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Alaric's a temporary Original. Rebekah tells Klaus they need to get out of town. When he says he wants to collect Elena first, the Beckster tells him he needs to leave now, with her, or he'll have no family left. Klaus is okay with that -- and who can blame him? Why any of the Mikaelsons even talk to each other is beyond me.
Vamparic kidnaps Caroline and orders Elena to meet him at the school. If she tells anyone, Caroline will be dead meat. The fierce but ridiculously reckless Miss Gilbert does not tell anyone, because the writers want us to think she's too stupid to live. Meanwhile, Klaus shows up at Gilbert Gables, looking for his doppelganger hybrid wet nurse. It's only then that anyone realizes Elena and her giant white cell phone are missing. What? You didn't think she was going to leave it behind -- all vulnerable to Stefan the Cell Phone Slayer.
Vamparic uses Elena and Caroline to lure Klaus and the Salvatores to the school, where he is torturing our poor Care Bear! Thank you, Show, for making me okay with Alaric's death. Bonnie proposes using the desiccation spell Abby cast on Mikael -- to disable Vamparic. My word, why didn't anyone think of that before, and use it on Klaus and kin? Vamparic doesn't have a daywalker ring, by the way, so the Fellowship of the Falls has about eight hours to fail… as we know they will.
Abby Abandoner returns and tells Bonnie that to desiccate Vamparic, she must magically stop his heart. To do that, she also needs to stop a human heart, because witches are all about "balance." I'll be hitting this in the full weecap, believe you me.
Meanwhile, over at MFHS, Vamparic is trying to reeducate Miss Elena, such that she'll start killing vampires, and stop kissing them. He wants her to start with Caroline. Elena manages to vervain him in the face and free our Vampire Barbie, who escapes. Elena is less fortunate. Klaus and the Salvatores arrive. They're juiced up on Bonnie-blood, so that they'll be connected to her. Bonnie will stop a protect-o ring-wearing Jeremy's heart, while they make contact with Vamparic's blood, which, because of the Bonnie-blood link, will allow her access to his heart. Vamparic breaks the Salvatores' necks. Klaus manages to injure Vamparic. Bonnie starts her spell, but when Vamparic throws Klaus off, Bonnie loses access.
Elena realizes that Esther tied Vamparic's life to hers. She threatens to kill herself, so that Vamparic will stand down. Somewhere in there, Klaus manages to grab Elena and Stealth Salvatore her to Klaus Haus. He decides to bleed her dry. He'll end up with a good batch of doppelganger blood and Vamparic will be out of the picture. Klaus orders Tyler to help. Tyler tries to resist, and at first, it's not clear if he's still laboring under the sire bond or just playing the game. When the Salvatores wake from their broken neck naps, Alaric orders them to do what they do best: save their girlfriend.
Back at Klaus Haus, Tyler gets a moment alone with Elena. He tries to free her. Klaus catches him and realizes true love has trumped his sire bond. Just as he tries to rip out Tyler's heart, the Salvatores ride to the rescue. With Tyler's help, they hold down Klaus. Stefan sticks his hand into Klaus's chest. We cut to Bonnie who goes all Dark Willow, stops the Germ's heart and desiccates Klaus, instead of Alaric. Awesome.
The Salvatores take Elena home. Elena apologizes to them and explains she doesn't mean to string them along. She just knows that if she chooses one of them, she will lose the other from her life and she's lost too many people she loves. Call me crazy, but to me, that signals that she's leaning toward Damon. I mean, let's face it, if she chose Stefan, Damon would be pissed for a while. He'd act out, and then he'd get over it, because he's a huge Stefan/Elena 'shipper. Now, where was I?
Oh, here I am. Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline, Tyler, Matt and Señor Tequila are waiting for Elena. While they failed to desiccate Vamparic, they've been waiting so long to beat Klaus that a victory bash is in order. As the kids party down, Stefan and Damon drive Klaus's corpse out of town. When the brothers are alone, they agree that if Elena chooses one of them the other will leave town without a fuss. They can catch up in 60 years, when Elena dies. They don't articulate those last three words, but it's what they mean.
Meanwhile, Vamparic has summoned the Council to a meeting at the Mayoral Mansion. He outs Carol and Liz as monster aiders, abetters and mothers. I hope these people have taken their vervain. I don't mind if they cooperate with Ric because they either fear him or agree with him, but I'm a little tired of compulsion. It's too consequence-free.
