Last night’s episode of The Vampire Diaries was less emotionally trying, but no less fantastic. Here’s your Friday dose of an episode recap – Caroline Forbes style.
Previously on The Vampire Diaries, Caroline was tortured by her father as he tried to “fix” her vampirism. It was painful. This week, when we first see Caroline Forbes, she has arrived unexpectedly at the Gilbert residence. Not only does she have a bowl of chili (which Elena does not seem thrilled about), she has Bonnie Bennett! Remember her? The third part of the infamous Mystic Falls BFF trio? I’m as excited as Elena is about Bonnie’s return from her seemingly never-ending summer vacation to her dad’s house. I sense some quality girl time in the near future, and I’m super excited about it.
Bonnie: “I leave town for the summer and everything goes to hell for the both of you?”
Elena and Caroline exchange glances and Caroline nods in agreement. Hell doesn’t begin to describe it, but yes, Bonnie, please never leave them again. Ever. Later on, the girls are catching up in Elena’s kitchen. Bonnie apathetically recalls how boring and normal her dad’s side of the family is, and Caroline says that she’d kill for a normal family after all that she’s been through recently. We don’t blame you, girl.
Caroline: “Since when did you learn how to cook?” Elena: “Damon helped a little.” Bonnie: “Damon’s helping you cook now?” Elena:“Both of you stop judging. He’s just trying to be a good friend.”
How great is it that Caroline and Bonnie are both obviously skeeved out about Elena’s relationship with Damon? His character normally bothers me, but this season he’s been different in a good way. (That is, up until this episode.) Elena is right: they can’t judge Damon because they haven’t been spending every waking hour of every day with him like she has. However, this is what girlfriends do. They look out for each other. Damon has made some horrific choices in the past – we can’t forget about how he used Caroline as his chew toy in Season 1 – so it makes sense for the girls to feel uncomfortable about Elena getting closer to him. Elena suddenly exclaims in pain and Caroline thinks that she has burnt her, but Elena’s necklace is what’s doing the burning — and to make things worse, it’s almost welding to her skin. (Elena must have a high pain tolerance. If that were me, I would have ripped that chain off as fast as possible.) This reminds me of a scene in “Brave New World” where Caroline tried to put on her vervain necklace that Elena had given her, but it burnt a scar as soon as it touched her chest. Of course, that was a somewhat different situation because Caroline was transitioning into a vampire, so the vervain had an effect on her, but it makes me wonder why Gloria’s locator spell made the necklace not only burn Elena, but Bonnie as well. It seemed like the spell gave it some kind of an electric current.
Caroline: “Maybe it’s a sign you shouldn’t be wearing it.” Bonnie: “Caroline…” Caroline: “What?! I’m just sayin’… You know, if you’re going to be cooking without Stefan.”
Unsurprisingly, Caroline has one of the best lines in the episode. I love her sarcasm in the midst of this necklace conundrum. Skip to the latest Mystic Falls celebration, and Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena are on the outskirts of the event as they try to figure out what’s going on with Elena’s necklace. While Bonnie reads up on an “identification spell” that she thinks will be useful, Caroline sees seizes the opportunity to question Elena about her motives with Damon. “So you’re not like, switching Salvatores, are you?” Elena is caught off guard and her “what?!” response is awesomely defensive. Caroline continues, “As your friend, who worries for you daily… What is the deal with you and Damon?” Elena says that Damon is focused on trying to find Stefan, but that doesn’t satisfy Caroline: “Yeah, but that doesn’t make him any less Damon.” Caroline then explains that if her own father can’t change her, there’s no hope for a change in Damon.
It baffles me that Caroline is comparing herself to Damon because they could not be more opposite from one another, but I guess she’s just trying to make a point. Either way, the conversation ends (luckily for Elena) because Bonnie tells them to look at the necklace that is now floating in the air. Oh my. I wish Elena would separate herself from that thing already. Not only is she in even more danger, now Caroline and Bonnie could also potentially get involved in Klaus’ shenanigans. No, thank you! That evening, Caroline and Elena continue to speculate about the necklace despite that they’re amongst a group of supernatural-hating Founding Family members. Caroline asks if Stefan ever told Elena where he got the necklace, and Elena says he never mentioned it, but that she never asked either. They’re still relying on Bonnie to figure out what’s going on. Her returning home the day this all happens is way too convenient.
Alaric joins the girls as they head toward the door – he’s over the party, too – and Caroline makes another wise crack at the mention of Damon. “Consider me the honesty police!” she says in response to Elena’s look of un-approval. She isn’t going to let this one go. Suddenly Caroline’s amusing attitude fades, and we realize it’s because she has spotted her dad at the party. Wait, WHAT?! So Damon’s compulsion didn’t work earlier? I think all of us saw that coming. It seemed far too easy of an out. Caroline can’t even speak when she sees Bill. I’m surprised she’s doing that well, considering the torturing happened only a few days ago in TV time. Understandably, Caroline quickly leaves. Tyler is on his way upstairs to his room when he finds Caroline relaxing on his bed. He’s been at football practice. I wonder how he and Matt are doing as teammates…? Caroline has apparently been hiding out in Tyler’s room ever since she caught a glimpse of her dad downstairs.
