A witch, a vampire and a doppelganger, high school is a lot different these days
If this is the new world, then everyone had just better pack up their bags and leave town. Mystic Falls is no longer a place anyone would want to live. Even with the tomb vamps eradicated, and both Uncle John (David Anders) and Katherine (Nina Dobrev) gone, Mystic Falls is filled with tragedy and death. Anyone who lives there is doomed: Bonnie (Katerina Graham) is living amongst vampires who have killed those she loved; Caroline (Candice Accola) is now a vampire and having trouble controlling her urges; Matt (Zach Roerig) is clueless and feeling insecure about why his girlfriend is avoiding him; Tyler (Michael Trevino) knows something is up with his uncle and yet has rage issues; and Elena (Nina Dobrev) said it best when she declared, “My best friend is a witch, my boyfriend is a vampire, and I have a doppelganger hell-bent on destroying all of us.” No one is getting to live a normal life.
There is no such thing as normal for any of them anymore. It is foolish to believe that that is something to strive for. With supernatural beings popping up out of the woodwork, even killing all the vampires would not save Mystic Falls from its curse. Because then they would have to kill all the witches and werewolves and whatever else may be lurking in the dark.
Katherine perhaps knows this better than anyone. She has so studiously avoided coming back to Mystic Falls for over 150 years. She was not avoiding Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder), because they were not there. She only returned once they had returned. Maybe she felt safe knowing that they were on watch? Or maybe Mystic Falls was suddenly the cool place to be?
What has changed? Stefan came back years ago and stayed to keep watch over Elena when her parents died; and Damon came back a year ago. Surely, if Katherine was only back for the Salvatore brothers, she would have come back sooner. Instead, she returns now. What is so significant about this particular time? Has the moon aligned? Did a specific sequence of events have to occur before she could return? Or is there something else drawing Katherine in? Clearly, she did not come back for Stefan. He is just the prize she wants to claim because she can. She wants to flaunt her power. In fact, she craves that attention. So why flee? Is she just biding her time again, or did she discover that the timing was still not ripe just yet? Either way, something dangerous is looming on the horizon, and it is probably not just Katherine.
What Worked
Caroline’s transformation was undeniably graceful. She adapted so easily: stealing a blood-bag, keeping out of the sunlight, instinctively learning to mesmerize others into doing her bidding, and even pushing away Matt so that he would not see her physical changes. Caroline was the anti-Vicki (Kayla Ewell). Vicki attacked her own boyfriend, whereas Caroline’s love for Matt kept her from biting him.
Caroline was also was quick to demonstrate her self-control, power and awareness by seeking out Damon and telling him exactly what she thought of him. She deliberately told Damon, “I remember how you manipulated me — pushed me around — abused me — erased my memories — fed on me.” As Damon sputtered trying to figure out what was going on, Caroline merely smiled and said. “I have a message from Katherine. She said: game on,” and with one final angry shove, sent Damon flying down the hallway. She then simply turned and left. After what Damon did to her, it was the least he deserved. Kudos to Caroline for not simply attacking him and beating him to a pulp. That kind of grace under pressure is admirable.
Another surprisingly nice turn was by Matt, who kept trying to reach out to Caroline after numerous rejections. When Matt finally snuck into Caroline’s room to tell her how he felt about her, it was enough to make any girl melt as he declared, “You almost died and it really freaked me out . . . it got me thinking and . . . I realized that even though today I wanted to throttle you, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.” Such a brave and daring declaration of love. One has to admire a man who is willing to put himself out there for what he wants.
Turning back to the supernaturally afflicted, Bonnie was less graceful in handling her anger and rage. She only wanted to talk about Katherine and Damon, despite the fact that Elena wanted to forget about all the V-related problems. When Elena said, “I’m human and I have to do human-stuff, otherwise I’m going to go crazy,” she failed to take into account that Bonnie does not have that luxury.
Bonnie, having discovered that she is a witch and having the supernatural life thrust upon her, could not simply pretend that life was normal. It was no wonder that all that pent up rage and anguish came roaring out as she nearly incinerated Damon. Ironically, all Damon was doing was cleaning-up Caroline’s mess. But unable to face her newly dead friend, Bonnie attacked Damon and told Elena, “Everything that happens is HIS fault.” As angry as Elena is with Damon for nearly killing Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), she still intervened and saved Damon’s life, prompting Bonnie to incredulously ask, “Why did you stop me?!” To which Elena calmly replied, “Because this isn’t us. This can’t be us.”
