The Vampire Diaries Season Two, Episode 20 “The Last Day” Recap & Review
The Vampire Diaries Season Two, Episode 20 “The Last Day” Recap & Review
by Saluki
Last week, we finally saw the mysterious Klaus and found out his big secret: he’s both werewolf and vampire. The different facets of the ritual is coming together, and if it goes as he plans, he will break the curse that has kept his werewolf part dormant. Did I happen to mention that Klaus is really hot. Well, he is, which makes the fact he will probably die unfortunate, but I digress.
Tonight’s episode starts out with Elijah, Damon, Stefan and Elena figuring out how to kill Klaus before he can break the curse. Elena finds out that Klaus has to drink her blood to the point of death before the curse will be lifted. Yikes! But, don’t worry, Elijah has a magical elixer that will revive her. Of course, Damon is not on board with this plan. He would rather use Bonnie to kill Klaus and be done with it. However, Elena isn’t willing to sacrifice Bonnie, and so far Stefan is on her side.
Tyler Lockwood is still missing and his mom, under the influence of Klaus’s witch, first calls him and tells him to come home because she has been in an accident, then gets pushed down the stairs to make the lie true. Methinks Tyler might be the werewolf Klaus wants for the ritual. What a surpise, Tyler comes back to visit his mother. Apparently Jules followed him because she shows up at the hospital and Caroline sees them together. After a really awkward conversation that ends with both Tyler and Caroline becoming incapacitated by Klaus’s witch, we find out that Jules also one of Klaus’s minion.
Alric comes back into the picture and faces Jenna, who just happens to be pointing a cross bow at him. After he reassures everyone that he is really Alaric, he tells them that Klaus released him in part so that he would deliver a message that the sacrifice will take place tonight. Well, they alreadyhad that figured out, but at least Alaric isn’t possessed by Klaus anymore. After he fills the group in on what he remembers, which isn’t much, he takes the opportunity to talk to Jenna and apologize for keeping her in the dark. They kiss, which I assume means Alaric is forgiven.
Matt is still playing Caroline, but his concious is starting to get to him. He can see that Caroline is really the same girl he fell in love with, just a vampire. Unfortunately, Caroline’s mother is hell bent on the destruction of all vampires and won’t listen to Matt. She admits it was a mistake to use him and sends him on his way. I can only hope that he goes to Caroline and tells her what her mom is up to; if not, the vampires in Mystic Falls are going to get a very rude surprise.
Damon is totally convinced the plan to kill Klaus won’t work. He is so terrified to lose Elena that he does the unthinkable and makes her drink his blood. Holy snap, Dracula! I had to rewind that scene a couple of times to make sure I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing. I assume Stefan, with his vamp hearing, picked up something hinky was going on and rushes into the room to find his girlfriend freaked out and covered in his brother’s blood. He is majorly pissed, and rightly so, that Damon took away Elena’s choice. They fight, and Damon stabs Stefan. I was just speechless during this whole scene. I never had any doubts that Damon loves Elena and would do anything to protect her. I just never imagined that he would go so far as to turn her into a vampire without her consent, considering that his what happened to him. That one moment of blind fury at Elena could end up costing him her friendship forever, which as Elijah told him, is a very long time for a vampire.
Damon goes to a bar to drink away his sorrows and gets the pleasure of meeting Klaus, who reminds him that his life hinges on Elena showing up at the sacrifice. For some reason I don’t think that is a very effective threat, since Damon doesn’t seem to hold his life in very high esteem. To prove that, he is going to try to take the werewolf out of the equation. Without it, Klaus can’t perform the sacrifice and Elena is safe for another month. Stupidly, Alaric agrees to go along with this plan. You would think after getting released and gaining Jenna’s forgiveness he would be a wee bit smarter, but apparently his weird bromance with Damon is still alive and kicking. Hopefully the extent of his involvement is to invite Damon into his apartment so he can talk to Katherine. Damon wants information and finds out that Tyler and Caroline have been taken by Klaus to be used in the ritual. Katherine tells him that they are being held in the tomb after Damon gives her the juicy tidbit that Elena is going to be a vampire. Imagine the fun Katherine can have with that – yeah, she can’t resist the opportunity to screw with Stefan, and Elena now being a vampire is just to ripe to resist.
