The Vampire Diaries: The Walking Dead

Posted by: Kyle Tetarenko  •  May 9, 2013 @ 7:42pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

When a terrible storm suddenly hits Mystic Falls, Stefan and Damon realize that the veil between life and death is about to fall but will Elena's hunger for revenge may be the one thing they didn't count on.

With her focus trained on killing Katherine, Stefan's attempts to get appeal to Elena's other emotions are falling on deaf ears. Meanwhile, Bonnie is working with Katherine to lower the veil and destroy Silas but still needs the tombstone from her to complete the spell. Katherine is initially unwilling but when she learns that her life has been mystically tethered to Bonnie's, she has little choice but to help. Stefan and Damon have been called to the hospital by Sheriff Forbes, who tells them that four patients have been completely drained of their blood. This tips them off that Silas's ritual is coming but they realize it is already upon them when the storm hits. Eventually Stefan figures out that Bonnie and Katherine are under the school but Elena can't be contained and even stabs Damon to get the chance to kill Katherine; that's when Alaric shows up. Alaric tells Damon that the veil is down but only in the area where the sacrifices were made but when the spell is complete, everything goes. Elena gets her crack at Katherine but is stopped by Stefan just before she kills her since Bonnie's life is linked to Katherine's. Never one to be the only immortal not at the party, Silas has been with Bonnie under the disguise of Caroline. He shows her just who is in control but it may not be enough when Bonnie realizes how powerful she has become. Familiar faces will return but the battle to keep the world of the living separate from the land of the dead is far from over.

For a storyline that has been building for the better portion of a year, The Walking Dead was even more disappointing than expected. To say this episode rushed through the story would be a woeful understatement as everyone was expecting this to last the last two episodes. Instead, we received a very anticlimactic finale to an arc that never had any real momentum. Silas had virtually no emotional attachment to any of the characters and his demise was overly simplistic seeing as how Bonnie just needed to "believe in herself". Once she realized how powerful she was she simply had to will Silas back into stone. Future antagonists in the series need to have greater depth and create a strong emotional attachment to the characters if The Vampire Diaries wants to have better seasons going forward.

Though some of the guest appearances were great to see, only one of them wasn't entirely predictable. Matthew Davis was fantastic as Alaric Saltzman. If there are a few characters that should return to the show, he is definitely one of them (now that Cult has been cancelled, take note CW!). While Steven R. McQueen and Arielle Kebbel did very well with the little screen time they had, their returns were easily predictable. Elena mourning at Jeremy's grave and Stefan mentioning Lexi just before she returned didn't help but it was apparent they would make an appearance when he veil storyline was first introduced. It would be truly impressive if Lexi joined the cast going forward to really shake things up. The one guest appearance that really missed the mark was Kol's. Kol (played by Nathaniel Buzolic) was never a great character in the series and it could have been any other character that wanted to kill Elena. Buzolic was fine, but the material was never there to begin with.

At this point, I have to mention the ending/cliffhanger. This season has been a regrettable let down and bringing back the hunters from throughout the ages is a cop out from writing a better story. It would be surprising if everything was resolved next week but The Vampire Diaries usually tries to end on a cliffhanger with the next season picking up in the moments following the previous season finale; meaning at least a few of the hunters stand a good chance of returning. With luck, I am completely wrong and The Vampire Diaries has an amazing finale planned out but at this point, I don't see that happening. Lastly, Bonnie's transition into a ghost was a true surprise and where her story goes from here is anyone's guess.

With one episode left in their fourth season, The Walking Dead was a hastily put together mishmash of characters and plots, trying to do too much with too little. We'll see what happens in next week's season finale, Graduation.

Tags: The Vampire Diaries, Stefan Salvatore, Damon Salvatore, Elena Gilbert, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev, Matthew Davis, Arielle Kebbel, Nathaniel Buzolic

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