The Vampire Diaries "1912" Review

Stavrogin in Dostoevsky's novel, Demons, is given an appearance straight out of Gothic fiction in his first chapters. He's described as a beautiful pale man, like a vampire, and like a vampire, he hides an evilness under his arresting looks. Now, Demons in no way applies to "1912" or any aspect of The Vampire Diaries; however, the thematic of Stavrogin is worth considering in light of the themes present in the Salvatore dialectic. The history of Stavrogin is too long-winded to paraphrase in an opening paragraph. Simply, Stavrogin was a character who believed in no good or evil, but struggled to reconcile that part of himself with the more pure part of himself; when he tried to reform himself, he entered into a quasi-martyrdom. Julie Plec and Elisabeth Finch's script seemed rather interested in these penetrating themes of good and evil. "1912" was built on murders separated by 100 years. At the center of both murders were the Salvatore brothers. The murder of their 'Uncle' in 1912 brought the brothers together for the first time since Stefan forced vampirism onto his brother. Their reunion brought back deep issues which still haven't been entirely solved. The difference of 100 years, though, is Damon's willingness to try to reform his brother.

A vampire's nature differs from story to story, from author to author. Some authors create vampires that sparkle and others create vampires with a soul to atone for the sins of his past. Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson adapted a young adult series about two vampire brothers who live their lives differently whilst pining for the same girl. Julie Plec said that she and Kevin needed to figure out how to differentiate their triangle from the Twilight series because there were similarities. TVD's triangle is richer and more grounded in human emotion. Anyway, I'm not interested in writing about the triangle. TVD has shown different sides of a vampire. They are creatures who can control their impulses to devour people, who can love and feel and emote; but they've done some horrible things. Plec and Williamson, and the other writers, have been able to make these vampires who engage in brutal acts of murder, of emotional blackmail and manipulation, into sympathetic and lovable characters. Matt and Elena have a conversation about the reasons Elena is drawn to the vampires, and her answer is a cop-out. The answer is rooted in character, involves the loss of her parents, her immediate feelings post-loss, and the desire to be with someone who could not die. But she ignored the other side of the vampire coin which is that they bring death. Matt didn't challenge her. He just related with her about how a love for someone transcends the other stuff. I don't expect a CW show to delve into deeply moral issues about evil. It's disappointing that the show seemed interested in this issue but didn't have the guts to get their hands dirty.

"1912" was over hyped during the last month. Somerhalder and Plec spoke of the episode, and the introduction of Sage, as if it was the crowning achievement of their three seasons. Sage is an afterthought. The flashbacks are a retread of previous Salvatore flashbacks (sans Katherine). The flashbacks were designed to inform the present action, which involved the mystery of who's been killing folk in Mystic Falls. The totality of the episode deliberately brought back the past in various ways. Damon made Elena loathe him once more, Stefan struggled to control his blood lust and Alaric's past got a quasi-retcon (it's problematic to label it a retcon considering no one ever talked about Alaric's life beyond his relationship with Isobel). There were diaries in several scenes, and characters read directly from the diaries.

Damon and Stefan began the episode as a tag-team working to figure out who's been killing people because Alaric woke up in jail under arrest for the murders. The Alaric-as-suspect was jarring, but it's best to roll with it because the nonsense is explained away at the end. Damon was convinced the murders of 1912 were related to the present. The introduction of Sage suggests she might be the culprit; however, Sage is introduced as a teacher, or guide, for Damon in how to feel pleasure from being a vampire rather than guilt and remorse. Damon's brief time with Sage teaches him enough to coax Stefan into feeding again. Stefan, during their fifty years of separation, didn't drink human blood. In his diary, he writes that he feels sorry Damon lost his way and became a victim of blackness and bile. The self-righteous side of Stefan motivates Damon to convince Stefan to feed. Stefan, indeed, feeds on a young woman and then accidentally tears her head off. Stefan tries to re-attach the head to the body, full of guilt and remorse, and on that cold Virginia night the Ripper is born. It was borne not from malice but from a jealous brother's serpent-like 'just go ahead and take a bite of that forbidden apple.' The exact scene is replicated in 2012 (or is it 2011 in Mystic Falls? The timeline is not established enough). Damon worries about his brother going cold turkey from blood, urges him to drink in moderation, and begins his brother's recovery process by bringing Stefan a woman to feed on. Damon admits his culpability in creating the Ripper, acknowledging how he could've stopped it but 'didn't care enough to [stop it].' Guilt and remorse are the reasons why he wants to help Stefan overcome his blood lust without watching Stefan destroy himself by living 'cold turkey.' It was an effective story with pathos and thought, informed by character. This is their nature, the Salvatores, and they don't think about themselves as Matt does. They are who they are, and they control themselves as best they can so that they can exist in civilization. Whereas the sentiments of Elena were problematic, the Damon-Stefan dialectic was well-done,

The Alaric storyline was completely jarring because nothing added up. Sheriff Forbes behaved like a lunatic. The evidence tying Alaric to the murders didn't add up. I clearly remembered how Alaric found a bunch of files pointing the murders to Meredith, followed by her shooting him with a gun. Sheriff Forbes told Alaric that Meredith said she shot him for attacking her. Honestly, I think the entire storyline became a mess tonight. I was on board several weeks ago, as my reviews show, with the murder mystery. I longed to watch a good old fashion whodunit; now, it is a mess. Alaric is eventually tied to the murders through the magical ring he wears. The ring belonged to Samantha Gilbert; she went mad, killed two members of the council, then Damon killed her (I probably screwed the timeline up). Through the ring, she's killing again; unfortunately, Alaric is stabbing folk. I'm usually rolling with whatever TVD throws at me. The idea of a ring that magically restores someone to life who had died through supernatural means is silly but okay; but the magical ring that causes whoever wears it to kill because it's tied to an insane woman on the other side absolutely sucks. I already want to forget this story ever happened.

Other Thoughts:

-Bonnie, Abby and Caroline were off-screen tonight dealing with Abby's transformation into a vampire. Elena's lone friend and jogging partner was Matt. Matt helped her break and enter into Meredith's apartment. They had the heart-to-heart and solidified their friendship. Matt also gave Elena the Gilbert diary, which helped convince her about Alaric's ring thing.

-Klaus didn't appear. The writers didn't specify his whereabouts. I assume he remained in Mystic Falls with Rebekah as the last episode showed. Anyway, Rebekah is on a mission to find the white oak tree, even going so far as to read over old mill logs.

-Julie Plec & Elisabeth R. Finch wrote "1912." John Behring directed it.

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