4.14 Down the Rabbit Hole The fact that we don’t know what we’ll be seeing next week might be great for tension and building fan theories, but it also demonstrates how much The Vampire Diaries has changed over the last couple of years. Judging by the slow-motion and dramatic soundtrack that accompanied the scene, Jeremy has been killed, but the truth is that he’s died so many times that without these obvious signifiers, we wouldn’t be worried at all. The show has tied itself up with loopholes and a thick, mystical rulebook full of contradictions, and a lot of people are worried at how easily the writers can bring him back from the dead. Looking at it within the rules of the show, a lot of fans have pointed out that Jeremy was wearing his protection ring while down in the caves. There is even a long, lingering shot of his hand moments before he meets his end, so the choice to confirm his wardrobe choice must be a deliberate one. That said, Jeremy is now a supernatural being, so does the ring even work anymore? No matter what, this seems like a cruel trick on the audience, since we’re likely to get a quick ‘the ring doesn’t work on a hunter’ speech next week. If they knew that, shouldn’t someone have piped up before they sent him to Nova Scotia on a suicide mission? Or how Elena will cope in general. If Jeremy is in fact dead, then I can’t help but think that this is a little harsh on the poor girl. First she lost her parents, then her birth parents, then Jenna, then Alaric, and now the only blood relative she had left. Since Jenna died, all Elena has been concerned with is keeping Jeremy safe, and now that she’s failed in that mission, the emotional fallout could be huge. It could essentially change the whole show, which is one of the reasons I’m keen for Jeremy to stay dead. This show used to kill characters all the time, but we were getting hugely overcrowded. And Tyler has also gone running, as fear over what violent form Klaus’ revenge will take once he’s free means he has to leave Mystic Falls. We’re supposed to find his and Caroline’s breakup heartbreaking and poignant but, at this point, I have zero emotional connection to the character. He was just taking up space in a busy show, and it was a good decision to have him head out for an undetermined amount of time. The writers can have him back whenever they want but, until then, we can spend some time wrapping up the Caroline/Klaus storyline before he heads to New Orleans. Read Caroline’s review of the previous episode, Into The Wild, here. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
