Welcome to another strong (if somewhat scattered) episode from this freshman series. The actors grow more at home in their fictional skins, each week. The plotting remains taut and exciting. Speaking of... we open on Stefan, doing shirtless pull-ups on a beam in his bedroom, but oddly enough, that's not what the episode is about. No, I don't get the writers' choice to abandon their most compelling idea either, but their second choice works too, so let's get to it.
As Stefan works the human blood out of his body at Mossy Manse, Damon tries to tempt him off-course. Blood bank blood will give him everything he needs. It's not like he has to kill or even hurt anyone. Wave your hands in front of your face really quickly, so you forget that blood bank blood is for seriously injured people. There now, doesn't that feel better? To be fair to our pretty blue-eyed bugger, Damon has a good reason for trying to tempt his brother off the wagon. Vampires are much stronger when they stick to their preferred entree, and with Pearl and what remains of her Suck of Vampires hanging around town, the Salvatores are going to need every advantage. But Stefan is the very soul of control. Right? Right? Well... we'll get to that later.
Meanwhile, the late Dr. Greyson Gilbert's brother, Jon (SARK! David Anders) arrives at Gilbert Gables. Jenna (who slept with him) and Elena (who I so hope didn't) can't stand him, and neither can I. He's in town to keep Jenna from selling Greyson's office building to Pearl. More covertly -- he's there to spur the Council into action over the vampire problem. Unfortunately for him, Damon's a regular at the Council meetings now, and quickly twigs to the fact that this Gilbert is a threat.
There's yet another Founders' Day shindig. They should start calling it Founders' Year, yeah? And, under the full moon shining down upon it, this whole cauldron of problems bubbles to a rolling boil. Tyler is getting drunk because he's a werewolf teenager. Matt is getting drunk because he's mourning his sister. Kelly is getting drunk because she's the worst mother in the world and a boozy broad. Stefan is getting drunk because alcohol takes the edge off his cravings for human blood, and he already vamped out earlier, while making out with Elena. When Stefan and Elena dance, Elena accidentally bumps into some guy, who is way ruder to her than any guy would ever be to such a beautiful young woman. Stefan confronts the guy. When he won't back down, Stefan compels him to apologize.
Meanwhile, Matt (who, when drunk, can't hide the fact that he's still smitten with his ex) gets Elena to dance with him. And in another room, Kelly gets Tyler to make out with her. Of course poor Matt sees this. Of course he goes after Ty. And since Tyler is a werewolf and there's a full moon hothead, he beats the pudding out of Matt. Bad Tyler. No biscuit. In the fracas, the boys knock into a horrified and humiliated Kelly, who ends up with a cut on her head. Of course Stefan goes to help her, and ends up helping himself to just a little, stealthy lick of her blood (off his fingers, he's not a head licker or anything, at least not yet). That cannot be good.
And somewhere in there, Uncle Jon makes it quite clear to Damon that he knows who and what he is. Pragmatic as ever, Damon snaps Jon's neck, tosses him off the balcony, picks up his drink and returns to the party. Not too long after, Jon strolls back in, healthy as you please. Seems he's got a magical ring, too. He reveals to Damon and Alaric that he's actually wearing his brother's ring. His own ring he gave away to -- ISOBEL!!! Oh my word, is this tool Elena's other biological contributor? If her uncle is her father, is Elena her own grandpa? Who knows? What we do learn is that Jon is the one who sent Isobel to Damon -- to get turned. Oh bravo, Show. Bravo.
Later, Stefan surprises (and scares) Elena in her room. Bloodlust raging, he frantically confesses how tempted he's been, and that he gave into the temptation to taste Kelly's blood, and how he almost killed Rude Guy who confronted him later, as he fled the party. Elena calms him down and says they'll figure it out, together. Stefan remains unconvinced. Back at Mossy Manse Damon knows Stefan is hurting. He talks to him some more about giving into his natural cravings and then leaves a glass of the good stuff behind. Scared and ashamed though he may be, Stefan drinks it -- with gusto.
Elsewhere and when, Matt tells Kelly to hit the road. More importantly, Alaric and Elena talk about Jeremy. He shows her Germ's paper because he suspects Jeremy knows the bloody truth about Mystic Falls. Elena tells Jeremy that she was adopted and also tries to figure out what he knows about vampires, but he never tips his hand. Elena tips hers though, and so later, Jeremy pores over her journal and finds out way more than he ought to know, right now.
I'll hit all the details in the full weecap, so check back for it, soon. Until then come on over to the forums, where it's all shirtless Salvatores, all the time.
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