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The Event O' the Week is Remembrance Day. Oh, Show. That's what much of the world calls the holiday that we in the states now celebrate as Veteran's Day. It's a solemn and somber occasion, which was instituted upon the first anniversary of the World War I armistice. I cringe, cringe, cringe that you used this name for your bell ringing, shot-pounding holiday. Cringe. This is why we're known as ugly Americans. Good Lord. I'm cringing so hard I can't write.
So, yeah. That happened. (Sorry, world.) Anyhow let's go to Mystic Falls. Stefan is an amnesiac, so Damon tries to make him remember himself. He gives Stefan his old diaries and they steal a car and go cruising. When Stefan assumes he's the fun brother and Damon is the good brother, Damon crashes the car for funsies, like you do. Then they head off to the bar, where people are ringing a bell and pounding shots in memory of the dearly departed. The less said about that, the better. My problem is that the entire show is about that, because it's in this episode that the Fellowship of the Falls finally learns Bonnie is dead.
As Stefan and Matt's personal crises intensify, everyone is all over Jeremy to get Bonnie to come home. When Jeremy realizes that some entity is squatting in Matt's body, he knows it's time to break the rather old news to his friends. He gets Damon to come home and tells him first. Their scene is wonderful. Both McQueen and Somerhalder bleed for us (since this is TVD, I guess I should specify I mean that metaphorically).
Meanwhile, Elena takes the lead on Operation Stefan. Why she is so flirtatious with him is beyond me. Tabula Rasa Stefan is easy prey and he's falling fast. In fact, being with her is his best distraction from his Ripper-like hunger, that is, until he finds out that she used to be his girl and is now his brother's.
Eventually, everyone is told of Bonnie's death. Elena and Caroline are, as you'd expect, particularly crushed. They hold a makeshift memorial at a pretty spot in the woods, and everyone leaves a personal item on the tree stump. Elena leaves white feathers. If you haven't watched from the beginning, I'll explain that to you. When Bonnie's magical powers first made themselves manifest, she and Elena had a beautifully shot scene in which Bonnie made white feathers float all around them. Nicely done, Show. Poor Jeremy serves as makeshift minister, but it's okay because Bonnie is there and uses him to speak to her friends. The memorial helps Bonnie as much or more than it helps the gang. Even Tyler makes it back in the nick of time, which makes poor Matt look lonelier than ever.
Jesse comes to Mystic Falls for the non-Bonnie related "Remembrance Day" festivities. The problem is that he runs into Stefan, right when Stefan is thinking maybe he ought to give in to his Ripper past about which he's read so much. Caroline sets things as right as she can. She heals and compels Jesse and sends him back to Whitmore, and sets Stefan back on the straight and narrow. Stefan decides to take advantage of his blank slate. He burns all his old diaries and moves out of Mossy Manse, telling Damon and Elena that Caroline will help him manage, because she's the only one he can trust. When he walks out, Damon says, "I think we just got dumped." Yeah, ya did.
Back at Whitmore, Dr. Maxfield examines Jesse, who, thanks to Caroline's blood, doesn't have a scratch on him. The doctor explains about vampires, and healing blood, and the human to vampire transformation process, then gives Jesse a lethal injection. Dun dun dun!
I'll be back soon with the full recap. In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page, and then come on over to the forum, where you'll find us with bells on.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on The Vampire Diaries Stefan loved and lost Elena. Silas revealed his true face, which is exactly like Stefan's, and stuck Stefan in a safe and sank him to the bottom of the quarry. Travelers infiltrated Matt's mind. Bonnie died. Jeremy lied that she was with family. Qetsiyah Q Tessa fried Stefan's brain to fry Silas's brain and weaken his telepathic abilities. Stefan now has no memory of Elena and Damon, so I think that means he wins.
Now, we open on the road again. As Damon speeds down the highway, Stefan reads aloud from one of his old vampire diaries, but they're doing nothing to remind him of his own identity. Stefan takes a blood juice bag. Once he's drained it, he's ready to pitch it out the window, but Damon stops him from littering, saying he's not a caveman, but rather a man of principle. Damon's not driving fast enough for Stefan, so Stefan declares himself the fun brother and Damon the safe brother, so Damon crashes the car they've just stolen, to prove him wrong, which is such a Damon thing to do that I'm almost embarrassed to admit it. Title card.
