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So... Stefan is Ashley and Damon is Rhett, except now Damon is Rhett and Stefan is even Rhett-ier. Does that make Elena... Ashley? Is she Melanie, while Katherine is Scarlett? Except -- the boys both love Elena, so maybe she's Scarlett and Katherine is even more Scarlett-y. Oh sorry. Didn't realize you were already here, dear readers. My brain is Gone With the Wind after this finale. I'm trying to gather my thoughts, but I think they've been buried in the red clay of Tara, which is a problem, since although the show is filmed in Georgia, it is set in Virginia. Meanwhile, I'm in New England and am so not heading south. This time of year, I go north or stay home.
The skinny: Damon is dying from Tyler's werewolf venom. He tries to speed the process along with a little sunlight suicide, but Stefan tackles and saves him, which sends the slashers into a tizzy as they try to watch the whole episode while plot bunnies gnaw at their noggins.
Bonnie channels a reluctant-to-help Emily Bennett and, in doing so, realizes that Klaus's hybrid blood-wolf blood is Damon's cure. Meanwhile, Klaus is busy keeping his word to Elijah. Last week he promised to reunite his brother with the whole damn family and this week he does, by plunging the dagger into Elijah's heart and tossing his once beautiful but now rather grotesque corpse into cold storage. Raise your hand if you didn't see that coming. Sheeesh Elijah, you -- of all people -- should know how to parse a bargain with an Original.
When Stefan finally finds him (well, bumps into him) at Alaric's place, Klaus agrees to cure Damon, provided Stefan do him a solid -- which amounts to Stefan chugging bag after bag of human blood until his inner Ripper emerges -- oh and he has to top off that overly-rich meal by chowing down on a real live girl for dessert, too. So basically, Stefan sells his soul, and sacrifices his relationship with Elena, to save Damon. Damon wouldn't be sitting this pretty for season 3 if he'd planned all this, which he didn't, because Evil Pixie Monsters are far too impetuous, and this particular one so very deeply loves the brother he hates.
All of this and so much more happens during the Mystic Falls Event o'the Week: Town Movie Night. During an open-air screening of Gone With the Wind, pre-cure Damon wanders the town, hallucinating about Katherine and Elena. Liz Forbes is on the hunt for him, but when she finally finds him at a nearly empty Grill, and shoots at him, she ends up killing Jeremy Gilbert, instead. Caroline tries to feed Jeremy her blood but he's too dead for that. A heartbroken but determined Bonnie contacts the dead witches again and begs for his life. They are already pissed that she used them to learn how to cure Damon, so they are not in a giving mood. They warn of consequences, but Bonnie continues to invoke their power until her nose bleeds and Jeremy comes back to life. Things seem hunky-dory until he's home later and finds himself being stalked by Vicki and Anna, or delusions thereof.
Once poor Stefan is completely in his cups, Klaus gives Katherine a bottle of his blood-wolf blood to deliver to dying Damon, who is home in bed (not in a sexy way... well, not in an intercourse way) with Elena snuggling him. She even smooches him and tells him she likes him just the way he is. Don't go changing, to try and please me... When Katherine delivers the antidote and news of Stefan's partnership, she quickly picks up on the vibe between Damon and Elena and tells our girl: "It's okay to love them both. I did." Ah yes, because you're a role model for the ages, Katerina. The important thing is, the Satan Klaus blood does the trick, and our beautiful boy is on the mend.
Was it a good episode? I guess so. I mean, I can't yet think to evaluate it, which is usually a good sign. My daughter hates it, but I think she hates it mostly because it means hiatus time is upon us and she'll be contemplating the cliff-hangers all summer long, oh and because she is not just fannishly 12, but literally 12. Are Vicki and Anna really back, or are they now haunting Jeremy, or is he just hallucinating? Can real/ghostly/hallucination Jenna come back, too? Will there be consequences from Damon drinking Klaus's blood? If so, he won't be alone, because Klaus bit Katherine and then gave her his blood-wolf blood as a little sales demo for Stefan. Has Sheriff Forbes seen the light in re her bigotry? Will we get to have a season of Damon and Elena together as they try to save Stefan (because you know they're going to try to save Stefan)? I hate that we have to wait until autumn to find all this out, but it's going to take that long to figure out how many new threads were spun in season 2.
