3.8 Ordinary People The ‘Lockwood diaries’ is an idea stolen from many other mythology-rich genre shows like Smallville, but it doesn’t look like it’ll outstay it’s welcome. In Smallville, for example, it took the hero several years to figure out what the different drawings in the native American caves meant, but here we see Elena take charge almost straight away. It’s just another example of Vampire Diaries taking other shows’ bad ideas and executing them more efficiently. Speaking of which, the episode is essentially a flashback exposition tale, filling out the backstory of not just Rebecca and her family, but the age old rivalry between vampires and werewolves. By going this far back they’re able to tackle everything at once, hopefully ensuring that things can go a little bit faster from now on. Despite the odd narrative surge, I maintain that this is the slowest run of episodes the show has ever put out, and a flashback story like this just emphasises how little is happening at the moment. For Rebecca is finally living up to her potential, inhabiting the show’s strange deviation between camp, comedy and horror with effortless charm and subtle vulnerability. With her line-up of homecoming dresses doubling for a lunch buffet and a bizarre love of cheerleading, she’s an intriguing prospect for both the tone of the show, and the way the overarching plot might eventually pan out. This is her hour to shine, and Claire Holt easily outshine’s Nina Dobrev’s drama-school looks of ’surprise’ and ‘intrigue’ when delivering her story. But, after my complaint about missing cast members last week, this is probably the worst offender so far. Jeremy had a big part to play last week, and they seem to like storing Matt away until he’s really needed, but there’s still been no follow up to Tyler’s hybrid status. It really seems like a bit of an oversight when considering the characters‘ motivations, as they all seem to be paying more attention to Stefan’s unstable mental state than Klaus’ dastardly master plan. We end with some charged pillow talk between Elena and Damon. I was beginning to think the show had forgotten their promise to ‘Delena’ fans, but things in that department also seem to be moving forward. At the moment, it seems like the show promises more and more every week, but never quite delivers on time. It might make for an explosive finale, but the waiting in the meantime is becoming a little less fun week-by-week.Read our review of the last episode, here.
