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Well, that was a thing, huh? There's no way to sum it up in a recaplet, so let's stick to the highlights. In "The Ties That Bind" we learn some more about Meredith (whom I still don't trust). Tyler works with Bill Forbes to break Klaus's control over him. Bonnie and Elena search for Bonnie's mother.
Bonnie's been having dreams about the fourth coffin and realizes she needs the mother who abandoned her 15 years ago, if she's going to unseal it. Elena and Bonnie go off to meet Abby Bennett Wilson, but Klaus has already sent a hybrid down to lean on Abby and Jamie, the young man Abby has been raising since his own father abandoned him. Learning Abby took in someone else's child, when she couldn't stick around and raise her own, is every bit as painful for Bonnie as it sounds. Kat Graham, making hay while the sun shines on her character who too often lies fallow in the shadows, does some lovely, subtle work.
Although Elena lies to Stefan and tells him she and Bonnie are just going to the Lake House, Stefan knows better and meets them at Abby's. Because Jamie has been compelled by Klaus's hybrid, he shoots Stefan with wooden buckshot and ties up Elena. Elena questions Jamie until she's nearly free of her ropes. When she finds out he's also been compelled not to hurt her, she uses this to her advantage and complains that the ropes are, in fact, hurting her. Jamie goes to examine her, so our girl breaks free, grabs his shotgun and knocks him out. She then digs the buckshot out of Stefan's torso. Thank goodness, she's not a damsel, yet again. I love it when Elena is fierce. I'm struck though, by the image of her hands covered in Stefan's blood. This is the second time in three episodes that Elena has had blood on her hands. Is it foreshadowing, or just a powerful image?
Abby drugs (well, herbs) Bonnie, and takes her out to meet Klaus's hybrid on the side of some dark road. She explains that if Bonnie doesn't tell her where the coffins are hidden, Jamie will kill himself, because the hybrid has compelled him to do so. Bonnie refuses at first, because she says this situation is bigger than the two of them, but then her mom texts herself and shows her phone to Bonnie. It reads, "Warn your friends." Their story ends, this week, with Abby offering to help unseal the fourth coffin.
Back in Mystic Falls, Damon gets the warning, but only has time to move one casket before Klaus shows up at the Witch House, so he chooses the magically sealed fourth one, and hides it. Klaus retrieves his sibling's caskets and brings them back to Klaus Haus, to be with Rebekah's casket, but Damon is a tricksy devil. He pulled the dagger out of Elijah before Klaus got him back. Elijah awakens, kills one of Klaus's hybrids, then asks, "So Niklaus, what did I miss?" Whee!
The most compelling (sorry) parts of the episode are (as mentioned above) the scenes between Bonnie and Abby, and the scenes between Stefan and Elena. While digging the buckshot out of Stefan, Elena tells him she kissed Damon, and prefaces her admission by saying she's not making it because she feels guilty about what she did, but because she feels guilty about keeping it secret.
Stefan is not wearing any masks this week. He is hurting and Elena surely knows it. He apologizes for kidnapping her and threatening to drive her off Wickery Bridge, saying he went too far. Oh silly Stefan, she kissed Damon before that even happened. You went too far when you were willing to let Jeremy die, rather than end your vengeance quest against Klaus.
Stefan tells Elena she can't be lying to him, like she did today, not while Klaus is still alive. Elena knows this. She just wanted to give Bonnie time with her mother, without everything else getting in the way. Stefan says, "Without me getting in the way." When Elena tells Stefan she hadn't planned on kissing Damon, Stefan says, "You're better than him, Elena. You're better than both of us." Well, yeah, on account of not being a blood-sucking fiend.
Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev have great chemistry in this break up scene. It's not presented as a break up, but that's what it is at its core. Elena has finally let go, and while there's regret and sorrow, there's also relief and acceptance. "The Ties That Bind" fulfills every promised evoked by the title. I know I singled out Graham, Wesley and Dobrev, but the whole cast brings their A Game to this moving (if somewhat crowded) story. Bravo, show.
