The Vampire Diaries -- Ordinary People

I thought this episode was probably the best episode all season. Not because of the flashback of the Originals origins which was so full of holes it could be Swiss cheese. It was because we had the first real Damon and Stefan scenes of the season without trying to make it all about Elena. For most of the season the show has been pushing this supposed great Stefan/Klaus relationship and it really doesn't fly.

Damon went to visit Stefan in his captivity and though Damon would die before he admitted it, I don't think he could stand to leave his brother chained up like that. So he released Stefan and took him out for a boys night on the town. Damon compelled a barmaid to let Stefan snack on her while Damon drank and danced on top of the bar with a couple of women.

One of the big problems with this Ripper story is Stefan doesn't really seem like a blood addict in his scenes. Stefan has been supposedly starved of blood yet he didn't seem to be insatiable for the taste of blood when he was snacking on the barmaid. One week I decided to go without meat and then I ordered a meat eaters pizza because I was going through withdrawal and the taste of that meat was orgasmic. That's the way Stefan should be with blood and he just isn't. He just seems like a normal vamp who has complete control over the blood lust.

Fun and games are over when Mikael shows up and puts his hand inside of Damon's chest and threatens to rip his heart out unless Stefan tells him where Klaus is. Klaus may have compelled Stefan to turn off his emotions, but his love for Damon is stronger, as he promises to lure Klaus back to town if Mikael doesn't kill Damon.

Afterwards, Damon and Stefan get into a fight outside, and miracles of miracles Damon is actually allowed to win the fight and not be someone's glorified punching bag. Damon tells Stefan it's his fault he's in this mess, because Stefan did this to save his life. And that in a nutshell is how they should have been writing this story, not trying to suggest Damon was only trying to help Stefan for Elena. Finally, some true-to-character and true-to-story writing.

Now, on to the not-so-good writing of the episode. Alaric was trying to decode the cave drawings, and for some ungodly reason he apparently needed Elena's help to do it. She knows nothing about viking script, but she was involved in decoding the drawings. She even figured out what a drawing meant that left Alaric stymied. Who needs a college education when you've got Elena around.

She also cast her magic spell over Rebekah and had her spilling her guts out her past. Katherine did the same thing last season, but Elena bribed her with blood and Kat was starving, so it made some sense. Why Rebekah would spill her guts to her rival for Stefan defies logic.

Anyway, Mikael the vampire eating vampire is Rebekah's daddy. Their mother Esther is the witch from the other side trying to stop Klaus from making his hybrid race. She's also the witch who put the curse on Klaus. Let's just say Mikael would win no father of the year award. He also didn't get on with Klaus even before he discovered he wasn't his son. When one of his children got killed by a werewolf, Mikael wanted to make sure his children were safe from harm, so he had them turned into vampires. He poisoned their drinks with blood then stabbed them all. When Klaus made his first kill, Mikael discovered Klaus was a hybrid and killed all the werewolves. Their mother was the one who did the spell to turn them all into vamps, but Esther remained a witch since you can either be a vamp or a witch. To appease her husband, apparently, Esther put the curse on Klaus and acted like she hated him. All the siblings bonded together against Mikael, who they believe killed their mother.

Okay, here comes all the holes in this story. If Esther was indeed, a witch, then why did she need to ask Ayanna [who was pretty useless and did nothing and seemed to just be there representing the black witch population] to try and save her child? Why didn't she do it herself? Elijah claimed that the Originals were impervious to the sun, but Rebekah got burned by the sun, so like regular vamps needed a piece of jewelry to let her walk in the sun. Since Mikael was the one who started the whole vampire thing, why is he only feeding on other vampires? Where was Rebekah when Elijah and Klaus were playing fun and games with Katherine? How could Klaus be chasing Katherine for 500 years, when he was running from Mikael for 1,000 years? How does this whole stupid doppelganger thing play into the curse? Why didn't Mikael recognize Katherine as the doppelganger when Elijah and Klaus did on first sight?

Anyway, Elena puts everything together and realizes Klaus lied and it was Klaus that really killed Esther and she can't wait to tell Rebekah, hoping it will get Rebekah to turn on Klaus. At first Rebekah doesn't believe it, then she does.

In probably the most unsexy and unromantic bed scenes Damon is laying in Elena's bed and he won't move as she climbs under the covers. He tells her that Stefan is on Team Kill Klaus. This makes Elena realize that it won't be Stefan's love for her that will save him, but his love for Damon, because despite all the stuff Elena tried, it was Damon that actually managed to get through to Stefan. So after seven episodes of I don't know what you want to call it, the story has finally gotten back to where it left off in the finale last May with the revelation that it's Damon that Stefan loves best.

Favorite line of the night had to be Stefan dissing Elena's plans. It's about time. Her plans stink and put everyone's lives in danger and it's a miracle when someone doesn't die because of them.

Next week is the mid-season finale. The show will be off until January. No way do I think they're going to kill Klaus this early in the season after promoting him with the top three stars of the show. So I think Damon is going to ask Mikael about Katherine and Mikael is going to reveal he killed her, and Damon will end up killing him instead of Klaus. We'll see if I'm right next week. Of course, I'm usually wrong.