I'll be back with the full weecap, ASAP. In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page and then join us in the forum, where we'll think about it tomorrow, at Tara.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!What a season, huh? I hate that there are more hiatus weeks in the year than show weeks. It always feels like I'm waiting for the show to return, and here we are at the beginning of the worst curse of all -- summer hiatus (you antipodeans can just substitute winter in there). My daughter hates the finale -- mostly because it's a finale. I'm know how she feels, but I'm trying not to let that attitude color my recap, so let's get right to it.
Gilbert Gables: Elena looks in on a still sleeping Jeremy. His bicep is on display much as it was in last year's finale, but this time, he's not trying to die or turn; he's back from the dead. She then peeks in the late Jenna's empty room, which was probably Grayson and Miranda's room. Poor Elena. I hope she's not mopey all episode, though. I mean -- this is it for the season, girl. Give us some spunk to tide us over. Damon surprises her in the hall and tells her it will get easier. He then apologizes for forcing his blood on her and begs for her forgiveness. Elena tells him she needs some time, which, inconveniently, is the one thing Damon doesn't have, but he tells her to take all the time she needs.
Title Card
Mossy Manse: Damon arrives home, pours himself a drink, downs it, examines his werewolf bite and opens the heavy drapes in the parlor. He pauses to feel the sun's warmth on his skin, then turns to place his empty glass on an occasional table. When he returns to the window he takes off his Daywalker Ring and tries to commit suicide via sunlight, but Stefan swoops in, stops it and locks Damon in the dungeon, 'til he can find a werewolf bite cure.
Forest: A nekkid Satan Klaus wakes up and for a moment, I expect Oz to be to him, but that's the other show. Klaus crows about his amazing new adventures. He remembers every kill! Yippee for him? Elijah is watching over him and informs him the full moon came and went and yet Klaus remained a wolf. Klaus says this means he can turn at will. Klaus and Elijah recap last week's events and the bargain Elijah struck with Klaus, but if you didn't see last week's episode, why the hell are you watching this one and reading this weecap? Last week was the true season finale. This week is denouement.
Grill: Alaric is drinking away his sorrow over Jenna's death when his phone rings. Stefan wants his help. Alaric: "Well, you must have me confused me with somebody else. You see, I'm not allowed to help -- just idly sit by while my girlfriend gets sacrificed on an altar of blood." Stefan: "Damon's dying." Alaric: "Oh no! Not my boyfriend, too. This week sucks." That might be a paraphrase.
Event O' The Week: This week's event is "Movie On the Square." See, even they don't know what to call them any more. At least it's not "Founders' Movie Night." Oh, the movie is Gone With the Wind and if you've never seen it, you should. Actually, read the book first, then see the movie. There's so much more to the book. Jeremy and Elena arrive, prepared to go through the motions -- pretending they have normal lives. Caroline joins them and sprinkles them with Vampire Barbie sparkles, glitter and pep and abuses the Scarlett O'Hara analogies.
Mansion Ruins: Stefan is with Bonnie, who channels Emily Bennett. Stefan asks Emily for the cure for Damon's werewolf bite. Emily's not in a giving mood, despite Stefan's pleas. Eventually, Bonnie screams in pain and falls to her knees. She's herself again and says the witches don't want her there. They think she's abusing her power. Who doesn't at this point? If you don't, you may well by episode's end. Well, okay, Bonnie's not abusing them so much, but the show is over-using them, if you ask me. Which you didn't so I'll get back to it. Bonnie did hear the dead witches say a name though. Say it with me. "Klaus."
Sheriff's Office: Carol Lockwood walks in. The sling on her right arm is the only sign that she's been thrown off a balcony -- what -- like yesterday? She gets all up in She's the Sheriff's grill about handling the vampire problem. I don't feel like this scene was necessary. I guess it's here to establish Liz's motivation for the rest of the episode, but the past two seasons have already done that.
Event O' The Week: When Stefan finds Elena, she says, "Look who couldn't resist an epic romance." Oh Show, please stop hitting the Gone With the Wind parallels so hard. Besides, the parallels aren't all that strong. I feel like you're writing down to us. Stop it. You're better than that, and even if you're not, we are. Anyhow, Stefan pulls Elena aside to betray Damon's trust. He tells her that transforming-Tyler bit Damon and that he's dying. Elena recaps the fact that she refused Damon's apology just this morning. Stefan says he will find Klaus and get the cure. Elena thinks it's too dangerous, but Stefan says he forced Damon to complete his transition all those years ago. He owes big brother this. Besides, if Klaus wanted him dead, he would have killed him when he had him disabled during the Doppelganger Ritual. As he hugs Elena, Stefan tells her to go talk to Damon and reassure him that there's still hope.
