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Because it's always Halloween in Mystic Falls and the surrounding vicinity, The Vampire Diaries' Halloween episode is less Halloween-y and more Event O' the Week-y. Whitmore College is hosting a ball (the name of which escapes me) at which all of the college's entire collection of… um… collectibles is on display. As is common with Event O' the Week episodes, most of the storylines converge at said event. "Monster's Ball" has so many balls (sorry) in the air that I can't begin in a way that will keep this recaplet a recaplet. Not just because Demian teases me about how long my recaplets are, but also because I have two other stories due and it's Halloween, which means I watched this episode later than it aired. I know. My problem, not yours. Let's break this bitch down.
Matt: Is not in the episode. Bless you Pudding Pop for making my job easier.
Tyler: Comes to Whitmore with Caroline, but just to sex her up, dress up as Clyde to her Bonnie for the Collectibles Ball (that's what I'm calling it until I write the full recap) and then dump her, because exacting his revenge against Klaus is more important to him than his love for Caroline. Ptui. I will speak of it no more (at least until the recap).
Caroline: Is heartbroken. But before she's heart broken, she's a little demanding and controlling. Oh, and she lights up like a neon sign when she gets to dance with Stefan, so it's pretty easy to understand why Tyler is shipped off. I'm okay with the fact of it (although I'll miss Trevino, it's natural for the old gang to break up during the college years). I'm not happy about the execution and damn it, I said I would speak of this no more. Ptui.
Elena: keeps Damon at arm's length due to her guilt and grief over Bonnie's death, so she decides to throw herself into the investigation of her dead roomie Megan's death. She meets a boy, Aaron (Sean Sipos), at Megan's sad campus memorial. He claims to be a childhood friend of Megan's and is standoffish at first, but later, when Elena approaches him at the ball, he warms up slightly. She compels him to confide in her, but once she learns he's lost everyone he loves, she feels his pain and sends him on his way. What Elena doesn't know yet, is that Aaron is Dr. Maxfield's ward and the bad doctor warns the boy to stay way far away from Elena. Maxfield only does that, though, after he warns Elena to leave Whitmore and never look back. There are people who are onto her and watching her every move.
Jeremy, Bonnie and Damon: Damon wants to find a way to cure Silas and trade his life for Bonnie's -- a witch for a witch. Bonnie thinks this is far too dangerous, but since Jeremy is her mouthpiece and Jeremy wants Bonnie back (in every way), Jeremy lies to Damon and says Bonnie's fine with it. Bonnie eventually gets on board, because she wouldn't mind being able to feel it when Jeremy touches her. Their scenes are sweet. If you like Damon, he's doing this for Elena's sake. If you dislike Damon, he's doing it as a way to hold onto Elena. If you're me, you think it's a little of both, plus a pinch of practicality -- it's handy to have a witch in your Fellowship. And to his credit, I think Damon has developed a grudging respect for Bonnie and is sorry she's dead.
Ball: In a private salon at the venue, Damon snaps Stefan's neck. Since Q-Tessa linked Stefan with Silas to nullify Silas's telepathy (wipe Stefan's mind) while Stefan is temporarily dead, Silas temporarily regains his telepathy. He finds Q, pretends he's Stefan and using his power, learns that she's looking for her amulet. She needs it to do a locator spell, so she can find the MacGuffin she used to anchor her spell that created the supernaturals' Other Side. Silas wants the MacGuffin, too, to destroy the other side and then cure himself (by drinking all of Katherine's blood), kill his witchy self and join his love, supposedly on the uncapitalized other side that, you know, isn't for supernaturals. Silas fools Q-Tessa for a good long while, but once she discovers he's him, she forces her hand into his chest and squeezes his heart until it stops and he desiccates.
Damon and Elena take home Silas's corpse. Damon lures Katherine (who just found out Nadia is her daughter -- a long story I'll hit in the recap, but thank goodness it's true, because it's been bugging me how much they look alike) to Mossy Manse, bites her and feeds her blood to Silas. He un-desiccates. Katherine dies, but then she's alive again. Best line of the night? Upon revivifying, Katherine opens her eyes, sees Damon and Elena and asks, "Am I in Hell?"
