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Deciding Isobel's research may hold some clues to the Lockwood family mystery, Damon, Stefan and Elena summon Alaric to Mossy Manse. Praise the Lord and pass the (silver) ammunition; the first idea Alaric offers is lycanthropes, a.k.a. werewolves. Damon -- the vampire -- says there's no way there's any such thing as werewolves, but he and the gang would like to take a look at Isobel's research. The only problem is -- it's all at Duke. Road trip! Stefan's got to stay behind and babysit Caroline, so on the way, Damon works his eye-thing and his Evil Pixie Monster charm, trying to win back Elena's friendship. He even tells her that he saw Jeremy's protect-o-ring before he "killed" him. At Duke, Isobel's star grad student mistakes Elena for Katherine and shoots at her with a crossbow. Luckily, Damon jumps in front of her -- taking the arrow, saving her life, and the day. Poring over Isobel's research, they learn that according to some legends, the vampire is the werewolf's prey-of-choice, and the lycanthrope bite is rumored to kill our favorite bloodsuckers. Bad dog. No biscuit. When Damon is alone with Elena, he also presents her with some additional information on Katherine Pierce (a book entitled Petrova) and reveals Katherine's original name: Katerina Petrova.
Meanwhile, Bonnie cooks up a daywalker ring for Caroline, so Stefan takes her on a bunny (!!!) hunt, and later to Tyler's party at a swimming hole on the old Lockwood grounds. Now that she's a vampire, Caroline's usual, jealous, control-freaky personality goes up to 11, which cheeses off Matt. Mason, who was scoping out the old grounds earlier, orders Tyler to move the party off the premises by nightfall. As the kids are packing up to go, Caroline and Matt kiss and make up, then move off into the woods to make out. Elena calls Stefan and educates him on werewolves. When he goes to warn Caroline, he has to pull her off Matt's carotid. Seems our favorite Pudding Pop cut his arm against a tree and Caroline's lust and bloodlust got all mixed up in a big, hot fangy mess. Stefan saves Matt. Caroline compels him to forget and then? They're stalked by Mason -- who has been transformed into a werewolf. The vampires flee, leaving my Pudding Pop all alone and bleeding, in hopes that the werewolf will follow them. It's a good thing it does, because I'm a carpenter's daughter and can totally whittle. When the fang gang finds Tyler at the ruins, the werewolf catches up to them and attacks Caroline. Stefan pushes it off her but wolfy is ready for another go-round until Tyler yells at him to stop. The wolf obeys and runs off through the woods. I wonder -- does moonstone possession make one a wolf master? Later, Tyler finds Mason's truck. The rear window has been smashed out and Mason's drawers are in the back. Have mercy! Here comes a muddy, nekkid Mason now. (He IS a Brick House.) He asks for his pants back, and Tyler complies, damn it.
Meanwhile, at the Grill, Caroline acts up in order to get Matt to dump her, for his own sake. Back at Gilbert Gables, Alaric finds Jenna and lays a wet one on her -- letting her know he's come to terms with Isobel's "death." Out on the porch, Damon tries to get Elena to forgive him, and even admits that he was lying; he never saw Jeremy's protect-o-ring. Elena says he's lost her friendship forever. Damon says she knew that going in and that she used him, today. She cops to it; he had information about Katherine she needed to know. Damon throws her own words back in her face about how friends don't manipulate each other and leaves her with a final zinger: "You and Katherine have a lot more in common than just your looks." This stings Elena, which is stupid BECAUSE ELENA, GIRL, HE TRIED TO KILL YOUR BABY BROTHER! Ugh.
The morning, Caroline wakes in the sun to find Katherine hovering over her, telling her they're going to have the bestest time together. Hey! Who invited her in?
I'll be back ASAP with the full weecap. In the meantime, join us on our forum, where we're tending to a broken-hearted Pudding Pop.
