The Vampire Diaries Review: I Carry Your Heart With Me (Season 7 Episode 4)

Adios, Elena! It’s time for everyone in Mystic Falls to let go.

“I Carry Your Heart With Me” starts out as an excellent installment of The Vampire Diaries 2.0, but it takes quite a nosedive into mediocrity before it spikes back up at the hour’s end, thanks to Damon, as always.

I’ll start with the good news. The flash forwards each week get better and better. I’m already more invested in the story happening three years from now that I am with the gang’s current situation.

We know that someone is hunting the Salvatore brothers. We know that Damon was in a coffin, alongside his lady love, Elena. Caroline is engaged, not to Stefan, and never wants to hear his name again. Stefan has a mysterious chest wound that is open, and he’s on the run. Tyler is doing something fancy, it would appear.

And now we know that Alaric has twin girls in three years and that he has a beef with his (former?) best bud, Damon.

I immediately began racking my brain. What on earth could ever happen that would cause Damon and Alaric to have such heavy animosity toward one another? My mind first went to Jo, who we didn’t see in the flash-forward. Is it possible that Damon is the reason Jo is not there, and thus Alaric hates him?

Or is it entirely possible that Jo is the woman hunting the Salvatores? We’ll have to keep watching to know the answer for certain, but my money is on this theory, as of right this moment.

More good news! Valerie doesn’t control the entire episode, thankfully. After listening to her story in The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 3, I don’t know that I could have watched another Valerie-heavy installment. I will say that I had hoped for some new movement for her with Stefan, if only to reveal to him that he was almost a Daddy. 

Valerie isn’t very successful in eliminating Oscar, and he goes into quite a ripper bender. Though I don’t feel like I need more Oscar, I sympathize with his plight, because we’ve seen what Stefan struggles with on a bend.

Valerie making an alliance with Enzo makes sense for both of these characters right now, each with their own reasons to keep Julian out of the picture. (More on the Enzo side of that later!) It’s an odd alliance, and it will most likely fall apart, but for this moment, it benefits them both.

Thankfully, Valerie does not hook up with Matt Donovan. (Was I the only one who starting groaning when he found her alone and sad, and worried that the writers were going there?) Enzo’s arrival is perfectly timed.

I may be in the minority, but I’m really enjoying the plot to bring Jo back to life. It’s an overused plot, sure. However, Alaric needs a solid storyline, and the new triumvirate of Bamonric is the best character combo the show has seen in years. Ric is always at his best when he is driven by love, as we’ve seen in the past with Isabel, Jenna, and Meredith. 

The decision to bring Jo back to life will undoubtedly be a bad idea, with serious repercussions. But it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch Bamonic handle it, together.

Perhaps the greatest moment in “I Carry Your Heart With Me”‘ comes from Damon and Lily. They make a successful trade for their beloved family members, Oscar for Elena. and with that trade, Lily gives Damon the best motherly advice — let go.

Damon can’t possibly hover over Elena’s sleeping body for the next hundred years. He can’t live half of a life because half of him is with her. It’s time for him to let go, just as she asked him to. There’s no doubt that when she wakes up, she’ll want to know that Damon lived, and didn’t become a recluse vampire killing time, waiting for his girlfriend.

Damon’s diary entry to Elena is lovely.

Dear Elena,
Yes you heard that correctly. Hell has frozen over. I’m writing it all down. Granted, I’m half a bottle in, thanks to my 1950 Chateau Cheval Blanc, a bottle I waited 65 years to open. I used to spend nights sitting in my wine cellar convincing myself I could hear it age; tannins growing, fermenting. But appreciating its beauty didn’t make time go by any faster. The bottle just laid there on its shelf, torturing me while I waited for Katherine and time stood still. Eventually I convinced myself that no sip of that wine could ever taste as good as I dreamt it would. And that is the story of why I drink bourbon. I don’t know who I am without you, but I know that as long as I’m with you, time will stand still. So who is Damon Salvatore without Elena Gilbert? A selfish friend, a jealous brother, a horrible son? Or maybe with a little luck, I’ll do right by you. Because you may be a thousand miles away or a hundred years away, but you’re still here with me and my heart is right there in that coffin with you. Until you come back to me.

I love the Damon that’s developing from the new era of The Vampire Diaries, sans Elena Gilbert. His edge has returned, and yet the soft spot he developed in Elena’s presence remains intact. This version of Damon may actually be my favorite thus far.

And off goes Elena’s body, in Tyler’s safe keeping. Damon finally lets go…for now.

Now for some of the bad news.

Is anyone buying this love affair between Lily and Enzo? It seems like it’s come completely out of left field. Enzo’s alliance to keep Julian away benefits him in keeping Lily. In this case. though, we need to remember that Enzo is a total opportunist. Therefore, he’s aligning himself with the ones who’ll keep him afloat the longest. Is this the real reason he’s involved with Lily? Or does he have another ulterior motive that we’ve yet to learn?

The fact that Matt Donovan still a living human being in Mystic Falls continues to confound me. While he’s been around since the beginning, he’s never quite found enough footing to break into his own story, and it’s becoming more and more apparent as they try to shoehorn him into each episode. Give him something to do, or make him go away. I like Matt. It’s not fair to keep him hanging on.

Nora and Mary Louise are not remotely interesting to me; however, their desire to experience a public dance together is sweet. And it sets up a nice moment for them to see a parallel in their love to that of Caroline and Stefan. And hey, great news! Now Stefan can touch Caroline again. (Insert eye roll here.)

I suppose we should talk about Steroline. My feelings about them have been quite a mixed bag. I wanted them together because I loved their slow burn. They seem to fit together, considering the options left for romance in Mystic Falls. (Though if I’m being perfectly honest, I’d prefer a Karoline reunion.) Their tight friendship has always been a highlight, and they known one another’s nuances.

What I don’t enjoy about these two is the slow decline of Caroline’s confidence, especially where Stefan is concerned. Caroline Forbes doesn’t do this, reacting with over-the-top insecurity. She’s obsessive, yes. Neurotic, definitely. But Caroline is confident.

Stefan having to constantly reassure Caroline of his love over and over and over is already getting old. It’s possible to bring a couple together, and just leave it there. Every love story doesn’t need to be angst-filled and torturous. Sometimes it’s okay to just have one, normal, well adjusted couple. Manufactured obstacles (i.e.. spells that make it impossible for them to touch) are completely unnecessary.

Damon has let go, so I think that the writers should let go as well…of this off-putting TV trope.

That pesky spell is lifted, and Caroline and Stefan get right to business consummating their romance, for the second time. I think I enjoyed it more the first time, when they were both being bad. Overly-insecure Caroline for the entire hour really puts a damper on it for me.

What did you think of “I Carry Your Heart With Me”? Are you over the Heretics? What’s Enzo’s endgame? Sound off in the comments!

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