As for Dr. Maxfield, when he's not threatening or dissing Elena, he's got Jesse tied up in the lab. He says Jesse has completed the "first part" of his transition. I guess that means he's fed once or it seems to me he'd be dead by now (like Bill Forbes). Maxfield is withholding blood from Jesse for… science! It's no accident Doc goes to the ball as Dr. Jekyll.
"Monster's Ball" is a fun ride, but in Tyler's story and others, there are times when it takes the easy way out too much. When this happens on The Vampire Diaries, I tend to chalk it up to the writers cramming so much into an episode, rather than laziness. I think that's the case here, but there are still things that bug, like so many unknown people attending the party and having full access to private rooms, including one that contains the treasured Whitmore collection. It's a little too facile, you know? And while I'm grateful I didn't have to watch Damon and Elena get Silas's corpse out of the ball, I'm just rolling my eyes that they weren't discovered. I'm also rolling my eyes at Katherine staking Nadia and then just walking out of a restaurant. Nadia apparently follows suit with the stake still sticking out of her. And what? It doesn't make the news. Don't even get me started on Damon's two roundtrips to Whitmore in one day. I knew when I saw the premiere that the show was going to ignore they'd set the school "a few" hours away from town when needed, so why set it quite that far?
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 we're letting Caroline play all the Taylor Swift she needs to. P.S. Yes, Demian. I can see my word count.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Before I dive into "Monster's Ball," I have to take a moment. If that's not your thing, and you're already thinking, "Sheesh, Cin, just recap the fricking show," here's what you do -- do a control + F search on these words: "The recap starts now," and you'll jump to where it starts (I may go on long enough that TWoP's page breaks mean that you'll have to start your search on page 2 or 3, or 7; I'm not sure). The thing is, I'm having a bit of an existential crisis covering this show, because while I don't love it, I don't hate it, either. I like and enjoy it.
For me, The Vampire Diaries (TVD) is that guy who asks you out, and you say yes, because why not. Your forever crush has another girlfriend anyhow. You're not in love with this new guy, but you sure like him, and have fun with him. He cleans up well and you get along. When you're not with him, you're not preoccupied with thoughts of him. It's not going to last, and when it ends, your heart won't even be bruised, but you are only 16, so why the hell do you have to be in love anyhow? As long as you don't pretend you are, it's fine to go to the dance with him and have a good time.
I first became aware of my feelings (or lack of intense ones) when I updated my TWoP Staff Page bio, and couldn't list TVD as a favorite show. If you'd asked me in the first two seasons, TVD probably would have made the list, but seasons 3 and 4 changed that.
This only matters, because I'm me and I over-think stuff like this. You see, most TV shows are not made for obsessives, which is fine. But recapping a show, even when you're not obsessed with it, requires you to engage in obsessive fannish behavior. You watch a single episode a few times in one week, and you pause and rewind and spend hours thinking and talking about it. When you don't feel passionately about it, you start to find fault for fault's sake and that's not right. I'm starting to feel guilty about covering TVD, because while I'm fine with snarking on shows I hate (because they deserve it), or shows I love (because I deserve it), with entertaining shows I simply like, sometimes I feel like I'm giving them grief they don't deserve, because all they were doing was taking me out for an ice cream, you know? What kind of person picks on that?
A lot of good, kind, talented people pour their hearts into making this solid show, and I don't want to piss on it for the sake of pissing. While I work out these feelings (because let's face it, TVD moves so fast, it is bound to do something that makes me hate or love it again), I'm writing from my head rather than my gut, which is not how it usually works for me. Stray episodes or arcs aside, usually when I'm recapping, the words just spill onto the page. And when I have that feeling (be it love or hate) for a show I don't cover, my friends and family have to put up with my obsession. This season, recapping TVD has made me feel like I'm pretending I'm in love with a decent guy, to make my crush jealous. I feel ugly, mean and guilty. I don't want to be that girl, so I'm going to have to make some adjustments, to remind myself we're casual, and that's okay. I have to remember, I'm not spending all this time with TVD, because I can't bear to be separated from it. It's just that in addition to dating, we're in four classes together, have been assigned a couple of group projects, work at the same pizza joint and take the same bus to school.
The recap starts now. Previously, on The Vampire Diaries... look, I'm just dating the guy show, okay. I'm not going to obsess about all our past dates. Here's what you need to know: Bonnie is dead. Only Jeremy can see her. Stefan is Silas's doppelgänger. He wants Katherine, because, since she ingested the cure, she now is the cure. Dr. Maxfield decides to turn Jesse into a vampire. And here we go.
