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So, Ben and Anna kidnapped Bonnie and Elena. They're holding them in a motel room. Anna, who just wants to free her mom, admits that nobody she knows wants to see Katherine again. "Except Damon -- love struck idiot." At Mossy Manse, Stefan appeals to Damon for help, but Damon hopes Elena dies. Later, Damon goes to Grams looking for Bonnie's help, but Bonnie is not there, and Grams is so not coming out to play with him. "I am not Bonnie. You don't want to mess with me." Relatedly, Anna calls the Salvatores, looking for the grimoire and some help. She tells Stefan that either he or Damon had better meet up with her downtown, or else Elena is a goner... After Anna leaves, Bonnie manages to light Ben on fire, but it's too little too late.
Downtown, Anna runs into Jeremy who is now into her, and invites her to a kegger being thrown by Duke the Douche from Duke, in the old cemetery. Since that's right near the church ruins, Anna's all for it. Poor Germ. When Damon shows up, Anna tells him "You're minus a witch and I'm minus a spellbook." Damon warns her that Stefan will come after her. Anna doesn't care. She'll kill Elena if she doesn't get what she wants. Damon gives in. It is on for tonight, after sundown.
Thanks to Grams' locator spell, Stefan rescues the girls and subdues Ben -- telling him to leave town at sundown, because if he ever sees him again, he'll kill him. Oh for crying out loud, Stefan. The time is now! Elena tells Stefan they have to let Damon have Katherine back. The couple enlists Grams and Bonnie's help. Now Elena must rebuild Damon's trust. So she does, even offering him a chance to compel her to see if she's telling him the truth. He declines to use his thrall and tells her he's trusting her. "Don't make me regret it."
Elena and Damon go to the church via the cemetery kegger. They run into Caroline and Matt who are there as a couple. More on that later. Meanwhile, at the church ruins, Stefan has gasoline and a flame thrower ready to go, in order to roast any vamps who might try to escape. Elsewhere, Jeremy and Anna have roamed away from the party. When she tells him she and her mother are leaving town, he kisses her and she goes all vein-y but tries to cover. No matter, Ben is there to knock him out. While Gram and Bonnie perform the spell, Stefan goes back upstairs to grab the gasoline. Damon brings Elena in the tomb with him, for insurance. Outside the ruins, Stefan finds Anna, and Ben, who is babysitting the unconscious Jeremy. While Anna hides herself down into the tomb, Stefan makes short work of Ben with the flame thrower. Once Anna is inside, Grams reveals that the door is open, but the seal is not broken. Although anyone can go in, vampires cannot get out. Impotent, Stefan waits for Elena to exit.
The scene in the tomb is gruesome -- creepy. When Anna finds her mom, she opens Elena's wrist and feeds her blood to Pearl. But Elena's screams bring Stefan rushing in, despite the seal. Bonnie pleads with her grandmother to open the seal. Grams insists they're not strong enough, but Bonnie convinces her, finally. When Elena runs out, she learns the score. When Stefan gets to the door, Elena tells him they can't leave Damon in there. Stefan goes back for him. Since Katherine isn't there, Damon is throwing a full on tantrum, which includes launching some bagged blood into the tomb wall. It bursts open and drips down onto the desiccated vampires below. Elena finally comes back in and convinces Damon to leave. Grams and Bonnie are taxed by the spell, but they keep plugging. Damon, Stefan, Elena, Pearl and Anna get out in the nick of time. Later, Anna and Pearl tell Damon that Katherine was never in the tomb. In 1864 a guard had a thing for her and let her out. Anna last saw her in Chicago, in the 1983. "She knew where you were, Damon. She didn't care."
Meanwhile at the party, Matt is ready to break up with Caroline for getting too clingy, but she wants this to work and explains that she knows she was stupid to grab his hand in front of Elena, but that seeing Damon fed into that a lot. The two decide they don't want to mess it up, and have A Moment, innocent of the horror their friends have just survived.
