The Vampire Diaries 7×13 “This Woman’s Work” REVIEW

A New Huntress Comes to Town & the JoAlaric Babies are Born!

This week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries 7×13, titled “This Woman’s Work,” marks the long awaited arrival of Mystic Falls’ mysterious new huntress as well as the birth of the next set of Gemini twins. After Damon’s (Ian Somerhalder) downward spiral in last week’s episode, he literally gets into bed with the enemy, Rayna Cruz (Leslie-Anne Huff), also an extremely dangerous vampire huntress. The episode is filled with flashbacks telling the origin story of vampire huntress, Rayna Cruz. From her relation to the ‘‘Brotherhood of the Five’ to sacrifices made to make her a powerful vampire huntress and her and her family’s traumatic history with Julian (Todd Lasance) and the Heretics. Present day picks up the morning after the pair’s tryst and Damon just manages to prolong Bonnie (Kat Graham) from meeting Rayna. It doesn’t take long for Bonnie though to suspect her best friend is hiding more than just last night’s bed buddy. Enzo (Michael Malarkey) calls and interrupts before Damon is guilted into confessing what happened to Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) body. He threatens Damon into finding Rayna’s sword and bring it to him or he’s going to tell Bonnie about what he did. Given no choice, Damon and Bonnie head to Whitmore with the sword and she fills him in on her adventures in Ohio and what she’s learned about Rayna. They find Enzo at Whitmore held captive by Rayna, who used him just to get her sword back. Initially, Bonnie refuses to give her the sword, so Rayna shoots her with an arrow. Damon takes the sword and throws the sword out the window, so he can save Bonnie and get rid of Rayna. Now that she has her sword back Rayna is able to locate those marked by its blade and heads to the hospital in search of the Heretics.

Meanwhile, Stefan (Paul Wesley) returns to the hospital just in time to find Caroline (Candice King) unconscious from the babies siphoning the magic from her. He compels a team of doctors to help deliver the babies and calls Alaric (Matt Davis), who is on his way home from a job interview in Dallas, to let him know he’s going to be a daddy. The babies refuse to be born because they want to continue siphoning magic from Caroline, so Valerie (Elizabeth Blackmore) summons Nora (Scarlett Byrne), Mary Louise (Teressa Liane) and Beau (Jaiden Kane) to satiate the babies so can be born. During the birth, Stefan assures Caroline everything going to be fine by taking her on a date in a dream. But once hearing Rayna is on her way Nora, Mary Louise, and Beau agree they must run and Valerie decides to stay behind and deliver the babies. Damon and Bonnie also make their way to the hospital to fight off Rayna, but are a little too late and find Beau dead outside with Nora and Mary Louise nowhere to be found. Damon decides to take on Rayna by himself, but Stefan rushes to his side as soon as he learns about Damon’s plan. Stefan saves Damon from the wrath of Rayna but is marked by her sword in the process making him a target. Fearing for his life, Stefan feels he must run and leaves Mystic Falls, Caroline, Damon and his friends behind. So much happened in this week’s episode. Let’s not waste any more time and start discussing!

Rayna Cruz: Vampire Huntress

After weeks of anticipation, this week we officially meet the big bad vampire huntress that has been teased in the three-year flash forwards starting at the beginning of this season. The audience finally learns who Rayna is and why she’s after Stefan even three years into the future. Her arrival definitely lives up to all the hype. Not only does the audience meet Rayna in the present day, they also learn her history, which includes why and how she is a ruthless vampire huntress. Rayna comes with quite the interesting past. It’s quite surprising for viewers to learn her father was a member of the ‘Brotherhood of the Five,’ a group of powerful vampire hunters first introduced in season five. He’s also who trained her how to fight before she became a vampire hunter. There’s more to Rayna than just a merciless vampire hunter. The audience can’t help to feel a little bit bad for her after learning of Julian’s involvement in her father’s death. How twisted is it that Julian compelled her to kill her own father to avoid the hunter’s curse? It’s no wonder she hates him so much. But we all know only men can be a part of the ‘Brotherhood of the Five,’ so it’s a welcome plot twist for viewers to learn Rayna became a huntress through shamans, who sacrificed their lives so she could vengeance on Julian and his Heretic family.

“She wields a weapon of judgement, one that thirsts for blood of those who prey upon us. Link her spirit with this sword. This blade draws blood from a vampire. It will connect you. It will guide you. It will aide you in their destruction. Avenge your father. Avenge us all.” – Shaman.