See what vloggers Val and Beth think of vampires who prefer high school girls below, in TV is the Answer.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Mossy Manse: Hoping to unravel the Lockwood mystery, Damon, Stefan and Elena talk to Alaric about Isobel's research on area folklore and whatnot. The first idea Alaric offers is lycanthropes a.k.a. werewolves. Damon -- the vampire -- says there's no way there's any such thing as werewolves. "Way too Lon Chaney. [...] I've been on this planet 160 some-odd years and have never come across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?" We cut to Tyler Lockwood stalking his supernatural mystery uncle, Mason "Brick House" Lockwood, on a run through the woods. Brick House descends a brick staircase that we'll later learn is part of the ruins of the original Lockwood Estate. Back at Mossy Manse, Alaric tells the gang he can get them access toIsobel's research at Duke, and there's a bunch of stupid exposition about how and why her office remains untouched that would have been better left unsaid, so I'm unsaying it. Let's get back to Damon, who, unfortunately, is still trying to make the "Ric" nickname happen for Alaric. I'll unsay that as well. Damon's point is: "If this wolfman thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real-life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney Jr., which means Bela Lugosi -- meaning me -- is totally screwed." Heh. Meanwhile, Brick House ascends the mysterious staircase and resumes his forest run. Once he's out of sight, Tyler investigates to find an old cellar that looks more like a dungeon with cells, decorated with chains, collars and some interesting looking claw marks scratched into the wall.
Fortress Forbes: Matt shows up looking for Caroline, but she can't come to the door or the phone right now on account of the fact that she's a vampire and will burst into flames. Sorry, Pudding Pop. Please leave your message at the beep.
Gilbert Gables: Stefan and Elena exposit for us as they discuss whether or not Elena can stand a road trip with Damon. Since she wants to learn more about her birth mother and their connection to Katherine, as well as the Lockwood mystery, she really has no choice, but figures she'll be fine. Alaric will be there, and he's not inclined to play Tommy Chong to Damon's deranged Cheech Marin. Speaking of Alaric, he's downstairs talking to Jenna who is grateful that Alaric is helping her niece learn more about Isobel. Alaric is awkward as he tries to explain to Jenna why he's been hot and cold with her. She tells him to do what he needs to do to put his "late" wife's affairs in order. She'll skip the half-apologies and vague promises. Note: people on the boards have been wondering why Jenna didn't give Elena crap about going somewhere with Damon. I figure she didn't see Damon or realize he was going along for the ride. It's not like he came in the house. Anyhow, outside, Damon tries to make nice with Elena as they get in Alaric's car, but she'll have none of it. Instead, she purposefully turns towards his brother and lays a big smoochy kiss on him. When she pulls away, her smile is so coquettish, I expect Stefan to object, but he too seems to enjoy rubbing their love in Damon's face, and good for him. I don't care how much Katherine addled his mind. He tried to kill her brother, y'all.
Lockwood Mansion: When Tyler asks his mother about the old cellars among the ruins of the old Lockwood Estate, she says they don't talk about that. Tyler -- thinking he's onto some clues -- asks her why, but Carol only says, "Well, this is the South, honey, but no one likes to reminisce about the old slave days." At any rate, Ty is going to have a party at the old swimming hole. Carol warns him to be careful, as the family would be liable were someone to get hurt. Mason just smiles and looks pretty, trying to distract me from the fact that this scene was mostly meaningless.
One the Road Again: Damon claims Elena is just pretending to hate his guts. Alaric points out there's no pretense, as he killed her brother. Damon says there's a big asterisk to that stat, since Jeremy's still alive. He then claims he saw the big, gaudy ring on the Germ's finger, all along. Elena is sure Damon is lying because...well, because they've met before now.
Fortress Forbes: Stefan brings Bonnie over to cook up a daywalker ring for Caroline. Bonnie is even less thrilled with the idea of giving a ring to Caroline, than Caroline is with the particular ring they've chosen for her. Stefan finally tells Bonnie if she can't yet trust Caroline, she can at least trust him. Finally convinced, Bonnie lays down the rules. As the witch casting the spell, she has the power to de-spell it, and so there will be no more murder and mayhem. The actual spell is silent and free of special effects, so Caroline doubts her friend's abilities. Bonnie ends that conversation by whipping open the curtains and letting the sun shine down on her freaky friend. She smirks as she leaves cranky Caroline to poor Stefan's care. People think Bonnie is being terrible about both Damon and Caroline. I say Bonnie is the only person in the know who has a well-tuned moral compass. I love Caroline and Damon both, and I don't want to see them go anywhere. I'd get aboard any redemption story for either of them, but the fact remains they are unstable -- and murderously so.