At Gilbert Gables, Elena checks in on Jeremy, who swears he didn't have too much to drink and doesn't know why he passed out. When she leaves, he does a web search on "vampires." Stefan sits with a brooding Damon at Mossy Manse. Over at Second-Sight Shack, Bonnie is tucking in her grandmother when she realizes she's dead. Bonnie tries to wake her, to no avail. Elena calls 9-1-1 and holds Bonnie as she sobs and flips through the grimoire, trying to find a way to bring back Grams, because Jasmine Guy is way to young to die, y'all.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously, on The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's century of secret. Elena is a dead-ringer for Katherine. Stefan tells Damon their love for Katherine wasn't real. Damon tells Stefan to speak for himself. Katherine and more than two dozen other vampires are in a tomb under the old church ruins -- magically sealed for freshness! Jonathan Gilbert's journal points the way to Emily Bennett's grimoire that contains the secrets Damon needs to bust Katherine out of that tomb on the tail on the frog on the bump on the branch on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea. Stefan says he'll help Damon, but he's lying. Anna (a vampire) is using Jeremy to get to the same information Damon seeks. Anna snatches Elena from Gilbert Gables.
Now: Elena wakes in a strange motel room. She tries to slip by the dozing Ben McKittrick and out the door. I yell at her to open the curtains and burn him up, but she doesn't listen and starts fiddling around with the locks. Ben Stealth-Salvatores her before she can turn the knob. He then attempts to compel her to not escape and not move. Elena's wearing her Vervain necklace, but he doesn't know that, so she feigns compulsion. Once his back is turned she whips open the door, but Anna is just coming in, damn the luck. Anna berates Ben while she throws Elena in the bathroom. Elena's looking for a way out until she sees a body lying in the tub. It's Bonnie!
Mossy Manse: Stefan knows Damon got the journal from Anna, so he asks him for any information that will help him get Elena back from Anna. Damon won't budge. Stefan tells Damon he knows that he (Stefan) is the source of the trouble between them, and makes a totally sincere, heartfelt (and yet unabashedly opportunistic) apology for Katherine's capture and entrapment. Damon does that thing where he acts like he's acting vulnerable. That is to say he pretends to be emotional over this to cover how emotional this is making him. Stefan doesn't even wait for his apology to cool in Damon's ears before he again asks for any information that might help him find Elena. They're standing so close that I think they're going to kiss, but alas, it is not to be. Instead, Damon says, "I mean this, sincerely: I hope...Elena...dies." He walks off and we cut to...
Motel Bathroom: Elena applies a wet cloth to Bonnie's face and revives her. When Bonnie starts to talk, Elena shushes her and points to her ears to remind Bonnie vampires have bionic hearing. She then runs the faucet, hoping to drown out their whispered conversation. She catches Bonnie up on all that's been going on -- that all the fang gangers want Emily Bennet's grimoire and a witch to open up Katherine's tomb. Just then, Ben bursts in and turns off the water. Bonnie must have been conked on the head pretty hard, because the first thing she tells Ben is that there's no way she'll help him. He grabs Elena and explains that he expects her BFF will be all the motivation she needs. He then throws Elena out into the main room, to talk to Anna, who tells her she is a dead ringer...wait for it...for Katherine. One of these days, I want Elena to throw a five-star hissy fit upon hearing that comparison. Don't you? Anyhow, Anna also reveals she's been be "practically dating" Jeremy (which we humans would define as stalking), just to rub salt in the wound.
The Grill: Jeremy snickers at Tyler (who's finally back), who is telling Matt that Duke the Douche from Duke is having a 10-keg kegger in the woods. When Ty asks Jeremy what his problem is, Germ says he doesn't have one, and it's the same shit every week with these two. Thank goodness, here's Caroline to change the subject. She's frustrated that she can't reach Elena and Bonnie to tell them about the party, and bitches to Germ that she'll never be one of those girls who disappears just because she has a boyfriend, but Germ doesn't pick up on her subtle hint that SHE HAS A BOYFRIEND! Caroline takes this lack of interest in her shiny (not sparkly) new boyfriend with aplomb though, and invites Jeremy to the party, but he's not so sure he's interested. That's totally okay, because like us, Caroline's really there to see Matt, and here he is.
