Unpleasantville (28 Jan. 2010)

Damon, Elena and Stefan attend a school dance with a 1950s' theme, where Alaric introduces himself to Damon whom he suspects is the vampire that killed his wife. Stefan and Damon try to ... See full summary »

Director:

Liz Friedlander

Writers:

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

Stars:

Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder

Cast

Episode credited cast:
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)
Malese Jow	...	Anna
Dillon Casey	...	Noah
Sean Faris	...	Ben McKittrick
Joey Nappo	...	Kid
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lauren Leasure	...	Student

Storyline

Damon, Elena and Stefan attend a school dance with a 1950s' theme, where Alaric introduces himself to Damon whom he suspects is the vampire that killed his wife. Stefan and Damon try to figure out the identity of the new vampire in town who is now stalking Elena in which Stefan gives Elena jewelry filled with Vervain to protect her family and friends while she continues to investigate her true origins. Meanwhile, Matt takes a job at the Mystic Grill as a busboy to make amends meet where he has a run-in with Caroline who becomes more smitten with him. The bartender of the Mystic Grill, Ben, comes to help Bonnie when he notices that Damon is bothering her. Elsewhere, Anna continues hanging around Jeremy to get information about the Gilbert family journal which lands in the hands of Alaric who has plans of his own... as does Anna.

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Plot Keywords:

small town | interracial friendship | forbidden love | bar

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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:

28 January 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alloy Entertainment, Bonanza Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Stefan Salvatore: I'm talking about Atlanta.
Damon Salvatore: Oh yeah. Elena and I had a blast!
Stefan Salvatore: I get it, you're just bitter because one of us gets to be with the person we love and poor Katherine is just out of reach. Unless there's another way to get to the tomb. Is that what Bree said?
Damon Salvatore: You're pathetic when your fishing.
Stefan Salvatore: And you're transparent when you're deflecting.

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Connections

References New American Bandstand 1965 (1952)

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Soundtracks

"Great Balls Of Fire"
(uncredited)
Performed by The Misfits

User Reviews

The Damon dirty dances...

Very considerate of Stefan to supply Elena with replacement Vervain jewelry (though it's not like she broke her other necklace). "So much to remember.", Elena? Not really. It's actually quite simple...as is a vampire gaining access to someone's home, apparently (evidenced by Hoodie Vamp). It seems all you have to do is pretend to be a pizza delivery guy and voilà! Instant invite.

While I sort of liked Stefan rubbing Damon's face in the fact that he (Stefan) is getting to be with the person he loves, whilst Damon's is "just out of reach" (why should Damon be the only one to inflict some sort of mental torment?), I think he should know better by now than to antagonise his brother. I liked their "You're pathetic when you're fishing."/"And you're transparent when you're deflecting." exchange.

Nice of Elena to give Caroline a Vervain necklace. I liked Bonnie's "You know I can start fires with my mind. Fires kill vampires, right?" threat when Damon confronted her and their interaction.

Oh no, not the return of the evidently well-travelled (given Stefan mentioning all the passing around its been through) Vampire Compass! Should come in handy, though.

Whoa, surprise reveal! The "girl" who was Elena's birth mother was named Isobel aka Mia Kirshner aka Alaric Saltzman's WIFE? Have to say, I didn't see it coming. Very interesting.

As was the following scene between Stefan and Damon. I liked Damon's "You got the hair right." comment to Stefan, then Stefan's "I'm really sorry that it won't be of any help with your Diabolical Plan...The Sequel." line. It was indeed "unnatural" hearing him saying he'd be willing to help Damon free Katherine from the tomb. Can't blame Damon for not trusting him.

Liked the continuity with the previous episode (when Damon answered with "Elena's phone..." when Stefan called it) and this episode, in which he answered "Stefan's phone, how may I help you?" when Elena called it. Good old horror movie-style reveal of Hoodie Vamp on the ceiling. Bonnie really needs to take a page out of Willow's book and learn how to dis-invite vampires from houses. Meanwhile, it was slightly odd to see Damon immediately come over to join Stefan in helping to protect Elena. I'm going to have to get used to this whole Damon-actually-cares-about-Elena thing, but I still scoffed at her "I'll be with the two of you, I'll be safe." - really, Elena? Safe with Damon? I guess your little road trip with him was enough to convince.

Nice seeing everyone dressed up in 50s gear, though I didn't recognise Bonnie at first glance. I did, however, like the fact that she and Caroline are now fully back to being friends and that they're not ready to forgive/forget what Damon did (like Elena apparently is). Loved Damon doing his little dance/sauntering up and saying, "Hi, Bonnie." in his cheery/sleazy way, just as I loved Caroline returning the favour to Bonnie from earlier, backing her up by warning Damon to stay away. Also enjoyed him asking Elena for a dance, her giving him false hope that she would, then her asking Stefan instead (the smile she gave Damon as she walked past him and his expression were both great - though I'll admit I felt a slight twinge of sympathy for him, as he really did look disappointed).

I enjoyed Stefan and Elena's dances together. I'm glad that she got to have some fun/light-hearted moments with him - instead of all the brooding/doom and gloom - for a change. It was good to see Stefan lighten up too (though the fact that the vampires in this show can't sense each other seems like just an excuse to make things more difficult for everyone).

Interesting reveal, with Jeremy's Stalker Chick being a vampire and in cahoots with Hoodie Vamp. Was funny seeing Damon finally get that dance he wanted (his dancing cracks me up).

Accepting a hoodie from some stranger simply because he offers it to you? Who the hell *does* that?? Someone who stinks with whammy, perhaps?

Another classic horror movie moment, with Elena running through the halls, doors being locked, and slow-stalked by the villain. Good on Elena with the fighting back! First with the pencils, then the mop - admirable effort. I'm glad she's not just a helpless victim, she actually fights back! Did Damon just say, "Hey, d!ckhead!" (that's what it sounded like) to the vamp? If so, awesome! I like seeing Stefan, Elena and Damon teaming up like this. I'm also glad that Stefan's whole torture-by-stake/killing of the vamp was not something Elena took lightly. This is all still new for her, and the only vampire she'd seen staked previously was Lexi (oh, and Vicki). Like Stefan said, though, the vampire *had* to die, as he'd been invited in.

Damon's mind whammy worked on Alaric? Nope, he was holding Vervain. Good on him! So Jenna now knows Alaric's wife's name was Isobel. That's something.

Lying to Damon, Stefan? Can't see this going well. Glad to hear Elena say out loud that she still doesn't trust Damon and it's going to take a lot more than a road trip and rescue for her to forget who Damon is and everything he's done.

Can't say I was too surprised by the "reveal" of Bartender as a vampire, given that they'd telegraphed it earlier during his scene with Bonnie (with his lines about her making him "feel old" and not graduating "that long ago", plus that expression on Damon's face). Nevertheless, there were some really good surprises/developments this episode and things are moving along well. This show moves at a cracking pace, it must be said.