I've seen several reviews of this episode with the complaint that it was boring when compared to the premise of the episode. It's hard not to compare mystery islands when Boone is sharpening a machete on the beach in the opening shot. The characters did seem to be in stasis, fatalistic relationship talk excepted. The exposition dump was particularly heavy this week which makes me think that this is more of a launching point for the downhill toboggan ride of lunacy that is traditional at the end of a Vampire Diaries season. I skipped the whole Klaus semi-murdering Caroline bit because every beat was telegraphed by prior information and none of it was surprising.
Nova Scotia or Bust!
The Vampire Diaries roadtrip episodes are generally a hoot. Usually they function to give two characters some breathing room to build on a promising relationship. This is the first group hang on the road (unless you count the occasional sleep-over at the lake house). I am looking forward to terrible plans made exponentially worse by jet lag.
I once tried to murder a friend (holla Joe!) while traveling with him in Spain because we hadn't slept in 48 hours and I'm not even a vampire.
Update
Ya'll, I just chatted (via Twitter) with an actual resident of Nova Scotia who is looking forward to tomorrow's Vampire Diaries episode. Much like I (being from Albuquerque) enjoy Breaking Bad so I can identify familiar hangout spots. Oh, and not to bury the lead, but she is a MERMAID! This is no joke people. Check out this delightful woman/fish.
The very idea...
Full disclosure: The punchline for this comic came from my Mom who cracks me up every day.
Further note: I used a photo from PBS.org as reference for the Countess drawing. Generally I draw while watching the shows in an effort to practice figure drawing and to avoid referencing another person's image, but tonight I was worn out. I fell asleep during my kid's storytime. She said I should probably get out of her bed and get to work, which was pretty sassy for a pre-schooler. The kid and her Grammy have been having tea parties via Skype both pretending to be the Dowager Countess. I think there may be some correlation.