Elena's in the Mossy Manse library, talking on the phone with Caroline who is still at Whitmore. Elena updates Caroline on Stefan's situation. Caroline makes sure to get in some digs about Damon, even though he's not within hearing range, just because she enjoys shitting on her friend's boyfriend. Then Caroline blabs a whole bunch of science at Elena; she's learned it all to both help Stefan, and in hopes of getting into Dr. Maxfield's bio class. She wants to find out why he covered up their roommate's murder via vampire. Apparently, she's been studying with Jesse, whom she's bringing home to Mystic Falls for what she calls, "...our hometown graveyard bell ringing ceremony."
The recaplet is full of my distaste for the show calling this holiday "Remembrance Day," so I'm not going to repeat my scolding. Elena notes this is a creepy first date, but Caroline thinks it's fine as a study date. They fret about Stefan a little more and then end the call -- thank goodness, because I'll never get back the minutes I wasted watching and then typing up that useless scene. The Exposition Fairy says, "I am on contract, you know." We cut to the...
Mystic Grill. After a bar patron rings the bell and raises a toast to Uncle Steve, whoever that is, Damon explains Mystic Falls "Remembrance Day" traditions. I just said I wasn't going to rant about it again, which means I'm not going to cover it in detail. Basically, they pound shots and ring bells to honor the fictional dead, while stealing the name of a solemn holiday that truly honors the sacrifice of valiant, real people. When a pretty waitress stops by their table, Stefan can't help but ogle her carotid. Damon quickly dispatches her for drinks. Stefan doesn't know what just came over him. Damon explains he's jonesing for something a little stronger than bagged blood. Okay, how is blood directly from the vic stronger? Warmer? Sure. Fresher? You betcha. Stronger? Pshaw.
Stefan wonders since Damon spent the afternoon convincing him he was a vampire, why he won't let him act like one. Damon gets into Stefan's ripper propensities. Stefan suggests that the trauma of killing their father is what makes him rip people up, put them back together and then throw away girls' cell phones. Now that he's free from his memories, maybe he won't have the same problem. Damon suggests they not take the chance.
Elena joins them, and from the tone of her voice, I at first thought she was Katherine, which got me excited, because seven minutes into the episode this week means I'm seven minutes into nothing but exposition. When Stefan asks Elena to remind him of her name, it punctures her vanity and wipes the smile off her face, which does tickle me a little. Elena turns to Damon. "You haven't told him about me." Damon cringe-smiles and says that 200 years is a lot of time to cover. We cut to...
Mossy Manse. A shirtless Jeremy is working out when Bonnie enters, and makes it clear she appreciates the view. She reports the girls on the Other Side are enjoying the show too. Leave it to Germ to have dead groupies. I wonder if Vicki is there and why she's not popping in to see him more. Oh, right, she was written off the show. Jeremy tells Bonnie all their friends are waiting for her to help them restore Stefan's memory. Since she's dead, there's not much she can do. Jeremy gets that, but it's getting harder and harder for Germ to put off their friends. Before their conversation goes much further, Matt calls Jeremy. His voice is all choked and he says he's freaking out. We cut to the...
Lockwood Mansion. Jeremy looks at the knife Matt found on himself when he woke in the foyer, covered in mud. Matt says, "I blacked out and I'm pretty sure it's not the first time." Jeremy wonders if the Gilbert protect-o ring could be to blame, but Matt doesn't think it's the ring that is messing with him. "It's gotta have something to do with why Silas couldn't mind-control me. He saw something, or someone, or whatever that Czech freak put in my head. I think it's still there." Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas, Matty.
My poor Pudding Pop has set up cameras all over the house, to figure out how he's losing time. Matt figures Bonnie is probably the only person who can help him. Talk about being shit out of luck. Jeremy lies that she's in D.C. with her mother. Raise your hand if you can't, for the life of you, understand why Jeremy ever agreed to lie to every single living (or undead) person he knows about this. I mean, I know he has deep feelings for Bonnie, and I know he did enough drugs to diminish his brain capacity, but this seems a bit much, even given his circumstances.
