The opening scene showed why I love flashback episodes. They're just done so well. The way they're filmed, the mood, everything just makes them so very good.
Stefan, you show-off, with your expert rock skimming abilities. I liked his line about Elijah being crafty and Damon's response of "Well, I've got a crafty little dagger.".
Heh, the bit in the flashback with Stefan asking the two girls "Who wants to die next?" and them both wanting to be next (obviously under compulsion) was morbidly amusing. As was his "What about you? Y'know, if you don't pick up the tempo, you're going to lose your head. Snap snap." line to the girl playing the piano...then her quickly obliging. Then Damon walked in with his bad flashback hair and that was a whole different level of funny. His attitude was also kind of amusing, as he acted like an overly sentimental Sam Winchester. He was really prissy and uptight. I did like the contrast of Stefan and Damon being opposites in the flashbacks to how they are now - with Stefan being the ruthless killer and Damon being the level-headed/careful one sparing the girls' lives. I also enjoyed seeing a side of Stefan that relished being evil. It's quite the change from Present Stefan (when Stefan goes evil, he really goes all out. Present Damon would wipe away a tear of joy). Elena's "It sounds like you were Damon." was right on the money.
Good of Damon to bring Katherine some blood and new clothes (she looked like she was about to turn into a vampire mummy. Poor Katherine, life in a tomb isn't much fun).
LEXI! Okay, so I knew ahead of time she was going to be in this episode, plus having her name in the guest starring credits kind of gave it away, but still...it was SO great to see her on screen again! Her playing the victim, but getting the jump on Stefan as he stalked her, followed by her "What kind of an idiot are you?" line was great - and I liked how it mirrored her first introduction at the start of '162 Candles'. She's always getting the jump on Stefan. I'm also glad we learned her full name. Arielle Kebbel is awesome. Paul Wesley did a good job of showing how Stefan felt whilst talking about/remembering Lexi and - as Elena mentioned - Damon killing her.
Andie's "Trust is the key to any relationship. I mean, I am *so* grateful that Damon tells me everything." line to Jenna was amusing. I'm getting a bit tired of Damon telling her to "Stop talking.".
Nice twist, having it revealed that only humans could wield the white ash-dipped dagger against an Original and it would bring death to any vampires that tried. John, you crafty bastard, trying to get Damon killed. Thank goodness Alaric was smart enough to not actually say out loud to Damon that the dagger would kill him, but instead wrote it down (so Elijah wouldn't overhear with his vampire hearing).
Kudos, show, for actually managing to make the stabbing of Elijah a surprise. I was NOT expecting it to occur when it did. Yay Alaric! Gosh, that was satisfying. His "Now get rid of him, before Jenna comes back with dessert." line was funny for some reason.
I very much enjoyed seeing Lexi be Stefan's mentor in all the flashback scenes with the two of them. They were great together.
Rather than "waiting her out", why didn't Elijah just set the house on fire so that Elena would be forced to run outside? Though I did enjoy the fact that Elijah thought he was calling Elena's bluff (about stabbing herself)...only for him to scream "NO!!!" when she *wasn't* bluffing. Anything to wipe that smug look off his face. Even better? Elena stabbing Elijah! I'd SO been hoping she would be the one to eventually get to do it (properly), so I was most pleased that she did. Go Elena! It's great that Sara Canning and Matt Davis are being given some decent dramatic material to work with. That scene between Jenna and Alaric was very good. Kudos to both actors. John really is a d!ck. I hope they kill him soon. Giving into John's blackmail and removing the ring? Probably not a smart move, Alaric.
Damon calling the moonstone "our little moonstone bar of soap" amused me. Byebye, Elijah...well, for now anyway.
I'm glad Elena told the boys how it was going to be from now on. She's no pushover, which is why I love her character.
I thought the moment between the two brothers - where Stefan reminded Damon of Lexi/what he'd done to her - was really good (again, Paul Wesley's facial expressions sold it). I had been hoping for an apology from Damon for killing Lexi, but at least we saw via flashback that he and Lexi had had a moment where he asked her to help Stefan and she warned him about his hate.
This is the third week in a row that I've really liked the song choice for the end of the episode. Another great ending to an episode, with Katherine being revealed in the shower (thankyou, show!). How very smart of her to use reverse psychology on Damon - and he fell for it. Katherine certainly knows how to play him like a fiddle. Excellent twist. Great episode. Easily the best one since the show came back from its hiatus, and possibly the best of the season (so far). Thankyou, TVD, for finally giving us more Lexi. I'd been waiting for that since Season 1's '162 Candles'. Now, if we could just see her and Stefan in a flashback to that Bon Jovi concert they were at.
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