The Vampire Diaries 7×15 “I Would For You” REVIEW

The Eight Lives of Rayna Cruz & A Sad Goodbye

This week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries, “I Would for You,” centers around on finding a way to save Stefan (Paul Wesley) from the wrath of vampire huntress, Rayna Cruz (Leslie-Anne Huff). After Freya (Riley Voelkel) informs Stefan of a special witch herb that will reverse the effects of Rayna’s mark, he leaves New Orleans in search of it. He and Valerie (Elizabeth Blackmore) take a road trip to locate the herb and because of salve Freya made to temporarily hide him from Rayna. Once they find the witch-y greenhouse, where all the herbs witches used are stored, both Stefan and Valerie are overcome by a mist. When they wake, they meet a witch, who’s covered in scars. She shows them the empty spot where the herb they’re looking was and explains the last remaining bunch had been destroyed. Stefan asks Caroline (Candice King) to go on the road with him but she’s hesitant to leave Alaric (Matt Davis) and the babies. So he and Valerie go back on the run until they can find another way to save him from Rayna and he can safely reunite with Caroline in Dallas.

Back in Mystic Falls, Matt (Zach Roerig) and his new friend and vampire hunter-in-training, Penny (Ana Nogueira), hunt vampires, but quickly become outnumbered, Rayna shows up and saves them, but wants to know Stefan’s whereabouts. Rayna shows them some vampire hunting tips, but Matt texts Damon (Ian Somerhalder), who captures Rayna. Damon takes her out into the woods, so he can keep killing her until her lives run out. Meanwhile, Bonnie (Kat Graham) agrees to meet up with Enzo (Michael Malarkey) at The Armory after he bombards her with apologies. There, Enzo shows Bonnie the spell the shamans used to create Rayna and learns each time Rayna dies she comes back to life stronger. And when she runs out of lives and dies for good so does everyone that she’s marked. Bonnie tells Damon and he must quickly dig up Rayna’s body so she doesn’t suffocate when she comes back to life and dies for good. Luckily, Damon is able to bring Rayna back to life but is no match for her. She is just about to kill him when The Armory arrives and subdues her.

With Rayna in captivity, Stefan returns to Mystic Falls. He’s not happy about his brother’s plan to desiccate beside Elena until she wakes, but cannot stop him. Stefan is then threatened to be outed by Matt as a vampire if he and Damon do not leave because vampires are he is not longer welcome in Mystic Falls. So he and Valerie go back on the road and he makes a secret stop in Dallas to look in on Caroline. While Damon leaves letters for him, Alaric and Bonnie explaining his decision, but is confronted by a pissed off Bonnie who is hurt he wasn’t going to say goodbye to her, his best friend. And then this week’s three-year flash forward shows a culmination of all the season’s flash forwards ending with Stefan face-to-face with Rayna. She explains she doesn’t want to kill him. She offers him the option to transfer the mark to Damon because he is who deserves her mark and it’s revealed that option was suggested by Damon. So much happened this week, Let’s discuss!

Bitch Mode Activated!

Each week Leslie-Anne Huff brings Rayna Cruz to life with such tenacity that shows viewers how much of a badass vampire huntress she is. Again this week, Leslie-Anne Huff is fantastic. Like the phoenix that rises from the ashes, Rayna returns to Mystic Falls with a vengeance. After saving Matt and Penny from a group of vampires, the audience can see Rayna is pissed. With a furrowed brow and an expression that is stone cold, serious, she walks with a purpose that conveys that she not in the mood to be messed with. Out in the woods when Damon has Rayna in a hole, viewers see Rayna is not at all happy with her situation. She glares at him with an angry expression and arms crossed across her chest. While Damon’s expression is confident and cocky, He looks appears quite proud of himself and taunts her with smart-ass remarks as he throws nuts down into the hole at her. He thinks he has everything figured out. He just kills and re-kills her once she returns to life, taking care of Rayna and makes sure Stefan is safe before retreating to a coffin beside Elena. As usual, things are more complicated than that. It all makes sense for views why Rayna doesn’t seem worried about dying for good or fights back against Damon when we learn that even when her lives run out, her mission will still be complete because all vampires with her mark will die along with her. The audience can see Rayna shows she is more annoyed with Damon than anything. She has a smugness to her because in the end she wins either way. Stefan dies at her hands or along with her.

