The Vampire Diaries picked up the pace again this week with an episode that went back to multiple-storylines and lots of twists. You have to admire a show that has this many characters and manages to make each compelling. "Disturbing Behavior" shifted quickly from plot to plot, and each one was as interesting as the others.
I appreciated that the show tackled the tricky prospect of a relationship between Damon and Elena head on, with some superb help from Caroline who asked Elena straight out if she was "switching Salvatores." Caroline could have been channeling certain segments of the audience by expressing her concern that Elena might be developing feelings for Damon, now that Stefan is out of the picture. "Consider me the honesty police," was a great line, and Caroline's concern for her friend was very believable. Once again, Caroline stole all the scenes that she was in, and also had a very sweet scene with Tyler that was more convincingly romantic than anything between Stefan, Elena, Damon and Katherine combined.
Damon proved Caroline's concerns to be well founded almost immediately with his self-destructive behavior in the second half of the episode. He may have been cute and flirty with Elena at the beginning of the hour, but after he had a mini panic attack over Caroline's father resisting his compulsion, he really lashed out at Alaric and Elena trying to rein him in. Taking his frustration out on whoever was closest – Elena, Alaric and even Caroline – was completely in character for Damon, but I liked the nuance that in addition to his typical out of control behavior was the frustration that he felt everyone was trying make him into someone more respectable, more like Stefan.
Although the show has been teasing a potential Elena and Damon relationship for a while now, it was the fallout of the fight with Alaric that was the most difficult to watch. Sure, Damon checked to make sure Alaric had his magic ring on before killing him, but Alaric didn't seem to be in the mood to cut him slack for that when he woke up later. I love their love-hate friendship and am curious to see how this latest outburst from Damon will affect things. One immediate outcome was that Alaric decided to get more involved with the town council, which is great since it will hopefully keep him in the center of the action, rather than sidelined like he was last season.
Kat Graham made a welcome return to the show as Bonnie, and it was just in time since Jeremy's visits from his dead girlfriends had taken a sinister turn recently. Malese Jow was vulnerable with her pleas for Jeremy not to leave her all alone, but there was a disturbing edge. While Anna had warned Jeremy not to listen to Vicki before, there was something about Anna herself this time around that made me think maybe she shouldn't be trusted either.
I still find Stefan's behavior with Klaus to be confusing; he originally went with Klaus to protect Elena and Damon, yet he has been willing to harm or kill any number of innocent people along the way. Last week looked to be a game-changer for Stefan as he got his memories of a history with Klaus and Rebekah back. Yet, in this episode it didn't appear to have changed anything about Stefan's state of mind. So, Elena and Damon haven't been harmed by Klaus, but what about the girls he, Klaus and Rebekah fed on this week? Are we supposed to not care about them?
Stefan acted pretty sure of himself with Katherine, but in actuality his plan to keep Klaus from finding out that Elena was alive and had the necklace was a failure. It was only semi-successful because Katherine helped him out and the witch died, but in the end Klaus brought them all back to Mystic Falls anyway, and it appeared that Elena won't be kept a secret from Klaus much longer. I liked this turn of events - the combination of Stefan and Klaus back in Mystic Falls while Damon and Katherine have teamed up should be fun.