liz shows Damon the latest newspaper headlines, and then moves to his right hand side. Damon reads: "Faulty gas line leads to tragic explosion at Young Farm." He takes a beat and says, "Really?" Liz points out that it's a better and less troublesome story for them, than, "Town Council blown up. Police have no suspects." She thinks Damon may have killed the Right Reverend Cliche, but Damon sets her straight. "Well, don't look at me. I always take credit for killing people. Seriously, stop looking at me like that, Liz. If I was going to kill 12 people, I wouldn't blow 'em up. I'd have a dinner party." Hee. They're interrupted by Connor Jordan, who wants to speak with Liz about the explosion. He claims he's an "independent contractor" and asks to talk in private. Damon's already suspicious of this guy, thank goodness.
High School Exterior. Oh right, these characters are still in "school." As Jeremy and Matt unload boxes of paper lanterns, Jeremy explains that after the memorial, people will light them as a tribute to the fallen. Matt finally gets a good line. "No one thought fire would be inappropriate?" When the conversation turns to Elena, Matt makes it clear that he'll do anything to help her, "Other than give her a ride." What? Oh. Ha! I like Comic-Relief-Matt and hope we get more of him in future episodes.
Soon thereafter, a young girl walks up and says, "Jeremy?" It's the pastor's daughter, April Young (Grace Phipps), but for a second I thought it was Malese Jow's Anna. She's babbling nervously and is terribly awkward, all of which is delightful. Since she's an orphan now, she's no longer in boarding school and has to register at Mystic Falls High. The boys offer her their condolences on her loss, but April doesn't know how to graciously accept sympathy yet. When we later learn she had previously lost her mom, this scene seems less organic, but April is endearing enough that I'm choosing not to dwell on it.
Elena is alone in Stefan's room. She leaves Caroline a voice mail in which she says she's having "adjustment issues." Stefan comes in with a bottle of champagne from the year Elena was born. Even though her first feed was disgusting, traumatic and horrible, she survived, so he thinks they should celebrate. Elena hardly thinks her reaction is worth celebrating, but Stefan says, "Listen, I choked it down for a month before I could stomach the taste. It gets easier." He's willfully blind to the doubt in Elena's eyes and changes the subject to the bottle of bubbly in his hand, which he promises will go down like silk. Elena finds his cheeriness contagious, or is at least enough in love with him to pretend she's dealing. She pops the cork, fills their glasses and then the two kiss. The phone rings and breaks up their snogging. It's Damon. Stefan is annoyed by his brother's impeccable timing and disturbed by whatever Damon tells him over the phone. We cut to the...
Mystic Grill. As Elena approaches the stool on Damon's left, she asks him if he did it -- "it" being blow up Rev. Cliche and the Council. Damon: "That seat's taken." Elena: "But there's no one here." Damon: "Well, I'm just going to pretend like there's someone there, because the alternative's too damned depressing." I am loving these Alaric shout-outs. Damon continues accusing Damon of killing the Council, but he brushes her off. It's then that she admits she's can't keep down animal blood. She needs his help. Damon, who gets all the best lines, says, "Of course you do," and then gestures to the Grill's other patrons. "Pick your meal. You've got Asian Fusion, Mexican, or what about some good old American comfort food?" Elena insists Stefan is right. She has to try to get through this without hurting anyone. Damon says, "Fine," and then takes her by the hand and drags her across the pub.
Inside the bathroom, he tears open his palm and offers it to Elena. "You're a new vampire, Elena. You need warm blood, from the vein. Maybe this will do the trick. Just -- just don't tell Stefan." Staring at Damon's blood, Elena is breathless as she asks, "Why not?" Damon: "Because blood sharing is kind of personal." He finally gets Elena to drink and it's hotter than any sex scene ever featured on this show. I'm struggling to stay out of Metaphor-ville about cheap bathroom hookups, but it's difficult when watching these two. Right now, Elena has undeniable physical needs and Damon knows that, but his baby blue eyes betray him. It's clear from the look on his face that he's pretending Elena is feeding off him because of her passion for him, rather than her need to feed.
We cut to Caroline and Tyler in bed. She stops their shenanigans to note that it's wrong to be having sex when the whole Council just got blown up. Tyler notes that if they stopped having sex every time someone in Mystic Falls died, they'd explode. Caroline says they need to be more sensitive, which is just dumb because they're alone. I mean I hope they are. Hey, Care Bear, shut off the webcam, and none of the mourners will know what's going on. She doesn't listen and continues to question if they should be more sensitive, which gives Tyler an opening to declare his love for our Vampire Barbie. She returns the sentiment, but their smoochies are interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.
