The Vampire Diaries 7×20 “Kill ‘Em All” REVIEW

Dropping Bodies, Unlocking the Vault & Rayna Gets the Ultimate Revenge

The theme of this week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries 7×20, “Kill ‘Em All,” has everyone racing to complete Rayna’s (Leslie-Anne Huff) hit list of vampires that escaped the Phoenix Stone, so she’ll give Bonnie (Kat Graham) her last remaining life and save her from the effects of the Armory’s pills. Bonnie makes a visit back to the psychiatric hospital to see Virginia (Aisha Duran) in hopes to learn more about the mysterious vault that the Armory wants her to open so badly. All she learns is the vault contains something dark that changes people and can never be open. Bonnie then returns to the cabin with Rayna, who’s using her visions to help track down the vampires that escaped when the Phoenix stone was destroyed. Meanwhile, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Enzo (Michael Malarkey) continue their murder spree killing the vamps from Rayna’s hit list. Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Matt (Zach Roerig) are reluctantly paired up in an effort to hunt even more escaped vampires. And Caroline (Candice King) insists on helping, so she finds a sitter for the girls and her and Alaric (Matt Davis) make up the third team of vamp assassins. They all spread out across the country to tackle Rayna’s list before Bonnie’s time runs out.

Throughout the episode, we see flashbacks explaining why Matt blames Stefan for Penny’s (Ana Nogueira) death Matt knows Stefan returned to Mystic Falls on the anniversary of Sheriff Forbes (Marguerite MacIntyre) death hoping of see Caroline. Penny confronted Stefan and Matt as footage from his dash camera of Stefan compelling him, but only knows things about Penny’s death didn’t add up., Stefan reluctantly undoes the compulsion and now Matt remembers that in a failed attempt to shoot Stefan he missed and shot his own fiancee. Matt is devastated by this, but still blames Stefan because he came back to Mystic Falls.

Meanwhile, at the cabin Bonnie’s magic starts returning, so she injects herself with Rayna’s blood to lessen it and keep her hidden from the Armory. After Damon and Enzo learn what she’s doing, which also speeds up her death, Damon insists Enzo return, so she doesn’t give up entirely. He does and Damon takes matters into his own hands and makes a deal with Alex (Mouzam Makkar) and the Armory. In exchange for the Armory’s help completing Rayna’s list, he agrees to get Bonnie to open the vault. At first, Bonnie refuses but has no other choice to open the vault once learning the Armory has Caroline and Alaric captive. After opening the vault, Bonnie seals Alex and the Armory’s member inside the Armory along with whatever was locked inside the vault. Now with the vault opened and all the vampires that were trapped inside the Phoenix stone killed Rayna agrees to let Bonnie have her last remaining life. As usual, things aren’t always that simple. Rayna failed to reveal that Bonnie wouldn’t just take her final life she’ll also wake to be a huntress just like her and will not be able to rest until she rids the world of vampires. So much happened in this week’s episode, so let’s not waste another second and discuss!

Damon Makes a Deal With the Devil

In usual Damon fashion again this week Damon takes matters into his own hands making a deal with Alex and the Armory to save Bonnie’s life. Despite having good intentions, Damon fails to take Bonnie’s opinion into consideration. Fearing what’s trapped inside, she is adamantly against opening the vault. Viewers see Bonnie is pissed as hell that Damon made the deal. Her body language is rigid and cold towards Damon. She glares at him that if she had her magic, she’d probably have set him on fire. Bonnie has no choice but to open the vault because the Armory takes Alaric and Caroline hostage as an extra precaution in case Bonnie might refuse. And Bonnie makes it known to everyone including the audience that she is not at all pleased being forced to open this mysterious vault of horrors. While Bonnie does the spell, her body language is cold, her expression is resentful and eyes appear enraged showing just how furious she is to be forced into opening the damn vault. After the spell is done, with an annoyed look still on her face, Bonnie wipes the blood from her nose to hide any weakness and robotically turns around. She doesn’t interact or even really look at anyone as she exits the Armory quickly. Kat Graham does a great job this week illustrating for viewers Bonnie’s anger being forced into doing something she’s against.

