Posted by Crissy Calhoun | October 31, 2010, 13:12 (EST) | 82 Comments
Category: TV Series

With jaw-droppingly good episodes week after week, it’s getting harder to think of new ways to express my admiration for this show. There were so many great moments, perfect lines, moving performances (I’m looking at you, Trevino), twists, turns, new connections, and handsome men in suits in Masquerade but perhaps most impressive was how the episode managed to share the spotlight among so many characters in such a short amount of time.

Keeping us in the dark about how this plan to capture and kill Katherine was going to play out gave the episode a great caper film quality; the gang’s misdirection was clever and believable with everyone pulling off his or her part flawlessly. Well, almost everyone. Alaric may be able to take on a house full of tomb vamps but he can’t keep an eye on Elena for an evening.

Displaying his excellent detective skills, Stefan puts together a few more pieces of the Katherine puzzle, some of which we already knew. To recap what we know thus far: back in 1864, Katherine faked her death to escape whoever was after her; she gave the moonstone to George Lockwood in exchange for his catch-and-release charade. Katherine blames Damon and his 145-year quest to get her out of the tomb she wasn’t in for her death ruse being unsuccessful. The moonstone wasn’t hers to give away, and now it seems whomever she took it from wants it back — and maybe wants her dead too. Katherine’s ultimate endgame is yet to be revealed: when Lucy asks if she’s going to break the curse, does she mean the werewolf-tied-to-the-moon curse or something more? Is a werewolf the only thing deadly enough to take out whoever’s on Katherine’s tail?

Doppelgangland: Just as fascinating to me as Katherine’s plan and the question of who’s after her is the developing doppelganger mythology. What I thought was brilliant in Masquerade was how Lucy’s spell binding Katherine and Elena together made the tie that exists between them explicit just for duration of the episode but it foreshadows that there’s something far more significant shared between our look-alikes than appearance. (Plus the shock of Elena reacting to the stake in Katherine’s back — priceless.) As that tomb door closes, Katherine says that Elena is in danger and as the doppelganger she must be protected. From Elena’s perspective, Katherine is her doppelganger. But Katherine came first, making Elena the copy, not the original. Elena’s the doppelganger. What does that mean exactly? Not a clue. But a safe bet is that both Katherine and the creeper in the mask who kidnapped Elena have a better understanding of how they are connected and what power or threat comes from that tie.

The doppelganger issue also further complicates the Salvatore brothers’ feelings for Katherine and Elena. If Elena is in some way more than just a visual copy of Katherine, what does that mean for her relationship with Stefan? With Damon? Just as Elena’s presence is felt with Katherine and the boys in that room with Elena’s fate tied to Katherine’s, Katherine’s presence has always been a part of the brothers’ relationships with Elena. Being a master manipulator, Katherine knows how best to play these cards: she tries to hurt Damon by mocking his love for her and teases him by offering him a way to kiss Elena by kissing her. She takes the opposite approach with Stefan, trying again to show him that she really does love him (which has the nice added affect of hurting Damon). It’s a messy twisted situation.

But our Salvatore brothers united aren’t so easily defeated. We’ve seen them fight alongside each other before, but taking on Katherine (in both a physical showdown and against her mind games) is more significant. Their love for Katherine is what tore them apart; by fighting against her together, Damon and Stefan are closer than they’ve been in a century and a half.

Other than the fact that killing off Katherine would have taken a whole lot of diabolical awesomeness out of The Vampire Diaries equation, I’m on side with Damon’s decision to opt for a punishment with poetic justice. Death would be too kind: Katherine was supposed to be entombed for a century and a half? Lock her up in that tomb. (I’m just hoping it will be more like an episode and a half of time served rather than an eternity of desiccation.) Now that his evil ex is captured and her werewolf boyfriend killed, what will Damon turn his attention to? Will he follow through on what he says to Katherine — that he’ll protect Elena? Wild and crazy prediction: yes, he will.

At the end of the episode, Elena pushes Stefan away, telling him she needs to feel that her family is safe and that she is safe before she can be with him again. With her aunt just home from the hospital, her brother joining the Kill Kat Club without her knowledge, and her body riddled with the injuries inflicted on her vampire twin, Elena’s reluctance to leap right back into the relationship that introduced all things supernatural into her life is understandable. She’s shell-shocked. Of course, after she’s nabbed in the parking lot, we remember that it’s not just her relationship with Stefan that has her in danger — it’s who she is, who her parents are, her bloodline, the town she lives in, and almost every single one of her friends. Whoever she chooses to be with — a human, a vampire, or no one at all — there’s no escaping the dangers in Mystic Falls. As Jeremy says to her, “It’s not just you anymore, Elena.”

