If this episode was trying to be comedic, then I believed they were successful in achieving this outcome. By introducing characters that have no depth (i.e the whole Gemini coven) and casting even worse actors to play them, the show has completely lost it's novelty. This season is almost as bad as the past one, but…

Totally agree with your friend, probably not as good as the vampire diaries back when it was in it's prime (season 2 & 3); however, I believe that it's better than what the vampire diaries is producing.