Holy Hell! Another epic installment last week. Can you say game changers?? We left off the week before knowing Klaus was going to find Elena alive. Clearly we know he won’t kill her (duh) so what will stop him??
We open with Mystic Falls High School, which, I admit, I’ve missed. Matt’s working out, in the middle of the night apparently, when he starts hearing suspenseful music or something. He finds Caroline, Tyler, Bonnie, and Elena setting mousetraps all over the floor in a classroom. It’s Senior Prank night and I guess they forgot to call Matt, but he’s here now so Yay. Everyone splits up and continues their not-so-secretive pranks all over the school. Elena, of course, walks off by herself and directly into the arms of Klaus. Dun-dun-dun.
Cut to Damon and Katherine, who are hours away from Mystic Falls. Katherine asks if they can pull over and snack on a trucker (ew) and Damon says: “Stop being cute” to which she replies: “It’s not possible.” I reluctantly think this is cute. Katherine seems pretty adamant about keeping Damon away from Mystic Falls, so I assume she knows Klaus is there hunting down Elena. Then she grabs Damon and makes out with him (hot). As Damon kisses her back, Delena fans around the world are imagining her to be Elena and sighing wistfully. Damon pushes her away and says “You just don’t do it for me anymore” – which is awesome. They then pull over and Damon forces Katherine to let him in on what she’s up to. She catches him up on the necklace calling it “leverage” since Klaus wants it and she has it. Katherine then tells him that when she was pretending to be Elena to get the necklace, Bonnie told her something “better.” This something is in the form of Jeremy, lying like a sad puppy in the trunk of the car.
Stefan meanwhile wakes up (didn’t know Vamps could be knocked out… duly noted) with Rebecca (Rebekah?) there to tell him Klaus has found Elena. Stefan attacks her, an Original mind you, and she realizes that he really does loves Elena. And she’s one powerful, jealous bitch. Klaus is busy pulling Elena into the gym and, claiming to be busting the rest of the students, sends almost everyone there away. He keeps two behind, the same two he compelled last season during The Last Dance Episode to satiate his bloodlust while he waits to kill Elena.
Caroline and Tyler talk about Matt and then make out. Caroline wants everyone to be happy… cue Rebecca’s entrance. When Rebecca, “the new girl,” says that she knows Caroline is a Vamp and Tyler is a Wolf, sweet little Care steps in front to protect her man. Doesn’t matter- Rebecca’s an Original so she kicks Care’s ass.
Bonnie and Matt, rolling the lap pool with toilet paper, share a nostalgic moment thinking back on last summer- pre-Ghosts, pre-Witch, and pre-Knowing-how-to-give-CPR. (BTW, I like that TVD doesn’t worry about the school year interrupting their episode flow. We got two seasons out of one fictional year. I like it.) The two then unfortunately stumble into the gym and Klaus gives them a warm welcome. Rebecca brings Tyler in and it’s a real party now. Klaus, ever the gracious host, makes sure to introduce his sister to the gang before forcing Tyler to drink his blood and then snapping Tyler’s neck. So glad Caroline wasn’t there to see that. Matt’s face was so tragic! So now Bonnie is forced to find a way to save the Hybrids in order to save Tyler. Oh, shit. Tyler’s going to die, right?! Rebecca, unfazed, tells Klaus that the “Original Doppelganger” was prettier than Elena. Was she talking about THE Original or Katherine? Because what a tease… I really want to meet the first girl the Doppelganger is modeled from. Anywho, Bonnie tells Matt that even thought she can’t contact the dead witches anymore, Jeremy can.
