I liked the opening scene and the contrast between the sunny lighting with Elena/Stefan and the dark lighting with Katherine/Mason. I also enjoyed the "You're staring."/"I'm gazing."/"It's creepy."/"It's romantic." exchange between Stefan and Elena (you see, Edward, watching people as they sleep isn't the norm).
Hey, Bonnie, have I mentioned how much I HAVEN'T missed you? Just...ugh. Shut-up already.
Speaking of people who were jerks towards Elena this episode, Jeremiah was one (and after she'd actually stuck to her word about not keeping secrets from him, this was how he thanked her? No, Jeremy, not everything that happens to you is Elena's fault, so give her a break. She's looking out for your ungrateful ass). At least when he was away from Elena, Jeremy was okay. I liked him working with Damon, Alaric and Stefan. I had to laugh at Damon's "See? Now your life has purpose." line to Jeremy.
I liked Mason's reaction to seeing Stefan was still alive and the way Stefan talked to him.
Damon's disgust at learning about Katherine/Mason (and pointing out he's a surfer) amused me.
Matt's "Hey!" objection to Tyler's "She's an insecure neurotic bitchy little twit." description of Caroline, then Tyler quickly amending it with "But the girl's got heart.", was kinda funny.
I appreciated Damon telling Bonnie to get over herself. She needed that. At least she ended up working with Caroline in the end to help save Stefan and Elena. So that's something at least. And Damon calling her "Judgy" was the perfect name for her.
Damon finally got to go all Jack Bauer on Mason's ass (which was quite a bit more nasty than Stefan's torture of Katherine).
Totally didn't see coming the fact that the well Stefan jumped into would be filled with Vervain. I liked Caroline coming to the rescue and ordering Bonnie to help Elena. Burned-face Stefan was pretty nasty. As was Damon shoving Wolfsbane into Mason's mouth and the results of that.
Another surprising moment was the random leaping water snakes that attacked Elena.
Good little moment, when Elena fed Stefan her blood, and Caroline had to turn away.
I enjoyed Damon's laughing at Mason maintaining that Katherine loved him, then saying "Now I get it, you're just stupid!" and informing him that Katherine was just using him (Damon was speaking from experience). And whoo! He finally ended the annoying Mason (a character I'm certainly not opposed to losing)!
I thought the best scene between Caroline and her mum was their last scene. Once again, Candice Accola rocked. She was so happy when she was telling her mum about Bonnie not being mean to her and their rescue of Stefan, but then she realised that although her mum said she trusted her daughter, she would never trust the Salvatores. Caroline proceeding to compel her mum into forgetting everything was a fairly sad moment.
Tsk tsk, Damon. You really should have listened to Stefan and not provoked Katherine on the phone. When will you EVER learn? Katherine is not one to be messed with (and I think we started to see the realisation dawn on Damon's face that this was indeed true just as she got in that extra little dig at him with "Send my love to Stefan.").
One truly HOLY CRAP moment was Jenna stabbing herself under Katherine's compulsion. I really wasn't expecting it until just before it happened. I was totally with Elena in yelling "NO!". I've come to be quite fond of Jenna. No, she might not be anything supernatural in origin, but she's one of the more likable 'purely human' characters (with no special gifts or abilities) in the show. I was expecting that, at some point, the show would off her - given how high the body count has been thus far - and so I was actually expecting her not to pull through. While I was relieved to hear Elena say that Jenna would be okay, I do still have this sneaking suspicion she might not stay well for long. Or maybe I'm just paranoid? This show will do that to you.
Probably the best part of the episode was the end. I was glad to see Jeremy be there for Elena and comforting her (especially after the way he'd acted towards her earlier), whilst simultaneously swearing vengeance against Katherine.
Nina and Paul really knocked it out of the park in their *true* break-up scene. The look on Stefan's face said it all. Kudos to both actors, they truly sold the heartbreak their characters were going through. Not to be outdone, however, by the look on Damon/Ian's face when he started to apologise for provoking Katherine. And she didn't blame him, which was nice of her. In the end, yes, they all were kind of "stupid" (as Elena put it), for not believing Katherine's earlier threats. I'm sure that now they won't make that mistake of underestimating Katherine ever again. She's not to be messed with. And as if everything preceding it wasn't proof enough of this, then she had to go and compel Matt to go after Tyler and hopefully bring out the werewolf in him (getting Matt killed in the process).
I'd actually thought the first half of this episode was somewhat slow, but things definitely picked up in the second half. Talk about some surprising moments. This show just never lets up. It continues to go from strength to strength. And that's why I love it.
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