Tyler: “Are you okay? …do you want me to kick his ass?” Caroline: “Yes! No. I bought him the shirt he’s wearing and it is really expensive.” … Caroline: “GOD, you reek.” Tyler: “What?!” Caroline: “It’s bad.” Tyler: “Oh, this? This is sexy.” Caroline: “No! It’s really bad.”
Okay. They’re kind of cute. Mostly because of Caroline and her adorable self, but I’m giving Tyler the benefit of the doubt here. He’s making her smile and as a Caroline fan, I like when she’s happy. Wait a second, now they’re making out and removing clothing. I feel awkward again. Does everything have to lead to sex with them now? Sorry guys, I tried. Tyler and Caroline are interrupted when Caroline gets a phone call. Tyler is obviously unimpressed, but Caroline answers her phone anyway: “I’m only answering in case it’s a friend emergency.” Elena is on the other line and says that it is in fact an emergency. I love you, Caroline. Best friends are more important than boyfriends. Especially when said best friends always find themselves in life-threatening situations. I’m not sure how Caroline is going to help Alaric, though? That’s what his handy dandy ring is for. Maybe Elena just needs someone strong to help her carry him to a safe place. Meanwhile at the party, Damon and Bill Forbes have had a few words, and Damon is actually feeding on Bill. I had some very mixed feelings as I watched this go down. I didn’t necessarily want Damon to be the one to kill Caroline’s dad, but then again, Bill kind of deserves to die after what he did to Caroline last week. In the midst of Damon’s latest snack, Caroline rushes into the room at vamp speed and rescues her dad, and kicks Damon’s ass in the process. When her dad refuses to drink her healing blood, Caroline says “grow up” and forces him to drink it anyway. Damon and Caroline continue to brawl at vamp speeds that are kind of difficult to follow, and Caroline continues to be awesome. Caroline wins the fight, leaves with her dad, and Damon is left stunned on the ground. There was a reason why GO CAROLINE was a worldwide trending topic on Twitter last night. Damon has had this coming for two seasons. (The “you suck” scene was great last season, but definitely not enough after what Damon put Caroline through while they were “dating.”) On what I assume is the next day, Caroline and Elena are walking around downtown as they recall what happened the previous evening.
Caroline: “It’s been a long week, so I’m just gonna be blunt. It doesn’t matter what he does… Damon’s gotten under your skin.” Elena: “That’s not true.” Caroline: “Ugh. God. Just admit it, Elena! Okay! You are attracted to him and ALL of his bad brother glory!” Elena: “No.” Caroline: “Wait, no, you’re not attracted to him? Or no, you just won’t admit it!” Elena: “I can’t, Caroline. If I admit it… if I even thought it for just a second… what does that say about me?” Caroline: “It says you’re human, Elena.”
Whenever Caroline and Elena have a one-on-one conversation, it seems like they inevitably end up at the vampire vs. human notion, and that’s sad to me. When she’s with Elena, Caroline is reminded of how she isn’t human because Elena is often dealing with situations that reaffirm her own humanity. This is especially true in Season 3 because Elena is no longer dating a vampire. She isn’t organizing her life around how a vampire lives, but she isn’t fully living out her humanity either… and we often see Caroline reminding her of that. While it’s sad that Caroline has to urge her best friend to live the best human life that she possibly can while Caroline is stuck as she is for eternity, it’s also great to see how Caroline’s vampirism and her transformation into this strong, fun-loving, loyal person has reaffirmed her importance in Elena’s life. Caroline constantly challenges Elena’s ways of thinking and her actions, and she always has Elena’s best interest in mind. Next we see Caroline’s dad walking to his car. Caroline walks over to him even though she doesn’t look excited about doing so, but who can blame her? They casually exchange a few words, and Caroline stays solemn throughout the conversation. Bill thanks Caroline for coming to his rescue and I almost forgave the guy for a second.
Caroline: “Daddy? I’m gonna be okay.” Bill: “You’re a vampire, sweetheart. I don’t think you’ll ever be okay again.”
…and then that happened. When he walked back up to Caroline, she looked like thought he was coming back to give her a hug goodbye, or to at least reassure her that things would be okay again. Of course, nothing is that easy in Caroline’s world. Written by Maddie Coe. Visit her Candice Accola Fansite for the latest details about the actress. View more Disturbing Behavior Screencaps at Candice Accola Web today!