The Masquerade Ball enmasked villain who captures Elena at the end of episode 2-7 isn't a vampire or any monster at all. He's just a furry, enthralled human. He delivers Elena to a vampire named Trevor, pays with his life and dies promptly. I appreciate that in a tertiary character. Trevor brings Elena back to his BFF Rose aka Rosemarie. They're 500 years old and have been on the run from "The Originals" who sounds like the love children of The Replacements and The Commitments. Elena, like Katherine, is a Petrova doppelganger, and while the moonstone is useful for binding the curse of the sun and the moon, sacrificing the doppelganger is the key to breaking it. Rosemarie and Trevor dangle Elena in front of "original" (and really cute) vampire Elijah, in hopes of getting him to pardon them for a centuries old faux pas.
Bonnie, who is hanging with the Germ, gives herself a bloody nose locating Elena for Damon and Stefan. Elijah swipes Elena's vervain necklace and gets some info from her about Katherine and the moonstone, but do not fear. Although the Brothers Salvatore spend a lot of time sharing some lovely brotherly bonding moments, they save our girl like we knew they would (and our Elena retains her agency throughout. Hooray). Once they bring her home, Damon sneaks back in to see her, dangles her vervain necklace before her, tells Elena he loves her, but that he knows Stefan is best for her. He then compels her to forget their interlude -- leaving Elena to wonder how her necklace was returned to her, and the fandom to cry a million tears.
Elsewhere and when, Bonnie and Jeremy grow closer. Caroline (in direct opposition to Damon's orders) fesses up to Tyler that she's a vampire and knows all about him and his lupine kind. She swears him to secrecy, which Tyler emphasizes is no problem, because he's totally alone in this world. In the space of a year, I've gone from hating this boy to loving him, and Michael Trevino is so very much to blame, but I'll cover that in depth in the full weecap.
This is again A+ work from the cast; you know the drill. I'm holding off on my grade, until the weecap is published. Don't let that stop you, though. Grade the episode at the top of the page, now. And grade it when you come back to read the weecap too, which I'll put up, ASAP. Until then, please join us on the boards where we're wiping up Damon's tears -- with our tongues.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!"The Rose" is a very emotional episode, and not just because it's earwormed me with that Bette Midler song that's probably way older than you. The only time it leaves my head is when Linda Ronstadt's "Blue Bayou" creeps in, which has nothing at all to do with The Vampire Diaries. Let's blame the newly forged and reestablished connections in this week's show for that embarrassing admission and move on, because while "The Rose" is as action-packed as ever, it's also rather moving, and exposition and mythology heavy, and yet this is just a weecap, so I've got a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time. You ready? Okay.
Last week, we closed on Damon sealing Katherine in ye olde tomb, and some Scary Masquerade-Mask Clown Looking Guy (SMMCLG) nabbing Elena from the Lockwood Estate. Now it's morning in America, and SMMCLG looks much less scary and far more grubby without his mask. He delivers Elena to some guy -- let's call him Trevor. Trevor, who is wearing sunglasses, is all hunched down behind the tinted windows in SUV, hat pulled down over his face, so clearly he's vampire -- a vampire who lacks a protecto-ring. I'd call him a n00b, but I've already watched the episode. Once SMMCLG deposits Elena's unconscious form in the back of Trevor's SUV, Trevor decides he's feeling a bit peckish and treats SMMCLG like his own breakfast smoothie. Goodbye SMMCLG. I hope you get a shave and a haircut (two bits...) in the life, Brother. Sheesh, Trevor. Ever heard of a napkin?
Gilbert Gables: Jeremy pretties himself up, which is redundant, and then checks on Elena. She's not in her room and her bed hasn't been slept in. Jeremy looks a bit judge-y there, which is the height of irony, no?
Fortress Forbes: Since Liz is leading the search party for Aimee Bradley, Caroline catches Damon up on Tyler turning into a werewolf. She admits how she covered up Ty's involvement in Sarah's death and dances around the fact that she kind of let Tyler know she's not exactly what she appears to be, either. Damon gets more forceful than I'd like as he impresses upon Caroline the fact that the werewolf is their enemy, so she needs to avoid Tyler like she would a rabid dog. When Caroline reminds Damon she has to get to school, it reminds me how young she (and Elena, Bonnie, Germ, Tyler and Matt) are. I'm pretty sure if I'd been vamped in high school, I would have dropped out. But all you baby vamps out there, stay in school now, ya hear.