Rayna is ruthless and Leslie-Anne Huff does a fantastic job bringing her to life. After a night with Damon, Rayna dances around the Lockwood Mansion drinking and viewers begin to wonder how she could possibly be a big bad vampire huntress. She appears so carefree and dances with a huge smile on her face. But the Rayna that Damon and Bonnie encounter at Whitmore is completely opposite. The audience knows she ain’t playing as she holds a crossbow aimed at Damon and Bonnie. Rayna’s expression is totally serious. She shows very little emotion. Her eyes are cold and body language is rigid showing viewers that no one wants to get on her bad side. But the real severity the situation and being marked by Rayna hits home when it’s revealed even the Heretics are afraid of her. When Rayna finds Beau, she doesn’t hesitate for a second before sending him back into the Phoenix Stone and then setting him on fire. Her expression as she walks away conveys she can be a stone cold bitch. There’s a rage in her eyes and she walks with a purpose. The audience sees the passion and perseverance Rayna has when she fights Damon. Leslie-Anne Huff does a wonderful job showing that Rayna is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

He’s So Good at Being Bad

Even though Julian died in last week, he is still managing to stir up trouble from beyond the grave. Todd Lasance plays the role of the diabolical Julian perfectly. In fact, Julian is the catalyst that drove Rayna to become a vampire huntress and is the entire reason she comes to Mystic Falls. It’s no wonder she hates Julian. He attacked Rayna’s father and compelled her to kill her own father. When Rayna and Julian first meet viewers can see that he gives no f*cks that he’s hurting people and is standing in front of the daughter of the man he hurt and about to kill. His facial expression looks as if he is proud of himself for what he did. Then after compelling Rayna to kill her father, so he doesn’t suffer the hunter’s curse, Julian has a sly smirk on his face conveying to viewers that he gets some kind of twisted pleasure from inflicting both physical and emotional pain. Their next meeting it is after Rayna had become a huntress and she is tracking Julian for vengeance. He and his Heretic family are coming out of a bar and he’s all smiles and laughs despite just feeding on innocent people. Again upon seeing Rayna, Julian is pissed that she just rendered Beau, his family, speechless from slicing his vocal chords. He gives Rayna a taunting, arrogant look and attacks her. Again, the audience can see Julian’s expression is overconfident and smug. It’s as if a girl couldn’t pose as a threat to a vampire. Then when Julian and the Heretics are preparing to flee London, Julian loses his temper and goes off on Nora and threatens to leave behind in a box if she doesn’t go along with his plan. His harsh tone and angered expression illustrating just how selfish Julian really is and that he’s willing to protect himself no matter what or who is the cost. Rayna returns again and gets the best of him this time. As her sword plunges into his chest, his expression now conveys complete and utter fear. His eyes widen and he gasps as his soul is sucked into the hell that is the Phoenix Stone. Todd Lasance is amazing throughout the episode as Julian. He is good at being bad and despite Julian being a total bastard, he will be missed.

A Little Salvatore Brotherly Love

Since Damon confessed to his brother last episode that he burned Elena’s body, Stefan has distanced himself from his brother and his self-destructive behavior. Viewers see again this episode that Stefan and Damon always have each others back. Rebekah said it best; “The Salvatores may fight like dogs but they would die for each other.” As soon as Damon learns that Rayna is headed for the hospital where Stefan and everyone else is, he doesn’t hesitate for a second and rushes there to help. Intending to make up for his recent run of bad behavior, he sets out to make things right and takes on Rayna himself. At first, Stefan is hesitant to rush to his brother’s side because he doesn’t want to leave Caroline while in labor and because of Damon’s destructive behavior. But once Bonnie reveals that Damon is no match for Rayna and she could easily kill him.

Stefan arrives just in time to save his brother from Rayna’s blade but ends up paying the ultimate price. He suffers a stab wound from Rayna’s sword marking him for life to be hunted down by her. Viewers can see by the expressions on both Damon and Stefan’s faces the gravity of the situation. Stefan’s eyes widen in fear upon realizing what being marked by the huntress. His face conveys sadness as well knowing full well what this means for him and Caroline’s relationship. Damon’s expression is somber and there is a sadness in his eyes too, but he also appears as if he might be feeling a bit guilty for what happened to Stefan. And viewers can see Damon knows he messed up when he calls Stefan to fill him on the Elena coffin swap and promises his brother that h will find a way to make things right. The audience can hear the sincerity in Damon’s voice and see by his warm and loving expression he genuinely means it. One thing that always holds true when it comes to TVD and that is when a Salvatore is in trouble, it’s a safe bet the other Salvatore has on their hero hair and close by to lend a hand.

