‘The Vampire Diaries’ Review: Cheers for 100 Episodes (and Katherine)

Last night The Vampire Diaries aired its 100th episode and I loved every single second of it. “500 Years of Solitude” was an emotional episode for the characters and for the fans. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it left me excited to see what’s going to come next for the show and the characters that I’ve grown to love so much.

There wasn’t a lot of plot to the episode and that was okay because it was a celebration – a fitting memorial for the life and imminent death of Katherine Pierce. Her enemies toasted to her demise as they recalled all the terrible things she’d done to them and their loved ones. Her daughter desperately tried to find a way to save her and those whose lives she’d shaped the most – Stefan, Damon and Elena – they each dealt with the situation in their own ways.

Damon spent the episode tormenting Katherine because he blamed her for all the wrongs he’d committed since 1864. Was that fair? No, but it was Damon’s way of dealing with things and by the end of the episode, he acknowledged that he was just as bad as Katherine. But before that, he got inside her head and it was a fantastic way to bring back characters like Jenna and John.

He even made her think Elijah was there, which was the perfect way to include him in the episode without affecting what’s happening with his character on The Originals or to take away from Stefan and Katherine’s relationship. Fans of the couple (and Katherine) got to have a brief reunion moment and then Damon ripped it away in typical Damon fashion.

That was when Nadia came in and snapped his neck for messing with her mother. She’d already put her plan in place: she’d kidnapped Matt and buried him in Stefan’s safe so that she could manipulate Stefan and Elena into doing what she wanted. Nadia needed the travelers’ help with the spell to put Katherine in her body, but the travelers wanted something in return: doppelgangers.

Stefan and Elena were not on the best terms since Elena had learned he’d slept with Katherine, but once the witches literally backed them into a corner to steal their blood, the two had a moment to talk. It was nice to see Stefan giving Elena friendly advice to not give up on Damon. I’m very curious why the travelers wanted their blood (and what the travelers want in general) so I thought this was a nice way to pave the way for the storyline to continue past this episode without taking too much away from Katherine.

Once the witches let the doppelgangers go, it was Stefan’s turn to say goodbye to Katherine. Like Damon, he got inside her head, but he offered her comfort and took away the bad memories of her family dying and reminded her that she’d been a teenage girl and it wasn’t her fault that Klaus killed them. It was a beautiful moment and a touching way to say goodbye. Then it was Elena’s turn to have a final moment with her doppelganger.

And now the (incredibly difficult to choose) top four moments from the episode:

4. Stefan and Damon

The love triangle may be the thing everyone talks about most, but for me, the real OTP of this show will always be the Salvatore brothers. The two took a moment to spend away from their house full of people with each other. Stefan urged Damon to fight for Elena and Damon agreed to do just that, even as he mocked the doppelganger prophecy and warned Stefan to remember this conversation. It was a scene that was over too quickly, but it made an already fantastic episode that much better. I honestly don’t care who ends up with Elena when the series ends. All I want is for Damon and Stefan to be brothers. To borrow from the Originals, family above all.

3. Klaus and Caroline

The Original hybrid returned to Mystic Falls because Damon let him know Katherine was dying (does anyone else want to see how that conversation went?). But Klaus was immediately sidetracked by Caroline (who was searching the property for Matt). Caroline was definitely not interested in playing catch up, but Klaus was not deterred by her efforts to use her vamp speed to get away from him. She was annoyed that he wasn’t helping her find Matt and Klaus surprised her by revealing that he’d found him earlier and sent someone else to rescue him (side note: how fantastic did Rebekah look in her surprise appearance? I never liked Matt and Rebekah together, but they seemed so happy to see each other and it was adorable).

Klaus continued to pester Caroline, pointing out that he knew about her breakup with Tyler and that Tyler had chosen revenge over her. He asked for the same choice. He’d abandon his mission to mock Katherine on her deathbed if Caroline confessed to him what she really wanted. He even sweetened the deal by promising that he’d never return to Mystic Falls or bother her again. Caroline took him up on that promise and then she kissed him. But that certainly wasn’t all she wanted. The two exchanged happy smiles and then they started tearing each other’s clothes off and finally giving in to all that sexual tension up against a tree.

But is this really the end of Klaus and Caroline? I doubt it. Caroline pointed out that she’s in college and Klaus doesn’t figure in to her life plans, but plans change. And Klaus might have promised never to return to Mystic Falls, but I don’t recall Caroline making a promise to never set foot in New Orleans (loophole!). So I think this was temporary closure to this part of their lives, but vampires live for a long time. We’ll see what happens when they meet again (and they will meet again).

2. The Group Scene (with Alaric!)

People passed in and out of the Salvatore house all day. After her sexy interlude with Klaus, Caroline joined Matt, Bonnie and Jeremy in the living room. A few minutes later Tyler reappeared (a parting gift from Rebekah to Matt and the perfect way to bring him back to the show). Then the conversation drifted to who Bonnie sees on the other side and Vicki appeared. She was never one of my favorite characters, but I was so happy to see her (and I was still crying over Stefan and Katherine) so I found this moment touching when she told Matt she loved him and to stay away from Rebekah.

Stefan, Damon and Elena had rejoined the group at that point and that was when Alaric (!) showed up and suggested they lay off the alcohol. Jeremy and Bonnie were thrilled to see him and the look on Damon’s face when he heard his best friend was in the room might have been the greatest thing I’ve ever seen anywhere because these two will always be the absolute best bromance ever. Damon toasted his friend and the camera panned over everyone’s faces and seeing the majority of the original cast in the same room was a beautiful, special moment.

1. Katherine Hijacks Elena

And then it was time to get back to business. Stefan left Elena with Katherine and downstairs, Bonnie saw Katherine’s spirit, but then it was yanked away. Katherine woke up because she’s that resilient and she wasn’t ready to go yet. Elena had some things to say to the woman who had spent years tormenting her and Katherine assumed it was all bad. Elena admitted most of it was, but then she forgave her. It was such an Elena thing to do and I found it refreshing that compassionate Elena was still in there because we haven’t seen much of her since she became a vampire.

Katherine was fading fast and she accepted the forgiveness. Then she decided that she wasn’t quite ready to give up after all, grabbed Elena, muttered the traveler’s spell and transferred her spirit into Elena’s body! A few minutes later, the phone rang and when Elena answered it, Nadia was on the other end and she spoke the phrase to call up the passenger, leaving Katherine in possession of Elena’s body. Katherine assured her daughter that the spell worked and then stood in front of the mirror, practicing her ‘I’m Elena Gilbert’ voice and expressions.

I can’t say that I was surprised by this twist. I think most of the internet saw it coming, even before Nadia suggested Katherine hop into someone else’s body last week. But I don’t care if it was predictable because 1) it keeps Katherine alive and 2) it seems like the kind of storyline that’s going to be a lot of fun.

What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the episode? Which return was your favorite? Which moments did you like best? What do you think is happening with the travelers and the doppelgangers? Hit the comments and share your thoughts and theories with us!