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Review: The Vampire Diaries “Our Town” (Welcome to Snoozeville… Where Birthdays are Funerals and Hybrids Run Rampant)

RATING: 

Air Date: Thursday, January 12, 2012 8/7c on The CW

“To beat the villain, Damon, you have to be the better villain.” – Stefan

Happy Birthday Caroline! Or should we say, Happy Death Day...

How macabre is “Our Town?” For the life of me, I can’t understand why a majority of the episode deals with Caroline’s (Candice Accola) birthday/funeral (really?) and helping her get over being a vampire. There’s so much more to focus on; more to consider like the lives of the entire community of Mystic Falls! For crap’s sake, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) is running around with hybrids dishing out orders left and right while wreaking havoc freely. Meanwhile, Stefan (Paul Wesley) is completely out of control and we’re all getting a lesson in friendship watching Tyler’s (Michael Trevino) plight since becoming a hybrid. He’s been dumped by everyone and can’t find a way back from the dark side no matter how hard he tries. But for some odd reason it appears that Caroline is the ‘IT’ girl we all desperately need to learn from? Gimme a break.

Observations and thoughts:

Very sneaky of you TVD for opening the show with a Damon (Ian Somerhalder) shower scene. I’m not mad at you for selling the best part of the show, though.

Do you think the mysterious life protecting rings have a “shelf life” for its wearers? If they do, what can be done about it and who’s going to do it? I’m guessing this is a job for Bonnie (Kat Graham), the only witch in town. More importantly, Alaric (Matthew Davis) needs to keep from getting killed again. We don’t want the next time to be final.

How is Damon able to sense the hybrid on the premises when I thought these vampires have difficulty using their heightened senses for that specific purpose? He seems to have no trouble hearing or sniffing the hybrid out and sneaking up on him. I’m really confused by what the vamps can and cannot do. Perhaps I’m focusing on the wrong thing here, but these continuity issues are really starting to bother me.

I like this nothing-to-lose Stefan even more than his usual bad guy persona. He’s so devoid of human emotion that he’s truly the vampire he used to be. He’s willing to make sacrifices too, though I’m not sure he’s considering the consequences of his actions with regard to those he cares about the most. I know it’s contradictory, but he does care about his brother deep down. He’s just not focusing on that because it’s a weakness. And we all know what it means to have a weakness.

What’s up with the Tyler/Caroline break-up? I’m confused about her inability to see his side of things. He can’t help being what he is. She doesn’t realize he’s faultless being turned into what he is, so why not give him a break? Try walking in his shoes; try considering how she felt at first when she was turned. She wasn’t always in control of her thirst… I don’t know if the two are comparable, but I like to think Caroline has a heart where Tyler is concerned. He’s left with no fiends now and I don’t think that’s fair to him.

I love Bonnie standing up to Elena (Nina Dobrev) regarding Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen). Elena does take his well-being into her own hands and uses Damon to compel him when she’s at the end of her rope. Way to use people there, Elena.

Funny lines:

Alaric to Damon about Stefan’s humanity: “Well… is his humanity on or off?”

Damon: “Yeah, I’m thinking there’s another option here in play; a bit of a dimmer switch, which is a huge problem.”

**

Damon to Stefan while stopping him from murdering another hybrid: “What are you doing? No dead hybrids at the Founder’s party!”

**

What’s happening to The Vampire Diaries I know and love? It seems we’re going down a dark path with these episodes lately. Although Stefan and Klaus (in a weird fatherly manner) totally rock this episode, I don’t feel the writers are progressing with the story. We’re still stuck in a transitory state and it seems to be never ending. There must be some movement in sight. Klaus usually does something crazy to get people riled up and ready to fight, but Stefan is the only one brave enough to do something about it. (When did that happen?) Usually, Damon is always ready for a fight. Is he going soft or is he thinking about keeping the peace for Elena’s sake? All I know is, I’m ready for some action. It looks like something may be in the works with Caroline asking Klaus to save her life. That could be an interesting turn of events.

Tune in to The Vampire Diaries Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.  For more on the show, visit http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-vampire-diaries.

 

Photo: Bob Mahoney/The CW ©2011 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

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