A frightful tale of the first doppelganger sent shivers down our spines
In yet another dense and murky episode, there was entirely too much going on to properly focus: there was Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Katherine (Nina Dobrev) making a trip down memory lane in the tomb; Caroline (Candice Accola) confessed her sins to Stefan (Paul Wesley) in order to keep him from crashing Elena’s risky meeting with Katherine; Bonnie (Katerina Graham) and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) planned a date that was crashed by a pair of warlocks who just moved to town; and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Rose (Lauren Cohan) took a road-trip to Richmond to find out how to track down the elusive Klaus before he got his evil clutches on Elena. Oh, and dare we not forget, Elijah (Daniel Gillies) recently back from being staked to a door, stalked Damon and Rose only to toss a handful of coins raining down burning sunlight on a coffee shop full of vampires. With all that going on, it was a wonder our heads were not spinning.
But in the end, one question echoed through our brains: Why should vampires get to live forever? What good have they done to warrant it? Some vampires may obtain multiple college degrees, but how many of them are seeking to make the world a better place?
All of them are simply looking out for themselves — only thinking: how does it benefit them? None seem to have a single philanthropic bone in their body. They may be dead, but they do not have to be heartless. Yet they have taken the self-interest to new levels. They are not only looking out for themselves, but that are wholly obsessed with their own wants and desires.
Vampires only help when it benefits them. When someone they love is in danger, then they will intervene. But have vampires done anything to end world hunger, poverty or mass destruction? They have such amazing abilities and yet they have done nothing. Vampires are indeed leeches living on the fringe of society — taking what they want and need, but never contributing.
Why should Klaus, Elijah, Rose, Trevor (Trent Ford), Katherine or even Stefan and Damon be granted more than their share of life — just because they are greedy, narcissistic vampires?
That makes them more worthy to their heart’s desire? Over 140 years each and what do Stefan and Damon have to show for it? That they both fell for the same conniving vampire and now are seeking redemption for their souls by falling for a teenage girl?
Even poor Slater (Trevor Peterson), who had only been a vampire for the past 35 years, had no clue what to do with himself. He just kept collecting college degrees. Knowledge is good and all, but he was not putting it to any use. He did not volunteer to help end world hunger or make life more livable for humans. Instead he established a coffee shop with UV-protected windows so that vampires could pretend to be human for a while. That’s it?! If only vampires would put all their strength, speed, stamina and ingenuity to better use.
Why should we be rooting for allowing Katherine to continue living? What has she done with her life? Over 500 years of running, of toying with other’s affections and playing little egomaniacal games. It would be fair to say that Katherine’s time is up. What has she done to earn one more day on this planet?
As for Damon and Stefan, they are simply lost and looking for a reason to exist. Damon pined for a woman who did not love him for over a century and now pines for a girl that does not want him. Stefan wandered the four corners of Earth in search of a purpose and found it in the form of a teenage girl as well. Whether it be searching for love or redemption, what have they done to deserve more than the 160 years they have already lived?
Are any of them any better than Klaus? He simply wants to be free of an old shaman curse — to be free to roam day or night. Sure, he has killed lots of people. But so have Damon, Stefan and Katherine. Who decides who lives or dies? They do. So are Klaus’ crimes any worse than what our “heroes” have done?
Think about it. Klaus’ only great crime is wanting to sacrifice Elena — one more human. Who is to say that the human lives that Stefan and Damon have taken were any less worthy than Elena’s? She is only special because she can break the vampire curse, and because the Salvatore brothers love her. Is love enough to forgive them their vampire sins?
What Worked
Damon’s broken heart — and everything he tried to anesthetize it — was heart-breaking. Just watching how Damon tried to pretend like nothing had happened when Elena showed up at his front door to see Stefan was painful enough. Then as Damon and Rose commiserated over their lost loves, we saw again the raw anguish that he was barely reigning in. Self-control and alcohol was not taking the edge off.
Watching Rose grieving for Trevor, only served to remind Damon that even 500 years with the person you love will not sooth the pain when they are gone. Rose lost her best-friend and love of her life. As she told Damon, there is no “off” switch. That is the lies that vampires tell each other to make their lives more bearable. Newbie vampires may think they can turn off their emotions — but really they are simply overwhelmed by new emotions. Instead of love, they are consumed by their desire for blood. When food is one’s sole consuming thought, it is one’s obsession — for awhile. But once a vampire learns to control the feeding frenzy urges coursing their through veins, their human desires for love and affection come back strong too — and to not have the blessing of an “off” switch, one can only imagine how unbearable that must feel.
