The Vampire Diaries 7×19 “Somebody That I Used to Know” REVIEW

Murder Buddies Reunite & Bonenzo Gets Their Swirl On!

On this week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries 7×18 titled, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” we finally get the backstory to Bonnie (Kat Graham) and Enzo’s (Michael Malarkey) relationship and it’s all hands on deck for a murder spree in an effort to save Bonnie’s life. Throughout the episode, flashbacks reveal the events that lead up to Enzo and Bonnie’s friendship turning romantic relationship, beginning when Enzo saved her from being captured by The Armory. Enzo plays double agent and takes Bonnie to a safe house to keep her safe. He takes pills The Armory made from Rayna’s (Leslie-Anne Huff) blood and gives them to Bonnie, which subdues her magic as well as keeps her hidden from The Armory. A year into hiding, Enzo insists they celebrate New Year’s Eve and transforms the entire cabin into a romantic date night complete with dancing. During her time in the cabin, Bonnie practices guitar and searches for clues to what The Armory wants with her. One evening Enzo returns and offers help with the guitar and leads to the pair’s first kiss and Bonenzo is born. Bonnie also discovers Alex (Mouzam Makkar) has a sister in a mental hospital and in hopes to learn more about The Armory they hatch a plan for her to check into the same psych ward.

Present day, Dr. Enzo signs Bonnie out of the psych ward and takes her and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) to the cabin, where he’s now keeping Rayna in hopes that she’ll able to help them find a way to cure Bonnie. Learning there is no cure for The Armory’s pills, Rayna agrees to give Bonnie her last life if they kill all the vampires that were released out of the Phoenix Stone when it was destroyed. Enzo, Damon, and Bonnie team up and with Rayna’s guidance from her visions she gets still connected to the vampires, they’re able to track down some of the vampires. Elsewhere, Stefan (Paul Wesley) stops by Alaric (Matt Davis) and Caroline’s (Candice King) house in Dallas to see Caroline, but she and the girls haven’t returned home yet. He and Alaric go out for something to eat and they get a call from Damon asking for help tracking down the Phoenix Stone vampires. They agree to team up and help for Bonnie’s sake. While they’re burying the bodies, Alaric confronts Stefan about him just reappearing in Caroline’s life after completely disappearing without any explanation. He makes sure Stefan knows he was there for Caroline when she needed him and they’re a family. And Stefan makes sure Alaric knows that even though things look good on paper doesn’t necessarily mean they’re good. After a hard day’s work killing vampires, Stefan takes Alaric home to find Caroline’s home early.

Meanwhile, Alex catches up to Enzo, Bonnie, and Damon on their killing spree, but luckily Damon’s able to get Bonnie out before Alex finds her. She does find Enzo and explains that she and The Armory don’t want to harm Bonnie. She claims they can cure her if she’s willing to open the vault because it holds her sister inside. But can she be trusted? But time’s running out because they learn Bonnie only has about a week left because she’s begun to scab. To make matters worse, Damon learns Rayna’s hit list just keeps growing, so they’re going to need to decide how to save Bonnie quick! We have a lot to discuss this week, so let’s not waste any more time and dive in!

Bow Chicka Wow Wow (Swirler Alert)

Lord, have mercy! The chemistry between Bonnie and Enzo is off the charts. Both Michael Malarkey and Kat Graham are amazing this week and have viewers reaching for a glass of ice water to cool off. Since the flashback towards the beginning of the season that revealed the pair’s romantic relationship, viewers have been dying to know all the details leading up to Bonnie and Enzo becoming a thing. Beginning towards the end of last season, the audience starts to see subtle looks and teases of the pair’s budding feelings, especially from Enzo. Three years ago, Enzo rushing to save Bonnie from the Armory’s capture, hiding her at a cabin and helping to keep her hidden with pills he stole from the Armory, starts to show viewers that he’s really starting to develop ‘more than friends’ type feelings for Bonnie, Her expression almost looks confused to why he’d put himself at risk betraying the Armory, his family., Once Bonnie realizes this her expression softens and she looks touched that he’d do all this for her. As time passes, the audience sees the one-time frenemies of sorts become actual friends the more time they spend together.

“It’s New Year’s Eve. Get up. We’re having dinner. Mm, Oh., for the love of God please put on something besides these abhorrent sweatpants….I’m instituting a dress code. For the holiday.” - Enzo.