Hi Pudding Pop! Caroline tells Matt she has a "fully scripted and well-rehearsed" speech for him. He's all, "Uh, speech?" so Caroline explains: It's a You Kissed Me and I Don't Want Things to be all Weird-speech. "It's preemptive." She's afraid he's having second thoughts or regrets -- so she blurts it out: "I know that you don't think that this is going to work out between us. I just want to let you know that right here and right now, I'm offering you an out. Like an escape clause." Matt says, "Why are you giving me an escape clause?" No kidding. Maybe I've been married for too long, but isn't dating a giant escape clause? Oh, that's sort of Caroline's point. She doesn't want to assume they're dating -- and tells Matt if he wants to exercise the escape clause then he should. He smiles. "I'm good, thanks." Caroline does the math and they make plans to get together for Duke's party. Everybody smiles and blushes. Even me.
Second-Site Shack: Damon knocks on the Bennett door and when Grams answers, he says he's looking for Bonnie. Sheila is all kick-ass, and says Bonnie will never be home for him. Damon wants to know how she can hate him when she doesn't know him. She says he has a hell of a nerve to be asking a Bennett witch for anything. When he's all "What'd I do?" she reminds him that spirits talk, "And so does my granddaughter. You are no friend to us. Now get off my porch." Damon walks right up to the threshold. "Step outside and say that." Sheila steps right the hell outside, and as she does, Damon grabs his head and doubles-over in pain. Oh man, I need that insta-migraine spell. We can hear the blood pounding through his brain as she tells him, "I am not Bonnie. You don't want to mess with me." She goes back inside and slams the door behind her, but then leans against it and breathes a shaky sigh of relief.
Motel: Anna tells Elena that she just wants to rescue her mom, Pearl. She adds that nobody she knows wants to see Katherine again. "Except Damon -- love struck idiot." She blames Katherine for her mother's capture but has some special bitterness set aside for Jonathan Gilbert -- who took her away. Our recently orphaned Elena apologizes for Anna's pain. Anna says she can tell Elena really means that, but they'll "skip the dead mom bonding" so Elena can start serving her purpose; she's Anna leverage against the Salvatores. Anna grabs Elena's phone and calls Stefan, and tells him that she has the witch, and knows they must have the grimoire, so one of them better meet her in the very public town square in a half an hour to discuss the plan. When Anna hangs up, we stay on Stefan at Mossy Manse. He looks to Damon who's been listening in from the doorway. Damon says, "Go head, grovel again. Oh, wait. I don't care." He walks out with a little harumph, the big liar.
Motel: Anna's on her way out, so she leaves Ben to babysit and reminds him that compulsion won't work on the girls. "Just use violence." He tries to chat up Bonnie about her powers, but Elena interrupts and asks him for a drink. He's still a newbie, so he enjoys reminding the humans he's a vampire and asks Elena if she's offering, but then tells her there's water on the bedside table. Elena grabs the glass but before she can drink, Bonnie looks at her WITH GREAT MEANING AND EMPHASIS. Elena looks back, all, YOU'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING MAGICAL TO SAVE OUR PRETTY HIDES, RIGHT? Bonnie looks back all, TOTALLY. GIVE ME THE FRIGGING GLASS. So Elena does. Bonnie throws the water on Ben and then, reminiscent of that day at the car wash, she makes the water burst into flames. Bonnie makes it to the door and opens it wide, but there was only enough water to spark up Ben's arm, so he is able to quickly e
xtinguish the fire and grab Elena before she makes it free. I'm sitting on my couch yelling at Bonnie to open the damn curtains and let the sunshine help her out, but she doesn't listen to me. Instead, she listens to Ben who is threatening the life of her BFF. He orders Bonnie to come back in and lock the door. Because Elena is at risk, Bonnie complies. Commercial.