Matt's a little miffed that Bonnie won't pick up the phone. He has sent her "...like 300 emails this summer, and she writes back twice. Did I do something to piss her off?" You, Matthew? UN-possible. Jeremy tries to continue covering, but the urgency of Matt's repeated pleas for help break his resolve. Without explanation, Jeremy says he has to go and nearly runs out of the house, leaving poor Pudding Pop all alone with his demons.
Back at the Grill, Elena is drinking publicly while she questions Damon's ability to help Stefan. This town is such a joke. Seriously? It's not like Elena is an anonymous resident of this town. Anyhow, she wants to call in Bonnie, but Damon wants to give Stefan a little time to be carefree, without the hundred years of guilt that's usually weighing down on him. Elena points out that the guilt came from his blood addiction, which could still be hard-wired in his brain. All of a sudden, neither Stefan nor the cute waitress are around. We cut to the...
Kitchen. Stefan compels the waitress into silence, and does the stereotypical villain pre-confession, all the while eyeing his prey's neck. It's effectively creepy, and I still think Paul Wesley must be having a lot of fun, because I'm having so much fun watching him. Just after Stefan's fangs emerge, Damon Stealth Salvatores in and pushes him off the girl. "Today? I'm the safe brother." If you've ever doubted Damon loved Stefan, that confession should make you question your doubts. Damon Salvatore just admitted to being safe. Sure, he qualified it with a today, but I bet he died a little inside. Commercial.
Elena and Damon take Stefan to the cemetery, where people are pounding shots and ringing bells. Noticing a tombstone, Stefan asks, "What kind of name is Honoria Fell?" Damon shushes his little brother. "You're kinda the one that killed her."
Inside the Salvatore family crypt, Damon says they need to minimize Stefan's contact with people, until Stefan's brain is sorted. Stefan asks if there's anyone buried in the crypt whom he didn't kill. Damon says, "Well, we've covered our father, who art in hell." He rings a bell and adds, "Uncle Zach, my bad," then rings the bell, again. "On the bright side, our mother died of consumption." Well, slap my ass and call me Mimi. Before the stupid bell ritual can continue, Damon gets a text and announces, "I've gotta go see a man about a witch. Party on without me." He leaves Stefan the bottle of booze and Elena the bell. I just want to know which Salvatore survived long enough to spawn the line that eventually produced "Uncle" Zach.
Once they're alone, Stefan tells Elena he hopes her family history is happier than his own. Oh, as usual, dear. Elena says, "Well, let's see. In the last three years I've lost my adoptive parents, my birth parents, my aunt, our guardian Alaric, and my brother Jeremy died, although he came back to life, so there's that."
Stefan asks if that's the Jeremy that lives in Mossy Manse. Elena says, "Yeah, after I had a breakdown and burned my house to the ground." They snicker and Stefan wonders how he is unable to remember this smart, pretty, funny, woman strong enough to get through all that. Elena credits all the great people around her for pulling her through. "Like you. You're one of those people." Stefan muses that they're bonded by death, then adds, "Please don't tell me that we met in a cemetery." Um, at least once. Elena cringes and laughs, then admits that they officially met somewhere else first and asks him if he wants to see.
Outside, Damon, ever the Stefan/Elena shipper is on the phone with Jeremy, and is demanding to talk to Bonnie, "...because I've got a hungry vampire who's forgotten he's the hero of the story." Jeremy tells him to come meet him, alone. Damon needs Jeremy to be less vague and weird. Jeremy's response doesn't really meet those standards. "I know where Bonnie is. Get over here and I'll explain." We cut to...
MFHS. Elena comes out of the men's room and runs smack dab into Stefan, just like she did long ago and far away, but it doesn't prompt any memories of her. She gets flirtatious and a little handsy, and wants to try again. Stefan doesn't figure it will work. Their warm discussion is interrupted when some football players enter the corridor. One boy is bleeding from the head. Elena is afraid it will trigger Stefan's hunger so she drags him...
