The Vampire Diaries “Pictures of You” Review

By Mandy Treccia

Last night brought prom to Mystic Falls and like most high school dances on The Vampire Diaries, it was filled with mayhem, attempted murder and bloodshed.

“Pictures of You” continued the theme of the past few episodes: Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) were determined to turn Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) humanity back on, Caroline (Candice Accola) wanted to make the night a happy memory for everyone and Silas was on hand to impersonate our favorite characters. He outdid himself this week posing as Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), Damon, Stefan and Rebekah (Claire Holt).
But despite the horror and chaos, there were some lighter moments that seemed designed to appeal to the show’s various fan bases. Damon referred to himself as Elena’s boyfriend and while she scoffed at him, she never denied it. Stefan attempted to remind Elena just how good things used to be between them with a sexy dance. Matt (Zach Roerig) gave Rebekah a chance to bring out her softer side. Klaus (Joseph Morgan) came to Caroline’s rescue when Elena stole her dress and then he was nice enough not to kill Tyler (Michael Trevino) immediately after he came back to town for a private moment with Caroline.

On the other hand, Elena attempted to kill Bonnie (Kat Graham) to keep her from helping Silas, which resulted in Bonnie almost killing Elena before Damon and Stefan pulled her away. Elena did nearly murder April (Grace Phipps), but Matt convinced Rebekah to save her. Silas took on Stefan and Damon’s forms to manipulate the other brother and both ended up bleeding in the woods. So basically it was just a typical night in Mystic Falls.

What really struck me during this episode was how the writers have taken Elena and Rebekah and made them polar opposites when it comes to the cure. Elena will do anything to make sure no one forces it on her, including killing strangers and attempting to kill her former best friend. Meanwhile, Rebekah is so desperate to be human that she once again put herself at odds with Klaus and agreed to Elijah’s (Daniel Gillies) deal to spend the entire day as a human without her vampire perks to prove that being a human is really and truly what she wants and not just an impulse decision.

It’s easy to see why Elena prefers to be without her humanity; her life has been nothing but pain for the past two years. As for Rebekah, she’s said before that her life has been painful for all of her 900 years, but she still has her humanity and the hope that maybe she can get a do over and she can have the happy, beautiful life that appeals to her so much. And while everyone who is close to Elena wants to see her become human again, no one wants Rebekah to get the cure and she’s truly alone in her quest. Elena has all the support in the world, but with her humanity switch turned off, she doesn’t want it.

Kat Graham (c) as Bonnie. Image © CW Network

Of course it doesn’t seem like either girl is going to get the cure at this point. After her showdown with Bonnie, Stefan and Damon drugged Elena and tossed her in the Salvatore basement so they can move onto the next plan to force her to turn her humanity back on. This time, they plan on using fear against her. As for Rebekah, she did the right thing by saving April (even if April is one of the most pointless characters ever) and Matt promised her that he would never tell anyone so she could go home to Elijah and declare her experiment a success.

But when Matt walked away, Klaus appeared and he’d heard the entire thing. This began what was by far the best scene of the entire episode. As Rebekah begged her brother not to tell Elijah the truth, the scene flashed to Elijah and a smiling Rebekah outside the mansion. That Rebekah told Elijah that she’d been good all day while a crying Rebekah pleaded with Klaus, who refused to help her and ordered her to tell Elijah the truth. But there was something off about Klaus and Rebekah noticed. Elijah congratulated Rebekah and gave her the cure and she disappeared just as his cell phone rang and the real Rebekah told him that Klaus was behaving strangely and he needed to hold onto the cure. Elijah had to tell his sister that it was too late.

So Silas has the cure now and he explained to Bonnie that his true face is hideous because a witch put a curse on him so no one could love him. I’m sorry, but doesn’t Beauty and the Beast air after The Vampire Diaries? I need the writers to acknowledge that this entire Silas storyline has been a mess from day one and it’s time to just let it go and move onto something that’s actually interesting.

Speaking of something interesting, Klaus returned home and found a letter from Katherine (Dobrev). Since Klaus had refused Elijah’s request to spare her, Katherine had one more ace up her sleeve and warned Klaus that there was a witch in New Orleans that was plotting against him.

This of course will lead into next week’s episode, which is a backdoor pilot for the proposed spinoff that will center on the Original family. Basically, it will be the greatest thing ever and I can’t wait to see what happens next week.