Downtown, Anna runs into Jeremy who is now into her, and invites her to Duke the Douche from Duke's kegger, which will be happening in the old cemetery. Since that's right near the church ruins, Anna's all for it and will meet him there. He's all excited to be breaking out of his loner-dom, so he shouts, "Cool!" a little too eagerly as they part. Jeremy, from now on, if you like a girl, she is not the girl for you. I'm sorry, kid. Have you looked into the priesthood?
, Damon meets up with Anna and says, "You got a hot date, or are you just planning on nabbing the entire Gilbert family?" Ha. Hey, wait a minute. What's he doing there? I thought he *so* wasn't helping and wanted Elena to die. Faker. Anyhow, Anna points out the party's proximity to the scene of her planned crime and says, "Isn't that nice of them -- lots of warm bodies for starving vampires." Damon insists he works alone. Anna lies that she does too, but notes that she needs a spell book and he needs a witch. "So what do you say?" Damon warns her that Stefan will come after her. Anna doesn't care. She'll kill Elena if she doesn't get what she wants. Damon gives in, and asks when everything is supposed to happen. Anna smirks. "It's like 1864 all over again. You Salvatores are truly pathetic when it comes to women." She then tells him it's on for that night, after sundown, and to meet her at the church.
Motel: Ben enjoys taunting the ladies. "Witches don't have eternal life, right? So you guys can die." That's pretty much what that means, brain-trust. As Bonnie agrees with me, I hunt for Jasmine Guy's parting gift, because that wasn't subtle at all, and you know Katerina Graham ain't going anywhere. Ben laughs, "That sucks," and then Stefan kicks in the door, and Ben's face starts to fry. Stefan whips open the curtain (FINALLY) and Ben skitters away like the cockroach he is -- hiding in the shadow between the beds. The girls go running to Stefan who orders them to wait outside. Once he has Ben alone, Stefan tells him to leave town as soon as the sun goes down. "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you." Don't procrastinate, Stefan. That's my job.
Second-Site Shack: Bonnie asks Grams how she knew where she and Elena had been taken. Grams explains that lots of things can fuel a witch's power. After Stefan told her that the girls had been grabbed, Grams' worry and anger-powered locator spell did the trick. Bonnie says she's sorry, "for all of this." Grams smiles at her. "Not as sorry as they're going to be." Just then, Elena and Stefan arrive. Stefan tells the women they'll have to stay put at Grams' house "for now." Grams has no intention of being a prisoner in her own home. When Stefan argues that's the only place he can protect them, Grams -- sensitive to my damsel concerns -- says they'll protect themselves. Hooray! Elena tells Stefan they have to let Damon have Katherine back, because he's not going to stop until he gets her, and it needs to end. Bonnie hates that plan. "He doesn't deserve to get what he wants." Elena thinks they have no other choice. Stefan doesn't say anything, but he obviously sees Elena's point. Grams is not amused that witches are being pulled down by vampire problems. She tells Stefan she'll open the tomb, and he can get his brother's girl, and destroy the rest, "with fire." Stefan doesn't think they can get Damon to agree, since he's angry that they already double-crossed him. Elena says, "He's hurt. There's a difference." And you know, during the hiatus, I hope you come on over to our philosophy thread on the boards, and discuss the ethics of what everyone (especially Elena) is doing here, because to me, planning to free one serial killer to keep another serial killer out of your hair is a leeetle ethically dicey. Anyhow, Elena tells Stefan she thinks she knows what she has to do to work things out with Damon.
Motel: Anna returns to find Ben cowering between the beds. When he starts to explain about Stefan, she all but says, "Bitch please." She realizes though that she can count on Damon's obsession to help her find a way into the tomb.
