The penultimate episode of season 3 of The Vampire Diaries managed to get rid of one villain while setting up Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) big decision for next week’s finale. Of course it wasn’t as clear cut as that and like the witches and the balance of nature; this show has loopholes that it is happy to use to create tension and danger at every turn. Last week we said goodbye to Alaric (Matt Davis) and while he is still in Mystic Falls this is not the Alaric that we are familiar with and so those misty eyed farewells still matter.
While our Alaric started life in Mystic Falls as a vampire hunter, he soon became very much like Elena in seeing that vampires aren’t just monsters. This new vampire version of Alaric is how he probably wanted to be when he first came to town; to be able to hunt and kill vampires. When Esther (Alice Evans) turned Alaric, she didn’t get to make an all important daylight ring so now Alaric is bound by the sun and the image of his skin burning as he dragged Caroline (Candice Accola) into the building was enough to see that he will do anything to complete his mission. While Alaric is now strong enough to break Stefan’s (Paul Wesley) neck and Damon’s (Ian Somerhalder) back in quick succession and even defeat Klaus (Joseph Morgan) he does have one weak point and that is Elena. Like all of these mystic creatures he has a loophole and Elena’s life is what keeps him alive.
Elena is often the loophole thanks to her blood and it is this that helps seal Klaus’ fate. The plan to get rid of super strong Alaric means they have to get Klaus on board using a blood binding spell and while the one that Esther used earlier this season didn’t work against him, this one inadvertently became their ultimate weapon. This is what happens when you threaten to take Elena’s life by draining her of all her blood, those who love her are not going to lose her like that. Yep that’s right, Klaus has finally been defeated by a plan that wasn’t even meant for him and this desiccation spell means that essentially Klaus has been killed, but he can be resurrected at any point. Damon and Stefan have gone all Dexter and dumped his body in the Atlantic but like anything he won’t stay buried for forever. This is the master loophole of the show; the best villain that The Vampire Diaries has had to date has been defeated but in such a way that he can return. If Joseph Morgan wasn’t so damn charming this loophole might annoy me as it is essentially the easy way out, however if we don’t have the biggest, baddest villain as an obstacle then who do we have?
Well we still have three Original siblings who Alaric will still be gunning for with his ultimate stake of doom and how will they react when they find out what has happened to their brother? Yes he put them all in coffins for a certain amount of time so they might see this as retribution, but the family bond is a funny thing and so they might be less than happy with the Salvatore brothers for this act. The problem for Klaus is that he has been trying to make connections using forced methods and so they might not come to his aid so quickly.
Klaus has also been trying to mess with Damon and Stefan’s relationship but no matter how hard he has tried to stir things up these two have been through worse (Katherine for example- where is she?) together and come out the other side fine. Klaus has been trying to manipulate his way through his relationships for 1000 years with not all that much success (beyond a forced bond) and Damon and Stefan will naturally be there for each other no matter how much they “fight like dogs” (thanks Rebekah for that quote).
The one person that could come between them isn’t Klaus but is Elena and these last few episodes have really emphasized that she has a choice to make between the pair of them. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this whole love triangle and I can see pros and cons to picking either brother. Elena seemed like she was telegraphing to the audience about why she hasn’t chosen and why it is selfish that she hasn’t picked yet and this is why love triangle resolutions are a tricky area; one side will be upset and that counts for both the character and the audience. This is where the season has been heading though and so it looks like the finale will see Elena making a decision. Now that Stefan and Damon are in a good place with each other they discuss keeping it civil by deciding that the ‘losing’ brother will leave town and leave them be for the duration of the relationship. While this is meant to be noble it also comes across as a little bit problematical- they know that a relationship with Elena only has a finite amount of time.
Elena of course doesn’t just have the support of the Salvatore brothers but her friends and brother and my favourite scene of “Before Sunset” was the victory party in Elena’s kitchen. It is rare that we get to see these guys acting in a normal way for their age and this was a delight to see. If this was a non-supernatural show I would suggest that Elena passed out at the end thanks to drinking tequila after having quite a bit of her blood drained but this final scene is more insidious than that; why do you think Elena collapsed?
Other Observations
-If Jeremy (Steven R McQueen) dies they will have to telegraph this in the most obvious way as there have been so many death fake-outs with this character that it will be hard to know if they ever actually do it. Of course I don’t actually want Jeremy to die but if he does they will need to make it super clear.
-Alaric mentions Elena’s parents and asks “Do you really think they would be proud of you?” He is trying to emotionally stir her into thinking his way which is obviously unlikely. It might be worth remembering Elena’s parents for next week’s finale.
-Not content with causing trouble with just Elena and her friends this new and not improved Alaric also informs the rest of the Council what Liz (Marguerite MacIntyre) and Carol (Susan Walters) have been hiding about their children; what will the consequences be for the pair and the town with this revelation?
-Awkward reunion of the episode was between Bonnie (Kat Graham) and her mother Abby (Persia White); Abby might be in the running with Esther for worst parent but she does come through on the spell front. Second awkward reunion was between Abby and Damon and she clearly is less than thrilled about her vampire status.
-Tyler (Michael Trevino) managed to hide his lack of sire bond until the last and best possible moment. The fact that he managed to condition himself out of this bond really perplexed Klaus and once again revealed why Klaus can’t form real relationships as there is always some force or manipulation involved.
-Another one of my favourite moments of the episode was how Klaus used suburban objects to try and get into the Gilbert house including a rolled up newspaper, a soccer ball and parts of a white picket fence.
-Klaus like Caroline is totally Team Stelena.
-Matt (Zach Roerig) has gone from not wanting to take part to being disappointed about being left out; he really is a ninja.
-In very good and not surprising news The Vampire Diaries has been renewed for a fourth season so we have plenty more action and twists ahead of us.
With only one episode left of this season of The Vampire Diaries I’m sure we can expect some big things from the finale and with Klaus seemingly gone it would appear that Alaric is the big bad that has to be defeated. If Alaric dies then will this have a negative impact on Elena? Who do you think Elena will choose? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
For more coverage of the show, including sneak peeks, spoilers, the latest Hulu episodes and more, browse and bookmark our Vampire Diaries page.
