'Family Ties' - The Vampire Diaries, Season One

The Vampire Diaries

Season One

Episode Four

'Family Ties' - 6.5

Spoiler alert: even topless Caroline is about a tenth as awesome as Season Two-onwards Caroline.  

There really isn't a whole lot to say about this episode. Once again, there is a serious lack of action, but the acting was a step up from most weeks and the plot itself seemed to advance considerably.

We meet the Founder's Council for the first time tonight, though whether they are named I can't remember. All we know is there is a group of important people who are aware of the vampire presence in Mystic Falls, consisting of at least Logan Fell, Mrs. Lockwood, Sheriff Forbes and the Mayor. At the present time, none of these characters are actually compelling or particularly threatening, though it is at least significant that they all have some sort of tie to the characters we've already met - Tyler's parents, Caroline's mum and Elena's Aunt Jenna's ex-boyfriend. This will all be surely important later down the track, if only because it'll make it more difficult for them to be killed off. At the same time, they theoretically are only a threat to Damon and Stefan, neither of whom I'd be overly upset to lose, though I'd be upset if they DIDN’T kill Damon.

Leading on from that, Damon was actually at his best in this episode - which isn't that great - but just because he ended up locked in a little prison cell. Hahahahahahahahaahahahah. And by Mr. Bland-weak-sauce. That's gotta hurt him, but it made me happy. It was almost like retribution for all the crappy voice-acting by Ian Somerhalder, having him be captured in a truly obvious way. I mean, you have to admit the ploy was clear - I thought for a moment Damon only let Caroline and Stefan be alone together so he could gloat about foiling another vervain-attempt. Damon, you are officially too cocky and too stupid. JUST DIE.

Caroline's going pretty great though, Candice Accola was fantastic portraying the dazed and battered girl as she came out of her compulsion. She has managed to go from an irritating and nosy bitch to a tragic and no-doubt spitefully real person. It'll be good now that she has the crystal and can play an important role in the coming storylines.

Another character slowly edging towards the limelight is Bonnie, who revealed tonight she has real power by lighting some candles... with her mind! No, it was horribly clichéd, and ridiculous that a normal person would just decide to try and ignite a candle with telepathically. Seriously? Sure, it worked, but maybe she should be put in therapy for delusions. Even with the psycho witch being herself, the scene where she lit an entire room full of candles was masterful, I loved the image and thought it was very moving. Perhaps soon Bonnie can pull some awesome shit - I hope she ends up like Willow in the Buffyverse.

So this is 'Family Ties', nothing to make us praise the lord for the existence of television, but the most important of the first few episodes in terms of plot and character advancement, although I did prefer the previous outing. The action was entirely all-talk, with a little creative filming, but it was not too boring, and I ended up caring for a lot of the people who live in this world.