TV Review: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: Season 6, Episode 11: Woke Up with a Monster [The CW]

The CW’s The Vampire Diaries Woke up with a Monster TV Show Review. The Vampire Diaries: Season 6, Episode 11: Woke up with a Monster brings the show back in top form. Kai (Chris Wood) kidnaps Elena (Nina Dobrev) so he can use her to practice and control his magic, while Caroline (Candice Accola) and Stefan (Paul Wesly), look for a cure for Sheriff Forbes (Marguerite Macintyre).

It appears that a little time off is a good thing after all. Not that the show was in any kind of trouble but this episode opening was pretty fantastic. Kai has been the kind of thorn you can’t just pull out…you have to just lose the limb it’s attached to. After absorbing a ton of magic from the border shield, our resident psychopath has decided to take his magical game up and forces Elena to be his punching bag. Since escaping his personal hell, Kai has managed to piss off just about everyone he comes in contact with. I have to admit though diabolical, his concept is quite brilliant. Vampires can heal pretty quick so testing magic on them works. There were a few really cool moments between Kai and Elena. What I can say without spoiling the dance is…the cloaking effect is nasty. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Jo (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) arrive, working the cloak magic to pull a rescue. The writing here is on point. While practicing on Elena, Kai melts her daylight ring so they cannot just exit out the front door. Yes, conflict is alive and well. After a brief confrontation with Kai, we find out Jo is not strong enough to face him. Fortunately, Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) and Alaric (Matthew Davis) save the day and drug Kai. After all the trouble Kai has been and knowing how dangerous he is…they should just kill him…right? Then I was reminded that if they kill him and Jo doesn’t merge with him one of the twins would have to die. This Gemini Coven seems like a real horrible group and they clearly don’t care about these young folks, so why are they so intent on destruction? Whatever the answer, the writing is strong and keeps the wheel turning at a fast pace.

Stefan starts his morning off good…well sort of. He heads downstairs to find Jo making a mess of the mansion trying to practice her magic. Yes, she is planning on keeping the date with Kai. From what we observed, she is a long way from even making a decent cup of magic coffee. The funny thing is Stefan didn’t agree to this. Damon, in an attempt to get his friendship back on track with Alaric did. All of this is working. We leave the mansion knowing Jo is not going to be able to face her brother…he is just too evil and strong. That said, this is turning out to be a solid way to build up this pending showdown.

This episode had some very good moments between the characters. Damon caught me off guard when he tried to discourage Caroline from giving her mother Sheriff Liz Forbes vampire blood. The scene plays like he is trying to win a few points with her mother. Then again, this is Damon…he must know something about how this blood will affect her mother.

The relationships are still alive and well. After accidentally impaling Elena, she tries to trick him Damon into saying how much he cares about her. She never gets the answer because she starts laughing. The key to this scene is witnessing them building moments together again.

Stefan proves he is a good uncle while dropping in to see how his niece Sarah Nelson (Tristin Mays) is doing. In doing this, he wins points with Caroline when she finds out his secret. The down side is Enzo (Michael Malarkey) sticks around and it turns out he is also an art lover. It won’t take long before this trouble maker figures out what’s going on here. Enzo continues to be a problem to Stefan and he still won’t kill him…baffling. Great writing.

Caroline proves she loves her mother and will do just about anything to see her live a long life. The question is could her actions place her mother in a far worse situation? After getting a soft warning from Damon about using vampire blood to cure cancer, Caroline gives a small sample of her blood to a cancer patient. After seeing some promising results, she is more determined to try it on her mother. After getting her to agree, she gives her mother a sample as we see the patient react to her blood. Apparently, the vampire blood speeds up the cancer. Caroline is in for a real rough ride when the blood kicks in with her mother.

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