Posted by Crissy Calhoun | December 5, 2010, 17:10 (EST) | 103 Comments
Category: TV Series

An episode less focused on explaining curses, mythology, and bloodlines, The Sacrifice instead gave us our characters recklessly endangering themselves. Their master plans may err on the stupid and impetuous side, but they reveal just how driven by love our Mystic Falls kids are.

Katherine’s primary motivation, as we learned in Katerina, was self-preservation, over anyone and everything. When Klaus was on her tail, she saw a way out — kill herself and become a vampire. The latest Petrova doppelganger also sees an option that those around her do not: she can surrender, sacrifice herself to save her loved ones from the same fate Katherine’s suffered. Driven by the exact opposite sentiment as Katherine, Elena puts self-preservation last, and she’s not alone; her friends prove just as willing to put their life and limb on the line to save one another.

Elena is fascinating in this episode: she uses Katherine-esque techniques with ease — going behind the Salvatores’ backs, calling in debts, bargaining with Rose and Alice, making false promies, and stretching the truth. With the stakes so high, she doesn’t seem to even consider the idea that she’s doing something morally questionable — there’s a greater good to serve here, and she doesn’t lose focus. The opening sequence — besides giving us the glorious Chunky Monkey moment that will live in TVD fans’ hearts forever — serves to remind us just what it is that Elena is so resolved to protect: the happiness, normalcy, the humanness that Jenna is experiencing is what Elena wants for everyone she cares about.

Of All the Idiot Plans: There are a lot of half-baked plans in The Sacrifice; if you give just a moment’s thought to anyone’s strategy, it all kind of falls apart — but Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Damon, and Stefan each decide to put their own best interests aside in the hopes of saving those they care most about, and in each instance, they overestimate their own strengths and/or underestimate their enemy’s. The lesson they would benefit from learning is Luka’s: trying to do too much on your own will only harm you — draw strength from what’s around you.

Bonnie and Elena try this by using others — Bonnie by drawing on Luka’s power without his consent; Elena by lying and manipulating Rose and Alice — and though they both fail in their missions, neither girl is particularly regretful. Like Stefan dashing into the tomb to save Jeremy, or Jeremy going in there in the first place, Bonnie and Elena feel like they have no choice but to act alone. Only an act of self-sacrifice will protect their loved ones.

On the flipside are Caroline and Tyler. Caroline refuses to let Tyler go it alone, making a convincing argument for her usefulness with her extensive resume and, later, with by explaining to him that she doesn’t want him to go through what she did (or what we see Mason go through). Caroline’s already proven she’s capable of self-sacrifice (by breaking up with Matt to keep him safe) and is once again putting her own best interests aside to help another. Hanging out with a werewolf, the mortal enemy of the vampire, is not exactly the best survival strategy for her. It’s an interesting juxtaposition: Caroline being there for Tyler as he watches a graphic preview of the fate that’s only days away for him, while Mason clearly went through his first transformation alone — despite being the boyfriend to knowledgeable vampire Katherine. Tyler and Caroline’s friendship and connection is building, shaped by a unique understanding and by honesty, something neither can share with Matt. Poor, lonely Matt. His apology to Tyler just broke my heart. Though Caroline has and Tyler presumably will act in Matt’s best interest by keeping him away from the danger they pose him, from Matt’s perspective things already look sketchy at best, his best friend with his ex-girlfriend and him believing they have good reason to pull away from him after his behavior at the Lockwood party. If ever there was a tragic figure . . .

The episode ends with Stefan in a situation not entirely unlike Matt’s — his girl with his brother. Trapped in the tomb, he asks Damon to promise to protect Elena, a promise that doesn’t really need to be made since Damon’s already proven that he’s just as ready to die for her as Stefan is. It’s almost as if Stefan’s purpose was to give Damon permission, his okay, to act in his stead. (I don’t mean in every capacity but, while Stefan’s entombed, as her primary bodyguard.)

With Elena’s conviction to surrender herself to Klaus just as fierce as Damon’s to save her from her kamikaze mission, it comes down to physical power and Damon has no trouble overpowering her at Slater’s or at the tomb when she’s ready to run in after Stefan. Think what you want about Elena’s plan to turn herself over (like, tons of innocent people including those she love would still die) but she has a point: why is it so hard for Damon to understand that she would want to save those she cares about when that’s exactly what drives the Salvatores’ actions (as well as Bonnie’s and Jeremy’s). She has just as much right and motivation to be the savior as the boys do. With Damon as her de facto prison guard, Elena is just as trapped as Katherine is in that tomb, and like Katherine has one Salvatore brother who can’t leave her side.