In this week’s three-year flash forward Rayna finally captures Stefan, and she is more than pleased with herself and how she got him. The audience can see she enjoys the game of cat and mouse and she has the ego to go with it. Rayna has a sly smile as she gloats about luring him out endangering the two people he loves the most, Damon and Caroline. Her voice has a taunting, condescending tone to it. And as she gives him his options because she doesn’t actually want to kill him, she has a mischievous smirk illustrating that she gets some kind of twisted pleasure at the idea of pitting the brothers against one another. Leslie-Anne Huff does a wonderful job as Rayna again this week. She is great as the badass huntress and cannot wait to see what she has in store next.

The Ripple Effect

Damon’s decision to desiccate in a coffin beside Elena until she wakes, not only relieves his pain of living without her, he also believes he’s protecting himself and those around him. His decision doesn’t just affect him but also has a huge effect on his friends and family, especially Alaric, Bonnie and Stefan. Ian Somerhalder is fantastic in his portrayal of Damon in this week’s episode. He does a great job illustrating for the audience the pain Damon experiences living without Elena. Both he and Paul Wesley are amazing at the Salvatore House when Stefan finally returns home after hearing that Rayna has been taken care of. Viewers can see by Stefan’s expression the last thing he expected to hear is that his brother decided to desiccate in a coffin beside Elena and in a sense, abandon him. His eyes are sad and we can see tears start to form as he looks in disbelief trying to process what Damon has just told him. Stefan’s voice sounds angry, but we know it’s mostly because he’s disappointed at Damon’s choice. He’s hurt that his brother can so casually choose to tag out when he still has Rayna’s mark and cannot be killed or he dies too. The audience understands Stefan’s concern that even though he and Damon are vampires he could still die without seeing each other again and saying goodbye. But Damon remains confident in his choice to desiccate for 80 or so plus years and that Stefan will be fine. Viewers can see the sadness in eyes though that he’s hurting his brother, but he knows what he has to do.

“We both know these last few months have been impossible for me. I’ve been walking a tightrope. Falling off constantly. I’m not a good brother when I’m not with Elena, and when I am not a good person people get hurt.” - Damon.

With the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ spell tying Elena’s life to Bonnie’s and Damon choosing to desiccate beside Elena until she wakes means Bonnie will never see Damon, her best friend again. Bonnie’s reaction is as heartbreaking for viewers to see as it is for her to come to terms with. And to make matters even worse, Damon decides to tell her in a letter instead of saying goodbye in person. Kat Graham does a phenomenal job illustrating Bonnie’s struggle with his decision. Bonnie’s expression when she confronts Damon before he lays down to desiccate shows how upset and affected she is by his choice. She is pissed. Her voice is stern, but viewers can see in her eyes she is a hurt. Not only is the person who she considers as her best friend just walking away without a goodbye, but absolutely disregarding her feelings, after all, they’ve been through together over the years. As we begin to hear Bonnie’s voice waiver, tears start to well in her eyes. Viewers see she cannot hide it anymore and she starts to cry. Her expression turns sad and our hearts break seeing how deeply hurt Bonnie is by Damon’s decision. Both Bonnie and Stefan’s reactions to Damon’s choice shows how much they care for and depend on him. He fails to take into consideration the effect his little timeout would have on the people who love him.

“Well, too bad, because that’s not my reaction, This is. I am not okay with this decision. And I am not okay with you choosing yourself. And I am not okay with never seeing you…my best friend ever again. This hurts me.” - Bonnie.

Deputy Donovan Lays Down the Law

For some time now, Mystic Falls’ beloved Matt Donovan been questioning his allegiance to vampires. Time and time again he’s always sided with them even at the expense of innocent humans to protect his friends because they are his friends despite their supernatural status. This week Matt finally reaches his limit and decides to take a firm stand against vampires and all vampires even though he’s been friends with some for years and they’re grown up together. Matty Blue Eyes shocks the audience this week when he shows up at the Salvatore House with a new plan to protect his beloved home of Mystic Falls, which doesn’t include any supernatural inhabitants. Matt body language is rigid showing viewers that he’s quite serious about ridding the town of vampires. His voice is stern and expression stoic while insisting his friends, Stefan and his brother, abandon their own home or Matt will out them as vampires. Stefan’s expression shows his annoyance with his request. He does not take kindly to Matt, who is supposed to be his friend, has got some nerve, coming into his house, a vampire, and insist he and his brother leave town. Viewers cannot take their eyes off the screen in anticipation of what’s going to happen next as Matt makes a complete 180 and now finds himself on opposite sides of his friends that he has always stood by, no matter what. Both Zach Roerig and Paul Wesley do a wonderful job conveying the emotion of this confrontation between Matt and Stefan and the tension each feels during the pivotal moment in their friendship.

