Review: The Vampire Diaries "Into the Wild" Or As I Like to Call it... Into Shane's Hands

Air Date: Thursday, February 7, 2013, 8/7c on The CW

RATING: ★★★★★

“Being a vampire is miserable. I would give anything to be human; normal.” – Rebekah

I am pleasantly surprised by “Into the Wild.” It showcases the fundamental elements for a great hour of television. I do have one complaint though: the gang shows up on a mysterious island and the indigenous people just happen to be Caucasian? Oh right, it’s “200 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia.” So that explains it. Nothing wrong with making the cast a little more diverse, writers. It used to be.

Observations and thoughts:

So a year ago the good Professor Shane (David Alpay)—excuse me, Atticus (really?)—had straight hair. What, did he get a perm in the last few months? Hairstyle aside, the guy is hiding something. We’re given snippets of his background, discovering how and why his obsession began. It all goes back to his dead wife and child. I believe everything Shane says is a lie. His flashbacks may tell a certain portion of his story, but he’s conveniently leaving things out. How could he have gone from a devoted husband and father to a conniving, manipulative asshat? We’re missing an important piece of the puzzle and I’d love to know where he stepped off the path of rational thinking to travel down lunatic lane.

Review: The Vampire Diaries "Into the Wild" Or As I Like to Call it... Into Shane's Hands 1

You know Shane is going to get himself killed trying to bring back his wife.

Klaus (Joseph Morgan) never ceases to amaze me. “Maybe it’s because I’m pure evil, and I can’t help myself.” Morgan channels his inner bad guy and brings it. He portrays vindictive, precise, and calculating with ease. Morgan flawlessly takes Klaus from one end of the spectrum to the other, leaving you confused about how you can hate him one minute and then feel sorry for him the next. His facial expressions, tone of voice, and tears pull at your emotions. These foolish baby vamps keep forgetting original vampires are not to be trifled with. But Klaus doesn’t hesitate to remind them. Kol’s (Nathaniel Buzolic) death has pushed him over the edge, yet I feel Klaus was due for an evil run. I thought he was getting soft and I forgot just how dangerous he can be to other vampires. When a single bite can cause your death, you might want to be nice to him.

I think the pretense of a cure for immortality sounds good, but you know Murphy’s Law will apply—whatever can go wrong, will. The supernaturals on The Vampire Diaries have their personalities and mannerisms because of living such long lives. Taking that away, even from one of them, takes something away from the show’s premise. While I’d love to see Rebekah (Claire Holt) get what she wants and become human, I like her best as a vampire. She’s dangerous and off kilter; she can’t be that way if she’s human. She’s more than a bratty young adult; she’s a character with substance and I’d like to see her continued growth as she is, not as she wants to be. “Human Rebekah. I can’t imagine her without fangs.” Me either, Damon (Ian Somerhalder).

Review: The Vampire Diaries "Into the Wild" Or As I Like to Call it... Into Shane's Hands 2

Pray tell what happened to this knife when Damon was being attacked? Can’t say his vampire hearing was working.

Damon’s instincts are always on point. Yes, he may go about things in an unconventional way, but usually he does it to get to the bottom of a mystery. The big unknown is what is Professor Shane hiding. If Silas is immortal and buried in a cave, why does he need to be resurrected? Wouldn’t resurrecting him mean he’s dead? How can one be immortal yet succumb to death by burial? There has to be something important Shane is keeping to himself and Damon is close to finding out what it is. Only I don’t think he’ll be successful. Shane is smarter than we realize. Just when you think he’s even remotely trustworthy, he proves how dishonest he is. All that aside, I’m glad he’s around because he’s the least boring character on this show.

Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) gets kidnapped; Bonnie (Kat Graham) realizes she’s being manipulated; Tyler (Michael Trevino) and Caroline (Candice Accola) find themselves just as trapped as Klaus. What is the point , you may ask? We’re being distracted from the main storyline because all good plot points need to drag on for a few weeks before getting to the good stuff. No one really wants to see Jeremy get hurt, so he’s taken out of the picture for a bit for preservation. Bonnie needs to get angry so she can get out from under Shane’s thumb. I don’t think she will until she opens her eyes and sees Shane for who he is. Then there’s the cute duo who are as a boring as an old married couple. Tyler may love Caroline, but he’s not the right guy for her. Klaus proves that with a display of his emotions during a poignant scene with a dying Caroline. She’s undone him and it’ll change him, if it hasn’t already.

Memorable and funny lines:

Rebekah to Stefan: “She killed my brother, tried to get you to put a dagger in my back; she’s lucky all she’s getting is the evil eye.”

Elena: “You know I can hear you, right?”

Rebekah: “You know I don’t care, right?”

Tyler: “Morning, Sunshine. You look pathetic.”

Klaus: “Only until Bonnie’s spell locking me in here wears off. Then I’ll look different. Angrier, perhaps. Or I won’t look like anything because I’ll have gouged your eyes from their sockets.”

Rebekah runs down everyone’s purpose explaining why Elena is irrelevant, forgetting to mention Damon:

Damon: “What about me?”

Rebekah: “You have a nice behind.”

Damon: “I don’t care about some lame ass cure for vampires either.”

Elena: “How can you say that?”

Damon: “Because I don’t want you to be cured.”

Bonnie is always the key. I love how important she is to the show but I’m worried her usefulness will run out.

I’m intrigued. There’s a member of “the five” running rampant and who knows what he’s going to do. Shane is pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes and exacting a huge coup. I’m pretty excited for what’s to come. Who knows, maybe we’ll get to see Silas soon.

Tune in to The Vampire Diaries Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW. For more on the show, visit http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-vampire-diaries.

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Follow The Vampire Diaries cast on Twitter: @ninadobrev, @iansomerhalder, @josephmorgan, @katgraham, @paulwesley, @michaeltrevino, @candaceaccola, @claireholt.

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Writer, mother, realist, cloud lover, daydreamer, dessert enthusiast, sweet tea addict, perfectionist, and lover of life and Christ, but not in that order. http://www.fanfiction.net/~vikingloverelle