Outside. Elena has Stefan close his eyes, then she jumps to the top of a building. She tells him to jump and is this fricking Twilight? Why do I have to cover this shit? Elena tells Stefan he once whisked her up to the top of a ferris wheel, before she was a vampire. Stefan says, "Right. You mean when we dated." Elena thought Damon hadn't covered that, yet. Stefan says, "I may have amnesia, but I'm not an idiot. I'm a hundred and sixty-four year old vampire who went back to high school." Still sure you're not an idiot? Who willingly returns to high school? Anyhow, Stefan guesses his return had something to do with Elena. He figures that his ripping people up and putting them back together must have been the turnoff that broke them up. Someone should tell him about the cell phone. Elena says ripping had nothing to do with it. He was the most compassionate and in control person she ever met. It wasn't his fault they broke up. It was her fault. Becoming a vampire changed her. They jump off the building and we jump to commercial.
Caroline and Jesse are hanging out in the cemetery like every other damned fool with a bell and a red Solo cup. The difference is that they're studying bio. They bring up the "Red Queen Theory, which seems fairly pertinent to this season, but I don't feel like listening to it, again, so allow Wikipedia to enlighten you. It boils down to this (in TVD context): weaker species have speed (or something similar) which allows them to survive, even when they "shouldn't." Jesse wonders how Caroline learned everything so quickly. Caroline says when people tell her she can't do something, she proves them wrong. Jesse figures Caroline brought him there to prove Tyler wrong. Caroline says she doesn't even know where Tyler is. She just thinks Jesse is nice and smart and she really wanted to hang today. They kiss, but then it gets a little awkward. Jesse goes back to quizzing her on bio terms and we cut to...
Mossy Manse. The Ghost of Bonnie is standing behind Jeremy, pleading with him not to do "this" but Jeremy can no longer lie and keep this secret. When he says something similar, Damon replies, "I don't speak crazy person, Jer. You're going to have to translate that, for me." Jeremy says, "Think about it, Damon. I was dead. I wasn't supposed to come back." Damon says, "Yes, that is the beauty of Bonnie magic, which is what we need right now." Jeremy tells Damon, "You're not hearing me. Magic finds a balance. I'm not supposed to be here." Damon's head sways. His eyes fill up. "No." Jeremy reminds him there's a price to pay for bring someone back from the dead. Damon says, "Don't you say it, Jeremy. Don't you dare." Jeremy persists. "She didn't show up to her dad's funeral, Damon. Nobody has spoken to her all summer." Bonnie begs, "Please, Jeremy." Damon says, "You say it and everything in Elena's life goes to crap. Do you understand me? Everything changes." Bonnie raises her voice. "Do not say it, Jeremy." Damon whispers, "Don't." Too bad these two are on different planes of existence, because this is perhaps the most they've ever agreed.
Jeremy blinks and swallows hard. "Bonnie's dead." Damon's face screws up. His voice is tight and comes out in a near-hiss. "Damn it, Jeremy. You realize what you just did?" He starts to pace the room. "Why would you say that?" Jeremy: "I'm sorry, people need to know." Damon turns to face Jeremy and approaches him with such purpose, I think he's going to break the kid's neck, but instead, he grabs him in a fierce hug, sighs and strokes Jeremy's hair. Let's pause here and give a standing O to Steven and Ian. That was some heavy lifting. We cut to...
Wickery Bridge. The erstwhile couple talks about her two accidents and how Stefan saved Elena after the first, but saved Matt, at her insistence, after the second. Stefan decides he's an idiot, but Elena declares he was the perfect boyfriend. What the hell is she doing? Since driving her off the freaking bridge hasn't worked, perhaps we should tie her to it and steal her daylight ring. Look, I know she loves both Stefan and Damon. I'm not feeling particularly protective of Damon right here, but I am feeling that way on Stefan's behalf. His head has just been screwed with by Q Tessa. Must Elena finish the job?
Anyhow, Stefan tells her that being with her has helped him sublimate his bloodlust. The two nearly kiss, but Elena stops just shy of it. "I'm with Damon." Stefan is understandably angry that neither of them bothered to mention that until now. He says that now the bloodlust is back. Okay, now I'm feeling less protective of him, because that's an asshole move. While it may be true that Elena's attention distracts him from his bloodlust, his bloodlust isn't her responsibility and if he should give into it, it is not her fault. Anyhow, Elena turns her back for a moment, and Stefan Stealth Salvatores away.
