TV Review: The Vampire Diaries 1.09 – “History Repeating” and 1.10 – “The Turning Point”
Episodes: The Vampire Diaries 1.09 – “History Repeating” and and 1.10 – “The Turning Point”
Original Air Date: November 12, 2009 and November 19, 2009
Screencaps by toxic_caps.
Greetings, fellow travelers. Many apologies for the tardiness of this review; it was quite a week for a myself and a few members of the Fandomania family.
Once again, The Vampire Diaries proves itself to be more than just your typical CW teenage fare. In many ways, it fills the void that Buffy has left in my little sci-fi pop heart. This arc both illuminates the past and clouds the future, taking the viewers further down the rabbit hole, deepening our ties to the characters and questioning the decisions they make.
With these episodes we find our vampire pair heading into some dubious moral territory (much like other Great Vampire Pairings in pop culture), which makes the relationship between the Brothers Salvatore all the more interesting. Stefan’s bloodlust for Damon is clear, and we all know that Damon is not the nicest vampire ever turned, but one can’t help wonder about Stefan’s altruism.
As interesting as the boys are, “History Repeating” is all about our favorite witch since Willow. She starts the episode on some scary lucid dream/vision quest guided by Emily, former handmaiden of Vampire Katherine, owner of the amulet, and all-around witch. Bonnie’s powers have gotten serious; girl is about to go down the rabbit hole.
This episode also finds us with a welcome new addition to the cast: Alaric Saltzman, Jeremy’s gorgeous new history teacher, an outsider with an uncanny interest in the history of Mystic Falls. Fans of the book will recognize Alaric, and his flirtation with Jenna is both welcome and suspicious. Jenna is still recovering from her brief reconciliation with Logan Fell, epic D.B., and Alaric’s calm demeanor, good looks (Matthew Davis from Legally Blonde, who has aged quite well), is a balm her heart sorely needs.
“History Repeating” centers on one artifact of the past: Bonnie’s (slash Emily’s) necklace, which has a habit of coming back to haunt and disturb our little witch, its most recent cameo at the reconciliation sleepover Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena have. Now, BFFs sometimes fight and get back together, and Caroline is not happy that she isn’t a part of the Secret of the Necklace. She suggests a séance, because that is the smart thing to do.
This séance does not go well; things get quite scary. Meanwhile, Damon and Stefan are duking it out, and we learn even more about the history of the necklace. Emily, who is now possessing Bonnie, gave the necklace to Katherine to enhance her powers. The necklace also protected Katherine from The Council. In their final night, Emily used the necklace to save Katherine, and protect Emily’s lineage.
Turns out the real reason why the necklace is so coveted by Damon is that it’s also the key to opening a tomb in town where 27 vampires have been trapped, including Katherine, who Emily wants back. This does not go over well, and a huge fight ensues, ending with the boys promising to leave.
That does not go over well with Elena, who now truly wants Stefan. One would expect this episode to end with everybody sad and some melancholy Sarah MacLachlan-esque song playing in the background. No, we have an unexpected visitor at the Gilbert household…
…Mr. Logan Fell, who is insisting that Jenna invite him in.
The next episode, “The Turning Point,” truly lives up to its name for this show. Hold onto your Diet Cokes, because this show is about to get freaky.
Time to sum up:
First of all, Logan Fell is totally a vampire. Secondly, Jeremy Gilbert is actually doing historical research with his great-great-great something Jonathan’s notebook (and Jonathan totally knows about vampires). And he is sketching. Third, Sheriff Forbes is going to Damon for vampire-slaying advice. Fourth, Elena tells Bonnie about the vampires. Fifth, Stefan didn’t really leave. Sixth, Elena still loves Stefan. And finally, now everybody who knows about vampires knows that Mystic Falls has another vampire on their hands.
Damon tracks Logan down, and Logan, who is none too stable or sane, decides to shoot the hell out of Damon. Damon, who is stuck between a flesh wound and a newbie vamp, is still kind enough to council Logan on how to be a vampire, and even tells him about the manuscripts of the town’s fathers, those who knew about the vampires.
Coincidentally, Mystic Falls High is hosting career night, and what safer place could a bunch of humans find but a busy public gathering? Apparently, Career Night is the happening place to be; Stefan is there to look out for Elena, Sheriff Forbes and Mayor Lockwood are there looking for vampires, Damon is there looking for Stefan, Elena is there looking for a career, Jenna is there looking for Alaric (swoon), and Alaric is there looking for a fight.
Fortunately, Logan shows up to stir up trouble. Logan is such a bad vampire, flaunting himself, hoarding bodies, stalking both the Salvatores and his ex-girlfriend, and Stefan totally smacks him one. Elena knows, and makes Jenna promise to never talk to him again. Logan leaves, and just so happens to pick up Caroline (and kidnap her) on the way out.
Tyler Lockwood and Jeremy Gilbert are also at Career Night, and Jeremy, with his newly found maturity, attempts to reconcile with Tyler. This does not go over well with Tyler, or the Mayor. Tyler throws down with Jeremy, and Mayor Lockwood and Alaric intervene. The Mayor (again, never a good guy in teenage sci-fi) gets the boys to take the fight outside, and instigates an even bigger confrontation. Alaric intervenes, and puts a stop to the “full-grown alpha male douchebag” fight.
Meanwhile, Stefan and Damon have a Boondock Saints moment when they rescue Caroline from Logan, who has royally pissed off Damon. Logan wants to go to the tomb and rescue the vamps, and Damon (who despite being pissed has a similar goal) lets him get away. Someone eventually tracks down Logan and slays him. It’s a good thing that no one suspects the new history teacher of being a vampire slayer, because that means that Damon gets to take all the credit.
All this fighting stirs Elena, who wants Stefan even more. After much rebuffing on Stefan’s behalf, Elena gives up… only to go get her man. Elena and Stefan take their relationship to the next level. Stefan even goes all vamp-face bloodlusty, and Elena kisses him anyway (so much sexier than the Buffy face bumpies), and they share a beautiful night together. Elena loves Stefan, and Stefan loves Elena.
And then Stefan loses his soul.
Well, not quite, but the next worst possible thing happens. Elena discovers a picture of Katherine, and realizes that they could be twins.
Elena bolts, and starts driving. The poor girl is so freaked out and emotional that she hits some scary looking shadowy man standing in the road, which totals her car. She flips over, and is pinned in her car, when the man gets up and starts walking towards her.
Too bad Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:37 am
I’m fairly sure it’s actually on hiatus now until mid-January… along with Fringe. Sad Face.
November 26th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
That’s right, Steph. Thanks for pointing that out!
Luckily, that means that everyone has plenty of time to catch up. FYI, The CW will be running a Vampire Diaries marathon–2 episodes a night, beginning December 14.