THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: “The Sacrifice”

Read on for my recap & running commentary on The Vampire Diaries 2×10, “The Sacrifice,” aired Thursday, December 2nd, 2010:

Hey, remember when there were new episodes of The Vampire Diaries, but I never recapped them?  No?  Well, I have decided to catch-up anyway.  So, let us discuss how dumb everyone in Mystic Falls was acting back in December.  Of course, the denizens of Mystic Falls were also falling all over themselves to be selfless and brave, so that counts for something.  As Shepherd Book once said, “If you can’t do something smart, do something right.”

We open on Elena in her bed, in the middle of the night.  She seems to hear something, and wakes up, rubbing her eyes as scary music plays.  Uh oh, there is someone in the house!  Gasp!  And it’s Luka’s dad!  Elena hears a door slam and gets up, startled.  She walks out into the hallway.  Dun dun dun.  Will she run into Dr. Martin?  She turns around, frightened, and it’s … naked Alaaaaaric.  Really?  Alaric just wanders the halls naked in the house where two of his underage students live?  Seriously?  Oh, Mr. Saltzman, I love you, but you may need to learn about boundaries.  Elena says that she heard something, and Jenna explains: “That was us.  I’m sorry.”  Cut to Dr. Martin sneakily rifling through the Gilbert possessions and stealing hair and jewelry.  Yes, HAIR.  In the words of the fabulous Caroline Forbes: Eeeewwww.  Also, no one hears Dr. Martin, so he must be really really good at tip-toeing.  Or, you know, magical.  Alaric: “We were just … Chunky Monkey?”  Hee.  Elena says she’s not hungry.  Awkward.  Alaric: “Well, I’m naked, so I’m gonna go.”  Lies!  As he walks away, we see that he is wearing boxers.  Lies, I tell you.  So, really, it wasn’t soooo awkward.  We still love you, Alaaaaaric.

Jenna apologizes to her niece, and asks if she’s sure it’s okay that Alaric has been staying over so much.  Elena diplomatically answers, “It seems like things are good.”  Jenna: “They’re extremely good.”  Well, YEAH, clearly.  Elena: “Then I’m extremely okay with that.”  Awww.  Elena goes back to bed, but continues to seem restless.  It sucks to be Elena, people.  Girl has Harry-Potter-level bad luck in the destiny department, poor thing, and that makes restful sleep difficult.

Meanwhile, Dr. Martin stands outside Elena’s door creepily, and then grabs another Gilbert possession (a frame picture, perhaps?) before strolling casually out of the house.  Really?  Some crack security there.  Also, I couldn’t help but think that Elena’s vampire stalkers are totally falling short in their obsessing duties.  I mean, the homes of most girls with vampire boyfriends (or vampire ex-boyfriends, or vampire wannabe-boyfriends) would be staked out nightly.  Slackers.  Also, Dr. Martin couldn’t wait until no one was home?  Or at least until the kids were at school?  I guess you don’t need common sense when you have magic.  Cue title card.  

The next day, Stefan and Damon go down to the tomb, determined.  Damon tells his brother, “Let’s do it,” and the two vamps work together to move the slab in front of the tomb.  They make it seem really hard.  Of course, in the previous episode, Caroline totally moved it on her own, without even breaking a sweat.  Yeah, Caroline is still the best vampire ever.  Instead of seeing Katherine at this point, however, we cut to the Salvatores showing up on Elena’s doorstep.  They tell her that they went to see Katherine, and Elena tells them to come on in.

The wonky editing continues, as we cut back to the tomb.  Katherine: “Please, come on in.  There’s plenty of room for all of us.”  Hee.  I would so watch that.  Damon is less enthusiastic: “I’d rather poke my eyes out.”  Katherine: “Oh, they’re such pretty eyes.”  Stefan cuts to the chase: “We’re here for the moonstone.”  Damon asks, “Feel like tossing it over?”  Hmmm, Damon, maybe you should have thought about that BEFORE you THREW THE FRAKKING MOONSTONE IN THE TOMB WITH KATHERINE at the end of “Masquerade.”  I mean, seriously?  Use that brain we know you have—your head is not just for decoration, as lovely as it is.  (Though, in Damon’s defense, he is totally the smartest person in this episode—in the sense that he does the least number of dumb things.)  Katherine: “Tell you what, you get your little witch to hocus pocus me out of here, you can have whatever you want.”  Stefan: “I thought you liked it in here—nice and safe where Klaus can’t get to you.”  Katherine: “I’ve had time to reconsider.”  Damon: “Meaning you’re hungry.”  Katherine: “I’m starving, Damon.  And dirty.  And above all, I’m bored.  At least running from Klaus wasn’t boring.  So here’s the deal.  You get me out of here, you get the moonstone, and I’ll disappear from Mystic Falls forever.  Let me know what you decide.”  I love that Katherine is willing to rethink her entire complicated and maniacal plan because she’s hungry and bored, and wants to take a shower.  Hee.  Typical.  (Yeah, my Katherine obsession has not waned.  Be warned.)

