The Vampire Diaries - Stay - Review

In this week's episode, Liz worked on solving a few cold cases even as she lingered on death's door, while Stefan and Caroline took a major step forward in their relationship and Jeremy said goodbye to Mystic Falls.  For the most part, it was an episode focused on changes and farewells, except for the bit about Enzo stalking Sarah, which still doesn't fit in with any other part of the ongoing storyline (sigh).  I had a caveat here and there, but if my tears were anything to go by, there was enough done right in this episode to make it a memorable and powerful one.

"Sometimes really terrible things happen to amazing people."  Oh, Liz!  I seriously couldn't handle her going, even though we knew it was coming.  First, she spent time with Damon trying to crack unsolved cases before vacating her Sheriff's job, and one aspect I really liked about the episode was the writers letting Liz and Damon spend some time together and highlighting their unlikely and very poignant friendship.  There's a level of respect and reverence Damon shows Liz that is extremely rare coming from him.  After quickly and hilariously ascertaining that the vast majority of unsolved crimes in Mystic Falls were committed by Damon himself, the duo proceeded to analyze the death of Elena's parents in the Wickery Bridge car crash.  As it turned out, like Liz's illness, the car accident had no supernatural explanation, and was a senseless and terrible incident of random bad luck.  

After Liz headed home for a rest in her snuggly pjs (Damon telling her she looked hot was too funny, as was her retort), Liz mentioned to Damon her feelings of powerlessness over her fate, and he reminded her that people are just helpless against such things (Damon's expression was heartbreaking in that moment).  Then Liz pondered her own extraordinary ordinariness and Caroline's extraordinary nature, and if you weren't already bawling by then, the episode had plenty more twists of sadness still to come.

"I think we both know I never really hated you."  Caroline's plan was to prepare a cosy cabin getaway for her mother to relax in during her final days.  Tragically, she had no way of knowing how quickly Liz's demise was closing in, and even as Caroline strove to simultaneously stall the inevitable and create an ideal setting for Liz, time was running out.  The writers had no problem hammering home the sadly strange fact of mortality as all of these immortal vampire characters dealt with the loss of Liz.  Stefan went along to help fix up the house and exchange adorably affectionate gazes with Caroline, who wondered if he was just there to fulfill his promise to Liz that he would take care of her.  But as Stefan assured Caroline, he had more reasons:

Stefan: "Because you're my friend. Because I know what it feels like to lose a mother. And because when you told me you hated me, it was pretty much the worst thing I had heard in a long time."

Let's face it, no one would want to be hated by sweet, sunshiny Caroline!  Least of all Stefan, whose self-imposed emotional exile has slowly crumbled since the beginning of Season 6, leaving him able to express his warm feelings towards Miss Forbes.  And then...

The pair finally locked lips, in an endearingly tentative and tender manner reflective of the gentle bond they share.  Plus, the sun totally shone through their kiss, and we all know that on TVD, this means that the Gods of Love approve this union.  Okay, so I was a little surprised that they went with that visual theme again, but it was a lovely scene.  

Stefan and Caroline's peaceful happiness was not to last long, however, as Liz slipped away while visiting with Damon, sending the gang back to the hospital.  Poor Caroline was horrified that she wasn't able to speak with Liz before she died, as her mother was now moments away from passing.  However, Stefan helped Caroline to communicate with her mother as she and Liz shared the memory of Caroline's bike ride as a child, with Liz understanding when it was okay to let go and allow Caroline to ride away on her own.  This was a beautiful moment of symbolism, and while it saddens me that Liz and Caroline didn't have the last conversation they both yearned for, this memory carried all of the meaning their words could have conveyed.

Graduation day.  Meanwhile, the time had come for Jeremy to leave Mystic Falls, supposedly to head off to a nice art school.  After bonding with Elena and generally being more likable than he's been since birth, Jeremy met up with Alaric as he prepared to head off on a bus, not a plane as he had told his sister.  Yup, turns out that instead of embracing his artistic side, Jeremy is taking up his vampire hunting ways again, assisted by Alaric, who will keep him updated on suspicious deaths so he has cases to solve on his journeys.  Um.

I would have found art school a lot more believable.  Jeremy as a vampire hunter was understandable back when that plotline initially emerged, but aside from a few little battles here and there, he's done little of it and expressed little interest in that life of late.  Plus, you mean to tell me that Jeremy can't go online and do his own Sam Winchester article searches to find cases?  It's nice that Ric is helping, but damn, maybe Jeremy shouldn't have been allowed to graduate high school early.  Even though I personally felt nothing but glee at getting rid of seeing Jeremy go, and it's kind of lame that he and Alaric are lying to Elena, I guess this was a serviceable enough exit for the character. 

The continuing adventures of Enzo in a quasi-spin-off tangent that dwindles in purposelessness.  I just keep waiting for this subplot to become relevant in any way to the show, but it is not happening.  Still, despite the frustrations of watching Enzo manipulate Sarah in vengeance against Stefan, something keeps me hoping that this is going somewhere, someday.  Like, maybe Sarah will turn out to be sassy and a real challenge for Enzo, more so than he imagined, and she will throw him for a loop.  Perhaps the reasons for Enzo's hatred of Stefan will become more believable and draw the subplot back into the orbit of the rest of the show.  We shall see.

Next week's episode will likely be a difficult one.  Caroline's despair will probably be hard to get through, and it is truly awful (and cruel on the writers' part) that she has now lost both parents.  I hope she can cope with her grief, but worry she may take a dark turn following these events.  

What did you think of this episode?  Share your thoughts in the comments!  And don't forget to catch an all-new The Vampire Diaries Thursday at 8/9c on The CW.

About the Author - Virginia Mae Fontana

Virginia is happy to be reviewing The Vampire Diaries and Beauty and the Beast for Spoiler TV. She enjoys obsessing over films and pop music - in addition to tv shows, of course! You can find her blog, SugarRushed, at http://virginiamaeblog.blogspot.com/ and her Twitter handle is @VMaeFontana

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