Now, on The Vampire Diaries, we open in Dr. Maxfield's lab. He's dictating notes into a little recorder as he experiments with Jesse, who doesn't even know what's going on. Jesse is subject "." Now, I can't believe that Maxfield has already experimented on 62,546 vampires, so that number is just goofy, Show. Sorry, just keeping it real.
Maxfield dictates something about Jesse's "initial transition." The phrasing makes me wonder if Jesse has fed at all, but since Maxfield states Jesse has gone three days without feeding, he must have fed once, otherwise he'd be dead, right? Maxfield teases the poor guy with blood, then inspects his fangs, sensitivity to light, etc. Jesse just can't figure out why he's so hungry. Maxfield dictates that Jesse seems to be a "perfect candidate." He means for shirtless scenes, right? Title card.
Whitmore College. Exterior. Elena's writing in her diary, and asking it if it's sick of her writing about death, like the diary is sentient or something. Since I treat the show like it's a person, I shouldn't throw stones. Understandably, she's having a hard time dealing with Bonnie's death. Since I spent five paragraphs explaining that TVD and I are not serious, I'm not going to quote her narration.
We cut to the dorm. Caroline and Tyler are getting hot and heavy. Back on the quad, Dr. Maxfield appears and welcomes Elena back to school. When he asks her if she'll be at the costume ball, tonight, she says she wouldn't miss it. She lets her diary know she's using Maxfield (and the fact that he covered up Megan's death) as a distraction from Bonnie's death. A tear runs down Elena's cheek, but she sniffs and wipes it away. Bonnie is standing right by her side, and even though Elena can't see her, she tells her diary she chooses to believe her friend is watching over her. "Because that's who Bonnie is."
Elena's phone rings. When she sees that it's Damon calling, she ignores the call. Damon says, "Busted," and comes out of nowhere. They both chuckle but he wonders why she's been avoiding him for three days. She says they've been talking, but to Damon, one text in three days does not reach the level of talking. Oh wow. Is Elena just dating Damon to pass the time? That's not right, Show. Not after all the sturm und drang of the past two seasons. See, this is part of why I'm not in love with you. I don't really care which couples are together. Everyone is pretty, and there are cases to be made for each 'ship, but while you might be Lucy Van Pelt, teeing up the football, I'm not your Charlie Brown.
Anyhow, Damon drove all the way from Mystic Falls to Whitmore (which we were flat out told was a "few hours" away, which means at least three, right), to tell Elena he'd go to the costume ball with her, tonight. Now he's going to go back to Mystic Falls, and then come back to Whitmore again. Now I'm not pretending Damon obeys the speed limit, but when characters say a place is a "few hours" away, that should mean a distance of at least 150 miles or so, right? Practically speaking, Damon is not going to get to Whitmore in less than about two hours, just because at some point, something will slow him down, even if it's just getting on and off the highway.
My issue is this: the writers set Whitmore a few hours away from the Falls, on purpose, and although it hasn't yet been an issue, we know what that purpose is. At some point in the season, there will be some threat. The Fellowship of the Falls will have to get to Whitmore, but the clock will be ticking. In other words, they chose to set it at a distance, so that they will be able to eke dramatic tension out of that distance. That's fine, Show. Just respect your own damned rules, otherwise, I can't respect you. If I can't respect you, we're going to have a hard time keeping this casual, but not in the good way. I'm going to lose interest, altogether. All this bopping back and forth from home to the school in one day is beneath you, or should be. And even if it's not, it's beneath your audience. From beneath you, it devours.
Anyhow, Damon will come to the ball, which is that night at 8:00. Elena can't seem to wait to get away from Damon. Although she says she's running late for class, as she runs off, you can see the wheels turning in Damon's head.
Back at the dorm, Caroline and Tyler are now on blankets, on the floor, which seems dumb when her bed is right there. Caroline is pressing Tyler to talk about college, but he is not into it, even when she says she compelled him a single room. What? If she compelled him a single, why are they in the room she shares with Elena? Ugh. She gives him crap about being out of touch for so long, but he feels like he's already made up for that, "a couple dozen times," wink wink nudge nudge barf barf. Regardless, Caroline tells Tyler he's escorting her to the Event O' the Week: the Whitmore Historical Ball. The college displays its entire collection, and attendees dress up in historical costumes. Caroline and Tyler are going as Bonnie and Clyde. Caroline even got Stefan a costume? With no memory at all, why the hell would Stefan haul his cookies all the way out to Whitmore, to attend an event at a college he doesn't care about, where he's sure to run into Elena and Damon, whom he has written off as jerks. The Contrivance Fairy says, "Look, I know you're just not that into us, or whatever, but I've got a job to do here." Quite right, CF. It's not you. It's me.
