The Vampire Diaries "Klaus" Review

I don't know about the endgame of season two anymore. I was as excited as any TVD fan about the potential of the final episodes of the season because the preceding episodes have been terrific. Now that we've met Klaus and know his entire plan, the excitement sort of fizzled out because Klaus' ultimate plan is...sort of lame. Two episodes remain so I'm hopeful that a couple of TVD plot twists lurk in the shadows but, right now, I'm pessimistic.

Klaus has loomed as the ultimate Big Bad of season two in a season full of deceptive Big Bads (deceptive because the Big Bads were never Big Bads but, rather, distractions until Klaus rolled into town). The character received a massive build-up. Katherine returned to Mystic Falls because she was running from Klaus, fearful of something terrifying about Klaus. Rose and Trevor ran for 500 years from Elijah and Klaus. Elijah followed those two into town with the motivation to find Katherine for Klaus, seemingly, but he wanted revenge for his own love struck reasons. Episode after episode, we were reminded that Elena's death would break the curse of the moon and sun, that she needs protection from the deadly Klaus and, while she needs protection from the OTHER curse, the fact that the curse of the moon and sun is nothing more than a macguffin sucks.

The reason why it sucks is because the curse had terrific implications and stakes within the narrative of the series. The history behind the fabricated curse is interesting though. The two brothers, Elijah and Klaus, developed the curse themselves and transcribed it on scrolls to gain protection from both species of the supernatural. From country to continent, the boys dropped the scrolls to keep the species in constant search of a moonstone that means nothing. The inventiveness says something about both characters. The conclusion of the season would've been more exciting, though, with that specific curse in danger of being broken because werewolves and vampires would be free to fight at all hours of the day. Plus, the audience is already invested in werewolves because of the mid-season arc, so it'd be personal for all sides in Mystic Falls and for the audience. It was a masterful display of arcing and storytelling that Williamson and Plec seemingly flushed down the toilet.

I use the word seemingly because I'm suspicious of Elijah, his story and his motives. Elena trusts that Elijah's honest and truthful in his dealings with she and her friends but the man just woke up from being killed by them. He dispensed information so easily as well, out of the goodness of non-beating heart--the same vamp who uses loose change to destroy houses and coffee shops. The story that he spun about his brother's true nature is so lame that it has to be made up, especially the part about what Klaus plans to do once his dormant werewolfness springs to life upon completion of the spell (yes, Klaus is half vampire half werewolf). Klaus wants to build his own race of vamp-wolves to wield the ultimate power in the supernatural verse. I ask, who cares? Really, who cares? I understand the catastrophic implications of the super-race of the new supernatural species. Why did the writers spend so much time building and crafting the first curse if they had this half-assed one in their back pocket? The villain's master plan should affect every character, not just he/she and the heroine of the story. Plan #2 is bad, bad, bad in every way.

Flashbacks showed the history of Klaus, Elijah and Katherine. They were flat. If the flashbacks were more engaging then maybe Plan #2 wouldn't have rubbed me the wrong way. Essentially, the trio of old school vamps paralleled Stefan, Damon and Elena; however, Klaus is more evil. Elijah had romantic feelings for Katherine but they lacked chemistry and I felt nothing while watching the scenes. Klaus, for a vamp as historic and feared as he, had an astounding lack of personality. It just felt off. Maybe it was Nina Dobrev's atrocious English accent or the other bad accents. Maybe it's just the story. I don't know. I have a bad feeling about the final two episodes, though.

Other thoughts:

-Jenna knows the truth about Mystic Falls. She felt sad and betrayed. It was an effective scene between she and Elena though.

-Stefan and Damon engaged in fisticuffs over Elena because Damon admitted his affection for her. Stefan told Damon that she'd never respect him. Damon then tried to kill Andie before compelling her to leave.

-No Caroline or Matt in "Klaus." I'm sure Matt and Sheriff Forbes schemed off-screen. Bonnie and Jeremy remained in their hiding spot.

-Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec wrote the script. Joshua Butler directed the episode.

THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK