VivaVibe

For anyone else watching this episode with a sore throat, I felt your pain. Literally. I now realize the reason I got sick this week was so that when Damon told Elena he loved her, I would try to squeal like a tween, and nothing would come out. And in the silence (and agony), I would be reminded that I am 35. But you know what, it was worth it. In fact, I’m gonna watch Damon compel Elena to forget his little monologue again, knowing full well that the single tear that drops from his eye will make me want to do a high-pitched whimper, which hurts just as much. (S—. It really does.)

So, let’s back up. It turned out the guy who kidnapped Elena after the Lockwood masquerade to benefit the homeless (I just like typing that), was the delivery person for the delivery person. After he put Elena into a new vehicle, he became snack food to show us that Elena’s vamp kidnapper, Trevor, was not a nice man. He was, however, a handsome one. In his hat, he sort of reminded me of Jonathan Rhys Meyers. That’s a lovely thought, right? The reality was that actor is Trent Ford from the Mandy Moore movie How to Deal. His hair is under control now, and I would have been happy to have seen more of him, but I knew he wasn’t making it out of this hour alive, so I didn’t allow myself to grow too attached to him or his accent. (I didn’t realize having an accent on this show would make it even better until I heard his.)

Elena woke up in an old dusty mansion that, presumably, the female vampire, Rose, decorated with lights while Trevor was out picking up Elena. She clearly wore the pants in that relationship — he stopped attempting to taste Elena’s arm wound when she told him to. Elena, however, didn’t stop talking when Rose asked her politely, so she slapped her and knocked her out again. Hilarious. I liked Rose immediately. When she came to, Elena convinced Rose that since she was 300 miles away from Mystic Falls with nothing within miles to run to, she deserved to know why she was taken. So, here’s the story: Five hundred years ago, Trevor had pissed off The Originals, the first family of vampires, and Rose was loyal to him and had his back. They’ve been on the run ever since and they’re tired of it. They were going to turn over Elena, Katherine’s doppelganger, to Elijah, one of the Originals, and negotiate a pardon for the old mess. What was he going to do with her? The moonstone is what binds the sun and the moon curse, but a sacrifice is what breaks it — the blood of a doppelganger to be exact. Elena has to die. Trevor trusted Katherine, the first Petrova doppelganger, 500 years ago and helped her escape her fate. They weren’t going to make the same mistake twice.

NEXT: Bonnie works her magic

Naturally, Aunt Jenna didn’t know Elena never came home the previous night. That fell to Jeremy to figure out after he styled his hair (no product like Bieber?). After Mrs. Lockwood told Jeremy that Elena’s car was still at their place, he assumed she’d had make-up sex with Stefan at the Salvatore mansion. (We wish!) At school, Jeremy told Stefan he couldn’t always cover for them, and they realized she’d gone missing. Stefan didn’t put it past Damon to have let Katherine roam free, but Damon assured him he’d entombed her, and oops, Katherine had said Elena was in danger. Stefan went to Bonnie, knowing that in order for Katherine to tell them who had Elena, they’d have to let her out. Bonnie said she didn’t have that kind of mojo solo, but that she could try a locator spell using Jeremy’s blood, a map, and Alaric’s classroom. Watching the blood travel down the map to the town Elena was being held in wasn’t Marauder’s-Map-in-Harry Potter cool, but it was more fun than, say, a Ouija board. Plus, it got the Scrappy Gang — our name for the younger version of Buffy‘s Scooby Gang — back together. Jeremy was headed to a computer to check aerial views of the town to narrow down the search. (So together, Jonnie — our name for the budding couple Jeremy and Bonnie — is Willow).