New Year’s completely changes things for Bonnie and Enzo. He wins every girl’s heart surprising Bonnie by transforming the cabin into a romantic dinner date to celebrate the holiday. Bonnie’s eyes widen in surprise upon first seeing the transformation and viewers gasp with her seeing Enzo looking fine dressed in a suit. During dinner, the pair is all smiles and appear to be genuinely enjoying each other’s company. Things heat up when Enzo asks Bonnie to dance. Their body language illustrates a sense of comfortability in each other’s arms. Viewers see Bonnie begin to desire more from Enzo when he softly rubs their hands together. But neither act on their feelings until Enzo offers his help with her guitar lessons. As their hands touch, we can see the sparks between them. They exchange a longing glance just before Bonnie sets her guitar aside and literally jumps onto his lap both finally giving into the feelings they’ve been fighting for a while now. In present day, Bonnie and Enzo still convey the passion of the couple seen at the beginnings of their relationship. The couple’s body language and mannerisms convey to viewers that they’re completely in love. Together they’re all smiles and appear totally in sync. Bonnie and Enzo only have eyes for each other constantly exchanging loving glances even in the midst of a murder spree. They’re just so cute and adorable together the audience can’t help to root for them.

Awka-Awkward

Now that Stefan is back to being Stefan and no longer being hunted by Rayna, he thinks it’s safe to reconnect with Caroline because his presence doesn’t put her or the twin’s life in jeopardy. A free man in all senses since Valerie’s (Elizabeth Blackmore) departure last week, viewers can see Alaric is feeling threatened with Stefan back in the picture. And he is just not having it and he makes damn sure Stefan knows he’s not going down without a fight nor can he just waltz right back into Caroline’s life after three years without even a word. It’s obvious when Stefan stops by Alaric and Caroline’s house looking for her that Alaric is uncomfortable. His expression is somewhat unwelcoming and his body language makes him appear on edge that Caroline and the girls could come home while Stefan’s there. Viewers see Alaric jump at the chance to get them out of the house suggesting they go out for something to eat claiming there’s nothing in the house.

“There was no book club. Turns out, she’d park her car down by the river so she could cry, alone. And then something happened. She stopped making excuses to be somewhere else. And the girls and I stopped being a placeholder. And we became her life.” - Alaric.

While Alaric and Stefan team up for Bonnie’s sake and help with Rayna’s hit list, the awkwardness between them takes a temporary backseat. But it doesn’t last too long. As they bury bodies in the woods, Alaric addresses the elephant in the room so to speak and breaks the sad truth to Stefan about how his total disappearance affected Caroline. Alaric’s expression during the story is angry and his tone of voice is harsh. While his arms are crossed and body rigid illustrating Alaric’s frustration with Stefan and how he hurt Caroline. This does not go unphased by Stefan. Hearing how much he hurt Caroline, viewers can see it pains Stefan. His expression and his eyes have a sadness to them. Stefan doesn’t hesitate to point out to Alaric he knows that he and Caroline’s relationship isn’t as perfect as Alaric makes it out to be. But while both Stefan and Alaric seem to think that they have Caroline’s best interest at heart, they fail to acknowledge that ultimately it’s Caroline’s decision if she wants to let Stefan back into her life and to what extent. Although, her lack of enthusiasm when she does see Stefan again gives viewers the impression that Stefan has some work to do before she welcomes her back into her life in any means.

To Trust or Not to Trust… that is the Question.

The incident at the psychiatric hospital between Bonnie and Virginia puts Bonnie back on the Armory’s radar and Alex catches up to Bonnie, Enzo, and Damon during their murder spree. Luckily, Damon is able to get Bonnie out of Alex’s viewer, but she does find Enzo and poses him with a very tempting offer. Claiming that if Enzo brings her Bonnie to open the vault, which she reveals contains her sister, Alex says she’ can save Bonnie’s life in exchange. But along with Enzo viewers wonder how genuine her offer really is or if she’s just playing him. Not only does this contradict Rayna’s claim that the magic can only be enhanced, but Alex herself told Enzo the last time they met at the Dallas airfield, there is no cure for the pills. So what’s changed?