Downstairs, Carol answers the door and finds Connor Jordan on the other side. Liz has already given her the heads up about him, so Carol is wise enough not to invite him in. Connor doesn't worry about the niceties though and just barges in, so he's not a vampire. He starts leveling accusations about the Council members' deaths. When Tyler comes down and asks what's going on, Connor introduces himself and extends his gloved hand. Tyler shakes it, and his hand starts to sizzle. Connor grabs a gun and shoots Tyler a few times. Carol screams. Upstairs, Caroline jumps out of bed, so we can have yet another gratuitous shot of her in her undies. She halfway throws on some clothes and rushes downstairs, just in time to hear Carol order Tyler to run. He jumps through a window. Commercial.
Stefan removes the bullets from Tyler's shirtless bod and notes that the wooden bullets were specially carved. "If you were a normal vampire, you'd be dead." Tyler says Jordan's gloves must have been steeped in vervain, and he was definitely looking for a vampire. Stefan ponders about the etchings on the bullets. Caroline wonders if they were "spelled." That's twice in less than a week that one of my shows has used "spelled" to mean "enchanted," which I only mention because it's funny. Whatever. It's funny to me.
Church. It's apparent that no one who works on this show has darkened the doors of a house of worship in a long time because Elena is handing out programs for the memorial service, but she's laying on program on every seat, which is just not how it's done. Most churches would have ushers who would hand out programs to the mourners as they arrived. If there was an acute usher shortage, they'd probably lay a stack of programs on a table at the back of the sanctuary, or place little stacks at the end of each pew. Prepare yourselves, gentle readers, for more churchy nitpicks because that's how I roll. Anyhow, this is just a chance of Matt to check in with Elena, and for Elena to mourn for everyone because even though she's a vampire, she is still the most compassionate person in the world.
When Elena spots April in a front pew, she approaches her. The girls hug, and April explains that she has to speak at the service. She has no clue what to say, but is afraid if she doesn't talk, maybe no one will have anything nice to say about her dad, and everyone deserves to have nice things said at their funeral. Elena encourages the girl to do whatever she needs to do and adds, "Don't worry about your dad. Everyone in this town loved him." Really? Why? I mean, for the brief time that he graced our screens, he was nothing but an ass. Don't get me wrong. I don't think there's anything wrong with uninitiated humans wanting to kill vampires. That's the survival instinct. But Reverend Cliche's character was written to be a one-note, ignorant, hateful man. Anyhow, April must know her daddy blew up the Council and himself, because she adds, "Until two days ago." Elena: "Even still..." When Elena grabs the girl's wrist, she feels the blood pumping beneath and excuses herself.
In the bathroom, Elena pukes and I'm just not recapping this crap. It's gross and disgusting and I can't stop gagging. Thankfully, we cut to...
Bonnie's house. Bonnie is damned depressed. Maybe she had to watch all the puking via a crystal ball or something. Stefan's there. Realizing Bonnie is nothing but a deus ex machina to all her near and dear, she tells him about watching her Grams suffer because Bonnie used black magic. She can't even do a nature spell right now. When Stefan responds to her, Bonnie cuts short his concerned chit chat and asks him what he wants, which makes me laugh, and I'm not sorry about that. When people go to Bonnie, it's because they want her to do something for them. That's just her life, poor kiddo. Stefan shows her Connor Jordan's bullets and notes that they burn to the touch. Bonnie says the etchings don't look like magical writing. Stefan: "I think we have a new vampire hunter in town." Bonnie: "Hmm. That's bad timing." Am I the only one laughing like a loon here?
Elena still has blood puke on her face as she tries to wipe up all the blood puke in the bathroom, so I am not going into detail. She calls Damon and asks for help. Connor tries to open the bathroom door. Elena cries out, "There's someone in here," and then whispers to Damon to hurry. When Damon gets to the church basement, he sees Connor sitting nearby and says, "You again." Elena has finally wiped the blood puke off her face, takes the dress and whatever else Damon hands her, and apologizes to Connor, telling him she spilled coffee on his dress, then disappears to change.
Connor stretches out his hand to our Evil Pixie Monster and says, "We have not met. I'm Connor Jordan." Damon must have gotten the skinny from Tyler because he ignores the outstretched hand and says, "Damon. Germaphobe." There's a little banter between Connor and Damon, but I'm still suppressing my gag reflex, so just imagine it. When Elena's finally all cleaned up and changed, she joins Damon and they leave.