Back on the quad, Elena, who was in a huge hurry to get to class (or away from Damon), stops when she sees a guy kneeling by Megan's pathetic little memorial. We don't learn the guy's name 'til later, but I have no patience with that sort of shit, so I'll tell you now, it's Aaron (Shaun Sipos). When I deemed Megan's memorial pathetic, that wasn't a shot at the show. I think it's a great touch that it's pathetic, because that's what happens in real life. Years ago, there was a workplace shooting near my old house. People left all sorts of flowers, candles, stuffed animals, and whatever, but the flowers soon wilt. It rains, or snows. Life and weather continue apace. The outpouring of love soon looks more like garbage than a tribute to a tragedy. And you just know that the maintenance workers are itching to clean it up, but they don't want to disrespect the mourners. Well played, Show.
Elena approaches Aaron, introduces herself, and notes Megan used to be her roommate. Aaron can't even be bothered to tell Elena his name. He says he and Megan grew up together. He plucks a dead flower and comments on the sad state of the memorial. Elena is intrigued when she learns Aaron doubts the suicide story. He's not interested in talking, so as he walks off, Elena says, "Hey, do you have a name?" Aaron says, "Yeah, I do," and keeps going. That's a great way to earn the nickname Asswipe.
Nadia and Katherine are still holed up in some hotel. Nadia's on the phone with Silas (Stylus), who of course still wants Katherine. Nadia says, "You can have your brown-eyed bitch of a cure for immortality, when I'm done." Stylus wonders how much longer she needs. Nadia snaps that since he's immortal, a few hours shouldn't matter to him. Then she rubs it in his face that he no longer has his telepathic powers. The call ends with Stylus dumping a bunch of exposition on us, as if people start watching a show with the fifth episode of season five, and then reminding Nadia that while he might currently not have the ability to control people's minds, he's learned how to track cell phones. Nadia ends the call immediately.
Crouching by the mini-bar, Katherine looks up at Nadia. "A little tip. Woman to woman, don't piss off the diabolical ones. And if you're going to hold me hostage, the least you can do is feed me properly." Am I imagining things, or is this not the first time Katherine has complained about eating junk food? I'm pretty sure that's a thing with her, and I love it. Five hundred years ago, when food last mattered to her, everything was fresh, local and in season, right? Now that she's human again, it's a great bit of characterization that she disdains most of the crap we shove down our throats. Nadia says they'll eat on the road, which she wants to hit immediately. Katherine wonders why Nadia doesn't just turn her over to Silas, so he can take his sip of the cure and they can all get back to normal. Nadia says, "A little tip. Woman to woman, don't offer to hand yourself over to the diabolical ones when you don't know the whole story." Stylus doesn't just need a sip. He needs every drop of Katherine's blood. Even though Katherine has been around for more than 500 years, she's not open to dying. That's one thing I don't get about these immortals, especially ones like Katherine and Klaus. They're paranoid, lonely and bitter. Why do they want to keep living? We cut to...
Mossy Manse. Damon's talking to Jeremy and Bonnie (of course he can't see or hear her). He wants to find a way to bring Bonnie back. Since Silas wants to die, and nature needs balance, he's thinking they should work out a way to trade Silas's life for Bonnie's. We jump back and forth between this scene, and a scene with Damon and Stylus at the Grill. Stylistically, these quick cuts are an interesting technique that's become a TVD trademark, but they're a bitch to recap. I'm going to telescope the whole thing, because this show is just my date, not my lover.
At the Grill, Damon meets with Stylus. Via a shit ton of exposition from him (and from Bonnie, back at Mossy Manse) we learn Stylus needs to find whatever anchor Q-Tessa used to bind the spell that created the Other Side. In addition to curing himself of immortality with Katherine's blood, Stylus allegedly wants to destroy the Other Side (i.e. purgatory for supernaturals), supposedly so that once he kills himself, he can go to the lower-case other side, where his true love, Amara, awaits him.
