Monsters of Television

Hard to find a male mentor around here, huh?

Quick Take: Whoa!  The Vampire Diaries has yet again proven it has some guts.  “Plan B” featured reversals of fortune, shocking twists, and a good deal of heartbreak.

In his review of TVD for The A.V. Club at the beginning of the season, Todd VanDerWerff compared TVD to Smallville, stating both are the kind of program he could watch at the beginning and end of the season only, yet still manage to keep up. I have never watched Smallville, so I can’t speak to that issue, but for TVD, I have to disagree. Sure, the “previously on” features may provide a cliff’s notes guide to the main plot points, but experiencing them in this form would remove all their shock, their impact, and their resonance. I know what some of you may be thinking…resonance?  Don’t worry–I know TVD ain’t all that deep, but it does excel at surprises—as this episode demonstrates.  TVD may not be world’s deepest show, but it is seriously competing for world’s most entertaining.

Characters were getting taken down all over the place here. Katherine is proving herself most dangerous in how she gets others to do her will—guess that shouldn’t be surprising considering her history with manipulating the Salvatore brothers. But seriously, I think she was in two scenes during this episode, yet she still managed to inflict quite a bit of damage through direct or indirect interference. By the end of the episode, Elena was crying, Stefan was crying, Jeremy was looking all determined, Caroline was crying, Mason was…well, if you want to know what all the fuss is about, come on in.

The episode begins with some nice parallel structuring—intercutting our two favorite couples in bed: Elena & Stefan, and Katherine & Mason. The beauty of this scene doesn’t become clear until the end of the episode, so I’m just gonna go there now (stop reading if you haven’t seen the episode yet). For both these couples, this was their last time together—by the time we reach the end of the episode, these moments seem very long ago.

If TVD wanted to be deeper, there could have been more to the parallels here.  Phrases were echoed, but instead of drawing links between Stelena and Katherson, the intercutting attempted to show contrast.  True love versus manipulation.  Kinda think it would have been more fun to see them both plot–suggesting that even for Stelena, there is danger to placing Katherine at the center of their daily activities.

The main thing we learn from the bedroom scene(s) is that Mason hasn’t given it up to Katherine yet—meaning the moonstone. His body he has certainly offered and I’d like to thank him for doing so. He tells Katherine he doesn’t trust anyone—we later learn how sincerely he means that.

Jeremy heads over to Damon’s house looking for some action. Damon, of course, is less than interested in hanging out with Jeremy: “wow, your search for a life’s purpose is as obnoxious as it is tragic.” Nevertheless, Jeremy has the goods—he knows about the moonstone and he knows Tyler has it (well, he’s wrong on that last part, but still, he has access to Tyler). Damon needs him. Rick shows up, too, and our merry band of plotters plot what to do next.  [Note: Damon is drinking whiskey already—it must be 10 a.m. Damon rules.]

Most of the kids go to the Lockwood house to help with the set-up for a masquerade ball. What a perfect event for this show—I’m all atwitter with the potential shenanigans this ball will provide. But alas, not until next week.

The purpose of the ball set up scene was mostly to get certain characters in one place so things could “organically” happen. It also allowed Jenna her one smart moment to date—when Stefan tells her he and Elena are on a pause, she says, “that’s not what it sounded like this morning.” Well done, Jenna. Maybe you aren’t the most clueless character on this show (lucky for Jenna, Matt is much more clueless and therefore wins the prize every time).

Bonnie comes to the Lockwoods, which gives the writers an excuse to get her caught up through a chat with Elena. Bonnie is all, “Losing Caroling was bad enough—I didn’t think I had to lose you, too.” When Elena tells her the most recent happenings, Bonnie is all, “I didn’t even know you and Stefan were fighting in the first place.” Okay, so Bonnie has been a bit left out. But really, every time she shows up she tries to hurt Damon and goes on and on about how she can’t help vampires. How long has Bonnie been a witch? Three months? Yet she is so dedicated to this code she only recently learned? Please.

Awesome Vampire Caroline [AVC], meanwhile, is trying to chat with her mother, who remains in Damon’s basement cell and who is giving her daughter the silent treatment. AVC goes in for the (emotional) kill, saying, “it isn’t like I died or anything…” which hits home. Her mother realizes that AVC has lost something, too. It was a good line, and a sincere one.

Anyway, now that Bonnie is caught up, Damon and Stefan can try to get her help. Bonnie’s first great bit of help (and I have to admit, it is truly great) is to run into (physically) Mason. She looked jarred, so Stefan asks if she’s okay. She tells him she saw a vision of Mason kissing Elena. Luckily, Stefan is pretty sharp and quickly puts two and two together. Gotta admit, I was surprised Katherine’s connection to Mason came out in the open so quickly. But this show’s pacing is lightening fast, so this was just the first of the plot moves.

Damon is disturbed by the news about Mason and Katherine: “Werewolf thing aside, the guy’s a surfer!” he complains to Stefan. Damon quickly hatches a plan, but he needs Bonnie’s help. He asks Bonnie if her brain explosion trick (turns out, she literally explodes Damon’s arteries when she does that scrunched up eye thing) works on all supernatural types.  She says it does and he then asks her to give Mason an aneurism.  Bonnie tries to protest, but Damon reminds her that Elena is in danger: “you, witch, are going to get over yourself and help us.” So she does. She brain explodes Mason, Damon knocks him out, and away they go to Damon’s house.