Jeremy, however, is being laid out on a picnic bench by Damon. Katherine is telling the story about how her old friend Pearl knew how to kill Klaus. She never told Katherine how because it was her “leverage” against Katherine. She did however tell her daughter Anna, who Jeremy (ah ha!) can contact. Jeremy, eavesdropping, is now up to speed and decides to join the conversation. He lets Anna “in” and tells her to help them kill Klaus. She doesn’t believe they have good intentions, though. That’s when Damon decides to persuade her to help by smashing Jeremy’s head into the table. Anna speaks up right away and tells Jeremy that they are looking for Michael (Mikael?), a vampire hunter who hunts vampires. But warning: he will kill everyone if they wake him. Will they listen? Of course not. And that’s why we watch this show.
Finally, Stefan arrives in the gym, declaring his utter loyalty to Klaus. Klaus tells him to kill the two extras next to Elena (I yell in my head: Do it!) but Elena interrupts, pleading with him not to. Klaus backhands her across the floor causing Stefan to attack Klaus, proving him to be lying once again. Klaus then resorts to compelling Stefan to obey all of his commands from then on.
Caroline comes around to find Rebecca flipping through her phone. Rebecca tells Caroline that Tyler is dead-ish, and that when he wakes up he’ll be a hybrid. As Caroline rushes to him, Rebecca catches sight of a picture of Stefan and Elena. Cue the best line of the night: “Why is that Doppelganger bitch wearing my necklace?!” She brings the phone to Klaus and then, severely pissed, bites Elena. Klaus stops her, surprisingly enough, and then nicely asks Elena where the necklace is. She tells him that Katherine stole it. Klaus is only slightly put off, turns, and orders Stefan to feed on Elena if Bonnie hasn’t found a hybrid cure in the next twenty minutes.
Bonnie and Matt are on the phone with each other deciding to go to Jeremy’s house when Matt is lead astray by a few ghostly events. He officially loses it and decides that the only option for them to contact the dead is for him to die and Bonnie to bring him back. Um, what?? When Bonnie explains yet again that she doesn’t have hundreds of witches’ power anymore, he says all she needs to do is give him CPR… again, what?? He proceeds to chain himself down to the bottom of the pool and wait to die. Bonnie runs to the pool, pulls him out, and starts CPR.
Back on the side of the road, Damon demands Katherine return his phone. Guiltily, she does. Damon sees that Bonnie texted him about Klaus. Immediately, he tells Jeremy to take Katherine via Anna’s directions to where Michael is buried. Katherine taunts that the Damon she knew wouldn’t have been stupid enough to get himself killed. He simply says, “I wouldn’t have done it for you.” While I would like to relish in yet another amazing verbal bitch slap across Katherine’s face, I can’t help but think on the fact that Damon did indeed die for Katherine- that’s how he became a Vamp in the first place. I digress.
Dead Matt finally sees Vicki (who doesn’t look very evil to me thank-you-very-much, Anna). Vicki has the all-important message for Bonnie. Matt wakes, coughing up water, and we all hope he got the message before coming back to life. Okay, TVD usually has all the answers, but, really? Anyone who dies and is brought back to life can now see ghosts? Or just dead people Bonnie happens to bring back? Seems like a stretch. Please explain, Plec/Williamson.
In the gym, Elena argues with Stefan, trying to get him to resist the compulsion. Yet, Stefan knows he won’t be able to resist. Once the clock ticks down twenty minutes, he’ll have to attack her. He won’t be able to stop. She thinks that maybe since he loves her and owes her… But no, even though he owes her for being the only thing keeping him from giving up, it’s still not enough.
Tyler wakes up at last and Caroline begrudgingly fills him in. He’s a Vamp in transition and a soon-to-be dead Hybrid. Unless Bonnie can find a cure… At the moment Bonnie is getting the fill in from Matt. Vicki told him that the Doppelganger should’ve died in the sacrifice. Nothing we didn’t already know. Klaus, however, provides a glimmer of hope for Tyler when he says that given the choice between Hybrid and Doppelganger, he goes Hybrid every time. Truth. Klaus now knows that the Original witch definitively says the Doppelganger should be dead. So, what will he do with that information?