The Good Witch: We were told to be patient with Bonnie and Masquerade looks like the payoff episode: we get character development, action, romance, and distant relatives with meaningful messages! Not only is Bonnie invaluable in the Kill Entomb Kat plan — she puts the spell on the room, she figures out why Elena’s injuries are appearing out of thin air, she makes an ally out of Lucy, and she binds Katherine in the tomb — but Bonnie has the beginning of a little something-something sparking with Jeremy “I’m Not a Kid Anymore” Gilbert and, even more emotionally powerful for me, she realizes that though she’ll never have Grams back, there are other witches in her family who can provide direction and guidance. She’s not alone. Though Lucy doesn’t stick around Mystic Falls, what she says to her “cuz” may have a lasting effect on her: right in the middle of the fight is where Bonnie should be. She may hate being torn between needing to protect people and not wanting to get involved, as she told Jeremy, but Lucy’s comment resonates with her and may help Bonnie come to terms with the role she plays in Team Badass’s master plans.

Lucy also calls Bonnie “one of the good ones,” implying that, while Lucy may be a more powerful witch, she isn’t always a good one. Bonnie also raised the idea of good and bad magic while talking to Jeremy, talking about which spells she’s learned from the grimoire. So far with what we’ve seen of witches (Emily, Grams, Bree, and Bonnie), they’re pulled into vampire problems reluctantly, in payment of debt, or through some other involuntary bond — but they normally live like the rest of us humans do. With the good witch/bad witch idea raised, there’s just a hint of a dark alternative for Bonnie’s future (and it’s got me thinking of season 6 Willow).

But let’s jump back from Bonnie’s distant imaginary future to her compelling present. While the idea of a Bonnie/Jeremy romance is a little new to be entirely comfortable just yet, what I like about these two spending time together is the common ground they share and how desperately they both need someone — who isn’t Elena or a vampire — who gets what they’re going through. Both have lost loved ones and have felt isolated from the people who are supposed to be closest to them; neither has a parent or role model in the world of the supernatural. (While we don’t know much about Bonnie’s parents, it’s clear that she can’t turn to them with witchy issues. And Jer’s relationships with Damon, Uncle John, and Alaric haven’t panned out in this direction.) Bonnie and Jeremy feel compelled to fight the good fight when it comes to evil forces in Mystic Falls; they just can’t stay out of it. It’ll be interesting to watch their dynamic develop, whether or not this episode’s flirtation turns into a real romance.

Collateral Damage: Though Katherine didn’t plan on being entombed, the rest of her goals for the masquerade ball are met: moonstone retrieved, Tyler made a werewolf. As it turns out, Katherine really did have a Plan C: Sarah. Though we didn’t get to know Sarah or Aimee beyond their shared love for drinking and dancing around the Lockwood mansion, their deaths were not without impact. Katherine’s admirable precision in paralyzing and then killing Aimee in plain view on the dance floor will no doubt go down in Vampire Diaries’ history as one of the best death scenes — unexpected and horrifying in its casual execution with Stefan left standing there, holding the girl’s lifeless body.

And Sarah — for dying instead of Matt, I salute you. With Matt’s unusual presence at the Gilbert house, bringing Jenna home and having a nice heart-to-heart with Elena, we were certainly being lead down the Matt-Donovan-is-toast path in Masquerade. It was painful to watch him torment Tyler by desecrating his father’s study and reminding him of what a dick Mayor Lockwood could be to his son. Even as I winced watching the fight, I couldn’t help but marvel at how this scene (like many others on TVD) echoes an earlier moment, making it all the more moving and profound. Last season at a swank Lockwood mansion party, Tyler beat Matt up after making out with his mother (Under Control). And in Masquerade Matt’s attack is targeted at the source of Tyler’s pain and weakness: the parent who let him down and damaged him.

