Ever since Elena was turned into a vampire, the race has been on to find out if there was a cure to restore her humanity. Alas, that deadly search cost her the life of her brother Jeremy, and introduced a whole new big bad villain Silas, who will stop at nothing to get the cure for himself for his own nefarious purposes. So it is only too fitting that this week’s episode is themed around the song of the same name “Pictures of You by the music group The Cure. Clever.
The whole goal of this special prom episode was reminding Elena of her human life and finding a way to convince her to turn back on her emotions, for vampire without emotions is a threat to everyone. But Elena is bound and determined to preserve her carefree, emotionless vampire life. She does not see the need to be cured or to have human emotions back. She is having too much fun running around killing to her heart’s content, without regret.
Prom would normally be the epitome of all things great during high school. A girl attends with the boy of her dreams and wears a dress that memorializes that crowning moment for the rest of her life. It is a night literally worth remembering. If only Elena cared. Even attending with two dreamy guys and wearing the best dress holds no real pleasure for her. Elena is merely going through the motions in order to achieve her own twisted goals. So what is Elena dreaming of on prom night? You’ll have to see it to believe it.
Fortunately, this episode is not all about Elena and not everyone thinks Elena deserves to be human again. She had her chance and threw it away. This episode depicts the parallel journey of Rebekah, who desperately wants to be human again and to live a normal life. So Elijah challenges Rebekah to prove that she deserves to be human by living one entire day as a human, not using any of her vampire abilities. But being human is a lot harder than Rebekah anticipated. It means not being able to snap her figures and compel whatever guy she chooses as a date and having to put up with insults that she normally would never condone without breaking someone’s neck. The once scene that truly spotlights Rebekah’s inability to really be a human again is when she asks Matt if he thinks she would make a “good human” and he replied that she has never been good in her whole existence; so he does not think she is capable of being “good.”
The agony of Rebekah’s attempt to regain her humanity and the stubborn resistance by Elena to keep from having her humanity forced back upon her has a nice mirroring effect. But whether swayed by emotions or not, it is fascinating what eventually compels Rebekah and Elena to give up their quest. Each will be faced with a situation that forces them to make an unhappy choice.
Then as Rebekah and Elena are coming to terms with their various states of being, there is a tricky masquerade being played on prom night. Just who is Silas and when will he pop up next? He can literally be anyone and that shapeshifting ability comes quite in handy when trying to manipulate everyone into the positions he wants; and Silas will not just messing with Klaus and Bonnie this time around. Everyone is fair game and figuring out who is real and who is fake is another fascinating mind-game for the episode. The saying maybe “where is Waldo?” but for the Mystic Falls gang, it will be “who is Silas?” It will not be as easy as you think.
So as you watch this week’s new episode of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, pay close attention to the how each of characters behaves. Some will be acting like themselves and some won’t. Silas, Silas, wherever you are, come out and play – and play he does!
All new episodes of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES airs Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. on the CW. As a fun tease, here are the lyrics to The Cure’s song “Pictures of You.” There’s a big clue in the song revealing what ultimately may give Elena her emotions back.
Lyrics –
I’ve been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they’re real
I’ve been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel
Remembering
You standing quiet in the rain
As I ran to your heart to be near
And we kissed as the sky fell in
Holding you close
How I always held close in your fear
Remembering
You running soft through the night
You were bigger and brighter and wider than snow
And screamed at the make-believe
Screamed at the sky
And you finally found all your courage
To let it all go
Remembering
You fallen into my arms
Crying for the death of your heart
You were stone white
So delicate
Lost in the cold
You were always so lost in the dark
Remembering
You how you used to be
Slow drowned
You were angels
So much more than everything
Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes
But I never see anything
If only I’d thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart
If only I’d thought of the right words
I wouldn’t be breaking apart
All my pictures of you
Looking so long at these pictures of you
But I never hold on to your heart
Looking so long for the words to be true
But always just breaking apart
My pictures of you
There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to feel you deep in my heart
There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to never feel the breaking apart
All my pictures of you
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THE VAMPIRE DIARIES airs Thursday at 8PM on the CW (9PM on CTV Two in Canada) and stars Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Steven R. McQueen, Kat Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Michael Trevino, Matt Davis and Joseph Morgan. Catch up on past episodes you may have missed for free online at clicktowatch.tv
Tiffany Vogt is the Senior West Coast Editor, contributing as a columnist and entertainment reporter to TheTVaddict.com. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).