Damon doesn’t just get shit from Bonnie about making a deal with Alex and the Armory. Enzo has words with Damon about his choice outside the Armory as Bonnie’s inside unlocking the vault. Viewers see there’s tension between them even before Enzo confronts Damon about forcing Bonnie’s hand because they stand with their backs towards each other. Enzo approaches Damon and it’s obvious he’s upset. His expression conveys his anger. His brows furrowed and eyes soul-piercing as he walks towards Damon with a purpose. Enzo’s voice is raised and he has an angry tone. But Damon doesn’t just take it on the chin. He has some tea of his own to serve Enzo. Damon is quick to point out to Enzo that he needs to be honest because surely he considered the same deal. The difference is Enzo couldn’t take it without pissing Bonnie off. And as he does so, Damon expression is completely serious and somewhat indignant illustrating to viewers that he doesn’t feel bad for a second making Bonnie open the vault. He knows he’s the bad guy and is ok with it because even though Bonnie might hate him for what he did she will still be alive.

“No, I don’t want applause. But it’d sure be damn nice to hear you admit you considered making the same deal. But lucky for you, you have me. Because she hates me. It’s humanly impossible for her to hate me any more than she already does. So I did what you couldn’t. And now she’ll hate me, not you.” - Damon.

Tricky, Tricky Ladies

Bonnie’s hand may have been forced to open the Armory’s mysterious vault that Virginia vows it contains something unimaginably dark, but she definitely has the last laugh. In an unexpected twist, after unlocking the vault and rushing outside as well as making sure Enzo and Damon are outside, Bonnie seals everyone and whatever the vault contained inside the Armory. She may have technically opened the vault, but in a way she just made the entire Armory all, it’s members including Alex and the mysterious, dark presence that was in the vault into a new, bigger vault. That’s our Bonnie Bennett! She’s never been one to be pushed around and always seems to find a way to stand her ground even when forced into doing something. Essentially, as every spell has a loophole, so does every situation. Bonnie finds a loophole to opening the vault while still fulfilling her obligation to the Armory that Damon promised in exchange for the Armory finishing Rayna’s hit list of vamps.

“That’s what I never understood about vampires. They seek out immortality like it’s so kind of gift. Everything that mattered to me, love, family, happiness. I had all that the first time, until it was taken away from me and I’ve spent the last seven lifetimes longing for it. I’m ready to be done on this Earth. I want to see my father again. I want to know love again.” - Rayna.

Bonnie isn’t the only sneaky little minx this episode. Rayna pulls the ultimate ‘f*ck you,’ on everyone, who thought she was somewhat selflessly giving her last life to Bonnie. Viewers almost feel bad for Rayna after hearing her explain to Bonnie why she’s agreed to let her have her last remaining life. Leslie-Anne Huff does a great job illustrating the pain Rayna endures; given immortality and over time slowly losing the ones she loves. Sitting in front of the fireplace, her expression is sullen and she has a sadness to her eyes as she gazes into the flames thinking about her father. We don’t feel sorry for her for too long, though. Rayna fails to disclose that giving Bonnie her last life comes with some mighty heavy strings attached. Much like Damon, viewers eyes almost pop out of their head hearing the Bonnie will take over Rayna’s mission to rid the Earth of vampires. And as that’s revealed, she has an evil smirk on her face. In a condescending tone, she taunts Damon making it known she’s getting the last laugh. Rayna definitely pulls the wool over everyone’s eyes one last time helping her live up to the badass vampire huntress reputation.

“Do you think I could ever forgive you for the things you did to me? Now neither will Bonnie. When she wakes she’ll be just like me, full of hatred for you and your kind and unable to rest until you’ve been wiped from this Earth.” - Rayna.

The Awful Truth

This week we finally learn what happened to Penny causing Matt to harbor so much hatred for Stefan that he would free Rayna from the Armory and help her lure Stefan to Dallas. From happy in love to driven by grief and then completely devastated by learning the truth about Penny’s death, Zach Roerig does a fantastic job taking viewers on Matt’s emotional journey this week. In the flashback in Matt’s bedroom, we see a Matt we’re not too used to seeing. He is happy. Matt has a sly smile on his face as Penny discovers what he’s looking up on the computer. His eyes are warm and full of love looking at Penny. When she says yes to being his wife, Matt has a huge smile on his face and his eyes practically glow. Everything about him exudes his pure happiness. Unfortunately, we know things take a drastic turn and he blames Stefan. The tension between Matt and Stefan is palpable. From the minute Matt arrives in his truck to meet Stefan, he has a stone cold serious expression and his responses are terse and short. And judging by Stefan’s body language and super serious face, he doesn’t seem so comfortable to be paired with Matt either. In the car, they are both leaning away from the other, which shows just how displeased they are about working together. Not even Stefan saving Matt from his head being sawed in half changes his demeanor towards Stefan

Matt demands Stefan tell him the truth about what happened the night of Penny’s death. In both the flashback of that night as well as his reaction after remembering shows the audience how much Matt is struggling with what happened. Realizing he’s responsible for his fiancee’s death in the woods that night, Matt falls to his knees as he rushes to her side and then frantically asks for Stefan’s help. Matt’s eyes are wide in fear and expression conveys his worry, but it’s too late. Viewers’ hearts break for Matt and his reaction in the present is just as painful to watch as it is for Matt to comprehend. We see at first he doesn’t want to believe what he remembers is true. He shakes his head in disbelief and takes a step back from Stefan. But thinking about it more, Matt’s overcome with sadness and he begins to cry, breaking not just his heart, but viewers’ hearts as well. Zach Roerig is amazing this week. It’s not often that he gets to shine, but he definitely does not disappoint.