Duke: Alaric blah blahs about Isobel until he finds Research Assistant Vanessa Monroe, a former student of Isobel's. She leads Alaric, Damon and Elena to Isobel's shrine... er... office and says she'll grab the light, yet instead she leaves the room. Damon's the first one to clue into how weird this is, but even he's too slow. They turn around to find Vanessa with a crossbow aimed right at Elena. Damon Stealth-Salvatores between Elena and Vanessa in the nick of time, and takes the arrow for his would-be love. Commercial.
After Elena manages to remove the arrow from Damon's back, he intends to kill his attacker, but Elena forbids it. Damon and Elena bicker, and he accuses her of trying to manipulate him. Meanwhile, in another room, Vanessa freaks out to Alaric about Katherine Pierce and the supposedly dead Damon Salvatore being right in the room. Elena and Damon enter and Elena explains she's Isobel's daughter and Katherine's descendant, and that Damon is the Damon Salvatore. Elena then pleads for Vanessa's help.
Woods: Stefan takes Caroline bunny hunting. Ooh, bunny. She's freaked out over that, and the fact that she's missing Matt, and the big party at the old Lockwood swimming hole. Stefan tries to calm her by insulting her and exalting himself. "When someone becomes a vampire, their natural behaviors are amplified.... As a human, I cared deeply for people -- how they felt. If they were hurting, I felt their pain, and I felt guilty if I was the one who caused it..." And once he became a vampire, the very sun shone out his arse [paraphrase]. Caroline: "So, you're saying that now I'm basically an insecure, neurotic control-freak... on crack?" Stefan smiles as he says he wasn't going to put it exactly like that, but mollifies her by promising he'll take her to the Lockwood swimming hole party after their hunt. "Matt is the closest connection you have to your humanity, so being around him is a good thing." I don't know, Stefan. I'm pretty sure he's going to be magically delicious. Pudding Pops generally are.
Duke: Vanessa gives Elena a box of Katherine's stuff, and Elena plucks some vervain from it and gives it to Vanessa for her protection. Damon demonstrates his vamponic hearing as Elena explains some basic vampire mythology (vervain is helpful, vamps have super-hearing, but do not read minds) and Damon 101: "He's very capable of being a first-rate jackass."
Swimming Hole: Tyler waxes horndoggishly to Matt about Amy Bradley's newly hot ass. Um? Okay. Matt confesses that things are a little off with Caroline, but he doesn't know why. Their conversation is cut short when Brick House drives up. He warns Tyler to move the party off the premises by nightfall, and reminds him of Carol's liability concerns. When Brick House drives off, he eyes Caroline and Stefan with serious intent. Stefan returns the gaze in kind and Caroline teases him about his "serious vampire look [...] which is different from [his] worried vampire look, neither of which stray too far from [his] 'Hey, it's Tuesday' look." Hee. These two have some surprising chemistry together. When Stefan asks if she thinks he's too serious, Caroline throws back his, "I wasn't going to say it like that," quip. They're both smiling as they walk off. Care Bear really hit the nail on the head, there. I mean, I love Stefan and Elena together and were she real and my friend, I'd tell her she belongs with him, but both Stefan and Elena are quite serious, so it's nice to watch the sparks fly when they play off characters like Caroline and Damon.
Caroline comes up to Matt while Amy "Hot-Ass" Bradley is flirting with him. Overcome with jealousy, she compels Amy to "go find somebody single to stalk." Matt doesn't know from compulsion, but he knows from rudeness and tells her it's lame that she's been dodging his calls, but then shows up to play the jealous girlfriend. Once he walks off, Stefan calls Caroline out for compelling someone for such a shallow reason. Caroline feels like everyone's sticking up for Hot-Ass, and frets about her magnified jealousy issues, deciding she'd be better off dead. "My entire personality is killing me."