Anyhow, once their friends have left Gilbert Gables, Elena and Jeremy have a heart-to-heart. She understands that, in theory, Vamparic is right. He should just kill all the vampires, but she doesn't want to let Caroline, Tyler, Abby, Stefan and Damon die, so she's willing to be the bad guy. The Germ is willing to be the bad guy too, because he fears that were Vamparic to cleanse the town of blood sucking fiends, he would then commit suicide by murdering Elena. Little bro is not willing to lose big sis. He is willing to leave her long enough so that he can shower. Once Elena is alone, she winces in pain and passes out. Blood drips from her nose and...Title Card. Grrr argh.
"Before Sunset," moves at the breakneck pace typical of The Vampire Diaries. While I have a couple of canonical quibbles, they pale beside my delight that this seemingly immortal Original storyline will be put to rest, at least temporarily. I love the solution of desiccating Klaus, because it leaves a door open for Joseph Morgan to return, but also gets rid of Klaus for at least a little while. The show needs to detox from its Original addiction. I'm not spoiled, but I keep thinking there are only two ways to defeat Vamparic. If you don't want to read my speculation, avert thine eyes.
Now that we're free of those people so spoiler-phobic that they can't even bear unspoiled speculation, let's talk. The only way to stop Vamparic is to either desiccate him too, or kill Elena. If I were king of the forest (or Julie Plec), I'd choose that second option. Elena can either wear Jeremy's ring, or someone can vamp her. Here too, I'd chose the second option. Okay, granted, I just remembered that the gang thinks the ring won't protect Elena, since, as a doppelganger, she's a supernatural, rather than purely human. But even if that weren't the case, I'd choose it because Elena is in some physical danger already. Feed her some vampire blood to heal her, then kill her. Alaric will die and Elena will be a vampire. Her willingness to be the "bad guy" seems to foreshadow this. Furthermore, if/once Elena is a vampire that opens the door to letting her have a relationship with Damon, without it wounding the Salvatores' brotherly bond as deeply as it might, were Elena human. I'm just thinking aloud. No matter what happens, we'll have to wait 'til week to find out.
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 we never have a day without any vampires in it.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!I hate the idiot chick who wrote the recaplet, because she put way too much in it, and left me sitting here thinking, "What the heck am I supposed to say?" I'm going to take a page out of Damon's book. No, I'm not going to kill her, because if she dies, I die, and this house is way too dirty for me to pack it in, right now. I can already hear the in-laws: "Maybe she died of shame." I mean I'm going to wing it like an Evil Pixie Monster. You ready? Okay.
MFHS, Alaric's Classroom, Day. The camera pans past all his visual aids. It looks way better than any history classroom in which I was ever made to sit. Schools should have set decorators. Temporary Original Vampire Alaric, i.e. Vamparic, is sitting with his feet up on the desk. He turns his head when he hears someone coming down the hallway.
It's Caroline. This week's Event O' the Week involves cleaning up after last week's Event O' the Week: the 1920s Decade Dance. Care Bear is on the phone with Tyler. He won't be helping the cleanup committee (I lost a third grade spelling bee on the word committee, so it's now that one word I'm sure I know how to spell). Klaus called and asked/ordered/sire-bonded Tyler into packing up Klaus Haus. Yes, Klaus is moving out of Mystic Falls. Woo hoo! Don't get me wrong. I would watch a series based on all the Originals. I just don't want The Vampire Diaries to be that series. Anyhow, Tyler's pretty cocky. He's no longer pouting that Klaus drew Caroline that OMG YOU + PONIES sketch, because Tyler has a clue this week and knows Caroline loves him best. He's also cocky about the fact that he's no longer sire bound to Klaus, which makes me worry that perhaps he is.
After Tyler and Caroline exchange I love yous and end their call, Caroline hears a bang. She maybe also detects some vampire Stealth Salvatoring across the hallway. When she gets to the cafeteria, Caroline learns from Rebekah that the cleanup committee has been reduced to the two of them. Matt got called into work. Both of our blonde beauties are, as you can imagine, thrilled to have some alone time. Rebekah gives Caroline crap for being two minutes late and manages to pout that she arrived on time to clean up after the dance (yet another) that she didn't even get to attend. This is where Caroline can relate to Rebekah. It wasn't all that long ago that she too was a petulant puss who only cared about school events, achievement and getting a boy to like her. What makes Caroline trump Rebekah by a factor of a thousand is that it only took her weeks to go from whiny teenager to awesome vampire. Rebekah's had somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand years, and she still can't woman up. Caroline offers an inept but sincere apology to Rebekah -- about her mother. And to give the Beckster her due, she apologizes to Caroline about her teacher because he seemed like a nice guy. Caroline: "Yeah. He was."
