A few things in “Detoured on Some Random Backwoods Path to Hell” stuck
out to me, the first being the old saying, “the road to hell is paved with good
intentions”, becoming a literal plot point for Stefan. Stefan’s tried his
hardest to act with good intentions, but, once again, Damon draws him down a
hell-ridden path. This time, he’s actually going to hell, or a version of hell,
with either the literal devil or an approximation of the devil tasking the
brothers with bringing the darkest souls to him, because of a deal Damon and
Sybil thought up that would save Caroline’s and Alaric’s children. The deal
seems to suggest, as did the last episode too, that Damon, even after giving up
on feelings, has a modicum of humanity in him—that, maybe, he’s playing a long
con. His way of manipulating the Sirens was consistent with good guy Damon.
Yes, the writing for Damon could be inconsistent, or there’s a pattern (yes,
perhaps a pattern of inconsistent writing). So, Stefan’s good intentions landed
him in hell. The irony may be his selfless sacrifice for the sake of children
makes him akin with Christ.
The second thing that stuck out to me was the last scene
between Bonnie and Enzo, post-near death for Enzo. Bonnie wondered why Enzo beat
mind control and Damon didn’t. He explained why, and Bonnie said, “You make me
sound like an angel.” Enzo said, “No, you’re the world.” Damon’s world is
Elena. Sybil removed his world, even though she sort of didn’t. (Damon
remembered Elena well in the last episode.) That’s unfair to Damon. Aside from
the library voices Kat Graham and Michael Malarkey used in that scene and every
scene they have together (is that what Plec and Williamson want?), it was a
touch poetic.
Also, their story has the recurring theme of CW shows, but,
specifically, TVD, and the narrative world of Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, which
is the redemptive power of love, albeit a power that ignores the unhealthy
parts of it. Burning your own cabin down in hopes the love of your life will
remember his or her love for you is no way to save a relationship. There’s a
cut scene from Dawson’s Creek laying somewhere in Williamson’s house in which
Dawson burns down the Potter residence for Joey’s love.
The third thing that stuck out to me was Sybil’s lines about
what people will do to avoid dying because it continued The Vampire Diaries’
impressive to express unexpected but effective sentiments about death, whether
it’s dying or the death of a loved one. There are critically acclaimed dramas
past and present that haven’t had a character say so simply that people would do
anything not to die because it’s scary and unknown. Maybe David Chase would
have Tony Soprano feed a horse and tend a farm for an episode in an elaborate
metaphor about death.
Sometimes, in writing, the clearest, simplest expression of
thought will hit the viewer or the reader with more force than the most ornate
metaphor. There’s a part in a Chekhov story—“My Life”—that staggers me whenever
I read it because of the clarity and directness of the language Misail uses
when he writes about taking his niece to his mother’s grave. Of course, a
Sopranos episode in which Tony tends a farm and feeds a horse that’s dense with
meaning, allusions, and suggestions can hit the viewer harder once he or she
has thought it over, researched references and allusions, and etc, as in the
end of chapter nine in Ulysses, and, really, all of Ulysses, when Stephen
thinks of the birds of augury outside the National Library.
Anyway, those three parts stood out to me because the rest
of the episode was beige. Alaric and Caroline searched for their children.
Alaric decided to leave Mystic Falls with his children, forgetting that leaving
didn’t help him escape the ‘darkness’ the last time he left, but I liked the
scene when Matt and Alaric ‘killed’ Damon. It broke the monotony of this
season. Elsewhere, Enzo tried not to die, and Stefan chose more of the
aforementioned selfless sacrifice for his brother’s sake.
This episode emphasized the darkness of everything. Of
course, in an episode that made real such clichés as angels on one’s shoulder
and the road to hell is paved with good intentions, you know what they’ll find
as they near the end of their dark tunnel.
Other Thoughts:
-Next week’s episode will be Stefan’s last as a free
vampire. The previews show that TVD has continued its tradition of our heroes
dining with the villains.
-Enzo’s story was the worst in the episode. I didn’t like
the editing of his brainhack, but I thought parts of Enzo’s story had the best
videography of the episode, namely the series of shots beginning with the slow
zoom off of Enzo’s face from overhead and concluding with the slow zoom in on
his face. I wonder what lenses Paul Wesley and Darren Genet used.
-Remember when Enzo made it his life’s purpose to ruin Matt
Donovan’s life? Matt didn’t. He sounded like Mitt Romney when he praised Enzo
to Bonnie.
-All season I'm looking out for "Which cast member has clearly checked out?" This week's winner is Kat Graham.
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-Kyle McElroy directed the episode. Paul Wesley directed it.
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