The Vampire Diaries 6.10 “Christmas through Your Eyes”

Flashbacks, but only to 2009. This is kind of timid for this show, and sort of maudlin. Seeing Bonnie, Caroline and Elena when they were happy and innocent of vampires is very weird, and poignant compared to where they are now (respectively, lost and alone in Parallel 1994; dead and worried about Sherriff Forbes, who’s hospitalized; dead and sort of worried about Bonnie and Caroline and Damon and maybe Jeremy, she’d know more if she would ever treat her attention deficit disorder).

Stefan is trying to make things up to Caroline, and he wins by being there for her when they learn her mom has a brain tumor. She immediately wants to give her vamp blood, but Stefan soberly asks “If it could cure cancer, wouldn’t we know that by now?” So it only heals immediate injuries, not chronic conditions? You know what Caroline’s next thought will be, don’t you?

Damon is trying to make things up with Alaric (for compelling him to betray Josette), but he’s got to deal with Kai first, the problem everyone has but they’re weirdly content to leave unattended. Well, Liv and Luke try to flee, and then to rationalize killing Josette (their sister), and it’s all pretty screwed up and Luke is totes out of there (how come he is allowed to just wander off?) while Liv tries to convince Josette that she can somehow defeat Kai (basically lying out her butt).

Nobody adds to the brain trust this week, focused more on their special snowflake suffering, even Matt, who has a plan to kill Enzo for real as a vamp who can’t be trusted. Unfortunately for him, Kai (chained to a tree for some reason, otherwise unguarded) decides the Gypsy spell blanketing Mystic Falls (“Is it like a dome?” he asks, and really, you don’t want to go there man) is one uber-dose of magic ripe for him to absorb, which is sort of obvious and brilliant all at once. He absorbs the hell out of the spell, finally freeing the town from the no-magic curse, but at just the time when Enzo should be bursting into flames.

Poor Matt. Now he’s Enzo’s bitch. Which sucks, but Enzo’s plans tend to be very short-term. It’s just going to take more than Matt to bring him down, but since he’s pissed at Stefan, that’ll probably do it.

Also, Bonnie has a very lonely bonfire in Parallel Mystic Falls, which somehow resonates with the real tree-lighting ceremony in the present. I was so hoping for a Vampire Diaries Christmas miracle where Mr. Cuddles would call her back or something, but instead we’re in hiatus and Kai also ambushes Elena just when she comes calling to the Salvatore mansion. Of course. It’s all about timing when there are this many plates in the air.