Black Hole Sun (The Vampire Diaries)

"Black Hole Sun"
The Vampire Diaries episode
Episode no. Season 6
Episode 4
Directed by Kellie Cyrus
Written by Melinda Hsu Taylor
Neil Reynolds
Production code 2J7854
Original air date October 23, 2014
Guest actors

"Black Hole Sun" is the 4th episode of the sixth season of the American series The Vampire Diaries and the series' 115th episode overall. "Black Hole Sun" was originally aired on October 23, 2014, on The CW. The episode was written by Melinda Hsu Taylor and Neil Reynolds and directed by Kellie Cyrus.

Plot

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Bonnie (Kat Graham) are still trapped in 1994 with Kai (Chris Wood) who tells them that Bonnie's magic is the key to get them out of this prison but he is the one who knows the spell they have to use and that is why they need him too. Kai pushes Damon to tell them what he did on May 10, 1994 claiming that his story will be Damon's part on their escape since Damon has nothing else to offer.

Back in 1994, Damon returned to Mystic Falls to start fresh with his brother Stefan (Paul Wesley). Stefan accepts him only after he promises he will behave but when Damon starts feeding on Gail (Tadasay Young), Zach's (Chris William Martin) wife who is also pregnant, Stefan snaps Damon's neck, removes his daylight ring and leaves him at the stalls. When Damon wakes up, he asks Stefan to leave with him but Stefan declines. When night comes, Damon gets to the house where everyone is gathered and kills them. He threatens to kill Gail too unless Stefan gives him his ring back. Stefan gives him the ring but Damon kills Gail anyway.

Later on, Kai asks Bonnie to do a locator spell to find an ascendant that is needed for the spell. Bonnie does the spell and finds out that Kai had the ascendant all the time. Kai says he did it to test her magic and they all head to the place where the spell has to be done. On their way there, Bonnie finds a newspaper where she reads that a family was massacred; a brother killed his four siblings. Kai admits that he killed his siblings and that he has no powers on his own but he has to consume power from other witches. His coven banned him to this world as a punishment and since then, he tries to get out. Bonnie, after learning Kai's story, does not want to help him get out since he is a serial killer.

Back in the present, Stefan wants to leave Mystic Falls to continue his life away from everything but Elena (Nina Dobrev) wants him to prove to her that he is indeed happy and then she will accept his decision. While sitting in a snack/bar, Stefan fake proposes to her in front of everyone, showing her how they can get new identities and new life and start over. When Elena leaves, Stefan gets into a fight with a guy letting him beat him up. Elena comes back to take her jacket and stops the fight, compels the guy and sends him home. When she tells Stefan that she does not agree with his coping methods and asks for explanations, Stefan tells her that everyone has their own way to move on. He tells her what she asked Alaric (Matt Davis) to do and that she removed all her good memories about Damon just because she could not handle his death. Elena does not want to believe him and when she gets home, she asks Alaric if it is true. Alaric gives her a diary of hers where she wrote everything about her decision and when he asks her if she wants her memories back, she tells him no.

Matt (Zach Roerig) decides to probe Tripp (Colin Ferguson) to find out how much he knows about vampires. When Matt tells him that Jay (Matthew Barnes) told him before he died that he was tracking a vampire, Tripp decides to trust him and tells him all he knows while leading him to the place where he keeps Enzo (Michael Malarkey). He says that Enzo was the one who killed Jay but he wants to make him talk and reveal where his other vampire friends are before he kills him.

Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) returns to the Salvatore house and finds Sarah (Gabrielle Walsh) there. Sarah tells him that she knows about his vampire sister and she also shows him a picture she found in the house of her parents. Sarah asks for explanations and if he knows them. Jeremy recognizes Zach in the picture and tells her that her father is Zach Salvatore. Sarah explains that her mother was killed while she was pregnant to her but the doctor did an emergency C-section and saved the baby.

The episode ends with Ivy (Emily C. Chang) returning to the garage where Stefan works, telling him that she does not know what is happening to her. She says that Enzo fed her his blood and after that she does not remember anything, making Stefan realize that Enzo turn her into a vampire.