Mossy Manse: Cut to Damon in the dungeon. He starts to hallucinate, so we get a...
Flashback to 1864. Katherine needs help untying her corset. Damon, looking dapper in his Confederate uniform, obliges, as Katherine purrs about how she wants both brothers. Get in line, sister. Elena pops into the hallucination and spells out to Damon the fact that Katherine was toying with him. All he had to do was walk away. He had a choice.
Damon comes out of his hallucination, groans and looks at the bite on his arm. It's getting more disgusting by the second.
Alaric's Apartment: Katherine is still trapped inside. I don't really get that, since Damon slipped her Vervain and then Klaus released her to set up Jenna, but whatever. I guess he only temporarily released her. It's not like Klaus can't parse the hell out of his words, so I won't nitpick. When Stefan shows up, Katherine is fit to be tied. She complains about being trapped and doesn't understand why she's not free of Klaus's compulsion since he's dead and all. Stefan: "The thing is, here's the thing..." (paraphrase). As Stefan starts to explain the epic failure of the Fellowship of the Falls, Katherine shoves him against the wall and shushes him, because she hears footsteps approaching and recognizes the sound of the cloven hoofs I guess. Yep. It's Satan Klaus and Elijah. Stefan asks Klaus to help him save Damon. Klaus says he has an obligation to his own brother to which he must first attend. Elijah exposits about how the Salvatores and the Originals both value family, and that he saved Klaus because Klaus promised to reunite Elijah with his family. Klaus: "And so I shall." He then plunges the magical Original-killing dagger into Elijah's chest. Yawn. Saw that coming a mile off. Oh Elijah, you're very pretty, but you so deserved that, I can't even care that you should have seen it coming, too. Once Elijah drops dead, Klaus pushes Stefan to the wall and says, "Now, what am I gonna do with you?" Katherine just stands around with her mouth open, which she will continue to do until she finally serves a purpose at episode's end. Commercial.
We return from a commercial touting the newest Vampire Diaries novel, and it feels like we return a couple of seconds late, doesn't it -- because Klaus is plunging a wooden stake into Stefan's chest and narrates that it's scraping Stefan's heart. Shudder. Katherine says Stefan is just trying to help his brother. Um, Katie? I know being goodish is new to you, but did you not see what Klaus just did to his very own kin? Somehow, I don't think you're going to appeal to him on brotherly bonds. Stefan tells Klaus that the witches said he has the cure for Damon. He proposes a deal in which he parses but nothing: give him the cure and he'll do anything Klaus wants. Oh Stefan! Klaus pulls out the stake, pours himself a drink and says that as Stefan is now, he's just short of useless.
Mossy Manse Dungeon: Alaric visits Damon and brings him some blood. Oh no wait, that's booze. He says he doesn't blame Damon for Jenna. Damon starts rubbing it in about how he killed Isobel, but Alaric says they're not drunk enough for that conversation. Damon wants Alaric to kill him. Since riling him up over Jenna and Isobel didn't work, he grabs Alaric's throat through the bars on the cell door and begs him outright. Alaric: "Screw you." Damon falls to the floor in pain and calls out for Elena. Alaric: "Elena's not here, Damon."
Mossy Manse; Exterior; Night: Elena is too here, but before she can enter the manse, she is picked up by She's the Sheriff and a random He's the Deputy.
Interior: Damon cries out for blood. While Alaric is getting a bag from the fridge, he's confronted by Sheriff Liz who is pointing her gun right at him. She's come for Damon. Alaric tries to warn her off, but Liz and her deputy shut him in another basement room and open Damon's cell. He's hiding up against the wall when Liz enters. When he says her name, the Sheriff turns toward him. Damon grabs her by the arms, swings her like a baseball bat and bashes her head against the wall. That's gonna leave a bump. Commercial.
