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What an episode! "The Dinner Party" has left me salivating for more. Up at the Gilbert Getaway, Elena reads through Johnathan (sic) Gilbert's journals, and Stefan tells her about his days as a "ripper," how he met Lexi while feeding on the blood of wounded Civil War soldiers, how he was so much worse than Damon (who, in the flashbacks is adorably fey, if uptight), and why Damon left him. Get this: Stefan was too impulsive and dangerous. It took Lexi's friendship and guidance to teach him how to control the beast within. While reading, Elena comes across Johnathan's (sic) description of the dagger and the white oak ash combination that will allegedly kill an Original. Originally, only wood from the oak could kill an Original. When the tree was burnt down, some enterprising soul saved the ash from the oak, and the dagger is such that the ash will bond with it and get the job done.
Meanwhile, in Mystic Falls, Damon and his chew toy Andi decide to host a dinner party and the guest of honor is Elijah. Alaric and Jenna are invited and Uncle Snark Daddy crashes. Elijah only enters once he makes clear to Damon that if Damon tries to kill him, the deal with Elena is off. He'll just grab her and run (and probably kill all her loved ones, too). Damon sets off to kill Elijah after dinner, but by that time, Stefan and Elena have learned that only a human can kill an Original without harm. If a vampire wields the dagger, both he and the Original will die. Stefan can't reach Damon, but he does call Alaric who manages to stop Damon and then go all BAMF and kill Elijah, all by himself. Well, sorta. It seems the dagger has to remain in the Original, if you want the original to remain dead. When no one is looking, Elijah resurrects and heads off to see Senior Manwitch, for help in locating Elena. Senior Manwitch is then dispatched to remove Bonnie's powers. And he succeeds!
In other news, Uncle Snark Daddy continues to poison Alaric and Jenna's relationship. Even when she asks him point blank what he's lying about, Alaric continues to keep the truth from Jenna, which, if you ask me, is just cruel at this point. Once Snark is alone with Alaric, he demands the return of his ring and says he can patch things up between the lovebirds. Alaric, fool that he is, gives it over. SIGH.
When Elijah finds our fierce girl at the Gilbert Getaway, she tries to strike a new bargain. He refuses the deal, so she pulls out a knife and says she'll stab herself, let Stefan feed on her, and then kill herself so that she will turn, and will be disqualified as Petrova doppelganger pure enough for the sacrifice ritual. Elijah calls Elena's bluff, so she doubles down and stabs herself in the gut. Elijah hasn't been invited in the lake house, so he slams into the mystical barrier and begs Elena to let him save her. She falls out the doorway, into his arms, and RAMS that dagger right into his heart. And while Alaric's name trended on Twitter last night, it really should have been Elena's name, because she is the BAMFest of them all.
Anyhow, it seems Damon got to the Gilbert Getaway first, and he, Elena and Stefan cooked up this whole, risky plan. Stefan's blood heals Elena, and this time, the dagger stays put. I'd be weeping for the loss of Elijah (because damn, he's hot), but this seems to be the perfect set up to bring him back with ease. I suspect that when Satan Klaus slithers into town, Elijah -- the devil they do know -- will come in handy.
Speaking of slithering, when Damon arrives home at Mossy Manse, guess who's in his shower? KATHERINE. Damon brought her some blood at ye olde tomb earlier in the episode, and after she un-desiccated, she begged him not to kill Elijah, because if he did so, his compulsion would never wear off, and she would be doomed to an eternity in the tomb. Reverse psychology? Always effective when dealing with Evil Pixie Monsters. Still she claims she wants to help him battle the Originals. We'll see about that. I just wish we didn't have to wait a week.
I'll be back with the weecap ASAP. In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page and then join us on the boards, where all our daggers and metaphorical.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Gilbert Getaway: As Elena reads through ye olde Johnathan (sic) Gilbert's journal, we flash back to 1864. Johnathan is with Thomas and Honoria when there's a noise outside. Thomas is looking for vampires, but Johnathan assures him they destroyed them all. He takes out his ACTUAL VAMPIRE COMPASS to prove his point and it starts spinning crazy. Thomas disappears. Honoria comes out and the mystery vamp who is no mystery drains her and then turns on Johnathan. His journal reads, "The vampire who killed me was Stefan Salvatore," which is pretty confusing if you happened to miss that Johnathan was wearing a protecto ring.
Back in the present, things must still be tense between our lovebirds, because Stefan is outside by the lake, alone, when Damon calls with some news: Tyler Lockwood has run away from home. They talk about killing Elijah. When Stefan cautions Damon to be careful, Damon says, "I'm gonna dot all my Ts." Heh.