The Exposition Fairy says, "Hey, this telescoping bullshit is skipping over some of my best work." I know, EF, but I just don't care. The Contrivance Fairy butts in. "Your best work? That's just like you, EF, taking credit while I slave away, and then talking over some of my best work. Did you not just see what I did? Who, but me, could manage to get an ancient Original Sorta Vampire, and his ancient, resurrected, spurned ex-fiancée witch to a costume ball, at an obscure private college, a "few hours" away? Without me, they wouldn't even know Whitmore existed, let alone be apprised of campus events, and yet here's Stylus telling Damon that's where they'll get the upper hand over Q-tessa." Stylus says, "...I still have my incredible powers of observation, and I observed [Q-tessa] buying a Cleopatra costume, today." The Contrivance Fairy says, "Oh you're going to take credit for getting everyone to the Event O' the week? I don't think so, Stylus. This show would not exist without me, and you all know it."
Back at Mossy Manse, Damon just wants to know if Stylus can do a spell to swap his life for Bonnie's right before he kills himself. Bonnie rants to Jeremy that it's too dangerous. With magic there are always consequences. She is dead set against it. The thing is, Damon can't hear Bonnie, so he asks Jeremy what her response is. Jeremy lies, "She's in." When Damon reports to Stylus that they have a deal, Stylus says they have half a deal, since so far, most of their talk has been about what Stylus can do for Damon. When Damon asks what he needs to do for Stylus, Stylus says, "It's fairly simple, actually. I want you to kill your brother." The Shocker Fairy says, "You didn't see that coming, did you." No, SF. I must admit I did not. Way to go. The Contrivance Fairy and the Exposition Fairy, leave in a huff. Commercial.
Katherine is pigging out on pancakes while Nadia tells Katherine she's been tailing her for 500 years. If Katherine will just indulge her with some answers, Nadia will free her. Katherine's all for that. Nadia brings up Mystic Falls' 1864 vampire round-up, and re-establishes that Katherine would sell out anyone to save her own, pretty hide. Katherine's response is vintage Katherine. "It is," says the Exposition Fairy, but only because of me." Quite right, EF.
Katherine take's EF's wand and makes her magic. "I was running from Klaus. I needed to jet, solo. I threw a couple of vampire names on a hit list. Sue me. I also impersonated a teenager to get my ex-boyfriends to make out with me. Staged a fake fight to trigger my lover's werewolf curse..." Oh, Uncle Brick House, I miss you so. Katherine keeps up her You don't know the half of it spiel. "Ooh, and I chopped off this douchey guy's fingers with a butcher knife, once. That was cool." Nadia says, "What about ripping a mother away from her daughter and having her killed for your own benefit?" Thank you, Nadia. I mean your question spoiled the big surprise a bit early, but I've been spending the whole episode marveling at the resemblance between Nina Dobrev and Olga Fonda, so I'm happy it's not a casting accident. You know what, I like this development so well, I'm not going to get into it, until it actually happens in the episode. Let's just play along with Nadia for a while, shall we? The Shocker Fairy says, "I feel so cheap, now." Oh honey, your big moment comes much later. Hang in there.
Nadia's question penetrates Katherine's bad girl exterior, but Katherine hates feeling vulnerable, so she tries to pretend she's not now emotionally engaged in the conversation. Nadia says she had herself turned into a vampire to hunt Katherine, "And I did this, because you killed my mother." Katherine sinks back against the booth, while Nadia lies that "it" happened in Paris in 1645. Katherine says, "I go to Paris for shoes. The shoes I remember. Everything else is requires a few more details." Since Nadia's story is a lie, I don't have to waste your time with it, right? Dating this show is sort of cool. I don't have to pretend I'm hanging onto its every word. Suffice it to say, Nadia claims Katherine tricked Klaus's minions into thinking her mother was Katherine and they took her away. Katherine realizes Nadia was never going to let her go, so as they're leaving the restaurant, Katherine grabs another patron's cane and shoves it into Nadia's chest. She doesn't kill her, she just disables her. The other customers are shocked, but Katherine runs out, unmolested, which is too easy for my liking. Nadia groans in agony. We cut to...