Mossy Manse: Elena tells Damon she's gotten Bonnie on board to help with the spell. Damon isn't inclined to believe her. Elena says she won't apologize for doing her best to protect her loved ones, and she knows he's doing the same thing in his own twisted way. She wants to work with him and points out he was more than willing to have her help the day before. Damon then gets to say the episode title: "Fool me once." Elena takes a new approach, and brings up their trip to Atlanta; she asks why he didn't compel her. Damon pretends he might have, and the thought unnerves Elena momentarily, but she insists he didn't. She then tells Damon that she knows her betrayal hurt Damon because they have a connection. She promises she'll help him get Katherine back. Damon says he wishes he could believe her, so Elena takes off her Vervain necklace and lays it on the nearby table. "Ask me if I'm lying, now." Damon moves into her personal space and reminds her that Anna won't stop with her quest, no matter what Elena and the Salvatores do. Elena says they'll deal. Damon leans in toward her, reaches around her, picks up her necklace and puts it back on. He then notes that he didn't compel her in Atlanta, because they were having fun and he wanted "it to be real." Just like his feelings for Katherine. I won't get into how much fun post-breakup/post-car-crash Elena was having (at least before she got loaded) but I like the confirmation that real relationships are important to Damon. Damon looks her in the eye. "I'm trusting you. Don't make me regret it." Commercial.
Party: Damon and Elena walk through the party on the way to the church and run into Matt and Caroline. As soon as Caroline spots them, she grabs Matt's hand possessively as she shouts out to Elena and asks where she's been. Matt looks slightly freaked, which does not escape Elena's notice. Damon and Caroline snark at each other, and then Matt holds out his hand to Damon. "I'm Matt. We haven't met." Damon sneers, "There's a reason we haven't met," and leaves poor Pudding Pop's hand just hanging there as he steers Elena away.
Church: Stefan reviews stuff with Grams and Bonnie until Damon and Elena arrive. He's got cans of gasoline and what looks like a homemade flame-thrower ready to go.
Party: Tyler asks Jeremy for some weed. Jeremy's doesn't get it -- Ty acts like a total dick every time they meet blah blah blah. The scene is only significant because Jeremy says he doesn't party any more, and because Tyler hones in on the fact that Jeremy's a loner -- even though he doesn't want to be. Just as he walks away, Anna appears and they walk off.
Outer Tomb: As Gram and Bonnie perform the spell, Damon brings out a bag of blood. He tells Stefan, "It's for Katherine. I've got to have something to get her going -- unless your girl is offering up a vein to tap." Stefan exhales and stares at the fire. Damon leans in toward his brother with a grin. "Admit it. You can't wait to get rid of me." Stefan chuckles, then says, "I can't wait to get rid of you."
Party: Germ and Anna stand a bit off from the crowd and she asks if he's okay. He says he is, but that the place makes him think of someone. When Anna asks if it's a dead someone, Jeremy shakes his head. "Just someone I used to know." I can't wait 'til he remembers what happened to Vicki. They laugh over the fact that they didn't stay at the party too long. Jeremy's not too sure what his "scene" is any more and asks Anna if she wants to be a part of his non-scene. Anna said she'd love to, except she and her mom are moving away. They're both a little bummed, so Anna says, "I guess this is goodbye." Jeremy leans in until he's kissing her. Afterward, she pulls away slowly, and starts to vamp out. She looks almost as confused by it as Jeremy does. He says, "Anna -- your face!" She turns and says it's nothing. Jeremy says, "It didn't look like nothing." And then WHAM! Ben knocks him unconscious from behind. Anna looks up at her protege/boyfriend/lackey. "You didn't have to hit him that hard." Ben stares back at her. "Yes. I did." Anna looks back down at Jeremy, and tells Ben, "Grab him and let's go. I'm taking him to meet my mother." Heh.
Party: Tyler finds Matt and asks him where his date is. When Matt doesn't know, Ty asks him if the honeymoon is over already. Matt says it might be. Caroline seems like she might be a little clingy. Tyler can't hide his excitement, because he's a dog. When Caroline wanders over, Tyler excuses himself to get another beer. His departure and Pudding Pop's icy cold demeanor prompts Caroline to give another speech. "The hand thing, with Elena -- it was lame. Well, I was lame. And hey, your feelings for Elena aside, Damon was there, and he was always such a jerk to me. I wanted to show off that I was with a good guy, so anyway I was lame. So, forgiven?" Matt wises up and warms up, and says, "Yeah. Of course. Yeah." Caroline heaves a sigh of relief. I throw used popsicle sticks at Matt.
