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This is the third season of this show, so I shouldn't be surprised when they knock my socks so far off my feet this early on, but again, I am breathless. So much happened in "The Hybrid" that it's tempting to give you a weecap-length recaplet, but then what would I do for the weecap? So here's the skinny...
Elena hits Tyler up for werewolf intel. He explains that while some wolves lock themselves up like him, others go out to the wilderness, where they can run wild with abandon. He pinpoints a gathering point in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains that Elena figures must be where Klaus and Stefan are going on their Hybrid quest. Elena drags Alaric with her, by threatening to go alone if he won't accompany her. Alaric drops a dime to Damon who meets up with them, pushes Elena in a lake and then agrees to help them find Stefan.
Klaus and Stefan bring Currently-Dead-Ray to the spot where his pack congregates to greet the full moon. They're already hanging around in human form. As Klaus explains hybridism to the pack, Ray comes back to life. One of the she-wolves has her human boyfriend with her (really, Show, was he going to be kibble once they transitioned?) so Klaus has Ray feed off him to complete the transition from werewolf to vamp/werewolf hybrid, but Ray is bleeding from the eyes and his transition seems less than ideal. When he acts up, Stefan tries to control him. Ray bites Stefan and takes off. Klaus will only supply Stefan with his healing blood, if Stefan brings Ray back. While Stefan runs off after Ray, Klaus feeds the rest of the pack his blood and kills them, as steps one and two of his three step hybrid recipe.
Ray runs into Damon, Alaric and Elena. They scuffle and Damon ties Ray to a tree at one point, but his werewolf transition is starting, even though it's still daylight, so he breaks free. The gang tries to flee. Alaric and Elena make it to the car, but Damon gets caught behind. When Ray is just about to bite him, Stefan swoops in, pulls out Ray's heart and saves the day. He then reminds Damon he told him to stop following him. Damon says it would be easier to do that if Stefan would stop making late night phone calls to their girlfriend. Stefan tries to deny the silent, weepy call he made on Elena's birthday, but if you can't kid a kidder, then you certainly can't b.s. Damon. I'm just sayin'... Stefan had heard Alaric and Elena with Damon earlier, when he was hunting Ray, so he tells Damon to get Elena home and try to keep her there this time.
When Damon returns to Alaric and Elena, Elena is freaked until she's sure Damon hasn't been bitten. She's suddenly ready to go home. Once they are back home, Damon calls her out on this change of heart. Elena admits it's because Damon is vulnerable to werewolves, so she was fearful for his life while they were on the pack's turf. She wants to know why her reason matters to Damon, so he tells her: "Because when I drag my brother from the edge and deliver him back to you, I want you to remember the things you felt while he was gone." You can cut the sexual tension between these two with a knife, and yet it is clear how much they both love Stefan. Good show, Show.
In the B-plot, Carol Lockwood calls in back-up to help her deal with Caroline, who, you'll remember, she captured last week. That back-up comes in the form of Jack Coleman (HRG, Heroes) who, on The Vampire Diaries, is playing Caroline's father. After Tyler figures out that Carol is onto Caroline's vampyrism and has done something with her, he reveals his lycanthropy. He forces his mom to watch him transition from man to monster and back again. She has the expected change of heart, but when she calls Mr. Forbes, he seems far less sympathetic. Meanwhile, Caroline is chained up in some dungeon. When she hears footsteps approaching, she assumes it's Carol, and is shocked to find it's her daddy.
In the C-plot, Jeremy revisits the subject of Vicki's ghost with Matt and the two attempt to contact her. It works. She tells Jeremy they can bring her back. But after she disappears, smashing a Gilbert Gables window in the process, Anna appears to Jeremy and warns her that Vicki can't be trusted.
That's not even the half of it, because Klaus's plans to make the pack into his hybrid army go awry, and we get a shirtless Matt, so I'll be back with the full weecap ASAP. In the meantime, please grade the episode up top and join us in the forum, where Alaric is finally settling into a bedroom.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Well, I guess it's safe to say the third season of The Vampire Diaries is off to a strong start. Two years ago, I never would have imagined appreciating this show the way I do, and on so many levels. I thought I was getting CW cheese with pretty pretty people. Oh, the people are still pretty, and maybe getting prettier, and there's cheese, but it is so very much not individually wrapped processed American Cheese Food slices. I have to drop the cheese metaphor now, because I was just going to start waxing (sorry) about how this cheese has a rind, and what the heck would I even mean by that?
