Previously: Jeremy finally has an exit strategy, Enzo has a boring revenge plotline and Liz Forbes is dying of cancer.
Well that was particularly devastating. If you told me five years ago that out of all the deaths on this show that Sheriff Liz Forbes would be the one to totally undo me I would’ve told you to go home and sober up. But here we are.
Let’s talk show!
Elena and Damon have to convince Jeremy’s principal into letting him graduate early so he can go to art school (and leave the show). Damon knows when to stop beating a dead horse and eventually compels Principal StuffyPants into giving up the goods.
Flashback to the night that The Gilberts died in a car accident with Sheriff Forbes on the scene. Present-day Liz has a box of Open Cases that she wants to finish so she can get some closure in her final days. Damon reminds us all what a true friend he can be and agrees to help Liz, even when it means having to confess to half of the unsolved crimes. HILARITY. Liz is convinced that there’s something fishy about the circumstances of That Night, including a packed trunk of luggage, an alternate route taken and a phone call from Elena’s mom two hours prior. Liz and Damon are on the case!
In true Caroline fashion she is trying to make the best of (i.e., control) the situation and has decided her mom should live out her final days at their cabin reading all the classic novels she never had time for pre-cancer. God help the person who shoves a copy of Moby Dick in my hands during my final days on this Earth. Stefan is in Super Supportive Mode and we all get a glimpse of him in Sleeveless Handyman mode. OH MY. Caroline finds her childhood bike and shares with Stefan her memories of her mom teaching her how to ride. Awww.
Elena busts Jeremy with his Going Away doobie that Damon slipped him and they decide to smoke up together, reminiscing and bonding as only siblings can. As Elena leaves to go and answer some questions from Detectives Liz and Damon, Jeremy is waylaid by Enzo who’s all “Surprise! I bet you thought I was dead!”. Dude, if you prevent this kid from leaving this show Mystic Falls, we are going to have WORDS.
Sarah Salvatore has been hired by The Grille to take photos for their website (with a little help from Enzo) and Matt is truly pleased to see her, probably because she’s LUMINOUSLY gorgeous. Seriously, this actress deserves better than this tired plotline. I hope there’s a twist, and SOON. Enzo has Jeremy held hostage (by stepping on his face, no less) and so Matt is forced to take Sarah to an agreed-upon tunnel under the guise of taking photos of graffiti. Enzo PLOWS through Matt with his car at top speed and then hobbles back as a Concerned Citizen, vamping out in front of Sarah in order to heal Matt. Have I mentioned how much I hate this plotline? Enzo would be much better served as One of The Gang instead of this Vengeful Loner rubbish.
Caroline is investing WAY too much thought into what book could perhaps be her mother’s last and Stefan volunteers to take over Library Duty. Caroline is peeved that her mom is still at the office working on cold cases and Stefan finally breaks it down for her that the last book that her mom will read is a small, unimportant detail over the vastness of her life. Caroline confesses to knowing that her mom asked him to look after her and just wants him to know that she’s ok with it. There is much glorious light in the background from the setting sun and we finally get our first Stefan-Caroline kiss, full of sweetness and vulnerability. Heart emojis explode from my eyes.
Elena gets one final chance to be the Concerned Big Sister when she sees Jeremy icing his face. She’s pissed that Enzo is back. (Me too, girl, although it pains me to say it.) She asks him about the night their parents died and he clears up the mysterious phone call; turns out his mom was trying to scare him straight with a call to the sheriff after catching him getting high.
Elena relays this info to Damon, who tells a still-unconvinced Liz. The pieces start to come together as they realize that the luggage was due to a surprise weekend at the cabin and the alternate route was due to a storm taking out some roads. You can almost hear Liz’s heart sink when she realizes that their deaths weren’t the result of the supernatural, and that her time is also swiftly coming to an end. She’s too exhausted to go out to the cabin and Damon offers to take her home. From the opening scene of this episode we know that we are going to be saying goodbye to Liz. Watching her accept her own mortality, that her life is truly done with the closing of her office door and the weariness we see settling into her very bones pulled at my heart so fiercely I thought it might snap in half.
Alaric “takes Jeremy to the airport”, and by that I mean that he drives him to a bus stop, hands him a bag of weapons and tells him that he’ll be sending him more leads soon. Jeremy isn’t going to art school; he’s found his calling as a Hunter, only he doesn’t want Elena to worry so he and Alaric have concocted this plan. As much as I never cared for Jeremy I find myself glad that he’s living the life that he wants on his own terms.
Damon takes Liz home and helps her get into bed. I’m suddenly struck by the very real friendship these two have, and how Damon has lost his fair share of besties. He tells Liz how he lost his mother to consumption and that he wrote her eulogy only to find himself unable to even attend her funeral. Liz offers him the chance to write hers and you can tell it means the world to him. He leaves her side to get her a drink only to find that she’s slipped into unconsciousness.
Damon: “No promises.”
Caroline arrives at the hospital, completely frantic and racked with guilt at not being there for her mother’s final lucid moments. Stefan eases her panic by showing her how to walk through her mother’s thoughts and we see a terrified little Caroline being shown how to ride her bike by her mom. Liz promises not to let go of her bike until Caroline is ready and at this point I can’t even see the screen because my glasses are fogging up from my tears. There’s a beautiful shot of Caroline crying over her mother, surrounded by Elena, Stefan, Damon and Matt, and then Liz’s heart monitor is shut off.
Thoughts:
- “Somehow we’ll all find a way to move on without you, Jeremy. Oh hey – just did!” Damon gets me.
- ”This one is me. Me. Also me. Ooooohhh, this one is Stefan. Oh wait, nope, me.” Damon Salvatore, Comic Relief.
- Damon gives Jeremy a going-away joint and all I can wonder is, Who is Damon’s weed man?
- Damon accusing Liz of being a bad sheriff because she keeps a stash of booze in her desk. “No, I’m a terrible sheriff because one of my best friends is the perp in half my open cases.” LOLZ.
- Jeremy asking Elena for her car. Dude, she just compelled you a high school diploma! Little brothers. So ungrateful.
- “Life isn’t about your final moments; it’s about the moments that led up to them.” Stefan gets all of the heart emojis this week.
- “I won’t let go until you’re ready.” MY HEART CAN NOT TAKE IT.
- Liz Forbes dying – devastating or RIDICULOUSLY devastating?
WHEW. That was a lot of emotion to process! How are you guys doing? Did Stefan and Caroline’s kiss at least put a balm on the raw, painful wound of Liz dying? Did anyone else throw a bit of confetti in the air when Jeremy got on that bus?
About the Contributor:
Amanda Reid is an East Coast girl living in California who will never stop missing a true autumn. She’s a bookseller who specializes in kid and teen lit, and she bakes a damn fine pie.