Cut back to Elena, who asks, “You don’t believe her, do you?”  Damon: “No, of course we don’t.  We just want the moonstone.”  With that, Damon begins tossing about an orange.  Book shout-out! Stefan then introduces the new plan: “According to Rose’s friend Slater, there’s a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break.”  Damon: “No spell, no doppelgänger sacrifice, ergo, you live.”  Elena asks, “How do you destroy it?”  Stefan: “By releasing it from the moonstone.”  Um, okay, but how do you do that?  Elena is about as impressed with the Salvatore brain trust as I am, and asks, “How do you guys even know that this is going to work?”  Damon: “Because we have a crafty witch on our side.”  Elena: “You’ve discussed it with Bonnie?”  Stefan: “She agreed to do anything she could to help us.”  Hmmm.  Elena brings up the stumbling block: “It’s Katherine who has the moonstone.  She’s not gonna give it to you.”  Stefan: “We’re gonna get it from her.”  Oh, well, in that case.  Sigh.  Damon: “Well, what he means to say is that we’ll pry it from her cold dead hand if we have to.”  Oh, yes, the Salvatores have really proven themselves to be absolutely ruthless where Katherine is involved.  Oh, wait.  Stefan: “Bonnie just has to find a way to release the seal long enough for us to get in, get the moonstone, and get out in time for her to return it [this last part was mumbled, so not quite sure].”

Ah, tomb seal talk.  Let us pause to discuss mythology for a bit.  I know that I addressed this in “Rose” and “Katerina,” but reminder:  I think that Emily’s original spell is still in place.  It seems most likely that Grams and Bonnie only briefly opened the seal, but never fully undid Emily’s spell.  Last time the seal was opened, it was open long enough for all the tomb vamps to escape, but then it sealed back up on its own.  While this is extremely convenient and a little problematic, this makes more sense than the alternative: that Bonnie and/ or Lucy placed a new seal on the tomb, off-screen, sometime after “Fool Me Once.” Given how trying to open the seal the first time killed Grams, the Salvatores are a little too complacent about Bonnie releasing the seal on her own.  Sigh.  Oh, and then there’s the Katherine factor.  I predict trouble.

Elena: “Wow, sounds like you guys already have it all planned out.”  Her words do not match her tone here, but Damon seems to miss it, replying, “Yeah, we’re awesome.”  Elena: “Except for one thing.  I don’t want you to do it.”  Stefan: “What are you talking about, Elena?  We don’t have a choice.”  Elena: “What about Klaus?”  Stefan: “We’ll find him, right after we get the moonstone.”  Elena: “Is that before or after he kills everyone that I care about, including the two of you?”  Hmmm …. point to Elena.  Stefan is not deterred: “Elena, if we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your life.”  Elena: “I know.  Everyone keeps saying that.”  And she is less than pleased about this.  Oh, everyone wants to be a Winchester, eager to get him or herself killed for a loved one.  How sweet.

Cut to Luka and Bonnie, mid-conversation, outside of the school.  Luka: “So your grams waited until you were in high school to tell you that you’re a witch?”  Bonnie: “Well, she brought it up before, but I just thought she was drunk.  [Luka laughs.]  In my defense, she was.”  Ha!  Also, I miss Sheila.  Luka asks, “So then you’re like new?”  Bonnie: “New-ish.  I still have some growing pains.”  Luka: “Like?”  Bonnie then proceeds to explain all her secrets to the creepy new guy, OF COURSE: “Physically, it’s become a lot harder.  I have a bad reaction to it sometimes.”  Luka asks, “Any nosebleeds?”  Bonnie: “Yeah.  And I pass out sometimes.”  Yes, chronicle your weaknesses to the enemy, my dear.  Good plan.  However, in Bonnie’s defense, this illustrates her trusting and good nature, which is something that I liked about Bonnie in the books.  Also, she ultimately ends up getting more information out of this exchange than Luka, plus a useful piece of jewelry.  Point goes to the Bennett witch.  Luka explains: “It’s because you try to do too much on your own.  You need help.”  Bonnie asks, “From what?”  Luka: “From nature, the elements, just things that you can draw extra power from.  Have you ever channeled another witch before?”  Sounds dirty.  Bonnie asks what that is, and Luka explains: “Say we put our energy together, we can double our strength.  I’ll show you.  Watch.  Let me see that bracelet.”  With that he takes her bracelet, and this gives us a hint as to why Luka’s dad was stealing possessions from the Gilberts—probably necessary for some hocus pocus.  Luka continues: “We’re channeling.  The personal elements will act as a talisman.  Now concentrate.”  Yes, they are doing this in the middle of a crowded school yard.  No, it doesn’t look weird AT ALL.  Really?

At this point, it gets crazy windy, and Bonnie has a total Pocahontas moment, only without the Vanessa Williams soundtrack.  “Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?  Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?”  Speaking of … Vanessa Williams as Bonnie’s mother?  Could be awesome.  I mean, I’m thinking there’s a story there.  What is the deal with Mama Bennett?  Is she absent, or dead?  I want to know more about the Bennett family.  Hmmm.  Anyway, the leaves blow all around the duo, and it is oh-so-magical, and OF COURSE no one seems to think the witches are odd.  Jeremy, however, seems less than pleased at the vibe he reads when he approaches.  He asks, “What’s with that weather, huh?”  Luka: “It’s global warming, man.  I don’t know.”  Hee.  But poor Jeremy.  Sad face.  Luckily, Luka quickly says goodbye and leaves.  But when Jeremy comments, “That guy’s weird,” Bonnie vehemently defends her new friend.  We also see that Bonnie still has Luka’s dog tags from when they were “channeling.”  Oops.  Also, foreshadowing alert!  Further discussion of how weird or not weird Luka is, however, is delayed when Damon calls/ texts Bonnie.  Yep, because Bonnie now runs whenever Damon beckons.  Sigh.

