Review of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – The Last Dance (2011)

A circle of trust is broken as a web of lies is woven

After last week’s masterful slight of hand as Isobel (Mia Kirshner) handed over Katherine (Nina Dobrev) to Klaus and Klaus took possession of Alaric’s (Matt Davis) body, this week finally revealed what Klaus was really up to: he needed to neutralize any remaining threats and, so that he could figure out what the Salvatores and Gilberts were planning, he needed to infiltrate their circle of trust — and the best person to use for that devious purpose was Alaric.  It was either Alaric or Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), and Alaric was just easier to get his hands on.

So, as Klaus masqueraded in Alaric’s body, hearing all their secret plans, he was able to plot his counter-move: he would eliminate Bonnie (Katerina Graham) before she could turn all her witchy powers on him.   Aided with his own witch’s protection spell, Klaus was able to choose the exact time and place of his showdown.  With the element of surprise on his side, he successfully separated Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Bonnie from the others and staged his attack — all he needed to do was force Bonnie to use all her power and she would self-destruct.

Fortunately, once the ruse had been exposed and Klaus felt over-confident in his position, it was Damon (Ian Somerhalder) who quickly came up with a last minute plan, saving Bonnie’s life and giving them back their own element of surprise.  Staging Bonnie’s death so that Klaus would no longer consider her a threat was brilliant — and it worked.  All Damon and Bonnie had to do was make it look like she was dead to everyone else.  So long as their grief-stricken reactions were real, Klaus would believe it.

It was the oldest magician’s trick in the book, but one of the world’s oldest living vampires fell for it.  Why do illusions work so well?  Because the audience wants to believe it.  In this case, Klaus wanted to believe he was strong enough to withstand Bonnie’s full power and that he could defeat her.  In the end, it is his own ego that will be the death of him.  Klaus never imagined that he could be fooled after he so cleverly fooled everyone.  But, in the end, vanity shall be the death of him.

Points of Interest

1.  Caroline (Candice Accola) and Matt (Zach Roerig) were adorable dressed up as JFK and Jackie O.  They also made it believable that Caroline would not suspect anything was up with Matt, while simultaneously Matt struggled to conceal his knowledge of Caroline’s true nature.  Instead of Caroline having the big secret, it was Matt’s turn to have a deep dark secret – it made their interactions more intense now that the tables were turned.

2.  Katherine may be subdued for the moment, but given how intently she was listening to Klaus’ plans to destroy Bonnie, she clearly is not out of the game yet.  Can’t wait to see what she’s up to!

3.  It was also good to see that Liz Forbes (Marguerite MacIntyre) was having an attack-of-conscious and needed time to think about what to do about her daughter.  It would have difficult to see her just act like she could flip a switch and coldly kill Caroline now that she knows Caroline is a vampire.

What Worked

Who knew that Klaus was such a romantic?! His romantic gesture by asking Elena to save the last dance for him is telling.  If Klaus simply wanted to break the Sun and Moon Curse, he could have taken Elena and killed her.  Instead, he seems to want to get to know her; in fact, the first time he saw her, he was rendered nearly speechless — like she took his breath away.  He was immediately smitten and sought to woo her.  Even the song he dedicated to her at the dance showed the attention of a suitor, not the heart of a diabolical, cold-hearted killer.  Klaus may have initially wanted to kill her, and he may ultimately still have to do just that in order to get what he wants, but now that he has seen her, he may want to keep her — for awhile anyway.  After all, she is the spitting image of Katherine, who is the girl that got away.

What is it about Elena had catches so many vampires’ attention?  Does she have some kind of supernatural ability to sweep vampire men off their feet?  Stefan (Paul Wesley), Damon, Klaus and perhaps Elijah (Daniel Gillies) — all have demonstrated varying degrees of a special soft-spot for this raven haired beauty.

Klaus was first struck by her beauty and how much she looked like Katherine, but the second she slipped up and called him “Rick” in front of the class, he was a goner.  He seemed to think it was imperative to get to know her further at that point.  Like she was a possession worth having or winning, and not just a means to an end — the blood sacrifice he needed to break the curse.

Perhaps the doppelgangers are meant to be so alluring and captivating that it makes it nearly impossible for a vampire to actually sacrifice them.  That may be a part of the curse — if a vampire is so overwhelmed by feelings for the doppelganger, then the curse stays in place.  It would certainly explain a lot — especially why Stefan, Damon and Klaus keep falling for the same girl.  It is part of the curse:  they cannot kill the woman that they love.

As a funny moment in the midst of the dance, it was hysterical how Damon popped Klaus’ euphoric love-bubble when he casually remarked, “I’m not impressed.  This guy’s a little out of whack.”  Simply because Damon thought Klaus’ song choice was weak, Klaus seemed perturbed — like his ego was bruised by Damon’s flippant remark.  These vampires not only still look like teenagers, they apparently still act like them too.  A vampire over 500 years old, and he is hurt that his song did not invoke delirious rapture in his new beloved or inspire angry jealousy in his rivals?  Absolutely hysterical!

