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Caroline: Anyway, in return of my good behavior, I want a year while I don't have to feel pain or grief or remorse. You're not gonna lock me in a cell and dry me out, and you're definitely not gonna try to trigger some lightened emotion hoping to snap my humanity back on.
Elena: So, all you want is for us to leave you alone, and then you promise not to kill anyone?
Caroline: That's all. And granted, if anyone tries anything to flip my switch back on, and I mean.. anything, I'll become your worst nightmare.
Caroline to Elena and Bonnie after having turned her humanity off

The Downward Spiral is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of The Vampire Diaries and the one hundred and twenty-seventh episode of the series.

Summary

The_Vampire_Diaries_6x16_Extended_Promo_-_The_Downward_Spiral_HD

The Vampire Diaries 6x16 Extended Promo - The Downward Spiral HD

IAN SOMERHALDER MAKES HIS DIRECTORIAL DEBUT. — After shutting off her humanity following the death of her mother, Caroline gives her friends an unexpected ultimatum. Not knowing how to handle the new Caroline, Stefan's attempt to intervene sets off a dangerous chain of events, leaving him and Elena in a race against the clock. Meanwhile, after seeking answers from Kai about the prison world, Damon's world is turned upside when he learns some devastating news about his mother Lily. Elsewhere, Enzo finds himself becoming increasingly intrigued by Sarah, and Bonnie begins to struggle with the effects of being back in the real world.


Plot

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Cast

Main Cast

Recurring Cast

Co-Starring

Uncredited

  • Chace Beck as Dancing Patron
  • Laidee P. Jas as Raving Party Kid

Trivia

  • The title refers to Caroline dealing with her mother's death with her humanity switch off.
  • Damon digs up his mother's coffin to prove that she is dead but he finds it empty.
    • Like his girlfriend Elena, he learns his mother isn't dead but a vampire as well.
  • Elena is the fourth character to learn the secret of Sarah Nelson (Salvatore) from Stefan after Enzo, Matt and Caroline.
  • Bonnie learns the following:
    • Caroline has turned off her humanity because her mother Liz died.
    • That Jeremy moved to Santa Fe for art school.
    • Elena dated a premed student named Liam and then compelled any memory that they even dated..
    • That Elena compelled away her memories of loving Damon.
  • It's revealed that rave parties aren't the type of parties Elena likes to attend.
  • Caroline gave her ultimatum in this episode, as long as the others do not push her to turn on her humanity for a year, she will not do any terrible things.
  • Liam has been compelled at least three times in this episode:
    • Twice by Caroline to forget her feeding on him and later to kill Sarah by surgery.
    • Once by Stefan to see if he remembers Caroline feeding on him.
  • Elena arrives in time at the Medical Center to save Sarah's life, before Liam can cut out her heart as ordered to do so by Caroline. She heals Sarah with her blood and is forced to break Liam's hands to keep him from trying to still remove Sarah's heart.
  • Stefan turns off his humanity after Caroline blackmails him that she would kill Sarah, his great niece. She does this because Stefan is her emotional trigger.
    • This marks the first time in the series to have two vampires with their humanities turned off in one episode.
  • Lillian Salvatore, Stefan and Damon's mother, is discovered to be a vampire and a ripper, hence why she is trapped in a Prison World. According to Kai, she slaughtered and killed over 3,000 people after she was turned. The Gemini Coven found her and trapped her in the Prison World as a punishment for her crimes.
    • This makes her the fifth parent and the fourth mother of another character turned into a vampire before their children were turned after Katherine, Pearl (Anna may have been turned at the same time) and Isobel.
    • Mikael doesn't count as he was made into a vampire around the same time as his children.
  • Bonnie is having difficulty re-adapting to the world, jumping at the sound of a champagne cork pop and using her magic to burn a man who tried to make out with her at the rave party. When Damon brings Kai to her so that he can apologize, she leaves in anger and later punishes Damon by inflicting the wounds she had suffered at Kai's hands in the prison world.
  • Enzo thanks to Caroline realizes that Sarah has been compelled by Stefan to have no reaction when she learns about vampires.
  • Kai confirms that there are only two prison worlds created by the Gemini Coven: his own in 1994 and Lily's in 1903.
  • Elena mentions Jolene (not by name though), the waitress she killed when she had her humanity turned off.

Continuity

  • Continues the trend of not featuring Tyler in the 16th episode of each season so far.
    • However, in Bring It On, Tyler did not appear but his voice was heard by a voice mail.
  • Enzo & Sarah were last seen in Stay.
  • Liam was last seen in Fade Into You.
  • This episode marks the first time in the series that Stefan willingly turns off his humanity.
    • It's also the second time in the series that Stefan has done so, the first was in Season 3's The Reckoning by Klaus compelling him to do so.

Behind the Scenes

  • This episode marks Ian Somerhalder's directorial debut in The Vampire Diaries.
  • There is a 3 weeks hiatus between this episode and the previous episode, Let Her Go.
  • Caroline's hairstyle was inspired by Britney Spears ("Slave For You").[1]

Cultural References

  • "The Downward Spiral" is a song by Nine Inch Nails released March 8, 1994, on their album of the same name.
  • This term describes a depressive state where the person experiencing the downward spiral is getting more and more depressed, perhaps due to causes unknown. It is called a downward spiral because there is no way to stop it, it's just going to get worse and worse... until the person crashes.

Quotes

Extended Promo

Stefan (to Elena): "Caroline is going to snap."
Elena (to Stefan): "She's not actually hurting anyone. No students are missing."
Damon (to Bonnie): "Uh oh. Caroline fly off the rails? If so, I called it."
Elena (to Caroline): "What did you do to Liam?"
Caroline: "I ate him."
Caroline (to Elena): "I flipped my humanity switch, Elena."
Bonnie: "It's weird. It's like she's Caroline, but not."

Multimedia

Soundtrack

Last.fm_play.png "Contagious" – Night Riots
Last.fm_play.png "England Skies" – Shake Shake Go
Last.fm_play.png "Start Again" – Israel Cannan
Last.fm_play.png "Mind Of A Beast" – The Glitch Mob
Last.fm_play.png "Skullclub" – The Glitch Mob
Last.fm_play.png "Wild Child" – Adrian Lux & Marcus Schossow feat JJ
Last.fm_play.png "Our Demons" – The Glitch Mob
Last.fm_play.png "Who Needs Pain" – Unified feat Jan Burton
Last.fm_play.png "No Frontiers" – Unified feat Jan Burton
Last.fm_play.png "Satisfy" – Nero
Last.fm_play.png "Third Day Of A Seven Day Binge" – Marilyn Manson
Last.fm_play.png "Out Of The Black" – Royal Blood

Videos

Pictures

References

See also

Template:VD Episodes Template:VD Transcripts

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