Back at Lockwood Mansion, Matt wakes on the couch and notices his palm has been sliced open. He reviews the video on his Dell product placement laptop and watches footage of him sleeping. When the phone rings, Video-Matt wakes and answers it. His eyes flash black and then he starts talking in what I guess is Czech. He smiles, rises and approaches the desk, where he picks up the knife. Closing in on the camera, Video-Matt (aka Gregor) says, "Hello, Matt Donovan. I am the passenger inside you. I know you have many questions, but all you need to know is that one day, my friends will come looking for this blade. Protect it at all costs." Just a darned second, Gregor. Protect it for your friends, or from them? I think we need more info. Gregor then draws the knife's blade against Matt's palm and holds his handiwork up to the camera and adds, "...or this will be your throat."
Damon is pouring himself a drink at Mossy Manse when Elena calls. She's back at the cemetery. Damon says he needs to speak with her, but she cuts him off to tell him Stefan is gone. "I told him about you and me and he just -- he stormed off. He said he was hungry. Damon, there's an entire graveyard full of people here tonight." Damon rides off to the rescue.
Caroline happens upon Stefan just after he's snagged a bottle. When she calls out his name, he greets her with a, "Caroline Forbes, my best friend." He doesn't remember her but he's seen pictures and says she's much hotter in person. When she asks if he's okay, Stefan says, "If by okay, you mean heavily spiraling into Ripper oblivion, then yes, I'm dandy."
Jesse approaches with a couple of cups of beer, but Caroline asks him to give them a minute. Stefan adds, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea, because I can sense from here that you have a paper cut on the palm of your right hand, and I want rip your entire arm off." Caroline snaps, "Stefan," then turns to Jesse, turns on her compulsion eyes, and says, "Go away. Hide. I'll find you." I sure hope Jesse isn't one of the Whitmore kids ingesting vervain.
Alone with Stefan, Caroline says, "Look, I know you're hungry but you don't do people, okay. It doesn't end well." Stefan asks if she has any blood bags. Caroline has some in the car and asks Stefan to come with her. He nods like he's going to, but he Stealth Salvatores away. Caroline closes her eyes and looks like she's playing "Anywhere But Here," and yet there she stands.
We cut to a crypt, probably the Salvatore crypt because why the hell not. Jesse calls Caroline and leaves her a confused message, like you do when you've been compelled to hide during some lameass holiday on which people get drunk in cemeteries and ring bells. Before he can end the call, Stefan Stealth Salvatores up behind, vamps out, and sinks his fangs into Jesse's flesh. Commercial.
I'm not sure if Jesse pushes Stefan off, or Stefan pushes himself off. He's got blood dribbling out of either corner of his mouth, but at least his chin isn't soaked, like Elena's often is. When Jesse says he doesn't know what Stefan is, Stefan is quick to fill him in. "Oh, I'm a Ripper. Do you know what that means?" Hide your cell phone, Jesse. Stefan expounds: "That means I literally can't stop feeding until I rip someone's head off. But look at us. We're working it out." Jesse begs for Stefan to let him go. Stefan knows he should. "I'm good, right? I'm compassionate. I live with this burning hunger inside of me that allows me to stay in control." What? Stefan doesn't have time to clarify. He's speechifying. "But what do I have to show for it, huh? [...] I have no memories because my brain was fried. My brother, who's been my brother for 160 some odd years, stole my girlfriend. And my girlfriend let him. So, you tell me what's the point of being good?"
Stefan closes in for another bite. Now strictly speaking, Stefan hasn't compelled Jesse, and Caroline compelled Jesse to hide, so I'm not sure why he just stands there like a moron as the fanged freak closes in for another taste, but that's what Jesse does. As Stefan's fangs bore into Jesse's flesh, we cut to...
Lockwood Mansion. Matt lets Jeremy in and tries to tell him about the video, but Jeremy interrupts him. "There's something I need to tell you. It's about Bonnie." Matt asks if she's back. Jeremy doesn't answer, so Matt says, "What, Jer?" We cut to the...
Crypt. Caroline arrives on the scene and pulls Stefan off of Jesse, who then collapses to the floor. Caroline tells Stefan he is better than this, and that he is not this person. How is he not this person, Show? Stefan says he has to leave and then does. Caroline turns to find Jesse bleeding out. She bites open her own wrist and orders him to drink from it. She assures Jesse he'll be okay, and apologizes for getting him into this, and for letting him kiss her and just in general. We cut to...