Duke: Damon tries to bribe Elena with a promise of information about Katherine. He'll give it, if Elena will resume their friendship. Elena says he's now the manipulator. Vanessa and Alaric interrupt to share some Aztec werewolf legend that can be traced through Virginia and the curse of the sun and the moon. 600 years ago, an Aztec shaman cursed vampires, making them slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. Overtime, vampires became the prey of choice for werewolves, but the vampires turned the tables and hunted their hunters almost to extinction. Still, legend has it that the werewolf bite is fatal to vampires. As Vanessa gives them the backstory, we cut to Brick House setting up a elaborate system of chains down in the dungeon at the Lockwood ruins.
Twilight; Swimming Hole: Stefan encourages Caroline to talk to Matt, who is packing up the kegs and taps to help Tyler get everyone off the grounds by dark. Elena calls Stefan to warn him about werewolves and their vamp-fatal bite, so Caroline goes to Matt to hash things out. Since she knows how he feels about her, he expects an end to the drama. Caroline apologizes, promises things will be better and kisses him. He blushes and leads her off into the woods. When Stefan realizes his baby vamp is missing, he goes to find her. We cut to a now nearly nekkid Brick House, sweating and chaining himself up . He mixes some concoction in a bottle, but before he can drink, he hears Tyler and Amy approaching in the woods, above. By the time they make their way down the stairs, Mason is gone and Tyler is putting the moves on Hot Ass, who, still under compulsion, seems mainly concerned with whether or not he's single. We cut to Mason, who is back above ground. He chains himself to a tree near his truck and bays at the moon before falling to the ground and clawing at it. In obvious distress, he and his chains make their way into his truck. The full moon rises high in the sky as we cut to COMMERCIAL.
Duke: When Elena comes across an old portrait of Katherine, she asks Vanessa about doppelgangers. Isobel didn't have much info on Katherine, but Vanessa knows that doppelgangers typically torment their look-alikes and try to undo their lives. When Damon teases some information, Elena asks him if he knows something or is just being himself. Damon doesn't like her attitude, so he's not in a sharing mood. Elena tells him, "Friends don't manipulate friends. They help each other." Damon thinks this over, which we can tell because he overdoes the eye-thing.
Cellar: Amy stops kissing Ty, saying she's changed her mind. But who doesn't find a musty old dungeon/torture-chamberesque cellar romantic? Hot Ass doesn't, that's who. She also doesn't like Ty. She likes Matt. Even though the moon is full, Ty's not in a date-rapey mood, so he lets her go.
Forest: Stefan hears a lupine growl and traces it to Mason's truck. When he nears it, he notices claw marks in the dirt. He approaches the rear window carefully, slowly -- but there's a growl and then a pair of wolf eyes are staring back at him. And then it bursts through the window, knocking Stefan to the ground as it takes off into the woods.
Duke: As the Mystic Falls crew leaves Duke, Vanessa offers her services to Alaric. Yeah, I think she means it that way, too, but Alaric warns her off, saying it's life-consuming reasearch. He admits that Isobel eventually became her research. After that, Vanessa dials it down a little, content to look at the pretty if she can't touch it.
As Elena struggles to get in the locked car, Damon unlocks it and tries again to get her to talk to him. She just wants to leave, but Damon gives her pause when he presents her with an old book he found, entitled, Petrova. It seems Katherine Pierce is actually Katerina Petrova and was originally from Europe. Looks like they're tying her backstory into Nina Dobrev's Bulgarian heritage. Nice job, show. Elena is grateful for the book so Damon makes another plea. He acknowledges she has every right to hate him, while reminding him she hated him before they became friends. "It would suck if that was gone forever... So, is it? Have I lost you forever?" She will only thank him for the book as she gets in the car.