So while Klaus was tip-toeing around scoping out his competition for Elena’s heart, as well as sizing up his competition on the battlefield, Stefan and Damon took decidedly different approaches on how to best protect Elena.  Stefan, being the boyfriend, sought to protect Elena’s feelings; while Damon only sought to keep Elena safe — for it did not matter to Damon if he hurt Elena’s feelings, so long as she was alive in the end.

And just like the brothers took different approaches, so did Elena.  Just as soon as the property deed to the mansion was finalized and she was the official owner, Elena agreed to let Stefan back in without any conditions placed upon him.  But, with Damon, Elena had a big condition for him — he must agree to obey her.  He must abide by her rules — and she did not want him keeping any more secrets from her.

This was particularly interesting as with Stefan, Elena did not feel she needed to know his secrets — and she certainly knows that he has them.  But with Damon, she wants to know what he is thinking.  Elena knows that he is always keeping something from her and the curiosity is killing her.  Perhaps somewhere in her memory she still remembers his declaration of love.  Perhaps his compulsion to erase that memory was not so effective.  Has the fact that Elena drank some of Stefan’s blood negated some of the compulsion effects?  Just like Caroline was able to remember everything Damon did to her and tried to make her forget — once she became a vampire; perhaps Elena’s buried memories are starting to slowly surface?  Or is it just a feeling that she has that Damon is still hiding something and she just desperately wants to know?

Playing into the Damon-and-Elena love story was their flirtatious moment on the dance floor when Stefan left her entirely in Damon’s hands (literally).  Faced with unexpected physical contact with Damon, Elena seemed awkward and unsure.  Yet Damon masterfully took over the dance and put her mind at ease by playfully reminding her, “Remember the last Decade Dance?  The vampires were all ‘argh!’ and you were all ‘aaah’!”  Laughing at his outrageous imitation, Elena said, “And we won.”  To which Damon firmly replied, “Yes, we did.”  And as he took continued to gracefully lead her through the dance, Elena finally succumbing to the carefree moment, exclaimed,  “You’re good at this!” and Damon twitching his eyebrows, impishly replied, “I’ve got moves you’ve never seen!”

Just as hard as it is to believe that Stefan would let Damon dance with Elena on the dance floor, he also left her alone with Damon — in Damon’s bedroom no less!  Yet after the big reveal that Bonnie was, in fact, not dead — that Damon had only let Elena believe that so that they could fool Klaus — Elena felt contrite enough to venture into such forbidden territory.  As Damon tried to explain, “Klaus had to believe she was dead.  Your reaction had to be real,” Elena softly replied, “I understand why you did what you did.  Klaus was fooled and Bonnie’s alive.”  And as Damon mockingly toasted, “Here’s to duplicity,” Elena finally admitted, “I shouldn’t have hit you.”  Not willing to concede his richly-deserved victory, Damon firmly replied, “Apology accepted. . . [but] let me be clear about something, if it comes down to you and the witch again — I will gladly let Bonnie die.  I will always choose you.”  That may be the closest Damon is going to get to declaring his love for Elena — again.  But it is enough to remind her that she comes first with him.  He feels strongly enough that he will die for her and he will sacrifice anyone to make sure she lives.

And despite his harsh words and the conviction he may feel about his actions, a few chinks were revealed in that icy exterior surrounding Damon’s bleeding heart, such as when he danced with Bonnie and quietly asked, “All that power — isn’t there a way to increase your odds?”  Uncertain she heard him correctly, Bonnie replied, “Careful, Damon, I might start to think you actually care,” and he playfully replied, “Wouldn’t want that!”  But just the inquiry alone belied a beating heart and Damon’s concern.

Likewise, earlier there was a glimpse of it when Damon had asked Stefan, “Do you think he killed her?” and Stefan calmly replied, “Katherine? Probably.”  While Damon may have simply said, “It’s not like she didn’t have it coming,” one got the sense that it bothered him.  He may not love Katherine, but he cared enough to wonder if she was still alive.  He has a “savior” streak in him that wants to save people.  Thus, he may willingly sacrifice Bonnie for Elena, but if he can save both lives, he will.  And he certainly was concerned about the idea that Klaus may have killed Katherine — for why would he worry if he didn’t have some kind of heart?

So despite the careful facade of ruthlessness, Damon is the more tender-hearted of the two.  When Stefan confronted him, saying, “You know, you could have told me,” Damon retorted, “How did I know that you wouldn’t go blabbing things to your girlfriend?”  And when Stefan harshly replied “Do you know what you put her through?” Damon shrugged and said, “See, that’s why I didn’t tell you — ’cause you never would have been able to do it. . . . Don’t get me wrong, Stefan.  I don’t mind being the bad guy —  I’ll make all the life and death decisions while you’re busy worrying about collateral damage.  I’ll even let her hate me for it. . . but, at the end of the day, I’ll be the one to keep her alive.”

Careful, Damon — your human heart is showing.  And we love you all the more for it!

What Didn’t Work

As cool as it was that Elena went down to the basement to revive Elijah — surely, one of the two vampires living upstairs would have heard what she was up to and moved to stop her.  That super hearing ability seems a bit haphazard.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

“The Last Dance” was written by Michael Narducci and directed by John Behring. ‘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. on the CW.