Meanwhile, Elena shows up at Casa Salvatore, only to hear Rose calling: “It’s not nice to leave a girl naked so early in the morning.”  Riiiight.  She pretends to look abashed when she sees Elena, but is clearly LOVING Elena’s reaction.  Or maybe I just don’t like Rose.  Whatever.  I just … Rose is … not my favorite.  When Rose informs Elena that there is no one else there, Elena explains, “Actually I came to talk to you.”  Rose replies (smiling WIDELY, I might add), “Then I should probably get dressed.”  Yeah, you do that, Rose.  Ugh.

Cut to mid-conversation, a short time later.  Rose: “It’s a bad idea.”  Elena: “No, it’s not.  From what Stefan told me, your friend Slater obviously has more information about Klaus.  You and Damon just gave up before you got it.”  Rose: “Because someone blew up a coffee shop with us in it.”  Excuses, excuses.  Elena thinks there is more to learn, so she wants to see Slater herself.    Rose wonders, “Why are you coming to me with this?”  Elena: “Because you owe me.  One word from me, and Damon and Stefan could have killed you for kidnapping me.”  Ooookaaaay.  Rose is not sold: “Or maybe it’s because you know that they wouldn’t want you doing this.  And their moonstone caper gives you a chance to sneak away.”  Elena concedes, slightly: “We’re having a disagreement, okay.  They’re willing to risk everyone that I love, and I’m not.”  Rose: “They’re just trying to protect you.”  Elena: “And you’ve proven that you couldn’t care less whether I’m protected or not.  So, we’re back to you taking me to Slater.”  Hmmm … this logic vaguely resembles troll logic.  Oh well.  Road trip!  But Rose has more questions first: “What exactly do you hope to achieve by this?”  Instead of answering, Elena offers her a bribe: “How would you like to walk during the daylight?”  Rose likes this idea: “I’ve been a slave to shadows for five hundred years.  What do you think?”  Well, I think that tempered glass exists that allows vampires to drive around in the sunlight, and sip coffee in a café with a view, so I think the “slave to shadows” thing is a bit of exaggeration.  But, whatever.  Elena then offers up Bonnie’s services.  Yeah, no one even asks Bonnie for help anymore, she is just permanently volunteered.  Sigh.

At this point, Katerina Graham’s cover of “I’m Only Happy When It Rains,” begins to play and we cut to our new favorite love triangle.  Love it.  Matt goes up to Tyler outside the school, at the basketball court, and he looks on the point of tears.  Seriously, Matt’s face makes me soooo sad in this scene.  I mean, it is a very pretty face, but it is oh-so tragic.  Matt tells his friend how terrible he feels about everything that happened and how sorry he is.  Tyler is cool about it and nods.  On a superficial note, Matt’s hair seems short, so he must have just got a hair-cut.  As Matt walks away, he runs into Caroline, who asks how he is.  Matt: “I’ve been better.”  Well, that is just kind of par for the course for poor Matt, sadly.  Matt quickly excuses himself, saying that he has to get to class.

Caroline is disappointed, but walks up to Tyler.  He asks, “You two still on the outs?”  Caroline: “Looks like it.”  She then quickly changes the subject: “You realize there’s almost the full moon?”  Tyler: “Vampires don’t have enough problems?  You want to take on mine?”  Hee.  Also, aaaawwww.  Caroline asks, “Have you even thought about it, the whole wolf thing?  Do you know what you’re gonna do?”  Tyler claims to have a plan, but in response to her inquiry, says that it’s private.  Caroline will have none of that, obviously: “I’m student council vice-president, head of the prom committee, not to mention I single-handedly organized this town’s clean-up campaign.  And you’re really gonna turn down my help?”  Tyler silently bows to inevitable.

Meanwhile, Bonnie and Jeremy have made their way to Casa Salvatore.  Bonnie tells the vamps, “I might be able to lower the tomb spell long enough for you to get in there and grab the moonstone from Katherine.”  Jeremy interrupts: “How?  It took both you and your grams last time.  And look what happened to her?”  Ouch.  But very true.  Bonnie: “I’m well aware of what happened.  I’ve learned a few new things.”  Jeremy is not convinced, but Bonnie ignores him and asks the Salvatores how they plan to get the moonstone from Katherine.  Stefan: “She hasn’t been feeding.  She’s weaker.  We’re not.”  Very detailed and foolproof plan, as you can see.  Bonnie asks, “You wouldn’t be underestimating her, would you?”  Damon is realistic: “It’s a plan.  Is it perfect?  Pshaw.  What plan is?”  Hee.  You can see why Elena trusted this plan so implicitly.  Also, this is a fun little meta moment—the writers are very aware of what they are doing.  Jeremy speaks up, trying to help: “Let me do it.  I’ve got my ring.  I could get in, get out, no spells necessary.”  Damon scoffs: “Gee, thanks, you 16 year old child.  Why didn’t we think about that?  Why are you even here?”  Honestly, if the others had worked with Jeremy, that would have been the best plan.  It would have prevented the need for Bonnie to potentially sacrifice her and Luka’s lives to do magic, and would have been most likely to guarantee possession of the moonstone.  Siiiiiigh.  But Bonnie gets her Winchester on too, and can’t wait to sacrifice herself.  At least, however, she seeks to improve the plan first, asking Stefan and Damon if they have anything that belongs to Katherine.  Significant glances are exchanged between the brothers.  Stefan’s eyes say, “only her heart,” while Damon is clearly holding onto something more scandalous.  I would kind of like to imagine that they have a secret Katherine Room, all serial-killer-wall-ed out, and they’re just silently trying to figure out which item to part with.  Hee.

