There's a lot of that going on in this episode, and all of it leads to no good. I liked how it picked up where it left off, with Damon imprisoned and Stefan explaining what happens to a vampire who goes without blood for too long. In a week, his "skin will dessicate, he'll mummify and eventually he'll become a living corpse"? Hello to the imagery! Very nice. Unlike Angel-in-a-box, we might actually get to see what a blood-deprived vampire REALLY looks like at some point on this show. I liked how the scene was filmed, and Stefan's attitude towards Damon (his line about reevaluating the situation in 50 years was especially good). I couldn't have cared less about the scenes involving Vicki/Jeremy or Jenna/Logan, but I'll admit Jeremy was slightly more bearable in this episode than he's been in all the previous episodes. The way he interacted with Elena wasn't hostile for once, and he even helped out Stefan. He's slowly growing as a person (baby steps). Elena telling Jenna that she wasn't going to be one of those girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy was another obvious dig at Bella from Twilight...but it was right on the money, so it's fine. Elena's imitation of Stefan cracked me up. It was so dead-on.
Bonnie and her candle was...conjuring up all sorts of wrong images, and she could have been a bit more attentive to her supposed "friend" - considering what Caroline had been through the previous episode (but then, Caroline's *still* under Damon thrall, so...). I want to know what that damn crystal does already! I felt a tiny bit sorry for Caroline, when Stefan (in the most polite way he could) informed her that Damon had "gone" and wasn't coming back...but then, as Elena said, this was a "good thing". Matt's quickly becoming the most likable non-supernatural male character on the show (mostly by default - as he's not as annoying as Tyler or Jeremy). The fact that he's still being friends with Elena, and even putting in a relatively good word for Stefan shows that he's quite decent (but he's not above delivering a warning to Stefan about keeping secrets from Elena towards the end of the episode).
Stupid, stupid Zach. Walking down to see the deadly (albeit weakened) vampire? SO not a good idea. Despite Ian Somerhalder having to play most of the episode stuck in a small room, he still managed to give a great performance as Damon. He was creepily effective, and that was a nicely tense moment when he grabbed dopey Zach by the throat. Lucky Stefan showed up. I was actually able to sympathise with Elena and her getting progressively more irritated by Stefan's avoidance of her questions. "What you don't know *can* hurt you." indeed. One of the episode's best scenes was the one with Stefan preparing Elena's favourite (Chicken Parmesan? Nice) and him finally telling her some stuff about himself, Katherine and Damon (although avoiding some of the more important details in the process). Luckily, Stefan didn't say to Elena that she's a lot like Katherine (after describing Katherine as "impatient, entitled, selfish and impulsive" - she might have taken that the wrong way. Though she should recall that, in a previous episode, he *had* said she was a lot like Katherine). Anyway, it was a good scene, played really well by the two actors. And it was interesting to hear what sorts of literature, shows, movies and music he likes. Also interesting to learn was that garlic is not a problem for him. Him vamping out and avoiding Elena seeing it (though not quite enough) was good.
Other bits I liked was Caroline on the phone to that Tiki person (the way she talks to her is so bitchy, yet so amusing), Caroline vs. the crow, Stefan pointing out to Damon that since he was the one stuck in a cell, and Stefan was outside, he could just walk away from Damon's attempts at playing mind games, Elena's "unsexy"/awkward undressing at the car wash and Bonnie using her witchy powers on bitchy Tiki (she totally deserved it!). Also liked Elena and Stefan discussing his "Italian Renaissance" family heirloom ring (and worried for a second that she was going to try to remove it). Could have done without Tiki's grandfather repeating to Elena "June 1953". She got it the first time! I liked Elena taking the initiative to go research Stefan. Nicely creepy/moody darkly-lit shot of Caroline in the school alone, then seeing a Damon apparition (same goes for the shot of her looking down the steps at the Salvatore place, calling his name). Zach really should have been watching to make sure someone didn't go down to pay Damon a visit and, you know, set him loose. Oh well, this lapse in security led to Zach getting his neck broken. So long, Zach! Great shocking moment, though.
Best part of the episode was when the song kicked in near the end, and we got the montage of things (the best being Stefan finding dead Zach and the pan across from him holding him), with Elena voice-overing. Then, the final shock: Damon feeding upon Vicki once again (possibly for good, this time)! And as if that wasn't enough, the episode was made even more great by Stefan storming out, stake in hand, ready to introduce Damon to a bitch called Payback...only for Elena to be standing at the door, demanding to know what he is. This was a really good, fast-moving episode. This show just keeps getting better.
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