Know Thy Enemy (7 Apr. 2011)

Jeremy is delighted to have Bonnie restored to her powers, yet worried when accompanying her and Damon to the house where a 100 witches were burned to gather enough power to undo the ... See full summary »

Director:

Wendey Stanzler

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
Candice Accola	...	Caroline Forbes
Zach Roerig	...	Matt Donovan
Michael Trevino	...	Tyler Lockwood (credit only)
Matthew Davis	...	Alaric Saltzman (as Matt Davis)
Mia Kirshner	...	Isobel Flemming
David Anders	...	John Gilbert
Marguerite MacIntyre	...	Sheriff Liz Forbes
Bryton James	...	Luka Martin
Gino Anthony Pesi	...	Maddox

Storyline

Jeremy is delighted to have Bonnie restored to her powers, yet worried when accompanying her and Damon to the house where a 100 witches were burned to gather enough power to undo the moonstone's curse. Elena's mother Isobel Flemming's return startles her and even Katherine, as turns out doing Klaus's bidding for a gruesome 'prize'. John Gilbert confesses more wrong choices, also at Jenna's expense, yet unlike furious Alaric, Elena ends up choosing to keep her father in her life. The Salvatore brothers piece together from the Gilbert diaries what they believe equals a secret weapon. Matt can't handle the vampire truth and get Caroline to wipe his memory.

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Plot Keywords:

ritual | fire | fight | fall | kidnapping

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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:

7 April 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros. Television, Alloy Entertainment, Bonanza Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Give Me Strength"
(uncredited)
Performed by Snow Patrol

User Reviews

Yep, everybody's dead......

Good job, Sara Canning, showing Jenna's reaction to learning that Elena, Alaric and John all knew Isobel was still alive and didn't tell her. This is what happens when you keep secrets, Elena.

Loved Alaric punching John and Elena's reaction to it (although John did have a point about how if they had been more honest with Jenna. Guess they just hadn't gotten around to it yet).

Damon's line, upon seeing dead Luka, was morbidly amusing.

Nice reveal of Katherine meeting up with Isobel at her house (and Isobel, still with the French). I got a laugh out of Isobel calling Jenna "Aunty Vanilla".

I love the scenes with Katherine and Elena in the same room, and I especially liked how this time it was done with Katherine standing behind the couch Elena was sitting on. They always make it believable that there's two separate Nina Dobrevs in the same room (no dodgy blurriness around the outside of one of them) Good little 'what the hell?' moment, with Damon getting stuck in place and starting to burn.

You have to hand it to Mia Kirshner. Isobel is one complex vampire. Yes, she was doing a terrible thing to Alaric there when he was by his car, but the way she told him she had really loved him, and her face as she walked away - those were some pretty conflicted emotions. Isobel is definitely not a character who's easy to pin down. At times, she seems like an unrepentant bitch, but when she displays actual guilt/emotion, I totally believe her. Mia brings SO much to the role, and it could have easily been a very flat-out evil character. Mia's so great.

And she continues to get the best lines when she's in an episode, like when John asked her what she was doing and and she told him straight-up that she was creating a distraction, right before biting him. Loved it! I'm glad it didn't take Stefan very long to figure out that Katherine was posing as Elena (yet again). Her calling him "Stef" amused me, as did her simply tossing him into a nearby bush with the greatest of ease.

Also funny? Damon's nonchalant reaction to John's not-deadness and informing both Caroline and Tyler's mothers about the magic ring. His reaction to John's blood being on his shirt was funny as well.

I just love Isobel, and how she keeps (seemingly) changing sides. She's so unpredictable, but I think it was pretty obvious that she was going to choose Elena over Katherine (though she did at least apologise to Katherine).

Heh, I liked Damon knowing the house had to be Isobel's and echoing her "nicest foreclosure in town" line form earlier on.

DAMN! I was NOT expecting Isobel to commit suicide in the sun by her grave. That talk with Elena - she was almost getting across to her the way she truly felt about Elena, I think. Then she went and offed herself! I think that's the first death-via-sunlight we've seen on this show, isn't it? And it was nasty! I know not many will be thinking this, but poor Isobel! I knew, sooner or later, this show would off her

• but to go like that was really horrible. At least she got to

apologise to her daughter. Mia Kirshner? You will be missed on this show. Isobel? You were awesome while you were here and made the most out of your minimal screen time.

I liked the bit about Stefan and Damon signing the deed to the house over to Elena so she can control what vamps can get in there.

I'm so annoyed that we lose Isobel but are still stuck with John. Elena's right - he screws up everything.

Another nice song used for the end.

Pretty good mind-bending ending to the episode: Klaus is now inside Alaric? Dirty. Well, this certainly opens up a whole lot of questions, but that's why I love this show - it knows how to surprise you just when you think you have everything figured out. The first half of this episode was somewhat slow, but it certainly picked up the pace in the second half. Way to come back from your hiatus, show! Though I'm still mad at you for offing Isobel. However, this new development with Alaric Klaus should provide lots of new possibilities (and also give poor underused Matt Davis something to do).