Meanwhile, Rose and Elena have arrived at Slater’s place.  They knock but Slater doesn’t answer.  Rose immediately gives up and turns to go, but Elena is NOT having that: “Uh-uh.  No.  We didn’t come out here for nothing.”  Rose reluctantly concedes and breaks the lock, opening the door.  She calls for Slater, but stops when she sees his dead body: “I don’t think he’s gonna be much help.”  I must admit that I’m a little disappointed in Elijah for just leaving the dead body like that.  He couldn’t clean up after himself?  I expect better from a classy vamp like him.

Cut to moments later, as Elena rifles through Slater’s desk.  She notes: “Looks like whoever blew up the coffee shop found him and killed him for his information.”  Rose: “Yeah, probably to stop him from helping people like us.  The guy was a vampire almanac.  Knowing too much information just bit him in the ass.”  Then Rose starts to open the curtains, which freaks HUMAN Elena out: “What are you …?”  An extreme case of Vampire Empathy, I guess?  You should work on that, Elena.  Rose explains: “Tempered glass.  UV rays can’t penetrate.  I used to just come here and watch the day.”  (See?)  Elena sees a picture of Slater with a girl (later revealed to be Alice), and starts to feel bad about the guy.  She tells Rose that she’s sorry about her friend.  Rose has decided to take a break from crying, for once, and changes the subject.  She asks if Elena is having any luck.  Sadly no, as Elena has not been able to access Slater’s password-protected computer.  Rose thinks that they should just go, but this idea is interrupted when they hear a noise.  After some investigation, Rose finds a sobbing girl in a nightie, named Alice.

Meanwhile, the plan to get the moonstone proceeds at Casa Salvatore.  Stefan brings out The Picture of Katherine that he has kept over the years, explaining: “This belonged to Katherine.  I found it with her things after I thought she was dead, but it was hers.”  For the first time, I can see that the picture is actually not paper, but it looks like reflective metal or something.  Hmmm.   Bonnie puts it in a bowl, drips some water on it, and then it catches on fire.  As she does magic, Damon asks what this will do.  Bonnie: “I can turn the metal to ash, blow the ashes on her, and it will incapacitate her for a minute or two.  Long enough for you to get the stone and get out.”  While she sounds confident, her nose starts to bleed.  How many times has she had a nosebleed in front of vampires now?  And yet, they have no clue.  The Salvatores are kind of failing as vampires lately, huh?  As undead blood-sucking fiends, aren’t they supposed to, you know, sense blood, or something?

Cut to Tyler and Caroline walking in the woods.  Tyler notes, “Matt’s bumming pretty hard.”  Caroline: “I know.  It’s better this way.”  Tyler: “I get it.”  Caroline is surprised: “You do?”  Tyler: “Yeah.  You can’t be honest with him.  And it’s not really fair to be with someone and not really let them know who you are.  I get it.”  Possibly my favorite exchange of this episode.  Just amazing Caroline-Tyler scenes all around, but this really establishes the idea that Tyler understands Caroline, not just the other way around.  He leads her to the cellar on his old property, and Caroline almost reveals that she knows about, but then corrects herself.  (Foreshadowing of harmful revelations to come?)  Tyler tells her to watch her step, further proving himself to be far more thoughtful than I ever suspected.  Caroline asks, “Did Mason tell you about this place?”  Tyler: “Mason bolted before I triggered the curse, but I found these.”  He refers to scratch marks on the walls and chains and bolts.  Caroline notes that they look old.  Tyler: “And these bolts and chains.  I need new chains, but I think the bolts will still hold.  I think that’s what this place was used for—full moons.”  Hmmm.  Caroline then sees something wrapped in cloth and asks what this is.  It’s a journal!  Caroline asks if it was Mason’s, something which is affirmed when Tyler begins to read from it: “ ‘August 31^st: My body is changing—edgy, angry, impatient.  I get so mad I black out and forget what I say or do.  Not myself, not since Jimmy’s death.  What’s happening to me?’  He chronicled everything.  ‘The full moon is tonight.’”  C: “Well, does he say what happened?”  Tyler flips through the pages and finds a memory card.  Lucky.

Meanwhile, the group at Casa Salvatore get ready to leave for the tomb.  Damon hilariously notes that Alaric’s stake gun is already in his trunk.  Hee.  I do love a reference to Alaric’s weapons.  Bonnie tells Damon to go ahead, and is left alone with Jeremy, who is not pleased: “What are you doing?  You’re not strong enough.”  Bonnie promises that she will be fine, and the two share a moment.  Jeremy uses this little moment as a distraction, and pretends to help with the witchy powder: “Here, I got this.  Go get me something to put this in.”  He then sneakily pulls out his wallet, and uses his ID to scrape some powder into his wallet.  Oooh, Jeremy is a crafty little thing.  Also, he is ready to charge headlong into danger and sacrifice himself for his sibling.  I guess he wants to be a Winchester too.