Event O' The Week: Caroline, Bonnie and Jeremy watch as Scarlett surveys the wounded Confederate troops in Atlanta. Caroline whispers that all the waiting is ruining Scarlett for her. I hear ya, girl. Who can really watch a movie at one of those things, anyhow? You must have the DVDs at home. Alaric calls Jeremy and warns him that Damon has gotten free. Since as far as Jeremy knows -- Elena is out looking for Damon, he wants to go find her. Bonnie tries to stop him, explaining how off the rails the werewolf venom could make Damon. Jeremy puts his foot down. I think he's really the Scarlett -- of this episode, at least. "You keep doing this. You left me behind before, and guess what? Jenna still died. Now I'm going to find my sister. You go ahead and you try to stop me."
Alaric's Apartment: I love that Klaus is still squatting there. Poor Alaric, huh? As Stefan recovers from being staked, Klaus makes it clear that he knows of Stefan's past as a ripper. Backstory: In 1917, Stefan wiped out an entire migrant village in Monterey. That is the vampire with whom Klaus will make a deal. Satan Klaus is a show-don't-tell kind of guy so he summons Katherine and bites her. He's a werewolf now too, remember so his bite is fatal to her. As Katherine cries, "No," Klaus bites into his own wrist and feeds his blood to Katherine. Her wound heals instantly. Klaus doesn't just have the cure. He is the cure. Stefan feels the need to state that outright. Why? I don't know. Let's leave these two boys to talk and check in on Damon.
Event O' The Week: Damon is stumbling around the square. While Atlanta burns up on the big screen, he hallucinates up a vision of Katherine in her 1864 finery. He's brought back to reality by Jeremy who helps him leave the square.
Sheriff's Office: Elena asks Liz where Damon is. Liz is still completely anti-vampire, which is a reasonable stance, yo, so she can't control her sneer as she reminds Elena that vampires are murderers. "But it's different, Liz. These murderers are beautiful and they love me." Paraphrase. Just then a deputy arrives and announces Damon was scene entering the grill. Elena begs to go with Liz, but Liz orders her deputy to keep Elena there.
Grill: Damon is hurting bad, now. Jeremy calls someone (Bonnie, I guess) and says he's with Damon at the Grill. Just then Liz enters and aims her gun at Damon. As she shoots, he Stealth-Salvatores out of her line of fire. The bullet pierces Jeremy's chest. He's all, "WTF, I love this shirt," before he collapses to the floor. As Liz makes a call for paramedics, Bonnie and Caroline rush in. Caroline thinks Jeremy will be okay because the ring mythology is really pretty stupid. I mean, if a person shoves you off a balcony, you're dead. If a vampire shoves you off a balcony, you're as right as rain? Come on. Bonnie pretends it's not stupid though, and reminds Caroline it won't work because a human shot the gun, not a vampire. Caroline rips into her own arm and tries to feed Jeremy her blood but he's already gone. Liz watches in confusion and horror. Harry Potter commercial.
Alaric arrives at the Grill and surveys the damage. Bonnie asks him to grab Jeremy. She says she knows what they need to do. Liz starts babbling about this being a crime scene. I don't see Damon. He must have taken off during the break. Caroline tells her mother to get a fricking grip and let them go. Alaric picks up Jeremy and carries him out.
Sheriff's Office: Elena throws open the shutters, smashes a chair through the window and makes her escape. There's my spunk! [Buffy: That's my girl. That's my good, good girl.]
Alaric's Apartment: Satan Klaus wants Stefan to join him on a decade-long bender. When Stefan declines, Klaus takes the blood he'd bottled up for Damon and starts pouring it out. When Stefan stops him, Klaus insists Stefan join him for a drink. Now, when this scene first aired, I figured Stefan would be okay, because the last time his human blood problem was frenzy was addressed, Stefan was taking little bits of Elena's blood to build up both his strength and his tolerance. I figured way, way wrong. Klaus slides Stefan a bag of O Positive and insists he finish it. "You do everything I say and I save your brother. That's the deal." Stefan pauses dramatically, because he doesn't get to talk much this episode, and finally drains the bag. When the blood is gone, Klaus slides him another bag. "Again." Stefan closes his eyes and drinks deep.
