by Michele Pearson:
The Vampire Diaries: “Growing Pains”
Original Air Date (The CW): Thursday October 11, 2012
Season 4 Episode 1
When we last left Mystic Falls, Stefan and Damon learned that Elena had died with vampire blood in her system, thanks to Doctor Meredith Fell. Season four starts with an in transition Elena waking up, delirious and frightened. Stefan informs her of the current situation which, of course, causes Elena to freak out. Stefan tries to reassure her that Bonnie is working on a spell to stop the transition. Damon, ever the optimist (snort), says it has never happened in vampire history and Elena must feed or she’ll die. Poor Damon. He is so furious with his brother for following Elena’s wishes and saving Matt first. Suddenly, Elena starts remembering things that Damon compelled her to forget, like telling her that because he loved her so much he was letting her be with Stefan rather than stealing her away.
In continuing another storyline left off from season three, Klaus has jumped bodies. Thanks to Bonnie’s help, he looks and sounds like young Mr Lockwood. Of course, Bonnie did not do this spell out of the kindness of her heart but to save her friends, who have all been sired by Klaus and would have died had Alaric succeeded in killing him. More on this later.
So, the founding families are no longer in charge of the council. Pastor Young is cleaning house (thanks again Alaric!) and arrested Mayor Lockwood and Sheriff Forbes, removing them both from duty. They also take over the hospital blood supply and detain Doctor Fell. After seizing all Vervain, the mob proceeds to capture Stefan, Elena, Caroline and Rebekah. Klaus, upon learning that Caroline has been captured, saves her but leaves his sister, much to her irritation. Stefan, Elena and Rebekah are locked in the horse stalls on Pastor Young’s ranch. Elena, who still hasn’t fed, is dying slowly. Rebekah is happy since this means she will get to watch Elena die again. Stefan is kicking himself for not having Elena feed earlier in the day.
Caroline is so happy that “Tyler” is alive. Alone in the woods, she proceeds to engage in “hot vampire sex” with her man…until he lets it slip that he’s actually Klaus. (Whoops!) She drags him back to Bonnie and demands an explanation. Bonnie explains that it was the only way to save everyone and then says she will try to keep Elena from turning. After being unable to get the spirits to listen to her, Bonnie stops her own heart and travels to the other side herself to find Elena’s spirit and return it to her body. Just as she is starting to do so (and seeing that it is in fact working), Grams appears to Bonnie and tells her to stop. The spirits are angry and if she continues, the consequences to herself and those she loves will be dire. Returning to Jeremy, Caroline and Klaus, Bonnie informs Klaus that she can’t use black magic to switch him back to his own body. Klaus proceeds to rip out Tyler’s heart, saying he will just jump into the nearest body after Tyler’s is dead. (“Maybe yours!” He says to Jeremy, who has no response.) Bonnie proceeds with the black magic spell only to have Grams appear before her again. Grams tells Bonnie that by defying the spirits yet again, they are going to take out their anger on someone Bonnie loves: Grams! Her spirit begins to burn and Grams screams in agony but a crying Bonnie continues with the spell.
Meanwhile, Elena starts to say her goodbyes to Stefan, telling him that she had to choose to say good-bye to one of the brothers (when they thought the whole line was dying after Klaus was seemingly killed) and she was on her way back to Mystic Falls to see Stefan because she loves him. Rebekah and Stefan are then able to trick one of their guards into coming close enough for them to bash his head in on the bars. Stefan tosses the body close enough to Elena so she can feed and live. Honestly, I don’t know how it worked. She just licked a spot of blood off of her fingers!
On the farm, Damon has arrived with Matt in order to save Elena and Stefan. Damon feeds on Matt (to bring out the lynch mob to capture the “big scary vampire”) and is shot by the mob. He plays possum and subdues the guards who come to capture him. Suddenly, he turns on Matt, furious that he is still alive while Elena is going through the one thing she didn’t want. As he tries to kill him, a vamped Elena knocks Damon to the ground and demands that he let Matt go!
After releasing Stefan and Rebekah, Elena and Damon talk. Elena tells him that she remembers everything and asks why he didn’t tell her that they met first that night on the bridge. He asks her if it would have made a difference (presumably in which brother she chose) and her silence speaks volumes. Damon is furious that Elena will never get an opportunity to grow old and have the life that she deserves.
Rebekah goes to Klaus (now restored back into his own body…ummm…what happened to Tyler???) and finds that he is packing away the last of Elena’s doppelgänger blood, intent on leaving to find more werewolves to create more hybrids. Rebekah asks why he needs to create a family when she has always been there for him. She grabs the bags of blood and destroys them, ensuring that Klaus cannot create more hybrids. Furious, Klaus snaps her neck.
Sitting in the moonlight, Elena and Stefan discuss their future. After Elena comments that they should get inside before sunrise, Stefan presents her with a daylight ring that Bonnie made for her earlier in the day, just in case.
Back to the farm, Pastor Young has gathered the members of the council (sans most of the founding families) and begins filling the house with gas. As the people watch, he locks the doors and declares “we are the beginning”. He pulls out his lighter and blows up the house, apparently killing everyone.
So…current open storylines for the season:
1) Where’s Tyler?
2) Will Bonnie be able to remain a witch after this last stunt she pulled?
3) What revenge will Klaus seek out on Elena and those around her, now that the doppelganger bloodline is officially dead?
4) Will Elena stay with Stefan out of duty and/or love or will her feelings for Damon become more pronounced?
5) Will Elijah return knowing that Klaus is not dead? Who’s side will he be on? And will Rebekah finally turn on her a-hole of a hybrid brother?
This looks to be an exciting season. I hope that you will join me next week where I think even bigger revelations will come out. So, until next time little ones!!
Michele Pearson is a contributor for DarkMedia. She covers Vampire Diaries and any other films, books, etc that come her way. She reads everything from Lonesome Dove to Game of Thrones and loves epic tv series like Doctor Who and Star Trek: TNG. Michele also loves a good horror film and was able to channel that love as a judge for Shriekfest 2012. Follow her on Twitter at @GirlInRowB and check out her blog at http://www.girlinrowb.com.
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