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The Vampire Diaries is really good at making episodes where seemingly not much happens feel like there’s a lot that happens. I mean, they’ve been doing them for plenty of seasons now, so they’ve certainly gotten much more efficient at them. Once the credits roll at the end of the episode, you realize they’ve basically just been delaying the events until the next plot twist. But now that the show is in its fifth season, shoehorning faux twists and cliffhangers is beginning to feel a bit like déja vu and veering into the point of a yawn.

Look, we know that Elena isn’t going to kill Damon. So cutting to a commercial right after she threatens to murder him is more or less a waste of time. Sure, there could have been points for shock that Elena had been compelled by Silas, you know, if we hadn’t just spent the previous season with Elena removed of her agency. Or Matt removed of his in this episode. Agency-less characters can, as we’ve discussed, be fun in small doses. But on a show that compels random extras on a weekly basis and then has season-long arcs where the characters make few decisions themselves? Well, that’s almost a too perfect literal manifestation of shell of their former selves, isn’t it?

I appreciate Elena and Caroline’s continuous yearning for a normal life and normal experiences, but I also felt that was very beginning-of-season-four. I like that they tried to take the college setting and try to apply it to its main characters. It’s supposed to be a time where you meet new people, date new people, discover more. And something like Caroline falling for the obvious part of “who” in the whodunnit murder mystery this season would be a great exploration if she didn’t do that ad nauseam with Klaus. Then again, we might actually go a bit further with this relationship. And the same can be said for Elena and Damon. Damon seems like the perfect college boyfriend for Elena, the kind of guy that will make her open to experiences she’s never had before. Then again, what hasn’t she experienced? Last year was the Dark Elena period. I was hoping that Bonnie’s dad dying would mean she would try to get even. Of course, she’s dead, and I have no idea where that story is headed. But I hope it shakes up soon.

I hate that it appears like I’m being scathing, but I fail to be shocked at anything anymore. When Silas broke Matt’s neck, my sister (frequently name-dropped in these recaps) gasped and then said, “Oh, my god! They killed him.” My response: “Why do you keep thinking they’ll kill people off this show?” I was genuinely more shocked that she was shocked. Everything is either hilarious (I can’t stop laughing whenever Bonnie plainly states that she’s dead or keeps trying to get Jeremy to play along with her non-existential crisis) or it’s very been there, done that.

Damon doesn’t care about Bonnie? Yup. Bonnie’s friends don’t care about Bonnie? Yes. Caroline confused about her never-ending-long-distance-relationship with Tyler? Yeah. No one telling Elena anything? Got it. Elena’s plans including that she somehow stab herself? Been there. Someone not dying? Check. (Though, it was cool how they showed what happened when someone does die while wearing the ring.) Creepy professor? Shane, where are you? An entire town is compelled? Hello Katherine in that small town in season four! And as much as I’m excited for Ripper Stefan to make his return, I can’t stop but feel like that’s a retread, too. (Also, I still don’t get how shutting off his humanity helped him out of that safe.) At this point, the only things that feel fresh besides Caroline and Elena being in a new setting is Elena digging a bit into her father’s past and Katherine’s journey to being human.

Katherine said that the way she survived was that she always kept running and never looked back. Maybe The Vampire Diaries has taken one too many peeks behind its shoulder — and then decided to turn around and revisit what it saw.