Feature music

In the episode "Black Hole Sun" we can hear the songs:[1]

Cultural references

The title of the episode refers to a sun during an eclipse, which is part of what Bonnie and Damon need to get back home, but is also a reference to the same title song of the American rock band Soundgarden commonly associated with grief over Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain’s death.[2] Greg Prato of Allmusic called the song "one of the few bright spots" of the summer of 1994 when "the world was still reeling from Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain's suicide the previous April". He said, "The song had a psychedelic edge to it (especially evident in the verse's guitar part), as the composition shifted between sedate melodicism and gargantuan guitar riffs. The lyrics were classic Chris Cornell—lines didn't exactly make sense on paper but did within the song."[3] In the episode, during his flashback scene with Stefan, Damon held up the front page news saying "Kurt Cobain found dead".[2]

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "Black Hole Sun" was watched by 1.66 million; down by 0.17 from the previous episode.[4]

Reviews

"Black Hole Sun" received positive reviews.

Stephanie Flasher from TV After Dark gave the episode a B+ rating saying that the episode "had viewers on the edge of their seats with anticipation to find out what comes next. The episode had several unexpected reveals and three cliffhangers bringing back for the next episode."[5]

Rebecca Jane Stokes of Den of Geek rated the episode with 5/5 saying that the show brings it on with the new vampires and serial killers added to it.[6]

Leigh Raines from TV Fanatic rated the episode with 4.5/5 saying that the first three episodes left us with tons of questions and in this episode the writers deliver many answers.[7]

Ashley Dominique of Geeked Out Nation rated the episode with 8.5/10 saying that "all the story lines started to come together in "Black Hole Sun" for a truly satisfying episode. Add in all the new tidbits of information this episode threw at us, that wasn't much to dislike."[8]

Stephanie Hall from K Site TV gave a good review to the episode saying that "[the episode] was better and more impressive than last week’s episode, more comparable to the first two of this season in both quality and its ability to generate excitement. Although there were numerous storylines at work this week, the episode did not feel fragmented or jumpy [...] the solid writing allowed the uniting themes of the storylines to be more apparent here than in other episodes."[9]

Caroline Preece of Den of Geek gave a good review to the episode saying that the season continues to thrill with its refreshed, revived feel. "The 90s twist is the best thing about a season with lots of great things, and we got to immerse ourselves in it even more during Black Hole Sun."[10]

Jen from TV Overmind gave a good review to the episode saying that this season is on fire. "The rapid pacing of the storylines definitely helps to keep the suspense fresh, much like the early seasons. [...] Overall the Bonnie and Damon storyline is my favorite to watch. The mystery of figuring out where they are and why they were sent there is great, but their friendship is fun to see develop. They always borderline hated each other but played nice for Elena’s sake and now they’re actually finding that they care about each other."[11]

References

  1. ↑ "The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Episode 4: "Black Hole Sun" Music". TV Fanatic. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dowling, Amber (October 23, 2014). "Recap: 'The Vampire Diaries' - 'Black Hole Sun'". HitFix. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  3. ↑ Prato, Greg. "Song Review by Greg Prato". Allmusic. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  4. ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (October 24, 2014). "Thursday Final Ratings: No Adjustement for 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Gracepoint' or 'Reign' + Final Football Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  5. ↑ Flasher, Stephanie (October 24, 2014). "The Vampire Diaries 6×04 "Black Hole Sun" Review". TV After Dark. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ Stokes, Rebecca Jane (October 25, 2014). "Vampire Diaries: Black Hole Sun Review". Den of Geek. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ Raines, Leigh (October 23, 2014). "The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Episode 4 Review: Black Hole Sun". TV Fanatic. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  8. ↑ Dominique, Ashley (November 22, 2014). "The Vampire Diaries: "Black Hole Sun" Review". Geeked Out Nation. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  9. ↑ Hall, Stephanie (October 30, 2014). "The Vampire Diaries #6.4 "Black Hole Sun" Recap". K Site TV. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  10. ↑ Preece, Caroline (October 24, 2014). "The Vampire Diaries season 6 episode 4 review: Black Hole Sun". Den of Geek. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ Jen (October 24, 2014). "The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Episode 4 Review: "Black Hole Sun"". TV Overmind. Retrieved November 22, 2014.

External links