The Vampire Dairies

The Vampire Diaries

Episode 4: The Five

Episode 5: The Killer

By: Carlos Uribe

The Vampire Diaries is a show about Elena's love triangle with two vampires.

Spoilers Ahoy!

The Five:

This vampire cure is a stupid move by the writers. I'm serious. Why the hell should I care about Elena's progress when there's a plot element that will render it pointless? The entire plot of Damon taking Elena to a college to learn how to control herself becomes a waste of time. Why bother turning her into a vampire if you're just going to turn her back into a human? It's just so frustrating that the writers have come up with the solution to Elena's problem out of nowhere. This is a cure that the audience wasn't aware existed and no vampires have gone through it in history. There better be a twist to this entire plot because at the point of this episode, it's threatening to unravel this entire series. The season premiere had toyed with the idea of making Elena a human being again but it had Elena drink the blood and turn. This was supposed to be a season where we get to see Elena slowly turn into a monster of the dark. Having a way to turn her back is simply so crushing that this might be the beginning of the end of the Vampire Diaries as must-watch television. This is a plot thread that could potentially ruin this show's reputation and lose it's legions of fans. The writers must tread carefully. I have faith in the writers which is why I'm sticking around. If any lesser show was pulling this, I'd be in the process of checking out.

This is because outside of the cure, The Five was a rather pleasant episode. It had it's flaws outside the cure. The flashbacks were used too sparingly and they primarily just visually told what the characters were saying. They really weren't necessary and didn't contribute at all to the episode. It would have been much better if the flashbacks had been used to actually tell the story rather than depend on the present day to explain them. This show usually does flashback episodes so well that it's a bit surprising that this episode wasn't one of them. It's possible that it's because the episode was too busy with the rest of the plot that it didn't dedicate the time properly to the flashbacks. If that's the case, then why did the episode include them in the first place? To drum up viewer interest? Whatever the case, the flashbacks detracted from the episode simply because they really weren't necessary. Which is a pity because I was looking forward to the flashback sequences.

There were many good things about the episode. Having Stefan and Klaus manipulate Rebekah before stabbing her with a white oak stake was very fun to watch. Stefan being a good guy is good but he's always more entertaining when he's allowed to be a little naughty. The hunter sub-plot was also good. Having him escape with beheading a hybrid provided the episode with a mental image that won't go away. That he's working with a college professor that's related to Bonny was a pretty good twist that this series is able to pull of in it's sleep. Elena's vampire development is actually good. Seeing her allow herself to have some fun before one look from Bonnie rudely ended it made me more happier than I thought possible. Of course, with the threat that she might become human again, it became difficult to appreciate the pathos being explored in the episode when the cure is on the viewer's mind. The Five is a good episode but it's waste of flashbacks and the entire cure nonsense bring it down significantly. Seriously, show: the cure?

The Killer:

The Killer is an episode that deals largely with the curse or rather who knows about. Stefan is the only character in Mystic Falls who is aware of it. Klaus is currently in another part of the world, digging up the grave of the dead hunter in order to get the sword. When the hunter takes Jeremy, Matt, and April hostage, Stefan has to find a way to save them without killing Connor. The problem is that just about every other vampire in town wants Connor dead. They don't just want him dead but they want to all be a part of the mission. They each have a reason to kill this vampire hunter. They have the numbers and the argument is that they would easily be able to surround him and kill him. Since the vampire hunter has to be kept alive, Stefan isn't willing to to put him at any risk of dying. He convinces everyone to hold off until Stefan can come up with a plan. He lets them believe he's just doing recon because the hunter likes to use traps. This is true. The hunter has rigged the front entrance to explode with werewolf-venom laced nails. The front matt has been turned into an explosive device. The hunter doesn't even need to fight them since his traps will do it for him. Stefan is able to use the information that the hunter has werewolf venom in his aresenal to convince them to follow his plan. He doesn't know about the small explosives.

That plan is that he and Damon will go through some underground tunnels. They'll send a hybrid in through the front door. Since the hyrbid is immune to werewolf venom, the initial trap would be harmless to him. That is until Damon isn't convinced about Stefan's plan. The thing about this episode is that while the curse is driving the plot, what's grounding it is the relationship between Damon and Stefan. Damon is able to tell instantly that Stefan has come up with some kind of deal with Klaus. When Stefan realizes that he can't protect Connor, he takes Damon out of the equation with vervain. After convincing Elena to stay behind, the mission starts. It immediately goes terribly wrong. The hybrid is killed right after he accidentally sets off an explosive. It's not the explosion that killed him but a special gun. A gun that Connor has made so that the heart of the hybrid is ripped out of the body. It's a gruesome way to die. When Stefan finally arrives, Jeremy has accidentally stepped on the mat. Making the situation worse is that Elena goes into save him while Damon enters the tunnel to ambush Connor and kill him. By the end, Stefan has to tell Damon the truth while Elena kills Connor. It looks like the first chance they have at a cure is dead and killing him has made Elena hallucinate. It's a good main plot that instantly starts the tension and just keeps ramping it up. It has some pretty great death scenes that kept the action alive. The cure might have driven Stefan's actions even as it seperated him from the group. It was keeping it a secret that led to Connor's death. It was a secret that drove Damon and Stefan at odds before they became friendly again. The two are constantly disagreeing about everything but they always come together by the end. It's because of this that Damon decides to help Stefan. Stefan wants the cure because he doesn't want Elena to be a vampire. He doesn't want her to be that kind of person. He fell in love with human Elena and that's who he wants. Damon doesn't care either way but he wants ot help his brother. This bond between them is tested once again in this episode but they're able to overcome it.

While this is going on there's some other plot developments as well. Bonnie is trying to get her magic back which leads to her getting hypnotized by the college professor. She has no memory of what happens during the hyponotism. This is probably a bad sign. The other plot involves Tyler. He has to deal with Caroline being jealous of Haley before he claims that nothing happened between them. He states that he led Klaus to believe this and it's hard to tell whether he's telling the truth or not. Caroline seems to believe him. Tyler does have a legitimate excuse for Haley's presence: the two are hoping to free hybrids from the sire bond. They can't let Klaus know what they're doing so Tyler allowed Klaus to believe they had slept together. This all makes sense. The thing is that considering how exciting the main plot was, the side-plots felt a bit like a distraction. Important distractions but simply not as exciting. Still, the Killer was a good episode.