As I Lay Dying (12 May 2011)

While Mystic Falls presents a screening of "Gone with The Wind" in the town square, Damon's memories of Katherine in 1864 mix with the reality of Elena in the present day. Stefan pays a ... See full summary »

Director:

John Behring

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 (credit only)
Kat Graham	...	Bonnie Bennett
Candice Accola	...	Caroline Forbes
Zach Roerig	...	Matt Donovan (credit only)
Michael Trevino	...	Tyler Lockwood (credit only)
Matthew Davis	...	Alaric Saltzman (as Matt Davis)
Daniel Gillies	...	Elijah
Joseph Morgan	...	Klaus
Bianca Lawson	...	Emily Bennett (voice)
Marguerite MacIntyre	...	Sheriff Liz Forbes
Malese Jow	...	Anna

Storyline

While Mystic Falls presents a screening of "Gone with The Wind" in the town square, Damon's memories of Katherine in 1864 mix with the reality of Elena in the present day. Stefan pays a terrible personal price for his attempt to prevent a tragedy, and Sheriff Forbes makes a deadly mistake while trying to keep everyone safe. More than one life hangs in the balance as the consequences of the sacrifice ritual play out to a horrifying conclusion.

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Plot Keywords:

ritual | brother brother relationship | fire

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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 May 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alloy Entertainment, Bonanza Productions, CBS Television Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Damon Salvatore: This is even more pitiful than I thought.
Elena Gilbert: There's still hope.
Damon Salvatore: I've made a lot of choices that have gotten me here. I deserve this. I deserve to die.
Elena Gilbert: [Elena moves to lay by Damon and hold his hand] No. You don't.
Damon Salvatore: I do, Elena. It's ok. 'Cause if I'd have chosen differently, I wouldn't have met you. I'm so sorry. I've done so many things to hurt you.
Elena Gilbert: It's ok. I forgive you.
Damon Salvatore: I know you love Stefan. And it will always be Stefan.
[Elena lays down on Damon]
Damon Salvatore: But I love you. You should know that.
Elena Gilbert: [Crying] ...
[...]

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Connections

Features Gone with the Wind (1939)

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Soundtracks

"Holding A Heart"
(uncredited)
Performed by Girl Named Toby

User Reviews

What's the plan, Superman?...

I liked Damon asking for Elena's forgiveness/admitting he was wrong to feed her his blood against her will. Nice to hear him admitting he was wrong for once, and not pushing Elena further when she said she needed time. Damon was a lot more subdued (than we're used to him being) in their first scene together, and I liked that. Also liked the use of song that played as he did his drinking/attempted suicide burning. The scene was very well shot, I thought.

Drunk Alaric was great. Him fighting with the barmaid over the bottle of liquor, his live message that he left when his phone rang, and him pointing out that he's apparently not allowed to help but only stand by and let his girlfriend die. I totally got what he was saying/how he was feeling and didn't blame him for his attitude one bit (a guy's allowed to go on a bender after his girlfriend has been killed horribly by a werewolf/vampire hybrid). Though he certainly got over it quickly when he heard his buddy, Damon, was in trouble. The Damon/Alaric bromance conquers all.

I knew Elena couldn't stay mad at Damon (all it took was her learning he had the supposedly fatal werewolf bite). She can't seem to make up her mind about Damon. Hating him, loving him, it's all a big bundle of chaos in Elena's mind. I guess her do-gooder nature came through once again and she can't help but show concern for him when his life is in jeopardy.

All the Damon & Katherine flashbacks looked nice.

Can't say I was too broken up about Klaus stabbing Elijah (that's what you get for not killing Klaus when you had the chance), but him stabbing Stefan wasn't so nice. The whole bit about the stake scraping against his heart was well played/kinda creepy. Poor Stefan. It feels like he's been staked practically every episode lately.

Really good scene between Alaric & Damon. I especially liked Alaric's "Neither one of us is drunk enough for this conversation." line after Damon started trying to goad Alaric into hating him (Jenna's death, turning Isobel, etc). I also liked that when Damon wanted Alaric to kill him, Alaric said "Screw you." and injected him with Vervain. Theirs is a twisted love.

Good on Jeremy for calling out Bonnie in regards to her leaving him behind last time and the fact that Jenna still died. Jeremy's always at his best when he shows concern for Elena, so I actually liked him in this scene. Don't look so shocked at how he acted, Bonnie.

Damon speeding out of the way and Jeremy getting shot by the Sheriff as a result was quite a surprise. As if the Sheriff wasn't too stupid to live *already* (not heeding Alaric's and Elena's warnings about Damon), then she went and did this. Seriously, we lose Jenna but the Sheriff still lives? Talk about injustice. Someone needs to shoot the Sheriff already! Good on Elena for breaking out and not being content to just stay locked up.

Klaus forcing Stefan to drink human blood is an interesting development (about time Stefan got an interesting storyline). Looks like there might be a bit of a role reversal in s3. Will be interesting to see Stefan live out his evil side, but I feel bad for him too.

I had to laugh at Alaric's line, when Bonnie was trying to get the witches to bring Jeremy back, and he said "Tell them to shut up!". Though hopefully Jeremy didn't pull a Season 6 Buffy and came back "wrong".

The cutting between the present Elena & Damon and flashback Katherine & Damon was really well done.

Alaric poking fun at Jeremy & Bonnie's mushy talk was amusing.

The debate as to whether Damon deserved to die could go on forever. I'll just say it was good to hear HIM admit that he believed he deserved to die. And while I understand Elena telling him that she forgave him (he was on death's door), her saying that she likes him how he is *now* is a bit worrisome (really, Elena, you like mass murderer Damon?). Well, we all know Elena forgets things fast.

I got a laugh out of Katherine's & Elena's "I thought you were dead."/"I was." exchange.

Evil Stefan should prove interesting. And this shows just how much he cares for Damon - that fact that he was willing to go back to his evil tendencies to get the cure (and I'm willing to bet this will eventually cause a rift between him and Elena, thereby breaking them up - and just in time for Damon to swoop in, I'm sure).

The reveal of Vicki & Anna was interesting (is Jeremy going to go around crazy-eyed now, creepily whispering "I SEE dead people!"?), but felt more like a typical end-of-episode cliffhanger, not an end-of-season cliffhanger (and certainly didn't match the far superior Season 1 cliffhanger). Actually, last episode felt more like a season final than this episode did.

TVD Season 2 broke the tradition of the 'Sophomore Slump' that so many shows have suffered, I thought. The amount of twists and turns/risks this season took were quite impressive. The pace seemingly never let up, and I thought it did pretty well at equalling the quality of Season 1 (although I'm still mad about losing Jenna). Season 2 definitely did not suck, in my opinion, and I applaud the show for being able to keep up the breakneck pace that it has become known for. No other show is quite like TVD, and unlike so many other shows that have turned crap nowadays, I believe this series is still going strong. Kudos for having an excellent second season, TVD. Keep it up, and I look forward to your return.