Mossy Manse. Elena and Damon arrive home to find Stefan in front of the fireplace. He's tossing in all his old diaries! Oh, the book-manity. Damon asks if he's sure he wants to do that. Stefan says, "Well, I know what I don't want. I don't want to be the person in these journals, anymore." Yay! "I don't want to live in this house. I don't want my brother's advice. I don't want to hear about how I supported you, Elena, and I definitely do not want to continue this conversation." He slings his duffle bag behind his shoulder and starts to leave. Elena asks him to wait. Stefan says, "Don't worry. I'm not going to go on a Ripper binge. Besides, Caroline said she'd call me every hour, to make sure I was okay, and uh... I actually do trust her." He walks right past Damon and Elena and straight to the door. Elena turns to watch him go, but all she can mutter is a lame, "But..." Damon says, "I think we just got dumped." And it's high time, says I.
Once they're alone, Elena turns to Damon. "We need Bonnie. Why hasn't she called us back? This is so unlike her. He can't stay like this." Ooh, I kind of feel for Damon, right now. Damon grimaces and turns to face his love. "Elena, Bonnie can't help us." Elena asks if he talked to her. "What did she say? There's got to be something that she can do. I mean, she'll figure it out. She always does." Damon closes in on Elena until they're nearly touching. His voice is soft. "Bonnie's dead, Elena." Elena can't believe that -- can't hear it, you know, so Damon has to repeat it. He says, "I'm sorry," but Elena's still trying to let the words sink into her head. Why don't we have a message from our sponsors, and give her a moment.
The morning, Caroline finds Stefan in the crypt. So he was Angel, and now he's Spike? If they have sex in a crypt, I'm gonna hurl. That is not a challenge, Julie Plec. Caroline asks Stefan how he's feeling. He says he's feeling better and hasn't killed anyone since last they met. He blahs about himself until he notices the look on Care Bear's face and asks her what's wrong. She says, "It's Bonnie... my friend. Our friend. She's dead." Because his mind has been fiend, Stefan can't make an emotional connection, but at least he knows that's awkward and looks appropriately uncomfortable. "Uh. What uh... what happened?" Caroline asks him not to ask. She doesn't want to have to think about it, which will get her crying, something she fears she cannot stop. When she sits down on a crypt bench, Stefan joins her and apologizes, adding that he wishes he could remember Bonnie.
Caroline is tempted to trade places with him. "Without all the memories, maybe it wouldn't hurt so damn much." When Stefan says, "It's okay," Caroline says it isn't. She adds, "And I have no idea where Tyler is. I just got so used to them being there, all the time, and now what? I'm supposed to just learn to move on without them? How do I do that, when all that I have is this sadness, and this anger, and..." Stefan butts in. "Me. You have me. Like you were there for me last night. Sounds like you're always there for me." He lays his hand upon hers and squeezes. "So, let me be there for you. Okay?" We cut to...
Mossy Manse. Taking a page out of Willow's book, Elena is rummaging through her wardrobe, but she doesn't have any clothes appropriate for mourning Bonnie. In Elena's defense, she did just burn down her house and in it -- her entire wardrobe, so she's not just being a girl, you know? Elena's breaking down and I don't have it in me to give you detail. I know it's easy to get annoyed with her, but (aside from Jeremy) who has a sadder life? As she sobs, Damon finally takes her into his arms. Elena can't believe Bonnie is gone. I can't believe it took her all these months to realize it. Bonnie's nicer than I. She's watching from outside the window and shaking her head. We cut to the...
Woods. In a clearing speckled with light purple flowers that surely must have been placed there by a set director with a good (if sappy) eye, stands the broken trunk of a once great tree. Jeremy, dressed in his undertaker best, lays a picture on the stump, to another frigging bell. Damon, Elena, Caroline and Matt face him from the other side of the trunk, as if he's the pastor, and they're the congregation. Does anyone remember that Bonnie is kind of a big loss for Germ? I mean, I know she dumped him when she found out he and Anna shared ghost-smoochies, but that was so long ago, and they've never really stayed out of each other's orbit.