The "Previouslies" remind us that both brothers Salvatore are in love with Elena, you know, in case we watched the first two seasons with our hands over our eyes and our fingers in our ears, which is tricky, but you can manage it, if you count thumbs as fingers (some people don't and what's up with those freaks -- no, seriously, I've had arguments about this). I see you trying it, goobers. Stop that. People will point and laugh. They also remind us that Stefan martyred/is martyring himself in service of Klaus, in return for Damon's life, and that Klaus is a vampire/werewolf hybrid. Did we settle on "werepire" last season? Let's say we did. Jeremy has been seeing dead people ever since Bonnie brought him back from the dead. Caroline and Tyler have the supernatural hots for each other. Damon and Elena are tracking Stefan and find evidence that he's gone full blown Ripper, again, but Stefan still loves Elena enough to crank call her on her birthday, so maybe he's only 97 percent gone.
Mossy Manse: This week, we open on Damon watching a news report about Andie Star's death, to which he was an eyewitness, in the last episode. I'd feel worse for him, if he hadn't compelled her to be his chew toy in the first place, but I'd also be lying if I said I didn't feel a little sorry for him, because you know he was fond of her, and our Evil Pixie Monster's moral compass is never going to give us true north. Love is his only code, which -- when you dig down deep, may be true of Stefan and Elena, too.
Speaking of Elena, here she is. As Damon removes all the articles and such from his Stefan-stalking closet, Elena asks Damon why he's been dodging her calls. Damon: "Yeah well, busy dating my dead fake girlfriend and all." Elena: "Why didn't you tell me?" Damon: "Happy Birthday, Elena. Stefan killed Andie! Cake?" Hee. And you know, I love Elena, but it tickles me that she only cares about Andie's death for a second and only then because Stefan caused it, not because poor Andie is gone.
Elena tells Damon that Stefan called her last night. He didn't say anything but she knows it was him because she had Sheriff Forbes trace the call's origin. "It came from Tennessee." Damon reminds her what havoc Stefan is wreaking in Tennessee and says, "We went through this, Elena. Stefan's gone..." He tosses the Stefan-related news articles in the fireplace, and grabs the matches. "And I don't mean geographically." Elena: "If he was gone, he wouldn't have called." When she can't elicit a response from Damon, Elena leaves his room with her head hanging low. Damon lights a match and tosses it in the fireplace. The search for Stefan goes up in smoke.
Alaric's Loft: Alaric is in bed shirtless, and doesn't wax his chest, bless him. On the bedside table stands a nearly empty bottle with a label that I think reads bourbon. Huh. I thought he was a whiskey drinker. Maybe he already drank all the whiskey in Mystic Falls. He kind of looks it. When a loud knock at the door wakes him, Alaric holds onto his long suffering head. "Go away, Damon." The knocking persists. Alaric finally answers it, sees it's Elena on the other side, and then he zips up his pants. So...he was leaving them undone for Damon, then? Okee dokee. Elena demands to know what Stefan is up to in Tennessee. Alaric reminds her he "checked out" of "all this" the night before, but Elena is nothing if not persistent. He finally 'fesses up that Stefan and Klaus are tracking werewolves.
Smoky Mountains, Tennessee: Klaus and Stefan are hiking, because they're outdoorsy guys. You can tell by Klaus's...pallor. Stefan has Currently Dead Ray slung over his shoulders. Klaus's concern for Stefan cracks me up, considering he's hellbent on destroying everything that makes Stefan Stefan. "You know we've been walking for quite some time, now. If you need some water, or a little sit down..." Stefan: "You know, I get that we're stuck together, but if we could maybe just skip the chitchat, it'd be great." Klaus: "So much brooding. Your self-loathing is suffocating you, my friend." Stefan: "Maybe because I'm a little tired of hunting werewolves. You know, we've been at it all summer." They stop walking as they see the finish line. Klaus: "Well, thanks to our pal Ray, we've found ourselves a pack."
The camera cuts to reveal a sizable group of people setting up camp in the woods. Stefan, still wearing Currently Dead Ray like a shawl, takes the lead. Oh my word, is that guy Matt? Nope. Too scruffy. Is it Anthony Michael Hall? Nope. Too young. Do you know who I'm talking about? It's the guy who we'll soon learn is human. Am I the only one who thought it was Matt at first? Okay, guess so. The wolfgang starts to gather as Stefan approaches and drops Currently Dead Ray to the ground. A young woman rushes to him and kneels by his currently lifeless form. She says, "Who are you?" as she and Not!Matt glare at Stefan. Klaus is a glory hound, so he immediately sets her straight. "The important question is: who am I." He takes a beat to admire Currently Dead Ray, then adds, "Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus." Woman: "You're the hybrid." Klaus: "You've heard of me. Fantastic." You know, I miss Elijah because... mmm Elijah, but I am just loving to hate Klaus. Title card.
Lockwood Mansion: Carol Lockwood pours herself a little morning cocktail, takes a sip, then walks over to the coffee carafe and empties the contents of a vervain dart right into it. When Tyler enters the room, Carol encourages her son toward the coffee. He notices mom's beverage of choice and asks, "Rough night?" Carol says she's had a rough week, and I'm with you sister, but while cutting down on the caffeine is a smart approach, I'm not sure it should be replaced with boozing it up in the AM. Then again, my week really sucked, so perhaps we could go out for "coffee" and compare remedy notes?