“Your situation is untenable. You care for a girl that probably doesn’t have long to live. I need that girl to perform a simple spell so I can put our family back together. I feel you and I can solve each other’s problems, Lorenzo. Bring me Bonnie Bennett and I will do everything I can to save her life.” - Alex.

Viewers can see Alex playing on Enzo’s romantic feelings for Bonnie and the guilt he has because he gave her the pills is really making him consider the offer. His expression is worrisome and his eyes are sad. We see Enzo’s wheels are spinning trying to decide what’s the best way to save Bonnie Rayna’s hit list of Phoenix Stone vampires or trusting the Armory. Is Alex telling him the truth or just an empty promise because Bonnie is the only way to get the vault open? And let’s not forget Alex saying her sister is the one trapped in the vault also plays on Enzo’s emotions because if Alex is telling the truth, he has more family,… Enzo definitely has a big decision to make, but he better make it quick because Bonnie’s running out of time.

FINAL VERDICT

This week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries 7×19, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” tells the backstory of Bonnie and Enzo’s relationship as everyone tags in on the race to save Bonnie’s life by engaging in a vamp-killing spree. Episode writers, Matthew D’Ambrosio and Holly Brix, penned an episode that grabs the audience’s attention and keeps us on the edge of our seats in anticipation. Whether it was the impending confrontation brewing between Alaric and Stefan over Caroline, the heart-melting romance of Bonnie and Enzo or the adrenaline filled murderous hijinks, they keep viewers attention throughout the episode.D’Ambrosio and Brix pairing Stefan and Alaric and Damon with Bonnie and Enzo is the perfect recipe to dial up the drama. There’s an obvious awkwardness between Stefan and Alaric. Both think they’re the right man for Caroline, which makes Stefan, Caroline, Alaric the series latest love triangle. The writers having them work together makes for quite an interesting dynamic. While D’Ambrosio and Brix teaming Damon up with Bonnie and Enzo makes Damon a third wheel type. There’s a bit of inconsistency in regards to Damon and Bonnie’s relationship. Damon comes across as jealous that Enzo is with Bonnie and It might be misconstrued by some viewers what Damon’s feelings really are towards Bonnie. Obviously, the writers meant to show how much it bothers Damon that Bonnie is still mad at him and misses his best friend, but it’s a little bit of overkill.

“Remember how Rayna was gonna give Bonnie her last life after we finished her hit list? Well, the good news is she finally said yes to that deal. The not-so-good news is she added a few more names to the list.” - Damon.

D’Ambrosio and Brix find an intricate balance between present day events and flashbacks by using visual cues in the present to trigger the memories that tell the couple’s love story. While the writers do a great job slowly building the sexual tension, both Michael Malarkey and Kat Graham are fantastic bringing the story to life. Episode director, Chris Grismer, enhances the emotion of each scene using great camera work. During Bonnie and Enzo’s dance on New Year’s Eve, Grismer, emphasizes the power of touch to the audience by focusing on the couple’s hands as Enzo slowly rubs his fingers slowly on hers. Again when Enzo teaches Bonnie the guitar as they’re strumming and joking around and the attraction intensifies between them, Grismer zooms to focus on their hands as they touch emphasizing the mood. As they share a passionate kiss, he makes sure the burning fire in the fireplace can be seen in the background illustrating the romantic moment. Music supervisor, Chris Mollere, adds the cherry on top to such a beautiful moment between them selecting a sweet and honest song, “Don’t Worry About Me” by Frances, playing in the background. Everything about Bonenzo is done beautifully from all aspects and most definitely worth the wait. It’s going to be quite interesting to see if Enzo trusts Alex and the Armory with Bonnie’s life or if they all race to complete Rayna’s hit list before time runs out. The clock’s ticking… going to be interesting to see how things shake out.

Questions, Comments & Concerns:

• Jealousy is not a cute look for Alaric. Can the man please get a woman the doesn’t die or is in love with someone else? He deserves better.
• And it was so obvious Caroline was trying to get under Stefan’s skin by kissing Alaric right in front of him, Someone took a page from Elena Gilbert season one.
• It’s funny seeing Damon third wheel with Bonnie and Enzo, but isn’t it weird he seems jealous of them??
• Where is Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig)? And what happened to Penny to make him betray Stefan? Need to know this information A.S.A.P.!

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES 7×20 airs FRIDAY, APRIL 29 at 8|7c. on The CW