Posted by Crissy Calhoun | October 2, 2010, 13:08 (EST) | 167 Comments
Category: TV Series

Though we’ve met her before in flashbacks and she raised hell in The Return, I’d like to officially welcome Ms. Katherine Pierce back to Mystic Falls; Memory Lane revealed just what a fascinating and layered evil vampire ex she truly is. Long may she and her doppelganger, Elena be the rope in the Salvatore brothers’ tug of war. This episode would have crumbled if put in lesser hands than Nina Dobrev’s; she gives us two distinct performances that make Memory Lane a contender in my mind for one of the best episodes of The Vampire Diaries.

Though she’s onscreen either as Katherine, Elena, or Katherine and Elena for, you know, 99% of the episode, Nina Dobrev isn’t the only thing that kicked ass in Memory Lane: its tight, smart script gives us some answers and even more questions; boozing, banter, and … Pictionary; an ancient grudge coming to new mutiny and more complications in the love quadrangle. Let’s all take a minute and think about this emotional game-changer: Stefan fell in love with Katherine in 1864. It was real.

Fittingly, Katherine and Stefan’s trip down memory lane is accompanied by a ton of references to previous episodes of The Vampire Diaries so we viewers share in that familiar feeling, of history repeating itself. Beyond the flashback to 1864 that revisits events we saw different moments of last season, Memory Lane gives us a reprise of the “intimacy of the near touch” dance (Miss Mystic Falls), another vampire-controlled dream sequence (Family Ties), Stefan’s diary being read without his permission (Friday Night Bites), a surprise vervain dart in the back (Miss Mystic Falls), Henry the Friendly Tomb Vampire (Blood Brothers) in 1864 garb, another guest in the Salvatore dungeon (You’re Undead to Me, Blood Brothers), references to the ubiquitous Founders’ parties (Family Ties, … every episode in the back half of season 1), and the idea that love and hate are not polar opposites but two sides of the same coin (The Return).

Crucially, Stefan finds himself asking the same question of Katherine — why is she back? — that he was asking Damon at the beginning of season 1. Damon’s return to Mystic Falls (as he revealed in History Repeating) was motivated by love and revenge; Katherine insists she’s come back for Stefan. Stefan refuses to believe that, but the last moments of Memory Lane (in flashback, Katherine promises Stefan they’ll be together again) lend credence to her insistence that she loves him, that he’s what she’s after.

Betrayal without blinking: I’m not surprised that Stefan has a hard time believing Katherine is being honest. This episode is chockfull of characters faking out each other. Stefan stabs Katherine in the back with a vervain dart after an intense face-stroking session (swoon) but little does he know that she’s faking it too — the vervain doesn’t hurt her; she plays prisoner willingly. (And how seriously does Katherine kick ass as she breaks free from her restraints?) Though Mason is wise to his game, Damon (and Alaric) put on a friendly pun-filled show at Jenna’s barbecue, playing get-to-know-the-werewolf, and later Damon pretends to agree to a truce. Following Katherine’s “do it or die” instructions, Caroline tries to destroy the stability of Elena’s relationship with Stefan and keep her away from him so Katherine can have her one-on-one time. And Elena and Stefan put on a performance at the Grill for Caroline to report back to Katherine: everyone has to believe their fight was real in order for Katherine to buy it.

The ultimate fake-out of the episode belongs to Katherine, who reveals to Stefan that she was in on the Great Vampire Purge of 1864. She betrayed all 26 members of her “vampire family” and made a deal with her enemy, George Lockwood (who himself tricked the Founders Council into believing vampires were responsible for the brutal deaths around town), to fake her own death. Katherine didn’t want to be saved by the Salvatore brothers. Did Stefan and Damon die for nothing or did they die for love?

All that trickery made the sincere moments in Memory Lane more profound for me: Caroline’s “I really am sorry” to Elena (which felt like an apology for her betrayal rather than just for her snippy behavior earlier); Elena and Stefan in her bedroom after their faux fight; and most surprisingly, Katherine, in 1864, promising Stefan, who died trying to save her, that they will be reunited. Katherine is capable of love — and that combined with a proven capacity for betrayal, manipulation, and murder is going to make this season very compelling.

