Psycho Drive-In logo
Search
  • PDI Press
    Featured
    • ON SALE NOW! NOIRLATHOTEP 2: MORE TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN CRIME!!

      Shawn Hill
      December 31, 2018
      News, PDI Press, PDI Press Catalog
    Recent
    • ON SALE NOW! NOIRLATHOTEP 2: MORE TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN CRIME!!

      psychodr
      December 31, 2018
    • VOICES FROM THE NIGHT: The Living Dead Tell Their Stories

      John E. Meredith
      October 31, 2018
    • American Carnage: Tales of Trumpian Dystopia

      psychodr
      March 24, 2018
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-L
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
  • Columns P-Z
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    Featured
    • Knives Out (2019)

      Shawn Hill
      November 29, 2019
      Movies, Reviews
    Recent
    • Knives Out (2019)

      Nate Zoebl
      November 29, 2019
    • Night Work (2019)

      Nate Zoebl
      November 8, 2019
    • Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw (2019) Blu-ray

      Paul Brian McCoy
      November 5, 2019
    • Books
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
    Featured
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Shawn Hill
      July 13, 2018
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Dory Hoffman
      July 13, 2018
    • David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

      Dan Lee
      March 7, 2017
    • Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

      Andre Lamar
      September 29, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

      Jason Sacks
      July 28, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

      Dave Hearn, Paul Brian McCoy
      July 27, 2016
    • Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

      Gary Richardson, Laura Akers
      April 16, 2016
  • News
    Featured
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      Shawn Hill
      July 30, 2019
      DVD/Blu-ray, News
    Recent
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      psychodr
      July 30, 2019
    • X-Men: Dark Phoenix arrives on Digital 9/3 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD 9/17

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 16, 2019
    • Avengers: Endgame arrives on Digital 7/30 and Blu-ray 8/13

      psychodr
      July 16, 2019
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Breaking
  • Knives Out (2019)
  • Night Work (2019)
  • Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw (2019) Blu-ray
  • Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
  • Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019)
  • The Lighthouse (2019)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-L
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
  • Columns P-Z
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Home
Reviews

The Vampire Diaries 3.12 “The Ties That Bind”

Shawn Hill
February 1, 2012
Reviews, TV

Bondage. That’s the theme of this week. Klaus’s family is bound in their coffins in suspended animation. Alaric is bound to his magic ring that saves him from death, and was once bound to Jenna, who died. Elena was bound to Stefan, but is now more entangled with Damon. She’s also tied to a wooden post, all Perils of Pauline, for part of the episode. Bonnie is bound to the ancestral chain of Bennett witches, but a link is missing: her mother.

But more important than all of the above, Hybrid Tyler is bound by literal chains in the underground dungeon set that is never strong enough to actually hold any werewolves. In only his running shorts. By Caroline’s father, the serial torturer, which is just kinky. This episode has everything!

Bonnie’s dreams of the witch mansion and the coffins continue to get weirder and weirder, including that universal nightmare of waking up locked in one yourself. Even her magic won’t save her, but what does? A vision of her mother, whom she hasn’t seen in fifteen years, opening the lid. And this is a teenager, remember, so we might as easily say she’s never seen her.

The Ties That Bind

Elena, in her Elena way, puts everything else on blast and immediately is on board in getting Bonnie down to North Carolina (her mom was only ever a road trip away, apparently) to make that missed connection. The unfortunate thing is, she gets the address through the Sheriff’s office, where Klaus has a mole. And where Damon can compel anyone to give up any files at all. And she leaves all the paperwork on her kitchen table, where Stefan can come and go as he pleases. Elena has never heard of subterfuge unless someone literally reminds her to do it. This is one of her most tedious qualities, her naïve faith in doing the right thing. You’re living in a town of professional liars, girl!

The hybrids are all gone, except for that annoying blonde one, and everyone has faster magic powers than Bonnie’s slow old car. Making a phone call ahead never occurs to anyone. Would have helped, because by the time they arrive in NC, Bonnie’s mother Abby and her young charge Jamie (the entrancing blue-eyed kid she raised instead of Bonnie) are already compromised and laying a trap while pretending to help. Lucky thing Stefan shows up, except for how Klaus saw that coming, too.

The Ties That Bind

The most interesting reveal is that it was Abby who put Mikael in that coffin in the crypt that Katherine and Damon freed him from, using up all her powers in a desiccation spell after luring him out of town to protect Elena and her mother (as he was looking for the doppelganger himself way back then, long before Klaus got wind of her apparently). Now she’s just an herbalist, one who decided to start life over outside of Mystic Falls when she got the chance, leaving her daughter with her own mom. You may or may not blame her (Bonnie is still ambivalent), but you can sort of see why she’d want to. Mystic Falls is quite clearly cursed.