Mansion Ruins: Bonnie tells Alaric there's a spell to save Jeremy if only the witches will give her the power to use it. When she starts to chant, the witches make it clear they don't want to help, because they know if the show goes to the magical well too many times, the audience is going to start rolling his eyes. (Note to Dead Witches: We already are.) As Bonnie clutches Jeremy's dead body, she explains to Alaric that they're warning her there will be consequences, but she doesn't mean our response, she means magical consequences. Alaric: "Well, he's just a kid, tell 'em to shut up." Aw, that was kind of cute. Bonnie chants again. Candles flicker. The chandelier rattles. The whole room shakes. The witches whisper (and it's really creepy). As Bonnie's nose bleeds, she pleads for Emily to help her. Finally she says the magic words: "I love him." The shaking and whispering stops. The candles burn out. Bonnie cries at her presumed failure -- but then Jeremy comes back to life. When he wants to know what happened, she tells him it doesn't matter as long as he's okay. She looks up and thanks the ceiling, I guess for not letting that chandelier fall on her head.
Event O' The Week: Damon and Elena finally find each other as Atlanta is consumed by flames on the big screen. Don't you get it? Their love is an inferno! As Elena tells Damon she has to hide him, he hallucinates about running through the woods at night with 1864 Katherine. In the present, Damon pushes Elena up against a wall. In his hallucination, Damon asks 1864 Katherine to feed him her blood. She says she won't feed him. "If you want it, take it." Damon says, "I choose you, Katherine." In the present, Elena is all like, "It's me, Elena." In the hallucination, Damon asks Katherine not to tell his brother. She promises she won't. "It will be our little secret." In the present, Damon moves his fangs towards Elena's throat. She (weakly) tries to fight him off as she says, "No," but he's all sweaty and gross and out of it as he says, "I have to, if we're to be together forever." He thinks he's biting 1864 Katherine, until Elena's pleas for him to stop biting her finally cut through the fog. When he realizes what he's done, he falls to his knees. Elena drops down beside him and puts her arms around him, even as she applies pressure to her neck with the other hand. Commerical.
Grill: Caroline tells Liz she just got a text from Bonnie. "Jeremy is alive." Liz: "I thought I killed him." Liz: "I don't understand." Caroline: "I explained it to you once, but I had to make you forget, because I was so scared of what you might do. But now, I don't want to lie. I'm not going to be afraid of you anymore. And I don't want you to be afraid of me, anymore." She grabs her mother's hands and adds, "I'm still your little girl." And really Liz, she's a hell of a lot more tolerable and far nicer, now that she's a vampire. "It's me. It's me. Mom." The ladies hug and we cut to...
Gilbert Gables: Jeremy searching on bing for information on being "back from the dead." What a goober. As he does, Bonnie video phones him. She wants to know how he's doing. He says he's trying to figure out what's wrong with him. He feels different and weird. Bonnie says that since he was dead it would be weird if it wasn't weird. Jeremy tells her he doesn't know how to thank her. Bonnie: "You can thank me tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that." They giggle and coo, 'til she bids him goodnight. Once their call ends, Alaric pops his head in Jeremy's room and says he's gonna take off. He asks Jeremy if he needs anything, but Jeremy says he's good. Alaric stands there and watches this kid he helped drag out of a life of drugs and destruction (okay, so it was easier thanks to a heaping helping of vampyric compulsion) and his eyes fill up. "You know, on second thought, I might just crash here. Is that cool?" That's very cool, Alaric. I like that you're acting like he's doing you a favor, when it's clear you're really just trying to be there for him. Jeremy says he's welcome to stay, and as Alaric heads down the hall, he calls him back to thank him for everything. Alaric peeks back in the room and says, "Oh, you can thank me tomorrow." Jeremy smiles at him, so Alaric continues in a sweet girly voice, "And the day after that, and the day after that." Hee. Jeremy throws something at Alaric and laughs that he eavesdropped on his convo with Bonnie. It's good to see these poor guys have one light moment.
Mossy Manse: Elena stands by Damon's bedside with a towel, but fails to wipe the river of sweat off his face. Afraid he could attack her, he orders her to leave, but Elena says she knows he won't hurt her. As he moans in pain, Elena hops on the bed to him and clutches his sweaty head to her bosom. Sheeeeeesh girl, wipe off his sweat. It's going to stain your top, and it's so, so icky. As Elena tells Damon it's okay, he changes the meaning of "it's" to all the poor choices he's made in his long life. It's all his fault. He chose to love Katherine. No one forced him. He should not have blamed Stefan all the time. He asks Elena to tell Stefan he's sorry. She nods and says she will as she holds him and his sweat even tighter. Now look, I wouldn't mind a sweaty Damon in bed, if his sweat was from...being in bed, but the werewolf venom death sickness sweat is making my stomach turn. And she's got a frigging towel right in her hand. What the hell?
