The Vampire Diaries - S6E2 - Yellow Ledbetter
Previously on The Vampire Diaries, ‘I’ll Remember’
I am loving this season so far! The story feels fresh and exciting, and I’m completely captivated by the mystery surrounding Bonnie & Damon. The writers are setting us up for a long journey to getting Elena & Damon back together but so far, it seems as though there will be lots of other characters & stories to explore along the way. Let’s get into this week’s review starting with a trip down memory lane.
Memory Games
Alaric has agreed to help Elena move on from Damon. They won’t be completely removing him from her life but rather they’ll alter her memories so that they were never in love. They’ll go through one-by-one changing them until they find the signature memory that will create a domino effect for all the others. They start with an easy one, the first time that Damon & Elena met. Alaric changes the memory by compelling her to believe that it was only a conversation with a stranger. Then he asks her “Who is Damon Salvatore?” Elena answers, “Damon was my boyfriend. I loved him and then he died.” Their work isn’t done yet.
Elena continues to recall old times: the first time they kissed, the Miss Mystic Falls pageant but none of them go deep enough. They need the memory of when she first fell in love. Elena believes it to be when she found out about the sire bond but even after Ric alters that, nothing has changed. She thinks maybe it’s when they shared the motel room together but nope, no dice. Ric pushes her to go deeper and find the right memory but Elena gives up and tells him to forget the whole thing.
Back in her dorm room she’s calling Luke, apparently about to relapse on the herbs, when Ric shows up. Thanks to his conversation with Caroline (more on this later) he is able to encourage her to be honest with herself, that it’s okay to talk about the memories of Damon while she was still with Stefan, that it wouldn’t be a betrayal. At first she refuses, she was faithful to Stefan even through all the crap he put her through. She then realizes though, that a piece of advice she had from Katharine a while back might have some truth to it, that it’s okay to love them both.
Finally she knows the exact moment. It was her birthday, the one that followed an entire summer spent with Damon looking for Stefan. Caroline had a party planned for her but she was reluctant to go. Just as she was about to bail, Damon approached her with a gift; the necklace that Stefan had given her. Elena knew how much this must have hurt him, to give her something so meaningful from Stefan even though he loved her as well. She says that this was Damon at his most selfless and she knew then that she loved him. Ric proceeds to modify the memory and when he asks Elena again who Damon Salvatore is, this time she responds, “Damon was Stefan’s brother. He was a monster and then he died.” I won’t lie; this gave me all the feels and all the tears. Something tells me that if Damon does return it’s going to take more than just a snap of Ric’s fingers to help Elena remember their love.
Road Trip!
Caroline finds out that Stefan has given up on the search for Bonnie & Damon and she’s pretty pissed. For some reason she doesn’t seem any more pleased when Ric tells her that there is someone who hasn’t given up. Likely it’s because that person is Enzo, not even close to her ideal choice for a road trip buddy! She decides to put her work making Mystic Falls safe again on hold and heads out to find Enzo.
In the coat check closet of a hotel, we see Enzo getting up close and personal with a witch in an effort to uncover a new lead. Before Caroline walks on his…“fact finding mission” he manages to get the name of a coven, Gemini, who was able to contact the dead before the Other Side disappeared. Caroline and Enzo hit the road on their way to Oregon to find the coven but after some unsolicited advice that she should go back to school, Caroline learns that they’re taking a detour.
Meanwhile in Savannah, GA
Stefan wakes up to the smell of awkward-morning-after and finds Ivy in his kitchen trying to cook breakfast. He’s kind of a jerk about the whole situation saying that he didn’t expect her to still be there and turns the stove off so she can’t continue. She feels awful and is ready to jet right out of there when Stefan manages to smooth things over by offering to cook her dinner.
Later in the evening we see Stefan preparing said dinner when he takes a break and nips into the fridge for a little blood snack. Ivy shows up just as he’s indulging and she’s brought some friends with her. Hope you made extras, Stefan!
Table for Four
In what was probably one of the most uncomfortable yet amusing dinner scenes on TVD, we start to get some information on what Stefan has been up to for the past 4 months and whether or not he’s still a ‘neck man’. You can see Ivy’s face go from smiling & trying to please the new boyfriend’s friends, to utter confusion at their rather cryptic conversation and ultimately to terror. Caroline remarks that it’s a little confusing that Stefan’s been in this house for over two months since everyone thought he was somewhere else and that his job was supposed to be investigative work not auto repair. Just as she’s getting heated Enzo steps in and says it’s probably all a misunderstanding and to clear up any confusion he stabs Stefan in the hand with a fork. Caroline compels Ivy to go upstairs, Enzo calls Stefan a coward and in turn he breaks Enzo’s neck.
Caroline gets a call from Alaric who needs some insight on Elena’s past. She tells him that Elena wouldn’t like to admit it, but that she fell in love with Damon while she was still technically with Stefan and of course he overhears her saying this. She immediately apologizes but Stefan says he doesn’t care, that he doesn’t care about anything from that life anymore. Caroline argues that he was always the one who cared, even through all the crazy that they had going on, so what made him stop? Stefan claims because he had to, he had no choice. He followed leads in 20 different countries around the world and they were all dead ends, he’s even been to see the Gemini Coven already. So he gave up, even on Caroline and hasn’t listened to a single voicemail from her. To this she responds “Let me summarize them for you, you’re a dick!” You know what Stefan? I agree!
