Caroline urges herself to only get through today – the day of her mom’s funeral; she’s not handling loss like the others think she should. Meanwhile Alaric, Jo, and Kai solve their sick witch problem, and Bonnie makes her escape from the prison world, bringing back a shocking piece of information. Here is a recap of the Vampire Diaries episode “Let Her Go.”
Young Caroline asks her mom tough questions about death and learns that everyone dies eventually. With a bright flash, the present day Caroline awakens and doesn’t feel like beginning the worst day of her life by bonding with Damon, who’s struggling to write the eulogy. Caroline and Elena make a list of funeral preparations to complete. Along the way, Elena coaches Caroline on how to categorize people and respond to their condolences.
Flashback to young Stefan trying to dress for his mom’s funeral. Damon helps him out and gives him a little comfort. Back in the present, Stefan asks Damon for advice on his feelings for Caroline, which Damon doesn’t see as true love. Stefan believes that not all true love is the same, and this could blossom into something great. With Damon still struggling to write the eulogy, Elena ensures him that he’s kind of a nice person and this speech isn’t about him; it’s about what Caroline needs to hear. This, plus remembering young Stefan being upset that all Damon had to do was say goodbye in their mom’s speech helps Damon. He won’t let anyone down like he did at his mom’s funeral.
Stefan finds Caroline beside her mom’s casket, and now is when she wants to discuss how to categorize him – how to define their relationship – but he’d rather do it tomorrow. Tyler arrives drunk to the church, so Matt doesn’t let him enter. As the funeral proceeds, Damon delivers a speech to Caroline about how her mom was proud of her, then Caroline sings a goodbye song. Afterwards, Matt reveals to a now sober Tyler that he’s applying to the police academy and brought an application for him too. Elena follows Caroline home, having figured out Caroline wants to flip her humanity switch and vowing not to let her make that mistake. Wanting to make her own decisions, Caroline snaps Elena’s neck.
Hugging the porcelain goddess, Jo thinks she has food poisoning until Kai arrives vomiting blood and claiming that the merge didn’t work properly because they weren’t twins. Jo examines Kai and finds him medically healthy. He knows he’s magically sick. Absorbing a bit of her power makes him feel better, so he demands all of it. Alaric’s not fond of the idea, but promises to support Jo in whatever she decides. Jo cedes her magic and learns from Kai that she’s pregnant. Congrats! Alaric proposes, which Jo at first takes as a pity proposal, but he pulls out a ring, having planned this for weeks, and she accepts.
Bonnie returns from Nova Scotia with two broken toes, nine blisters, an ear infection, and her magic. After two hundred and seventy-eight days in the prison world, she’s going home. Activating the ascendant, Bonnie starts the spell, but an earthquake unintentionally triggered by Kai and Jo transports her to where the aurora borealis flickers overhead. It’s one of those other prison worlds Kai mentioned. She enters a mansion, which turns out to be the Salvatore’s, and finds a journal noting the date as November 1, 1903. Being thrown between prison worlds as she tries the spell again, she meets a woman in 1903 right before the spell takes Bonnie away. Damon comes home to find pancakes on the stove … and Bonnie. After giving him a running, jumping hug, she shows him the video footage of the woman she met. It’s Damon’s mom.
Comments:
– “Let Her Go” delved into stories about the circle of life in what is easily the best episode of the season. Where one storyline focused on loss, another focused on love and new life to balance the emotional scale and present a greater, more encompassing worldview.
– If you didn’t know better, you would not be able to guess that this episode was directed by a first-timer. Julie Plec did a phenomenal job tackling such an emotionally intense hour. It was a feat suited for someone who knows the characters as well as she does, so it was fitting that she wrote and directed “Let Her Go.”
– So many things shocked me during this episode, even though most of them did not come out of the blue. Caroline’s decision to flip the humanity switch and Bonnie’s escape from the prison world were two points that were set up, then paid off in such smooth ways that it didn’t lost the gasp factor.
– Conversely, so many things excited me during this episode that I never saw coming. The pregnancy and the proposal were unexpected, but pulled off in a manner that was believable and fit into their world. What other series can have a twin drain his sister’s power then give her the announcement? Regardless of this supernatural bit, this series is always in need of normal stories to tell, and this one is a classic. Additionally, the introduction of Lily Salvatore is fascinating because of the numerous ways that they can go with this story and its probability to dive back into the past.