As Tyler starts to leave the room with his still untouched cup of vervain-laced coffee, Carol calls out, "You know, if you're going to bring a girl home, I wish she'd have the tact not to sneak out like a prostitute." Tyler's tone is sincerely polite, but he doesn't grovel. "I'm sorry." When Carol mmm-hmmms him, he adds, "She snuck out?" I gotta say, I don't like that line, here. He went to bed with Caroline. He woke up alone. Did he imagine she danced out, shouting, "Goodnight, Mrs. Lockwood. Thanks for letting me bang your son. He's a hell of a ride." Whatever. Carol doesn't answer, so Tyler just says, "Hmmm," and takes a big gulp of his coffee. "Whoa." He looks in his cup as Carol holds her breath, then he says, "I think the cream's bad." Carol watches Ty carefully for a moment then heaves a sigh of relief that he's not a vampire. He misses all this, puts down his cup, kisses his mom and tells her not to wait up, tonight. As he reaches the door to the foyer, he turns back around to face Carol. His mouth is set just north of a sneer. He fights to keep the scowl from his brow. His voice is firm. "And Caroline? She's not a prostitute." Carol nods slowly. Satisfied by her reaction, Tyler and his goofy cargo shorts leave the room. Once he's gone, Carol sighs again, wipes her brow and picks up the phone. We close in on her face as she says, "Bill, it's Carol Lockwood. I've gotten myself into a bit of a vampire situation." I have never watched a minute of Jersey Shore, and yet I shudder at her words "Vampire Situation."
Soap Box: I'm not sure how old Susan Walters is. If her IMDb entry is to be believed, she graduated high school in 1980, so she's pushing 50, anyhow. I just want to give her props. She is a beautiful woman. I remember being struck by her looks when she first came to my notice in Elvis and Me (playing Priscilla Presley, which amuses me, given where I'm going with this). You know what I like best about Susan Walters' looks? What I like is that I can still look at her without cringing. You know why? Because she hasn't pumped her face so full of Botox, injectables and a bunch of other crap to the point where it seems ready to burst. I am not trying to claim that she's had no work done. I honestly have no idea. My point is, she looks real. Her face still has normal contours and moves the way a human face should. It's getting to where I can hardly look at most actresses over 35 -- not because they're aging, but because they're warping themselves into wax dummies. They don't look younger. They just look deformed. Ms. Walters' face is a pleasure to behold. I know there's pressure in the business to submit to these mad-scientists/dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons. And I'd imagine that when working with such a young, gorgeous cast that pressure must extra keen. So here's to you, Susan Walters, and your fabulous face. If you have had any tweaking done, your doc should be proud for not mucking you up. And while I'm at it, here's to the D.P., for realizing it's still a close-up worthy face. Okay, back to the show.
Grill: A shirtless Matt (thank you, Show) is changing into his work t-shirt by his locker when Jeremy walks in. Matt mocks the Germ for coming in on his day off, but Jeremy is there to clarify their conversation from the night before. He's not just "seeing" Vicki because he "wants" to. He's seeing apparitions of her, and he thinks they should look into it. Matt is skittish about this and suggests Jeremy talk to his witch-girlfriend, Bonnie, about this. Jeremy declines, because he wisely suspects his current girlfriend would not be real happy about helping him contact the spirit of his dead girlfriend. Besides, Jeremy's been researching this. "We don't need a witch, okay. There's examples all over the Internet." Go ahead and laugh with me and then I'll continue. You ready? Okay. "We need..." Jeremy takes a packet out of backpack and glances at it. "...personal items, and it works best when a family member tries to make contact." Matt has no desire to do this so Jeremy ups the stakes. "She said help me." Matt's beautiful baby blues fill with tears as Jeremy lowers his voice as he leans over the table at which Matt is sitting. "I saw her. She asked for help." He takes a seat. "You're the one she loved the most. If anyone's going to be able to help me connect to her, it's you." Matt picks up the packet and nods.
Out in the restaurant's dining room, Tyler is giving Elena a crash course in the full moon habits of werewolves. Some are solitary and chain themselves up at sunset, like him, but some like to gather where they don't have to do that, and can enjoy it -- places like mountains, deserts and state parks. When Elena asks if there's anywhere like that in Tennessee, Tyler takes her phone and pulls up a map. Jules must have given him quite the tour, huh? Elena says, "Thanks for this. I know it's asking a lot." Looking up a map on the Internet is a lot? Tyler: "As Caroline likes to remind me, Stefan's in this mess because I bit Damon. I figure I owe you one." A beat. "Have you...talked to her today?" Elena: "No, why?" Tyler: "Just curious." He hands back her phone loaded with a map of her best bet for finding a Tennessee werewolf pack.