Mossy Manse. Bonnie wants Jeremy to call Damon and tell him he lied about her giving the okay to the latest cockamamie plan. Jeremy says, "So, I can lie for you all summer, as your witch translator, but when it's something I want..." Bonnie interrupts him to remind him Silas is too dangerous. Jeremy says bringing him back was dangerous. Bonnie did that because Elena needed him. Jeremy says, "And now she needs you." Bonnie is still afraid of the consequences. Jeremy asks, "What is worse than this. What is worse than seeing you, and hearing you, and not being able to feel you. This isn't enough, anymore. Let Damon try to bring you back." Okay, that was moving, as is Bonnie's silent response. We cut to...
Whitmore College. Either the ball invitation has given Elena and the other vampires access to Whitmore Hall, or this ball is being held somewhere else, or we've already forgotten how Elena and Caroline couldn't enter the party in this season's premiere. Let's not sweat it. Bonnie and Tyler look adorable, but I've already watched this episode once, and I am now so emotionally divorced from their storyline, that I can't get into their cute moments (of which this is one). When Tyler spots Stefan, hanging against the wall in jeans and a leather jacket, he says, "I thought you got Stefan a costume." Caroline explains he's there as James Dean. What with all the recent drama, she went easy on him. Stefan approaches and asks Caroline to dance. What with his flirtatious tone and expression, Tyler should be more jealous of Stefan. At least, that's what I thought the first time I watched this, but now I understand he just doesn't care, enough to bother.
Damon is there, dressed as King Henry VIII, a la The Tudors, which I keep meaning to watch. I bought myself the first season DVD set, but then I heard it's filthy, and I've got teenagers. They stay up as late as I do and there's just no good time to watch. Is the story worth making time, or is it just pretty, nekkid people? Let me know on Twitter. While he's waiting for Elena, he texts Silas to let him know Stefan is at the ball. The Contrivance Fairy bows, but isn't talking to me, right now.
Elena arrives dressed as Ann Boleyn, pre-decapitation. Caroline chose these costumes, right? Passive-aggressive, much. Damon can't even get Elena to dance with him, so he does the healthy, constructive thing, and asks Elena to tell him what's going on with her. For the last season or so, he's turned out to be a much better boyfriend than I expected, never mind hoped. The Shocker Fairy says, "You're welcome." Elena confesses that she feels guilty that she was having the summer of her life with Damon, and never took the time to figure out Bonnie was dead. While the circumstances aren't the same, she's not going to let Megan's death also fall through the cracks. Damon catches Elena staring at Aaron, and while his voice betrays some jealousy, he again does the mature thing and just asks Elena right out, who the guy is. She explains he's Megan's old friend, so he's the latest person of interest.
Elena leaves Damon to approach Aaron, whose historical costume is a tuxedo t-shirt. I hate this guy, already. They make costume small talk and then Elena again asks his name. Aaron wonders why she wants to know who he is. I wonder why I'm supposed to believe that any sighted guy would be so rude to someone who looks exactly like Nina Dobrev. Even if he's gay, he should appreciate her in the aesthetic sense. Well, it's no matter. Elena turns on her compulsion eyes and asks Aaron if he killed Megan. He says, "Of course not," so she asks him why he's acting so shady. Aaron says that it's like he's cursed. One by one, everyone in his life dies. This hits a little too close to home for Elena, so she compels him to forget her questions. He then introduces himself and says, "I'll see you around, maybe."
Q-Tessa enters the ball and finds Stefan. Of course since she fried his brain, she has to tell him who she is -- i.e. the witch who fried his brain. She offers to buy him an "I'm sorry, drink." Damon appears, puts his hands protectively on Stefan's shoulders and says, "More like an 'I'm sorry' keg." He then pulls Stefan away to talk privately, which is fine, but it sounds to me like he says, "C'mon, cuz," and the Closed-Captions agrees. Isn't that weird for one brother to say to another -- especially a brother who so often refers to his brother as brother?
They find a convenient room. It appears to be filled with this famous Whitmore Collection, but if the whole purpose of the ball is to display said collection, it makes no sense that this room is going to provide the Fellowship of the Falls, and the rest with so much privacy. Stefan wants to know what Damon wants with him. That's when Silas appears in a white t-shirt and says, "Hello, me." Before Stefan can react, Damon snaps his neck. The Shocker Fairy says, "Can I take a bow?" Given what's coming up, SF, you're going to look like a ham. Besides, Stylus did tell Damon he'd have to kill his brother. At least this is all he meant. Commercial.