Is Katherine right: did Stefan make a big mistake in asking Damon to swear to protect Elena? When at odds, Damon and Elena have always been ferocious in their exchanges and The Sacrifice gives us some electric moments between them. And Stefan and Katherine similarly spark with their history, her flirtatiousness, and his combativeness. Hats off to the writers for providing us with this intrigue-filled setup for By the Light of the Moon; they sure know how to complicate these messy mixed-up relationships.

Compelling Moment: Tyler watching Mason go through his torturous first transformation. It’s a terrifying preview of what’s to come and heartbreaking to see its effect on Tyler.

The Rules: The Martins show us a few variations on spells and principles of witchcraft that we’ve seen before. Luka tells Bonnie she can draw power from nature, the elements, and other witches, and demonstrates by summoning the wind; Jonas uses talismans stolen from Elena’s room to perform a “shadow spell,” which allows Elijah to find Elena. All three witches perform spells using a personal artifact, which can be used to find someone, to connect to another’s power, or to hurt them (in the case of Bonnie’s spell with Katherine’s portrait). From Mason’s journal, Caroline and Tyler learn just how painful the first transformation is, but that the process gradually speeds up. For what exact purpose is unclear, but Mason ingests watered-down wolfsbane (which, I think we can safely assume, is what he had with him in the old Lockwood cellar in Bad Moon Rising).

Foggy Moments:

• Does it seem sketchy to anyone that Bonnie didn’t mention to the Salvatores or Jeremy that the Martins are witches? A new supernatural element in Mystic Falls seems like something worth bringing up.
• When did the tomb get a skylight?

Other Thoughts and Questions before By the Light of the Moon (EP211):

• My two favorite Elena props make a return: her diary and her teddy bear!
• Damon was holding an orange. We are getting closer, Book Fans.
• Since they obviously know where Elena lives, why did Elijah have Jonas do the shadow spell? It seems to be more complicated than a simple locator spell — does it establish a longer-lasting connection between Elena and Elijah?
• And just what is the deal with Elijah? Does he want Elena kept safe so he can turn her over to Klaus in one piece, or does he have his own Klaus-free agenda? How did he learn to kill vamps with such finesse? Will he let Damon and Bonnie try to de-spell the moonstone, or does he want it in good working order?
• I raised this question on last episode’s post but I’ll ask it again: how much does Luka know about what’s going on? We find out his father asked him to bond with Bonnie, and he followed orders. Does he know who Elijah is and/or what his father is up to?
• RIP Katherine’s portrait. I loved how Stefan was the one with something of Katherine’s, which reminds us of Katherine’s question to him back in Memory Lane: why didn’t he burn it himself ages ago?
• By killing Cody and his two vampire buddies, Elijah made sure news of the doppelganger’s existence didn’t spread. But Rose knows. Does that put a target on her back? Will we be seeing Elijah rip out Rose’s heart or chop off her head or provide some equally creative sendoff?
• Once again, our mortals prove to be clever, something I’ve always loved about this show. Elena sees how best to get what she needs from Rose and Alice and doesn’t hesitate, and Jeremy has the wherewithal to toss that moonstone out of the tomb as Katherine lunges in for a bite. You go, Gilberts.

On Thursday, join V-D.net and Philo for a viewing party of By the Light of the Moon! I’ll be joining in the conversation for the West Coast airing. Until then, sound off below, my friends!

 
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.

Tweet

A Note On Comments:

We get hundreds of comments a day, and we're only human. Please help us to keep the comments a positive place to be by not arguing with each other, not insulting each other, and not responding in anger. If a comment is over the line, please flag the comment to bring it to our attention. You can do this by hovering your mouse over the comment so the 'flag' link appears.

Comments may be deleted at moderator discretion if we feel they are spammy, cross a line or are taking the discussion too far off-topic. If you want to discuss other things, please do so in the forums.

Please don't use multiple accounts or make pointless one-word comments. Repeated spamming of this nature will result in you being banned or moderated.