Outer Tomb: Bonnie and Grams incant in what Stefan guesses is Latin, but Elena says isn't. The torches flare at their words and then the tomb door opens. Damon turns to Stefan and notes he has some fires to build. Stefan runs up topside to get the gasoline and whatnot. While he's gone, Damon takes Elena as his willing hostage into the tomb proper -- so that the Witches Bennett don't seal him in the tomb with Katherine and the rest. Grams is ready to "bring the walls down" on Elena's behalf, but Elena wants to fulfill her promise to Damon. She nods at Bonnie as if to tell her it's all right, and follows Damon into the dark.
Above Ground: Stefan runs for the gasoline and is greeted by Ben. They start a pissing contest but are interrupted by Anna, who says, "Hey, hero. I'm going down there to get my mother." Stefan says he can't let her do that. Why the hell not, Stefan? For heaven's sake, Pearl didn't seem that bad -- certainly not as bad as Katherine -- the vampire you're helping to free. Anna points out that Jeremy is lying unconscious at Ben's feet and that Ben's ready to make him his main course. Stefan's head whips around as Anna points out that he can stop her, or Ben. "Your choice." By the time he looks away from Ben and Jeremy, Anna is gone.
Inner Tomb: Damn and Elena enter the main chamber. It's all very creepy. Elena asks Damon, "What's that?" Damon answers, "They can sense you." Shudder. He then sets about looking for Katherine.
Outer Tomb: Anna enters. Bonnie tells her she can't go into the inner tomb. Anna says, "Do you think you can stop me?" Grams calls Bonnie off. Anna picks a mini-flashlight up off the floor near Grams' feet and enters through the now open door. Bonnie asks Grams why she let her go in. Grams answers that none of them are coming out.
Above Ground: Stefan tells Ben that he's disposable where Anna's concerned. Ben says he doesn't care, because he got eternal life out of the bargain, and then Stefan teaches him the difference between immortality and eternity with the business-end of his homemade flame-thrower. Ben burns to a crisp. YAY!
Inner Tomb: Elena can't find Damon, but her eyes are adjusting to the lack of light and she tries not to freak as she sees all the desiccated vampires lying about the place. She stumbles and ends up to one who opens his blood red eyes. She jumps right back to her feet and trains her flashlight on Anna. Commercial.
Outer Tomb: Stefan arrives and learns Elena has gone into the inner tomb with Damon. He starts to rush in, but Grams stops him and explains that when she did her spell, she only opened the door. She didn't remove the seal. "Some seals keep vampires from entering. This one keeps them from coming out." Stefan realizes: "Elena's human. She can leave. Anna and Katherine can't." A beat. "Damon can't." His face fills with regret as he looks at Sheila. "You were never planning on breaking the spell, were you?" Grams says, "I told you, I will protect my own. Elena can get out. That's all that matters."
Inner Tomb: Anna taunts Elena that she must have a taste for it, because despite her screaming and escaping, she comes right back to it. She's not wrong. Before she can continue, Anna stumbles over her mother. She kneels before her and looks back up at Elena. "Your boyfriend did this, you know." Elena corrects her: "His father did." Anna adds, "And Jonathan Gilbert. I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life. I had Jeremy all ready to go, but..." She swoops at Elena, grabs her wrist and opens it with her teeth. Elena screams. We laugh, because Elena doesn't have Gilbert blood.
Outer tomb area, Stefan hears Elena and rushes in -- seal be damned. Bonnie tries to stop him, but Grams' blocks her way. Bonnie says, "You can't just leave him in there, Grams." Sheila says, "He made his choice." Bonnie refuses to accept that. She picks up the grimoire and asks her grandmother what to do. Grams says that even if they were strong enough to bring down the seal, there's no guarantee they could raise it again. This will be important, later. Bonnie reminds Grams what she said about how many things can fuel a witch's power. "Help me, or I'll do it alone." Grams looks down at her own who she will protect at all costs and we cut to...
