Review of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – Crying Wolf (2011)

A moonstone, a curse and a whole hell of a lot of lies about both

Battle sides were chosen last week and round two of the war between vampires and werewolves unleashed even more death, destruction and lost hearts — literally.  After losing so many of their own last week one would have thought the werewolves had been taught a lesson:  don’t mess with the vampires — particularly after being warned by a warlock that they had better leave town or suffer the consequences.

Instead of heeding that generous advice, Brady (Stephen Amell), Jules (Michaela McManus) and the rest of the werewolf clan opted to foolishly try to extract the moonstone’s location from Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and go after Elena (Nina Dobrev).  Two things that were sure to get Elijah’s (Daniel Gillies) attention and unleash his wrath.  Messing with a nest of vampires is bad enough; messing with vampires protected by an Original is worse.

So the wolf-pack’s strategy to stake Alaric (Matt Davis), drug and torture Damon, and then capture Elena so that they could perform their own sacrifice to break the Sun and the Moon Curse was all kinds of foolishness.  If they were thinking more clearly, they would have realized that they also needed a witch and a werewolf to sacrifice too — and which one of the werewolves was volunteering to be the sacrificial lamb so that his or her brethren got to reap the benefit of the broken curse?

While brownie points are awarded for initiative, the wolf-pack really brought a whole new meaning to thick-headed.  They did not have a solid strategic plan and they did not have enough information to accomplish their goals.  Rushing in head-long only meant they were ill-prepared and that a lot more werewolves died in the process.

The only thing the werewolves did accomplish:  getting killed — and alienating Tyler (Michael Trevino) by lying to him about his friends.  Tyler may have left town with Jules in the end, but his heart will always belong with his friends in Mystic Falls.  And he will perhaps not be gone for long as Klaus and Elijah will both need a werewolf to complete the doppelganger sacrifice.

Points of Interest

1.    It was good to see Bonnie (Katerina Graham) using her magic to obtain some much need information about the ulterior motives of Elijah, Dr. Martin (Randy J. Goodwin) and Luka (Bryton James).  As suspected, their offer to help protect Elena and her family and friends was too good to be true.  Thus, it was nice to find out what they are all really up to.

2.    If the werewolves knew about Mason’s (Taylor Kinney) vampire girlfriend Kathy (Nina Dobrev), why were they so anxious to get him back?  Given the wolf-pack’s intolerance for vampires, one would think they would have ostracized Mason the minute he took up with Katherine.  Why the hypocrisy in allowing Mason a vampire girlfriend, but not allowing Tyler to have a vampire friend?

3.     What is up with Uncle John (David Anders)?  He is going out of his way to make himself as disagreeable as possible.  First, he tells Alaric that he should not be sleeping over anymore at the house, and then he demands his healing ring back from Alaric.  Didn’t John give his healing ring to Jeremy?  John also starts threatening to tell Jenna (Sara Canning) what Alaric is really doing in Mystic Falls, and even raises a red flag with Jenna about Alaric’s wife not really being dead.  If John has a plan, he is not being very delicate and discreet about it.  He’s only making a lot of people angry and stirring up a hornet’s next.

What Worked

It was pure poetic-justice that Damon was both stabbed in the neck with a pencil by Elijah and then tortured by the wolf-pack to find out the location of the moonstone.  After all, Damon had given little or no thought to the woman he killed after Rose died, nor his feeding off of Andie Starr (Dawn Olivieri).  A little neck wound should remind him that being stabbed or bitten in the neck is painful.  Plus, his torture was eerily reminiscent of how he tortured Mason.  But in Damon’s case, he has the ability to quickly re-heal.  Not all of his victims have been so fortunate.

Then hottest moment of the night was Bonnie and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen). The sexual current between them is electrifying.  In addition, the way Jeremy watches her whenever he is around her — it is a look of naked desire.  He not only wants her, he wants her body and soul; and there is a sense of belonging whenever she is around him, like Jeremy has is defying anyone to take her away from him.  Even Caroline (Candice Accola) noticed and prodded Bonnie to not be a fool; for when a man loves you that much, do not hesitate.  So it was wonderful when Bonnie chose to listen to heart and tell Jeremy how she felt.  When he kissed her, it felt like the screen was going to go up in flames.  So kudos to Kat Graham and Steven McQueen for bringing so much heat to primetime!

So Damon may  have paid for a few of his sins, Jeremy may have finally gotten the girl, but the night was owned by Tyler who redeemed himself by finally listening to reason and allowing Stefan (Paul Wesley) to save Elena.  He further redeemed himself when he went to see Matt (Zach Roerig) and told him,  “I need to say something . . . I’ve been going through a rough time, something I really can’t talk about.  But Caroline’s been helping me through it.  She’s been there for me.  More than anyone’s been there my entire life.  I kind of fell for her.  I don’t know how anyone wouldn’t because she’s pretty incredible.  But she loves you and she needs you, and to be honest, she deserves someone like you.  So you be good to her.”  It was a bold, yet touching speech.  It was exactly what Matt needed to hear and it showed that Tyler is beginning to see how much his friends have protected and stood by him during this incredibly tumultuous time in his life.  Instead of rejecting him because he was a werewolf, they welcomed him  and watched over him.  So as we saw him leave a note for his mom, talk with Matt, and then stop by Caroline’s just so that he could see her one last time before he left — yet not daring to knock on her door out of respect for her wishes to be left alone — it made us feel like our hearts were breaking because Tyler felt he had to leave; when in fact, everyone would have been much happier if he had stayed.

Last, but not least, also stepping up in this jam-packed episode was Stefan. He was the dream-boat boyfriend who took Elena away to the lake house and who was willing to honestly talk about their future; but the minute he found out that she was leading him on and had been planning on martyring herself all along, he felt rejected.  This may not be the ultimate breaking point in Stefan and Elena’s relationship, but it did reveal that Elena is not in it for the long-haul.  She is just using Stefan to feel safe and secure until she can offer herself as a sacrifice to break the Sun and Moon Curse.

So when Stefan confronted her by saying, “Elena, how could you stand out there earlier with me and talking about making plans for our future, when you don’t even expect to have one?”  He knew for the first time that she had not chosen to spend her life with him – she had only chosen to spend her last days with him.   It is an entirely different level of commitment.

Elena then angrily asked him how it was any different that she wanted to give up her life to protect him, than it is for him to want to die to save her, Stefan tersely replied,  “Because I’ve already lived. 162 years I have lived and you’ve barely begun — and now you want to let yourself get killed?  That’s not heroic, that’s tragic.” As he walked away both disillusioned and disappointed, we felt his heart breaking a little.  Elena had not chosen him — she did not think she had a full life ahead of her.  She was settling for the right man for right now.  Stefan does not want to be the consolation prize — he wants to spend an eternity with Elena.  These lovers may be more star-crossed than they realized.

What Didn’t Work

There were some glaring plot-holes in this episode such as when the werewolves staked Alaric.  Surely a werewolf can smell the difference between a vampire and a human.  Thus, killing Alaric was not necessary or even justified.  Similarly, it was absurd that neither Damon nor Stefan heard the wolves well before they arrived on the scene.  With their superior hearing and super fast reflexes, both Salvatore brothers should have been able to escape harm like it was second nature.  Instead, both were ambushed, which felt unrealistic.  It heightened the drama, but tested credibility.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

‘Crying Wolf’ was written by Brian Young, and directed by David Von Ancken. ‘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. ET on the CW.