Bonnie had one more trick up her sleeve while she and Jeremy waited in his bedroom for Elena’s safe return. She asked Jeremy to get a candle and Elena’s hairbrush, then she wrote on a piece of notebook paper that Stefan and Damon were coming for her. She had to chant silently until the paper burst into flames and disappeared, sort of like a Harry Potter howler, only this one magically ends up on a couch with the person whose DNA was in the hair follicles. The magic made Bonnie’s nose bleed worse that it’d done in Alaric’s classroom, and this time, she couldn’t hide it. She passed out on Jeremy’s bed. When she awoke, she asked him not to tell anyone that if she pushes herself too much with witchcraft, the witchcraft will push back. She doesn’t want anyone who could hurt her (cough, Damon) to know that she has a weakness. (Damon already knows that’s what killed Grams though, right?) The takeaway here is twofold: 1) Bonnie isn’t invincible, and her magic has limits. (That we already knew.) And 2.) She trusts Jeremy. As they disclosed, they both feel alone. She doesn’t have Grams, and her father hasn’t wanted to know about this side of her since her mother left. (Ooh, planting the seed for her mother’s return? Kevin Williamson has said they’d always imagined her in a mental institution until True Blood did that with Lafayette’s mother…) Jeremy will always be at the kiddies table if Elena gets her way. Again, I thought they might kiss, but I love that they didn’t, even if I did write “KISS!!!!!” in my notes. Tease, tease away. I can wait for the day when Jeremy hugs Bonnie and kisses her neck like he did Elena’s.

NEXT: Stefan and Damon take a road trip

The Salvatore Brothers, who might have been able to fly had they been in Bon Temps, had to drive the 300 miles. They examined the vervain grenade bomber Alaric gave them — he was on Operation Distract Jenna, as is sadly his fate. (But good news for Alaric fans, Ian Somerhalder tweeted that he was going to be working with Matt Davis all day Thursday — “Will be a day of existential talk, silly laughter, fart jokes & work” — so Alaric will get to come out and play again.) Then, Stefan wanted to do some road trip bonding. (Hey, it worked for Damon and Elena last season.) Stefan wanted to calmly talk about Damon’s feelings for Elena: Was Damon helping his younger brother save the girl Stefan loved, or was Damon helping Stefan save the girl Damon loved?

Damon was anti-bonding, and instead, wanted to prepare for battle by drinking from a blood bag as nonchalantly as if they’d just gone through the McDonald’s drive-thru for a milkshake. He offered to share with Stefan, and was shocked when Stefan said he’d like some. Stefan admitted to Damon that he’s been drinking a bit of human blood every day to build both his strength and his tolerance. And yes, Elena knows. It’s her blood. “Hmm. How romantic,” Damon said. Damon took the opportunity to remind us that Stefan was once a vampire who’d tear a person apart just to watch him bleed, who’d fed Damon human blood to turn him into a vampire when Damon didn’t want to change. Damon said he missed the guy who lived for the kill. Stefan said he found something else to live for. (Bourbon? No, Elena.) When the brothers got to the house, Damon tried to tell Stefan they wouldn’t come out if they went inside because Elena’s kidnappers were at least 500 years old, and we’ve learned that the older the vamp on this show (RIP, Pearl), the more powerful the vamp. Stefan said he couldn’t think of a better reason to die (than saving the woman he loved). Damon didn’t say anything, but he followed after Stefan for the same reason. Well played, Stefan.

Inside, Elijah had already arrived. Trevor had wanted to flee, but Rose convinced him that they are family, forever, and she knew her plan would work because Elijah is old-school. He’s another handsome vamp, knows how to wear a suit, and was polite enough to knock before he entered. But he’s too stiff to rival Damon as the Ultimate Sexy Beast. (Perhaps if he’d been played by Timothy Olyphant…) When Elijah got the message that Rose wanted to see him at a location 300 miles from Mystic Falls, he thought it must have had something to do with Katherine. He assumed they’d trapped her. He had no idea Elena existed until he saw her, sniffed her neck, and confirmed the impossible (since Katherine’s family line had supposedly ended with Katherine) — she was human. “Hello, there,” he said to Elena. Before they could leave, he had to take care of one thing, and man, I knew it was killing Trevor from the moment he told Rose, “You have my word. I will pardon YOU.” Are we to think Rose wasn’t smart enough to know he’d chosen his words carefully, or that she sold Trevor out because she was tired of running? I’m assuming the former, since Elijah had referred to having the authority to pardon her and her little pet earlier in the conversation. And, she seemed genuinely upset when Elijah violently punched Trevor’s head off of his body.