With the exception of the Damon & Bonnie scenes, what comes next was my favorite part of the episode. Enzo notices that Caroline has been crying and decides to go back and take it up with Stefan. He breaks Ivy’s neck and tells him that he’ll fulfill Damon’s promise of giving Stefan an eternity of misery. Enzo warns him that brothers don’t give up, so anytime he sees Stefan trying to start over he’ll be there to put his ass back in line. Oh, and then he breaks Stefan’s neck too!
Tripp Fell
In another awkward morning after scene, Matt finds Sarah has spent the night with Jeremy in the Lockwood mansion. Matt’s not too happy about it considering who attacked her the day before, but as Jeremy points out it’s not his house, so tough luck! That night Jeremy is hitting the bottle again and when Matt asks about where Sarah is, he lies. Jeremy is really getting on my nerves. Matt attempts to motivate him to do anything but drink but when he fails he goes for a jog instead. While out, he stumbles upon Tripp who inquires about Sarah because he found out the car she was driving is stolen. Matt promises to stay in touch and let Tripp know if he hears from her.
It turns out Jeremy has been paying Bonnie’s cell phone bills so that he can still hear her voice via voicemail message. He calls her every night to yell at her for the way things ended. I mean she did essentially say goodbye forever over the phone and despite all the random hookups, he’s clearly still very hurt. Matt returns and tells him about the information from Tripp. Sarah overhears them and confirms that yes; she stole her bosses’ car because he was a total creep. She understands that they don’t want her there and reveals that she came to Mystic Falls to find her dad, so she’ll go stay with him. Jeremy offers for her to stay with him at the Salvatore house until she is able to find her father.
Matt calls Tripp to fill him in and we find out that his actual name is Thomas Vincent Fell. Since that makes him a member of the founding families, Matt wonders if Tripp knows all the secrets that come along with it? Tripp plays dumb, but it’s quickly revealed that he has a van full of kidnapped vampires whom he first blasts with a UV light and then drives over the Mystic Falls border with a disturbing amount of glee.
Four Months Ago
It turns out that Bonnie and Damon stayed right where they were standing after the Other Side disappeared, a bit anticlimactic really. As they begin to make their way around Mystic Falls a few strange things become apparent pretty quickly: they are the only two people there, the Mystic Grill hasn’t been blown up, and wood paneling on mini vans is still in fashion. They arrive at the Gilbert home, which also hasn’t been burned down, when they find a copy of that day’s newspaper and we learn that it’s May 10 1994.
While Damon wonders if there’s any booze left in their alternate reality, Bonnie is contemplating more important things like how they got there. She recalls that Grams had ensured her peace in the afterlife (knew it!) and that because she was holding Damon’s hand he must have been able to stay with her. Bonnie reasons that if magic is the cause for them being here then perhaps magic can help them leave. She attempts to light a candle with a spell but alas, it’s not going to be that easy.
In the kitchen of the Salvatore home we are treated to some awesome ‘90’s vibes while Damon busts out his white boy dance moves. Thank you TVD! Bonnie arrives, dressed in some fly ‘90’s fashion, with her Grams’ old Grimoire in hopes that she can use it to relearn magic. As they settle in for their first of many pancake breakfasts, the room darkens and they look up to see that the eclipse and evidently May 10th are happening all over again. Damon figures that this must prove they are in hell. Yeah, that or your own personal Groundhog Day.
Two Months Ago
More 90’s music, more pancakes, and more terrible crossword puzzle jokes. Tensions are running high between Damon & Bonnie; she still hasn’t been able to channel her magic abilities or answer that darn crossword in full. Just then Bonnie believes she’s heard something but Damon is quick to dismiss it, reminding her that they’re all alone.
Present Day
Thank goodness Bonnie can cook! It seems that the two of them are starting to find some common ground in the fact that they both miss their friends. If they’re going to be in hell together they might as well get along. Damon congratulates Bonnie on finishing the crossword but Bonnie doesn’t have a clue what he means. She thinks he’s messing with her and he thinks the same. But the answer has been filled in, “Ledbetter”, both a reference to the episode’s title & a song from the ‘90’s. If neither of them finished it, then who did?
Questions I’m left with
- Is there any significance to the specific date of May, 10 1994? What about the eclipse?
- Who is the other person stuck with Damon & Bonnie in the 90’s realm? Is it someone we know?
- Who is Sarah’s dad?
- Who will be the first person to screw up and talk about Damon & Elena together?
Spoiler Alert?
If you look at the first five episode titles for this season, they’re all song names from the ‘90’s. Both of the songs from episodes 4 & 5 were released in May of 1994 and more specifically episode 5’s title “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here” was from an album released on May 10 1994! It could be that the writers are just having fun with the titles, or it could mean something deeper! Will we get a big reveal in the 5th episode? Either way, my ‘90’s loving heart is completely elated!