AVC, meanwhile, is catching her mom up on her life. She explains that she drinks the blood Damon steals from the hospital, which helps her control her urge to kill. But she also is quite honest with her mother, which is part of why she is Awesome Vampire Caroline: “it’s my basic nature now [to kill]. On a healthy diet, I can control it.”

Back at Damon’s pad, Bonnie demonstrates another neat trick and reads an unconscious Mason’s mind. She learns he has hidden the moonstone in a well on the old Lockwood estate. Off she goes to find it, and even lets Bonnie go with. Aw…

Damon tortures Mason with a burnt stick. He enjoys it a lot, but for the viewer, Mason’s shrieks are truly heartbreaking. His pain and agony are effectively conveyed, and I have to say that I have found the show’s willingness to make me care for Mason one of the best parts of this season. I need to see Damon be evil every once in a while or his character is less potent. Mason also demonstrates a theme of this program—that becoming supernatural means power but also means loss–in particular the loss of what is good about being human.

Programs that deal with the supernatural frequently employ special powers to tell a heightened tale about human struggle.  Amplifying the stakes, the emotions become more raw.  But there is also a flip side where supernatural programs become stories of lonely, lost souls, yearning for that which they can no longer have.  Stefan keeps trying to be human and enjoy human things–we’ll have to see how far TVD is willing to go to prove that is impossible.

Stefan and Elena have headed over the well, as well, and Stefan jumps on in. Oops, turns out the well is filled with verveine infused water (brilliant, Mason). Stefan shrieks and starts to shrivel. Elena runs around helpless until AVC arrives in time to lower Elena into the well. AVC then drags up from the well a bloody and seriously yucky-looking Stefan while Elena remains below to find the moonstone. Despite some scary looking snakes, Elena finds the rock and even finds the energy to restore Stefan with her blood.  Even Elena gets some good moments in this episode.

Jeremy comes to Damon’s and proves himself to be quite the research boy—he has an herb called wolfsbane (get it?) that Damon uses to torture Mason anew. Damon’s conversation with Mason (a bit one-sided since Mason is exhausted) is quite effective. Damon says, “When I look at you, I see myself.” Learning how much Mason loves (and believes in) Katherine, Damon declares, “now I get it, you’re just stupid.” Jeremy tries to interfere in Damon’s rough interrogation tactics, but Damon throws him against a wall, saying “it is kill or be killed. Suck it up or leave.”  Damon realizes that Mason wants to die: “really is a curse, isn’t it?” he asks without needing an answer.  In their last moments together, Damon gets personal with Mason: “I’ve been where you are, but Katherine will only rip your heart out. Let me do it for her.” And he does.

Gotta say, I am super sad about Mason. I liked his character, and I’m sorry he ended up being little more than a tired, frustrated, lovesick dupe of Katherine’s. But I appreciate that the writers never let the viewers off the hook entirely—we got to know Mason and saw all the good parts of him. And I guess he did keep that moonstone from Katherine, which shows he was smart. His character was never too good or too bad—the ambiguity added to the show’s complexity. So, so long friend. We barely knew ya.

Cut to Jenna and Rick making dinner, being all smoochy. Uh oh—too much happiness is never a good thing. Which one is going to bite it?

AVC returns to her mother’s cell, all bouncy because Bonnie was nice to her. She tells her mother how she helped Stefan, and her mother looks at her, amazed. “You’ve become this strong, confident person. I’ll keep your secret.” AVC knows she is telling the truth, but she also knows that her mother won’t protect Damon and Stefan. So she gives up the new openness and understanding with her mother by glamouring her. It is a moving moment for AVC.

Stefan comes home to find Mason’s body: “I see you have exercised your usual restraint,” he comments to his brother. Meanwhile, Damon is practically giddy. Despite Stefan’s protests, he calls Katherine on Mason’s phone. Katherine admits that Damon has surprised her, but she also tells him that he is foolish if he thinks she doesn’t have a plan B, C, D, etc. Damon gets off the phone feeling a bit less than giddy.

Elena arrives home, helps set the dinner table, and chats with Rick while Jenna is on the phone.   Jenna hands the phone to Elena, and of course it is Katherine on the other end. Katherine reveals that she knows everything about Elena and Stefan’s fake fighting because Jenna has been her spy. In the background, we see Jenna stab herself with a kitchen knife.

Turns out Jenna is going to live, but Elena has been defeated. She rushes to Stefan’s, announcing, “We did this…All because we didn’t listen to her…I’ve been so selfish…but it’s over. It has to be.” Stefan is devastated but gets it. Damon, too, is feeling a bit blue. He tells Elena, “I riled her up, I wasn’t thinking…”

Cut to Katherine, talking to yet another of her pawns. Turns out she needs a new werewolf, so she glamours Matt to get him to incite Tyler to murder.

Bam, bam, and bam. This show is firing on all cylinders. And I’m enjoying the heck out of it.