The Vampire Diaries 6×04 “Black Hole Sun” Review

A New Salvatore, Newbie Vamp, 90’s Flashback and the Truth about Kai – Must be Thursday!

This week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries titled, “Black Hole Sun,” was reminiscent of episodes past revealing secrets left and right. Elena (Nina Dobrev) challenged Stefan (Paul Wesley) to prove he really is happy and moved on by starting a his new life in Savannah. Surprisingly, Elena was the one, who ended up with egg on her face as Stefan spilled the beans about her decision to compel  her love for Damon (Ian Somerhalder) away. Meanwhile, Alaric (Matt Davis) big brothers  Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) and tried to help him deal with the loss of Bonnie (Kat Graham) in a healthy way.  Matt (Zach Roerig) continued the search for Sarah (Gabrielle Walsh) and played double agent between his friends and Tripp (Colin Ferguson). And back in 1994, Damon and Bonnie got better acquainted with Kai (Chris Wood), who forced Damon to recall the worst day of his life. Doing so they also discovered a grim secret to Kai’s past reveals  why he is stuck there. So much happened on this week’s episode, so let’s not waste anymore time and start discussing.

Who Knew Pancakes Could Mean So Much

The flashback this week, not only was a clever way to reveal Sarah’s parents, but it also showed viewers how much Stefan and Damon’s relationship has evolved over the years as well as the growth of the characters individually. Despite feeding on a pregnant woman, killing her and nearly killing her baby, Damon returned to Mystic Falls in hopes of strengthening the bond between him and his brother. He is forced into confessing the real reason he returned to Mystic Falls after all those years away and reveals he misses Stefan.

Because, I missed my brother. I wanted to have a connection to my humanity again, Stefan. I wanted to feel something again and when I decided to come back home it all came rushing back just like I hoped it would. – Damon.

Viewers can see just how desperately Damon craves a connection with his brother by the conviction in Ian’s voice and the facial expressions he uses in the scene. The pain Damon endure as Stefan  refuses to go on a road trip together is evident to the audience by the somber and broken-hearted look Ian conveys. Damon’s choice to feed on the pregnant woman further displays just how deep the pain runs from his brother’s rejection.  And we all know that when Damon is hurt, he acts out. By no means are his actions justified, but let’s face it, it’s become a pattern. Not only did this serve as an example of Damon’s love for his brother, but also shows viewers Damon’s growth as a character. The audience can see he feels remorse for his terrible acts when Bonnie points out he has been making pancakes every day in their 1994 hell, because the woman he killed liked pancakes.

Stefan Spills the Beans

The decision to have Stefan be the one to tell Elena the truth about what happened to Damon really shows the audience just how much Stefan’s feeling for his brother have changed. In 1994, after Damon practically begs him to go on a road trip with him, he claims Damon has tried to destroy every single thing he’s ever built. He resents his brother and seems to blame him for all the bad things that has happened to him over the years; the Ripper of Monterey in 1912, abandoning him in 1942 on the train platform and his best friend being left to burn on a rooftop in New York in the 80’s. However, Stefan telling Elena about her love for Damon is the ultimate display of love for brother. The audience sees just how much it pains him by the subtle cringe-like expressions he displays hearing Elena, a girl he once referred to the love of his life, as a monster. It angered him so much that he just couldn’t take it anymore and  drops a huge truth bomb revealing her love for Damon and confessing his at the same time.

He pushed you to own the darkest parts of yourself and when he died, he was the only one that could make you feel alive again and you made him feel human. You love Damon for the same reasons I love Damon, because despite every thing he did, we couldn’t live without him. – Stefan.

Stefan does a complete 180. Season one, he tells Elena, “There’s nothing human left in Damon. No good, no kindness, no love. Only a monster who must be stopped.” Now he is defends his brother from being the same exact thing he once called Damon himself, a monster, speaks volumes to the love he feels for his brother. Also the fact Stefan chose to start his new life as a mechanic so he could restore Damon’s Camero shows us he still has hope for Damon’s return.

