Far from the mundane mid-season episodes we’ve become accustomed to on The Vampire Diaries, the hunt for the cure has finally relocated to an island off the coast of Nova Scotia. And, the change of scenery isn’t the only thing our favorite supernaturals will have to navigate in this episode.

Professor Shane (David Alpay) has led his reluctant protege, Bonnie (Kat Graham), and her friends to an isolated island on false pretenses. I don’t think it should come as a surprise to any viewer that Shane wasn’t exactly upfront with his ultimate plan. Although I vaguely remember him mentioning something about a dead wife and son in a previous episode, the circumstances surrounding their deaths were never revealed. Conveniently, he left that information for now. Along with the fact that he’s been to this same island prior to this current excursion and has an ally waiting in the wings. Out of everyone, Professor Shane is the only one along for this hike that still wears a mask of his intentions – and apparently still keeping some rather important secrets to himself.

Even though Damon (Ian Somerhalder) has never proclaimed his intentions to remain a vampire despite the possibility of a cure, it seemed pretty obvious. I, for one, can’t picture Damon being anything other than the ‘person’ we’ve come to know and love, and sometimes hopelessly drool over. Damon as a helpless human devoid of any supernatural strength – how boring! The only person that may have been surprised by this revelation is Elena (Nina Dobrev) and understandably so. She has always fantasized about the possibility of having children and growing old, and naturally having her love, be it Stefan (Paul Wesley) or her current flame, around for that in a human capacity. Unfortunately, Stefan is the only male vampire we know that longs for his humanity in the same sort of way.

You may be inclined to put Tyler (Michael Trevino) on that list, but even if he loses the vampire half of himself – he’ll still be a werewolf. The cure is for vampirism, not all supernatural ailments. Being a hybrid is the only thing that has saved him from having to go all wolfy every time the moon is full. Maybe Klaus (Joseph Morgan) actually did him a favor. I was there (well, on the other side of the television screen) when he turned for the first time, and it didn’t look particularly pleasant. Either way, any lagging appreciation that may have have survived breaking the sire bond came to an abrupt halt when he became an orphan courtesy of one vengeful Original. And, Klaus isn’t done messing things up quite yet.

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