The Lone Wolf vs. the Lady Killer: As a counterpoint to the duplicitous approach the vampires take, Mason Lockwood is a stand-up straightforward guy: he has no interest in a war with the vampires and he only keeps secrets from Tyler to protect him from becoming obsessed with the Curse. Now that Tyler knows the trigger, it will be interesting to see if he tries to manage his rage. It’s tough luck that the werewolf gene makes the Lockwood men prone to violence, making it all the more likely that they’ll take a human life.
Damon seems a little obsessed with the werewolf presence in Mystic Falls, and I’d wager that it’s motivated by more than the threat they pose to him and Stefan. It’s a great distraction from obsessing over Katherine. He shows restraint in how he handles Katherine outside the Grill, refusing to let her get a rise out of him. While Stefan gets all riled up with her threats and revelations in the dungeon, Damon exhibits more self-control. Nothing quite like an ancient supernatural feud to keep your mind off your evil ex.

You loved me once, you can love me again: I don’t know about you, but I’m concerned that Stefan and Elena’s fake break-up is going to turn into real distance between our lovebirds. While Caroline was simply parroting back to Elena what Katherine told her, “all that mortality stuff” should strike a chord with Elena because it’s absolutely going to become an obstacle if she and Stefan stay together — and she stays human. What about Stefan’s feelings for Katherine? Will things change now that he knows he loved her without compulsion? Is Damon truly past his jealousy over Katherine’s affection for Stefan, or will that beast rear its ugly head again? What will he do now that he’s under the impression that Stefan and Elena are apart?

Compelling Moment: Though the “dog in a tutu” moment was comedy gold, I have to go with the opening dream sequence. It set the stage for the rest of the episode and gave us two couples smooching who we aren’t likely to see in real life (so to speak) for some time, if ever: Damon and Elena, and Katherine and Stefan. Katherine, feel free to manipulate the Salvatore brothers’ dreams any time you please.

The Rules: Katherine reminds us that because Stefan subsists on animal blood, it’s very easy for her to get in his head and manipulate his dreams. It is possible for a vampire to build up immunity to the poisonous effects of vervain. Katherine confirms that a werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire. Silver doesn’t have any special effect on werewolves. Taking a cue from L.J. Smith’s Dark Reunion, human blood must be spilled in order to activate the latent werewolf gene.

Foggy Moments:

• Strange that Katherine superimposed “Lockwood Mansion, 1864” in Stefan’s dream…
• Damon shows up at the Grill, and Elena gets up to go — without paying. No one ever throws money down before leaving the Grill. How does it stay in business?
• Katherine asks Stefan why he came back to Mystic Falls. Doesn’t Stefan return to Mystic Falls every decade or so, as he mentioned in Bloodlines? Is it so significant that he returned to his hometown? (Keeping that photo of her, on the other hand, that’s a question I’d like answered…)
• Did Mason spend the afternoon drinking at Jenna’s and then drive to the Mystic Grill? Let’s assume that werewolf gene also gives Mason an extremely high alcohol tolerance.

 
Other Thoughts and Questions before it’s Kill or Be Killed (EP205):

• In Stefan’s dream, Katherine says to him the same thing she did when he lay dead in 1864: “I love you, Stefan. We’ll be together again, I promise.”
• When Stefan touches the vervain to Katherine’s cheek, it sizzles her skin. How far does Katherine’s vervain immunity go? Is the vervain jewelry Elena and company wear useless against Katherine?
• Ford Fiesta product placement? Way better than the “I Binged It” Incident of last season.
• After Elena asks why they look identical to each other, Katherine tells her she’s asking the wrong questions. What are the right questions?
• What or who was Katherine trying to dodge by faking her death in 1864?
• Who did Mason kill in order to unleash the Lockwood Curse? How did Mason know that Damon was a vampire (or that vampires exist)? Is there a separate “founders journal” for Lockwood wolves?
• Caroline betrays Elena in this episode, but we see her struggle with her choice and understand her motivation (i.e., Katherine = scary as hell). The nuanced way this played out is precisely what we don’t get with Bonnie storylines.
• George Lockwood is wearing gloves when he takes the moonstone from Katherine. Is that just old-timey fashion, or because he can’t directly touch the moonstone?
• Now that Mason told Tyler how to activate the curse, will Tyler hand over the moonstone? What exactly does this much-ballyhooed moonstone do?
• Damon’s attempt to kill Mason with a silver heirloom fails, and Katherine says werewolves are not “easy prey.” How does one kill a werewolf?
• What’s up with Jeremy? He’s not into barbecues? And while I love Mason Lockwood, I’m a little worried that he’s turning Alaric into an underused character. A little Alaric-Jenna-Mason love triangle could solve that problem…

 
As always, comment below with your thoughts, likes/dislikes, and theories below!

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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