Elena approaches Alaric, at the (say it with me now)...bar. You know we could make up a drinking game where we drink whenever Alaric drinks, but we'd never be sober again, and that's no good. (Are you getting my point, Alaric? And no, I'm still not calling you "Ric" because...just no.) Oh, I know he's drinking from a coffee cup, but he can't fool me. Elena wants Alaric to come with her for a little hike through the Smoky Mountains. Alaric has not killed so many of his brain cells that he wants to go looking for werewolves on the full moon. Elena shrugs this off and says she'll go it alone, because she knows how he'll react. When he glares at her, Elena says, "What? You're the one who told me I could handle things on my own, now." Alaric: "Yeah. I meant like... frozen dinners and S.A.T.s." He finally agrees. "But uh, you're driving." Good choice.
Smoky Mountains: As Klaus schools the pack on the benefits of hybridism, Currently Dead Ray gasps his way back to life or unlife or what have you. Klaus: "Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic." When Ray wants to know what's happening to him, Klaus tosses the metaphorical microphone to Stefan, who asks if anyone there is human. He explains that Ray needs human blood to complete his vampyric transition or he'll die. No one speaks up, but Klaus surveys the group and then turns to Not!Matt. "You!" He Stealth-Salvatores up to Not!Matt, bites his arm and tosses him to Stefan, who throws Not!Matt on the ground to Now Transitioning Ray. Stefan's voice is but a whisper. "If you don't drink it Ray, I will. The problem is -- I don't know how to stop." Meanwhile, Klaus grabs the only she-wolf who's uttered a word thus far and says, "It's the new order, sweetheart. You join us, or you die." Sweetheart says, "I'd rather die than be a vampire." Klaus puts on his (vampyric) game face and says, "Wrong choice." He then chomps down on his own wrist and presses the bloody wound to Sweetheart's lips. Back over at Not!Matt's gaping wound, Now Transitioning Ray finally sucks down on some human blood. Cut to Klaus. He snaps Sweetheart's neck, lets her corpse fall to the forest floor and says, "You'll thank me for that, later." His eyes are lupine now, but his vampire fangs are dripping with blood and he licks a little more off his finger tips and sighs in contentment. "Okay, who's ?" Commercial.
Grill: Matt and Tyler have a tense conversation when Matt comes over to refill Tyler's coffee, because Caroline stands between these former best buds, even when she's not on screen with them. Tyler's looking for her -- was expecting to meet up with her, but Matt says he doesn't keep up on her comings and goings these days. Tyler conveniently forgets what he and our beautiful Vampire Barbie were up to last night, so he can stop dancing around the subject and be direct (if not straight) with Matt. He says he never thought his friendship with Caroline would a problem for Matt. Matt's all: "It is what it is." Well Pudding Pop, it's way more than friendship, now.
Matt starts to walk off, but when he remembers tonight is a full moon, he turns back to Tyler and says so, adding, "She usually helps you." He's straight with Tyler, if not direct. That is, he doesn't quite come out and offer to see Tyler through his transition tonight, but implies he will in his subsequent questions. Tyler says, "I can handle it, but thanks," then takes a swig of his coffee and grimaces, saying something must be off with his taste buds, today. Matt: "It's the vervain. The sheriff has me slip it into the coffee here every once in a while." Tyler: "That's what vervain tastes like?" It's clear from his expression that he's remembering the coffee his mother gave him that morning. Matt: "Yeah, I'm surprised you can taste it. The coffee usually hides the flavor... for humans, anyway." Matt smiles as he walks off, but Tyler's not smiling at all.
Lockwood Mansion: Carol answers the door to find erstwhile TWoP Blogger Jack Coleman who most of you probably know as Noah Bennet aka HRG on Heroes. Mr. Coleman came to most people's attention when he played Steven Carrington #2 on Dynasty and The Colbys, but I remember him since he was Jake Kositchek on Days of Our Lives, a lifetime ago. That's back when Josh Taylor was playing Chris Kositchek, rather than the third or so iteration of Roman Brady. All right. I'll stop.
On The Vampire Diaries, Coleman is playing Bill, the guy Carol called earlier about her vampire problem. No one else knows he's there, because he was careful not to drive through town. When Carol goes to pour herself another drink, Bill says, "I think you should tell me what you expect me to do." Carol: "I was hoping you could tell me. It's Caroline, Bill. I remember the day she was born." Bill: "What does the rest of the Council know?" Carol: "I haven't said a word. I've been putting this together on my own for months, now. Any ideas how to handle this? I can't get my hands dirty here for a lot of reasons." Bill seems to be a close-talker. He moves way too far in on Mama Mulva. "She a vampire, Carol. We do what we have to do." At the end of this episode, recall this scene, the twinkle in his eye, and his near-smile. Then get the chills.