We then return to Slater’s place, where Elena is calmly making tea.  Major giggles at that.  Oh, Elena, I love you.  We learn that Alice found Slater’s body only a few minutes before them.  Elena asks Rose how Alice is doing.  Rose: “Overreacting.  Big time.”  Elena is horrified: “Her boyfriend just died.  There’s no such thing as overreacting.”  Rose: “Those tears are for her.  She didn’t care about Slater.  She was only dating him long enough to see if he’d turn her.”

Elena, armed with this knowledge, goes over to Alice, bringing tea.  Alice thanks Elena, and notes that she looks really familiar.  Oh, and on that note, does Alice look familiar?  She is played by Bree Condon, who was Falcon’s lingerie-model girlfriend My Generation.  (Yes, I watched all eight episodes of My Generation, and I loved it.)  Elena explains that she didn’t know Slater personally, but she did know about the records he kept, and wanted his help to point her to Klaus.  Alice notes that “Klaus doesn’t want to be pointed out.”  Elena cuts to the chase: “Do you know Slater’s computer password?”  Alice: “Are you seriously asking me that right now?  I just saw my boyfriend with a stake through his heart.”  Elena is not moved: “I understand that.  Do you know his password?”  Alice: “Who do you think you are?”  Elena Frakking Gilbert, that’s who.  But she doesn’t say that.  Instead, she turns to bribery: “What if I could convince Rose to turn you?  Will you show us his files then?”  Girl knows how to get what she wants.  Go, Elena!

This seems to work, as we cut to Alice helping her, a short time later.  Alice notes: “Someone’s been here.  The hard-drive’s completely wiped out.”  Rose scoffs, “Yeah, probably whoever killed him.”  Alice: “Lucky for you, Slater was paranoid.  Everything’s backed up on a remote server.”  Rose then whispers to Elena, “You know that she’s not going anywhere near my blood, right?”  Elena: “I know.  She doesn’t.”  Yeah, Elena gets stuff done.  Alice, typing away, finally figures out the password: “Kristen Stewart.  God, was he obvious.”  Siiiiigh.  Elena takes a look at the screen and asks, “These are all leads to vampires?”  Alice: “Slater was obsessed—almost as much as me.”  Rose singles out one name, Cody Webber, noting that he and Slater exchanged “dozens of emails about Elijah.”  Alice offers to call him, so Elena tells her to give him a message: “Tell him that we’re trying to send a message to Klaus: The doppelgänger’s alive and she’s ready to surrender.”  Le gasp!  Alice is shocked: “Oh my God.  I knew I recognized you.”  Elena just simply replies, “Get him the message please,” and walks away.

Rose takes this news less calmly, and follows Elena, asking her what she is doing.  Elena: “I’m getting Klaus’s attention.”  Rose: “If Klaus knows you’re alive, he’ll find you and kill you.  [Pause, followed by dawning understanding.]  Which is exactly what you wanted all along.”  Elena explains, “It’s either me or my family.”  Rose: “So this whole charade was some suicide mission so you could sacrifice yourself and save everyone else.”  Exactly.  Everyone is jumping up and down to sacrifice him or herself for Elena, so this is only natural.  And Rose and the Salvatores might have suspected this if they had any imagination at all.  Alice interrupts: “Cody is on his way and he really wants to meet you.”

Meanwhile, Jeremy goes down to the tomb, to fulfill his tricksy plan.  He is greeted by Katherine: “The youngest Gilbert.  This is an intriguing surprise.”  Jeremy: “I’m here for the moonstone.”  Katherine is as bored with the moonstone as the rest of us: “Yeah yeah, the moonstone.  It’s very popular today.”  Jeremy demands that she give it to him.  Katherine: “Naïve little Gilbert.  If you want it, you’re gonna have to come here and get it.”  With that, Jeremy hits her with the stake gun contraption thingy, and tosses the powder on her.  He then notes, “I kind of figured you’d say that.”  A little bit badass.  I mean, we all know how this will end, but it was a cool little moment.  However, this brief moment of triumph is marred as Jeremy begins looking for the stone, but can’t find it.  He makes his way further and further back into the tomb, which makes me nervous.  I mean, Bonnie said that the powder would only take Katherine out for a minute or two, and Jeremy only used a little bit.  Yep … Katherine awakes and attacks Jeremy, feeding on him.  In the scuffle, however, Jeremy does manage to throw the stone out.  Half a point to Jeremy?

Up above the tomb, Bonnie catches up to the Salvatores.  She apologizes for being late, but explains that she had to grab the grimoire from her house.  Damon, noticing the youngest Gilbert’s absence, quips, “Jeremy couldn’t take the pressure, huh?”  Bonnie: “He said he’d be here.”  Damon is interrupted from further snark by a phone-call from Rose: “Don’t be angry with me.”  Damon: “Why, what’d you do?”  Rose: “You need to get to Richmond immediately.”  Tattletale.

Stefan and Bonnie then make their way down to the tomb, and realize that something is wrong.  They see the moonstone, and Katherine speaks up: “I hate to interrupt, but today’s just been full of surprises.”  Jeremy adds, “Sorry.  I took some powder.”  Katherine: “Don’t worry.  I know that he’s wearing his ring, so no matter how many times I kill him, he’ll just keep coming back for more.  So, I’m gonna be in the back playing with my new little toy, and you guys just give me a holler when you’ve got the tomb open.”  With that she rather hilariously throws Jeremy aside, like he really is a toy.  (I’m not evil, I promise.)  Of course, we know that Katherine is not an idiot, so it seems like she could remove Jeremy’s ring if she wanted.  But it makes sense that she realizes that it is better to use him as leverage.  Plus, Jeremy with that ring on is kind of like the blood equivalent of Everlasting Gobstoppers.

