The Vampire Diaries Review: The Downward Spiral (Season 6 Episode 16)

So! Caroline flips the humanity switch, Damon finds himself in some family drama, and Elena… well, Elena gets caught up in her ex’s love life. Awkward? Is there really any better way to come back from a hiatus?

No, there really isn’t!

This week’s The Vampire Diaries, called “The Downward Spiral” and directed by ours truly, Ian Somerhalder, was probably one of the most entertaining hours of the show to date.

With Somerhalder directing, we didn’t get to see much of Damon this week, but, we did see him trying to figure out how and why Bonnie had seen his mom in a 1903 prison world. Seeing Damon defend his mom and believe in her was heart breaking, because inevitably, we knew that only the real crazies get their own prison world. It is only a matter of time before we are told that she had faked her death; she is a vampire. Her body count is 3000.

And, oh… baby bro has a lot in common with Mama Salvatore. Yup — she’s a ripper too! The pure dismay on Damon’s face pulled at my little heart. I just want to see Ripper! Mama Salavtore, Ripper! Stefan and no-humanity Caroline in one room together. Soon.

Speaking of Caroline, with no humanity, she’s back to resembling the girl we met in Season 1. Remember her? All she wanted to do was win Miss Mystic Falls. It’s weird, because while that version of Caroline wasn’t my favorite, this one definitely is!

Candice Accola plays Caroline perfectly. She’s sweet, smart, and beautiful, albeit slightly controlling with huge insecurities. She’s your every day girl, which is probably why many of us can relate to her. But watching Caroline not give a damn about anyone’s feeling for once is refreshing. She needed it after last week’s heaviness.

So when Care decides to go to a rave, because, sure — we do that sometimes, Elena and Bonnie decide to keep an eye on her. Bonnie is immediately not feeling the whole ‘back to the real word and around people’ deal. She jumps at loud noises, and pretty much almost kills Damon when he tries to get her to talk to Kai (who’s feeling empathetic and wanted to apologize).

This will be interesting to see play out. Maybe she’ll pull a Willow and go over to the dark side for a bit.

Fortunately for Elena, she has Stefan for backup! So Stefan does what Stefan does: he tries to fix the situation. How? By telling Caroline he likes her.

Stefan: “Hey, hey — let it in. It’ll hurt and you’ll wanna die, but I will be here.”

My Steroline heart jumped for joy for about three seconds — and then I saw how pissed Caroline was. How does Care retaliate? She goes after Sarah Salvatore. It comes down to: either Stefan flips his switch or his niece dies.

The episode ends with a shot of Stefan making margaritas and telling Elena that he’s turned off his switch, with Care lying on the bar, looking very Vintage-esque.

It’s epic.

Some questions:

1. Who do you think makes a better margarita? Stefan or Caroline?
2. Did Matt and Tyler get into the Police Academy?
3. Do you think Mama Salvatore and Katherine were besties… ever?

Be sure to share your thoughts on “The Downward Spiral” in the comments below!

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The Vampire Diaries airs Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.