FINAL VERDICT

This week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries, “Kill ‘Em All,” continues the quest to complete Rayna’s hit list of Phoenix stone vampires, so she’ll give Bonnie her last life, but when Damon resorts to help from the Armory, things take a drastic turn. Episode writers, Chad Fiveash and James Stoteraux, penned an episode that takes viewers on quite the ride of emotions that ends with the ultimate ‘Oh no, they didn’t!’ Fiveash and Stoteraux show us Caroline’s side in regards of her love triangle with Alaric and Stefan. They offer an interesting balance giving both ship fandoms hope for their preferred relationship. Caroline and Alaric finding the conversation in the car about sex quite the awkward topic making us all wonder how the pair can be engaged and it is not something they’ve already discussed. While the topic isn’t directly addressed later, the writers having Caroline lay her cards out on the table regarding her and Alaric’s relationship and how she feels about Stefan definitely takes the wind out of Steroline shippers sails a bit. Music supervisor, Chris Mollere makes this a sweet moment between them even sweeter by infusing the soft melody of Calum Scott’s “Dancing on My Own.”

Fiveash and Stoteraux don’t surprise viewers at all with Bonnie being forced to open the Armory’s vault. What does come as a surprise is that it’s Damon who makes the deal with Alex. and not Enzo as previously teased. Episode director, Kellie Cyrus, makes great use of various views and camera angles to dialing up the drama and building the anticipation of Bonnie opening the vault. In an effort to add to the dark mystery of what’s inside, Cyrus shows a wide shot of the dim candle lit hallway from the back making the audience feel as if their standing behind the Armory members watching the vault being opened. She focuses on Bonnie’s expression to reinforce her attitude towards being forced into doing this. Cyrus shows us the spell is working through the use of wind and shows a close up of Bonnie so we see her hair blowing in the wind. She then focuses on a nearby candelabra as the flames are blown out by the wind as a swirling howl of wind echoes in the hallway. But we still have no clue what was locked inside that vault. The writers do tease the vault’s contents by showing the remains of Alex’s sister even though Alex swore she could hear her trapped inside.
While Fiveash and Stoteraux do throw several plot twists at us this week ending with the ultimate cliffhanger leaving our jaws on the floor and wanting more. One is the heart-wrenching truth about what happened to Matt’s girlfriend, Penny and why he blames Stefan for her death. Cyrus makes it easier for the audience to distinguish the flashbacks by using a special camera filter that makes the scenes cooler with a blue-ish tint. Her great use of camera angles both in flashbacks and present coupled with a fantastic job from Zach Roerig adds to the raw emotion of Matt’s painful realization. Another curveball from the writers comes when Bonnie flips the script on the Armory for forcing her to unlocking vault by sealing the entire Armory including Alex and the contents of the vault inside the Armory. Fiveash and Stoteraux’s essential mic drop comes when Rayna reveals not only will Bonnie be taking her last remaining life, she’ll wake and be just like her, a huntress whose sole mission is to rid the earth of vampires. Uh oh! Bon Bon’s boyfriend is a vampire and so are all her friends. Poor Bonnie. How many supernatural entities does she have to become? Can she ever catch a break? There’s only two more episodes left of the season, so of course, things are bound to get a lot worse before getting any better. Until next week

Questions, Comments & Concerns:

• in the running for best possible Damon line of the season = ““If dropping bodies was an Olympic sport, we’d be on a Wheaties box.”.
• Did anyone else get a Silas-like vibe the vault’s dark powers, presence or whatever it may be by the way it can trick people into hearing voices of their loved ones??
• Do we have a running count of how many mystic elements Bon Bon has been over the years?
• Now that Bon Bon’s a huntress, maybe Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) can come back to help her manage her urge to kill her friends and her boyfriend. Well, the boyfriend part might get a little awkward.
• Nice to see everyone back in Mystic Falls now and at the Salvatore House again.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES 7×21 airs FRIDAY, MAY 6 at 8|7c. on The CW