The Vampire Diaries Review: A Stroll Down Memory Lane in the Windy City

We are now three episodes in to the third season of The Vampire Diaries and apparently overdue for one of their flashback episodes so here it is! But instead of going back to the usual civil war era where the Salvatore boys got their bloodsucking start, we traveled back to 1920s Chicago where Stefan spent some time being a genuine evil asshole.

This little flashback session is triggered by Stefan and Klaus traveling to Chicago in search of a super powerful witch named Gloria (Charmin Lee) who might be able to explain why Klaus wasn’t able to create more half-breeds last week. Throughout this trip down memory lane we learn that Klaus and Stefan actually used to be besties who bonded over Stefan’s cruelty to innocent victims and his relationship with Klaus’s sister, Rebecca (Claire Holt).

Things appeared to go smoothly for awhile until a mysterious assailant popped up to kill Klaus and Rebecca causing Klaus to compel Stefan to forget they ever met. So imagine Stefan’s surprise when he learns that he used to be super chummy with the guy he was trying to outrun all of last season.

After talking things over with Gloria to figure out why breaking the curse didn’t seem to work the way Klaus had hoped, she reveals that they’ll need to contact the witch who created the original curse. This witch is obviously long dead so in order to talk with her Gloria will need a little help and said help can come from Rebecca. As it turns out though, Rebecca is also dead but they go to her coffin anyway. Being Klaus’s sister makes Rebecca an original vampire as well so all reviving her takes is removing the special stake from her heart. She doesn’t wake up immediately so Klaus and Stefan kill time with some cocktails.

Meanwhile, back in Mystic Falls, Damon gets a call from Katherine who has been AWOL since last season’s events and she clues him in that Stefan is in Chicago. Still wanting to save his brother, Damon rustles up Elena and they roadtrip it to the Windy City where they stake out Stefan’s old apartment. Damon goes to see if he can get any facts out of Gloria while Elena waits there. She almost gets busted by Klaus if not for Stefan seeing her in hiding first and saving her by persuading Klaus back to Gloria’s bar.

Things come to head later though when Damon lures Stefan out of the bar to talk to Elena while he goes back in to distract Klaus who can’t know that Elena is still alive. Both fronts of this battle go poorly as Klaus nearly kills Damon until scolded by Gloria not to make a mess in her place. Stefan, meanwhile, dishes out a dose of real talk on Elena by telling her to stop trying to save him and, I quote, “I don’t want to be with you!” Ouch. You best believe Elena and Damon hightailed it back home in defeat after that emotional ass whooping.

We then get one last flashback that reveals how Klaus made Rebecca choose between him and Stefan back in the day and when she chose Stefan he staked her and put her in the condition she’s been in (dead) for the last 90 years or so. Rude.

And now that she is awake again she naturally gives Klaus a little payback stabbing that doesn’t phase him in the slightest. She soon gets over her anger when Klaus reunites her with Stefan and love is rekindled. Little Miss Moodswing strikes again though when realizes that her necklace is missing. And apparently this ain’t no ordinary necklace. Its actually the thing Gloria needs to contact that original witch and little does Rebecca know that Stefan found the necklace back in the 20s, kept it, and gave it to Elena who is still wearing it.

No big deal though, right? No one could possibly know she has it or know its significance…WRONG!!

Like always, that frothy minx Katherine saw Stefan pick up the necklace back in the day and knows it belongs to Elena now. Oh, and where might Katherine be hanging out these days? That’s right: Chicago. This chica is really a pain in the hoo-ha.

Now, unlike most episodes, this one had a major lack of subplots for the myriad of other characters we’ve come to enjoy. In fact, the Chicago storyline was only interrupted by one subplot and it was kind of nice actually. The story in question was Caroline’s who is still being held by her angry father determined to teach her how to repress her vampire urges. It’s a lot like Marcus Bachmann’s ‘pray the gay away‘ therapy but bloodier.

He does this by exposing her to sunlight until she can resist going coocoo for Cocoa Puffs at the site of human blood. This is, of course, impossible and only succeeds in proving that he is an ignorant dick. Luckily, Tyler and Momma ‘Sheriff’ Forbes save the day and take Caroline to safety where she can cry and cuddle in Tyler’s lovely arms. These two are officially my favorite couple and I fully plan on writing a parody of ‘Ebony and Ivory‘ about werewolves and vampires. Get into it.

That about wraps it up for this week and as always there are more questions than answers. Will Katherine try to cozy up to Klaus with her new info? Will Stefan go crazy in love with Rebecca? And now that she’s been completely dissed by Stefan will Elena finally give in to Damon’s flirting? Tune in next week to find out!

The Vampire Diaries Season 3, Episode 3: “The End of the Affair” (originally aired 9/29/2011)

Images courtesy of Annette Brown/Bob Mahoney/The CW.