Alaric's Apartment: Stefan has consumed about 987 bags of blood now, so you can imagine the condition his condition is in. Finally he says he'll drink no more 'til Satan Klaus gives him the cure. Klaus's terms are these: embrace his inner ripper, leave town with him, and Save Damon's life. He implies Stefan must seal the deal by drinking yet another bag of blood. When Stefan takes it willingly, Klaus saunters over to Katherine who is still sitting there catching flies. He hands her the bottle of his blood and tells her to take it to Damon and come right back.
Katherine: You want me to leave?
Stefan: NO!
Klaus: Yes.
Katherine: *Stealth-Salvatores the hell out the door*
When she's gone, Stefan protests that she'll never take the blood to Damon. Klaus is all, "Oh well," like you are, when you're an invulnerable hybrid hell-bent on corrupting and destroying everything in that stands even adjacent to your path to establishing a master monster race.
Meanwhile, at Mossy Manse...
Damon: This is even more pitiful than I thought.
Recapper: I know, right? Last week's episode was totally more like a season finale.
Elena: There's still hope.
Buffy: She's right. I mean, in season 4, our true finale was episode 21, "Primeval" and then "Restless" was the denouement.
Recapper: Absolutely, but Buffy, you're getting soft. I mean, "As I Lay Dying" is a fine episode on it's own, but it's no "Restless" and really, I was expecting more from this show.
Buffy: Pssssst. Elena. Give Damon some smoochies. Cindy is a sucker for smoochies.
Recapper: Don't talk about me like I'm not even here. Besides if she smooches him without first wiping the sweat off his face, I'm gonna hurl.
Damon: You're ruining my dramatic death scene.
Recapper and Buffy (simultaneously): Oh please, like you're gonna die.
Damon: I've made a lot of choices that have gotten me here. I deserve this. I deserve to die.
Buffy: True dat.
Elena: No. Don't die. I need my admirers. I have my needs.
Damon: Here's where I get really mushy and say that it's all okay because if I'd chosen differently, I would never have met you. I'm sorry I've tormented you for two years. That just means I fancy you. I know you love Stefan and it will always be him, but I love you. You should know that. You should have met me in 1864. You would have liked me.
Elena: I like you now, just the way you are.
Buffy: Does she have amnesia?
Recapper: Little bit. It's the Evil Pixie Monster eyes. She can't help herself. Of all people, you ought to understand a woman who likes a little monster in her man.
Buffy: Touche.
Damon: Watch me pretend I'm not positioning my lips such that Elena will feel compelled (but not in a vampire way) to kiss me.
Recapper: Nice work, there.
Damon: I know, right? Even when I'm dying, I've still got it.
Recapper: Yes you do, EPM, but if she doesn't wipe some of that sweat off you, I'm going to lose my lunch.
Elena: Wimp. I'm kissing him just the way he is, because I like him just the way he is. Watch. *SMOOCH*
Recapper: Ew. That was both gross and too short. I mean if you're going to go there, then go there, darn it. In addition to feeling slightly queasy, I feel ripped off.
Damon: Thank you.
Katherine: Well, it's me you should be thanking. I'm the one who brought the cure. Hey, I thought Doppelganger girlie was dead.
Elena: I was.
Damon: You got free and you still came here?
Katherine: I owed you one, besides, I'm tired of all my boyfriends being in love with Mini-Me.
Elena: Don't call me that. I am just exactly as tall as you, because we're played by the same actress. And hey, how did you get in here? I'm the owner of Mossy Manse now and I never invited you in.
Writers: SHIT!
Recapper: Okay, this is taking too long. Back to regular format. Everyone ready? Let's go!
Giles: Wait. I was waiting for a more opportune moment, but since it appears I shall be denied one, I just want to state, on the record, that I'm really rather brassed off that the show is using the term Ripper, because, as this kids say, this is my verse, hello!
Recapper: Let's talk about that in private, honey. I've got a recap to finish.
Giles: Oh, very well.