Elena can still cling to her humanity and wants to pretend that they can all get along and be friends. But she is failing to take into account that her friends are now on diametrically polar opposite sides of the spectrum. Their instincts will be to destroy each other, not protect each other; and none of them are going to forget that they are no longer human. So as Elena naively told Stefan, “D-word. That has been deleted from the list of topics we can discuss,” we knew that was not going to last for long. The V-word and D-word are a huge part of their lives, and pretending they do not exist will not be helpful in preparing them for the next round of Katherine’s game. They had best use their time preparing for the next move in the game.
Though it was highly entertaining watching Damon nobly struggle to find something else to occupy his thoughts and attention as he decided to look into the Lockwood lineage mystery. When Damon announced, “I think the Lockwoods have a family secret cause the Gilbert device effected them, but the vervain didn’t. So they’re not vampires. They’re something else.” Stefan merely scoffed — that is until he was unable to beat Mason Lockwood (Taylor Kinney) at arm-wrestling. So when Damon accused him of throwing the match by saying, “You didn’t put in any effort at all.” Stefan thoughtfully said, “Yeah, actually, I did.” Prompting Damon to ask, “If they’re not vampires, what the hell are they?”
Angry witches, mysterious werewolves and a baby vamp, Stefan and Damon have their hands full. There is also that pesky problem of Katherine, who is temporarily gone, but not forgotten. When Stefan declared that he had no idea what she was up to, Damon scoffed, “Sure we do. She came back to profess her undying eternal love for you. So I’m going to let you deal with her.” Damon is going to pretend that Katherine is not his problem and he is going to let his brother take charge and take care of everyone. Thus, if Stefan wants to take on the responsibility of watching over Caroline, then so be it. That blood will not be on Damon’s hands.
However, Stefan will now be the baby-sitter and life-coach for Caroline and the body-guard for everyone else — which includes keeping everyone else safe from Caroline. Thus, when Elena bemoaned, “[Katherine’s] doing this to me, isn’t she?” Stefan was quickly reassured her, “Actually she’s doing it to me.”
Katherine does seem to want to punish Stefan for choosing the wrong woman. She will make him take on the burden of Caroline, Elena’s bewilderment and fear, and even Damon’s fracturing soul.
So when Elena asked Stefan, “Damon’s right, isn’t he? It wont end well for her.” Stefan bravely tried to reassure her, “No, I’m going to make sure he’s wrong.” Yet how can Damon and Stefan protect them all if they cannot keep themselves safe? Even Elena knew better and mournfully said, “It’s not going to get any easier is it?” and with a heavy sigh, Stefan replied, “No.” Life in Mystic Falls is not going to be getting better any time soon; and even a stronger, sexier and more dangerous Stefan cannot keep them all safe forever.
On an end note, the best line of the night interestingly enough came from Jeremy. After provoking Damon at the carnival thinking he was invincible, Jeremy came better prepared when he ambushed Damon at the mansion. Just as Damon was about to take a drink from his favorite beverage of choice, Jeremy said, “I wouldn’t. I laced it with vervain.” To which Damon looked at him and pointedly asked, “You came here to kill me?” Jeremy then smiled and said, “It’s only fair. You killed me first.” Well played young master Gilbert. You are learning; and you have a good sense of humor about it. Nice to see that Jeremy is developing a back-bone and a ready wit to compliment it.
What Didn’t Work
Why did Caroline have to kill Carter (B.J. Britt)? If she was able to control herself enough to not kill the nurse, then she should have been able to refrain from gorging herself to the point that Carter had to be sacrificed. It felt unnecessary to over-emphasize how dangerous she could be and that she may pose too much of a threat to keep alive.
Poor red-shirt guy. Carter was doomed from the start. From the minute Bonnie bat her eyelashes at him, we knew his days were numbered. Who knew that it was going to be just mere hours? It was rather tragic how he was used and abused by everyone so casually and then just cast aside like a piece of meat once they were done. Bonnie needed his electrical skills; Damon needed him to pick a fight with Tyler; and Caroline needed dinner. R.I.P. Carter. We barely knew you, but already we miss you.
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
‘Brave New World’ was written by Brian Young, directed by John Dahl. ‘The Vampire Diaries’ stars Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Candice Accola, Katerina Graham, Michael Trevino, Zach Roerig, Sara Canning, Matt Davis. ‘The Vampire Diaries’ airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.
Related link: http://www.rabiddoll.com/node/1466/the-vampire-diaries-brave-new-world.html
The TV Watchtower 
I found that scene a bit much as well. It felt out of place. I would have found it much more romantic if he had simply activated the ferris wheel and taken her to the top.
Also-what did not work for me was Stefen flying to the top of the ferris wheel-way too cartoonish! Did not like it! Stay on the ground or at least take a running leap (not straight up)