Welcome back, everyone. Our show is back with a bang. Since it picks up right where we left off, let's get to it, shall we?
Stefan is barely in this episode, but he's shirtless and smooching Elena right up top. I think that's the writers' way of apologizing for the seemingly endless hiatus. And dayum, all is forgiven. Stefan spends most of the episode tracking Isobel, because, as you'll remember, Katherine claims Isobel has the scoop on Satan Klaus. Stefan gets Isobel's old phone number from Alaric and leaves an Elena-centric message, hoping to draw Mommy out. By episode's end, he's back, but not with her. Oh, no. He's got Uncle Snark Daddy in tow. Hello there, John Gilbert.
Meanwhile, Rose is dying of the werewolf bite (meant for Damon) that she got from Jules, Mason's alleged friend. Damon leaves Elena to care for Rose while he seeks a wolf bite cure. Once the ladies are alone, Rose hallucinates, thinks Elena is Katherine and gets violent. Elena fights her off as best she can. At nightfall, Rose flees Mossy Manse for the big event in town (did they even give this one a name?). She kills an African-American janitor, because in Mystic Falls, if you're any darker than Nina Dobrev and not supernatural, you're vamp kibble. Not that I'm confident the witches of color have long lifespans. *lays flowers on the graves of Bree and Grams*
Eventually, Damon gets poor, suffering, confused Rose home, and he and Elena tend to her as she dies. Rose encourages Elena to fight harder for her life. When Damon tries to ease Rose's passing by entering and controlling her dream (a la Katherine and Stefan), they spend a perfect imaginary day in her Cornish hometown. Dream-Rose's thoughts on humanity and family affect our Evil Pixie Monster more than he'd like. Finally, back in the real world, he euthanizes her with a stake, as a single, perfect, manly tear streams down his pretty pink cheek, but don't expect our blue eyed boy to go sit on his magical toadstool and cry. Not this time.
Elsewhere, Matt kisses Caroline and wants to get back together. She admits she loves him, but since she doesn't want to drag him into her vampyric world, she has to refuse him without explanation. And if that's not bad enough, when she gets home, Tyler's waiting for her with some smoochies of his own. Poor Vampire Barbie is into the kiss, it's clear, but she doesn't want to be. She hollers that everyone needs to stop kissing her and dashes inside.
Later, Tyler meets up with Jules (whom I'm really starting to resent) at the Grill. She tells him she knows he's a werewolf, and that Caroline is a vampire -- the vampire who killed Mason. That last bit is totally not true. She also tells Ty that the town is crawling with vampires, which is true. Once Tyler realizes that Caroline lied about being the only vampire in Mystic Falls, I don't think he's going to believe she didn't kill Brick House. Oh this show spoils me so! I'm totally making out with it in my head, right now.
The big point of this episode though, is to showcase Damon's growing humanity. His concern for Rose, his guilt that she was bitten by Jules (who meant to get him) and his sorrow at her passing, move him more than he can stand. When Elena tries to get him to talk about it, and hugs him when he won't, that's the last straw. Once he's alone, he gets good and drunk and then goes out and plays the old Lie-In-The-Road trick. A young woman stops to help him. He compels her not to move and then Hamlets all over her. When he frees her from his compulsion, it seems his better angels have won, but they so have not. As our victim of the week starts to get back in her car, Damon sinks his fangs into her flesh and drinks deep. Now go on. Woobify that!
Please grade the episode at the top of the page now, and, hey, grade it when you come back to read the weecap -- which will be up, ASAP. Until then, please join us on the boards where it actually is nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, lest TWoP Barnes takes arms against a sea of troubles.
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