Rebekah sets off to get to work on the gym, but is intercepted by Vampiric in the hall. Becky: "You're supposed to be dead." Vampirc: "I am." She Stealth Salvatores at him, but he grabs her and pushes her against the lockers. Before he can stake her with the Indestructo Son of White Oak stake (ISoWOs), Caroline arrives on the scene. She pushes Alaric off Rebekah and into the lockers. The two girls shove the stake into his chest, and while it doesn't feel good, it doesn't kill him. This is my first mythology itch of the night. If/since Esther made him like her children, we do not need yet another unkillable super vamp. He should be vulnerable to the same weapon that will kill his prey. Yes, I know, by episode's end another way or two to kill Vampiric will be revealed, but I still don't like this mythology. And I don't have to, so there.
As the girls skeedaddle, Vampiric pulls the ISoWOs out of his chest. Cut to Caroline running to her car. No, I don't know why she didn't just Stealth Salvatore to someone's house. Vampiric hasn't been invited in anywhere, yet. As she fumbles with her keys, Vampiric comes up behind her, grabs her and breaks her neck. As he drags our Vampire Barbie back into the school, his flesh sizzles. Huh. I would have expected Esther to make him a daywalker ring. I've seen some people ask why he didn't just take Caroline's ring while he had her unconscious. The daywalker ring mythology that was laid out when Lexi came to visit Stefan for his birthday made it seem as though a daywalker ring will only work for the vamp to whom it was given. Now, I don't know that Ric ever learned that, but he did hang with Damon a lot, so maybe it came up over a bottle or three. Title Card.
Gilbert Gables: Jeremy and Elena are painting Alaric's old room, which was probably Jenna's old room, which was probably Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert's old room. Personally, I'd nail the door shut and be done with it. Stefan walks in and decides to play foreshadowing fairy. "Going darker, huh?" Elena plays along. "It's the only color we had." Oh dear. Jeremy snarks about Elena deciding to paint their dead guardian's room in the middle of the night. Elena just needs to keep busy. When Stefan offers to help, the Germ is all so, are you guys back together, or something? Stefan is just there to check up on them, after everything. Jeremy: "Well, if you're trying to be the good guy again, why don't you do the right thing and give us one day -- just one day without any vampires in it?" After he storms out, Elena tells Stefan that Jeremy didn't mean that, but Stefan says he did. Of course he did.
They're interrupted by the door bell ringing. Stefan heads downstairs to answer it. It's Damon, holding a weak-looking Bonnie, still in her flapper finery and bleeding from the neck. Master of the Obvious, Damon: "We have a problem." We cut to...
Klaus Haus. I'm somewhat plagiarizing that idiot who wrote the recaplet. Rebekah tells Klaus about Alaric and says they need to get out of town, now. When Klaus says he wants to collect Elena first, the Beckster tells him he needs to leave immediately, with her, or he'll have no family left. Klaus is okay with that -- and who can blame him? Why any of the Mikaelsons even talk to each other is beyond me.
Gilbert Gables. As Stefan gives Bonnie a dish towel to hold to her bleeding neck, Damon updates him on the Vampiric situation. Bonnie says she had no idea what was happening. The witches led her to Alaric. That's too bad. I wouldn't have minded it if Bonnie had made her own, impetuous choice, but whatever. When Damon sneers one too many times at Bonnie, she says, "If you are so upset with me, why did you feed me your blood to save my life?"
Wait, what? Doesn't vampire blood heal a person, pretty much instantly? Here's my mythology itch #2. Am I remembering wrong? I mean, it brought Bill Forbes back from the brink of death. Elena's had it before too, as have Vicki and Caroline. Why is Bonnie still bleeding and holding that flipping towel to her neck? Oh, Show, if I'm wrong, I apologize, but I think this is another case where you're going too fast for your own good.