Damon, Alaric and Meredith have some fun shenanigans trying to figure each other out (and did she pocket Alaric’s never-say-die ring at the end?), but let’s get back to Tyler in that torture basement. They’ve never really focused so much on the horrors of the physical transformation (as he tries to change himself rather than be changed by the lunar cycle or change at Klaus’s bidding), with some quite impressive joint-bending squick-outs that are hard to watch/fear factory cool. I sort of miss when a werewolf transformation was just a series of superimpositions that got gradually hairier. Damn you, 1980s horror movies and Rick Baker! Now it’s always gotta hurt!

Still, any time Tyler is shirtless is still a good time. But the weird part is the 180 that Mr. Forbes has made, who now wants to protect his vamp daughter rather than change her himself. He seems to have seen the error of his ways there … or maybe he just couldn’t resist another chance to tie someone up.

The Ties That Bind

I’m not going into all the relationship mumbo-jumbo with Stefan/Elena. He acts marginally more human this week, and happily, it’s she that saves him from a chest full of wooden buckshot (“I can feel it scraping on my heart, Elena!”) after being just sneaky enough to free herself from the ropes Jamie used to bind her. Even Stefan notices she’s gone a little badass lately. Finally!

It was all about Klaus getting his coffins back, but now that he has, he wants to leave everyone bound just as they are.  So let me add, best cliffhanger ever! I think you’ll get it if I instead say, thanks to sneaky Damon, best return ever! Can’t wait till next Thursday!

(Visited 8 times, 1 visits today)
The Vampire Diaries 3.12 "The Ties That Bind"
4.5Overall Score

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

shawn hillvampire diariesvampires

Top Ten Episodes of Chuck
Chuck 5.12 “Chuck vs. Sarah & 5.13 “Chuck vs. The Good-bye”

About The Author

monsterid
Shawn Hill
Day Walker / Master of Arts

Shawn Hill knows two things: comics and art history. Somehow that led to him writing the Harvey Kurtzman entry for Icons of the American Comic Book: from Captain America to Wonder Woman (2013). He also writes art criticism and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), an NGO of UNESCO.

FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK

Daily Top Ten

  • The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by Dory Hoffman
  • Game of Thrones 4.08 “The Mountain and the Viper”Game of Thrones 4.08 “The Mountain and the Viper” by Dave Hearn
  • The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 1: THE PHANTOM MENACEThe PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 1: THE… by Paul Brian McCoy
  • The Xeno File: VIOLENT COP (1989)The Xeno File: VIOLENT COP (1989) by Serdar Yegulalp
  • Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree (1995)Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree (1995) by Jessica Sowards
  • Advance Review: Power Rangers Seasons Eight - Twelve DVDAdvance Review: Power Rangers Seasons Eight –… by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Women in Horror: Sigourney WeaverWomen in Horror: Sigourney Weaver by Laura Akers
  • Wondercon Interview: The Cast of DamienWondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien by Laura Akers
  • EZMM 2018 Day 5: Wyrmwood – Road of the Dead (2014)EZMM 2018 Day 5: Wyrmwood – Road of the Dead (2014) by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Akira (1988): 25th Anniversary Edition Akira (1988): 25th Anniversary Edition by Adam Barraclough

PDI Press Bestsellers

Weekly Top Ten

  • Muppets 101: A Tribute to Caroll SpinneyMuppets 101: A Tribute to Caroll Spinney by Jessica Sowards
  • The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 4: A NEW HOPEThe PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 4: A NEW HOPE by Rick Shingler
  • The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by Dory Hoffman
  • The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 5: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACKThe PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 5: THE… by Laura Akers
  • Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by Dory Hoffman
  • Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985)Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985) by Corin Totin
  • The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1984) vs The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1984) vs The Hills Have… by Corin Totin
  • Unnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012)Unnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012) by Brooke Brewer
  • Shakespeare's Macbeth (2010)Shakespeare’s Macbeth (2010) by Paul Brian McCoy
  • The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 6: THE RETURN OF THE JEDIThe PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 6: THE… by John E. Meredith

INSTAGRAM

psychodrivein

Psycho Drive-In
Instagram post 17854277029691974 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE

I don’t know if I’ve ever been as disappointed with a film as I was with Phantom Menace. ---
Read more of Paul's article at the link in our profile!

#starwars #starwarsepisode1 #thephantommenace #starwarsepisodeithephantommenace #starwarsholidayspecial
Instagram post 17928477547343292 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 320: Remaking Eegah!

