Okay so I might a bit biased when it comes to reviewing the CW networks hit series, The Vampire Diaries, but that is only because the show is just so awesome it is hard not to be a little bit biased. And I mean, who can resist Ian Somerhalder’s famous smolder? However, the season five premiere had so much more to offer than the gorgeousness of Ian Somerhalder.
***SPOILERS BELOW***
On Thursday October 3, 2013 the CW premiered the fifth season of the thrilled supernatural series, The Vampire Diaries. Fans were left last season with a Vampire Diaries staple: a gut-wrenching cliffhanger. The summer kept fans in suspense as to whether or not Bonnie Bennett’s (Kat Graham) friends would find out that their favorite witch died while bringing Jeremy Gilbert (Steve R. McQueen) back to life.
When we are brought back to Mystic Falls we are treated to a brief introduction as to where our favorite supernatural and Matt (Zach Roerig)- seemingly the only human left in Mystic Falls- were up to over the summer. Ever since the show first began, fans were rooting for the inevitable: the coupling of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder). And finally, last season, the fans’ wishes came true when Elena told Damon she was in love with him and that is exactly how she spent her summer, loving Damon.
Meanwhile, Matt and the original sister, Rebekah (Claire Holt) spent their summer abroad doing things that need not be discussed. In an epically ironic turn of events, Katharine Pierce (Nina Dobrev) spent her summer as a human thanks to a little cure shoved in her mouth by Elena at the end of last season. Katharine’s fate is probably one of the most exciting so far. A vampire, who thrived on her ability to run, hide and fight back, is now forced to live as a vulnerable and weak human. The irony is just too good not to enjoy. Unfortunately for the kind-hearted ex-boyfriend of Elena and brother of Damon, Stefan Salvatore’s (Paul Wesley) summer was spent locked in a safe floating at the bottom of a reservoir and forced to drown over and over again. This is a fate handed to him by the worst villain Mystic Falls has seen, Silas, who just happens to be Stefan’s doppelganger. Yes, that’s right. There is another doppelganger on the show and this one is not quite as strangely loveable as Katharine is.
When our trip down summer-lane comes to a close, we realize that Elena and Caroline (Candice Accola) are heading off to move into their new dorm at Witmore College while Jeremy goes back to school for the first time since returning from the dead. A first day that ends with Jeremy pitted against a few of his classmates who don’t appreciate his new lease on life status. As Jeremy fights his classmates, Elena and Caroline are settling into their new life as college students and meeting their new roommate, Megan. While Silas makes himself comfortable as Stefan- actually comfortable doesn’t even really cover what Silas is doing. He is unafraid of outing himself and the rest of the vampires as he waltzes into the town square and calmly cuts into Liz Forbes (Marguerite MacInytre) and takes a drink of her blood without hesitation.
Poor Damon. Not only is he left with a now suspended baby Gilbert, he is now in charge of harboring and keeping a human Katharine safe in his home. Of course, this isn’t his choosing. As per her usual, Katharine kind of just sprung herself on him.
As to be expected college isn’t going to be Elena and Caroline’s safe haven- free of vampire drama- and Caroline learns this the hard way as she takes a sip of Megan’s water that ends up being laced with vervain. This threw the girls for a loop and Caroline, being the neurotic yet lovable vampire she was, wanted to gag the human and compel her into divulging all she knew about the vampires. Unfortunately for Megan, she didn’t survive past the first half of the episode and met her fate during a frantic phone call to Elena during a frat party that ended with Megan flying through a window.
As police investigate the death, Elena and Caroline realize that someone is behind this. And photo evidence of Megan with Elena’s dad once again brings the situation full circle back to the ever-damsel in distress, Elena Gilbert.
Poor Matt Donovan he is always getting the short end of the stick, even with the girls he falls for. Rebekah leaves him. Of course this is all a set up for the character to make her way to New Orleans for The Originals, the spin-off show of the Vampire Diaries. Matt is cornered by one of the women he did naughty things with in Europe and is possessed, or put under some kind of spell, by the women and falls limply to the ground. A frustrating trick by Vampire Diaries writers, leaving us hanging even before the episode ends. We have no clue what has happened to one of the only humans left in Mystic Falls.
Vampire Diaries is full of what I like to call, “oh snap moments,” and the premiere was chock full of them. None more so than when Silas/Stefan appears at an end of summer barbeque. After compelling the entire square to remain perfectly still, Bonnie watches on in horror as Silas kills her father (Rick Worthy), who is also the Mayor of Mystic Falls. The entire town watches on, but does nothing but await Silas’ instruction to which he replies with the ultimate egg hunt: finding Katharine Pierce. Oh that Katharine. Always in trouble with the worst of the worst villains.
So many questions left open by the premiere. Which is true to the show’s fashion, but that doesn’t mean it makes it any less frustrating and exciting to the fans. Now Thursday nights cannot come quick enough. So join me in jumping, screaming, sitting on the edge of our seats and crying during this season of The Vampire Diaries. Until the next episode let’s confide in and console one another in the comments, strength in numbers people!