In other news, Tyler works with Bill Forbes to try to break his sire bond to Klaus. Klaus gets the dead witches to unveil the caskets by threatening to end the Bennett line. Damon tries to figure out what Dr. Meredith Fell is up to, and Alaric and Meredith kiss. Oh and Stefan chooses a unique way to reveal to Damon he knows about the kiss with Elena. I'm not even skimming the surface, here. I'll cover it all, in the full weecap, which will be up ASAP. In the meantime, please grade the episode up top and join us in the forum, where we have Tyler, in chains.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Elijah is back. Bonnie knows Damon and Elena kissed. Elijah is back. Stefan knows Damon and Elena kissed. Elijah is back. Klaus retrieves three of his four coffins. Elijah is back. An awful lot happens in this emotionally resonant episode, so you're probably expecting another one of my recaps (or even a mega-recap like last week), but I am turning over a new leaf. It's an actual weecap or bust. Stop laughing and pointing, you fresh kids. I mean it this time. I really do.
Have I mentioned Elijah is back? He doesn't return until the very end, so let's beat a hasty path to our sweet, sweet reward. I'm mostly going to attack this episode plot by plot, rather than tell the story in the order in which is appears on screen, because I am serious about this being a weecap. (No snickering.) Let's start with our Evil Pixie Monster, shall we?
Damon sees Alaric with Dr. Meredith Fell. When he realizes Meredith is the dead Medical Examiner's ex, Damon decides to gather some intel on her, to protect his BFF Alaric (who still can only just tolerate being in the same room with him). Damon finds Meredith at the hospital. He makes it clear he's suspicious of her, so she dopes him with vervain and then draws some of his blood.
Meanwhile, Tyler turns to Caroline's father, Bill Forbes, to get help resisting his sire bond. Bill thinks the root of the bond is Tyler's gratitude to Klaus for releasing him from the monthly agony of transitioning into a werewolf. He chains up a (shirtless, bless) Tyler and orders him to turn. If Tyler owns his pain, he will no longer feel indebted to Klaus and the sire bond will be broken. Tyler gives it his all, but is in so much agony, Caroline wants to let him rest, before he tries again. Tyler knows he has to go through with this. He doesn't want to endanger her or anyone else again. He eventually tells Care Bear she has to leave.
Once his little girl is gone, Bill gets tough with Tyler, who can't quite make himself go through with the transition. And when I say tough, I'm not exaggerating. Bill takes an axe to Tyler, and even cuts into his lovely flesh a few times, in an attempt to both intimidate him into complying and to anger him (thereby inducing his transition). Either Tyler forces himself to complete the bone-breaking transition, or Bill will kill him. Tyler, the poor noodle, is determined to break his bond to Klaus (and to be fair to him, he is so determined, not just because of Bill's threats, but because it is the right thing to do).
As Tyler starts to unleash his inner-wolf, he breaks free of his chains. He warns Bill to run, but Bill doesn't get out in time. In full wolf form, Tyler attacks Bill. You know, I've been biting my tongue over this chain-restraint method for a while, because shirtless Mason, or shirtless Tyler in chains? There's no bad there. But I can no longer be bought off so easily (especially since Mason is gone), so I'm just going to speak my mind. Chaining up a lycanthrope before he transitions is plain old dumb, because even if the chains hold (and it seems like the seldom do), once the transition is complete, his bonds -- his ties that bind if you will -- will be too loose on him, anyhow. What they need is a cage. Someone call Giles and Oz to clue-stick these nitwits, okay?
Alaric goes to the hospital to ask Meredith why she doped Damon and took some of his blood. Just then, a dying Bill Forbes is wheeled in. Meredith brings Alaric with her, to Bill's room, and lets him see her dose Bill with Damon's blood. "You wanted to know my secret. I cheat. I'm a doctor, and I hate when people die." Later, when Ty checks up on Bill, Bill informs him that he has to keep transitioning, until he can do so without pain. It is then that the sire bond will be broken. Ty says he can't put himself through that, again. Bill tells him he will, because until he is free of Klaus's influence, Bill won't let him anywhere near Caroline.
