Ghost World (The Vampire Diaries)


"Ghost World" is the seventh episode of the third season of The CW television series, The Vampire Diaries and the 51st episode of the series overall. It originally aired on October 27, 2011. The episode was written by Rebecca Sonnenshine and directed by David Jackson.

Plot

Damon wakes up tied up in a chair and with the fire poker on his chest thinking that Stefan is the one who did this to him. When Stefan says that it was not him, Damon is sure that it was Mason who wants to avenge his death. Damon goes to Bonnie to inform her about it and asks her to fix it.
Elena, after reading Stefan’s journals, believes that the only person who can tell her how to help Stefan get his humanity back is his friend Lexi. She asks Jeremy’s help to contact her but Jeremy does not know how to do it since he has never had an emotional connection with her and because of that he does not know how to call her ghost.
Bonnie hopes that the ghost who haunted Damon was Vicki but Matt reassures her that Vicki is gone. Bonnie realizes that if Mason can physical interact with their world, then every ghost can do it. She goes with Caroline to the place where she brought Jeremy back to life to cast a spell asking for help. While she does it, her grandmother, Sheila, appears. After the spell, ghosts not only can interact but also everyone is able to see them in town; Elena can see Anna, Damon and Alaric can see Mason and Stefan can see Lexi.
Sheila explains to Bonnie that by bringing Jeremy back she cracked the door to the Other Side and the Original Witch took advantage of it. The ghosts also did the same and now they can come and go in free will. Bonnie has to close the door again and to do it she has to destroy Elena’s necklace, since it is from where the Original Witch draws power. They try to find the necklace but they cannot and the girls believe that Anna took it because she does not want to leave Jeremy.
Mason asks an apology from Damon and Damon refuses to give it. He kind of does it when Mason mentions that he knows a way to kill Klaus. Mason asks Damon to meet him at the old Lockwood cell, to come alone and bring a shovel, while Lexi meets Stefan and offers her help. Stefan refuses it so she knocks him down and locks him up. She then finds Elena and takes her to him to show her how to help Stefan find his humanity.
Elena asks Bonnie to not close the door yet to give Lexi the time she needs to help Stefan but the other ghosts want to take revenge on the members of the founding families and they start killing people. Anna still refuses that she took the necklace but when Elena tells her that by staying she only holds Jeremy back, she gives the necklace back and Bonnie starts the ritual to destroy it along with her grandmother.
Damon and Mason are in the tunnels of the old Lockwood property trying to find the hidden secret of how they can kill Klaus. They reach at a cave but Damon cannot get in since it is protected with a spell and no vampires can enter. Mason finds something but before he manages to tell Damon what, he disappears. Lexi also disappears letting Elena know what to do with Stefan. Anna sees her mother again and they disappear together.
Elena tells Stefan that she did not give up on him but she will not love a ghost for the rest of her life so if he does not want to lose her, he should try to help himself. Bonnie is mad at Jeremy for being with Anna all this time and she breaks up with him. She then sees that the necklace in the fireplace is still untouched. Damon calls Alaric to help him with what it is in the cave and Alaric finds some drawings on the walls but he has no idea what they mean.

Featured music

In "Ghost World" we can hear the songs:

Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "Ghost World" was watched by 3.28 million; up by 0.25 from the previous episode.

Reviews

"Ghost World" received positive reviews.
Carrie Raisler from The A.V. Club gave the episode a B rating saying that the whole "ghost era" went out in style and the writers managed to connect the storyline with the rest of characters, not just Jeremy, very well. "The Vampire Diaries used to be a show I enjoyed but wasn’t emotionally invested in, but sometime around the end of last season, it turned the corner and really began to develop these characters enough to make them emotionally compelling and not just fun quipping plot devices."
Robin Franson Pruter of Forced Viewing rated the episode with 4/4 saying that the ghost storyline came to a conclusion in a moving episode. "In all, this episode works because the series has created strong characters and given them fully developed emotional lives that the audience can invest in. Many shows that garner more critical praise neglect the emotional journeys of the characters. The Vampire Diaries finds its strength in those journeys."
Diana Steenbergen from IGN rated the episode with 9/10. "All of the ghosts' disappearances were handled well, from the heartfelt reunion of Anna and Pearl, or Mason, Grams and Lexie leaving after accomplishing what they needed to do, to the tomb vampires vanishing just in time before they overwhelmed Caroline."
E. Reagan of The TV Chick gave a good review to the episode saying that she enjoyed it and loved the return of past characters. "It was great see all of the old characters, and I’m such a sap. I’m so happy that Anna isn’t alone anymore. It’ll be interesting to see where we go from here because the ghost thing was a major plot this season."
Emma Fraser from TV Overmind also gave a good review to the episode saying that the ghost storyline came to an end with a touching episode.
Despite the positive reviews, Matt Richenthal from TV Fanatic rated the episode with 2.2/5 saying that he did not like the episode one bit and that "this spirited invasion was nothing more than a random, confusing mess that pushed all our main characters off to the side in favor of dead folks we haven't thought about in ages."