“Whenever vampires are here, humans will always be at their mercy. Whatever laws we pass, you can break. Whatever lives we build, you can destroy. We don’t stand a chance against you. That stops today. Vampires need to leave Mystic Falls…for good.” - Matt.

FINAL VERDICT:

The fifteenth episode of The Vampire Diaries, “I Would For You,” focuses on finding a way to save Stefan’s life after being marked by Rayna as well as the effects Damon’s decision to check out on his family and friends until Elena wakes. Episode writer, Brian Young, penned an episode that keeps the audience’s attention while unveiling more details about the mythology of Rayna and The Armory. The episode also includes a few unexpected twists as well as some emotional moments that get viewer’s feels going. Young uses a clever method to reveal more about the badass vampire huntress, Rayna Cruz, as the gang simultaneously searches for a way to save Stefan from her wrath. Leslie-Anne Huff does a fantastic job as Rayna again this week. Director, Mike Karasick, is exceptional with his use of camera angles. He focuses on Rayna’s no-nonsense facial expressions while alternating wide shots capturing her rigid body language to fully illustrate to the audience her power and badass attitude. Karasick emphasizes that Rayna is like the phoenix that rises from the ashes by focusing on her face, which he gives a distinguishing glow and also illuminates the particles of dirt or ‘ash’ around her. And Karasick makes viewers feel as if they’re in the pit in the woods with Rayna looking up at Damon when he has her trapped there to use her lives and then like they’re staring down at her with great use of camera angles. As viewers learn more about Rayna, Young incorporates a unique twist with her eight lives and what happens if she dies before completing her mission to kill vampires that throws an unexpected wrench in the plan to save Stefan. Young collectively sets the stage for a new mystery surrounding The Armory and their secret plans regarding Bonnie.

The scene between Damon and Stefan back at the Salvatore House is done beautifully from all aspects. Young pens heartfelt dialogue between the brothers that is done amazing by Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder and directed wonderfully by Karasick. Through great camera use, Karasick captures the raw emotion of the scene by zooming in and alternating shots of each Damon and Stefan’s expressions. He does so again in the scene when Bonnie confronts Damon about how he left things between them. Coupled with a great job by Kat Graham, viewers can’t help but feel the tears well in their eyes as the tears stream down Bonnie’s face when she finally admits to Damon how bad he’s hurt her. Damon’s goodbye letter to Ric is beautifully written by Young. It’s heartfelt and says all the right things reminding viewers how living without Elena. It’s a wonderful choice pairing the voice over of Damon reading his letter to Ric with scenes of him reading it and Stefan watching outside to emphasize the effects of Damon’s decision to viewers. Adding “Crash And Burn” by Angus & Julia Stone, a musical selection from music supervisor, Chris Mollere, and the feels really start hitting viewers. Young keeps the surprises coming with Deputy Donovan giving his vampire friends no choice to leave Mystic Falls and again in this week’s doozy three-year flash-forward that has Rayna pinning Damon and Stefan against each other. Now that all the details of the season’s three-year flash forward have been revealed in the episode’s super flash forward things are going to be real interesting to find out how and if the Salvatore Brothers get out of this one. They’ll definitely be a lot to discuss!

Questions, Comments & Concerns:

• Love that Caroline goes to Klaus (Joseph Morgan) in New Orleans for help, but I NEED to know now where Klaus disappeared to….
• Enzo could not be more obvious about his budding feelings for Bonnie but does he really have to through his ‘murder buddy’ (Damon) under the bus? Not a fan how Bonnie is made out to be a teenager with a case of a puppy love crush on Damon.
• Love Caroline and Stefan’s relationship, but Alaric and Caroline are super adorable in baby mode! Calaric is definitely blossoming,
• So sad to see Matt kick his friends out of Mystic Falls, but wonder if he would still do the same if Elena, a vampire and his best friend, was still awake.
• Hooray for Matt finally getting a love interest. About damn time!

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES Returns FRIDAY, APRIL 1 at 8|7c. on The CW