NEXT: Rescue mission

Elena knew she had to stall until Stefan and Damon arrived, so she tried to play the only card she had: She could tell him where the moonstone was. He tore her vervain necklace off of her, and she spilled its location — in the tomb, with Katherine. But then, the brothers Salvatore arrived to buzz around the foyer. “Up here…Down here.” They managed to get a stake in Elijah’s hand, but he was un-phased. As he made a stake out of a coat rack, he told them they couldn’t beat him. Damon quieted Rose, while Stefan used the time to give Elena the vervain grenade, which she threw at Elijah when he saw through the world’s weakest plea. (“I’ll come with you. Just please don’t hurt my friends. They just wanted to help me out.”) He healed hella quickly, and Stefan started firing a weapon that I assume was some kind of a crossbow at him because bullets wouldn’t stop him. But it was like mini-stakes couldn’t penetrate Elijah’s chest, they just flew off him. So Stefan jumped him, and they went tumbling down the stairs. As Elijah stood over Stefan, Damon drove what looked like a vertical stem from the banister into his chest. He pinned him against the wall, and as Damon flashed a look that reminded us how much he likes to kill (sorta nice to see it again, right?), Elijah shriveled up like vamps do when they die in the Vampire Diaries world. Damon was going to chase after Rose, who fled, but Elena said to let her go. Elena stood at the top of the staircase, looking like she was about to run into someone’s arms, and Damon thought it was his. Until Stefan stepped into the frame. As they embraced, Elena mouthed “thank you” to Damon, and he mouthed “you’re welcome.” No way did I think Elijah would go out that easily (he’s got to be a multi-episode arc even on this show, which moves at lightning speed), and I can’t believe Stefan and Damon didn’t behead him just to be safe. I mean, seriously. But even though they don’t know that he awoke and ripped the wood out of his chest, they do know that Elena is still in danger.

Back at the Salvatore mansion, Damon and Stefan unwound with some bourbon and Stefan tried again to talk to Damon about his feelings for Elena. The only way they can keep her safe is if they work together and don’t let Elena come between them like they did Katherine. Then, Stefan did the smartest thing he’s done since we’ve known him: He apologized to Damon for being the guy who turned him 145 years ago. Stefan had never said it out loud before. He needed to say it, and Damon needed to hear it. “I’m sorry. What I did was selfish. I didn’t want to be alone. I guess I just needed my brother.” Ah.

The brothers went their separate ways, and Stefan was alone to get buzzed by Rose in their study. As she told Elena earlier, a friend (Lexi) had tried to set her up with Stefan a 100 years ago because he was “one of the good ones.” She’d just lost her best friend, the only person she lived with for 500 years. Stefan assumed she wanted him to help her with revenge. But no. She wants to help them. She knows The Originals will be coming for Elena. They have to. They’re doing it for Klaus. (Who’s Klaus? I’m resisting the urge to Google and see if he’s in the book series. Considering next week is a flashback episode, I’m guessing we’ll meet him whether he’s alive or dead today. That name isn’t so sexy, but I have faith in the show’s casting.)

NEXT: Damon sheds a true tear…

Damon, meanwhile, headed over to Elena’s to look sexy sitting in her bedroom, admire her PJs, and return her vervain necklace — but not before he said what he had to say just once, and what he needed her to hear. What did you think he was going to say? I’m guessing Elena thought he was going to try to convince her that saving her (again), should erase the fact that he tried to kill Jeremy in the season premiere. But what he said was so much sweeter. “I love you, Elena,” he said. “And it’s because I love you, I can’t be selfish with you…. I don’t deserve you. But my brother does.” Then, he kissed her forehead. “God, I wish you didn’t have to forget this. But you do,” he said. First there was a closeup of his eye, and that tear. Then a closeup of her eye, and a blink. The necklace was around her neck, and Damon was gone. Elena sat on her bed, confused about how she was once again wearing it, and probably wondering why her neck felt so stiff. (That’s because Nina Dobrev played that scene perfectly, making you believe that even though Damon was speaking softly enough to make us swoon, she still wasn’t sure where he was headed. As she shouldn’t have been. This is a man who doesn’t take rejection well, and she had no idea that Damon finally saw how much Stefan loved her and him.)