Meanwhile, Bonnie has been having nightmares about being locked in that fourth coffin. She finally dreams that someone releases her. It is her mother -- the mother who abandoned her, fifteen years prior. I'm thinking more and more that the coffin in question must house the corpse of the Original Witch, yes? Anyhow, with Damon's help, Bonnie and Elena locate Abby Bennett Wilson. Damon can't resist kissing and telling, so when Bonnie notices the tension between him and Elena, he blurts out: "We kissed. Now it's weird."
Klaus, as usual, is one step ahead of the Fellowship of the Falls, and sends an advance team to Ms. Wilson's house. There, a hybrid compels her sort of step-son, Jamie, to kill himself, if Abby fails to get the location of the coffins from Bonnie. While Bonnie and Elena are on the road to Abby's, Stefan calls and asks where they're going. Elena, who wants Bonnie to be able to reunite with her deadbeat mother, without having to deal with a bunch of vampire crap, lies that they're going to the Lake House for a little retreat until they find out where Bonnie's mom lives. What Elena doesn't realize is that Stefan is calling her from her house. He's looking right at the information she left on the table, and knows they're already on their way to meet Bonnie's mom. I sort of hate that both of these guys are getting the jump on our girls.
When Elena and Bonnie get to Abby's, they first meet up with the very-easy-on-the-eyes Jamie. He's not Abby's son, nor any blood relation (Elena makes woo-hoo eyes at Bonnie when they learn this). Jamie's dad was involved with Abby for a while, but ended up being a deadbeat, so when the dad took off, Abby took in Jamie. Wait, so Bonnie's deadbeat mother left her own daughter and then took on some other deadbeat's kid? Ouch, Bon. That's gotta sting. When Abby gets home, she gives Bonnie and Elena some more back story.
Abby and Miranda Gilbert (Elena's mom) were best friends. When Elena was three years old, Mikael the Vampire Vampire Slayer came to town, looking for the doppelganger. Abby tells Bonnie that she used up all her magic, and nearly died, to desiccate and entomb MtVVS, and save her BFF's little girl. Once Abby recovered and realized her magic was gone, she decided to stay away from Mystic Falls, and start a new life. I have to hand it to the show, here. They could have given Abby a noble reason for abandoning her child, but they decided to go for the pain. Ms. Wilson could have returned to her daughter. It seems she didn't stay away to protect Bonnie, or anything worthwhile. She made a selfish choice. Poor little Bon-Bon. (I do hope they don't negate this pain with some future explanation. This is a brave writing choice and enriches Bonnie's character.)
When Abby and Bonnie's conversation gets heavy, Elena steps outside to let the ladies have their privacy. She is then confronted by Stefan. They start arguing. Jamie comes out and tries to intervene. Stefan gets rough with Jamie and compels him to go inside. Jamie walks off. Elena blasts Stefan, telling him she doesn't think he has a clue about how bad he's gotten. Part of me agrees, until I remember YOU'VE KNOWN FOR MONTHS THAT STEFAN RIPS PEOPLE APART AND PUTS THEM BACK TOGETHER LIKE A JIGSAW PUZZLE, SO IT'S A LITTLE BIZARRE THAT COMPELLING A GUY TO GO IN HIS HOUSE PROMPTS THIS CONDEMNATION, ELENA. Ahem.
Jamie returns with a shotgun and unloads wooden buckshot into Stefan's torso. He then ties up Elena, with her own set of ties that bind. That's because he has already been compelled by Klaus's hybrid, as mentioned before. When Bonnie hears the gun shot, she runs to the door, but Abby grabs a handful of herbs and puts her hand over Bonnie's mouth. The herbs incapacitate Bonnie and mute her magic. Abby drags poor little Bonnie outside. Jamie helps Abby get Bonnie into a car. Abby then drives off to meet with Klaus's hybrid.