Mystic Falls; Exterior: Jenna is taking Elijah on a tour of old property lines, and he mocks Mystic Falls founding families, pointing out that his research shows that the area was settled two centuries earlier by people from Salem, Massachusetts. Jenna makes sure to drive home the point that Salem was the site of the infamous witch trials, so what do you think -- are the Bennetts the true founding family? Will Bonnie's distant cousin, Lucy, come back and help her...wait. Don't want to spoil you. I'll stick a pin in this thought. Anyhow, a clearly jealous Alaric meets up with Jenna and Elijah, who is all suave and sneer-y and mmmmm.
The Grill: Bonnie and Jeremy are at the grill. He's looking for more smoochies, but Bonnie's thinking about her spells, so he invites her over to "practice." She accepts and it's all very coy and cute. Oh crap, here comes Junior Manwitch. He wants to know what happened to him the night before. Why he can't remember anything. "One minute I'm playing pool and the I'm waking up in a bathroom stall." When Luka accuses Bonnie of lying, Jeremy rises and tells him to back off, and it's pretty hot, if stupid, I mean Germ, he could turn you into a toad!
Gilbert Getaway: Elena and Stefan are still arguing about her sacrificing herself. Stefan soon changes the subject to Johnathan's journals, and how they contain so many stories she never told him. Stefan says he was a monster back then. He wants her to know the truth, but he wants her to hear it from him. We flashback to....
1864: Stefan's partying with a few lovely young ladies. He's covered in blood and each of them wants to be the one to die . And incredibly fey and uptight Damon arrives home and is shocked, shocked that there's gambling in Casablanca! He decides to leave town. Stefan promises he'll do better as he begs Damon to stay, but Damon says Stefan will only end up getting them killed. Back in the present, Elena says he sounds like he was Damon back then. Stefan scoffs. "I was worse."
The Grill: Alaric discusses Elijah with Damon, and it's clear to both him and Andi that Alaric is jealous. When Alaric realizes Andi has been compelled to keep things confidential, he looks nauseated, and things go from bad to worse when Jenna and Elijah arrive. As Alaric tries beat a hasty retreat, Andi proposes a dinner party that evening. Alaric begs off, but Jenna interrupts him and accepts for both of them, and of course, Elijah says attending will be his pleasure.
Ye Old Tomb: Damon brings Katherine some blood. DAMON! Ah, he wants info. He wants to know if there really is a way to kill an original. Katherine says she's not telling. If Damon kills Elijah while Katherine is compelled to remain in the tomb, she'll be stuck in there forever. She promises she'll stay in town and help him battle the Originals, if only he'll get her out of the tomb. She also "accidentally" confirms that the dagger and white oak ash that Uncle Snark Daddy John (sic) Gilbert gave him, will kill an Original. Damon leaves his old love with a smirk and a little eye-thing. Poor boy has no idea how bad he just got played.
Gilbert Getaway: Stefan tells Elena that back in 1864, he spiraled out of control. And via flashback, we see him feeding on wounded Civil War soldiers. It's then that he meets Lexi. He thinks at first that she's a vulnerable nurse and tracks her into the woods, but she reveals herself to him, throws him to the ground, and asks him what kind of an idiot he is. Stefan ends up bringing her home, and is shocked to find the house littered with corpses. She tells him he's a ripper (all the bad parts of being a vampire, without any of the good ones) and that they're going to have to change that.
Mossy Manse; Dining Room: Andi asks Jenna what's up with the tension between Alaric and her. Jenna says she "more than" likes him, but she feels he's not honest about some stuff, and she has Uncle Snark Daddy undermining him. Andi brags that Damon tells her everything. Oh you poor, compelled fool.
Meanwhile, in the study Alaric says this dinner party is a bad idea. Damon: "There's no such thing as a bad idea, just poorly executed awesome ones." Love him. Alaric just doesn't want Jenna in harm's way. Damon pledges, "Scout's honor" that this is just a fact finding mission. They're interrupted by Andi who says Jenna needs help with the wine. Once Alaric is gone, Damon pulls out the dagger, dips it in the ash, gets it ready to go and tells Andi that after dinner, she should take Jenna in the kitchen for coffee. When Andi bristles at the sexist implications of that, Damon compels her.
When the doorbell rings, Alaric answers it to find John standing there. He's totally crashing. What a tool.
Gilbert Gables: When Bonnie arrives and sees Jeremy has the place all lit up with candles, she panics that this is a date. Jeremy tries to play it cool, but can't help but point out that they did like kissing each other. He's a little resentful that Bonnie wants Elena's "okay" before anything else happens between them, but he gets it. He just doesn't like it. And I'm with him. Bonnie, did Elena clear it with you, or Jeremy when she started dating a blood sucking fiend? I think not. Kiss the boy, darn you. Look at him there all hot and hopeful.
Mossy Manse: Elijah arrives, but before he enters, he tells Damon that if his intentions are less than honorable, he will break his deal with Elena, and kill everyone in this house. When Jenna comes out to the hallway, Elijah turns on the charm and shoots it all over her, telling her she looks incredible and whew, you'd better be jealous, Alaric.