It’s been a long slow build for Tyler Lockwood — and Michael Trevino — but we’re finally there: the curse has been activated and Tyler has wicked wolf eyes. We’ve watched as recently turned vampires find their way (or end up dead) but we’re in uncharted territory with Tyler. Will he head down to the Lockwood dungeon on the next full moon and lock himself up like his uncle did? Will he become an ally with the vampires — assuming he finds out they exist — or will the natural animosity between them continue? Crucial to that last question is Caroline. She’s there in the study not only to save Matt (by knocking him out — love it), but she’s there for Tyler. Again and again, we see characters connecting in unexpected ways and Masquerade gives us Caroline and Tyler. She understands what he’s going through and knows more about what he’s about to face than he does since she’s just gone through her own transition from clueless human to supernatural killing machine. Their scene together is a standout in the episode for me. A vampire and a werewolf may be unlikely friends but The Vampire Diaries is all about turning expectations upside down.

Compelling Moment: From the fight sequence to the bantering, trapping Katherine and the Salvatore brothers in that room together was genius.

The Rules: As we learned last season, one witch can’t override another witch’s spell; Bonnie can’t undo the spell that was binding Katherine and Elena just like Lucy couldn’t undo the spell trapping Katherine in the room.

Foggy Moments:

• Katherine wasn’t wearing her usual daylight necklace in the first scenes (in the ladies room at the Grill and when Lucy surprises her at the B&B).
• Let’s hope once the pain medication wears off, Jenna realizes that sustaining that kind of injury by walking into a knife is seriously implausible.
• A question brought up in a comment and discussed on Twitter: if Katherine compelled Matt to fight Tyler until he’s been killed, will Matt try to fight Tyler again when he comes to? Or was there an escape clause (that we didn’t see) — i.e., if Tyler kills someone else, Matt can lay off?
• Something that’s been bugging me for a while: if the curse was latent in Tyler until now, why did his eye go all wolfy in Founder’s Day? It was very cool and a great lead-in to the season 2 storyline but does it actually make sense given what we now know?
• Another question that was brought up in the comments last week and one that persists with Elena and Stefan still apart: is Stefan back to the animal blood–only diet? Not that much time elapsed between Plan B and Masquerade (I think just 24 hours from breakup to masquerade ball) but at some point Stefan should be getting the shakes. (Thanks to Lisa Marie and Rita for bringing this up.)

 
Other Thoughts and Questions before we meet Rose (EP208):

• My only half-hearted complaint about this episode is the lack of Alaric. With membership numbers in the team of avengers at a record high, it’s hard to keep everyone involved in the action but I’d love to see Damon and Alaric, or Alaric and Jeremy, or Alaric and anybody get into a tussle with some baddies soon.
• When did Jeremy Gilbert get hot? Anyone else reminded of Joseph Gordon Levitt’s breakthrough handsomeness in Inception with the Jeremy Gilbert in a suit situation in Masquerade? Not only does Mr. McQueen wear a suit well but Jeremy’s newfound purpose and determination (coupled with excellent hocus-pocus jokes) marks a pronounced change in character from the brooding boy of last season.
• What else did Katherine get up to in Chicago — besides pseudo-stalking Stefan at a Bon Jovi concert? Anna saw Katherine there in 1983 (Fool Me Once); was Chitown her hometown for four years?
• Flashback opportunity: how and when did Katherine save Lucy’s life?
• The only upside to Elena getting kidnapped: if she had gone to the doctor for her injuries, I’m sure alarm bells would start ringing at Mystic Falls General. First, John Gilbert shows up with severed fingers and a stab wound, then Jenna with another stab wound, then Elena with mysteriously acquired injuries. Fishy.
• Why did the brothers leave the moonstone with Katherine in the tomb? Is the tomb the safest place for it? Will the moonstone soon be used once again as a bargaining chip — forcing that tomb door open and allowing Katherine to get some fresh air and fresh blood?
• If Katherine was telling the truth when she told Damon that Elena has to be protected, she was playing a pretty dangerous game with the spell tying them together. What if Bonnie hadn’t figure out what was happening to Elena so quickly? They could have both been killed. Does Katherine only care about Elena surviving as long as she is living too?

 
As always, sound off below with your favorite moments, lines, plot twists, and theories. I refrained from making a dick joke but don’t feel you should hold back too! Please keep comments spoiler free and try to think of the Salvatore brothers’ newfound unity when discussing relationships. If Stefan and Damon can get along, we can too.

Crissy Calhoun is the author of Love You to Death: The Unofficial Companion to The Vampire Diaries. When not obsessively re-watching CW shows, she works as managing editor at ECW Press in Toronto. She blogs on TVD, Gossip Girl, and other random things she falls in love with at crissycalhoun.com and tweets @crissycalhoun.

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