It is dark by the time Abby and Bonnie meet with the hybrid. As they're getting out of the car, Abby tells Bonnie that Jamie will kill himself, if Bonnie doesn't give up the location of the coffins. This alone, does not sway Bonnie, who explains to her mother that this situation is bigger than any of them. The hybrid is standing a bit away from them, so as Abby continues to plead her case, she stealthily types a text into her phone that reads, "Warn your friends." So while it is not shown on screen, it seems that Bonnie texts Damon (and probably Elena, and maybe even Stefan) before giving up the location of the Original caskets.
Abby's Abode: As Elena tries to break free, she talks to Jamie to find out exactly what else he was compelled to do. He is supposed to kill himself, if Bonnie doesn't give up the location of the coffins. He's also been compelled not to hurt Elena. Elena is back to her fierce self, so she tells Jamie the ropes are hurting her wrists. That's my good, smart girl. When Jamie gets close enough to check on her, she breaks free, grabs his shotgun and knocks him out. Yay! No damsel, this week. She rushes to Stefan's side and asks what she can do. He tells her the wood is scraping against his heart. He needs her to remove it.
Which House Witch House: Damon enters the cellar of the Witch House, to find the coffins are gone. Klaus comes in after him. "What took you so long?" We cut to commercial. After the break, Klaus says, "Hiding behind your witchy friends..." He surveys the basement. "...And in squalor, no less." The 100 dead witches do not take kindly to Klaus's criticism of their domestic arts. The candles flare, and Klaus is brought to his knees, with a mystical migraine. Damon smirks. "Insulting a bunch of dead witches? Not smart. I made the same mistake, the first time I came here." Klaus's voice is strained. "The funny thing about witches -- is that living or dead -- they care about their own." He hits the floor with his hand and growls, before he continues. The witchy whispering starts up and it sounds particularly angry. Klaus talks over it. "A hundred dead witches have a thousand living descendants." Are they counted in the Census? Sorry, I just... Yeah. Klaus raises his voice. "I have no problem, killing every last one of them, if I don't get my coffins back." He's finally back on his feet. "As we speak, my hybrid friend is prepared to end the Bennett line." The whispering stops. The candles dim. Klaus closes in on Damon and says, "Now..." He looks toward the ceiling. His voice is soft and he forces himself to be polite. "Please, show me the coffins." And there they are. One. Two. Three. Oh, but no Four. Burn.
Klaus asks Damon, "Where's the fourth?" When Damon doesn't answer, Klaus screams, "Show me," at the ceiling. Damon says, "Well, here's the thing. They can't. It's not here." Klaus asks Damon what he's done. Damon: "Well, Bonnie gave me the heads up. I didn't have enough time to get all four, but I did have time to get one." Klaus threatens to tear Damon limb from limb. "And only then, when you're a writhing mass of blood and flesh, will I rip your heart from your chest." Damon is unimpressed. "Sorry. Same rules apply. Leverage and all. I know you want your family back, but something tells me you want what's in that coffin a lot more."
Abby's Abode: Elena starts digging the wood out of Stefan's chest. It's as gory as it sounds. It's also painful. The mean part of me hopes Elena is enjoying that part of the job. Stefan tells her she's changed -- that she's stronger, now. Elena says, "You're not the only one who changed, Stefan. We all had to." Stefan: "That's good to know." With his blood still on her hands, Elena chooses this moment to tell Stefan that she kissed Damon. And that's how she says it: "I kissed Damon," which is telling, because early on in the episode, Damon tells Bonnie about the kiss. Once the girls are on the road, Bonnie asks about it, and Elena words it differently. "Damon kissed me." I'm glad she's owning her own willing participation in their decidedly not one-sided kiss, particularly in this conversation with Stefan. Once Stefan is free of the wooden buckshot, he gets up and walks off, without saying anything.
