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.