The Vampire Diaries Recap: Season 3, Episode 4 “Disturbing Behavior” (11/06/2011)
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The Vampire Diaries is a show that really has no rules, and to watch it certainly requires a hell of a lot of suspending disbelief. Witches can channel necklaces to discover secret identities because, you know, witches can just do that sort of thing. If you save a dying guy’s life, he can now see other dead people, except not just any people, his dead ex-girlfriends! A hybrid can kill a werewolf and a vampire and the doppelganger and make SUPER WEREWOLF VAMPIRE HYBRIDS. In a world where characters are superhuman creatures that can relatively do anything, it’s not quite sensible: beingthat untethered to reality, there has to be some element to ground the show or else you’re not watching much other than senseless acts of magic.

Even in something like Buffy The Vampire Slayer or the Harry Potter series, one of the main devices that ties a supernatural world to a human one is the ideas of good and evil. It’s something that we can all identify with, knowing what a good act is and knowing what a destructive act is, rooting for the ones that we believe to be in the right, and rallying against the wrong. But the curious thing about The Vampire Diaries is that it blurs the lines of good and evil to the point where Elena is pretty much the only main character who hasn’t done any wrongdoing. So if there really is no pure good, and there's no drawn line for those that are pure evil, and everyone's switching sides for whatever reasons they need, is there really a basis for an actual show here?

Now what ties The Vampire Diaries to reality, and it’s really the single thing that does so, is the family ties and relationships that exist between its tangled web of characters. The motivations that move the show along aren’t necessarily about saving the world or destroying the bad guys, they are nearly all for the affections or allegiance to other characters. It’s important to note just how well the show handles this- it could get very messy very quickly, and still may, but the equilibrium between these characters and the way that The Vampire Diaries is always shifting that balance in brilliant ways is what I think will be the show’s legacy when all is said and done.

The person most lost in this system is Stefan, who hasn’t reached Damon levels of intrigue and depth—I still think that he’s a character who largely has two sides to him—but has gotten himself into the thickest of plots, torn between an evildoer whom he used to be best friends with, the ex-lover who still harbors feelings, the girl who he truly loves but dumps—ostensibly, but perhaps not actually—for her safety, and the brother whose life he saved to put him in the dangerous situation where he currently rests.

These are four very different relationships, and even though it’s obvious which relationships will be saved and which will be sacrificed, it’s simply interesting to note how all of these connections played out tonight and all season. Stefan’s allegiance to Klaus (thanks to Damon) has so far cost him Elena (whose heart he just broke) and Damon (who really should be thankful), while Rebecca (who is really hot) still has her sights set on him, with no idea that Stefan may use that to his advantage to one-up her brother. Meanwhile, you have Katherine, great longing lover of Stefan and Damon, who curiously comes to his rescue, then when he rejects her advances to help in the fight against Klaus, runs to the brother Damon (while tricking Bonnie into giving her the ring) for a trip to Chicago. And probably some hot heavy petting, as we see in next week’s preview. Not all of these choices are decided by the desire to destroy an unnecessary evil, but every single one of them is motivated by an allegiance to, or desire of, someone else.

Meanwhile, Jeremy and Anna finally realize just how to communicate with each other, but things get weird once Bonnie returns to the picture. Jeremy loves Bonnie, but his constant drift towards dead Anna isn’t healthy for his current relationship. Despite Anna’s warning that there’s a darkness she can feel that could mean danger for Jeremy, he tells Bonnie everything and cleanses himself of the spirit world. For now, anyway.

Caroline gets Elena to see that maybe she actually does have feelings for Damon, even though Elena is terrified to admit that she might. I actually don’t believe that she has romantic feelings, but I do think that she does care for someone who has done a lot of bad things to a lot of bad people, and normally we are taught that these people aren’t to be trusted or loved. So it has to be tough for Elena to care about a guy that she inherently shouldn’t, and it must bother her that she understands him quite a lot more than she would like to. I love this about their dynamic, and I don’t really care for it to go in a romantic direction, but I like this rapport between the two of them fine enough, and the speech between Damon and Elena to close the episode really does open up a curious thought: if Damon, who does have a good-natured heart when it comes to Elena, used it more like Stefan did, things would be a lot different.

Speaking of Caroline, she manages a mild resolution with her dad, who just last week was intent upon torturing the evil out of her. Even though Damon suddenly goes AWOL, snaps Alaric’s neck for getting in his way, and heads over to kill Bill (like the movie!) she stops him, and actually hands him quite the ass-kicking, yet another sign that family ties are more important to the show than those who do good or bad things.

“Disturbing Behavior” did come off as more of a holdover episode for what’s to come next with Klaus, Rebecca and Stefan in Mystic Falls (and Damon off with Katherine, unknowing of this fact) and Elena in danger. But what a damn good holdover episode it was.

SumOlogy: Lots of family ties.

Grade: 8.5/10

Leftovers

I love what Rebecca brings to the show. There was quite a lot of humor in tonight’s episode, and I think she delivered best.

“What is this music? It sounds like a cable car accident.”

“He threatened to out me. Don’t get me started on the irony of that.”

“You’re a vampire, sweetheart. I don’t think you’ll ever be okay again.”

“I didn’t lose it, it’s just been missing for 90 years.”

“Retail therapy is making my head explode.”

“My girl’s dead. I’m bored.”

“Well this is creepy.” STAB.

“He’s Caroline’s father.” “Sounds like a douchebag to me.”

“You killed me!” “You pissed me off!”

“Do you think you’ll ever love anyone like you loved that girl?”