Inner Tomb: Anna has Elena down on the dusty floor of the tomb and struggles with her until she gets Elena's wrist to her mother's mouth. The mummified creature suckles as Anna coos at her in encouragement. Stefan arrives just then and pulls Elena away as he yells, "Let her go." He tells Elena to get out and says he'll be right behind her. He stares down Anna, but she turns from him when she sees her mother moving and coming slowly back to life. Anna rushes to her side and grabs her face. Pearl says, "Annabelle." Stefan watches in amazement as they embrace.
Outer Tomb: Elena reaches Bonnie and Grams. Bonnie tells Elena the seal deal when Stefan shows up at the door and cannot cross the threshold. Elena turns back to Stefan. "You went in there not knowing if you could come back out?" Stefan looks down and then back up at her. Elena is breathless. "Oh. My God." Stefan says, "I heard you scream." Elena looks down as she takes this in, and then back up at Stefan. "We can't...leave him in there. We promised him -- both of us." Stefan knows. Grams says that even if they can break through the seal, they won't be able to hold it open for long. Now wait a doggone minute. You were just saying if you got it down, you mightn't get it back up. Which is it, Grams? Stefan doesn't care. He's off to save the brother-he'd-rather-be-rid-of-except-not.
Inner Tomb: Damon throws a
tantrum because he cannot find Katherine among the desiccated. Stefan says "What?" Damon tags his bag of blood and whips it against the tomb wall. "SHE'S NOT HERE!" The bag bursts when it hits the stone and the blood drips down toward the floor.
Outer Tomb: As Sheila and Bonnie chant, their torches flare and flicker. Elena says she thinks the spell is working and approaches the door to the inner chamber, but jumps back when Anna and Pearl walk through it. Pearl is frail and not back to full strength. She averts her eyes -- from the people -- from the light. Anna leads her gently and tells Elena, "I just wanted my mother back. Jeremy's fine. He's outside. We won't...touch him." Bonnie and Grams struggle to keep down the seal they might not be able to get up again (hey, don't look at me). Gram yells to Elena that the boys had better hurry. Elena yells to them and we cut to...
Inner Tomb: Damon's still trying to come to grips with the fact that Katherine isn't in the tomb, as Stefan tries to explain they have to motor out of there unless they want to live there forever. Together. With nothing to eat. Elena runs in and calls Damon's name. He looks up at her -- half crazy, half broken, as she pleads with him to leave. Finally, Damon snaps out of it, and he and Stefan follow Elena out of the tomb.
Outer Chamber: More chanting and faltering. Elena and the Salvatores escape the inner tomb. The door slams shut behind them.
Party: Caroline is talking to a group of girls when she and Matt lock eyes. When she walks over to him, he asks, "Is this for real?" Caroline wants to know what he means. Matt adds, "You -- being all cool, and honest and open." She steps closer and says, "Speech number three: I want this to work and I'm scared that you're going to change your mind and you're not going to want it. I don't want to mess it up." Matt's voice is soft and raspy. "I don't want to mess it up, either." They touch noses and look at each other 'til they go cross-eyed.
Church Ruins; Above Ground: Stefan and Elena run over to Jeremy, check on him and are relieved to find out he's all right. Too bad they can't say the same for Stefan's brother. Damon slowly walks out and stands there alone and bereft. Elena walks over to him, hugs him and says, "I'm sorry." Stefan stands back and watches.
Second-Sight Shack: When Bonnie notices Grams is staggering through the house, she offers to help her. Grams tells her she doesn't need to coddle her, but Bonnie says, "It was a big spell, Grams. I could tell it took a lot out of you." Grams says she'll be fine.
Gilbert Gables: Elena brings Jeremy a big glass of water and an aspirin and asks him how his head is. Jeremy says it's fine and swears he didn't drink that much, so he doesn't know how he passed out. Elena asks if he remembers anything. Jeremy says everything is cloudy and he knows how this looks; he's sorry. Elena tells him he has nothing to be sorry for. She says she's just going to run over to Bonnie's and will be back soon, but that Jenna is home. Once she's gone, Jeremy sits at his desk and types "vampires" into bing.com. He clicks on the hit for "Vampires in the real world." We cut to...
