<P> Matt Richenthal of TV Fanatic rated the episode with 4.1 / 5 . "On "Isobel," The Vampire Diaries took a breath . It wasn't as fast - paced as many other episodes, but it moved the necessary pieces into place for next week's season finale and it dropped a bomb on us: John Gilbert is Elena's father!" Richenthal closes his review saying: "Looking ahead to the May 13 finale, we hope John doesn't go through with his plan to kill Stefan and Damon, that's for sure . But if this somehow happened, we could understand why . That's an impressive feat for the show to pull off ." </P> <P> Josie Kafka from Doux Reviews rated the episode with 3 / 4 . "This episode began with conflicts, and ended with even more . Bonnie's ploy, Founder's Day, Stefan's anger at Damon's love for Elena, Elena's parentage, whether or not John will figure out that Anna is a vampire: so many of these conflicts center on knowledge that some people have and others don't ." </P> <P> Robin Franson Pruter of Forced Viewing rated the episode with 4 / 4 . "This episode shows the skill with which the series is structured . It works as a self - contained episode, focusing on Isobel's visit to town . It also works as a set - up to the season finale that will follow . Both the external and emotional conflicts of the season are positioned to come to a climax ." </P> <P> Popsugar from Buzzsugar gave a good review to the episode saying that it was an amazing, climactic one . "With an episode titled as modestly as "Isobel," I was expecting some reveals about Elena's birth mother, but I wasn't expecting the onslaught of revelations that this week had to offer ." </P>

When does isobel die in the vampire diaries