Meanwhile, Elijah and Dr. Martin get ready to make some magic.  No, not like that.  There is a picture of Elena on the table, and Elijah asks the “warlock” how the spell works.   Dr. Martin asks for the vampire’s hand, and then cuts it open.  He tells Elijah to place it on the picture of Elena, then to take his hand, close his eyes, relax his mind, and look for her.  Cut to Elena at Slater’s, looking out the window.  Suddenly, she sees Elijah in the glass, and he sees her, and Elena is terrified.  Uh oh.  Cut back to the witch and vampire.  Dr. Martin asks, “You saw her, didn’t you?”  Elijah looks happy: “I know exactly where she is.”

Down by the tomb, Stefan asks, “Where the hell is Damon?”  Vamp-hearing fail.  Bonnie tells him that they can’t wait.  They have to get him out of there.  Stefan is apprehensive: “She’s fed, she has her strength back.”  Bonnie reminds him, “We still have what’s left of the ash.  Do you think you can get close enough?”  Stefan: “I don’t have a choice.”  Bonnie says that opening the tomb is going to take some time, but doesn’t know how long.  Stefan is determined: “Just get me in there as soon as you can.”

Cut to Luka arriving home.  His dad asks him how school was, and he mockingly replies, “Riveting.”  Cut back to Bonnie as she starts the spell, and then back to Luka who looks startled and uncomfortable, as if he feels something.  His dad asks what’s wrong, but Luka claims that it is nothing.  As Luka clutches at his chest, he realizes the absence of his dog tags, and then we quickly cut to Bonnie holding them.  Bonnie is reciting an incantation, and is clearly channeling her new friend.  Without his permission.  Really sucks to be a witch in this mythology.  Constantly used and abused for the benefit of vampires.

Meanwhile, Tyler and Caroline put the memory card into a laptop; it contains a video of Mason.  We missed you, Taylor Kinney.  Mason’s voice says, “It’s September 15^th.  Two hours from the first full moon since I triggered the curse.”  Tyler notes, “He taped his first transformation.”  Caroline then begins to read the accompanying journal entry: “September 16^th.  He wrote about everything the next day.  ‘I chose the garage.  I could dead bolt the door.  It was far from the street so no one could hear.  I bolted hooks to the floor for the carabiners.’  Is that for mountain climbing?”  Tyler: “Retractable cables.”  On the video, Mason coughs, as he tries to drink something.  Caroline explains: “It’s wolfsbane.  ‘I diluted wolfsbane with water to weaken myself, but I could barely get it down without puking.  It felt like I was drinking battery acid.  Over an hour passed, nothing happened.  It got so quiet I could hear my own blood pumping.  That’s when … [cue screams of pain on the video] I kept thinking I’d black out and not feel it, but I did.  I … felt all of it.’”  Well, the mystery of what Mason put into his water bottle back in “Bad Moon Rising” is answered!  We see Mason “feeling it all,” crying out in pain, in the video.  Horrifying.  Caroline asks how long the video is.  Tyler: “We’re three hours in … four hours … five hours.  How long does this last?”  We hear more and more screams of pain, as Caroline rifles through the book, searching for answers.  Truly horrifying.  Tyler stands up, visibly traumatized.  “I can’t do that.  Caroline, whatever that was, I can’t go through that.”  Bravo to Michael Trevino for selling his terror.  And bravo to Candice Accola for the expression on Caroline’s face.  Heart-breaking scene.

Back at Slater’s, Damon shows up, startling Elena.  Damon asks, “What are you doing here?”  Elena retorts, “What are you doing here?”  She then angrily turns to Rose: “You called him?”  Rose apologizes.  Riiiiight.  Elena: “You said that that you understood.”  Damon: “She lied.”  At least he has a handle on the situation.  Meanwhile, Alice is impressed by the presence of Damon Salvatore, but Damon quickly tells Rose to get rid of her.  He then turns to Elena: “C’mon, we’re leaving.”  Elena is not about to take orders from him: “No.”  Damon gets angry: “I said we’re leaving.”  Again, Elena refuses.  Damon: “You do not get to make decisions anymore.”  Elena fights back with the truth: “When have I ever made a decision?  You and Stefan do that for me.  Now this, this is my decision.”  I love that Elena stands up for herself, and is willing to go toe to toe with Damon.  Damon clearly loves this too, but not in this particular instance: “Who’s gonna save your life while you’re out making decisions?”  Elena: “You’re not listening to me, Damon.  I don’t want to be saved.  Not if it means that Klaus is going to kill every single person that I love.”  Damon is unmoved, and stays tough: “Get your ass out the door before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out myself.”  For all that I support Elena being able to make her own decisions, I like that Damon is also staying tough in this scene.  Just like Elena, he is determined to save a loved one.  But Elena again refuses, so he grabs her, ready to drag her out, as warned.  Elena raises her arm to fight back, but Damon grabs it and overpowers her.  He then very slowly and intensely says, “Don’t ever do that again.”  And I believe he means it.  Damon remembered how to be scary.  I think this scene is very true to both Elena and Damon’s characters, as they are directly at odds in their goals at the moment.

