The Vampire Diaries – “Yellow Ledbetter” Review. Crossword Puzzles Suck.

Season 6, Episode 2

Air Date: Thursday, October 9, 2014 at 8/7c on The CW

RATING: ★★★★★

“I don’t think we should be asking where we are. I think we should be asking when we are.” – Damon Salvatore

Only one vampire can make an episode of The Vampire Diaries (TVD) better but it’s not who you might think. Enzo (Michael Malarkey) saves “Yellow Ledbetter” for me. He brings a spark to TVD that has been missing for quite some time now. This is important to moving along this season’s plot because Enzo has a relationship with Damon (Ian Somerhalder) we still don’t fully understand, and I’m anxious to learn more. Enjoying their brotherly bond, and seeing how it hasn’t failed though Damon is no longer ‘living,’ I have hope for a more exciting season.

Hyp-NO-Therapy

My hero…and Caroline’s.

Where to begin. “I am supernaturally rewiring three years of your memories.” Wow. Alaric (Matt Davis) is seriously kicking ass now that he’s assimilated into his old life again. The writers haven’t thrown him into his usual role. The kids don’t run to him for advice, and he isn’t watching over everyone with a careful eye; instead, the guy is trying to maintain his composure and not feast like the hungry vampire he is. I love this angle for his character. Davis is doing a tremendous job lending Alaric a nonchalant air. I can’t say the former high school teacher was as calm as he is now, and I think that’s because he no longer fears what goes bump in the night. Alaric is given responsibilities but not more than he can handle. We have to admit, he has his work cut out for him though. Elena (Nina Dobrev) and her rash impulsiveness put Alaric in a precarious situation. We all know she can’t handle things beyond her control and she turns to him for help. But it’s all good. This is where I thank the writers for giving Dobrev a break. <insert round of applause> She doesn’t go on a crying binge, forcing out fake tears, painfully trying to act devastated. Dobrev is not equipped for that kind of realism, you know. So the writers focus on flashbacks, showing us the chemistry Somerhalder and Dobrev exude while playing the star-crossed lovers. Somerhalder has performed some of his more dramatic (and brilliantly written) dialogue in scenes where Damon tries to convince Elena of their unbreakable bond. I miss those days because that’s when TVD was good, dare I say, great. Will we get them back? Will Damon and Elena be reunited? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Random Thoughts:

Being sired by an Original gives you the capability of compelling other vampires? Did anyone else know this?

Stefan is really letting the gang down. Too bad he doesn’t care.

Whaaaaaat?! Time jumps and now time regression? We have totally fallen into a twisted reimagining of Groundhog Day. Keeping track of time (just press repeat), pancakes (pre-blueberry eyes and whipped cream fangs), and the 90s (I was jamming along to Salt-n-Pepa’s “What A Man”) seem to be all that encompasses the “other side” for our two resident ghosts. Damon and Bonnie (Kat Graham) have a riddle to solve. What do you think they have to figure out in order to make it back to today? I don’t know where TVD is heading with this story line but I’m along for the ride. Hopefully, it’s more interesting than the solar eclipse.

Caroline (Candice Accola) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) reach their breaking point. The BFFs are besties no longer. I hurt for Caroline. She’s the most proactive of the group, aside from Enzo, and needs to get her friends back. Caroline is the ultimate cheerleader. When anyone is down, she finds a way to pick them up. Who’s going to be there to lift her spirits when she loses that pep in her step? Enzo, it seems. These two will become the new dynamic duo without meaning to. I like the dynamic of Enzo and Caroline—total opposites with a common goal connecting them. Pure gold.

Matt (Zach Roerig) has become an annoyance the big brother to a spiraling Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen). “Right. I forgot you don’t care about anything.” See, that right there is what I don’t get. It’s almost become a recurring theme where no one pays attention to how anyone else feels. They make assumptions, take guesses, and feel they know what emotions are at the forefront of each other’s minds. Friends are supposed to be clued in to one another’s good times and bad times. These friends have fallen apart and need something to pull them back together.

Funny and Memorable Lines:

Bonnie: “Same day as yesterday. We’re living the same day all over again.”

Damon: “Well, that proves it. We’re in hell; my own personal … custom built hell. And you’re in it with me. Bottoms up.”

Yup, Groundhog Day the TVD way.

Caroline to Alaric: “Yeah, because she doesn’t want to admit what everybody else already knows; she fell in love with Damon while she was still with Stefan.”

Cue awkward moment ‘cause, of course, Stefan overhears this. Predictable much?

Bonnie to Damon: “There’s someone else here.”

Final Thoughts:

If anyone can find a way to bring Damon and Bonnie back, it’ll be Caroline.

I can’t say “Yellow Ledbetter” redeems last season’s catastrophes but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. The soundtrack is kicking, the emotion realistic, and the mysteries mysterious. Leave me a comment in the section below or hit me up on Twitter @ellemoe.

Tune in to The Vampire Diaries, Thursdays at 8/7c, only on The CW. For more on the show, visit the official site.

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Follow The Vampire Diaries on Twitter, as well as the cast: @cwtvd, @ninadobrev, @iansomerhalder, @katgraham, @paulwesley, @zach_roerig, @candaceaccola, and @McQueeninchains.

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Elle

Writer, mother, realist, cloud lover, daydreamer, dessert enthusiast, sweet tea addict, perfectionist, and lover of life and Christ, but not in that order. http://www.fanfiction.net/~vikingloverelle