Cut to the church balcony. Connor happens upon April who is practicing her speech. Connor smiles at her and knifes her in the gut. Commercial.
Outside the church, Elena's voice is less than hushed as she asks Damon for a blood bag. He reminds her to mind the volume, but then hands her the blood bag, right out there in the open, and she drinks right out there in the open. She can't stomach the bagged blood, either. Damon wonders if her doppelgänger nature is rejecting her transition into a vampire, which seems dumb, because of Katherine. Damon tries to reassure Elena that everything will be okay.
Stefan approaches as Elena returns to the church. He asks Damon what's going on. They bicker about the whole bunny diet approach and Damon reveals not only that Elena can't keep down bunny and bagged blood, but that she can't keep down Damon's blood, either. This must be the vampire version of adultery, because Stefan is clearly angered by Damon's admission that Elena drank from him, and Damon kind of digs that.
Inside the church, Stefan finds Caroline and Tyler and questions the wisdom of Tyler being there when there's a hunter out to get him. Tyler isn't going to let a hunter keep him from being where he needs to be. Caroline, still awesome, adds that if the hunter shows, she's going to kick his ass. Then there's more evidence that no one on the crew has been to church in a long time. Carol gets up to say a few words "before the mass." There is no way this is a Roman Catholic or Orthodox church. It's way too plain and colonial looking. I can't even buy that it's an Episcopal church. Oh, wait. I suppose it could be a Lutheran church. I think Lutherans use the term mass, which I admit I didn't think of when I started this rant (in my head), and that point has taken all the wind out of my sails. Darn it. I really wanted to rant. But I've just remembered that Reverend Young wore a clerical collar, so perhaps he was a Lutheran cleric, and perhaps this is his church, and now I owe an apology to the cast and crew. I hate when that happens. Sorry, guys.
Anyhow, Carol invites April up to the lectern, but April's too busy bleeding out in the balcony to respond, so Carol asks if anyone else wants to share a memory about Pastor Cliche. Connor is up in the balcony and trains his weapon's sights on the congregation. When no one answers Carol, Elena realizes how awkward this is getting so she stands and volunteers to speak. As she heads to the front, Damon comes in, dips his hand in holy water -- wait -- do Lutherans do holy water? -- because if not, I can reactivate my ranting powers in the blink of an eye. Oh, Google indicates they do. Double darn it. I've been so ready to rant about why this isn't a Catholic Church that I just feel all deflated now. Yes, I've just admitted that the show's failure to screw up has detracted from my enjoyment. Yes, I realize that says ugly things about me. Let's move on. The best part of this scene is Damon, anyhow. He dips his fingers in the holy water font makes the sign of the Cross as he heads toward a pew. "I don't know why that always makes me smile." Heh.
While Stefan and Damon whisper-bicker about Elena, our girl is up front, struggling as she delivers the impromptu eulogy. She's having a hard time, not only because she's transitioning, and not only because impromptu eulogies are difficult in and of themselves, but also because she can smell April's blood. Our whole Fellowship of the Falls can. Connor continues to take aim. April's blood drips down from the ceiling. Damon warns Stefan not to turn around, because he knows this is a trap. Commercial.
When Elena sees the blood, her game face starts to emerge. Stefan retrieves her from the podium. The minister or priest asks the congregation to rise and open their hymnals. The choir sings. Back in the pew between Stefan and Matt, Elena confesses she can't deal with the smell of the blood. Stefan tries to help her to focus and control her bloodlust, but she's starving, so she can't. It's then that my Pudding Pop Matt offers his throat to Elena. He holds her as if he's comforting her, and finally, Elena gets fresh blood, warm from the vein. Connor watches the scene, but he can't see anything incriminating. In the recaplet, I already raved about how much I love that Elena feeds on a willing Matt, so I won't repeat myself, but I regularly take the writers to the woodshed, so it's only fair that here, I rise and given them a standing ovation. There is nothing wrong and everything right with this choice. Thank you, Show.
Elena knows it must be April who's bleeding, and insists they have to help her. Stefan says it's too risky, since they're being watched, but Our Lady of Compassion doesn't care. And then the silliest thing happens. Tyler goes to the front of the church, and starts talking, even though the choir is still singing. Come on. I've already taken off my ranty pants, but really? He starts to talk about Pastor Young but doesn't get to talk too long, because Connor shoots him, again. I suppose I should mention that Ty's words focus on team, community and self-sacrifice, so there. Now I have. Anyhow, when Connor shoots him (with a stake), the congregation panics, and we go to commercial.