At the dinner party, Jenna shares Elijah's factoid about the founding families not being founding families. They talk about anti-witch hysteria that swept through the area, and says the witches were rounded up and tied to stakes in a field and then burnt. Elijah wants to find the spot. He tells Damon it's just "historical curiosity" but we all know that if they were real witches, that must be a highly charged spot now, or something, yeah.
Gilbert Getaway: Elena reads Johnathan's journal and finds information about the oak, the dagger and the ash. It used to be that only wood from this one white oak could kill an Original. Then the tree was burnt down, but someone saved the oak ask. This dagger was made. Blah blee bloo. Stefan admits that Uncle Snark Daddy gave the dagger to Damon. Elena continues reading, and freaks when she learns that the dagger can only be wielded by a human, for it brings death to all demons who use it. Stefan realizes that John is trying to get Damon killed and rushes to call Damon, but Damon must have his phone off. He admits to Elena that Damon is planning on killing Elijah tonight.
Mossy Manse: Damon invites the gentlemen into the study for some cognac. Alaric demurs and stays behind to help the ladies clean up. Jenna doesn't want his help and man, she's pretty cold to him, considering how she just told Andi that she more than likes him. Snark is pleased by this development and when Jenna moves off to the kitchen, he crows to Alaric that he has been poisoning Jenna's mind regarding the circumstances surrounding Isobel's "death." Alaric is ready to throw down right there, but Snark doesn't take the bait. He just reiterates that he wants his protecto-ring back. As Snark wanders, Alaric's phone rings. It's Stefan!
Elijah and Damon are alone in the study. Damon: "So let me guess, in addition to the moonstone, the doppelganger, the lion, the witch and the wardrobe..." (ha) "...you need to find this witch burial ground." Elijah asks if Damon knows where it is. Damon won't say yes or no, without knowing why it's so important. As Elijah considers the Salvatores' book collection, Damon raises the dagger. Now, I guess this is supposed to be tense, but we know Damon isn't going to die, so we know Damon isn't going to stab Elijah, so meh. Anyhow, Alaric bursts in with Andi not far behind. Damon drops the dagger as Alaric and Andi say it's time for dessert. Andi leads Elijah back to the dining room, but Alaric can't explain himself to a clearly pissed of Damon, because of Elijah's super hearing, so finally scrawls a note that reads: "The dagger will kill you if you use it."
In the dining room, Jenna apologizes that dessert is taking so long. She heads back to the kitchen laughing about how she just usually unwraps food. Hey, she's a guest! Why is she making dessert, and/or if dessert was her assignment, why didn't she bring a prepared one to the Manse? Oh right, because we need her out of the room. Once she's gone Andi wants to ask Elijah some questions about his research. She sends Alaric to get the notebook out of her bag, and Damon asks Elijah if he knows John is Elena's Uncle Daddy. Elijah knows everything, because he's awesome. But our Evil Pixie Monster ain't so bad, himself. With John sitting right there, he adds, "Well, of course she hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list." Alaric seems to be having no luck finding the notebook so Andi goes to help him. It's then that Elijah starts talking tough. He allows them to remain alive to protect Elena. He allows Elena to continue living at her house and living her life as she chooses, but if her friends become a liability, Elijah will take Elena away and they'll never see him again. Just then, Andi returns with her notebook and starts her first question. Meanwhile, Alaric approaches the table and PLUNGES the knife right into Elijah, who curdles and rots and dies, or at least "dies." Alaric warns Damon to get rid of the body before Jenna returns with the dessert, which is clearly a contrivance cake.
Gilbert Getaway; Night: Elena is mad that that Stefan and Damon went behind her back. It's her life. Stefan knows that, but he wants to ensure she lives it. She wonders if any of his stories about the past are even true, and why he told them to her. He says because there was a point in his life where he was ready to give up, and Lexi helped him through it, and that's what he's trying to do with Elena now, because she has given up. In a flashback, Lexi tells Stefan that he has to stop turning off the parts of him that are human -- the parts that feel. And it will hurt at first, because you have to let it all back in, even the pain, and memories of what he's done. She tells him love is the point. Everything is intensified when one is a vampire. When a vamp hurts, he really hurts, but... "When we love..." Back in the present, Stefan tells Elena that it was from that day forward that he started fighting for his survival and that's all he wants Elena to do, now. He kisses her tenderly, but she doesn't warm to him, so he leaves her in the deck and goes back in the lake house.
Mossy Manse Dungeon: Alaric and Damon bring Elijah's corpse to one of the cells and Alaric gives Damon a tongue lashing (STOP THAT) for lying to him. He points out that he's Damon's only friend, and they have to be honest with each other.