Meanwhile, Bonnie is reading the spell from her grimoire, trying to open the tomb.  Katherine views it as an entertained spectator: “Oooh, something’s happening.”  Hee.  Jeremy, however, is terrified for the girl he cares about: “Bonnie, no!  [Turns to Stefan.]  You’ve got to stop her.  She’s not strong enough.”  Katherine, watching Bonnie’s face, is not so sure: “Or maybe she is.”  And what is giving Bonnie the necessary strength here?  Cut to Luka, in pain.  Dr. Martin asks what’s going on, and Luka gasps: “It’s Bonnie Bennett.  She’s channeling me.”  Dr. Martin is angered: “Why would you let her do that?”  Luka: “You told me to bond with her so I bonded.”  Luka seems to be in more and more pain, and his nose bleeds.  His dad is worried.  Ooooh, I am so curious now about the Martins.  What is their real agenda?  How did they come to be involved with Elijah?  Hmmm. Cut back down to the cave, where Stefan tries to get Bonnie to stop.  Jeremy yells, “You’ve got to stop her!”  Katherine swiftly elbows him in the face to shut him up, and he collapses.  I shouldn’t be as amused at that as I am.  Hee.  We then see Luka collapse, followed by Bonnie.

Cut to a short time later, as Stefan tries to wake up Bonnie.  Katherine urges him forward: “Yes, please because I’m still in here.”  Bonnie awakes: “It didn’t work.  I’m not strong enough.  Even with help, I can’t do it.”  Katherine is unsympathetic: “Ooh, that’s too bad.  I’m still hungry.”  Um, snack on your Everlasting Gobstopper, Kat.  What are you complaining about?  I spoke too soon, as that is exactly what she does, biting into Jeremy.  Stefan reacts to this without thinking, throwing himself at Katherine to save Jeremy.  Uh oh.  Yes, Stefan saved Jeremy, but he’s trapped inside the tomb with his ex.  Oops.  Katherine smiles, delightfully.

Back at Caroline’s house, Caroline and Tyler are still reeling from the video and journal.  Caroline tries to protect Tyler from more of the awful truth: “You know what?  I don’t think we should read this anymore.”  Tyler: “Why?  What did you read?”  Caroline: “There’s a reason it’s called a curse, Tyler.”  Tyler will not be deterred, however, and picks up the journal and continues reading: “‘Unimaginable pain.  I thought it would never end.  That was the worst night of my life.’”  He then slams the book shut and takes a drink.  Caroline tries to look on the bright side:  “But he did say that the transformation speeds up over time.  So, if you can just get through this first time, then …”  Tyler: “Why are you helping me?”  Caroline: “What do you mean?”  Tyler: “Why do you care?  We’ve never been friends before.”  Caroline: “That’s not true.  I’ve known you my entire life, Tyler.  I …”  Tyler interrupts: “We’ve never been close.  Not like this.”  Caroline: “I don’t know.  You just seem like you … like you kind of need it.”  There is a long pause as she sits beside him, and then she continues: “I was alone, when I turned.  Had no control over my body or my urges, and … I killed somebody.  I don’t want that to happen to you.  I don’t want you to be alone.”  Major.  Moment.  Very sad and honest, and somehow beautiful.  However, the two are interrupted by the door bell.

Caroline goes to the door only to find Matt on her doorstep.  Awww.  He looks so intense and earnest, and he has clearly had to work himself up to walk up to the front door.  My heart just aches for him, poor thing.  He begins with politeness, of course: “I know I should have called.  I’m sorry.”  Caroline asks what he’s doing there.  “I don’t know, but, I was driving home from work and I just … I kind of found myself here.”  Caroline: “Well, are you okay?  I’ve been worried about you.”  Matt: “I miss you.”  Say it with me now: Aaaaawwwww.  Bonus: Matt smilage!  Together with Caroline smilage!  Too much cuteness.  But then Tyler comes out, very territorial, and Matt’s face just falls.  Heart breaking.

Meanwhile, Damon continues to hurry Elena home: “Time to go.  Alice is soundly sleeping, and won’t remember a moment of this horribly stupid day.”  Just then, however, a group of vamps burst through the door, there to meet the doppelgänger.  Elena seems to think that this means her original plan will work out, and thanks them for coming.  But when she makes to move forward, Damon quickly disabuses her of this notion: “I will break your arm.”  And again, I think he means it.  To the others, he states, “There’s nothing here for you.”  But he is saved the trouble of a scuffle, when Elijah makes a grand entrance, killing one minion on the way in.  Rose, of course, immediately runs off.  Buh-bye.  Damon is surprised to see Elijah: “I killed you.  You were dead.”   Elijah: “For centuries now.”  Elijah then addresses the newcomers: “Who are you?”  One asks, “Who are you?”  When Elijah says his name, the guy is immediately contrite: “We were going to bring her to you.  For Klaus.  She’s the doppelgänger.  I don’t know how she exists, but she does.  Klaus would want to see her.”  Elijah asks, “Does anyone else know that you’re here?”  Soon-to-be-dead-meat: “No.”  Elijah: “Well, then you have been incredibly helpful.”  And with that, he does a double-fisted heart removal, and then speeds off.  Damon raises his eyebrows.  Internal monologue: “Why didn’t I think of removing two hearts at once first?”  In related news: Whaaaaaat?  Elijah, you mysterious man, you.

