Sure, a vampire show on Halloween week is going to get some attention. A big Halloween party scene at the school is also foregone conclusion given this is a teen oriented show. So, how did this episode manage to stand out among the many other shows that have done this party scene premise? By moving along the building drama, that's how. It ended up being a party everyone sank their teeth into (I know, there I go with the vampire puns again).
This episode primarily existed to finish playing out the fall of Vicki. She was doomed from the minute Damon had a feast on her neck back in the pilot. Still, many had high hopes for her being a vampire. Early on though, this “vampire with issues” was just too unstable to carry on in the secular world. You had to admire Stefan’s attempt to try, but Vicki wasn’t going to hack it any better in this life than her previous one. Her end was inevitable.
Vicki’s fall was meant to setup anyway some intriguing directions for the other characters. First there’s Matt, whose burden of watching out for Vicki was becoming a bit too much. I’m sure her so called “disappearance” won't to do much to help with his guilt over being unable to help her. Then there’s Jeremy, who suffered huge trauma by finding out the truth. Vicki tore into his lip and in full-on vamp mode prepared for a Jeremy feast. So Jeremy either had to die or watch Elena - who jumped in to save him - be killed by Vicki. He got the lesser yet still horrible third option courtesy of Stefan’s quick staking through the heart skills. The color being drained from Vicki's body as she went lifeless was enough of a jarring visual to push over the edge Jeremy's already fragile state.
Of course Vicki's downfall didn't do much for Elena's growing angst either. This whole lying to everyone wasn’t doing her psyche much good. She especially felt guilty since she knew while a search party was out that Vicky was at the Salvatore mansion recovering from her turning into a vampire hangover. She kept up the lie though, for she knew that the truth hurts a hell of a lot worse, especially with Matt and Jeremy. Keeping up the lies can only become more of a challenge now that she knows Vicki is really dead. Or that can get easier. We’ll see which.
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Article comments
1 - Elle
I was so glad to have Vicki gone and maybe now I won't dislike Jeremy as much. These two were driving me batty - get over your issues already!
This was a pretty good episode - I especially enjoyed Damon's scene with he council woman, interrogating subtly her about her connection to deceased "uncle" Zack. I'd like to believe that Damon helped with Jeremy out of the goodness of his dead heart, but that strikes me as extremely unlikely.
FYI - the staking thing really depends on the show and the myth. In the majority of cases, it does mean that even the undead won't rise again, however, in other cases (i.e. Moonlight) the stake simply paralyzed the vamp until it was pulled out. I think in this case, it's safe to declare Vicki dead and gone. It would have been easier for the writer's to follow vamp-TV tradition and have her body disappear as dust in wind, but they went with the "have a mess to clean up" route which is okay too.
Looking forward to your take on this weeks installment!
-Elle