Anyhow, Damon answers, "Because I do stupid things, Bonnie." Hee. "I do things, like let my friend die with dignity, when I should have just killed him." Here's the third itch, when I'm barely through scratching the second. Would it have been possible to kill Alaric after he was resurrected by vampire blood? Here's the process as we know it: A person drinks vampire blood. That person dies while the vamp blood is still in his system. The vampire blood resurrects him. To complete the transition, the resurrected vampire-human must drink blood. If he doesn't, he will die. I should have caught this last week, but it seems strange that a vampire-person is killable while the vampire blood is still in his system. I'm over thinking it, aren't I? Anyhow, talk turns to how to kill Vamparic. Bonnie knows there must be a witchy workaround; she just doesn't know what it is.
Elena is still upstairs and unconcerned by the fact that her doorbell rang, Stefan went to answer it, and then never told her who was there. It's then that Elena gets a call on her cellphone. Her giant white cell phone. It's like if an iPhone and an iPad had an iBaby, made by AT&T. The caller id informs her that the call is from Alaric. Answering the call, Elena says, "Whoever this is, it's not funny." Vamparic: "Who else would it be?" Vamparic informs Elena he has Caroline. If she wants to keep her friend alive, she'd better haul ass to the school, now. If she tells anyone, Caroline will be dead meat. We cut to...
Downstairs. Jeremy's in the front hall when the doorbell rings. It's Klaus. Stefan comes to the door and tells Jeremy to go to his room. When Jeremy just stands there, Damon adds, "Now." Klaus mocks Stefan and Damon for being two more in what's now becoming a line of Jeremy's questionable father figures. He tells them he knows all about Vamparic. He's just there to collect the doppelganger hybrid wet nurse. Damon tells him he can't help him, and the boys shut the door in Klaus's face. Stefan goes upstairs to get Elena, but she's gone. They update Bonnie on the situation. Klaus is still wandering around outside. He picks up a newspaper and with great force, hurls it at one of the Gilbert Gables windows. It crashes through. Stefan, Damon and Bonnie hit the deck. Outside, Klaus menaces us into commercial.
When Elena arrives at the school, she finds Vamparic and Caroline, the latter of whom is gagged. Pencils are stuck through her hands and into the desk top. Elena tells Vamparic to let Caroline go. He tells her to do it herself. When Elena tries, Vamparic stops her. She protests, so he answers, "How many times do I have to tell you, Elena? STOP TRUSTING VAMPIRES!" So she shouldn't trust you, right? Ugh.
Gilbert Gables. Klaus is outside shouting threats. When the gang continues to refuse him access, he heads across the street and grabs a soccer ball and a few fence pickets from a neighboring yard. Inside, the boys and Bonnie realize Elena's car is gone. Bonnie asks why she wouldn't have told them she was going out, but before anyone can offer speculation on that fact, Klaus hurls the ball at the door. It flies open. He mounts the front stairs and hurls a picket at Damon, who ducks just in time. The picket pierces the wall. Stefan orders everyone to get down, but Damon stands up and yells, "Missed me!' Hee. Klaus throws another picket through the doorway. It just misses Damon, who catches it and launches it back toward Klaus. Klaus throws the third picket. Damon: "Missed me, again!" The phone rings. Stefan grabs it and says, "Alaric?" We cut to...
Gilbert Gables, Exterior. Klaus heads back toward the house with a propane tank in one hand and a flaming newspaper in another. Stefan comes outside and tells Klaus that Alaric has Caroline and Elena. He's going to kill them both unless Klaus turns himself over to them. They need to work together and figure out a way to put down Alaric. Klaus and Damon mostly spend their time thinking up ways to get each other killed. Finally, Bonnie comes to the porch with an idea. She can use the desiccation spell that Abby used to immobilize Mikael the Vampire-Vampire Slayer (MtVVS). Holy crap, Bonnie. Why didn't you think of using that against Klaus as soon as Abby told you about it? Why didn't I? Sigh. Bonnie says she'll get the spell, but she will still need a lot of vampire muscle to take down Vamparic, including Klaus's. Klaus sighs then points out the sun sets in about eight hours. Oh good, so they'll have a lot of time to fail.
MFHS. Vamparic dips Caroline's gag in liquified vervain before he puts it back on her. Caroline begs for mercy. Elena tells him to stop. He pushes Elena down in her seat and explains how the vervain gag keeps the vervain in Care Bear's system. "It's like inhaling razor blades with every breath." Her skin sizzles as he gags her. I am not recapping this torture porn. Sorry. Vamparic wants Elena to kill Caroline and put her out of her misery. When Elena refuses, he reminds her that she once wanted him to teach her how to kill a vampire. She could be a hunter, but she still hasn't staked one in the heart. Hey, shut up, Vamparic. She daggered an Original, even before she took your little killing course. Commercial.