“I got a second chance brother. And I will fix this. I will. I will kill that huntress with my bare hands if I have to and I will bring you back here. I promise. I promise you that.” – Damon.

FINAL VERDICT:

This week’s TVD episode, “This Woman’s Work,” centers around Rayna’s arrival to Mystic Falls and the struggles of a vampire giving birth to magic siphoning witch babies. Chad Fiveash and James Stoteraux penned an episode that gets the audience both emotionally invested in the plot as well as throws a few surprises our way. No one would have ever guessed Rayna’s connection to the ‘Brotherhood of the Five’ because obviously all the ‘Five’ hunters are male. While she technically isn’t a ‘Five’ hunter, the ritual which she became a huntress and what drives her to it is a clever notion by Fiveash and Stoteraux. The flashbacks not only tell the huntress’ origin story, they also serve as an explanation for why she’s after Julian. They also are a unique way to humanize Rayna for viewers because of what Julian forces her to do. Episode director, Garreth Stover makes good use of a special camera filter that gives the flashback scenes an antique-like appearance and allows viewers to easily differentiate the flashbacks from present day scenes. Stover also makes great use of angles to capture the emotion of each scene. Both Leslie-Anne Huff and Todd Lasance do a fantastic job as Rayna and Julian this week. Stover ’s decision to alternate wide and zoomed in shots that focus on the actor’s expression adds to the audience’s emotional experience. Not only does Stover’s camera angles capture Rayna’s emotion in the flashbacks, he does so throughout the episode. The scene after Rayna torches Beau’s body, focusing on Rayna’s face as she walks away and keeping the fire in the background reinforces her anger as well as tells viewers she is one badass bitch.

Fiveash and Stoteraux also cleverly tie up all of season seven’s three-year flash forwards. Showing what leads up to how Stefan becomes marked by Rayna gives the audience gets has a series of ‘aha moments.’ Now knowing Rayna’s backstory allows us to better understand the mythology behind the Phoenix Stone. Incorporating the sequence of Steroline memories ending with Stefan promising Caroline that he’s not going anywhere even though she’s carrying another couple’s babies gives emphasis on the promise he made. This also gives viewers the first piece of the puzzle as to why the pair are no longer together in the future. Stover again makes good use of a special camera filter that gives the memory sequence a blurred effect and antique coloring to indicate they are memories. And during the phone conversation between Stefan and Caroline, Stover captures their somber facial expressions with excellent camera use and adds to the sad tone of their conversation and of the scene.

“Tyler thought it best to have an empty decoy coffin….Let’s just say we have mutual friends who have the real coffin and the real Elena. She’s in New York where my friends are keeping her very safe and very much alive.” – Enzo.

Viewers breathe a sigh of relief along with Damon when Enzo tells him that he and Tyler (Michael Trevino) switched Elena’s coffin with an empty one and Damon did not actually burn Elena. This is an unexpected and welcome plot twist from the writers. Stover does a great job capturing Damon’s reaction as he learns that the love of his life still alive. Zooming in on Damon’s face at just the right moment shows the audience his emotional state and the weight of his actions melt away. Coupled with a great performance from Ian Somerhalder enhances the raw emotion of the scene. And when Damon calls his brother to tell him the good news and promise to help him fix him being hunted by Rayna Stover alternates close up shots of Damon and Stefan to help draw the audience into the emotion of the scene and conveys the love between the two. Add in The Wealthy West’s “The Highest Tide,” a selection from music supervisor, Chris Mollere, playing in the background really gets the feels going. Fiveash and Stoteraux do a great job leading to the upcoming TVD / The Originals crossover by having Stefan flee Mystic Falls and Rayna. Let’s hope he finds some help from his old pal and frenemy Klaus (Joseph Morgan) down in the Big Easy. Surely there will be a lot to discuss next week!

Questions, Comments & Concerns:

• How sweet is it that Alaric named the girls after Jo (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) and Caroline’s mom? Melts the heart and definitely looks as if it touched a nerve with Caroline.
• Where is Matty Blues Eyes (Zach Roerig)? Would have thought he would have been there for the birth of the babies.
• It’s quite interesting that the birth of the babies and Rayna coming unites everyone. No would have imagined that the Heretics would help delivery the babies.
• Bonnie is so sassy and on point in this episode. Gotta love the banter between her and Damon. I am really digging their friendship.
• Loving the three year flash forward shows Caroline heading to New Orleans to see Klaus. More crossovers in the works?

 THE VAMPIRE DIARIES 7×14 airs FRIDAY, FEB. 26 at 8|7c. on The CW