TV Review: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: Season 6, Episode 16: The Downward Spiral [The CW]

The CW’s The Vampire Diaries The Downward Spiral TV Show Review. The Vampire Diaries: Season 6, Episode 16: The Downward Spiral takes the show on a very dark journey. Stefan (Paul Wesly) blames himself for Caroline (Candice Accola) turning off her emotions. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) needs to tell his brother their mom’s alive. Enzo (Michael Malarkey) starts having feelings for Sarah.

When we last saw Caroline, she was snapping necks. Well, she has graduated to full blown monster. Now I get that putting your mother to rest can be pretty traumatic. Caroline was very close to her and that bond was deep. I also get that she had serious feelings for Stefan and was at her breaking point with getting her heart broken. The transition of Caroline into the dark abyss was major! Not only was her acting on point, the whole setup up leading to this was handled very well. She has changed her hair and the look in her eyes is vicious. It works. Who would have guessed that losing her humanity would make her so much more interesting? After all Caroline did in this episode I wonder what she is going to do in the next to top what just took place.

The return of Bonnie (Kat Graham) was very welcomed. You feel for her character after all she went through. The scene reuniting Elena (Nina Dobrev) with Bonnie was solid. A few other things that made her return so powerful was seeing her reaction to Damon when he tried to bring Kai (Chris Wood) near her. I guess he didn’t get the memo that she was not having anything to do with him after the way he abused her. The new and improved Bonnie is a hot witch and still very bothered by what she has recently overcome. It also appears that her powers are sharper…she is more deliberate with very little patience. This change can really perk the show up depending on how she develops. Right now she is no nonsense and darn near kills Damon while trying to show him how much damage Kai did to her after his departure from the prison world.

I have to be honest here. Back when Enzo was taking a little country ride with Tripp I thought for sure he was riding his way off the show. I’m still not sure why Damon won’t just kill him and be done with it. He is a thorn that has up to this point not really deserved to stay in the dance. His purpose for pestering Damon is just too weak. It’s something you would expect a female to do to another female. Is he secretly in love with Damon? I have to question his motives because he is quickly sliding down the path to insignificance. If he wanted to hurt Damon why not just cripple or kill Sarah (Tristin Mays) and be done with it? Watching the pain it would cause should get it done. Now he has apparently fallen for this girl, which may or may not bring him back into the proper fold. Him teaming up with Caroline briefly should have gone somewhere that was working and still could. For now, he is in the last inning looking for a home run swing. Having both Caroline and Stefan go dark…super cool. It changes the feel of the show and now with Damon on this thing with his mom, these new developments could tear these characters apart again. Conflict is alive and well on the show. Something else worth mentioning, Ian Somerhalder directed this episode! Time on deck has done him some good. This episode as a whole had a very smooth flow to it. The ending scene was worth all the buildup. I can’t wait to see what they have planned next.

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