Mossy Manse. Damon and Bonnie are waiting for Abby Abandoner, but Damon doubts she'll be there. She arrives pretty quickly. Bonnie thanks her for coming. Abby says she didn't think Bonnie would ever want to see her again. Bonnie: "It's urgent."
MFHS Parking Lot. Klaus and Stefan arrive on the scene. Stefan gets a text informing him Abby just showed up. Klaus: "Good, perhaps this plan won't be an epic failure after all." He goes on about how even if the plan works, he's still leaving town and taking Elena. Stefan: "I'll go with you." There's no catch. He'd do anything to make sure Elena's safe. Klaus says that's what makes Stefan the better option. He really just wants to twist the knife about Elena's feelings for Damon though, and Stefan knows it. He tells Klaus that whenever he tries to come between the brothers, it has the opposite effect. Go Team Salvatores! Klaus laughs and suggests he'll let Elena decide which Salvatore should accompany them. Stefan tells Klaus to go for it.
Mossy Manse. Damon offers Abby a glass of blood as a peace offering, but she silently refuses. Bonnie tells her about Vamparic and says she wants the desiccation spell. Abby says Bonnie's magic comes from the earth. It's pure. This spell is dark. Bonnie can't handle it. Damon says he's Team Bonnie. Abby explains that the spell will stop a vampire's heart. The blood stops flowing. The body desiccates. The problem is, to stop a vampire's heart, you need to find a balance among the living -- i.e. a living victim. Stop the presses. This is mythology itch #4, right? Yeah. The whole fricking reason Esther has been in torment on the other side for a thousand years is because she disturbed the balance of nature by creating the Original Vampires and accidentally creating the Original Hybrid. Now you're telling me that killing a balance-of-nature-upsetting Original would upset the balance of nature? Ugh. Just ugh. Damon asks Bonnie what Abby is talking about. "I don't speak witch." Heh. Bonnie does speak it. "I have to stop a human heart."
MFHS, Exterior. Jeremy's sitting on a picnic table when Bonnie and Damon arrive. Bonnie, Elena, Caroline just got a GPS application on their phones, so that they can always find each other. Bonnie says they're in Alaric's classroom, so the vampires should enter the school through the south entrance. Are there GPS apps that specific? I have no clue. I'll just pretend it's a magical GPS app. All better now. Damon's intrigued by the technology. "Huh. A digital locator spell. Why the hell do we need you, then?" All right, I laughed, but I still wish Bonnie would give him a mystical migraine, just because. Damon demands Jeremy's ring. When he refuses to turn it over, Damon plays exposition fairy and explains that Jeremy's died at least once or twice while wearing the ring. Damon doesn't want another psycho killer on his hands. Jeremy says, "This is my ring. Elena is my sister. No one is going fight harder for her, than me." Damon's all: "Fine, be stubborn. Try not to kill him, Bonnie." Where were they going to get a random, willing human, anyhow? It's not like they brought Pudding Pop along.
When Klaus and Stefan arrive, Bonnie gives the three supernaturals a vial of her blood to bridge them all together. Once the guys are juiced up on Bonnie-blood and she stops Jeremy's heart, the fang gang can use her power to stop Vamparic's heart. They need to make a physical connection to his bloodstream -- a vein, artery or something connected to his heart. As Stefan drinks he says if one of them gets a clean shot, that one should take it. The other two can hold Vamparic down. Klaus tells them it's time to get on the same page. He created their bloodline. Killing him will kill the Salvatores, Caroline, Tyler and Abby. Damon doubts his veracity. Klaus tells him to call his bluff. Stefan gets them back on mission and leads them toward the school. Jeremy and Bonnie exchange a look.
Classroom. Vamparic is still trying to manipulate Elena into killing Caroline. He derides her sense and morals. Elena asks how torturing Caroline is right. Vamparic reminds her that Caroline has taken human life, and confessed that she enjoyed it. He goes on about how Elena's folks led the Council. It was their life's mission to keep Mystic Falls safe, and she undid it all in six months. Does she think they'd be proud of her? He tells her that if she doesn't side with the humans, she's just as bad as the vampires. "Now kill her or I'll do it for you, and I'll make it hurt." Elena manages to both vervain Vamparic in the face and free our Vampire Barbie, who escapes. Elena is less fortunate.