– The flashbacks to the mid-1800s increased the quality of this already stellar episode and made it stand out amongst the pack. It reminded me of “Lost Girls” (episode 1.06), which was the first episode of The Vampire Diaries that truly excited me for the potential of the series. They combined the wonder of season one with the expectation of surprises since then to create intrigue into how this storyline would affect the present other than the obvious.
– Despite Damon being only about eight years older than Stefan, having Ian Somerhalder play his character in the flashbacks while another actor (Sawyer Bell) played young Stefan made their age gap appear much larger. Also, the first few seconds of the flashbacks were a tad perplexing when trying to figure out who the kid was. It created more confusion than it needed to. However, since the flashbacks were such an important part of Damon’s story in the present, it makes sense for Somerhalder to play both parts.
– “Let Her Go” was a much bigger episode for Alaric and Jo than their amount of screen time let on – perhaps the most important episode for them. I don’t think I have ever seen someone look that traumatized when she heard she was pregnant, but if Jo’s role as a teacher and a mentor are any indication, she can handle this in a wonderful and fascinating fashion. Plus, she is a compelling character regardless of her magic, which is also accurate for Bonnie this season, unlike when she lost her powers while being the anchor.
– The excitement of Bonnie running and jumping into Damon’s arms was a beautiful and deserved moment for these two. While she did well acting in scenes alone, I’m sure Kat Graham was equally as excited to know that she would now be having scene partners on a regular basis.
– The facial expression that Elena makes when Caroline blurts out that she kissed Stefan looked like an odd combination of being proud and shocked, so here’s hoping that they don’t throw in any jealousy to come from Elena or any awkward tension between the two of them. This was a brief but nice moment between friends that shouldn’t be soiled by pettiness.
– Why has no one convinced The Vampire Diaries to allow Candice Accola to sing a theme song?
– The pastor’s partially muted voice and the focus more on the music than his speech during the funeral service was a wonderful, simple touch to put the audience in a zoned-out state similar to the one Caroline must have been feeling. It was by no means necessary to establish the tone of the scene, but it just goes to show that putting a little extra thought and effort into something can go a long way.
– Sheriff Forbes being gone leaves the perfect opening for Matt and Tyler to take her place as the Mystic Falls vampires’ go-to law enforcement officers. Especially for Matt, it gives them more direction and more of a purpose than they have had this season. Tyler has essentially been reduced to a love interest this season, which is a nice change of pace from the all-too-common practice of reduced women to love interests, but his history as a character proves that he is more compelling when faced with other problems. For the first time in a while, I am excited for what the future brings for these two.
– “This is gross. We haven’t been dating long enough for you to see gross.” – Jo
– How to charm a woman, part one, by Alaric Saltzman.
Alaric: If you want to fight and keep your magic, I will fight with you. And if not, well, I loved you when you weren’t a witch, and I’m pretty sure I will still love you regardless.
Jo: Pretty sure?
Alaric: Yeah, at least ninety-two percent.
– “Just now, I was supposed to put you into a category so I would know what to say to you, but then I realized I didn’t know what category you would want to be put in. So, well, I was thinking, I guess there’s no time like the horribly inappropriate present to get to the bottom of that.” – Caroline (to Stefan)
– Part two.
Alaric: Marry me.
Jo: What? No. No. That’s a pity proposal. You can’t throw a pity proposal at a pregnant ex-witch. I don’t even know if I want kids, let alone to get married. (Alaric pulls out a ring.) Oh my god. What are you doing?
Alaric: I bought this the day after your brother died. Caroline’s mother was sick, and you were in danger, and I just thought, “Life’s too short.” I’ve been trying to plan for the right moment, which was supposed to be this morning with breakfast in bed, until you started puking up last night’s dinner. We can talk about choices and all that. We can. But I would really love to have this baby with you. It’s something I never though I’d have. So, this isn’t a pity proposal, Jo. I love you. Marry me.
Jo: I can’t believe this. Are you sure?
Alaric: At least ninety-two percent.
1 Comment
I wasn’t confused about the boy being Stefan. It’s Damon’s memories, and they did try to make Damon look younger, too, but I happen to be a big sister to siblings 8 and 11 years younger than me, and even though they’re adults now, they’re still kids to me. I remember the days they were born and helping with them as babies and teaching them things as toddlers and little kids….my sister being an annoying pain at age 6 and my brother sitting on my lap to be read stories. Now they’re both taller than me and college graduates and stuff, but those younger images are strong in memory, so it makes total sense for Damon to be an adult at a time Stefan was a young boy. You’d be surprised how small a 10 year old boy can be.