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The Vampire Diaries: I’ve Been Looking for You Forever

The Vampire Diaries

Gone Girl
Season 5 Episode 15
Editor’s Rating 5 stars
The Vampire Diaries --

The Vampire Diaries

Gone Girl
Season 5 Episode 15
Editor’s Rating 5 stars
Photo: Blake Tyers/CW

Wow. Okay. For a while now, I’ve been wondering what the show was going to do with Katherine. Dobrev can’t play two roles for seasons, and Katherine has left to be on the run more time than would feel high stakes or satisfying at this point. The plotline of Katherine taking over Elena’s body was brilliant, because it meant we got to spend some more time with Katherine, but it also felt like, if you were paying attention, this was the show’s way of letting us say good-bye.

I was not surprised that Katherine died last night. Nor was I really surprised that her death involved both epic redemption, and epic revenge (this is our Lady K, after all). But I was surprised by who killed her. What’s really remarkable is I can’t even say RIP. Because if you saw the end, you know she definitely isn’t …

There is nowhere to move but forward. Katherine knew that best of all. So let’s honor her by getting into it. Okay? Okay.

The Nadia flashback really moved me. Fever dreams from werewolf venom are the most intense kind. Plus 12.

Katherine’s way of getting Nadia over her abandonment issues is to basically say: “It was worse for me.” Which actually reminds me a lot of the old “ I had to trek ten miles through the snow to school.” Way to parent like the pros, K! Plus 10.

“Listen to you mother.” Ha. Plus 3.

The conversation between Stefan and Damon about how Elena is really Katherine was kind of funny. I love Damon’s reactions to Katherine. He’s so pissed all the time!

JEREMY. Plus 20. Obviously Jeremy and Bonnie are actually at school. They are just trying to live their human-adjacent lives. Come to think of it, they were the only two people who ever went to high school, too. Plus another 5. Way to set an example, kids.

Stefan seems super cool about the fact that he thought he ex-soul-mate was trying to seduce him yesterday. But Vampire Diaries time is like dog years, so plus 6.

Bonnie is awesome. I know, weird. But her casual, mildly put-out attitude about being the anchor is just so well played. Plus 10.

Who was Tyler even texting? No, seriously. Spend some time thinking about that and tell me if it wasn’t the most unbelievable part of the entire episode. Minus 5.

I did not really care that Damon bit and knocked out Tyler but man, Tyler, duh. Are you new here?

I really like the new witch. She feels like a throwback character to a nineties cult classic. Like she’s totally kind of girl that would show up in Empire Records. Or be like the zany sister in 10 Things I Hate About You. Plus 10.

I just cannot anymore with Wes Maxfield or Max Wesfield or whatever this guy is even called. I was so relieved when he died. There was even this amazing bonus in that we got to see Katherine’s despair over losing her daughter’s chance at a cure. Plus 50.

Matt post sex looks exactly like I always dreamed he would. On a show where people get naked constantly, the fact that this is the first time we’ve seen his satisfied smirk feels like grounds for an abuse lawsuit. Plus 20.

When Matt was comforting Nadia and Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline and Stefan walked silently into the room my heart started pounding. They looked really terrifying. Maybe it’s all that silent beauty, I don’t know, but I would not like to play hide and seek with these guys. Minus 7.

“I’m here to see my daughter.” Katherine confessed that she should have asked Klaus for his blood while Nadia hallucinated her quest to find her murderous, manipulative mother. Katherine then did the Dying of Werewolf Venom Thing, which is to give the person dying a vision of their perfect day. It was an incredibly moving scene when Damon did it for Rose, and it was even more powerful when Katherine showed Nadia what their day as mother and child could have been like. It was what Nadia needed in order to die in peace. Then Bonnie ushered her to the other side. Full service, these guys. Plus 200.

Katherine circling the crew trying to figure out who was going to kill her — plus 100. “The one girl here who actually appreciates how beautiful you are.” It’s so true. Katherine does really get Matt.

When Katherine turned to Damon, I was so excited. I feel like I have been waiting five years for Katherine to say something honest to Damon. “I’m the one who taught you how to love.” I mean, it was not everything it could have been to me (that would be impossible), but it was something big. Plus 20.

“This truly has been the role of a lifetime.” These were the words that tipped me off to the fact that this was really it, she was really going to die. Yes it has, Katherine. And then: “Stefan, I love you. I have always loved you.” And then Stefan KNIFED her. STEFAN KILLED KATHERINE. I hate Stefan. I love Stefan. Did that really happen? Is that how we say good-bye to our most beloved character?

I want to honor this moment. It’s huge. Katherine has been the direct and indirect driving force for about 90 percent of what has happened on this show. She’s been complex and fascinating, which speaks volumes to how talented the writers and Ms. Nina Dobrev are. I will miss her greatly, but I think what I will miss most is the possibility of her. Katherine was nothing if not a consistent surprise. Plus an infinite amount of points. There aren’t enough, really, to adequately express how much weight and depth, fun, and heart Katherine brought to The Vampire Diaries.

“I don’t want to be another Katherine Pierce.” That was nice on Damon’s end, but then he went on to say he wanted to die in the Salvatore mansion old and alone. Damon, honey, have we gone over the immortal thing? It’s not just your moisturizer. Minus 18.

I liked Caroline chewing Tyler out. We should all be over this by now, I agree. Plus 12.

Sometimes the characters on this show have a moment where they acknowledge their dead parent, and it’s so tragic and depressing I don’t know what to do. Minus 15 because no one gets any time to mourn around here. (But please don’t start mourning. Just do it in a select highly moving, poignant scenes).

Uh-oh. Things got really wild when Katherine came to pass through Bonnie. Katherine confessed to injecting herself with some kind of lethal virus that Elena now has and then she got sucked up into a hell portal (I think?). I don’t know what any of this means. It definitely seems open-ended. Is Katherine gone for good? I don’t think we’ll ever really know until the credits roll on the final episode. And what did she mean by: “If I can’t have Stefan, no one will”?

We lost Katherine, but we still have each other. And for now, that’s going to have to be enough. I’m here: @RebeccaASerle and open to suggestions about how to embrace Elena. I want to improve our relationship. We’ve been together too long not to try and make it work. You know, for the sake of the viewers.

The Vampire Diaries: I’ve Been Looking for You