The Vampire Diaries 5×15 – “Gone Girl” – Recap

by Dianna Berrian

Grab your tissues, folks. This week on The Vampire Diaries we say goodbye to Katerina and Nadia Petrova. May their Petrova fires burn bright, even beyond death. 

Since discovering Katherine took over Elena’s body, the gang’s determined to take her down in a sneak attack. Problem is, how do they sneak up on the most cunning creature to walk the planet? Easy. Force her to come somewhere Elena can’t refuse. So they take turns trying to persuade her into coming the house with lies such as a surprise party for Bonnie, coffee with a friend who’s had a bad day, but Katherine expertly manages to dodge each invite. Both she and Nadia start to get suspicious of the gang’s neediness so she puts Damon to the test, just as Stefan was about to make his attempt. She pretends to be Elena wanting to talk things over after the way they left them at the Bitter Ball. And she accepts his offer to meet at the house. When she hangs up, it becomes apparent by Damon’s lack of caution to put Elena in harm’s way when he just tried to kill her in the last episode. Clearly, the cat is out of the bag. And her quick agreement tells them that she knows they know.

Since she’s in no rush to die, Katherine enlists the help of Dr. Wes Maxfield to try to create a cure for Nadia by taking some of her blood to study the chemical makeup. She promises her daughter she’s not leaving her, and starting now, she’s going to be a better mother.

Bonnie and Jeremy, in the meantime, ask their new witchy friend Liv for help with a locator spell so they can find Katherine. She’s more than happy to help so long as she can ogle Jeremy. Bonnie’s not too happy about it, but they manage to get the spell done and locate Katherine at the Mystic Falls church.

Meanwhile, Damon is still stuck in captivity with guards changing shifts on the regular. At present, it’s Tyler’s turn. Which works out favorably for Damon since he know exactly how to push the hybrid’s hot-headed buttons. He coaxes Tyler into the cell by playing up his insecurities and anger about the whole Caroline and Klaus situation. His scheming earns him a few gulps of hybrid blood and his freedom. And he’s off to see the wizard! Er…I mean, the doctor. When he gets there, Wes has just filled a syringe with god knows what and Damon decides to exact his revenge by playing doctor himself on the man until he’s dead. I’m a little confused. Wouldn’t you want the cure for your condition before you kill him Damon? I guess you never really were the smart brother…

While Nadia goes in and out of consciousness, hallucinating flashbacks of her search for her mother, Katherine gets suspicious of Wes’ whereabouts and goes off to find him, leaving Nadia in hiding in the church. Not the smartest idea on her part, because when she finds Wes dead, along with any hope of saving Nadia, Stefan just so happens to call to inform her he’s taken Nadia and if she wants to see her daughter one last time before she dies, she’ll get to the boarding house. NOT. NICE. STEFAN.

When she gets to the house, Nadia is close to death. She’s relieved to see she’s come back for her, and Katherine apologizes for being too selfish to have asked Klaus for his blood to save her. But Nadia’s slipping away so quickly, she can’t even recognize her mother in front of her anymore, repeating “I’m looking for my mother, Katherine…” With one last effort to be the mother she should have been, she gives Nadia a peaceful image to drift off with – a day in the life of what should have been:

Katherine: “You and I had a little cottage. It was an ordinary day. You had been playing outside so you were tired and it was time for bed. You told me about the fort you had built out in the woods by the river. So I asked if I could visit and you said when the sun came up in the morning. And I said ‘goodnight, Nadia. Sleep well.’ Your mother loves you.”

TEARS! When the vision ends, Nadia has passed on and passes through Bonnie. Katherine takes a moment to compose herself, coming to terms with the fact that judgement day is upon her. But who will kill the “illusive Katherine Pierce”? She goes around the group, one by one, reminding them of the positive impact she’s had on their lives, despite their differences, and saying her goodbyes. It comes down to one Stefan Salvatore. And with a kiss to seal her fate, he stabs the dagger into her. The mighty Katherine has finally fallen.

They wait for Elena to wake up and deal with the aftermath. Matt pays respect to Nadia by taking her for a proper burial. Caroline finally tells Tyler off once and for all – “get over it, or get out of my life” – no longer bound by her guilt of having slept with Klaus. Stefan asks Damon what will happen in a few hours when Elena does wake up. Damon resigns himself to telling the truth and seeing how the pieces fall. And Bonnie goes back to the church, lighting a candle for her late father in prayer. And that’s when Katherine makes her ghostly debut, mocking the very idea of a higher power. But she’s not quite ready to pass over just yet. She wants to repent her sins to Bonnie. Or rather…boast.

See, even in death, Katherine comes out on top. Turns out, before she went off to face the music, she stuck Elena’s body with a syringe filled with the vampire virus laced with werewolf venom Wes extracted from Nadia. That’s gonna be more than a rude awakening. But don’t think Katherine’s off the hook just yet. When she tries to pass through Bonnie to get to the Other Side and reunite with her daughter, there are some technical difficulties. Cal it what you will – an act of fate, a higher power, just desserts. But until next week, there’s no saying for sure what pulled Katherine’s spirit out the door of the church or where she went. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

R.I.P. Katerina & Nadia Petrova.