Vampire Diaries - Bad Moon Rising, S02E03

What are vampires without werewolves? The two have become so intertwined, I can't think of a major vampire or werewolf horror story, movie, or TV show of late which hasn't incorporated both. Oh, and witches. Those are also pretty common these days. But the idea of a doppelganger as a mythical or legendary creature, now there is something unique and very interesting to think about.

The original concept that Elena (Nina Dobrev) looked exactly like Katherine seemed rather like a cool choice to complicate things rather than a decision based on folklore or research. Last season, her resemblance was strange, but the question asked was how Elena, a Gilbert, would look like Katherine, who was not her relative. The answer was that Katherine was in fact a relative. But that never explained the exactness of the similarities. I do hope that this concept continues to be played with.

The werewolves, of course, had a far more prevalent place in the episode. We now know what they are, and hopefully Tyler (Michael Trevino) will now learn what he is so that he is better able to cope. Of course, him seeing Stefan (Paul Wesley) move the way he did, and his reaction of protectiveness for his friends despite the weirdness of it all was particularly moving. Though poor guy, having a girl come onto him and then reject him for Matt (Zach Roerig). I felt worse, however, for Matt when Caroline (Candice Accola) behaved like such a crazy bitch so that he would break up with her and therefor be safe. Naturally, he has no idea what she's going through, and while she is only trying to protect him, losing him may be Katherine's key to manipulating her into losing her humanity.

Finally, I pity Damon (Ian Somerhalder), and am frankly annoyed at Elena about it. Oh sure, there is a great argument that he is a complete and irredeemable jerk. After all, he is really lucky that he did not kill Jeremy. He meant to, and he tried, but the thing is that he did not succeed. Jeremy is still alive, but Elena refuses to forgive the mistake, refuses to remember that Damon is so fragile, so very capable of going off the edge and being crazy. Her mistake was to forget that when she became his friend. She trusted him as she would trust a normal person, and forgot to be careful that he could at any moment turn back into a murderous psychopath. Did she really think that he had transformed so completely, so solidly that quickly? And now, refusing to allow him to redeem himself, she may well force him to become what she hates all the more since what point is there in him remaining good? Then again, she's only 17. What does she know?

How badly will all this work out? We can only wait and watch!