The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 9, crowned another winner of Miss Mystic Falls. This year, however, the prize was a little bloodier.
‘The Vampire Diaries’ 8×09 recap
The Miss Mystic Falls pageant is such a pivotal event in The Vampire Diaries history. Yes, it was a launching, or at least a turning point for Damon and Elena’s “vomit inducing love story” (Stefan’s words, not ours), but that’s not the only reason. Caroline’s victory was a key step to her realizing her self worth. Stefan’s behavior with Amber perfectly depicted his character and his inner struggle. The Founders’ control of the event was a poignant reminder of the sordid history of the town.
All of the elements that we’ve loved from the past Miss Mystic Falls pageants were present and accounted for in The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 9. We had Caroline running the show, flashbacks to the epic Delena moments that happened at the event, a contestant from the Fell family, the iconic “near touch” dance, and even a mention of Stefan’s tortured history with the pageant.
Given all the weight that the pageant carries in the series, it was a great idea to return to it in the final season. That being said, even though all the right ingredients were there, the result was a bit of a mess.
There’re a couple reasons why I think this happened, for me. The first being that “Mystic Falls” is a much more abstract concept than it used to be. For the first four seasons of The Vampire Diaries, the town was everything. The large events at the school and in the community were always the center of the action.
Over the next few seasons, however, a horde of travelers descended upon the town, all magic was forced out, a gang of evil(ish) heretics forced Salvatore and co. to evacuate all humans, and finally, Julian made the town into his own vampire army. After all of that, Mystic Falls just doesn’t hold up to its former, albeit flawed, glory. Hearing Caroline call upon a contestant with the last name “Fell” just didn’t feel the same as it would’ve three seasons ago!
Remember when the threat of the sirens was basically nullified when Stefan and Damon made a deal with Cade himself? Well, it turns out nobody else does, because Sybil and Seline were at the core of the conflict in The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 9, yet again. This is another reason why the episode wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t mind Sybil’s project in the last episode, but now that the sirens have sung their way back into the heart of things, I just want to focus on the real problem: Cade!
Damon’s entire mindset seemed to change in The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 9. For the entire season he’s been terrified of hell and, at one point, was desperately trying to cling to his love for Elena to stay sane.
Now, he has no feelings for Elena at all, only memories that give him a brief feeling of warmth(?), and he isn’t scared of hell. He’s scared of regaining his humanity, and the guilt that will come with that. On the bright side, Sybil is trying to force his humanity back into him, so hopefully he’ll start making sense again soon!
While Damon seems to be completely confused, Stefan knows exactly what he wants. Now that he’s letting his ripper flag fly, he’s realizing that his position with Cade doesn’t have to just be a one year contract. It could have real, long term, growth potential.
We’ve seen in the past that Stefan can be extremely cruel to his loved ones when his humanity switch is off, and that was definitely true in The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 9. It was one thing to give Caroline a front row seat to his murder of an innocent girl, but telling her that the blood was also on her hands because of her choice to stay with him was what cut deep.
Caroline, being an absolute pillar of strength in this episode, simply tried to accept that truth. Of course she would feel some responsibility, anyway, since Stefan took this position to save her daughters, so she tried to make the best of it. Unfortunately, her attempts to gain some control of Stefan’s behavior were completely futile. He’s just too far gone at this point.
Caroline did give Stefan his ring back, but how much weight was behind that is still unclear. Perhaps she’s trying to alleviate her own guilt around his actions, or maybe she just wants to lessen her association with this version of Stefan. Maybe she’s hoping the ring will help bring Stefan back, just as the necklace did for Damon. In fact, if that’s not the case, what will that say about the strength of Steroline vs Delena, or the differences between Stefan and Damon?
Despite Caroline’s relationship drama, she still managed to help the new Miss Mystic Falls come to terms with her transition. This was one of my favorite parts of The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 9, and actually the part that induced the most nostalgia. This girl is in the same season of life as Caroline and Elena, when they transitioned, so it was cool to revisit that emotion and shock, especially with Caroline on the other side of things!
My other favorite part of the episode also had to do with a potential vampire transition. Bonnie and Enzo are back from Paris and BonBon is sporting a new, intense, romantic-but-pretty-grotesque-if-you-really-think-about-it accessory! A vial of Enzo’s blood.
Upon seeing Bonnie’s necklace, Caroline immediately articulated what all fans were thinking. First, the potential transition that it symbolized, and second, the fact that Bonnie has always been completely against such a thing. Of course, that second point all changed when Bonnie “fell in love with a vampire that makes her feel alive.”
Even though Bonnie is actually in a place where she’d consider the vampire life, The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 9, confirmed that that’s not possible, due to Bonnie’s connection with Elena. Yes, Kai did previously say that they couldn’t “magic their way out of it,” but vampirism has been used as a fail-safe before, and since Bonnie would actually be dying, it was never certain that it wouldn’t work.
In fact, it’s still not completely certain. All we know is that Bonnie thinks it won’t work. We could see Kai again before The Vampire Diaries ends, and he could give them some updated information on this whole “sleeping beauty” thing. So, as Bonenzo tries to figure out how big, small, or age-gap-ridden their personal forever is going to be, don’t completely count vampirism out.
Of course, now the cure is somehow back on the table, so it could be a moot point! Would Bonnie actually let Enzo take the cure from Elena and prevent Damon from doing so, or does she have a way to get to the other cure? There is still one hidden in the heretics’ prison world, but without a witch, it will be nearly impossible to get. I can’t wait to see what Bonnie has in mind, next week!