The Vampire Diaries 402: ‘Memorial’ Review
The Vampire Diaries Episode 402 ‘Memorial’ was a sweet and touching tribute to all of the characters we’ve lost these past four seasons. (Caution: Some Slight Spoilers)
After last week’s premiere episode “Growing Pains” when Pastor Young blew up the rest of the Town Council members who knew Mystic Falls is chock full of sexy vampires, our group thought they might have a bit of a reprieve from all the violence that has plagued them since the Salvatore brothers came back to town. But this wouldn’t be The Vampire Diaries we know and love if everyone were sitting around quietly knitting on the Gilbert’s porch.
The second episode of The Vampire Diaries fourth season appropriately titled “Memorial” saw Elena coming to grips with her death and subsequent rebirth as a vampire. Her occasional difficulty with fake crying aside (anyone buy that weird hybrid of maniacal laughter and hysterical sobbing last week?), Nina Dobrev consistently proves week after week (and year after year) that she’s one of the most underrated actresses on TV. She’s dominated the Teen Choice Awards for the past three years and just nabbed a People’s Choice Award this year for Favorite TV Drama Actress. Seriously, this girl deserves an Emmy already.
We were introduced to two new characters this week: April Young (Grace Phipps: Fright Night 2011, The Nine Lives of Chloe King), the daughter of the now deceased Pastor Young who may fall under Elena and Jeremy’s care as she is now an orphan, and Connor Jordan (Todd Williams: In Plain Sight, Chicago Code), a brutal vampire hunter on a mission to rid Mystic Falls of our favorite blood-suckers.
But one of my favorite parts of tonight’s episode was the touching scene at the end when (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT) Damon visits Alaric’s grave and we get a quick cameo by Mathew Davis. In the Season 3 finale, we briefly saw a return of the Alaric Saltzman we all loved before he got all warped and evil, and it was a fantastic treat to see him again, even if it’s just as a ghost. Fingers crossed we’ll get to see more of Davis this season, even if it’s only to haunt Jeremy again.
What did you think of The Vampire Diaries second episode “Memorial”? Did it live up to the excitement of the Season 4 premiere last week?
Photos by Annette Brown and Bob Mahoney ©2012 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved. Accessed via IMDB.
