The Vampire Diaries Review: “The Rager” (Season 4, Episode 3)

A sheriff stationed outside the hospital room of your average teenage patient might think they're in for an easy shift, but not on The Vampire Diaries. Especially, if that patient is a vampire/hybrid in Mystic Falls who's just been publicly shot at by the latest vampire hunter to stroll into town. Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino) puts on an altogether unimpressive show at protecting himself from the unwanted visitor. For being the ultimate combination of supernatural prowess, he sure doesn't appear all that threatening.

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The greatest thing about this episode is that even though I’d completely written Klaus off after he threatened to rip Tyler’s heart out while still inside his body, one scene and he’s back in my heart. When Tyler ran off  to break his syer bond with Klaus it looks like he met a girl, Hayley. A girl he failed to mention when he returned to the open arms of Caroline (Candice Accola) who had fought off the advances of Klaus while he was away. Despite their history, Klaus still seems genuinely concerned about how this new development will land on Caroline.

When Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) shows up at his house in Mystic Falls after being tipped off by one of his hybrid bodyguards,  he doesn’t exactly look happy – but he doesn’t look that upset either. When Caroline stops by for a little man candy, Tyler is eager to watch her go. Maybe we will get to see the Klaus/Caroline storyline that we saw previewed on season 3 of The Vampire Diaries after all.

On top of his inability to turn off his feelings for Caroline, his volunteer efforts – even if thwarted by new information – with Damon against the hunter, is appealing. Last week on The Vampire Diaries we saw Tyler step up his team spirit, and this week Klaus takes over that cause. Teamwork is a beautiful thing.

On the same note, Rebekah slightly redeems herself near the end of this episode as well. Even though she has taken over for Bonnie (Kat Graham) at the top of my list of ‘most annoying characters,’ she does show some genuine concern of her own for someone besides herself. April Young (Grace Phipps) showed up at her bash looking completely healed despite the critical knife wound she received at the hands of Connor not long ago. It makes sense that she wouldn’t want to be at home alone. Like she said, “picking up trash is a hell of a lot better than sitting at home thinking about the family I no longer have.” Rebekah offered to help her find out the truth about what happened with her father – which would be nice for all of us, because otherwise it just looks like he went a little cuckoo.

Rebekah has been driven all these years by the knowledge that everything she did was to protect her family from their father, and her brother from himself. She finally has a chance to start over, let’s hope she makes a go of it this time around.

No word on why Elena is having dietary issues except that she is still having them. Bonnie doesn’t make an appearance on this episode of The Vampire Diaries, but with everything she’s going through, I hope she went on a relaxing vacation and comes back ready to kick butt and solve problems.

A town full of people under Klaus’s protection, a vampire hunter worth keeping alive, Rebekah considering a movement into the nice category – there’s a lot to look forward to now. And, since Damon has soothed our worries with his announcement that he would be sticking around to co-mentor Elena even though she chose Stefan, everything ended on a good note.

What do you think was the most surprising development on this week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries? There’s been a lot of rumors that major players will be getting the pink slip this season, who is expendable in your mind? Let us know in the comment section below!


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Lindsay Sperling
Lindsay Sperling has A.D.D. and her tastes reflect it. Her movie collection boasts everything from Casablanca to John Tucker Must Die to every season of Sons of Anarchy to-date. She adamantly supported a Veronica Mars Movie (yes, she did make a donation to see it happen..and also possibly for the t-shirt), hopes that the Fast & Furious franchise continues far into the future, and has read every popular YA book series turned film in recent years (except Harry Potter..). When she's not on an indie film set or educating the youth of America, she uses her time arguably productive as a freelance writer.