Elena and Caroline’s first few days at college go about as smoothly as anything on The Vampire Diaries – mix-ups, murder, and vervain water. Meanwhile, Silas’ return threatens the town and complicates Damon watching after Jeremy and Katherine. Here is a recap and review of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
Summer lovin’. Had me a blast. Elena and Damon had a romantic summer. Same for Matt, Rebekah, and female third-party. Caroline, on the other hand, has been separated from Tyler, who’s off teaching a wolf pack the ways of the wild. And Bonnie? She’s been lurking over Jeremy’s shoulder having him type her texts to avoid informing her friends she’s dead. Speaking of dead, Stefan is continually drowning and coming back to life, while his evil shadow self has been gaining strength. Typical Mystic Falls.
Before leaving for college, Elena ensures that Jeremy has a cover story for that time he died. Basically, he was acting out, accidentally burned down his house, and faked his death for attention. In Elena and Caroline’s ridiculously large dorm room, Sheriff Forbes says, “Goodbye,” to the girls, adding that Elena’s father would be proud of her going to his alma mater. *hint hint — foreshadowing* Megan, the third roommate, soon walks in, surprising the vampire ladies.
At the Mystic Falls town festival for … they need a logical reason for a festival? … Rebekah fails to entice Matt to leave town with her. Silas joins Sheriff Forbes in drowning sorrows in comfort food, only Liz goes for the fries, while Silas slices her wrist. Apparently inconspicuously draining her blood in the midst of a crowd, Silas tells her everything. Everything. But she can’t help him with whatever he’s looking for at the bottom of a styrofoam cup.
Jeremy’s classmates don’t take well to his return and bully him, which leads Jeremy to release some aggression worthy of school expulsion. A disheveled Katherine stumbles into the Salvatore mansion, where Damon offers to re-turn her, but she’s too scared that she’ll actually die if she dies after taking the cure. She needs his help because someone is after her. When is someone not? Damon leaves to deal with Jeremy.
The girls show up to a party, but the vamps can’t enter. Elena and Caroline turn around, only to watch Megan drop from the sky with fang marks on her neck. The school’s head of security believes this was a suicide. Sounds like a set up.
Down in his safe, Stefan, out of boredom, hallucinates separate conversations with Damon and Elena, in which Damon urges him to turn off his emotions, but Stefan dreads the ripper phase and Elena keeps him on track. Back at the Grill, Jeremy, upon contact with the Stefan-like figure, gets a feeling he had before: it’s Silas!
Silas interrupts Katherine’s bath to drop her a complement and try to kill her, so Damon orders Jeremy to drive Katherine somewhere safe. Silas gives Damon the whole spiel and demands the hunter and Katherine before he lets anyone know where Stefan is. Bro code activated — Damon now orders Jeremy to bring Katherine back, but Katherine rams the car into a telephone pole and hobbles away. Damon heals Jeremy and keeps Elena in the dark as to these events.
Upon returning to their unlocked room, Caroline and Elena find a picture of Elena’s father with Megan. Via voicemail, Tyler tells Caroline he won’t be coming back anytime soon. And then the fan base started crying when Caroline did.
Nadia, Matt and Rebekah’s third party, shows up in Mystic Falls to return the Gilbert ring and also to have her partner sneak up, turn Matt’s eyes black, and take him down. Silas interrupts Mayor Hopkins’ speech to compel the town into service and slice Bonnie’s father’s throat with her in the audience. He wants Katherine.
Review:
“I Know What You Did Last Summer” spent a great deal of time setting up all of the dramatic character arcs while also providing an entertaining episode in itself. What started off as a common teen “what has everyone been up to” plot, quickly turned into a classic, twisted adventure with human emotion, vampire drama, and greater mythology. It was a solid start to the season that left viewers intrigued by bringing up more questions than answers.
Despite that Silas is a super-villain intent on wreaking havoc for all of our favorite characters, it’s worth keeping him around a while because of how awesome Paul Wesley is in the roll. It’s almost alarming how well he pulled off the arrogant, ominous persona, while also having scenes as vulnerable Stefan.
Silas’ disguise and master plan was revealed surprisingly soon, but nonetheless couldn’t have come at a better moment. Just as things seemed as normal as ever in Mystic Falls, he ripped it to shreds … or more accurately, sliced it to pieces. What is it about Katherine that poses a threat to him? The fact that she took the cure or that she’s a doppelganger too? The likelihood seems to lean to the former; otherwise, Elena would be an intended target as well. However, if there’s one thing I learned from watching The Vampire Diaries, it’s that their mythology is unpredictable and best enjoyed along the ride.
Katherine’s presence in this episode eased any qualms about the decision to make her human. As she says, “I’m Katherine Pierce. I’m a survivor.” And she is. It’s kind of surprising that Katherine has managed to survive as long as she has having as many enemies as she does, but that’s what continues to make her an interesting character. Her sass was not lost with her vampirism, nor was her deeply ingrained desire to twist people into helping her instead of valuing friendships. Her strength, while it was amplified by her vampirism, radiates from her personality, which is just as forceful as ever. If anything, humanity will lead Katherine to become even more creative with her tactics and bring to light her insecurities, which allows for a well-rounded character.
With all of the serious drama happening, Caroline’s comic relief was especially poignant. No other character can elicit a chuckle from suggesting a kidnapping plot. Her emotional range in this hour proved just how valuable the character is in affecting the tone of any scene or episode. But, one has to wonder whether the writers are keeping Tyler away for a grand reveal or because they don’t know what to do with him. Regardless, Caroline’s dedication to having a normal college experience will surely lead to more humorous and more emotional reactions.
While Bonnie’s appearance in this episode felt like an organic storyline, not a forced way to include her, keeping her true state shrouded from her friends for much longer won’t be quite as appealing. The dramatic irony created with Bonnie muttering, “We’re all here together,” as Elena and Caroline are oblivious to her presence provoked audience emotion, but repeating the same kind of situations will likely fall flat after the audience has been desensitized to this tactic. With Mayor Hopkins’ funeral on the horizon, Bonnie’s truth may come out. Here’s hoping they find a way to prevent Jeremy from becoming the ghost whisperer.
At last, Matt Donovan had some well-deserved and exotic fun before returning to his mundane job. If only Matt could smile that much in an average episode. But, things are not looking up for him. Rebekah ran off to New Orleans, and what was going on with his black eyes? Is he finally finding a strong relevance in the greater plot? And where did the Megan knowing Mr. Gilbert plot point come from?
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