Woods: Caroline and Matt find a quiet place to kiss, but first they're interrupted by a distant growl. Caroline's too turned on to care, though, and gets rather assertive with her man. When she pushes him against a tree trunk, he cuts his wrist. She leans down to look at the wound, then kisses it and then licks it, because I told you Pudding Pops are DELICIOUS! Finally, she sinks her fangs into his wrist and freaks him out before attacking his neck. Fortunately for Matt, and for us, Stefan arrives and pulls her off. Matt falls to the ground and Caroline starts to regain her composure. They can hear the wolf circling, so Stefan says they'll have to run off to lead the wolf away from Matt. UM!? What if that plan fails? Nobody listens. They just run -- at least until they find Tyler who is just ascending from the Dungeon of Doom. Before the trio can talk, Caroline is jumped by the werewolf. It leans over her slobbering and growling until Tyler yells a authoritative, "NO!" No one is more shocked than he when the wolf runs off. I wonder if that moonstone he found last week makes him Uncle Brick House's master or something. I also wonder why Ty didn't turn when Mason did. Is it because he was underground and out of the moon's reach, or is it just not his time? [If they keep living together, maybe their cycles will sync up? - Zach]
Woods: Caroline compels Matt to think an animal attacked him and bit his neck. When she asks Stefan what to do about Tyler, Stefan says he "took care of it." Caroline mustn't know that Stefan's diet leaves his compulsion powers a little lacking, because she just accepts this, which is not her way. Anyhow, Stefan says they'll need to start Matt on vervain to make him less of a temptation to Care Bear. She's overwhelmed with guilt and regret. Matt is the last person she ever wanted to hurt. She wonders if she should leave him. Stefan says he can't help her, there. He knows he should have walked away from Elena, but he just can't.
Meanwhile, Tyler finds Mason's truck. He looks in the busted rear window and finds his supernatural mystery uncle's shorts. Lordamercy, you know what that means? Here Mason comes now, artistically smeared with mud -- which I'm sure was a terrible chore for the makeup artist on the show. Poor thing. Look at that, will ya? He's a brick HOUSE. He's mighty mighty, just letting it all hang out... but not for long. He asks Tyler for his shorts, and Tyler complies. Party pooper. There's probably other talk between them, perhaps even an acknowledgement that Mason is the wolf, but I can't concentrate.
The Mystic Grill: Caroline arrives to find Matt and Hot Ass talking quietly. As she watches from afar, Care Bear's feelings are written on her face: first jealousy, then regret, love and finally resolve. She takes a deep breath, steels herself and then marches toward the table and deliberately makes a scene -- chasing Amy off with no compulsion, just cattiness. Once Hot Ass is gone, Caroline continues the act and lets Matt think she's intent on perpetuating the drama. Disgusted, as she knew he would be, Matt turns away. Caroline is brave here -- so brave. She takes another deep breath and then loudly asks if he's breaking up with her. Matt's voice is gruff as he says he is. When he leaves, Caroline and her valiant heart take a seat. I think she's going to be a better vampire than she was a human. Oh crap. That means she's doomed, doesn't it? Noooooooooooo!
Gilbert Gables Living Room: Jenna's having a glass of wine when the gang returns from Duke. Alaric enters the house first and alone. Before he says anything he takes Jenna in his arms and kisses her. He stops only to say, "I should have done that this morning," before going back for more. Woo! So much better than Scum.
Gilbert Gables Porch: Damon tries to convince Elena that road trips work well for them, but she's had enough. She demands that he tell her the truth about whether or not he saw Jeremy was wearing a protect-o-ring when he snapped his neck. Desperate to reestablish their connection, Damon admits he did not, and that it was just a lucky break. He doesn't know what he would have done if Jeremy had truly died. He apologizes with plenty of eye-things thrown in -- gratis. Elena thanks him for his honesty but then tells him he has lost her forever. Damon says, "You knew that already, didn't you? You used me today." Elena: "You had information about Katherine that I needed to know." Damon: "I thought friends didn't manipulate friends." He waits a beat, then adds, "You and Katherine have a lot more in common than just your looks." This stings Elena, which is stupid BECAUSE ELENA, GIRL, HE TRIED TO KILL YOUR BABY BROTHER! Ugh.
Fortress Forbes; Morning: Caroline wakes with the sun streaming down on her bed, but it's kind of difficult to enjoy, since Katherine is looming over her. At first, Caroline thinks she's Elena, but soon realizes her mistake, one she must have shared with Sheriff Forbes or whoever invited Katherine in. Katherine smiles as she sits on her victim's bed and says, "Don't be frightened. We're going to have so much fun together." If I were Caroline, I'd insist on a no-more-pillow-fights ground rule.
Well, that's it for this week. Join me Friday morning to discuss this week's "Memory Lane" in which Stefan takes drastic measures to uncover Katherine's motive for returning to town, and Damon's strategy with the Lockwoods proves costly.
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see what vloggers Val and Beth think of vampires who prefer high school girls below, in TV is the Answer.
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