“The Vampire Diaries” had its fifth season premiere on the CW tonight, and already this season is full of mystery and suspense.
But unfortunately for Elena and Caroline, the suspense isn’t whether or not they’ll ace their final exams now that they’ve finally arrived at college (and did they compel their teachers into letting them graduate? Because I don’t remember them in class at all last year). Instead, they must try to solve the puzzle of Who Killed Our Roommate Megan? Megan, who had vervain-laced drinks and has a picture of herself and Elena’s father on her phone.
Meanwhile, Stefan is tossing and turning under the sea while Silas terrorizes Katherine and annoys Damon. Honestly, I thought Silas’ identity would be hidden from everyone a bit longer, but Jeremy’s hunter instincts tell him immediately that Silas had not been destroyed.
“If I hear the word doppelganger
one more time, I’ll have to learn
how to spell it.” –Damon
Jeremy tries to rejoin society as the “freak who faked his own death,” and we will likely have to deal with his high school drama now that everyone else has moved onto college or the afterlife. Thank goodness no one knows about his dead girlfriend, or else he would really be bullied.
Katherine, in human form, has learned what human agony is. She has blisters from running in heels, and she’s terrified of the enemies she’s accumulated over the years. But none of them are nearly as threatening as Silas. He’s immortal, psychic, and more powerful than any of them. He compels the entire town to stand still, and they can only watch in horror as he slashes the mayor’s throat. Parents of supernatural children in Mystic Falls, be warned. You are going to die. Since ghosts can’t be compelled, Bonnie screams and runs to her father, but he is beyond saving.
My main complaint with the episode is Stefan’s struggle to turn off his humanity. I am bored to tears of this particular struggle. And it’s too reminiscent of Angel’s gypsy curse where he’s bad, then he’s good, then he’s bad. In his watery tomb he imagines Damon telling him to embrace the vampire within, but Elena tells him to hold on. For her. As if he owes her anything, since she’s now sleeping with his brother.
A lot of plot elements have been set up for this season, and I’m looking forward to some new storylines sans Klaus and company. Even hapless Matt looks like he’ll be part of something larger this year, though I was disappointed to see Tyler has disappeared on poor Caroline again.
But so far, so good. This season won’t disappoint if future episodes keep up the momentum. And if I get bored, I suppose I can always watch “The Originals.”