The Vampire Diaries "Rose" Review

Uh-oh. The Vampire Diaries fell victim to their own 22 episode order. It happens once or twice every year for any show regardless of quality. Of course, this is the third time that TVD has produced a dud episode in their second season.

Last night's episode, "Rose," was absolutely awful. It was a filler episode disguised as a transition episode. The pacing resembled a snail's pace. All four stories fell flat, especially the introduction of the Rose character and the Original vampires. And the emotional beats in each scene between the significant characters felt forced like Jeremy's helplessness and Bonnie comforting him or Stefan apologizing to Damon for forcing him to become a vampire in 1864.

The episode opened with Elena being transferred into the SUV of a vampire named Trevor. He brought Elena back to a large house where a vamp-woman named Rose waited. We soon discovered that the two vamps needed Elena to erase an old debt with a old vampire called Elijah. Naturally, Elena asked questions that Rose refused to answer until she actually answered each question in great expository fashion. Elena is a Petrova doppelganger and her death will break the curse of the moonstone. Katherine is the first Petrova doppelganger (i guess this means Nina Dobrev has yet another character to portray before the season ends). Soon, the dreaded Elijah showed up to collect the doppelganger and pardon Rose. Trevor, unfortunately, had his head taken off by Elijah. The Salvatore brothers saved the day and Damon even staked Elijah; however, Elijah didn't die as the last scene of the episode showed.

Meanwhile, Tyler and Caroline sort of bonded over their supernatural-ness after Tyler stopped trying to beat the girl up. Seriously, how many times will the writers show this guy trying to abuse a woman? And how has this behavior in a character been ignored by the TVD faithful and the media? In the pilot, he TRIED to rape Vicki. The viewer is supposed to feel bad for the guy because he feels scared when transforms into a werewolf? The B story didn't have much else besides the inevitable discovery by Tyler that Caroline is a vampire. She protected the vampireness of the Salvatore brothers because of the threat wolves pose to vampires. Eventually, Tyler will seek revenge when he inevitably learns about the role Caroline and the Salvatore brothers played in his uncle's death.

The romantic coupling between Jeremy and Bonnie evolved though the beats of the story felt forced. Jeremy whined that he couldn't join the vampires in rescuing his sister while Bonnie comforted him. After a difficult spell, Bonnie's nose bled and she passed out. Jeremy took the role as comfortador (tm Joss Whedon). That's about it. Elena came home and hugged both of them.

As for the road trip, the two brothers went to rescue Elena because both love her. Stefan acted mature with the knowledge that his brother loves the woman he loves. Of course, he should considering he's over 125 years old. After the adventure, Damon visited Elena in her bedroom and told her that he loved her as he returned her necklace but he compelled her to forget. He simply needed to say it aloud to her. The writers earned this scene though.

Other thoughts:

-I'm disappointed by the introduction of the original vampires. Unfortunately, Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec can't ignore the books that L.J. Smith wrote. If the rest of the vamps are anything like Elijah then the viewer will be treated to a large group of boring, uninspired big bads. I enjoyed Katherine as the sole big bad of the season and I wish the show didn't seem like it is about to push Katherine into the sympathetic character area but it does. Katherine was on-pace to be as good a big bad as Glory in Buffy season five. Perhaps, I rush to judgement.

-Steven R. McQueen has not improved as an actor since his guest stint on Everwood. He hugged Nina Dobrev as if they were romantically involved rather than brothers and sisters. Also, not a fan of the budding Jeremy/Bonnie romance.

-The road trip reminded me of a season 1 Dawson's Creek episode titled "Road Trip."

-The series was due for a letdown after three strong episodes. Unfortunately, their weakest of the season occurred during the first week of November sweeps.

-Brian Young wrote the episode. Liz Friedlander directed it.

SCREENPLAY OF THE DAY

The Grudge--Written By Stephen Susco--http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/GRUDGE,THE-2004.01.26-DOUBLE-BLUE.pdf

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