All right, let’s start by getting all that messy plot out of the way:
- Part one of the sacrifice: Klaus ripped out Jules’ (Michaela McManus) heart; then he and Greta (Lisa Tucker) had some fun with her blood.
- Elsewhere, Matt (Zach Roerig) shot Tyler (Michael Trevino) and broke up with Caroline (Candice Accola). That pretty much makes him twice as much of a douche.
- Unknown to anyone at the sacrifice, Bonnie (Kat Graham) cast a spell on Elena to keep her alive by binding her and John’s (David Anders) life forces.
- Stefan (Paul Wesley) offered himself to Klaus as a replacement for Jenna, but Klaus wasn’t having it. He stabbed Stefan and killed Jenna, as Elena watched in horror. (I’ll share my many mixed opinions about Jenna’s death later on.)
- As Klaus began to transform, Bonnie arrived on the scene and used a crazy-bananas spell to subdue him.
- Just when Elijah (Daniel Gillies) was preparing to impale Klaus with “the dagger,” Klaus dropped a bombshell secret on him: Their family members, who Elijah thought Klaus had killed, aren’t actually dead! Klaus used this to convince Elijah to keep him alive, and the two flittered off into the night.
- Tyler turned out A-OK, and Caroline made him promise not to skip town again. (In case you’re wondering, yes, I’m a big fan of these two together.)
- Elena woke up, as a human, so John died. Those spells, they always have a catch.
- Everyone gathered in the cemetery to for Jenna’s (and possibly also John’s) funeral.
- Damon revealed his wolf bite to Stefan, then smoldered off into the mist…
Jenna Sommers, I miss you already:
Can we all have a moment of silence for Aunt Jenna? Her death will be remembered as a huge moment in the series — it’s not every day a TV show kills off one of its original leading characters — and Sara Canning played it perfectly. But no matter how impressed I was by Sara’s acting chops, I was even more upset to see Jenna make her final exit. Her character had gotten super boring, but only because she was one of the few humans left and was totally out of the loop. But the more she learned about vampires, eventually becoming one herself, she did a complete 180. She finally had the potential to become a great character again, but instead they decided to kill her off. Still, I won’t it against masterminds Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. They haven’t steered us wrong yet.
I’m really not excited for next week’s episode, no matter how many epic Damon moments we’re being promised:
Allow me to explain that incredibly pink statement: This week’s episode was so good and so important that I can’t even imagine how next week’s finale can possibly top it. Julie Plec recently gave an interview in which she said this week’s episode was going to be the season finale, but they needed another hour to devote to Damon’s emotional journey. Call me old-fashioned, but I like my finales to be full of action — and only mildly punctuated by moments of emotional gobbledygook. I’m hoping, once again, this show manages to totally surprise me in the best way.
What did you think of tonight’s episode? Do you agree, disagree, or in any way have emotions about the episode, or any of my potentially inane commentary? Drop a comment with your thoughts on Jenna’s death, Damon’s possible death, and life in general.