Eegah! is not a terrible movie. It’s also not a good movie. ---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#eegah #lostintranslation #richardkiel #mst3k
Instagram post 17851575235735786 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 6: THE RETURN OF THE JEDI

Fuckin' Return of the Jedi, man. Like the Sea Monkeys of the cinema. ---
Read more of John's article at the link in our profile!

#starwars #starwarsepisodevireturnofthejedi #starwarsepisode6 #returnofthejedi #starwarsholidayspecial #starwarsepisode6returnofthejedi
Instagram post 17868529129555485 Today at http://psychodrivien.com

The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 5: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Because while Star Wars had revolutionized movies and movie-making in many ways, Empire reminded us why that mattered, why films mattered. ---
Read more of Laura's article at the link in our profile!

#starwars #starwarsepisodevtheempirestrikesback #theempirestrikesback #empirestrikesback #episodev #episode5 #starwarsepisode5 #starwarsholidayspecial
Instagram post 18117889531027648 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Muppets 101: A Tribute to Caroll Spinney

Caroll Spinney, best known as the performer who brought Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch to life for nearly 50 years died on Sunday, December 8th 2019.
---
Read more of Jesica's memorial at the link in our profile!

#carollspinney #bigbird #oscarthegrouch #sesamestreet #jimhenson
Instagram post 18085270978141184 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 4: A NEW HOPE

When it comes to Star Wars, I am a gibbering fool. ---
Read more of Rick's article at the link in our profile!

#starwars #starwarsepisodeivanewhope #anewhope #starwarsepisode4 #starwarsanewhope #starwarsholidayspecial
Instagram post 18066887845196274 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 319: When Studios Realize a Major Mistake

A new Sonic the Hedgehog trailer was released earlier this month and it corrected the biggest problem that the movie had.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#lostintranslation #sonic #sonicthehedgehog
Instagram post 17853450166690202 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Knives Out (2019)

Knives Out is an incredibly fun movie to watch fly by for its extended 130-minute running time. ---
Read more of Nate's review at the link in our profile!

#knivesout #rianjohnson #danielcraig #chrisevans #jamieleecurtis #donjohnson #michaelshannon #anadearmas #lakeithstanfield #rikilindhome #tonicollette #christopherplummer
Instagram post 18093127504113756 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 318: Remaking The Crawling Hand

The Crawling Hand begins with a lunar mission going wrong in the worst way possible. ---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#lostintranslation #thecrawlinghand
Instagram post 17851403575711016 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Just How Many Fools Can Truly Be Pitied? An essay.

Then, one fateful day Mr. T vanished from our lives the same way he entered them; mysteriously, and without warning.
---
Read more of James' article at the link in our profile!

#mrt #dispatchesfromthefield #jamesradcliff #ateam #rocky3 #lastmanonearth #iamlegend
Instagram post 18029243452241284 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Drive-In Saturday: The Monster Squad (1987)

The Monster Squad is not a perfect film, but it is a highly underrated classic of the comedy/horror genre. ---
Read more of James' article at the link in our profile!

#driveinsaturday #themonstersquad #jamesradcliff #shaneblack #freddekker #tomnoonan #duncanrhegar
Instagram post 17996762620276384 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 317: Remaking the Raven

Remaking The Raven will require a deft touch and the right cast. Modern technology can make or break the remake. ---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#lostintranslation #theraven #edgarallanpoe #boriskarloff #belalugosi
Load More... Follow on Instagram

TWITTER

My Tweets

Latest Reviews

  • Knives Out (2019)

    Nate Zoebl
    November 29, 2019
  • Night Work (2019)

    Nate Zoebl
    November 8, 2019
  • Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw (2019) Blu-ray

    Paul Brian McCoy
    November 5, 2019

Latest Columns

  • The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE

    Paul Brian McCoy
    December 13, 2019
  • Lost in Translation 320: Remaking Eegah!

    Scott Delahunt
    December 13, 2019
  • The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 6: THE RETURN OF THE JEDI

    John E. Meredith
    December 12, 2019

Look Who's Talking

Shawn EH
Shawn EH - 12/11/2019
The PDI STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL – CHAPTER 4: A NEW HOPE
I can't even imagine seeing this by accident in a drive-in! My family and I scrambled for tickets,...
johnhurschelrunion
johnhurschelrunion - 12/8/2019
Dobie Gillis: “I Gotta Kill that Boy!” A Cult Series Makes its Way to DVD
GREAT article. thank you. i am currently revisiting the series on amazon prime. i was first...
Shawn EH
Shawn EH - 12/2/2019
Knives Out (2019)
I kind of wish there was a Blade Runner: 2047, as it had to have been better than 2049, but it was...
Large_rectangle_336X280
RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

Archives

All work on this site is Copyright © each individual writer.
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-L
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
  • Columns P-Z
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
%d bloggers like this: