Daddy Issues (3 Feb. 2011)

Johnathan Gilbert's return to Mystic Falls comes as an unhappy surprise to Elena, Jenna and Damon. Caroline lets Stefan know about her conversation with Tyler, and Stefan does his best to ... See full summary »

Director:

Joshua Butler

Writers:

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

Stars:

Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Nina Dobrev	...	Elena Gilbert / Katherine Pierce
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
Matthew Davis	...	Alaric Saltzman (as Matt Davis)
David Anders	...	John Gilbert
Michaela McManus	...	Jules
Randy J. Goodwin	...	Dr. Jonas Martin
Stephen Amell	...	Brady
Dawn Olivieri	...	Andie Star

Storyline

Johnathan Gilbert's return to Mystic Falls comes as an unhappy surprise to Elena, Jenna and Damon. Caroline lets Stefan know about her conversation with Tyler, and Stefan does his best to reach out to a confused and conflicted Tyler. Jeremy comforts Bonnie after her disturbing conversation with Jonas. When Jules takes a hostage, the situation quickly escalates into a violent confrontation.

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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:

3 February 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alloy Entertainment, Bonanza Productions, CBS Television Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Strip Me"
(uncredited)
Performed by Natasha Bedingfield

User Reviews

Be my distraction...

Best/most memorable moments of the episode...

Jenna's reaction to seeing John, especially her "What. The hell?". Poor Jenna, left in the dark about John being Elena's biological father. Bad Elena, for not telling her sooner.

Damon's "You brought back John Gilbert? That was your big 'Save Elena' move?" line and Stefan's rapid-fire "Do you trust Elijah? I don't trust him. He's an Original. They can't be trusted. It's not like we can just go up and *kill* him, because apparently he can't die!". Damon's comment to Stefan about having to get a hero hairdo of his own and stealing Stefan's thunder was also amusing.

Jules and Tyler's werewolf vs. vampire exchange ("It's our nature to be enemies."/"You know how stupid that sounds?"), obviously sticking it to all those vampire/werewolf movies in which this has been the rule.

Damon's "That's public knowledge now?" line (in reference to people knowing John is Elena's biological father) in the scene between the two of them.

Stefan trying to reason with Tyler. He dealt with him as best as he possibly could. If it had been anyone else/someone less of a jerk than Tyler, everything Stefan said would have probably worked. But Tyler's such a stubborn rage-aholic, no amount of reasoning could work on him.

I'm glad Jeremy & Bonnie are being used in the way I like: minimally. They work best together, just getting along/hanging out and not being annoying. Could have done without warlock dad, though. The way he just appeared beside Bonnie was kinda creepy. Like he just materialised out of thin air. Plus, he couldn't pronounce Elena's name properly! He sounded like he was saying 'Atlanta' (minus the 't's). I'm glad Bonnie stuck it to him.

Jenna's "Elena is my sister's husband's brother's daughter and her mother is my boyfriend's deceased wife. I mean, you can't make this stuff up." line to Alaric in their scene together. Spot on. How is it even possible to keep a secret like that, Jenna? Well...you'd be surprised. What you don't know could fill a book. It's unfair she's been left out of the loop for so long. I do hope she eventually gets to know everything (and NOT die because of it). I enjoyed her disgusted reaction at John wanting to join them. Damon's "John! Buddy! How you been?" was also good.

Stefan's "Stop being a d!ck to her." talk with Tyler about Caroline. Stefan tells it like it is.

I liked John failing to be intimidated by Damon's threatening him.

Caroline's turning around in vamp face (to scare off Jules) and getting sprayed with Vervain was kinda unintentionally funny. However, her getting shot point-blank in the head was anything but. That was quite shocking. Yes, it was obvious that she would recover from it, but that moment was still pretty nasty. As was the torture of her. Poor Caroline.

Dawn Olivieri (Alcide's sister on True Blood and the only thing that kept me watching Heroes Season 4)! How great it was to see you! Shame they wasted you in this episode, having you wind up Damon's chew toy and being someone else for him to have his existential discussion with. I'm getting rather tired of Damon offing these poor women for such pointless reasons. You dope, Damon. When you have Dawn Olivieri in your bathtub, you most definitely DO NOT kill her! Can't he at least put them out of their misery *before* he bores them with his existential crisis? And he's getting sloppy. Offing more people? Is he going to kill another innocent vampire and blame all the recent human deaths on her yet again? Having said that, both actors were great in the scene, and I liked the use of music too.

While I do appreciate Elena attempting to use her "Be the better man." line to get Damon to do the right thing, Damon did have a point: she has to stop relying on that, as eventually it's not going to work. I enjoyed the exchange between them and John. I'm glad Elena stood up to him and didn't so easily forgive him just because he's her father.

I'm sorry, Jules, but no matter how many tough guy-looking werewolf dudes you have as back-up, Stefan and Damon are going to wipe the floor with you - as was proved in the fight (good violent fight, by the way, as it should be). Kind of unfair how one-sided things are. The werewolves really need to step up and actually WIN once in a while, otherwise they're going to become more of a joke than they already are.

Paul Wesley and Candice Accola were rocking the chemistry in their scene together at the door.

John finally proving useful and providing a method for killing Originals. I'm intrigued by what Isobel's plotting. I hope we see her again.

Caroline giving Tyler hell for his part in what happened to her/his just standing by. Go, Caroline! She was awesome throughout the entire episode.

Just when Elena learned last week to predict Stefan sneaking up behind her, now she's caught off-guard by humans (John) sneaking up on her.

Stefan bringing Elena and Bonnie over to keep Caroline company after what she'd been through.

Katherine! Always a treat to see you. And the final scene between her and John is definitely intriguing.