Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B | 121 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead
By Cindy McLennan | Season 5 | Episode 4 | Aired on 10.24.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.The Event O' the Week is Remembrance Day. Oh, Show. That's what much of the world calls the holiday that we in the states now celebrate as Veteran's Day. It's a solemn and somber occasion, which was instituted upon the first anniversary of the World War I armistice. I cringe, cringe, cringe that you used this name for your bell ringing, shot-pounding holiday. Cringe. This is why we're known as ugly Americans. Good Lord. I'm cringing so hard I can't write.
So, yeah. That happened. (Sorry, world.) Anyhow let's go to Mystic Falls. Stefan is an amnesiac, so Damon tries to make him remember himself. He gives Stefan his old diaries and they steal a car and go cruising. When Stefan assumes he's the fun brother and Damon is the good brother, Damon crashes the car for funsies, like you do. Then they head off to the bar, where people are ringing a bell and pounding shots in memory of the dearly departed. The less said about that, the better. My problem is that the entire show is about that, because it's in this episode that the Fellowship of the Falls finally learns Bonnie is dead.
As Stefan and Matt's personal crises intensify, everyone is all over Jeremy to get Bonnie to come home. When Jeremy realizes that some entity is squatting in Matt's body, he knows it's time to break the rather old news to his friends. He gets Damon to come home and tells him first. Their scene is wonderful. Both McQueen and Somerhalder bleed for us (since this is TVD, I guess I should specify I mean that metaphorically).
Meanwhile, Elena takes the lead on Operation Stefan. Why she is so flirtatious with him is beyond me. Tabula Rasa Stefan is easy prey and he's falling fast. In fact, being with her is his best distraction from his Ripper-like hunger, that is, until he finds out that she used to be his girl and is now his brother's.
Eventually, everyone is told of Bonnie's death. Elena and Caroline are, as you'd expect, particularly crushed. They hold a makeshift memorial at a pretty spot in the woods, and everyone leaves a personal item on the tree stump. Elena leaves white feathers. If you haven't watched from the beginning, I'll explain that to you. When Bonnie's magical powers first made themselves manifest, she and Elena had a beautifully shot scene in which Bonnie made white feathers float all around them. Nicely done, Show. Poor Jeremy serves as makeshift minister, but it's okay because Bonnie is there and uses him to speak to her friends. The memorial helps Bonnie as much or more than it helps the gang. Even Tyler makes it back in the nick of time, which makes poor Matt look lonelier than ever.
Jesse comes to Mystic Falls for the non-Bonnie related "Remembrance Day" festivities. The problem is that he runs into Stefan, right when Stefan is thinking maybe he ought to give in to his Ripper past about which he's read so much. Caroline sets things as right as she can. She heals and compels Jesse and sends him back to Whitmore, and sets Stefan back on the straight and narrow. Stefan decides to take advantage of his blank slate. He burns all his old diaries and moves out of Mossy Manse, telling Damon and Elena that Caroline will help him manage, because she's the only one he can trust. When he walks out, Damon says, "I think we just got dumped." Yeah, ya did.
Back at Whitmore, Dr. Maxfield examines Jesse, who, thanks to Caroline's blood, doesn't have a scratch on him. The doctor explains about vampires, and healing blood, and the human to vampire transformation process, then gives Jesse a lethal injection. Dun dun dun!
I'll be back soon with 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 you'll find us with bells on.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on The Vampire Diaries Stefan loved and lost Elena. Silas revealed his true face, which is exactly like Stefan's, and stuck Stefan in a safe and sank him to the bottom of the quarry. Travelers infiltrated Matt's mind. Bonnie died. Jeremy lied that she was with family. Qetsiyah Q Tessa fried Stefan's brain to fry Silas's brain and weaken his telepathic abilities. Stefan now has no memory of Elena and Damon, so I think that means he wins.
Now, we open on the road again. As Damon speeds down the highway, Stefan reads aloud from one of his old vampire diaries, but they're doing nothing to remind him of his own identity. Stefan takes a blood juice bag. Once he's drained it, he's ready to pitch it out the window, but Damon stops him from littering, saying he's not a caveman, but rather a man of principle. Damon's not driving fast enough for Stefan, so Stefan declares himself the fun brother and Damon the safe brother, so Damon crashes the car they've just stolen, to prove him wrong, which is such a Damon thing to do that I'm almost embarrassed to admit it. Title card.
Elena's in the Mossy Manse library, talking on the phone with Caroline who is still at Whitmore. Elena updates Caroline on Stefan's situation. Caroline makes sure to get in some digs about Damon, even though he's not within hearing range, just because she enjoys shitting on her friend's boyfriend. Then Caroline blabs a whole bunch of science at Elena; she's learned it all to both help Stefan, and in hopes of getting into Dr. Maxfield's bio class. She wants to find out why he covered up their roommate's murder via vampire. Apparently, she's been studying with Jesse, whom she's bringing home to Mystic Falls for what she calls, "...our hometown graveyard bell ringing ceremony."
The recaplet is full of my distaste for the show calling this holiday "Remembrance Day," so I'm not going to repeat my scolding. Elena notes this is a creepy first date, but Caroline thinks it's fine as a study date. They fret about Stefan a little more and then end the call -- thank goodness, because I'll never get back the minutes I wasted watching and then typing up that useless scene. The Exposition Fairy says, "I am on contract, you know." We cut to the...
Mystic Grill. After a bar patron rings the bell and raises a toast to Uncle Steve, whoever that is, Damon explains Mystic Falls "Remembrance Day" traditions. I just said I wasn't going to rant about it again, which means I'm not going to cover it in detail. Basically, they pound shots and ring bells to honor the fictional dead, while stealing the name of a solemn holiday that truly honors the sacrifice of valiant, real people. When a pretty waitress stops by their table, Stefan can't help but ogle her carotid. Damon quickly dispatches her for drinks. Stefan doesn't know what just came over him. Damon explains he's jonesing for something a little stronger than bagged blood. Okay, how is blood directly from the vic stronger? Warmer? Sure. Fresher? You betcha. Stronger? Pshaw.