Gilbert Getaway: Stefan hangs up the phone and tells Elena that Elijah's dead and Alaric did it. Oh, you know he's so going to be alive, so let's find out how. Elena starts reading ye olde journal again, and says, "As long as the dagger stays in place, the Original, for all intents and purposes, is dead." Oh oh. Stefan runs for his phone and calls Damon.
Mossy Manse: Damon runs to the cell and finds it empty.
Manwitch Apartment (look I can't always have clever names for these places): Elijah arrives and tells Senior he needs him to find Elena. "Now." Well, not right now, because we've got to go to commercial.
Gilbert Gables: Bonnie and Jeremy are burning up. They're playing with fire. None of this is a euphemism, and yet it all is. Bonnie explains how she can channel power. Jeremy suggests she channel him, since the human body is mostly water. Bonnie is game. Oh just kiss him, you fool. Nope, instead they do a spell, or start to, but Senior Manwitch bursts in throws Jeremy to the wall using only magic and demands to know what Junior told Bonnie. She says she knows Satan Klaus has Daughter Manwitch and she wants to help him get her back. Senior grabs her face and starts chanting. When he's done, Bonnie's on her knees crying. He warns her that if any harm comes to Junior because of what Bonnie did, she'll answer to him. When he swoops out, Jeremy is released from the wall. He runs to Bonnie as asks her what happened. Her voice is weak when she says, "He took my powers."
Gilbert Getaway: Elena is waiting for Elijah to arrive. Stefan can tell that he's there. Elijah picks up a handful of gravel and throws it at the door, much like he threw the quarters at the cafe window, when Damon and Rose went to see Slater. The door breaks and flies off its hinges. Stefan wants Elena to hide, but she reminds him Elijah can't enter without an invite. Outside Elijah says he'll wait her out. So our fierce girl makes her way to the door and tries to strike a new bargain. He refuses to deal, pointing out that she has nothing left with which to negotiate. She pulls out a knife and says she'd like to see him lure Satan Klaus to town after the doppelganger bleeds to death. Elijah points out that Stefan won't let her day. Elena agrees and says she'll stab herself, let Stefan feed her his blood, and then kill herself so that she will turn, and will be disqualified as Petrova doppelganger pure enough for the sacrifice ritual -- just like Katherine. Elijah calls Elena's bluff, so she doubles down and stabs herself in the gut. Elijah hasn't been invited in the lake house, so he slams into the mystical barrier and begs Elena to let him save her. She makes him promise she can have her deal. Once he gives her his word, she falls out the doorway, into his arms, and RAMS the mystical dagger right into his heart. Stefan rushes to her and feeds her his blood to heal her. Then Damon appears from another room. "A little tip: don't pull the dagger out." Word. It seems Damon got to the Gilbert Getaway first, and he, Elena and Stefan cooked up this whole, risky plan. Stefan's blood heals Elena, and this time, the dagger stays put. I'd be weeping for the loss of Elijah (because damn, he's hot), but this seems to be the perfect set up to bring him back with ease. I suspect that when Satan Klaus slithers into town, Elijah -- the devil they do know -- will come in handy.
Gilbert Gables Kitchen or Maybe Mossy Manse: Alaric finds Jenna and asks her where John went. She speculates that he disappeared like the rest of the dinner party. She then asks him point blank about Isobel's death. She knows he's lying about something. He won't come clean. His silence is answer enough. She walks off, and John comes in and snarks, "That was awkward." He says he can clear up all this Isobel stuff tomorrow, if Alaric wants. Alaric slips off the ring, puts it on the counter and tells Snark that if he wants it, he can take it. "After what you did to Damon, you're going to need it more than me.
Meanwhile, Damon finds the moonstone on Elijah's corpse. There's more talk about keeping the dagger in place. Elena then lays down the law to the boys. If they want her to fight, she will, but they have to be honest with her and stop excluding her. They agree. She leaves them, and Damon marvels at her change of attitude. Stefan tells him he got through to her by telling him how someone got through to him when he was making the wrong decisions. Damon says, "Lexi?" Stefan's voice is hard as he says, "Yeah, remember her." Damon flashes back to when he first met Lexi as he was leaving the original Salvatore estate. She tries to caution him not to let his hate get the best of him. Damon doesn't acknowledge her point. He just asks her to help Stefan. "He needs it."
Back in the present, Damon makes his way to his room and hears the shower running. He's puzzled because Andi already left. Guess who's in his shower? KATHERINE. All her begging him not to kill Elijah, was a set up. She knew he'd do whatever she asked him not to. Reverse psychology? Always effective when dealing with Evil Pixie Monsters. Still she claims she is going to help him battle the Originals. Standing there dripping and naked, she then asks him for a robe, and that's it for this week!
I'll be back on Friday with a new recaplet. In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page and then join us on the boards, where all our daggers and metaphorical.