Klaus finds a fleeing Caroline in the hallway. He covers her mouth and whispers that it's okay and that she's safe. He tells her he and the brothers will stop Vamparic and save Elena. Caroline is to go directly home and not go outside. His concern for her makes our girl a little breathless. When he asks if she understands him, Caroline nods and thanks him, in a throaty voice. Klaus is more moved than he cares to be. He Stealth Salvatores away.
Down another hallway, Vamparic is beating up Elena. He gets her in a trademark Vampire Diaries throttle and tells her he should kill her like he did M.E. Brian and Bill Forbes. She's the worst offender of all and doesn't deserve to live. Elena says there's obviously no humanity left in Alaric, and asks what's stopping him from killing her. He vamps out, but shakes off his game face and lets Elena go. You can see her doing the math in her head, but before she can say anything else, Stefan and Damon swoop in and grab Vamparic. Vamparic breaks the Salvatores' necks, so they're down for a little while.
Klaus arrives and thrusts his hand into Vamparic's chest. Vamparic screams. Bonnie, now linked to Klaus, begins her spell to stop the Germ's heart, but when Vamparic throws Klaus off, Bonnie's spell goes kaput. Back in the school, Vamparic is just about to thrust the ISoWOs into Klaus's heart when Elena screams at him to stop. If Vamparic doesn't let Klaus go, she will kill herself. She holds something sharp to her neck. "...You still need me alive. There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal. She tied your life to a human life -- mine. That way, you have only one lifespan to kill all vampires and then you'll be gone. So, when I die, you die too. That's it. It has to be." Klaus is silent and wide-eyed as he takes this all in. Vamparic says Elena is wrong. She says, "Am I?" She starts to scrape the sharp object (I can't see what that is -- a shard of glass, maybe) across her throat. When she draws blood, Vamparic screams at her to stop. He's so distracted, Klaus is able to throw him off. He scoops up Elena and Stealth Salvatores her out of the school. Commercial.
Klaus Haus. Klaus has a compelled phlebotomist or someone siphoning off Elena's blood. He will drain her to death. Tyler comes in. He wants to help Elena, but Klaus orders him to go fetch more blood bags. Elena begs Tyler to get Stefan. Klaus orders him to get the bags. Tyler tries to Stealth Salvatore to Elena's side. Klaus grabs him and tells him to forget the girl and get the bags, now. Elena looks so disheartened when Tyler obeys. Once he's alone with Elena, Klaus tells her that this sort of death is completely painless. Once the last drop of blood is drawn, she'll simply fall asleep.
High School. The ringing phone wakes Damon. Now, is that Stefan's phone, or did Tyler decide calling Damon was a better plan? Choose whichever answer makes you happier. Vamparic orders Damon to get up. Stefan starts to wake. Vamparic barks at him to get up too, and tells the boys that Klaus has Elena and is going to kill her. Stefan knows Klaus prefers to have Elena alive, so Vampiric explains how Esther bound his life to Elena's. Since he's trapped in the school until the sun goes down, Vamparic orders the Salvatores to go do what they save best: save their girlfriend.
Klaus Haus. Elena grows weaker. She asks Klaus what he'll do about his hybrids. He'll need more blood than he can drain from her to create an army. Klaus says what he gets from her will have to suffice. Then he plagiarizes Stefan. "You see, by attempting to kill us, my mother strengthened the bond between my siblings and I. I don't need hybrids. I have my family." Elena knows pants on fire when she smells them. "If you believe that, then why take my blood at all? You want a backup family. You know that your siblings will never trust you again." Klaus bites back that Stefan blames him for coming between him and Damon. "But I think we both know who really came between them. You. That's why you won't choose. You know once you pick a Salvatore, you'll destroy that bond." He zoops over and gets up in her face. "Consider this me doing you a favor. Once you're dead, you won't have to choose. No broken hearts. Their family stays intact." Elena groans. Klaus continues: "But just between us girls, who would you have picked?" Elena tells Klaus to rot in hell. He replies, "You're welcome. Sweet dreams, Elena. It's been fun." Commercial.
After the break, Tyler finds Elena alone, struggling against her bonds. He rushes over and starts to untie her. Elena asks what he's doing. He shushes her and then Klaus returns to the room. "So much for that sire bond." Tyler: "I'm not your little bitch, anymore." YAY! Someone call Care Bear! When Klaus asks how he broke the bond, Tyler explains the forced transformations, and that he did it all for the girl he loves. Klaus says that's impossible. Tyler: "Is it? Or maybe real love is stronger than fake loyalty, but what would you know about that?" Klaus blabbers on about how he gave Tyler a gift by taking away his misery. Tyler yells, "You didn't give a crap about me. You just didn't want to be alone." He returns to Elena and starts to help her out of the chair. Klaus rushes at them, knocking the chair back. The camera lingers on Elena's head as it hits a table. I think she's knocked unconscious.
