The Vampire Diaries: "The Ties That Bind" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

In this week's episode of The Vampire Diaries, the most shocking thing might have been that there was no town event that everyone needed to get dressed up to attend. At least it was the most shocking thing right up until the end, when a much missed character made a surprise return.

When Bonnie's dreams convinced her that she needed to find her mother who had abandoned her as a child, it led to a road trip -- one that was fraught with emotion for Bonnie. Kat Graham was great at portraying all that Bonnie was going through, you couldn't help but feel for her as she realized that her mother had chosen to stay away all her life, while at the same time raising someone else's kid. While Bonnie couldn't have realistically expected anything other than turmoil at reuniting with her mother, it was an additional disappointment when Abby revealed that she wasn't that strong with magic anymore and might not be able to help after all. She was willing to try, so we will see how that goes in the coming episodes.

Joseph Morgan on Keeping Klaus Bad
The story behind Abby's departure from Mystic Falls years ago sounded like it would make an interesting episode on its own and it was unfortunate that the details weren't shown to us in flashback. That would have been more exciting than Abby telling Bonnie and Elena the story while they sat around her kitchen table. I hope the show explores the details of that story further at some point.

While it was an incredibly selfish thing for Abby to abandon her daughter, at the same time Abby's desire to get out of Mystic Falls and live a normal life was somewhat understandable. Jeremy had similar thoughts about leaving town a few episodes ago and getting Jeremy to safety was the reason Elena sent him away last week. While the majority of the characters will necessarily stay in Mystic Falls, it is realistic that every once in a while there is a character who can't deal with it and, no matter how selfish it is, they leave town for somewhere safer. However, a big problem with Abby's excuse for leaving Bonnie was that she could have had that safe, normal life and taken Bonnie with her. Who wouldn't want to bring their daughter with them as they escaped to safety?

I could understand why Elena didn't want Stefan or Damon around for Bonnie's reunion with her mother, but at the same time, it was on the naive side for her to think that she and Bonnie might not need some help. On the other hand, Vampire Diaries does a nice job of letting the non-supernatural people gain the upper hand at least some of the time. When it came down to the confrontation at Abby's home, the less powerful person was able to gain control each time -- Abby overpowered Bonnie, Jamie took out Stefan with wooden buckshot, and Elena knocked out Jamie, even though he had a gun.

Stefan and Elena's heart to heart while she dug the wooden shards out of his chest served as a reminder of how much chemistry Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev have. Much of the season has focused on her relationship with Damon, but there is still a strong connection between Elena and Stefan. It is pretty impressive that the show has managed to keep this triangle going for as long as they have without it becoming too annoying.

In the other star-crossed lovers storyline, Tyler tried to prove that Caroline could trust him again by working with her dad to break the sire bond Klaus had over him. Reminding us how unpleasant being a werewolf is, Tyler went through the painful changing process on purpose. Whether it will successfully free Tyler from Klaus or not remains to be seen since they were interrupted by werewolf-Tyler attacking and almost killing Bill. Oops.

Damon busied himself this episode looking into Alaric's new love interest, Meredith Fell. I love that he was concerned enough about his (only) friend that he went to so much trouble, and I also loved that Alaric didn't complain about the intrusion but just let Damon do his thing. Damon and Alaric seem to have settled back into their bantering semi-friendship that is so much fun to watch. The revelation that Dr. Fell uses vampire blood to save her patients may be her big secret, but it feels as though there is still more to her story than that alone.

Unfortunately, a lot of Damon's coolest stuff this week happened off screen, like managing to keep one of Klaus's coffins hidden and, most importantly, removing one of the daggers. Finding out that Damon had decided to free Elijah was the best surprise of the night. The return of Daniel Gillies was typically dramatic as he ripped the heart out of Klaus's hybrid and asked his shocked brother "What have I missed?"

Welcome back Elijah!

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