My Review of The Vampire Diaries 3.05- The Reckoning

When this episode was called a "game changer" I was skeptical.  Boy, was I wrong.  Tonight, everything changed, and almost none of it for the better....

It turns out that Elena's death would have destroyed any chance Klaus had of creating hybrids.  Her blood is what stabilizes the transformation.  Good news for Tyler who survived the change, bad news for everyone else.  Ok, it's a double edged sword for Elena.  Klaus needs her alive as a human in order to continue making hybrids once his supply of her blood (which he took from her) runs out.  So that means he is not as much of a threat to her personally.  But it is bad because now she is the "mother" (so to speak) of the new hybrids and now her friends and loved ones are in more danger because Klaus will undoubtedly use them to do what he wants.  Other piece of bad news for our girl?  Stefan is back.  And not our lovable, brooding and tortured Stefan, but a compelled Stefan who is fully within the Ripper persona.  This is very bad....

Everyone who wants to smack Matt squarely upside the head raise your hand!  Dude, I get wanting to help your sister and your friend, but seriously, drowning yourself to get to see her is such a dumb move!  He is (ok, was) the one normal one in the whole group and now that is shot to hell.  Brave, yes.  Selfless, sort of.  Stupid, insane, and moronic?  Absolutely!  I know that his life sucks, but at least his problems were normal human problems.  Yes, he knew about werewolves, witches, and vampires, but he could pretty much ignore it.  I also want to smack Jeremy for telling Matt about seeing Vicki and Anna.  I know why he did it, but it was not a great idea.

Damon is going to be in an interesting position now.  He is the only protector Elena has left seeing as Stefan has gone over to the dark side and Alaric is pretty much gone.  So, will he be a good guy and help Elena out like he did tonight?  Or will he revert to old form and join Stefan in vampiric fun?  I seriously suspect the former, but with this show, you can never tell.

Katherine's idea of kidnapping Jeremy to find out about Michael was really smart.  Find Klaus' weakness and exploit it for all it is worth.  A vampire who hunts other vampires and knows how to destroy Klaus permanently?  Wow.  And apparently he is indiscriminate in his choice of victims based on Anna's warning to Damon and Katherine.  Waking him sounds alot like poking a sleeping dragon.  In other words, an incredibly stupid idea that will backfire in so many bad ways.

I shudder at the implications of Klaus leaving Stefan behind as his eyes and ears.  Given how intimately Stefan knows Elena and the group, I am foreseeing serious Angelus-like mind games coming up.  And with Tyler a hybrid, this is just not good for our heroes....