Smoky Mountains, Tennessee: When Alaric points out that the full moon will rise over the ridge in the distance in a couple of hours, Elena laughs. "You were a Boy Scout, weren't you?" Alaric: "Shut up." Elena: "A Boy Scout-slash-Vampire-Slayer?"
[Uh, excuse me, killing them professionally four 14 years running, or I guess 15 or 16, because I was killing them back in L.A. --Buffy]
[Uh, excuse me, you've got another gig these days, B. --Cindy]
[You still my girl? --Buffy]
[Always... except for right now, because I have to finish this Weecap. Go play with your plastic dream hair or something right now, m'kay? I'll see you, Tuesday. --Cindy]
Where was I? Elena. Alaric. Boy Scout/Vampire Slayer. Right. Alaric amends Elena's comment: "Slash whiskey-drinking all around lost cause." Oh Alaric. Take a Celexa, will you? Alaric stops, lays down his backpack full of weapons, and takes out a wolfsbane grenade and tells Elena to put it in her bag. She breaks out the John Gilbert Protect-o ring and asks him to wear it. I think this means they're engaged. Oh wait, Alaric isn't any of the points in this triangle, but these two do have chemistry. Just sayin'... Alaric says the ring is hers. Elena says since she's the doppelganger, it won't protect her. I always feel like this ring mythology is a little too specific. Alaric tells her to keep it for "future generations of stubborn, relentless baby Gilberts." Heh. Elena tells him to at least borrow it until after they survive this. "I'd feel bad if I got you killed before happy hour." While Alaric is fiddling with his backpack, Elena takes off her outer shirt and faces the river as she asks Alaric why he thinks he's a lost cause. Before he can reply, someone pushes Elena into the lake. Alaric spins around, cross-bow at the ready, but it's just Damon. Elena looks up and sees that it's Damon who pushed her. "Damon!" She turns her glare to Alaric. "You sold me out!" Alaric smirks. "You think I'd take you to a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon, without backup?"
Meanwhile over at Kamp Klaus, the werewolves have all been fed Klaus-blood and had their necks snapped, so Klaus feeds Not!Matt some of his blood to help him recover so he can help feed all the baby hybrids when they wake. Transition Completed Ray looks worse than he did when Stefan was torturing him at the Southern Comfort. He's sitting shivering, sputtering and sniveling on a log. Stefan asks Klaus if his master plan is to build an army of hybrid slaves. Klaus corrects him. "They're not slaves. Soldiers. Comrades." Stefan asks what war this is for. I think. It's hard to hear him over Transition Completed Ray's suffering. Klaus says you don't build an army after war is declared. "You build your army so big that no one ever dares pick the fight." Stefan asks how Klaus knows they'll be loyal. Klaus: "It's not hard to be loyal when you're on the winning team. That's something you'll learn once you shake that horribly depressive chip off your shoulder." Stefan laughs. "That's why you're keeping me around -- to witness my attitude adjustment?" Klaus's attention is diverted to Transition Completed Ray, who is doing worse with every moment. Klaus grabs his first born baby hybrid by the face and notes that he's bleeding from the EYES! I go throw up and return, in time to hear Klaus tell Stefan that he'll tell Stefan why he's keeping him around once he decides he needs to know." Stefan looks at Ray's bleeding eyes. I puke again. Stefan says, "That shouldn't be happening, should it?" Klaus: No shit, Sherlock (paraphrase).
Elena's still in the water and she's not coming out because she's...I dunno -- mad at Damon, and because she's a teenaged girl, I guess. When Damon orders her out, she refuses because if she gets out, they'll make her go home. Damon tells her again to get out, but she gives him a petulant, "No," so he strolls right in to face her. I'm not one of the people who hates this Stefan-Elena-Damon love triangle, but while I think this scene is, in part, meant to add to the romantic tension, to me, it doesn't work. Every time I watch Damon strut into the water, I get the giggles and by the time I've stopped, the exchange between Damon and Elena is over. Damon tells Elena she's an idiot. Elena tells Damon he gave up on Stefan. Bicker bicker bickerson. She begs him to please help her look for Stefan before the full moon. He finally relents. "Okay. Okay. But we are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait." Elena: "I promise." Damon: "Unless you want to revisit that whole deathbed-kissy thing." Elena: "I said I promise." Hee.