Damon heads towards the tomb and runs into Klaus’s witch. Of course, Damon is no match for him…until Matt shoots him. Yes, Matt must have decided that Caroline becoming a vampire isn’t the horrible, awful, nasty thing he once thought. But, Matt still thinks Damon is a bad guy, so he makes the mistake of pointing his gun at him. Bad move, Matt. He is going to wake up in a few minutes with a horrible headache and a nasty knot on the top of his head. In the cave, Caroline fills Tyler in about Klaus and the sacrifice. Damon shows up and frees both Caroline and Tyler, with the promise that Tyler will lock himself in his family’s cellar.
In the meantime, Stefan takes Elena on a hike to give her the opportunity to think about her feelings and ask him questions about her new life. She knows the good parts about being a vampire, but Stefan clues her in to the not so good parts as well. He also wants Elena to admit what she really feels about becoming a vampire. I think Stefan knows the truth, but he knows that Elena needs to admit it to herself so she can deal with the reality of her situation. Elena finally breaks down and admits that she doesn’t want to be a vampire and never did. She wanted to grow up, go to college, get married and have children, and grow old, even knowing that Stefan wouldn’t be able to be part of her life for all of this to happen. I hurt for Stefan, but I can totally see where Elena is coming from – she’s only seventeen. Her whole life was in front of her- a life of choices that have now been taken away from her because of Damon’s selfish act. I think it shows how much Stefan loves her that he knew she never wanted to be a vampire, knew their time together was limited, but loved her and stayed with her despite the hurt he knew he would go through in the future.
When Klaus shows up to get Elena, she and Stefan put on a very convincing act. The most imporant part of their plan is for Klaus to have no idea that Elena is on her way to becoming a vampire. Stefan calls Damon, wondering where he is and Damon tells Stefan to make sure Elena stays put. It’s too late for that, but since Caroline and Tyler are safe, Klaus can’t start the ritual yet. Tyler doesn’t make it to the cellar before he starts the change, so Damon sends Caroline and Matt instead. It looks like Tyler got a chunk of Damon at one point, and as we all know, a werewolf bite is deadly to vampires. Undeterred by the fact he is as good as dead, he makes his way to Alaric’s apartment to inform Klaus that Caroline and Tyler are gone. Klaus is smarter than Damon figured, ad finds out that he has a back up werewolf and vampire for the ritual: Jules…and Damon. Or, is it?
Damon wakes up to find out that he isn’t the sacrificial vampire – Jenna is. WTF you say? Yes, you read correctly. Klaus turned Jenna and she is the back up vampire. I did not see this coming at all. I figured Klaus would use Damon or Katherine, considering they were both there for the taking. Katherine informs Damon that Klaus couldn’t use him because of the bite he recieved from Tyler in the woods. Damon looks surprised, so I’m not sure if he didn’t realize that Tyler bit him or forgot when Katherine knocked him out. Either way, my guess is that now that he realizes he really has nothing to lose, Damon is going to really do anything he can to stop Klaus from performing the ritual.
What can I say about tonight’s show other than it was amazing? I have to give the writers and producers credit; each and every show this season has been better than the one before it. All of the subplots that have been popping up throughout the season are finally weaving themselves together to form a storyline that has blown me away. And, even with all the questions that were answered in tonight’s show, we have so many more that need answers. What role will Bonnie play in stopping the ritual? Will Matt tell Caroline the truth about her mother? What is going to happen now that Elena and Jenna are vampires? Is Damon really going to die from the werewolf bite? What role will Katherine play now? So much to find out and only a few episodes left. So, until next week, what are your theories?
EXCELLENT episode, as always! This show has so many twists and turns and really keeps you on your toes. I’m 46yrs old (yes, perhaps I am too long in the tooth to watch this show), but I love the acting, the actors, and most of all, the writing! Apprehensive and nervous to see how the ritual goes down next week. Oh and yes — Jenna becoming a vampire was a WTF moment!