Motel: Anna leads Pearl in. Damon is waiting for them in the dark. "You knew Katherine wasn't in there." Anna says, "You wouldn't have helped me." Damon Stealth-Salvatores across the room and grabs Pearl by the throat as he yells at her daughter. "Why do you get a happy ending? [...] Why do you get it and I don't?" Despite his hand around her neck, Pearl says, "The guard -- the one at the church -- the one that locked us in. She promised to turn him. He was obsessed with her. She had him under her spell...like everybody else. He let her go." Damon releases Pearl. Anna adds that she last saw Katherine in Chicago, in 1983. "She knew where you were, Damon. She didn't care." When he just looks at her, Anna adds, "Sorry," as she takes her mother in her arms. When Damon leaves, they're still embracing.
Second-Sight Shack: Bonnie pours some tea as Elena calls Stefan to tell him she just got to Bonnie's. She asks him about Damon. Stefan says he doesn't know how he is and asks if he can call her later. They hang up and we cut to...
Mossy Manse: Damon sits in front of the fire but he's a million miles away. Stefan takes the seat to him and sits. And watches. And waits.
Second-Sight Shack: Bonnie brings a cup of tea to Grams who is already asleep. Bonnie places the cup on the bedside table and covers Grams up, but when she sits to her on the bed, she realizes Grams is not sleeping. She calls her name over and over and finally screams, "ELENA!" Elena enters to find Bonnie crying and trying to wake her grandmother. "She's not breathing. She's not breathing. Please." Elena calls 9-1-1 as Bonnie digs through the grimoire shouting and crying that she can fix it. Elena holds her tight as she sobs.
End-tag; Inner Tomb: We close in on the wall newly stained with the blood Damon threw against it. We follow its drips to the floor. A torch the Salvatores left in the tomb still burns and illuminates the form of a desiccated vampire. His hand moves. He grabs the all-but-spent bag of blood lying to him. We cut to him lumbering through the inner tomb. He reaches the door and pulls it open -- crossing over to the outer chamber. The door was shut, but the tomb wasn't sealed. The seal Grams died to prevent from going back up too soon never came back up at all. The vampire -- an African-American from 1864 -- looks up the stairway to blood, to freedom, to 2010.
Okay, my nitpicking about "I can't keep the seal open/Oops, I didn't re-seal it" aside, that was a kick-ass episode. I love the fact that Katherine wasn't ever sealed inside the tomb and that Damon's been mooning over her and plotting for 145 years. She's so bad. I can't wait until we get to see her again. And how scary was that tomb scene? I'm so sorry Jasmine Guy's Sheila "Grams" Bennet is dead -- even though her upper lip was scaring me in this episode. At first I thought she needed to wax her mustache -- but I think it might have had some misadventures in line-filler, because I didn't see any whiskers. More seriously, Grams' death is a smart move because it is poignant and does so much for Bonnie. Of course primarily -- it breaks Bonnie's heart and leaves her without her mother-figure. But since Grams' death will mean Bonnie gets to stand on her own two feet as she develops and learns about her abilities, I'm all for it. I just hope we get a ghostly visitation from time to time. Guy is too good for such a limited run. Grams' death is also great because it brings with it the potential for strained feelings between Bonnie and just about everyone else, even Elena. I hope we haven't seen the last of Pearl and Anna. I hope we haven't seen the last of Jeremy/Anna. I loved Caroline and Matt in this one. I was so glad to see Tyler, even if I wish they'd give him something to do besides bark at Jeremy and hound Matt. I find Elena's attachment to Damon interesting, and yet I don't find it unseemly or any real threat to her and Stefan. It seems like the Salvatore brothers have a new chance at a relationship -- so I'm looking forward to watching them screw it up in new and interesting ways. One thing I'm not looking forward to is this accursed hiatus, though. March 25th. Are you kidding me? Grr Argh.
Don't know what to do with yourself during the hiatus? Come on over to the forums, where we never throw blood on the walls.
Cindy McLennan was never in that tomb, either. For proof, email her at CynthiaMcLennan[at]gmail.com or follow her on Twitter.