Kamp Klaus: Bleeding Eyes Ray is whining that he doesn't feel better even though Klaus said he would. Stefan leans against a tree, and a smirk plays on his lips. "Some master race." Klaus: "Lose the attitude." Just then, Sweetheart gasps and comes back to life. Klaus sends Not!Matt (whose name turns out to be Derek) to go feed his girlfriend. When Klaus grabs Not!Matt's already wounded arm, Bleeding Eyes Ray looks at it, snarls and zoops off further into the forest. Klaus orders Stefan to retrieve him. Stefan Stealth-Salvatores after Bleeding Eyes Ray and tackles him, so of course Bleeding Eyes Ray bites Stefan on the arm and runs off. Stefan starts out after him, but then he hears Damon and Elena still bickering on a nearby hillside and Alaric asking them if they're 12. As Stefan catches site of the Fellowship of the Falls, Klaus approaches him from behind. Stefan does what he can to deflect Klaus's attention and shows him the bite. If Stefan wants more of Klaus's healing blood, he'll need to go find Bleeding Eyes Ray. When Klaus returns to Kamp Klaus, he smiles at the sight of all his baby werepires waking up -- because he can't see Sweetheart's face, and that she's now Bleeding Eyes Sweetheart. Commercial.
Okay, this is nearly at full recap length and it's only a weecap, so I'm going to try to blaze through the rest of it. Hold onto your hats. And get one for Damon too, wouldja, because there's something weird going on with his hair. After the break, we're at the Lockwood mansion. Tyler finds Carol in the study and wastes no time getting to his point. "You put vervain in my coffee, this morning. [...] Let's skip the part we pretend we don't know about the vampires in this town. You were testing me to see if I was a vampire. I want to know why." She says she did it because he's been spending so much time with Caroline, and when he questions her on this, Carol is as blunt as her son. "Let's skip the part where we pretend she's not one of them." As Tyler demands to know where she is, Carol keeps telling him he can't be with Caroline. "She's a monster." Tyler: "You don't know about me. Do you?" Carol: "Know what, Tyler?"
Smoky Mountains, Tennessee: Damon warns that the sun is about to set, but Elena reminds him the moon won't reach its apex for a while after that. They have time. Their argument is cut short when they meet up with Bleeding Eyes Ray, who looks at Damon and snarls, "Vampire." As Bleeding Eyes Ray and Damon scuffle, Alaric shoots our new werepire in the back and Elena tosses the wolfsbane grenade to Damon, who sets it off it Bleeding Eyes Ray's bleeding-eyes-face. Alaric identifies him as a werepire, but since Bleeding Eyes Ray is down for the moment, we cut to...
Mystic Falls; Donovan Garage: Jeremy and Matt go through Vicki's things. Jeremy seems particular attached to a certain tank top. Matt laughs as he wonders if Vicki's pipe would make a good item to use when trying to contact her. He then finds a Christmas picture of him and Vicki when they were little. Matt can't deal. He lays the picture on a crate, face down, and tells Jeremy that he can't do this. "You gotta go." Jeremy walks out and the light sort of dims for a second. When Matt turns around, the picture of him and Vicki has righted itself.
Smoky Mountains: The Fellowship of the Falls ties and chains Bleeding Eyes Ray to a tree, and douses the ropes with vervain for good measure. Alaric says they'll never make it to the ridge before the moon rises. Elena suggests that if they question the werepire, they may not have to. But then Bleeding Eyes Ray starts turning into a wolf, even though it is still daylight. The Fellowship's surprise at this sort of takes me out of the moment, because Alaric has already proclaimed Ray a werepire, and they all researched this nonsense last year, so they should know (already do know) that one of the benefits to being a hybrid as that the vampyric bits of the beast are no longer vulnerable to the sun and the werewolf bits are no longer beholden to the moon, but whatever. Damon stands right in front of Bleeding Eyes Ray, and holds back his shoulders, I guess because the ropes might not hold. Elena freaks though, and says they to leave now. At first Damon ignores her, but she insists until he listens to the little of bit of reason that falls from her lips this week.
Kamp Klaus; Nightfall: All the baby werepires have fed off Not!Matt, so Klaus finishes him off. When Bleeding Eyes Sweetheart rounds on Klaus he warns, "Careful, love. There's only one alpha, here." It's then that he stops to take a good look at all his Bleeding Eyes Babies. He realizes they're far less like him than they are zombies. Klaus: "Bloody hell." That's bloody-eyed hell, Satan Klaus.
Woods: The Fellowship is still on the run, but then Elena trips and falls. [C'mon you guys. I took back the night years ago. Must we regress? Couldn't you have had Alaric fall instead? It would make more narrative sense. He hasn't been sober in months. --Buffy] Damon warns Elena not to move, because Now A Wolf Ray comes out of nowhere and faces off with her while she's still on her hands and knees. Damon calls out, "Here, doggie doggie," and the Stealth-Salvatores further into the woods. Now A Wolf Ray zoops off after him, leaving Elena to get to her feet in one piece. She wants to wait for or find Damon, but Alaric says they have to keep moving. Elena refuses, because if Damon gets bitten, he's dead. "I'm the reason he's out here." Alaric corrects her. "I am the reason he's out here. I told him where we were, and I'm telling you to keep moving. Let's go.... Elena, now!"