When Elena asks where Stefan is, Katherine explains that he's traded his life with Elena, for Damon's life, because no matter how much the beautiful Brothers Salvatore might love their new girlfriend, they love each other even more. She's a little more subtle than that, but just barely. She then adds that it's a good thing Elena has Damon to keep her company. At the doorway, she pauses and turns back to address both her double, and those segments of the fandom who think this triangle is a battle ground, not a good story. "Oh. It's okay to love them both. I did." Hee. She tosses the bottle of blood to Elena, and slithers out. Damon sits up, and he and Elena try to take in what Katherine just told them about Stefan.
Warehouse of the Dead: Satan Klaus stands over Elijah who is lying in an open casket. "As promised, brother, you've been reunited with our family." When he closes the casket, he orders a minion to put Elijah with "the others" and exposits that they're leaving town tonight. Just then, Stefan gets a test from Elena: "Damon's okay. Where R U?" All right, so she writes out okay, but then uses R and U in place of are you? R U KIDDING ME? H8!!!!!!!!!!!11.
Stefan tells Klaus he won't be seeing Katherine again. Klaus totally knew she was on Vervain, and doesn't care. "She won't get far. You'll help me see to that." Klaus is all ready to leave town, but first, he wants to give Stefan a gift to celebrate their new alliance. It's a real, live girl. He wants to make sure Stefan will honor their deal and be of use to him. Klaus sinks his fangs into her neck first and then offers her to Stefan, as he says, "I could have compelled her to behave, but a real ripper enjoys the hunt." He lets the girl go, and she runs her little legs off, but Stefan Stealth-Salvatores right in her face, attacks her, and drinks 'til she collapses to the ground. In full game face, with blood pooling in his eyes and dripping from his mouth, Stefan still looks, to me, more tormented than scary. Klaus pronounces this all good, though. "Now we can go."
Gilbert Gables: Jeremy stirs when he hears someone in the hall. It's VICKI, but he doesn't see her. She follows him downstairs and we see Alaric sound asleep on the couch, which is sweet. I bet he couldn't make himself sleep in Jenna's bed without her. Awwww. When Vicki calls out, "Jer" Jeremy turns his head back toward the front door, but she's nowhere in sight. As he turns toward the kitchen, who appears in front of him but ANNA! When he looks behind him. He Vicki appears again. And we end the season on Jeremy's face screaming, "I don't want to be the stuffing in a dead vampire girlfriend sandwich." Title card.
So, are Anna and Vicki really back, or can Jeremy just see dead people? I'd be totally convinced it was the latter, except before he left his bedroom, one of those dead people cast a shadow on his door. Whatever. I just hope this means we'll see Jenna season. I liked both Vicki and Anna, and was sorry the show killed them off, but I feel they served their purpose in Jeremy's arc. Jenna's story never really got told, and Sarah Canning, in my opinion, could give us much more.
I kind of hope we see less of Katherine season. Don't get me wrong. Nina Dobrev is definitely this season's MVP. I never think about how it's one actress playing two characters when I'm actually watching them on my TV. She is Katherine. She is Elena. Katherine and Elena have nothing in common except for looks and Brothers Salvatore. Still, I think Katherine should be treated as seasoning, not a main course. I hope the show doesn't overuse her. I also hope the show isn't afraid to take Stefan to a really dark place. If he's all suffering and tormented, I'm afraid I'll get turned off. If you're going to make him Angelus, really make him Angelus show. Seriously, writers. Watch the second season of Buffy this summer and see what I mean. If Stefan's going to be the bad one, let him have a sense of whimsy about it. Don't send us to Depressionville for a year (see the rest of the seasons of Buffy and Angel).
Do you trust Sheriff Forbes' will truly turn from bigotry? Although I half expected her to stake or shoot Caroline when they hugged, I guess I do. It's just that she seems to have been won over so quickly. I guess there are some stories that aren't worth dragging out, though. But you know, I might have preferred that mother and child reunion if it had been left hanging from the proverbial cliff for the summer.
I could go on and on, especially about Elena and Damon, but I've already gotten one extension, and it's not fair to make you or editorial wait any longer. You can find me on Twitter, or email me at CynthiaMcLennan [at] gmail.com, and let me know your speculation about season and your opinion of this season. Please vote in the poll, grade the episode at the top of the page and then join us in the forum, where we'll think about the endless hiatus tomorrow, at Tara.
Get some early scoop on the third season from the show's cast.