As Stylus puts on Stefan's leather jacket, i.e. costume, he explains that he had Damon temporarily kill Stefan, to severe the link between them, so that he (Stylus) could again use his telepathic powers. When Damon doesn't say anything, Stylus says, "Yes, Damon, I can read your mind again. No, I'm not lying. And maybe you enjoyed breaking your brother's neck, just a little too much." Paul Wesley continues to enjoy the hell out of this role, and I continue to enjoy the hell out of him enjoying the hell out of it. Anyhow, Stylus is going to cozy up to Q-Tessa and find out where she's hidden the Other Side creation spell anchor. Meanwhile, Damon just has to keep Stefan dead. Damon worries that Q-Tessa will be suspicious if "Stefan" pays her much attention, given she just wiped out his memories. Stylus is confident in his pretty, pretty face. "You see, a woman never forgets her first love, no matter how badly it ended." Oh Stylus, you're getting your way. Why take that dig at Damon? Besides, that dig should belong to Matt Donavan. Just saying.
Alley. It's been hours, but Nadia is still struggling with the stake in her chest when Katherine finds her. She made sure to graze Nadia's heart, on purpose. She wants to know why Nadia made up the fake story about her mother. Kiki says that by 1645, none of Klaus's minions would mistake anyone else for her. Nadia admits she wanted to get under Katherine's skin. It's working, so Katherine grabs the stake to make Nadia suffer just a little bit more, as she asks what kind of sick game she's playing. Nadia insists it's not a game. "You did kill my mother. Only it wasn't in Paris. It was in a little cottage in England. And it wasn't 1645. It was April 6, 1492. And she was all alone, exiled by her family two years earlier. You stuck her head in a noose, pushed her off the chair, and snapped her neck." Katherine remembers that date, and that story, because it's her own story. She asks, "Who are you?" Nadia says, "My name is Nadia Petrova. And you are my mother." Katherine's eyes well with tears. She starts to shake her head, but she's too busy reeling. I love this development so much, I might make out with it. I just hope it doesn't mistake my intentions, because I'm still not getting serious with TVD.
Elena runs into Maxfield at the ball. He's dressed as Dr. Jekyll, which is a little too cutesy for my taste. Elena asks him to dance. Maxfield agrees, but once they start dancing, Elena demands to know why he lied on Megan's death certificate. He says he didn't want to, but he couldn't claim it was a mountain lion attack and he certainly couldn't tell the truth. When he tells her his theory is that a vampire killed Megan, Elena asks what he knows about vampires. Maxfield says that doesn't matter, because they're never going to see each other again, "...there are people at this school watching you and your friends, and asking questions you don't want them to ask. So pack your things, drop out, and move back to Mystic Falls." And with that, he's gone. We cut to the...
Staircase. Tyler tells Caroline he can't do college right now. Caroline apologizes for being so pushy. The point is he's back and they're together. Tyler says they only reason they're back together is because Klaus allowed it, and Tyler can't live like that. The monster killed his mother. He's not in the headspace to worry about classes and parties. Caroline points out he hasn't even tried. He didn't come to Whitmore to try. Caroline realizes he came to say goodbye. Tyler says he needs to find a way to go after Klaus and destroy his life the way Klaus destroyed his. Caroline spits that for someone who hates Klaus, Tyler sure sounds a lot like him. You go, girl. She does -- in that she walks off.
In another private room hosting more of the collection that everyone is there to see, yet no one is bothering to actually see, Q finds her pendant/talisman and starts to chant. She's interrupted by Stylus, who she assumes is Stefan. Stylus tries to put the whammy on her again, but his powers start slipping away. He falls to his knees in pain. We cut to...
The original, inexplicably private room. Stefan twitches just enough to get Damon to come close, then he snaps Damon's neck. "How does it feel, brother?" Commercial.
Q still thinks Stylus is Stefan, at least until the real Stefan walks in the room and tells her who is who. He punches Stylus in the face, takes back his daywalker ring, and tells Q that Silas is working with Damon, "...and everything he said to you is a lie." Once Stefan leaves the room, Q confronts Silas. She holds out a hand and chants, but Silas laughs that she can't kill him. She says she doesn't need to, yet. As she again starts to work her magic, Silas taunts that she loves him. She admits she used to, "...but then you broke my heart. Now I'm going to break yours." She reaches in his chest and exposits that she's stopping it from working so that the blood can't flow. He'll dry up and rot from the inside out so that the world can see him for the cold, grey hideous monster he is. With tears in her eyes, she breathes a nearly satisfied sigh, like you do when you are a crazy bitch who can't get over the ex she knows is so bad for her.