Lockwood Dungeon: Tyler drags Carol down to the family lock up, secures her behind bars, chains himself up and forces her to watch him transition. "You think Caroline's a monster. I'm the monster, mom... Me, Uncle Mason. It's in our blood. It's a family curse." Oh Uncle Mason! I miss that gorgeous hunk of brick house. Can he haunt Jeremy too, please?
Woods: Damon is wandering alone, when he hears a twig nap behind him. Ray is no longer in wolfy form. He's back to being Bleeding Eyes Ray. He charges on Damon and they fight. As Bleeding Eyes Ray's teeth get closer and closer to Damon's skin, things do not look good for our Evil Pixie Monster. But then Stefan swoops in, pulls out Bleeding Eyes Ray's heart through his back, and saves the day. Yay, Stefan! Damon says, "Fancy meeting you here." Stefan reminds Damon he told him not to follow him. Damon tells him to take that up with Elena, adding, "If you don't want her chasing you, I'd stop with the late night phone calls." Stefan raises his eyebrows, which was my dad's tell when he was fibbing. "I didn't call her." Damon: "Sure you did. She's not gonna give up on you." Stefan says, "Well she has to, because I'm never coming back. Why don't you get her home? See if you can keep her there this time." Oh Stefan, be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. Commercial.
SUV: Elena and Alaric wait inside the car. Elena: "Stefan's out there somewhere, and now Damon, and we're just sitting in this car?" I love Elena, and I love that she's ruled by her heart, but she's just being dumb right now. What the hell are she and her History teacher going to do against what might be -- as far as they know -- a whole pack of werewolves or even hybrids? At least Damon has speed on his side and can Twilight his way up a tree, if need be. Alaric says, "Let the vampires fight the hybrid zombie mountain man. I'll take care of keeping the humans safe." Elena: "I thought you were checked out of taking care of people." Alaric tells her not to start; this doesn't have to be a lesson. When Elena continues to try to talk him out of his clinical depression, Alaric cracks, "Boy are you a sucker for a lost cause, or what?" Alaric, for Elena, no cause is worth taking on until all is lost or appears to be. I mean... it's like you never met. Elena says he's not a lost cause, he's just lost like her and Jeremy. They have no one. He has no one. The three of them are good for each other. Alaric looks at his ring. "I'm keeping the ring, then." Elena smiles.
Damon finds them and Elena jumps out of the car to inspect him. Damon hustles her into the car and she accuses him of being a caveman. Stefan watches from up on a hill. Elena catches sight of him from the corner of her eye, but when she turns to take a good look, he's gone again.
Gilbert Gables: Matt shows up with an apology, a six pack, and a bunch of Vicki's stuff. He knows Jeremy is one of the few people who really "got" Vicki. "I don't know what we're going to do with all this, but here." He gives him a backpack. Jeremy fetishizes the tank top for a moment and then tells Matt how he was compelled to forget Vicki's death. "So whatever my last moment was with her, I don't have it." Matt says, "I don't, either. I don't remember the last moment I had with Vicki, before she was a vampire -- when she was still my sister." Jeremy gets this look on his face, and at first I think he's going to tell Matt that he's watched too many monster movies and that whole "fiend that wears his face" deal is not how vampyrism works in their world (because it's not), but no. Jeremy senses Vicki. He spins around as she says, "Matty?" Matt knows something is going on, but he can't see Vicki's ghost. Jeremy confirms to Matt that she's there and then asks Vicki how he can help her. Vicki says, "I can come back. Help me come back." Before Jeremy can respond, Vicki is gone and a window breaks. Matt wants to know what's going on, but Jeremy can't answer him before Anna appears and tells Jeremy, "Don't trust Vicki." Commercial.
Kamp Klaus: Stefan stumbles back wearing Permanently Dead Ray like a shawl, again, and finds Klaus sitting forlornly amongst the corpses of his baby werepires. Klaus says, "They went rabid. Some of them I killed. The others just... bled out. In the end, they're all dead." He then throws a hissy fit and screams that he did everything he was told. "I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelganger." Oopsy doopsy. She didn't stay dead. He then looks at Stefan who must have left his poker face back in the woods. After a pregnant pause, Klaus tells Stefan he looks like hell. Stefan reminds him that he's dying and all, and that Klaus doesn't seem to want to heal him. He tells him that he had no choice but to kill Permanently Dead Ray, adding, "I failed you. I'm sorry. Do what you have to do." Klaus is still lamenting his babies. "It should have worked." He puts a few paces between himself and Stefan, then bites into his palm and squeezes it like a juice orange, 'til his blood pours into an empty beer bottle. Handing it to Stefan he says, "Bottoms up. We're leaving. It appears you're the only comrade I have left." It appears Klaus needs a better working definition of comrade. Stefan takes a swig of the Klause Kure, and tosses the bottle aside. I'm thinking he should have saved it for the time he gets bitten. Waste not, want not, Stef! He doesn't listen. He just follows after his master. I expect him to develop a hunch back, a limp and a vaguely Eastern European accent, any day now.
