Because The A.V. Club knows that TV shows keep going even if we’re not writing at length about them, we’re experimenting with discussion posts. For certain shows, one of our TV writers will publish some brief thoughts about the latest episode, and open the comments for readers to share theirs.
- I could definitely get used to “Damon and Enzo kill evil white dudes” cold opens, especially if they are accompanied by discordantly pleasant song standards.
- An interesting thing about this version of Damon flipping his humanity switch is that for the first time, he can’t fully flip it. He’s much more in control of his countenance, and he still dreams of the moment he met Elena. The variation keeps this tired idea from being quite so tired—and allows for the shock of Damon going fully without his humanity once Elena’s memory is wiped from his head.
- There’s a lot of talk about going to hell and Stefan trying to convince Damon he’s not going to hell, but what kind of sliding morality scale is hell using that a majority of these characters wouldn’t be going to hell? They are essentially mass murderers.
- The most confusing thing about the Armory is that Alaric is running it like an academic research site and no one there is aware of its actual supernatural significance. Of course, intern Georgie has basically seen the other side when she died in a car crash, which means Alaric and Georgie have both been dead. They are perfect for each other! (But don’t sleep with your intern, Alaric, that’s creepy.)
- The Bonnie and Enzo relationship is an incredibly strong part of this season so far. Somehow between when it was introduced and now it developed in a way that feels natural and important to the show, and the writers are using it well to underline how desperately Enzo wants to get away from the Siren controlling his mind. It’s also a good counterpoint to the brotherly bond making up the other half of the season arc’s conflict so far.
- We got a Surprise Stabbing™! Poor Sara Salvatore, you really had no shot at surviving the series alive.
- Unfortunately big bad Siren Sybil was much scarier before she had a face and actual dialogue. The jury is definitely still out on her based on this episode (mostly she just makes me miss Chris Wood, who made interesting “villain” acting choices that kept us on our toes as viewers). What she does to the characters is far more of an impactful, tangible evil than her actual presence.
- Caroline was basically sidelined once again in this episode, but at least there was finally a scene where Caroline and Bonnie hashed out the current state of their friendship and Caroline recognized that perhaps Bonnie has gotten a raw deal in her life and deserves nice things, too.
- Stefan and Caroline are engaged. Yay? Sure. Yay.
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