Klaus grabs Tyler and tells him goodbye. Just as he tries to rip out Tyler's heart, the Salvatores ride to the rescue. With Tyler's help, they hold down Klaus. Stefan sticks his hand into Klaus's chest. We cut to Bonnie who goes all Dark Willow and stops the Germ's heart. Back at Klaus Haus, Klaus stares into Stefan's eyes as he loses his strength. Damon turns from the scene and goes to Elena's side. She's awake. He helps her to her feet. Stefan is not unaffected as he watches Klaus desiccate.
Back in the woods, Bonnie looks like she's kind of getting off on this spell. Let's stick a pin in that and hope it means a storyline for Bonnie season. When she realizes Jeremy is dead, she hovers her hands over Jeremy's chest, as if she's going to start CPR. Instead she starts chanting -- trying to save his life. Writers, Bonnie was a lifeguard, and there was a whole episode where Matt drowned himself so that... You know what. Never mind. There's one more episode after this one and then we have a whole new season before this. I don't have it in me to get indignant. (BUT TRY REAL CPR, DOOFUS!) When chanting doesn't work, Bonnie still doesn't try CPR. She tries shaking the Germ by the shoulder. Um. Then she kind of punches him in the chest, but not in the right place. She screams his name and finally he wakes. I think it's clear the show wants Jeremy to be resurrected by the ring, so that he too is in danger of having his dark side take over. I'm down with that. I just think that by having the CPR-by-chanting bit in there, the show calls too much attention to the fact that a lifeguard doesn't try real CPR when the magic doesn't work. I would have preferred if she just waited for the ring to bring him back. Whatever, he's back now. He sits up. Bonnie presses her forehead to his. We cut back to...
Klaus Haus. The desiccation is complete. Tyler and Damon are already leading Elena out of the room. Stefan lets Klaus's body drop to the floor. Remember when he was Satan Klaus? Now he's just Desikklaus. None of these fine strapping young men pick up this poor young woman who has just been drained of her blood. Stefan remains behind for a moment and takes a long look at Desikklaus. Stefan's face is all MY MIXED FEELINGS! LET ME SHOW YOU THEM! Commercial.
Plagiarism time. The Salvatores take Elena home. Before she goes inside, Elena apologizes to the boys and explains she doesn't mean to string them along. She just knows that if she chooses one of them, she will lose the other from her life, and she's lost too many people she loves. Call me crazy, but to me, that signals that she's leaning toward Damon. I mean, let's face it, if she chose Stefan, Damon would be pissed for a while. He'd act out, and then he'd get over it because he's a huge Stefan/Elena 'shipper.
Now, where was I? Damon nods at Stefan to take this one. Stefan mumbles about it being a long day. Damon says they'll call her from the road after they've dumped Desikklaus in the Atlantic. Elena: "Just be careful. Both of you." Damon seems touched and surprised that she'd admit her mixed feelings in front of both them. She watches them walk to the car and heads inside.
Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline, Tyler, Matt and Señor Tequila are waiting for Elena. While they failed to desiccate Vamparic, they've been waiting so long to beat Klaus that a victory bash is in order. They're celebrating Tyler breaking his sire bond, too. I'm celebrating the mere hope that I may never again have to type the words sire bond. Elena's suffered a big blow to the head and severe blood loss, so she chooses to drink alcohol rather than take some nourishment or hell, get checked out by Mere. Her friends who would die for her never think to advise her otherwise. Oh, kids. They toast to a Klaus-free life. Elena adds, "And to all of you -- my family."
Mayoral Mansion. Liz arrives and asks Carol why she'd call an emergency Council meeting at this hour. Liz didn't call the meeting. Vamparic has summoned the Council. He outs Carol and Liz as monster aiders, abetters and mothers. The nameless Council members are appropriately horrified. He blahs about them being hypocrites who only cover up violence rendered by their own children. When Liz starts to leave, Alaric Stealth Salvatores around her and blocks the doorway. The Council members gasp. As I said before, I hope these people have taken their vervain. I don't mind if they cooperate with Ric because they either fear him or agree with him, but I'm a little tired of compulsion. It's too consequence-free. See Bonnie's involvement in helping Alaric transition into Vamparic.
