The Vampire Diaries – Recap & Review – Fool Me Once

photo: cw

The Vampire Diaries
Fool Me Once

Original Air Date: Feb 11, 2010

Meg – Reviewer
meg@thetwocentscorp.com

Hey folks – I’m your substitute-recapper tonight (Zeba will be back next week). And what a night it was! For the last new episode before its month-long hiatus, The Vampire Diaries certainly delivered a plot-packed hour with lots of twisty goodness.

Last week we left off with Elena being kidnapped (seriously – is she ever not in peril?) by scheming vamp Anna and Bonnie kidnapped by Anna’s accomplice, Ben. To refresh: much of the action this season has been focused on opening the underground tomb in which Stefan and Damon’s long-lost maker and lady love Katherine lies imprisoned along with 26 other vampires.

Damon wants to free Katherine and doesn’t really care about what happens when 26 thirsty vampires are let loose in Mystic Falls. Stefan also wants to open the tomb, but only so he can use his nifty new improvised flame-thrower to flambé the whole lot (Katherine included) alive. Well, un-alive…

Anna’s master plan is to open the crypt (to release her imprisoned vampire mother) by collecting the two necessary tomb-opening ingredients: Bonnie’s magic powers and the grimoire used by Bonnie’s ancestor Emily to originally seal the tomb. Tonight, Anna is on the warpath, trying to blackmail Stefan into exchanging the grimoire for Elena’s life. She leaves Ben in charge of the hostages, telling him “compulsion won’t work on them—just use violence.” Did anyone else think Anna was pretty badass this ep? She was definitely a far cry from the slightly awkward loner persona she’d been portraying to court Jeremy.

Elena and Bonnie hold their own against Ben, but it’s up to Stefan to swoop in and save the day by slightly immolating Ben. Of course because he’s Stefan, instead of killing Ben, he tells him to skip town OR he’ll kill him. I think we all know where this is going…

Anna runs into Jeremy and they have cute-talk where he invites her to a party that night. A party that just happens to be located deep in the woods by the old cemetery (have these kids not heard of basements?), a headstone’s throw away from the evil underground vampire crypt. Anna says she might show up (she neglects to mention that she’d be showing up with fangs, super-speed, her vampire lover henchman, Jeremy’s kidnapped sister, and 160-something years of serious emotional baggage).

Our “good guys” (Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, and Grams) convene at Gram’s house. Elena’s new sympathy for Damon comes to play as she convinces everyone to help him and to allow him to rescue Katherine before Stefan starts torching the remaining vampires to prevent them from feasting on the conveniently nearby mass of drunken teens. Elena goes to Damon and they have a surprisingly touching exchange. She apologizes for her betrayal and promises she will help him get Katherine back –even going so far to remove her protective vervain amulet to prove her sincerity to Damon.

Matt and Caroline appear for a brief exchange with Damon and Elena at the party. Caroline awkwardly grasps hands with Matt, to show Damon that she’s moved on. Damon could not possibly care less, snubs Matt, and storms tomb-wards. As much as I adore the Matt-Caroline coupling, I have to admit that it’s hard to care about their five seconds of screentime this episode because their burgeoning relationship can’t really compete with the gravitas of the drama happening around them. Jeremy is at the party, somewhat blending in with a tree, when Tyler hits him up for weed and berates him for having no friends. As if on cue, Anna shows up and takes Jeremy for a walk deeper and darker into the woods. Jeremy again entreats her to be part of his non-scene and it’s pretty cute (or would be if I weren’t so concerned that she’s going to eat him). Smooching ensues until Anna starts to vamp out. Because Stefan was too noble to kill Ben, Ben now appears and clocks Jeremy on the head, obviously jealous of the smoochies. As Anna starts to drag Jeremy away, she tells Ben she’s “taking him to meet my mother.” Again, I suppose I’d find that sweet if I didn’t know that her mother is a bloodsucking fiend buried deep within the earth with a pack of starving vampires.

At the tomb’s entrance, the Salvatore brothers get ready: Stefan has prepared some sort of flamethrower device and Damon has brought a packet of blood so he’ll be able to revive Katherine (awww… wait– is that sweet or icky?). Ben shows up to fight Stefan, but his taunts about how he drinks human blood and is therefore more powerful are somewhat moot when Stefan turns him into broiled vamp bits.

Grams and Bonnie light torches representing the elements. I think I remember this scene from The Craft. After much chanting and flame-flaring, the tomb opens. Damon is worried the witches will betray him and seal him in the tomb, so he takes Elena with him to ensure that Grams and Bonnie will let him out. Well-played, Damon. Impressing me a little, Elena offers to go with him willingly.

Inside the tomb, Damon tells Elena the vampires can “sense” her. Creeeeeeepy. Anna, still on her maternal recovery mission shows up at the tomb entrance. Grams allows her to enter and explains to Bonnie – “she isn’t coming out. None of them are.” Oh, Grams! Such trickery!

Grams explains to a stunned Bonnie and Stefan that although the tomb is open, the magical seal that traps the vampires inside is still in effect. Elena will still be able to leave because she is human. Meanwhile, the desiccated vampire bodies littered throughout the tomb begin to stir, some with blood red eyes. I, like Elena, am totally freaked out by this. When Elena gets separated from Damon, she tries to find him, but runs into Anna instead. Seeking vengeance for her mother (who, as we saw last episode, died after being “outed” as a vamp by Elena’s ancestor, Jonathan Gilbert), Anna wants to revive her mother with Gilbert blood. She bites into Elena’s wrist. Outside, Stefan hears Elena scream and fully knowing no vampires can escape from the tomb, rushes in to save her!

Bonnie begs Grams to combine their magic and break the seal so Stefan can escape. Meanwhile, inside in a scene that broke my heart a little, Damon searches desperately for Katherine before realizing… she isn’t in the tomb! Woah, I was not expecting that. Grams and Bonnie break the seal, allowing the brothers to escape. Elena hugs Damon, truly sorry for his loss. Ian Somerhalder knocks it out of the park with his expression – a haunting mix of confusion, anger, and utter desolation.

Back at home, Elena comforts a woozy Jeremy who thinks he got drunk and blacked out at the party. She decides not to mention that he was almost an appetizer for an angry vampire mob. However, in a twist I love, as soon as Elena leaves him, Jeremy gets on his computer and googles vampires.

Bonnie is worried about Grams, as she seems drained from the spells they did. Grams reassures her with the classic “I’ll be fine,” which in TV-land essentially translates to “please expect me to die in 3…2…” Sure enough, Bonnie goes to check on her again and she’s passed away. RIP Grams.

Anna and her mother, Pearl, are confronted in their hotel room by a vengeful Damon. He starts strangling Pearl, demanding they tell him the truth about Katherine. Pearl admits that one of the guards at the church was besotted with Katherine and let her escape before the tomb was sealed. Anna tells Damon that she last saw Katherine in Chicago in 1983. Then she delivers the kicker, telling Damon that Katherine “knew where you were and didn’t care.”

Back at the Salvatore mansion, Damon stares lifelessly ahead as his brother quietly sits down next to him. The final moment, however, occurs back at the crypt when we see movement inside the tomb, and a vampire escaping into the night.

What did you think about this episode? I’ll admit I think it was some of the best work that Ian Somerhalder has done as Damon. In previous weeks, I’ve generally just sort of looked at him and thought “sigh…. So pretty.” This was the first episode where I found myself really feeling for him as a character. What did you think of the twists? Did you see any of them coming? What are your hopes for after the hiatus? hopes for after the hiatus?

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