The ball is just about over. Aaron is on his way out, but Maxfield stops him and orders Aaron to hand over his keys, since he's been drinking. We learn the bad doctor is the boy's guardian. He warns Aaron to stay away from Elena Gilbert, but doesn't give him a reason, other than that he cares for him. We cut to the...
Second inexplicably private room. Damon is standing over a cold, grey, hideous, lifeless-enough Silas. Elena at first mistakes him for Stefan, but Damon sets her straight, and says Q must have had her way with him. Elena thinks that's a good thing, so Damon has to set her straight again, which I assume he does during the commercial break.
We return to another hotel room. Nadia wakes and tells her mother (!) that she was a fool not to run, because Silas will find her. Katherine reminds her daughter (!) that she's good at dodging diabolical fiends, and figures she's safe at least until Silas figures out how to destroy the Other Side. "If he cures himself before then, he goes back to being a witch. If he dies as a witch, he'll be stuck in..." you don't need me to spell this out. Katherine asks Nadia where she was in 1498. Nadia doesn't remember. She was only eight years old, so she asks her mom why she wants to know. Kiki says by that time, she'd ditched the people who were chasing her. She returned to Bulgaria and searched every village, but she couldn't find Nadia. Nadia is moved to learn her mother went back for her. Katherine is moved that Nadia is moved. It's all so moving that we're moved to tears. But shut them right off, because this scene doesn't deserve it.
Caroline finds Tyler packing up his stuff. She tells him she doesn't want to have this conversation again. She can't just sit there and wait for him to return. When Tyler says he doesn't want that either, Caroline tells him to stay. "Be the love of my life. Love me more than you hate him." Tyler says, "I'm sorry, Care. I can't do that." And I can't give this scene any more. Don't get me wrong. Both Candice Accola and Michael Trevino give great performances. And I'm fine with them breaking up. I'm just not fine with the how of it all. I went on about this in the recaplet, so since this is a casual thing for me now, I don't feel the need to repeat myself. In the end, all that matters is that Tyler is gone. I think his character deserved more than he got this season, even if, or especially since this was going to end in a breakup.
Back at Mossy Manse, Elena tells Damon about Maxfield's threat. She doesn't yet know if she will drop out. She knows finding out about Megan won't bring Bonnie back. It's clear from their conversation that she knows Damon was trying to finagle a way to do that. When there's a knock at the door, Damon smiles. He knows who it is, before he answers. It's Katherine. She's bitching about how she doesn't have time for this, but then she sees Silas's corpse and breaks out into a broad grin. "...Maybe I have all the time in the world. Katherine Pierce eludes death, yet again." She laughs and turns to face Damon and Elena. "And you two finally did something right, for once. How does it feel?" Damon smolders as he says it's thrilling. When he closes in on Katherine, she realizes she's miscalculated everything. Damon says Silas needs the cure to become a witch, then bites Katherine's throat. Katherine pleads her case, saying Silas needs all her blood, and that this will kill her. Elena's a little shocked, but she's not moved to intervene, and you know what? Good for her. Damon is not unmoved by Katherine's pleas, but he's not moved enough to change course. He says, "Goodbye, Katherine," then shoves her bloody neck down over Silas's mouth, much the way she fed Jeremy to Silas, back on Craphole Island Down East. The color starts to return to Silas's hand. He holds Katherine's head in place. Kather slumps the floor, lifeless.
Damon and Elena just stand there, and take it all in. Then Damon says, "Do you hear that?" It's a heartbeat. Elena shakes her head. "You've got to be kidding me." Damon says, "Takes a licking, keeps on ticking." Katherine opens her eyes. Once she can focus on Damon and Elena, she asks, "Am I in Hell." Ha! The Shocker Fairy takes a well-deserved bow, for what was a perfectly executed triple Lutz.
I'll be back soon with coverage of "Handle With Care." In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page, and then come on over to the forum, where we're letting Caroline play all the Taylor Swift she needs to.