The Vampire Diaries Review: Like Mother, Unlike Daughter

It is the moment we have all been waiting for – Elena’s mother, Alaric’s ex-wife, and bitchy vampire, Isobel (Mia Kirshner) finally came to Mystic Falls and she was not in a good mood. This ended up being a very breezy and entertaining episode that set up the impending season climax with glee.

After meeting with Alaric at the local pub, Isobel demands a meeting with her daughter and at that meeting she demands that Elena get Damon to give her the much-discussed invention that evil Uncle John has also been chasing. If she doesn’t get it, she plans on murdering a lot of people and frankly, I believe her threats. Isobel does not mess around. Period.

Damon decides to pay her a visit in a scene that is both tense and sexy. But then again any scene that begins with Ian Somerhalder shirtless could earn that description. The scene smolders with a potent mix of lust and vampire anger but just when you think they’re about to get it on, Damon turns mean and tells her to back off of his town or else…

I believed his threats. Isobel, not so much – just a scene or two later she shows up at the school where the happy teens are building floats for the Founders Day Parade and has her gay cowboy henchman injure Matt to prove to Elena that she means business. And then to top it all off, she kidnaps poor Jeremy to use as a bartering tool for the invention. Even evil Uncle John (who she is in cahoots with) can’t sign on for potentially murdering his nephew, but when he protests, Isobel’s goons beat him up and take his ring that protects him from vampires. She clearly means business. Again.

Luckily for everyone but Isobel, Elena’s trusty witch friend, Bonnie, gets over her anger with Elena and the brothers and volunteers to help them out by placing a spell on the invention so that it won’t work against vampires. Feeling secure about it with Bonnie’s spell, they make the trade for Jeremy but first must suffer some very snotty comments from Isobel alluding to Damon being in love with Elena and Elena not living up to Katherine. Ouch.

Later on we see Isobel say goodbye to Alaric as we realize that she is already leaving town again, which makes me sad since I was taking quite a liking to this saucy minx. But before leaving completely she turns the invention/weapon over to Uncle John and instructs him to be sure to kill the Salvatore brothers along with the other vampires he’s hunting. He obviously obliges but fingers crossed she’ll be back for season two to try doing it herself!

Back at home, Elena has an awkward moment with Jeremy who is mad at her for all of the secrets she’s been keeping. The conversation ends with a door being slammed in Elena’s face. Ouch again.

And finally, this wouldn’t be the episode before the season finale without a little twist at the end and sure enough this episode had two of them. When Stefan confronts Damon about possibly being in love with Elena and gives him the “stay away from my girl” speech, Damon dodges it by bringing up the fact that all signs point to Uncle John actually being Father John to Elena! His reasons to believe this certainly add up but I was still skeptical until Isobel confirms it in her final conversation with John. Triple ouch.

Oh, and remember when I said Bonnie was over her anger with Elena and the brothers and was helping them by casting that spell? Well, in a little confession to Caroline, it turns out that the spell didn’t actually do anything at all. I’d say ouch again, but this is more like an agonizing moan of pain. Next week is the season finale and it’s not going to be pretty and I have a feeling that up to two or three characters will bite the big one before all is said and done. Shall we start taking bets?

For another opinion on this episode, check out How I Met Your Mother (and turned her into an undead monster) by Mallory Elis.

Season 1, Episode 21: Isobel (originally aired May 6, 2010)

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Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW

Photographs courtesy of The CW and Bob Mahoney.