After the break, Carol, Elena, Stefan and Caroline rush to the fallen Tyler. Caroline pulls the stake out of Tyler's chest. Carol insists upon calling an ambulance because the whole town just watched her son get shot, and we must keep up appearances. That wasn't snark. Stefan tells Tyler he's got to go help Damon find and kill Connor. Elena's still worried about April, so she takes off to find the girl.
Outside, Connor throws his weapons bag into the back of his pickup, but before he can take off, Damon finds him and rips the door right off the truck. Connor unloads a bunch of wooden bullets into Damon, but before he can stake him, Stefan appears and calls out to his brother. Realizing he's outnumbered, Connor hops in the truck and takes off. When Stefan gets to his brother, and realizes he's more or less okay, offers him a hand, but then punches Damon in the face. Damon: "What was that for?" Stefan: "You know what." Ha. The younger brother walks off, leaving Damon groaning and me giggling, which is so much more fun than gagging.
Elena finds April bound, gagged (but not in a pukey way) and bleeding. Her blood is too tempting for our baby vamp. She puts on her game face and moves in for the kill, but is saved from herself by Caroline. Is she ever not awesome? She appeals to Elena's humanity, and Elena is able to revert to her human visage. Once Elena is relatively calm, Caroline opens her wrist and feeds April, to heal her. When April comes to, she begs Caroline not to hurt her. Caroline assures the girl she won't and then tells Elena to compel April to forget all the horror she's just endured. Elena is reticent at first, but Caroline insists that Elena has to learn how to do this and the only way to learn is by doing. "You just need to believe what you're telling her." Elena kneels by April's side and tells the girl, "Everything is going to be okay. You're going to get through this, just like I got through it. I'm going to help you. I promise." When April says she's going to be okay, Elena smiles and looks up at Caroline, who smiles in approval. Elena continues with some more compulsion details about the service being beautiful, and how people said nice things.
I am so, so grateful to the writers for choosing to have Matt and Caroline help Elena with her new vampirism. Right now, both Salvatore boys -- although they do love her -- are treating her like the Holy Grail or something. It's disturbing how much they want to control her new life in order to work out their own issues. Bravo Team Plec. Thank you so, for giving me this memorial to Elena's human life, via her old and dear friends.
Mystic Grill. Matt and Jeremy wonder how they'll manage to cover up what really happened at the memorial service. As they grab their take-out orders and start to leave, Connor gets their attention. Gesturing to Matt's bandaged neck, he asks what happened. Matt lies with the truth. "Uh... girlfriend went a little overboard." Connor smiles as Matt leaves. Jeremy rises and turns toward the stranger. He looks down at Connor's arm and sees an interesting tattoo that stretches from his bicep to his hand. The markings on the hand look similar to the bullet etchings, but I don't think Jeremy knows about that yet. As our little Germ leaves, he smiles and says, "Nice ink." Connor nods, but is clearly taken aback, and the shot shows us why. The tattoo is not visible to the naked eye. As the boys leave the Grill, Matt says, "What ink?" Germ: "You didn't see his tattoo? It was huge." Matt: "He didn't have a tattoo." Germ: "Yeah he did." We cut to Connor who is still pondering Jeremy's compliment. Commercial.
In a camper, Connor finally opens the envelope he found in the Rev. Cliche's stove. It's a letter to April about sacrifice and the evil that lurks in Mystic Falls. Once he's done reading, he lays it on top of a list of Council Members, and a local newspaper featuring an article about the explosion.
Mossy Manse. Stefan pours Elena a drink and explains it will help with her cravings. She knows he's mad and sure he is. When he tells Elena she lied to him, she says she didn't but he's not playing games. With Stefan, sins of omission are just as bad as sins of commission. Elena explains that Stefan was so happy when he thought she was a successful bunny dieter that she didn't want to disappoint him. Stefan says she's in hell, which means he's in hell, too. "And you go to Damon for help." Elena: "Yeah, because I thought he would understand." Stefan: "And I don't? [...] You fed on him, Elena. You fed on him. I know that may not mean much to you, but it means a lot to me, and it certainly meant a lot to Damon." You can say that again.