We then cut to Elijah and Dr. Martin.  The vampire asks where Luka is, and Dr. Martin says that he is asleep.  Hmmm.  Again, I am intrigued by the relationship between these three.  Elijah notes, “Your shadow spell was successful.  I was able to track that girl.  However, I did have a little run-in with one of the brothers that killed me.”  Dr. Martin: “I assume he didn’t live to tell about it.”  Elijah:  “Actually, I spared him.  He’d die before he’d let anything happen to her.  They both would.  She’ll be kept safe.”  Oooh, so Elijah wants Elena kept safe?  To what end?  Dr. Martin notes, “For now.”  Uh oh—the desire for safety seems temporary.  What is the ultimate goal?  Elijah adds, “Well, that’s precisely what we need her to be—safe.”  Dr. Martin does not look happy.  Is he working for Elijah against his will?  What does Elijah have on him?  And what are Elijah’s plans for Elena?  It seems that his plans are most definitely NOT in line with Klaus’s.  Does Katherine know about this schism?  And will she be able to use it to her advantage?  We shall have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, a battered Jeremy arrives home, with Bonnie.  He and his ego are both bruised: “I’m home, okay.  I don’t need an escort to my room.”  Bonnie: “I don’t know, between here and upstairs, there’s still time for you to do something stupid.”  Ha!  At least Bonnie has a sense of humor.  Jeremy is not amused: “I already feel bad.  I don’t need you to berate me.”  Bonnie: “Stefan is stuck in there, and I don’t know how to get him out.  What should I be doing?”  Jeremy: “You should admit that you never should have tried this in the first place.”  Okay, let’s agree that EVERYONE  was wrong, okay?  Next time, try working together and communicating.  I know that’s rare on television, but it could work.  Bonnie argues, “I didn’t have a choice, Jeremy.”  Jeremy: “Yeah, well neither did I.”  And there’s the crux of this entire episode: everyone was doing what they thought was necessary to save their loved ones.  So, while they all could have gone about things better, it’s also hard to blame them.  I can see all sides.  (But let’s try clear communication and teamwork next time, okay, guys?)  Bonnie doesn’t really see this yet: “Why did you have to get involved?”  Jeremy: “Because I didn’t want you to get hurt.”  Awww, he clearly cares about her.  Bonnie looks uncomfortable at this reveal: “Look, Jeremy, you can’t feel that way about me.”  Jeremy: “Don’t act like this is one sided, like I’m some kid who has a crush on his sister’s friend.  You could have died today.”  Bonnie: “And you almost did.”   Jeremy: “That was a chance I was willing to take.”  Bonnie: “I can’t.”  She repeats, louder: “I can’t.  I’m sorry.”  And she leaves.  Sadness.

The heart-to-hearts continue, as Elena arrives home with Damon.  Porch scene time!  Elena thanks him for bringing her home.  Damon: “Well, your ride left you, so I didn’t want to leave you stranded.”  Elena makes excuses for rose: “She was just scared.  She didn’t mean to run.”  Damon is more realistic: “Yes she did.  She’s been running for five hundred years.”  Elena changes the subject, marveling that Elijah is still alive.  She wonders why he killed the other vampires, but just let them go.  Damon: “If I had a dollar for every time some evil vampire surprised me.”  Hee.  Elena makes for the door, but Damon stops her: “What you did today was incredibly stupid.”  Elena: “Actually the only thing that was stupid is that I got caught.  I don’t question why you and Stefan try so hard to save me.  You shouldn’t question how hard I would try to save all of you.”  So there.  Everyone should have the right to make suicidal and rash decisions to save loved ones on TV, not just hot brothers, after all.  But further reflection is prevented, as Jeremy opens the door: “Stefan.”

Cut to Elena running down to the tomb, distraught.  She almost sets foot in the tomb, but Damon stops her: “Don’t you dare.”  Elena takes out her fear on Damon: “Stefan’s in there, Damon.  How could you let this happen?”  Damon: “What are you talking about?  I was too busy saving you from your crazy kamikaze mission.”  Elena: “You didn’t even have to go after the moonstone in the first place.”  Damon: “It was the right call, Elena.”  Elena: “Right call?  How was any of this the right call?” She fights to get past him, telling him to let go, but finally stops, exhausted.  Damon: “You done?”  She moves to go in again, but Damon just holds up his finger.  And since Elena realizes that he really means business, she lets it go … for now.

An exhausted Damon chastises his brother: “Of all the idiot plans, Stefan.  [Pause.]  I’ll find a way to get you out.”  Stefan: “Ah, it’s alright.  I’ll, uh, I’ll handle myself.  Bonnie has the moonstone.  Work with her.  Try to figure out how to de-spell it.”  Damon: “You martyr yourself in a tomb, and I get partnered with a semi-competent witch.  Wonderful.”  Way to be ungrateful to the witch who constantly does your dirty work.  Sigh.  Stefan: “Keep Elena away from here.”  Damon: “Yeah, cause that’ll be easy.”  Stefan: “Promise me.  No matter what happens, we’ll protect her.”  After a brief pause, Damon promises.  This prompts Katherine to step out of the darkness and admonish Stefan: “That right there was the biggest mistake you’ve ever made.”  Given what happens in the next episode, that quote is overly melodramatic and pointless.  But until I recap that episode, let us just end with Stefan and Katherine sitting in a tomb, T-O-R-T-U-R-I-N-G.  So much potential for awesome.  The end.

Okay, so I know that I am super late with this recap, but feel free to comment below with any thoughts or reactions.  I will try to recap “By the Light of the Moon” before the show comes back from hiatus.  Thanks for reading.