Kai Kai be a Little Cray Cray

Season six newcomer, Chris Wood was deliciously good as Kai this week. His portrayal was spot on utilizing just the right amount of crazy and humility to make Kai appear not too over the top that he comes across as unbelievable to the audience. For instance the scene when Bonnie discovered the story about the Oregon family murdered in in the newspaper outside the Salvatore house, Chris played Kai aloof and almost with a sense of pride. When he then shares the gory details of the murders Chris uses a tone of voice that is almost cocky aa if he is bragging. This makes viewers believe he is proud of killing his whole family and takes his creepy factor to a whole new level.  Chuckie Doll creepy.  Chris adds to the viewers’ perception of Kai’s through his choice of facial expression. In the Salvatore living room as he questions Damon about his past, or when he reveals he can steal magic, he does so with a sly and almost evil looking grin.  Similar to the Joker’s face from Batman and we all know that he was off the charts cray cray Kai was definitely the villain in this week’s episode. Chris Wood did a fantastic job tuning into his inner bad guy! Bravo.

Final Verdict

In true Vampire Diaries fashion,”Black Hole Sun” had viewers on the edge of their seats with anticipation to find out what Damon could have possibly done May 10, 1994 to constitute as his worst day ever. The episode, written by Melinda Hsu Taylor and Neil Reynolds, fed viewers curiosity as they slowly revealed the tragic event piece by piece over the entire episode. Using the flashback to illustrate the positive developments in the Salvatores’ bond as brothers, while also telling the story of Sarah’s parents was very creatively genius. That wasn’t the only big reveal in the episode. It nice how the writers chose to show that what most of us thought as simple details were subtle clues to each character’s individual struggle. Stefan’s choice to be a mechanic so he can restore his brother’s car, Damon making pancakes a sign of his remorse, the newspaper holding the key to Kai’s existence in the bizarro 1994 world and even Alaric carrying a flask of blood all hints to their struggles. Guess the devil really is in the details! Director, Kellie Cyrus, did excellent camera work in the episode enhancing the emotions of each scene. The flashback scene, when Damon asks Stefan to go on a road trip with him, she knows just when to zoom in to capture just the right expression on Damon’s face to further show us his pain. The filter used in the flashback scenes was particularly helpful for viewers to distinguish the difference from the current time scenes.

Music supervisor, Chris Mollere, once again did an excellent job in song selection to enhance the episode’s viewing experience. The scene in Alaric’s office when Elena reads her journal the truth about her feelings for Damon, Gabrielle Aplin’s “The Power Of Love” plays in the background. A perfect fit for the moment. The lyrics, ‘Love is the light scaring darkness away,’ a perfect description of what their love does for each other. It continued to play and was especially powerful as Elena reminded herself of her love to Damon, the writers then went to a scene with Damon staring at a photo of him and his brother. The song again a perfect description of the love between brothers. It’s nice that after five seasons, the writers are still able to surprise us. We knew Sarah was connected to someone in Mystic Falls, but who saw her being a Salvatore coming? Or Ivy (Emily C. Chang) being a vamp? Cannot wait to see what they have in store for us next week.

Comments, Questions, Concerns:

• Loved Elena keeping a journal with her true feelings for Damon.
• Hooray for a bigger story line for Matt Donovan Do I smell a new spin-off? 007 Matty Blue Eyes. Yes! Please!
• Can we please have Jeremy do something more than drink and be the annoying loner he was before?
• Finally Alaric admits he’s struggling too. About damn time!
• Bar scene with Stefan proposing to Elena was too cute.
• Wowzers to 1994 Liz Forbes (Marguerite Macintyre) Beauty Queen status!
• Holy arm porn! Damon, Stefan, Jeremy and Alaric

 THE VAMPIRE DIARIES 6×05 airs THURSDAY, OCT. 30 at 8/7c on the CW