Elena eventually goes after Stefan. He apologizes for kidnapping her, forcing his blood on her, and threatening to drive her off Wickery Bridge -- he says he went too far. I wonder if he thinks she kissed Damon after that, because oh no, Stefan. She kissed him well before the moment you think you went too far. You went too far, when you didn't care if Klaus killed her little brother, if caring meant it would mess up your wacky Coffin Contrivance vengeance quest. Anyhow, Stefan then says, that Elena shouldn't have lied to him, today. She knows. She just wanted to give Bonnie a moment with her mother, "Without everything else getting in the way." Stefan: "Without me getting in the way." His smile is sad as he considers her face. Elena finally says, "I didn't plan on kissing him." Stefan: "You're better than him, Elena. You're better than both of us." Well yeah, because she's not a blood sucking fiend. He then gets in his car and drives away. I go into more detail in the recaplet, but suffice it to say, it finally feels like they've had their breakup scene. Elena has severed the ties that bound her to Stefan. There's sorrow and regret, but there's relief and acceptance, as well. Hats off to Dobrev and Wesley.
Sidebar: When I first watched the episode, the above scene frustrated me. All I could think is, "Why haven't these two been worried about Bonnie?" Seriously. Why didn't they rush out to look for her as soon as all the wooden buckshot was out of Stefan, rather than having their (admittedly beautiful) heart-to-heart? I guess, since Damon got the heads up from Bonnie, before Elena started digging the wood out of Stefan, that maybe Elena got a text too, but it's never shown or referenced. I love the breakneck pace of this show, but sometimes, like now, the story suffers for it, because when I was watching the first time, it bothered me that Elena and Stefan weren't at least talking about finding Bonnie. While I appreciate that the show seldom writes down to the audience, I think it could stop for a breath, every now and again.
Anyhow, when Stefan drives off, leaving Elena (alone, in the dark, again), we cut to Bonnie and Abby. The hybrid is long gone. The first thing Bonnie says is, "Elena's on her way." And she has a spare set of keys to your car, Bon? Sorry. Continue. "Jamie's safe. He's a little bruised, but he's safe." Bonnie can't believe Abby would go so far for this young man who isn't even her family. Abby: "He is my family, Bonnie. I know that might be hard for you to hear, but he is, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about you. I want to help you." Bonnie says, "You can't. You don't have magic, and I don't trust you." Good choice, honey. Kat Graham deserves a standing ovation for her work in this episode.
Abby confesses that when she put MtVVS down, her magic didn't disappear all at once. It drifted away. The longer she stayed away from her daughter, the weaker she got. "I think nature was punishing me for abandoning you." She thinks Bonnie can help her get her magic back. She doesn't want it any more, but if it's what Bonnie wants, she will do it for her. So, Abby? You stayed away from your daughter so you wouldn't have to live as a witch anymore, knowing full well she was (or probably would be) a witch? You left her to deal with this thing you found so terrible, without you? Wow. You totally suck. Yeah, you're trying to help now, but wow.
Gilbert Gables: Alaric brings Meredith back to house and shows her his weapons cache. "You told me your secret. This is mine." When Meredith says, "You're a vampire hunter," Alaric corrects her. "Semi-retired." He doesn't want there to be any secrets between them. She asks how he survived his fatal injuries when he was hit by the truck. "Was it vampire blood?" Alaric says, "That and uh this ring protects me from death at the hands of supernatural beings." Oh Alaric, maybe there should be one or two secrets, or not secrets, just truths you plan to reveal at a later date, particularly since the ring is on the fritz. Meredith touches the ring. "A vampire hunter who can't be killed by vampires. Convenient." She tries to take the ring off Alaric's finger, and she's not delicate about it, either. Alaric stops her. Meredith asks if he's worried she's a supernatural being. Alaric's face is inches from hers. "Well, one can never be too careful." As soon as they start to kiss, Elena walks in. She apologizes, but Meredith says she has to go.