Turning away from those wallowing in their self-pity, it was pretty cool to see what length’s Katherine would go to in order to ensure that she lived. Katherine actually killed herself in order to be free of Klaus, for he needed a human sacrifice — a vampire would not do.
Watching as Katherine tempted Elena with the same fate, one was not sure if she actually wanted to save Elena or not — or if she was just taunting her. When Elena told Katherine, “You don’t even care that you ruined their lives,” Katherine admitted, “I was looking out for myself, Elena. I will always look out for myself. If you’re smart, you’ll do the same.” Thus, when Elena later accused her, “So you were going to just hand us all over to be killed,” Katherine nonchalantly replied, “Better you, than I.”
What game is Katherine actually playing? Is she thinking that she needs to collect all the right ingredients once gain to make the perfect curse-breaking cocktail: the moonstone, a doppelganger, a werewolf, a witch and a vampire? But why does Katherine care if the curse is broken or not? Is she really going to offer up Elena, Caroline, Tyler (Michael Trevino), and Bonnie just to get Klaus off her back?
On a separate note, it was scary as hell watching Elena was using a stick to push that cup of blood back and forth to Katherine. It felt like at any moment, Katherine was going to grab that stick and yank Elena inside the tomb with her — and then use Elena as leverage to secure her freedom. But in a brilliant turn-about, Katherine finally revealed that she is much better off imprisoned in the tomb — for no vampire would dare touch her there lest they too become imprisoned for eternity. Thus, when Stefan accused Katherine of trying to use the moonstone to buy her freedom, Katherine simply smiled and said, “I don’t want my freedom — ’cause when Klaus shows up to kill us all — and he will — I’ll be in the tomb where no vampire will enter because they can’t get out. I’ll be the safest psychotic bitch in town.” That sent shivers down our spines hearing that revelation.
Finally, it was nice to have another chance to watch Caroline and Stefan bonding. So when Caroline asked Stefan, “Why are you such a good friend to me?” and he thoughtfully replied, “I don’t know. I guess you remind me of someone — my best friend, Lexi.” Caroline’s incredulous quip, “You have a friend?!” was pretty cute. Distraction or not, it is always fun to see how protective Stefan is towards Caroline. He does have a soft spot for her and it was fun to watch Caroline exploit that.
Last, but not least, what is up with Elijah? First, where did he get the ability to compel other vampires? Second, how on earth did he get a warlock working with him? Inquiring minds want to know!
What Didn’t Work
It was pretty rotten of Bonnie to ditch her date once she found out that there was a warlock in town. Just because someone has special abilities does not give one the right to treat others with such careless disregard; and Bonnie must surely know that Jeremy cares for her.
Just when Bonnie was starting to appear more like one of the gang again and not consumed with her rage over all that is supernatural in the world, along comes a warlock and with one wave of his hand floating some salt off the table, and she completely forgot that Jeremy was even there. Very cold, Bonnie. You do not deserve the happiness you nearly obtained.
Also keenly felt was the absence of Matt (Zach Roerig), Tyler, Alaric (Matt Davis) and Jenna (Sara Canning) in this episode. Let us hope that they are back in the action soon.
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
‘Katerina’ was written by Andrew Chambliss and directed by J. Tobin Miller. ‘The Vampire Diaries’ stars Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Candice Accola, Katerina Graham, Michael Trevino, Zach Roerig, Sara Canning, Matt Davis.
‘The Vampire Diaries’ airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.
Related article: http://www.rabiddoll.com/node/1593/the-vampire-diaries-katerina.html
The TV Watchtower 
ITA! Damon and Rose’s hook-up was too fast and seemed out of place. Drinking to commiserate with someone who shares your pain is believable. Sleeping with them, not so much. Particularly right after Damon just declared his love for Elena. It is a disservice to the depths of his feelings for him to start casually sleeping around. As for the point about Jeremy, they definitely left that unresolved. He should have totally called his uncle on killing Anna. Anna deserved to have someone avenge her horrific death.
I was not very happy about the speed in which Damon and Rose hooked up. I mean if Damon is suppose to be so very very much in love with Elena that he would give his life and become so unselfish as to let her go then what was the big rush…after all they have eternity to hook up could they have taken a week or so???
PS. Jeremy let go of Anna with the same speed-never even mentioned to his Uncle he was slightly annoyed that he killed his girlfriend!