‘The Vampire Diaries’ Review: A Fitting End for Katherine Pierce

Last night, The Vampire Diaries delivered one of my favorite episodes of the series. I laughed, I cried, I cheered for nearly every character at one point and I loved the entire hour.

“Gone Girl” was one final tribute to Katherine Pierce. But instead of a weak, helpless Katherine, lying on her deathbed as her enemies mocked her, we got to see the Katherine we know and love (or love to hate) one last time. She began the hour at her dying daughter’s side, assuring her that she had a plan. She couldn’t call Klaus and ask for his blood because she’d out her secret so she went for Plan B and called Dr. Wes.

He was eager to study werewolf venom and said he’d find a way to isolate the poison from her blood and develop a cure. I think we all knew Nadia was as good as dead at that point, but at least Katherine was trying to save her daughter and she was by her side. Except suddenly all of Elena’s friends were calling, wanting to spend time with her for the kind of things Elena would never say ‘no’ to her, but Katherine had some clever excuses that left all of them seriously annoyed.

Stefan was prepared to make the next call, but Katherine called Damon first so ‘Elena’ could see how he was doing. She told him she wanted to talk and Damon agreed to see her immediately. That’s when Katherine knew that her ruse was up because Damon would never risk Elena’s life. And as soon as he got off the phone, Damon and Stefan realized that he’d fallen into a trap and Katherine knew they knew (F.R.I.E.N.D.S., FTW!).

No one was ready to give up. Katherine went to track down Dr. Wes to see what was taking so long for the cure while the gang got Liv to do a locator spell. Tyler was left to babysit Damon and he easily goaded the hybrid into the cell, bit him and then took off to torture and kill Dr. Wes. Damon playing doctor was gross to watch, but still awesome because it’s fitting he got to kill him. Also, that guy was the worst so it makes me really happy that we’re never going to have to see him again.

Katherine arrived to find the dead doctor and then Stefan called to let her know that they had Nadia at the house. In the background, a dying Nadia ordered her mother to run. The group gathered to wait as Nadia’s hallucinations continued to grow worse. She saw Matt and assumed he was Gregor. She apologized for what she did and explained that it was all for her mother. Matt played along (earning him the tiniest of points with me – let’s never speak of it again). Then Katherine strode through the door and announced she was there to see her daughter.

The next scene was incredible. Nadia kept repeating that she was looking for her mother and listing Katherine’s sins. It was obviously hard for Katherine to hear, but she took it and then she gave her daughter a look at the life they should have had. She showed her their cottage and Nadia was a happy child with a loving mother. Katherine told her that she loved her and said goodbye as Nadia died and then her ghost was standing behind her, smiling, as she finally got what she wanted: her mother’s love. I cried through this entire scene and I’m getting choked up writing about it. The whole thing was beautiful and Nina Dobrev and Olga Fonda did an amazing job every step of the way.

Katherine tried to make a run for it, but Damon was at the door to stop her. So she accepted her fate and asked who had the traveler’s knife to kill the elusive Katherine Pierce. And here is where the show completely redeemed itself for making such a mess of Katherine last week. She went from person to person, getting in a few last insults. She reminded Tyler that she made him matter, reminded Caroline that she made her better, told Bonnie she’d see her on the flip side, let Jeremy know it was nice having a brother for a little bit, told Matt that she’d always miss the night they never spent together…she was flawless.

Then she got to Damon and threw all of his words and blame back at him. She said she was sorry for teaching him how to love and she should have just let him die, forgotten on some battlefield, instead of turning him. Damon promised he’d see her in hell and then she turned to Stefan. Katherine told him how good it had been to finally know what it felt like to be loved by him. She said she loved him and kissed him and then Stefan plunged the knife into her stomach. In an awesome parallel to season two, Katherine’s last words to him were, “And I guess this is how our love story ends.”

But that wasn’t quite the end for Katherine. Later, as Bonnie stood in a church (random, much?) lighting a candle for her dead father, Katherine showed up to pass through to the other side. Before she did, she had one last card to play. Katherine was not stupid. She knew Dr. Wes had no intention of saving Nadia. Instead, he’d used the werewolf venom to make the Augustine serum that much more potent. Katherine explained to a horrified Bonnie that if she couldn’t have Stefan, she wasn’t going to let Elena have him either. So she’d injected Elena’s body with the serum, which will turn her into an even more powerful ripper than Damon. Katherine Pierce, BAMF until the bitter end.

And that’s when we got the second major shock of the episode. Katherine attempted to pass through Bonnie, but it wasn’t working. Bonnie didn’t know what was happening and she told Katherine that it wasn’t up to her who got to go to the Other Side. Katherine demanded to know who it was up to and that was when things started rattling and Katherine was sucked through the church and into the darkness – presumably straight to hell. The Other Side is for supernatural beings with unfinished business and Katherine said herself that all she had left was her daughter and Nadia was dying so she was okay with dying too. She got in one last dig at Elena and company, but she sealed her own fate in the process. This twist was absolutely brilliant.

While the hour belonged to Katherine, there were a few other moments that deserve honorable mentions. First, Damon was being a complete ass, but there was some truth in what he said to Tyler. He needs to find a purpose outside of wanting to be with Caroline. I hope he starts to realize that and figure out what he wants in this world.

Then there was Caroline, who finally stood up for herself and told Tyler that she was done feeling guilty and he needed to accept it or get out of her life. This absolutely needed to be said. I can understand why Tyler was hurt and angry, but that doesn’t mean he gets to continually throw it in Caroline’s face.

Finally, Elena woke up and she seemed really happy to see Damon standing over her bedside and that was a nice moment for them. Or it started as one until Elena pulled the syringe out of her jacket and wondered what it was. I can’t wait to see how Elena reacts to everything that’s happened and how much she actually knows. I’m guessing nothing since Matt never knew what was happening when the passenger took over, only that he was missing time. Now Elena will have to deal with that AND being infected with a ripper virus that’s going to make her want to kill her friends.

And all of that is exactly why I love this show so much. It has its faults, but it still delivers, even after five seasons. We have to wait an extra week for the next episode so in the meantime, feel free to hit the comments and share your thoughts with us. Will you miss Katherine? What about Nadia? Are you happy Elena is back? Do you think Damon regrets killing Dr. Wes yet?