Elena says she didn't want to hurt Stefan. She cries that she's sorry and then gets frustrated that she's crying Stefan reminds her about heightened emotions, but Elena says she feels like she's been crying since the day her parents died. I suspect this is a little fan service, to those people who are tiring of Elena. "My life is like a never-ending funeral. We keep burying people, Stefan. You want to know what's heightened? It's grief. I can't stop feeling everyone's grief. All the hurt -- I feel like it's trying to explode out of me." For a minute, I fear she's preparing to puke yet again, but I'm happy to report she is not. Stefan tries to comfort her. He tells her to come with him. There's something they need to do.
The Fellowship of the Falls (sans Tyler) gathers outside the school. It's nighttime. Damon wonders why they've been summoned. Bonnie tells him to ask Stefan. Stefan explains that they're finishing the memorial. "We need to start healing, Damon. We've all lost so much, especially recently. I think we're numb to it. We push it away or make a joke out of it. We ignore how we feel." He hands out lanterns to his fellow mourners. "It's time to let ourselves grieve."
Damon pshaws about lighting the lanterns. He says what they should do is find out about the hunter and what he knows about the death of the Council. Stefan insists tonight, this is exactly what they need to do right now. He lights his lantern and dedicates it to "Uncle Zac" and to Lexi and Alaric. Matt lights his in honor of his sister, Vicki. Caroline lights hers in honor of her dad and Tyler's. Jeremy takes his turn. "This is for our parents. For Vicki. Anna. Jenna. And Alaric."
When Germ holds out the lighter to Damon, Damon says there's no way he's doing this, and takes off. Bonnie lights it up for Grams. Finally, it's Elena's turn. "This is for my mom, my dad, and Jenna -- everyone that we've all lost. Everyone that this town has lost. And for me... I guess." Thank goodness someone is FINALLY mourning Elena's humanity. Too bad she had to be the person to do it. On second thought, I'm glad it's her. My friend Elizabeth feels a little sorry for Uncle John and Isobel, but I remind her that they are actually Elena's mom and dad, so they're covered. As Elena's lantern floats toward the heaven, the rest of the gang releases their lanterns, too. It's a beautiful visual. We cut to the...
Cemetery. Damon's sitting alone, with a bottle of booze, ranting about the kids' makeshift memorial service. "The Japanese lantern is a symbol of letting go of the past. Well, here's a newsflash. We're not Japanese." He takes a swig of booze and berates the gang for being what they mostly are -- children.
When I first saw this scene, I was ready to mock it soundly, because it seems like Damon has just murdered the Exposition Fairy and taken her job. But there's something deeper and more beautiful going on here, and I'm just the sentimental sap for whom it's meant. He's talking at Alaric's headstone, and pretending his friend is still with him, and responding. He continues on about these delusional children because he's in so much pain himself. "In the end, when you lose somebody, every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing you have left is a hole in your life, where that somebody you cared about used to be." Damon can't see Alaric sitting there listening, but he is, and I fight back the tears. Damon looks at the headstone and adds, "And a rock, with a birthdate carved into it that I'm pretty sure is wrong." Heh. Alaric laughs, but Damon doesn't know. He sits down and continues his monologue, "thanking" his friend for leaving him alone to babysit. "I didn't even get the girl, remember? I'm stuck here fighting with my brother and taking care of the kids. You owe me big." When Damon rises, Alaric says, "I miss you too, buddy," but of course Damon still can't hear him, which makes it all the more moving.
I'll be back Friday morning with coverage of "The Rager." In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page and then come on over to the forum, where only one seat is reserved.
When I first saw this scene, I was ready to mock it soundly, because it seems like Damon has just murdered the Exposition Fairy and taken her job. But there's something deeper and more beautiful going on here, and I'm just the sentimental sap for whom it's meant. He's talking at Alaric's headstone, and pretending his friend is still with him, and responding. He continues on about these delusional children because he's in so much pain himself. "In the end, when you lose somebody, every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing you have left is a hole in your life, where that somebody you cared about used to be." Damon can't see Alaric sitting there listening, but he is, and I fight back the tears. Damon looks at the headstone and adds, "And a rock, with a birthdate carved into it that I'm pretty sure is wrong." Heh. Alaric laughs, but Damon doesn't know. He sits down and continues his monologue, "thanking" his friend for leaving him alone to babysit. "I didn't even get the girl, remember? I'm stuck here fighting with my brother and taking care of the kids. You owe me big." When Damon rises, Alaric says, "I miss you too, buddy," but of course Damon still can't hear him, which makes it all the more moving.
I'll be back Friday morning with coverage of "The Rager." In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page and then come on over to the forum, where only one seat is reserved.