Caroline comes forward and lays a pompom on the stump. , it's Matt's turn. He takes out a whistle (like the kind coaches blow) and places it to the pompom. A whistle, Matty? Really? Oh, I can't pick on him. The pain on his face as he looks to Jeremy is just excruciating. Elena approaches. With her free hand, she grabs at the stump for strength. In the other hand is a bowl full of white feathers. Do you remember the feathers? Here's a link to the scene, at least until YouTube takes it down. It's a beautiful scene and you should watch it again, and remember when everyone was so young and (relatively) happy.
Elena's face crumples. Once she's gathered her strength, she releases her hold on the stump, grabs a handful of feathers and rains them down upon the makeshift altar, until she is overcome by her sorrow. Sobbing, Elena runs into Caroline's waiting arms. Damon watches his girl out of the corner of his eye, even as he approaches the stump. He's got a hand-bound book as an offering. If that's Bonnie's grimoire, I really don't think you should burn it or even leave it exposed to the elements. And definitely don't speak Latin in front of it. Damon ignores me and lays the book on the altar then resumes his place.
Elena composes herself enough to release Caroline from her grasp, but the two best friends -- where there used to be three -- hold hands. Bonnie's ghost joins Jeremy and tells him it's okay. "They need this. I need this." Jeremy looks from her and grabs the bell. "We ring this bell in honor of Bonnie. In remembrance for her." That should be "of" not "for," Germ. The girls don't care about wording. Their tears flow freely. Jeremy rings the bell, and looks like he feels every bit the tool for doing so, then sets it down. "I'm not sure what else to say." Bonnie says, "Say that I'm not going anywhere. Say that even though they couldn't see me, I've been there the whole time." Jeremy repeats Bonnie's words, then adds, "Bonnie has watched you have the summer of your life." Bonnie's own voice chimes in on "...summer of your life." Then she takes over, and walks to Elena. "And I saw you happy. And I know you think now that you can't have a normal life." Jeremy speaks along with Bonnie: "That you have to be here for everyone, but you don't." Now it's just Bonnie again. "Everyone will find their way. So you are gonna repack your things. You're going to go back to college, and you're going to live it up." Bonnie then walks up to Matt. "You didn't do anything wrong, Matt. You know I would have sent you 300 emails back, if I could. I miss you."
Bonnie turns to Caroline. Jeremy's voice chimes in again, as if the writers aren't confident we'll get that he's speaking Bonnie's words for her, and his is the voice her friends are hearing. "Caroline..." We're back to just Bonnie, now. "I watched you decorate that dorm room like your life depended on it." Caroline laughs, despite herself. Bonnie laughs with her. Care Bears laughter turns to tears. Bonnie says, "And I know that college isn't everything you expected and that you feel like something's missing, but..." She smiles as she stares past Caroline and whispers, "Tyler." He's here. He's finally here. And I don't think he's a ghost or anything. Caroline turns to face her boy. He's carrying a long-stemmed white rose. Caroline runs into his arms. Matt tries to smile, but he now looks even more alone. With his arm around Caroline, Tyler approaches the altar and lays down the rose. Bonnie stands by Jeremy. "This is good. This is all I wanted. I'll be okay. We'll all be okay." Damon holds Elena. Tyler holds Caroline. Jeremy's got Bonnie by his side. He stretches out his hand to the nothingness and grabs it. Matt stands ever more alone. We cut to...
Whitmore College. In his lab, Dr. Maxfield tells Jesse his vitals are normal and asks about his night. Jesse can't remember anything except that Caroline took him to a party in Mystic Falls. "I must have been really drunk." Maxfield tells Jesse he has vampire blood in his system, "...which means you were either injured to the point of needing to be healed, or someone wants to turn you into a vampire. I'm guessing the former, and I'm guessing you were compelled to forget." Poor Jesse is all, "I'm sorry, what," like you are when your college profs start talking like vampires are real. Maxfield tells him not to worry. "The good news about having vampire blood in your system is that's step one to creating a new vampire." He takes out a syringe. "This is step two." Before Jesse can react, Maxfield jabs the needle into his student's forearm and pushes the plunger. Jesse looks at him in shock, then falls back on the exam table. His breaths are short and sharp. The monitor beeps. Jesse seizes and flatlines. Maxfield walks off. Dun dun dun.
I'll be back with coverage of "Monster's Ball." In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page, and then come on over to the forum, where you'll find us with bells on.