History Repeating (12 Nov. 2009)

A new history teacher, named Alaric Saltzman, arrives and requests to Jeremy that he write an after-hours paper to keep his grades up. Jeremy takes a liking to his new teacher and ... See full summary »

Director:

Marcos Siega

Writers:

Kevin Williamson (developer), Julie Plec (developer),

Stars:

Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Nina Dobrev	...	Elena Gilbert
Paul Wesley	...	Stefan Salvatore
Ian Somerhalder	...	Damon Salvatore
Steven R. McQueen	...	Jeremy Gilbert
Sara Canning	...	Jenna Sommers
Kat Graham	...	Bonnie Bennett (as Katerina Graham)
Candice Accola	...	Caroline Forbes
Zach Roerig	...	Matt Donovan
Michael Trevino	...	Tyler Lockwood (credit only)
Matthew Davis	...	Alaric Saltzman (as Matt Davis)
Bianca Lawson	...	Emily Bennett
Chris J. Johnson	...	Logan Fell (as Chris Johnson)
Maria Howell	...	Mrs. Halpern

Storyline

A new history teacher, named Alaric Saltzman, arrives and requests to Jeremy that he write an after-hours paper to keep his grades up. Jeremy takes a liking to his new teacher and introduces him to Jenna. Meanwhile, Bonnie continues to have terrifying dreams involving the ghost of her great-grandmother Emily Bennett who is trying to send her a message. Bonnie then decides to hold a séance with Eleana and Caroline to try to contact Emily to find out what she wants. Despite Elena's efforts, Bonnie and Caroline argue over the medallion when Damon continues to pressure Bonnie to return it to him. Also, Damon tells Stefan the true reason he returned to Mystic Falls involving Emily's necklace, and Katherine.

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Plot Keywords:

small town | forbidden love | interracial friendship | witch

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alloy Entertainment, Bonanza Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min 48 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Alaric Saltzman: [to Jeremy] You know that your old teacher had a jackass file? No joke. It's, uh, typed on a label. It has all the troublemakers in it. But really, it's just an opus to you.

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Soundtracks

"Houses"
(uncredited)
Performed by Great Northern

User Reviews

I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night!...

What the hell was up with the lack of Lexi in the 'Previously on...'? One of the most important aspects of last episode (Damon setting her up/killing her), and they left it out?? Boo! Surely they could have spared a few seconds showing that rather than waste them on the already drawn-out boring teaser involving Kendra (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) walking across the foreground in an attempt to be "creepy" (would have been even less creepy if she'd kept that character's accent). Personally, I thought that when Bonnie saw her ancestor in 1864 era clothing, she should have just said to her, "Halloween was LAST week, don't you know?". I'm sorry, but that whole teaser really didn't work for me (and the dream within a dream, etc was kind of annoying. And, Bonnie? No excuse for being rude to the student beside you who was looking at you. When you gasp in math class...there's reason for concern. Math isn't exactly gasp-worthy).

Elena being bummed about Stefan not being around (and her seeing his empty seat) reminded me of the part in Twilight where Edward skipped town for a few days. The new history teacher was...well...at least he wasn't quite as annoying as the previous one (but does he coach football as well??). His and Jenna's scenes bored me (and no, the ring he wore did not go unnoticed). Damon's "peace offering" to Stefan (attempting to smooth over things) was pretty weak, I thought. I mean...he did KILL the awesome Lexi. Offering Stefan some coffee and swearing off blood for at least a week in no way made up for that. However, I will admit to enjoying their impersonations of each other. They were right on the money (and quite amusing).

Jeremy continued to be tolerable (thanks to Damon giving him a personality transplant/wiping his memories). The old history teacher had a "jackass" file? Really?? When in actuality it was HE who was the jackass? Okay, now more than ever I'm glad Tanner got chomped. I enjoyed Caroline and Matt's "Hey" scene (after him snubbing her earlier). When Stefan told Elena that Damon had Elena to thank for his still being alive/for Stefan not killing him, all I could think was, "Yeah...that won't come back to bite her in the ass.". She really should have been telling Stefan, "Faster, pussycat, kill, kill!" last episode. Liked Damon confronting Bonnie (him calling her "little witch").

Stefan and Damon's next scene (still continuing the impressions of each other) was good. Easily the best line of the episode was Damon (pretending to be Stefan) saying to Stefan (who was pretending to be Damon), "I can't trust you to be a nice guy. You...you kill everybody, and you're so mean. You're so *mean*!". I also liked their playing darts scene.

Bonnie & Caroline arguing (with Elena serving as peacemaker) was annoying. It's actually kind of sad that Caroline truly believes that Bonnie is her best friend, when we've heard Bonnie tell Elena that she's in fact *her* BFF (and vice versa). Poor ignorant Caroline. The best part of the séance, I thought, was Caroline telling Bonnie to call to her ancestor, and then Bonnie simply saying, "Emily, you there?" - that made me snicker. The screaming and light show was alright.

Nice callback to the flashback episode, where Damon taught Stefan how to play football. I liked hearing more about Katherine/the different type of relationships she had with the two brothers. Stefan ticking off Damon was good (as was Ian Somerhalder's reaction), and I liked the idea of Damon planning to bring Katherine back (ask Darla from Angel how well that went for her). Although possessed Bonnie was pretty 'meh', I did appreciate her impaling Damon on the tree branches (he deserved that...and worse). I didn't like, however, Stefan pulling Damon OFF the branches (I thought they were "even" now, after last week when Stefan spared Damon's life? Weak, Stefan. Weak).

The scene with the four in the woods was good (specifically the bit where possessed Bonnie threw the necklace into the air, it exploded and Damon screamed "No!", as well as him biting her viciously out of revenge). I also thought Ian Somerhalder really sold Damon's sadness over losing the only way to bring Katherine back (I hope she DOES return at some point). I enjoyed hearing that Katherine never compelled him at all, everything he did he did of his own free will. His "I'll leave now." was especially well-delivered.

When Matt told Caroline, "I don't like you"/"I never have" - I thought that was a pretty jerky thing to say, but thankfully he amended that. Could Elena PLEASE make up her mind (in regards to Stefan), though? She can stand to be around him, she can't stand to be around him, she wants him around, she doesn't want him around - make a decision and STICK TO IT, Elena! Then, of course, just as she decides she CAN be around him (again), he makes the decision FOR her and pulls an exit not dissimilar to that of Angel walking out of Buffy's life at the end of Graduation Day. I thought both Wesley and Dobrev were excellent in their displays of emotion during the musical montage.

Oh, great...Logan's back. This just brings up a whole LOAD of questions. I wasn't really fussed on this episode much (especially when compared to the previous episode). Hopefully the next one will be better.