Once they're alone, Alaric sputters out an apology. Elena tells him it's okay. Alaric: "Elena, please, this is not even my place. It's your place. It's Jenna's place. It's your family's place..." Elena stops his awkward, guilt-ridden rambling. "The minute you slept on that couch, it became your place, too. We needed you and...and you stayed, so thank you for that. Hey look. I know it's hard, but Jenna's gone, and you're allowed to move on." Yeah, but I still agree with Damon's assessment that Meredith is a psycho. They don't care what I think. And besides, Elena knows she's talking about her own situation with our beautiful Brothers Salvatore. I can't decide, looking at Alaric's face, whether he senses that, too.
Mossy Manse: Stefan returns home to find Damon standing before the fire. Damon tells Stefan he was only able to get the locked coffin out, before Klaus learned where the coffins were hidden. Stefan says, "Probably a good choice." Damon says, "You know, if you're banking on Bonnie's mama to help you, you're probably screwed. She doesn't have any powers." I wish I could aptly describe Paul Wesley's demeanor in this exchange. Stefan is calm, but his eyes, while not full of tears, are extra shiny. He doesn't quite scowl, but there's tension in his face. His voice is measured, but there's an edge to it. I think Damon feels what's going on, but he's willing to let it lie, if Stefan is. Anyhow, when Damon tells him about Abby's lack of power, Stefan says, "Ah, it doesn't surprise me. It's been that kind of night." He gives a forced, small, fake smile to Damon and turns away from him. Damon asks, "Is Elena okay?" Stefan stops in his tracks. His face says: I wanna. No, don't. Wait. Why the hell not? He turns back around and gives big brother a right hook in the face. Damon isn't knocked all the way down, but he doubles over. As he grabs his left cheek he groans. "Oh, I take it you two had a heart to heart." He straightens up and looks at Stefan. "And I take it you don't want to talk about it. Noted." Damon reaches behind his back and pulls out one of the Original "Killing" Daggers. "So why don't we talk about this?" Stefan looks at it. "What did you do?"
Klaus Haus: The Hybrid of the week (his name is Daniel, which I don't think I mentioned at all, but there you go) wheels the three wooden caskets into the room where Rebekah's metal casket lies. "Well, you've got your family back, finally. Are you gonna open them?" Klaus says, "Not quite yet. I still have some unfinished business to take care of," as he starts to walk out of the room. The hybrid asks, "What business?" Klaus turns to face him. The hybrid's face contorts in pain. He yells as he falls to the floor to reveal ELIJAH, who is holding the hybrid's bleeding heart in his hand. Klaus nearly jumps out of his skin. Elijah savors the moment. "So, Niklaus..." Klaus's voice is a whisper. "Elijah?" Elijah, still holding the heart, takes a couple of steps towards his half-brother. "What did I miss?" I don't know, honey, but we sure missed you. Welcome back. You look a little peaked. You should have some blood, so you're back to your full handsomeness, when the show returns on February 2, 2012.
Hey, this is halfway-ish between a weecap and a recap, so I think I win. Yeah? Okay, at least I've placed. Before I go, I want to revisit my speculation that the fourth coffin probably contains the Original Witch. Bonnie's dreams, especially this last one, with her being locked in the coffin and needing another witch to get her out, support this opinion. It's still my favorite, theory. That said, as I mentioned in the recaplet, when I saw Elena's hands covered in blood (after her little Stefan surgery), it took me aback. This is the second time in three episodes, that we've seen Elena with blood on her hands. Is it just a powerful image, or is it foreshadowing. If it's foreshadowing, does it mean Elena will be responsible for an upcoming, important death? Could it be something else? Both times, the blood on Elena's hands have come from a supernatural creature (the hybrid who ran down Alaric, and now Stefan). I'm wondering if this image might be referencing the Original Petrova, rather than Elena, herself. If so, perhaps it is the Original Petrova, who lies in that sealed coffin. I really can't decide. What do you think?
Well, we've got an extra week's wait until the new episode, but at least it's a week full of Elijah anticipation. Until then, please grade the episode up top and join us in the forum, where we're trying to magically cloak that dagger, to ensure no one ever again sticks it in Elijah's broad chest.