Starting right back where the show left us two months ago, we witnessed the aftermath of Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) car accident. Just as the shadowy figure began to approach, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) arrived in the nick of time. It was a Heathcliff-ian rescue as he ripped off the door of Elena’s car and took her sweepingly into his arms checking anxiously to see if she was okay. But then Elena softly mumbled, “I look like her,” and lost consciousness. Not sure what to do with her, Damon did the next best thing. He put her gently in his car and took her to Georgia with him.

Yep, Georgia. So what the heck was in Georgia? Apparently, another powerful witch, something Damon needed in order to take another crack at that blasted crypt locked tight for eternity with his beloved trapped inside.

However, Elena was on her own mind-trip as she tried to wrap her head around the idea of Katherine looking so eerily like her. Back at home, Stefan (Paul Wesley) agonized not knowing where Elena was, acutely aware that she did not have her vervain-filled necklace to protect her from Damon. It did not help when he tried to reach her and Damon answered her cellphone. So, in light of the massive revelation and the scary car accident and in spite of her initial misgivings, Elena leapt at Damon’s off-the-cuff offer to “step away from your life for five minutes” and joined him on the journey into the past in Georgia.

What was truly revealing and astounding in this episode was the blossoming friendship between Damon and Elena. Her tentative inquiry, “Am I going to be safe with you,” was but a precursor. She knew perfectly well that she was not safe, but the fact that he had not yet killed her or caused her harm led her to make the tentative overture of friendship. This is somewhat revealed by her wistfully asking him, “This is a nice act. Is any of it real?” It was at the end of the episode, when she finally got up the courage to pry into Damon’s soul by asking, “So why did you bring me with you?” and he tellingly replied, “You’re not the worst company in the world,” that the depth of Damon’s loneliness was laid bare. It was a glimpse into the soul of a lonely vampire. Despite Damon’s horrific vampire desires and casual cruelty, he is still a lost soul that does not want to be alone. After all, forever is a long time.

It is Damon and Elena’s friendship that was truly fascinating to behold. It will be an interesting and delightful journey to watch as they embrace that friendship.

What Worked

Everything to do with Alaric (Matthew Davis). Watching him as he said, “I was right about Mystic Falls. There is evil here. I can sense it — feel it — it’s everywhere,” while staring longingly at the photo of his wife helped shed light on his motivation for coming to Mystic Falls. Additionally, seeing the brief glimpses into his past as he recalled the day his wife died was revealing and heart-breaking. Mia Kirshner as his wife, Isobel, was marvelous. Thus, when we later saw her previous life-blood dripping out of her neck as Damon devoured her, was heart-wrenching. But it begged the question: how did Alaric get away alive after walking in on them?

Also nice was seeing Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) embrace his academic-side and in the process turned into a romantic lead more than ever before. Plus, his encounter in the library with newcomer Anna (Malese Jow) was a nice way to help bring him further out of his shell and give him a journey of his own to embark upon. Propelling him on that journey was Alaric’s seemingly benign suggestion that Jeremy research the town’s history, which led to Jeremy’s discovery of his ancestor’s journal. Thus, meeting Anna turned out to be even more than fortune as she too had an ancestor with an all too revealing journal. I do not think I was never prouder and more surprised than when he recited the soliloquy about vampire lore: “Vampires are a metaphor for the demons of the day — the Union soldiers. I’ve read the stories myself. They talk about the enemy — the demons that attack at night. Allegorical vampires which is what it is. Creative expression during a very volatile time. I mean a country at war doesn’t want realism. They want fantasy. Thus, vampire fiction.” He may have been completely wrong, but his analysis was cool.

It was also interesting to see Stefan and Bonnie (Katerina Graham) work together; first, to try to locate Elena using the necklace as a locator-stone; and then later, when Stefan came to Bonnie’s rescue when she fell into the underground crypt. While I did not quite get the necessity of the “face your fear” stuff espoused by Bonnie’s grandmother (Jasmine Guy), it was fun watching her face off against Stefan.

Also well done was the final confrontation between Elena and Stefan when she demanded, “What am I to you? Who am I to you?” and Stefan begrudgingly admitted that he had saved her that fateful day when her parents died and he had been struck by how much she looked like Katherine. His further revelation that she was adopted was even more shocking and well-delivered. Who saw THAT coming?!

What Didn’t Work

As a die-hard “Firefly” fan and someone who has tremendous love for Gina Torres, I really could not stand the storyline involving her character Bree and Ben (Sean Faris), Lexie’s (Arielle Kebbel) vengeful boyfriend. It felt forced, contrived and kind of nonsensical; additionally, the flimsy way in which they attempted to kill Damon was not believable. For a series that consistently strives for and usually provides the best drama on television, this was a huge surprise and a letdown. They should have taken their time to build up the capture of Damon and gave us a chance to get to know the man that stole Lexie’s heart, and in the process, a little bit more about Bree. Without any emotional connection, Bree’s ultimate (and grisly) death felt meaningless; and we did not care one bit about Lexie’s boyfriend as he wandered tearfully away. When Bree had initially first uttered the ominous words, “You’ll never believe who just walked into my bar,” I had such higher hopes of an epic villain battle. It was not to be. Since Ben is not yet dead, we can only hope that he will still play a part in a future battle.

The one redeeming thing about Ben was the line he tossed at Elena, “If you want to be with someone forever, you have to live forever.” This is a nice bit of foreshadowing of the ultimate choice Elena will one day have to face. It is the disease that will eat away at any relationship she has with Stefan. Will she commit her life to a vampire as a human or will she cave and become a vampire to be with him forever?

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