Uh Oh. The clock’s out and Stefan screams at Elena to run. She takes off and he takes off behind her, slamming himself into lockers and walls to slow himself down. It’s tear jerking, alright. He even stakes himself (thank God not in the heart) to weaken himself. Klaus, with Elena in tow, finds this pathetic Stefan and is very surprised to find him so successful at resisting. “Turn it off,” he says. Stefan’s resounding “NO” is just as good as any heroic evil-resisting movie scene I’ve ever watched. It’s impressive and sad and epic. It’s also enough to make Klaus resort to the worst. He compels Stefan to “Turn it off” and very tragically, we all watch as Stefan loses his humanity completely. Now when Klaus tells him to attack Elena, he does so quite willingly as if he has no idea who she is.
Klaus then goes strolling into the classroom where Rebecca is keeping Caroline and Tyler. He reveals that if the Original witch says the Doppelganger should be dead, it means Klaus wants her alive. Tricky, eh? He then feeds Elena’s- the Doppelganger’s- blood to Tyler. Such a great twist! The Original Witch, as Klaus later explains more fully to Rebecca, made the spell even more complicated than previously thought. If Klaus breaks the curse and becomes a hybrid, he’ll have killed the one person whose blood can turn werewolves into Hybrids: the Doppelganger. So now Klaus will need Elena alive arguably forever to create his Hybrid army. All of this is proven true when Klaus feeds the blood to Tyler and he turns into a full-blown Klaus-level Hybrid before our eyes.
At the hospital, Elena is recovering. I guess Klaus stopped Stefan from completely ripping her head off. An obviously compelled nurse comes in and tells Elena that Klaus needs her blood before knocking her out again with pain meds. Outside, Klaus and Rebecca chat. He explains the Original witch’s tricky fail-safe plan and how he figured it out. He says all he wants to do is leave Mystic Falls with his new Hybrid and Doppelganger in tow. Rebecca, ever the insightful one, calls him out on the real motive behind all of his plans and creating his own little army: He doesn’t want to be alone. I almost feel sorry for the guy. But I don’t. Rebecca goes to get the truck when Damon (FINALLY) shows up for the “party.” Figuring Stefan won’t mind anymore if he kills Damon, he attacks. Damon is able to utter the word “Michael” before Klaus rips his heart out. Damon knows where Michael is and says Michael knows where Klaus is. Klaus should consider it their “leverage.” All bets are off for the moment and Klaus peaces out.
Damon now finds Elena, all sad looking in the hospital bed with blood all around her. When she wakes up, sees him, and says “Damon” it’s a total knight in shining armor moment. He cradles her and takes her right out of the hospital. Caroline and Tyler are also leaving the rocky-school-of-horror. Tyler seems a little too peppy though. I’m thinking he’s a little high on Hybrid. In the work out room, Bonnie is reminding Matt how stupid he was for being reckless. He’s the only one left who gets to live a normal life. When she leaves though, Vicki shows up and Matt sees her ghost. Rut-row.
Back at the Salvatore mansion, Damon gives Elena some strong alcohol and offers to erase her memory if she wants. She refuses, preferring to remember the truth of what happened. He also offers her the necklace he stole back from Katherine. She also refuses that, saying that Stefan is really gone this time. Then, breaking everyone’s hearts, she asks him where he was. Why he wasn’t there fighting for her. You can tell he feels really bad and with such heart and honesty tells her “I will never leave you again.” Unfortunately this is when Stefan walks in. He’s exactly the Stefan we witnessed in Chicago. Klaus charged him with keeping an eye on Elena. So Stefan’s back and it ain’t gonna be pretty.
In what appears to be the next morning, Katherine and Jeremy find Michael’s tomb. When they uncover his body, his eyes open. Yikes!
My predictions of what to expect tonight: Rebecca is also attending Mystic Falls High along with a twisted Stefan. I wonder if they’ll get back together now that he’s really back to his old self? It also looks like Elena will be Buffy-ing up and I am SO excited. Everyone enjoy! I know I will ☺
