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

Elena's (Nina Dobrev) all but graceful transformation from human to vampire hits another snag on tonight's episode of The Vampire Diaries when Damon (Ian Somerhalder) decides to take his turn as tutor. The pair piggyback on Bonnie's (Kat Graham) trip to meet the professor that took over after her Grams at a local college. At first he looks to be an over-eager academic type, but later on we find that there's more than meets the eye. Our first clue should have been that he thought it appropriate to attend an all-out rager at a frat house. It's been a few years since I've stepped foot in one of these, but I'm pretty sure even 5 years ago it would have been awkward if your professor showed up.

The Vampire Diaries

The Vampire Diaries

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In true Rebekah fashion, she fell in love with one of the five members and he blabbed to her all about the mission. It turns out that he did more than blab, he promised her a cure – which is supposed to be the ultimate weapon against the vampire race. I guess a cure does sound less painless than the last plan to kill all the Originals and let the trickle down effect finish the job. Unfortunately for them, Rebekah wasn’t quite so reciprocating in her sharing and when the five went to take out the Original family, they ended up on the receiving end of Klaus’s vengeance. It appears the hybrid curse never made its way into their pillow talk.

The show really seems to be building Rebekah up this season. She may never be able to redeem herself for role in Elena’s death, but at least we are starting to understand her a little better. The story she tells about the church is horribly tragic and it’s easy the empathize with her character – to a point.  Her active mission to make amends with Matt (Zach Roerig), this time in the form of a new truck (which let’s face it he probably desperately needed) is admirable. And frankly, she makes a point when she contrasts her romantic history with Klaus’s. Maybe he’ll take heed of that while she’s taking that induced nap and make another go of it with Caroline (Candice Accola). Now that Tyler’s (Michael Trevino) sexy secret has wandered into town, it won’t be long before that relationship implodes. Klaus just needs to sit back, wait for things to explode, and swoop in to pick up the pieces.

There was no sign of Tyler, Caroline, or Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) on this episode of The Vampire Diaries, but we did get another meet and greet with April (Grace Phipps). It’s a good thing they’re adding her as what looks to be a recurring character considering the lack of undead ones left in Mystic Falls. She didn’t pose any big plot moving questions this time around, yet she has managed to snag a new friend – no doubt thanks to her heart shattering post-party scene last week – in Rebekah. At least now there’s one person that will be sad if she’s absent from school on Monday.

With all these new alliances popping up it’s only a matter of time before Elena catches wind of them. Things may not be so lovey dovey when she figures out what Stefan’s been up to – but my guess is that she might see it as the lesser of two evils considering that it got Rebekah out of her way for the moment. Otherwise, she may find Damon the more attractive option depending on how things go down when Klaus returns from his trip, hopefully not empty-handed.

The best part of this episode has to be when Rebekah called Klaus out before he staked her – again. Has anyone kept count of how many times Klaus has personally stabbed her? Is this like the fifth or sixth time?  It has got to suck that this happens to her so much. It’s almost a joke how many times it happens. We’ve now seen her stabbed by Elena, Klaus (several times), The Five guy, and stabbed by her own father – I’m sure I’m missing someone from this list. It’s nice that for once she saw it coming and was able to have the last word, well kind of.

With Connor now on the loose again and in cahoots with the mysterious professor, it’s anyone’s guess who’s at the most risk. We saw in the previews for next week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries that Matt, Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), and April are all going to be taken hostage, but who will come to their rescue? And, Elena might prefer Stefan now, but her emotions seem to flip-flop on a weekly basis – only time will tell.

Who do you think Elena should end up with?

Until next episode.