The Vampire Diaries 2.16: The House Guest (or the truth hurts)

Something crazy happened with my clock and I missed the first few minutes of the show, which made it hard for me to get into it for some reason. Even so, I thought this was a pretty interesting episode on a thematic level since so many of the story lines intersected and dealt with that burning issue we've all been wondering about for months--just how long can the vamps/witches/wolves be kept a secret? And is it more loving to keep a secret in the name of protection or does love mean sharing all information? Admittedly, this has got to be one of challenging life questions and even if the exploration was somewhat superficial, at least it was addressed!

So my girl Katherine is back! Yay! I just love her. I don't even care if the only person she thinks about is herself. She's clever and fierce. Sure she's cruel, but she's a VAMPIRE. She claims she's there to help, but naturally everyone's a bit wary. Apparently she's all about saving the Stefan. This is the truth that Katherine reveals at the expense of Damon's feelings. Was it best to tell the truth in this situation? Oh Damon's pained eyes. I have to say, the constant rejection of Damon baffles me. I understand why they are doing it from a writing standpoint, but on screen it just doesn't work. Ian is about a million times more beautiful and charismatic than Paul so it just seems unreal that all women would fall at Stefan's feet. I also resent the way they've been written in a way. I need more than this rejection story line to understand Damon. And I need more than what I got last week to understand why Stefan reformed. I also probably need to rewatch season one if we're being honest.

And yay for Caroline! Amazing how she just makes every episode BETTER. And also every character. And how sweet was her singing to Matt? When Jenna first talked with such resentment about Alaric not being honest with her (and thank GOD they finally remembered Jenna exists and has real human emotions about the events around her) and Caroline defended the choice not to tell, my first thought was that she was thinking of Tyler! I totally forgot about Matt. But yes, Caroline lied twice to two men who cared about her and both times it was for their alleged protection. And when they found out, they were upset. Matt's first reaction to her confession was to think of Vickie (who well, I forgot about) are we about to see frail mortal Matt try to wage war on the vamps? Or will Caroline compel him again? This is a really difficult situation, I think. Alas, I can't help but hope Caroline and Matt are over so that when Tyler comes back, there's room for them to work on their relationship. I so adore them.

Elena...um, yawn? She didn't have much of a story of her own, apart from being threatened by Jonas. She was on the receiving end of a confession though--Bonnie's confession about Jeremy. I loved her reaction. So supportive and sweet!

So yeah, the witches. They didn't trust the Salvatore's and decided to try to revive Elijah. How tragic for them, since it resulted in their deaths. I was admittedly sorry for Luka, but surprised Jonas died as well. I thought we might lose Katherine as well during that whole fight. I would have been so upset! But ugh that fire..what a terrible way to die. I have serious questions about the use of witchcraft on this show...it always seems to result in terrible things.(and fingers crossed The Secret Circle gets picked up so we can REALLY explore these ideas)

So Jonas is enraged when Luka dies and he tells Stefan that he will take away the only one he loves as well! Oh the drama. This results in the big destruction of the Mystic Grill when Jonas walks in and sets everything on fire and then seals his own fate when he essentially murders mortal Matt. Caroline is there however, and she gives him some of her blood which revives him and leads to the "I'm a vampire." confession.

Alaric chooses NOT to tell the truth and I really appreciated the way he framed things. "These things are not mine to tell." While it's a burden for Elena, I so respect that he gives her the choice, and clearly lays out what it will mean for the other people in her life. This makes it possible for Elena to make an informed decision. And his I love you was so sweet! Jenna wasn't buying it, but that's understandable. It's all so complicated now anyway, because Isobel is back! Oh joy.

And lastly, Bonnie is given her powers back when Jonas kicks it. What a relief. He has also, apparently, tasked her with killing Klaus. I think Bonnie and Jeremy are cute together, but I'm still really pulling for a Damon and Bonnie hook-up. But I'm fine with some character work being done in order to facilitate that.

Also I think there was something about finding a witches graveyard to draw on their power. Yes this is definitely going to fall on Bonnie to do a lot of the fighting. Should be interesting.

Alas, no more Vampire Diaries until April 7th!

Going back to the dilemma of "do you tell the truth when the info you have will hurt someone?" Well, I guess it remains to be seen!

Did you like this episode? Are you looking forward to an epic battle at the end of the season? Do you wish they'd let Damon have some love already?