On the last episode of The Vampire Diaries, Damon finally admitted to Elena (without compelling her to forget) that he loves her and Stefan showed a bit of humanity. Now that the roles of our favorite Vampire Diaries characters have done a 180 and the Original witch is set on destroying her newly reunited family, what will that mean for the residents of Mystic Falls?
Elena (Nina Dobrev) is faced with some decisions to make. She has gone from being the wind beneath both Salvatore brothers feet for so long now and the sting from Stefan (Paul Wesley) going all anti-Elena and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) sleeping with Rebekah (Claire Holt) has got to be pretty severe. Elena has gotten pretty good at unintentionally hurting peoples feelings though.
The brothers are amicable about the idea of Esther (Alice Evans) killing her children, despite Elena having her own moral opposition to it. After everything Klaus (Joseph Morgan) put her through, you would think she might be closer to agreeable.
It’s almost comical to watch the Original family go about their daily activities. They seem to do family about as convincingly as everyone else in Mystic Falls. Maybe they are a perfect match for their new locale. Kol (Nathaniel Buzolic) has already becomes more annoying than Klaus and Elijah (Daniel Gillies) is still not sold that his mother’s return is as black and white as everyone else believes.
Esther recruits Bonnie (Kat Graham) and her estranged mother (Persia White) to help in her cause. A cause that isn’t wasting anytime to take shape. The convenience of a full moon is also on her side. The witches meet at the haunted house, accompanied by Finn (Caspar Zafer), the vampire sacrifice. A vampire that hates being a vampire, looks like he takes after his father.
Damon and Stefan aren’t necessarily on the same page about Elena. They love her, they don’t love her. It’s almost hard to keep up. This time around Elena and her humanity is the weakest link in the plan. Elijah is a step ahead this time though and he plays on her guilt to leverage things in his favor. He traps Elena in a series of underground caves after she reveals the truth about Esther’s plan. With Rebekah waiting to pounce, things are not looking good for our damsel in distress.
Things at The Grill, however, are just getting interesting. Alaric (Matt Davis) and the potentially crazy doctor (Torrey DeVitto) are having drinks. Klaus and Kol show up to join the party and Caroline (Candice Accola) walks in just in time to be the perfect distraction.
Plan Divide-and-Conquer is in full effect and it looks like Caroline is almost enjoying it. The idea of Caroline having a tryst with the enemy is the most exciting news to hit Mystc Falls since the Damon-Elena kiss, maybe before. Too bad that Kol has to take a little dagger in the heart because of brother’s taste.
It doesn’t take long before Elijah lays a new plan out for Stefan and Damon. Bonnie and her mother are key to the power behind the sacrifice and Elijah wants that link broken. If they choose to opt out, Elena will pay the price. I wonder what Rebekah wishes for more, to live for eternity or to tear Elena apart before she goes? Either way, tick tock.
The gang tries take care of loose ends to give them a little more time, but Klaus proves to be stronger than they expected. It looks like Elijah didn’t bring all of his siblings up to speed. How would Klaus have reacted to using the doppelganger as bait? My guess, not in the happiest of manners.
When plan C (or is it D now?) goes arye, Elijah moves the timeline up. With Rebekah temporarily taken down, Elena makes her way to the vampire free zone of the Lockwood cave. This makes one person we like almost in the clear. If only we could say the same for Alaric. Alaric takes a nasty hit from the hybrid hot-head himself and ends up a little broken.
Another brotherly moment takes between the Salvatore boys. They are almost convincing in their thinking that Elena is better off hating them both. Things are coming down to the wire and with Rebekah preparing to roast Elena alive in a new plan of her own, the Bennett witches become newly approved collateral damage. The funny thing is that Elena is always willing to take one for the team, yet someone else pays the price.
Watching the Original brothers walk up to face their mother ranks high on epic moments in The Vampire Diaries history. They look exceptionally menacing coming to face death head on. Esther uses the word “nobility,” she claims they are not, but their stance begs to differ.
Bonnie and her mother head into the safety of the house. It looks like Stefan lost the coin toss and has to take out Bonnie, but Damon steps in and turns Abby instead – at least he didn’t kill her. Big brother still plays his part oh, so well. With the link to the Bennett line severed, Esther is out of luck.
Elena becomes the bad guy. Bonnie has lost a lot to protect Elena and having just been reunited with her mother only to have her turned into a vampire is kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Stefan’s been outted – for being back on a vegetarian diet. His last drink? The night he was almost willing to drive Elena off a bridge to prove his point. Damon might never get his shot at Elena at this rate. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Thoughts??
After the failed ritual, Originals head out of town right and left. Who will be left standing? Klaus? Rebekah? News that the great White Oak tree might still exist gives the siblings some new perspective and perhaps a new purpose.
Before the curtains close on tonight’s episode, Alaric discovers some interesting things about his new lady friend. Her response? Someone call the sheriff, shots fired!
Is this the end for our favorite vampire hunter/history teacher/foster parent? Will Stefan finally make his return to Elena’s romantic life? What does Abby’s new vampire status mean for Bonnie? Let us know!
Well, you have plenty of time to speculate because The Vampire Diaries is on hiatus until March 15, 2012 when they return with episode 316, 1912!