Review of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – By the Light of the Moon (2010)

There was a full moon hanging over the night sky in Mystic Falls and lots of lives hung in the balance. It was Tyler’s (Michael Trevino) first transformation and Caroline (Candice Accola) had fool-heartedly volunteered to accompany him so that he did not transition alone — like she did. It was also the night that the moonstone was supposed to be de-activated; but due to a nice slight of hand by Luka (Bryton James), that did not exactly go as planned. Then hovering in the wings was Jules (Michaela McManus), a werewolf friend of Mason’s (Taylor Kinney) who was trying to figure out what exactly happened to him. And, finally, Elijah (Daniel Gillies) made his presence known and struck a mysterious bargain with Elena (Nina Dobrev).

Who chose wisely and who chose foolishly remains a bit murky. But perhaps Jonas (Randy J. Goodwin), Luka and Elijah know what they are doing by keeping the moonstone intact and trying to lure Klaus out so that Elijah can kill him — though that does not explain what is going on with the werewolves. So many questions were left hanging: did Jules attack Rose and infect her with something? Or was that another ruse by Jonas and Luka to make Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Rose (Lauren Cohan) believe that a werewolf’s bite was not as deadly as they feared? Who exactly is playing the long-con here? And what is the endgame?

The theme of the episode was imprisonment: Tyler was imprisoned by a curse that would render him to the most base animal state; Katherine (Nina Dobrev) was imprisoned in the tomb to keep her from wrecking further havoc; Elena was imprisoned in her own home to keep her safe; Stefan (Paul Wesley) was imprisoned in the tomb after trading his life for Jeremy’s (Steven R. McQueen); and Damon was imprisoned in his home until the full moon had passed fearing he had been marked for death.

Despite these various chafing prisons, it came down to a question of: what will we do to protect those that we love? In Elena’s case, she remained willing to sacrifice her life to protect everyone she loves; Stefan was willing to rot for eternity in the tomb with Katherine if it meant keeping Elena safe; and Damon was willing to dance with the devil or at least ply Jules with liquor to find out what kind of threat the werewolves posed. Prison is, after all, not so bad if you walk into it willingly.

What Worked

Tyler’s transformation. Watching Tyler endure the agony of turning into a werewolf was terrifying. Our hearts broke and we cried along with Caroline watching the slow, painful process. It is not exactly like watching a person die, but close. In this case, Tyler’s innocence was stripped away and he became the monster that he feared all along. To lose control and attack those he cares about is his worst fear — he does not want to be just a wild animal; and to be reduced to such a base existence has stolen a piece of his humanity. Thus, it was touching how tenaciously Caroline stayed by his side to remind him that he was not alone and that someone cared about him — for to be abandoned and alone would have made it that much worse.

As beautifully agonizing and scary as Tyler’s transformation was, there was the classic Tyler-Caroline exchange when Caroline saw he was stripping down and exclaimed, “Oh my god! You’re not going to get naked, are you?” To which, Tyler smiled and said, “It’s elastic. What should I wear?” Nice that they could joke a little at such a painful time. Humor and compassion is something they will need to cling to as a friendship between a werewolf and a vampire will not be an easy relationship.

So while Tyler imprisoned himself to keep others safe, Elena was kept imprisoned for her own safety. It was sheer genius that everyone conspired to seal Elena in her own house. It was unexpected and yet perfect for the girl who is consistently trying to do things on her own and without thought of how it hurts those who care about her. It also provided some moments of levity in a very suspenseful episode. Such as when Stefan incredulously asked Damon, “You trapped her in the house?” and Damon ruefully said, “It’s for the best. Trust me. Elena is on a martyr-tude that rivals your greatest hits.”

However, by trapping Elena in an effort to keep her safe, it was also meant she was easy prey for Elijah. It was just lucky that the last thing on Elijah’s mind was killing her. Instead, he has a much more interesting plan of using her as bait to lure Klaus out of hiding so that Elijah can kill Klaus. Sophisticated, devious and very clever. Now why didn’t Katherine think of that? Regardless, it was fascinating how Elijah quickly went from being the most feared villain to being a trusted ally.

Is there no one who does not want Elena kept alive for some selfish reason of their own? It is becoming all that much clear that Elena is simply too valuable alive to want any harm to come to her.

Then turning to Katherine, no matter how much she tried to toy with Stefan’s mind, it was reassuring to see that she still could not breach the walls of Stefan and Elena’s love. Katherine may have been able to manipulate Stefan’s dreams, but the second Stefan was free, he ran straight to Elena — and as Elena discovered, it does not feel like a prison when you are with the one you love.

On a separate note, it was refreshing to see that Damon honored his promise and did not try to exploit the fact that Elena and Stefan were separated by their respective confinements. In fact, showing uncharacteristic restraint, Damon did not make a play for Elena and instead kept busy finding out what Jules was up to. Thus, it felt rather chivalrous that Damon did not dare bring danger to Elena by returning to her house after his encounter with Jules at the Grill. Instead, he returned directly home. Despite his flippancy to Katherine when she tried to warn him that Klaus would be coming to kill him, he retorted, “I’ve been dead before. I got over it,” Damon has a healthy survival streak and his instincts told him to not mess with the werewolves on a full moon. It was really good timing that Rose was waiting for him when he returned home and she took the brunt of the werewolf attack. How devastating would that have been to have watched Damon be bitten and then be left to wonder for the next six weeks if he was going to survive?!

We also knew it had to be too good to be true when the moonstone was shattered in a cascade of fireworks. Despite the illusion, it was still a beautiful scene with the candles on the rooftop and Mystic Falls just below. It felt more like a night of romance and we are beginning to see why Bonnie (Katerina Graham) is resisting Jeremy’s charms in order to hang out with Luka. Devious or not, he has some moves. Thus, later when Jonas asked Luka, “You were successful?” and he responded, “She fell for the whole show and didn’t suspect a thing,” we were simultaneously relieved and disappointed. Relieved that our fears were justified, but disappointed that Luka is stringing Bonnie along. So there may be hope for Jeremy after all.

Gosh, how the mighty has fallen. To hear Katherine plead with Stefan, “Please don’t let him leave me in here” and Stefan’s cold response, “Goodbye, Katherine,” it now seems that life imprisoned alone in that tomb is Hell on Earth.

What Didn’t Work

Surely after being around as many vampires as Jeremy has, he would have seen or sensed Elijah as he left his bedroom. It is not like Elijah is invisible. So it was hard to believe that Elijah just stood there while Jeremy dashed down the stairs to help Jenna (Sara Canning).

Matt’s (Zach Roerig) quick appearance at The Grill was all too brief. With so much action going on in Mystic Falls, he deserves to be included just a bit more.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

‘By the Light of the Moon’ was written by Mike Daniels and directed by Elizabeth Allen. ‘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.

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