On the road again. Damon: "How many desiccated hybrids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?" Stefan smiles and notes his brother's good mood. Damon says, "Yeah I'm in a good mood. Klaus is dead. My brother's halfway sane. Again. Give or take an immortal hunter that wants to kill us, we won, Stefan. Come on, say it. Say it." Stefan's voice is fairly flat. "We won." Damon: "Once more, with feeling!" When Stefan obliges, Damon thanks him. Stefan thanks Damon back and says it turns out they make a good team. Soon the talk turns serious. Stef asks Damon what happens when Elena makes a decision. Damon, taking a page from my book, says, "You know how these things pan out, Stefan. She'll probably make a list of pros and cons and at the end of the day -- dump both our asses." Stefan asks what happens if she doesn't. Damon says then she'll pick one. Stefan says if she chooses Damon, he'll leave town and let them be happy. Damon says, "And then in 60 years, we'll go back to being brothers and none of this will have mattered, right?" Stefan says, "Yeah." I say bad idea. Cowboy up and deal. There's more than one fish in the sea. Hell, there's more than one girl who looks like Elena, and she's probably on dry land. They don't listen. They never listen. Damon finally says that if Elena chooses Stefan, he will leave town. He adds, "All this over one girl." Stefan: "She's a pretty special girl." Damon: "Yes, she is." We cut to...
Gilbert Gables. Everyone else has gone home. Elena finds Jeremy painting Alaric's old room. I am not going to nitpick their painting technique. I am not. I am not. I am not. Jeremy looks around and says, "I hate this room." Elena: "Me too." Jeremy chuckles before Elena continues talking. "Mom and dad were right. Alaric should just kill all the vampires and put an end to all of this. But then that means that Caroline dies, and Bonnie loses her mom." Um, I wouldn't use that last bit as an argument, but go ahead, Elena. "The Mayor loses her son, and I lose Stefan and Damon. So, if it makes me the bad guy for wanting to keep those people alive, then fine. I'll be the bad guy." Jeremy reminds her that Alaric never wanted any of this. "Once he carries out his plans, what if he decides he doesn't want to live anymore and he kills his human connection, to end his life? That would mean I would lose you. I'm not going to let that happen." Elena sighs and laughs. Jeremy says he's going to shower and get some sleep. He bids her goodnight and walks out.
Elena looks around the room. She grabs a paint brush and starts on the window trim. When she bends down to dip her brush again, she grabs her head with her free hand. She winces. Her eyes roll back in her head and she keels over. The camera pans from a spilled paint container to Elena's face. She's unconscious and bleeding from the nose. Title Card.
While there are a couple of tweaks and additions to my speculation, the rest of this is pretty much from the idiot's recaplet, so if you've already read it, class dismissed! I'll see you Friday morning. If you haven't, or you're interested in said tweaks, please read on.
"Before Sunset," moves at the breakneck pace typical of The Vampire Diaries. While I have a couple of canonical quibbles, they pale beside my delight that this seemingly immortal Original storyline will be put to rest, at least temporarily. I love the solution of desiccating Klaus because it leaves a door open for Joseph Morgan to return, but also gets rid of Klaus for at least a little while. The show needs to detox from its Original addiction. I'm not spoiled, but I keep thinking there are only two ways to defeat Vamparic. If you don't want to read my speculation, avert thine eyes.
Now that we're free of those people so spoiler-phobic that they can't even bear unspoiled speculation, let's talk. The only way to stop Vamparic is to either desiccate him too, or kill Elena. If I were king of the forest (or Julie Plec), I'd choose that second option. Feed her some vampire blood (or take her to the hospital and let Mere administer it) to heal her, then kill her. Alaric will die and Elena will be a vampire. Her willingness to be the "bad guy" seems to foreshadow this, as does Stefan's early "Going darker, huh?" comment. Besides, if/once Elena is a vampire, that opens the door to letting her have a relationship with Damon, without it wounding the Salvatores' brotherly bond as deeply as it might, were Elena human. It also somehow leaves Elena's human character less tainted, in ways I can't quite articulate. I hope you know what I mean. Anyhow, I'm just thinking aloud. No matter what happens, we'll have to wait 'til Thursday to find out.
I'll be back Friday with coverage of the Season 3 finale, "The Departed." In the meantime, please grade the episode up top and join us in the forum, where we never have a day without any vampires in it.