The Vampire Diaries Review: A Case of Jungle Fever

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Is it possible for The Vampire Diaries to feature too much action?

I never thought I'd ask that question, either, but, in many ways, "The Hybrid" left me as confused as Caroline. No, my estranged, creature-hunting, formerly horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing father did not just walk through that door.

But the fast paced, dark developments in the woods have left me scratching my head a bit. I really hope I don't have a werewolf bite...

Damon v. Elena

Okay. So Klaus' grand goal has been to create a hybrid army. That much I follow. And this was the point of his sacrificial ceremony last season, right? But it failed to work here because - as we know, and as Klaus appears to now know - the Doppleganger is NOT actually dead... right?

Also: why can hybrids only be made out of werewolves? Those are apparently very difficult to track down, whereas vampires are abundant.

Is it because Klaus already possesses vampire blood and can just drip that into the werewolf's throat to complete the process? But then why not use a nearly-dead werewolf, such as Ray, to do the same thing for any number of vampires he and Stefan could easily track down?

These are all questions of practicality. I may simply be over-analyzing. I may be forgetting a plot point. But there is one overarching question from this storyline that the show definitely wants us to be thinking about:

Who told Klaus about making the army? Who is pulling the strings of the blood sucker we were previously told was the oldest, most powerful vampire alive? Might it be the individual Julie Plec has teased will steal Klaus' thunder later this season? There is some Wizard of Ooze out there, hiding behind some curtain, we can be certain of that. Fascinating.

Elsewhere: give it up for a battle between ghosts! I've been assuming all along that Anna and Vicki were back for the same purpose, whatever the heck that is. But the former says the latter cannot be trusted, which does jibe with Kayla Ewell teasing that her character is back for revenge. But against whom? Stefan killed her. The audience might not want Vicki to go after him, but why would Anna care? Why would she issue this warning to Jeremy?

And where does Matt fit into all this? He couldn't see Vicki in that scene, but she saw him. Or at least felt his presence. Matt is such a good guy, offering to assist Tyler with his chaining, let's hope he isn't in for more heartbreak somehow here. The guy has already lost his sister once, along with his girlfriend to his best friend, please tell me the show won't put him through even more.

You know, like having him kidnapped and tied up by a father whose family has been in the vampire-killing business for 150 years. I did not see that ending coming! (Editor's note: I never see any episode ending coming.) Where has this Bill guy been? He's clearly familiar with Tyler's mother and the counsel, yet he hasn't been mentioned once by them.

Other notes from the episode:

  • We can only assume Jeremy used Bing to educate himself on ghost summoning, right?
  • Careful to avoid the True Blood threesome trap, Vampire Diaries. I'm a big fan of Elena with Stefan, period. I get we need the longing glance with Damon, I understand there's an attraction there. But there's only so many times the show can focus on teasing these two as a couple before it gets more irritating than intriguing.
  • Aren't they more akin to brother and sister than lover and lover anyway? I got a fun sibling vibe from Elena and Damon when they bickered over leaving the woods, when he pushed her into the lake and when Damon burned his hand on those chains and Elena sighed: "I said Ric."
  • Katniss Everdeen would not have needed Stefan's help with Ray. She would have scaled a tree and shot arrows right through him. Just saying.
  • One thing was for sure this week: the gang wasn't bird watching!

WHAT DID EVERYONE ELSE THINK? For an advanced look at next week's installment, watch this Vampire Diaries promo!

The Hybrid Review

Editor Rating: 4.1 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 (329 Votes)

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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The Vampire Diaries Season 3 Episode 2 Quotes

Elena: You've been dodging my calls.
Damon: Busy day. Dead fake girlfriend and all.

Stefan is gone. And I don't mean geographically.

Damon