In the aftermath of Lily’s death, Julian draws the Salvatores into a trap, and Valerie counters by kidnapping Mary Louise. Meanwhile, Caroline and Alaric attend a birthing class, and Caroline’s hormones run out of control. Here is a recap of the Vampire Diaries episode “Cold As Ice.”
Recap:
Chicago. Three years from now. Stefan cares about Valerie too much to let her get harmed in his crusade to save Damon and Caroline. Today. The funeral party for Mama Salvatore is rather lacking, with just the brothers, Valerie, and Nora in attendance. Nora delivers a speech about how Lily proved her wrong when she thought she’d never find maternal love after her own mother turned her back on her siphon-prone daughter. Valerie recalls how Lily always saw the light in her. Stefan promises to make this right. And Damon still has his bad attitude.
It’s Christmas time in the city. Bonnie organizes a Toys for Tots drive, which Nora stops by to deliver Sorry! the board game. It was supposed to be a passive aggressive gift for when Mary Lou came crawling back, but that hasn’t happened. Nora wants to be more involved at Whitmore since she enrolled in classes, so Bonnie puts her to work. Stefan accompanies Damon as he takes full advantage of a Santa pub crawl, while intermittently teasing Stefan about almost being a father. Out of eggnog, Damon enters a bar where all the Santas have been brutally eaten. Looks like Julian’s been there.
Searching for his phone, a drunk Julian stumbles into the bar and threatens the brothers with the complete Phoenix Stone dagger. Several of Julian’s friends join, and he releases a maniacal laugh. But it’s not a real party until Damon drops a lighter on the booze-soaked costumes, and the brothers speed out of there. Well-read on pregnancy books, Caroline upstages everyone in her birthing class. She goes all vamp face when she overhears other women making snide remarks about her being a student and Alaric being a teacher. It’s just hormones, she tells Alaric. Later, he tosses her a blood bag, and she loses it on him. Those aren’t ordinary hormones, but then again, there’s nothing ordinary about this pregnancy. Bonnie shares her bourbon hot cocoa with Nora and tries to make small talk about which professors she’s taking. It’s awkward. Dropping off presents to children at the hospital, Nora runs into Mary Louise, who wants Nora to apologize. Nora refuses. It’s over. For good.
Valerie tracks and syringes Mary Louise. Bonnie returns to her dorm to find Nora. What do you even see in Mary Louise? She’s loving, protective, kind. Their friendly moment is interrupted by a text from Julian saying that Mary Lou’s been taken. All those feelings bubble right back up, and Nora knocks Bonnie out. With Valerie doing a subpar job of watching over her unconscious hostage, Mary Louise disappears. Caroline visits her mom’s grave, giving her an update on all the weird stuff happening in her life. The brothers provoke Julian into a fight, ending with Damon spiraling into the Phoenix Stone. Stefan tells Caroline he doesn’t think Damon will survive in there. It’s punishment for every bad thing you’ve ever done, and Damon’s done a lot. While Silent Night plays in the background, Damon flashes back to the chaos of war. Nora attacks Stefan, sending him into the Phoenix Stone as well. Sleep in heavenly peace.
Comments:
– An appropriate midseason finale for the season so far, “Cold As Ice” kept the tamer quality that the Vampire Diaries has been producing lately, while still throwing the audience for a loop at the end. While nothing really jumped out as memorable (aside from maybe a room full of dead Santas), the personalities of the characters were on full display and vibrant enough to keep us entertained throughout. I’m not dying to know what comes next for our favorite heroes, but I am interested enough to ponder it once or twice over the course of the winter hiatus.
– Much of the action and its resulting drama felt caught up in what happened in the past, especially with the Salvatores’ and Nora’s stories, which gave the episode a bit of a drag. There was a lot of talk and a lot of emotions, but not a whole lot done about them and no new revelations since last week. However, it wasn’t all that way. Caroline and Alaric provided a glimpse of what future drama could look like, giving hope for a budding relationship and a new set of obstacles to figure a way through.
– In a not-so-shocking flash forward, Stefan and Valerie seem to be making a go of round two. On the one hand, their chemistry worked well enough in the flashback a few episodes ago that I can see the potential. But on the other hand, they are both such different people at this stage in their lives that I’m not sure their originally innocent relationship still fits. This pairing is one that I need to see play out more before making any more judgments about it.
– The prison worlds were one of the most fascinating aspects from last year, so I’m curious to see an exploration of the Phoenix Stone world. Unfortunately, based on the promo for the next episode, it doesn’t look like we’ll be spending a lot of time there (or at least Damon won’t).
– Where do I find one of those reindeer mugs that Damon had? Just as amusing as it was functional.
– Mary Louise’s stubborn loyalty to Julian makes me think there’s a story there that we have yet to be told. It’s been difficult to get a grasp on the heretics with only the little we’ve received about their pasts, but “Cold As Ice” made it clear that Mary Louise is the most difficult of the bunch to understand and sympathize with.
– Once again, Beau got namedropped and sidelined.
– It’s nice to see such a strong female friendship between Bonnie and Caroline, especially when Valerie is on the outs with her heretic sisters. I was also fascinating by the potential friendship between Bonnie and Nora until that took a turn for the worse.
– Nothing good ever happens on a CW show when there’s a Christmas song playing in the background.
– The snowflake falling from the final title card was a cute touch. Merry Christmas, from the Vampire Diaries. Hope you enjoy spending the winter hiatus in agonizing pain in the Phoenix Stone. At least there’s good company.
– Bonnie: Hey, Stefan. Did I mention Bonnie saw me mix a blood bag with a jar of mayonnaise at two o’clock in the morning?
Caroline: Okay. One, that was marshmallow fluff. And Two, I am feeding for three now, so I get cravings.