Last but not least, we get to the episode’s B storyline: Tyler and Caroline’s budding friendship. During the morning, before anyone knew Elena was kidnapped, Caroline told Damon what had happened to Tyler and why she covered for him. She thought it best he wasn’t asked to answer questions he didn’t know how to answer, ones that could lead from Werewolf Road straight to Vampire Boulevard, and besides, she feels bad for him. Damon seemed impressed, but would never admit it. He doesn’t want her to get any closer to Tyler because Tyler can’t find out about the existence of vampires, since werewolf bites are fatal to vamps. Caroline promised Damon she wouldn’t tell Tyler anything, and she really did try to keep her distance. But Tyler didn’t believe Caroline when she told him she didn’t know anything about his superstrength or his eyes turning gold with amber highlights. After he accidentally tore the lock off of his locker and dunked during a pickup basketball game with about as must airtime as that guy had in the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer (insert your own Teen Wolf reference, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it), he’d had enough. He wanted answers, and when Caroline wouldn’t give them to him, he tried to grab her so she wouldn’t leave, and she twisted his arm and took him down. He knew she really was stronger than him; he hadn’t been imagining things because he was in shock over the death of Drunk Girl No. 2 — and the activation of the curse. He surprised Caroline and was waiting for her inside her home after school. (Shouldn’t the sheriff have a better security system?) He’d put back on the eggplant pullover, I assume so we wouldn’t be distracted by the biceps we saw when he was playing hoops in that brown T-shirt that worked far better onscreen than you’d think a brown T-shirt would. But that pullover fit him quite well. It clung to his shoulders, and yet gave him enough room to get rough with Caroline when she laughed after he suggested she knows about him because she’s a werewolf, too.

NEXT: Supernatural games between Caroline and Tyler

He pushed her against the wall (hot!), and she reverse pinned him (also hot!), and she couldn’t stop her face from vamping out. She pushed him away, but apparently, she came clean. The next time we saw them, she was bringing them a bottle and two glasses and explaining that alcohol helps calm the jittery stuff inside. “I’m hot,” he said, pausing for viewers at home to say, “Yes, you are” to their TVs. “It’s like my skin is on fire,” he continued. Oh, he’s talking about being a werewolf! Right. Caroline said she never had that, it must be a wolf thing. After they compared notes about heightened emotions (they’re going to end up kissing after a fight at some point, right?), we got confirmation that she’d broken her promise to Damon: “How can you be a vampire?” he asked. “How can you be a werewolf?” Caroline answered. At least she lied when Tyler asked how many vampires there are. She said she’s the only one. He told her he was the only werewolf now that Mason is gone/dead. She agreed to tell Tyler more IF he promised not to tell anyone about either of them. No one would understand, she said. It’s life or death. “I have no one else to tell,” he said. And I wanted to hug him. Caroline finally embraced him after he almost broke down admitting he’s scared. He knows he’s going to change at the next full moon, and there’s no way he can stop it. I never thought I’d like Tyler after the way he treated Vicki in season 1, but it’s happened. If he stays as good intentioned as he is now, and keeps wearing tight-fitted clothing (he scores his first badass leather jacket in episode 210, Michael Trevino told us), this could become one of my favorite storylines on the show. Who doesn’t love the idea of a supernatural Romeo and Juliet? Do you think Caroline will go there, or do you think she’ll hold out, frustrating Tyler because she won’t be able to tell him why she can’t be with him?

Your turn. What did you think of this episode? Are you happy we have The Originals to look forward to? What do you think Katherine’s game is? Was her plan to get the moonstone, then deliver Elena to The Originals herself so she can stop running? Or was Katherine trying to obtain the moonstone and (in some twisted way) keep Elena safe? Why would Katherine need a werewolf if it was the doppelgänger’s blood that was needed for the sacrifice not a wolf’s? Is it still something to do with the spell, or is it because she wants the werewolf to help protect her (or Elena) from The Originals? How did Trevor save Katherine from her fate? Does the sacrifice need to be human, and so he turned her into a vamp? Or was she already a vampire, and he let her go? If Katherine was the first Petrova doppelgänger, does that mean there could, conceivably, be an episode where Nina Dobrev is playing three roles? If so, I’m gonna have to become Doc Jensen here. But I like the expanding world. Elijah already seemed more interesting when he got pissy. And now that Damon is letting Elena go (for now), he’s free to start something with Rose, who’s already admitted she’s a sucker for bad boys. The Salvatore Brothers have had their shirts on way too much recently.

Follow: @EWMandiBierly

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