Gilbert Gables: Elena finds Damon standing in her room, looking out the window. He's vaguely offended when she asks if he's drunk and gives her the crazy flavor of his eye-thing. "No. I thought Stefan was gone, but I was wrong." Elena didn't realize he'd seen Stefan in the mountains and asks if he's okay. Damon sighs. "No. He's not okay, Elena. He's an insufferable martyr who needs his ass kicked. But he can be saved." He tells Elena, "I changed my mind, because even in his darkest place, my brother still can't let me die. So, I figure I owe him the same in return. I'll help you bring him back." When she thanks him, Damon says before he does anything, he needs her to answer a question. "What made you change your mind? [...] You were so hellbent on staying on that mountain and then you just gave up. What made you change your mind?" Elena can't quite meet his eyes as she answers him. "We were under attack, Damon." Damon says, "You had a bag full of weapons and a teacher with an eternity ring. You could have kept going." When Elena answers that it was too dangerous, Damon says, "It was too dangerous going out there to begin with, so what was it? He keeps hounding her until she comes clean. "I didn't want to see you get hurt, okay? I was... I was worried about you." Damon smiles, eye-things at her, and starts to leave. Before he's out of the room, Elena asks why he even needs to hear her say that she worries about him. Damon turns to face her. "Because when I drag my brother from the edge..." he moves in closer, "...and deliver him back to you..." He puts his hands on either side of her head. "I want you to remember the things you felt when he was gone." Elena's eyes travel from his eyes to his lips and back again, but she says nothing. Damon caresses her hair, says goodnight and starts off. Alaric is on his way upstairs (with luggage -- yay, he's moving in) as Damon's on his way down. Alaric watches Damon depart and then looks at Elena who can't quite meet his eyes, either. After a moment he asks, "Know what you're doing there?" Elena shakes her head and sighs. "No. I don't."
Lockwood Dungeon: Tyler is naked and in chains again. His nether regions are hidden behind an upturned whiskey barrel. He looks over to the still-caged Carol who is watching her son with tears in her eyes. "I'll take care of it. I'll make sure nothing happens to her." Tyler thanks her, and she nods and smiles through her tears.
Morning at the Mansion: Carol calls Bill and says she thinks they made a mistake. Bill wants to know why there's a sudden change of heart. When Carol suggests her guilty conscience, Bill says, "Don't feel guilty. They're not human. They're monsters." Carol asks what if they're wrong about that. Bill says his family has been fighting this fight for 150 years. "You married into it, so maybe you don't understand, but I do. I know what my obligations are." Carol tries to stop him, but he hangs up.
Random Dungeon: Caroline is just coming to. She's chained to a chair and can't escape. When she hears footsteps she yells out, "Hello? Mrs. Lockwood?" She continues screaming for help until Bill enters her cell. He looks down at her and says, "Hello, Caroline." She looks up, and hope now mingles with the fear in her voice. "Daddy?" Dunnnnnnn.
Okay, I totally saw that coming with Bill being Caroline's father, but not until he was on the phone with Carol that last time. I know some of you knew it all along. I still think it was a pretty sharp ending to an incredibly involved episode. I can't help but think back to Bill's first in-person conversation with Carol. He's as serious as a heart attack, and yet there's a bit of eagerness to handle this problem, even though he knows his target is his own daughter. I'm pleased that, as has become customary with this show, Tyler was upfront with his mother about his lycanthropy and about the vampire situation in Mystic Falls. I get so tired of TV shows where the characters never say the key things real people would say, were they in their shoes. I'm glad to see Elena got through to Alaric, and that he's not only back at Gilbert Gables, but ready to take over a bedroom. I feel vaguely unsatisfied about the conversations between Stefan and Damon, both last week and this. I feel like there should have been something from Damon proposing a plan to free Stefan, even if Stefan would refuse it, thinking it was too risky where Damon is concerned, but there have only been two episodes, so maybe I'm just impatient. I wish I could say more now, but I'm out of time, and my back is still unhappy when I stay upright for too long, so I'm packing it in.
This Thursday's episode is called "The End of the Affair." Hmmm. I haven't even seen a description yet, so I think I'll just roll that around in my mind, 'til Thursday. I'll be back Friday morning with the recaplet. In the meantime, please grade the episode up top and join us in the forum, where Alaric is finally settling into a bedroom. Now if we could just get him to shave!