All My Children Brings Out All The Drama

Tonight’s episode of “The Vampire Diaries” titled “All My Children” was a fairly okay episode. Not every episode can be entirely action packed and jaw dropping, this episode had some of those moments, but I cannot help but feel like there could have been a lot more to make this episode exciting. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

The episode starts with Elena waking up the day after the ball. She is feeling guilty for the part she is playing in the plot to kill all the Originals, and leaves a voicemail for Stefan (who ignores her call) to please call her back. She tries to call Damon (who is still in bed after a hot night of sex with Rebekah) who answers only to tell her that he’s over ‘it’ (it being Elena) and hang up on her.  As he goes to walk Rebekah out the door Elena shows up to talk to both brothers about Esther’s plan only to see Rebekah walking out. Needless to say—Elena is not happy at Damon’s choice of bed partner, but you know what? Elena has no right to be. Damon has waited and tried and tried to gain Elena’s affections and she still clings to the fact that she loves Stefan. She doesn’t have the right to be jealous. Damon isn’t her boyfriend.

Elena thinks Damon was sleeping with Rebekah because Elena hurt his feelings—and is mad that Damon slept with someone who tried to kill her less than 48 hours ago.

Damon and Stefan both tell her not to interfere in Esther’s plan. Elena seems pretty pissed that they aren’t seeing things her way. When Damon and Stefan discuss matters later, Stefan ignores the glass of blood Damon leaves from him—hmmm curious. Furthermore—Stefan is writing in his journal again. Curiouser and curiouser.

The one thing I really like about these recent episodes is the look into the daily life of the Original family. I’m serious—writers—listen to me writers—the Originals need a spin-off, okay? They are awesome. After Rebekah does her slut walk of shame (in the same dress) home—she gets teased by Kol calling her a strumpet and hoping she at least bedded somebody better than Matt. Oh Kol, if only you knew. Rebekah doesn’t like being teased and threatens to knock Kol’s teeth in—it’s really very cute. Kol states that he’s bored and whines and moans until Klaus agrees to go out drinking with him. It seems, for now, that everyone is willing to forgive Klaus because Esther wants the family as one.

Elijah shares his concerns about their mother with Rebekah, he finds the privacy spell she used to be suspicious—and he doesn’t trust Finn because, in a shocker, Finn hates being a vampire and always has. This would explain why he’s so ready to die for his mother.

Elena is flustered that nobody seems to agree with her on how to handle the Originals. Elena feels most guilty about Elijah having to die, Elijah is the honorable one, but the others see it as a sacrifice that has to be made in order to be rid of Klaus. While Bonnie practices the privacy spell with Elena and Caroline, she drops the bombshell on Elena that Esther came to visit her and Abby. Esther is drawing power from their bloodline (living and dead) and needs their help to kill her family. Bonnie has every intention of helping Esther.

Elijah pays Elena a visit and asks her to come with him somewhere—and Elena—perhaps out of guilt for betraying Elijah and wanting to come clean—or having a moment of sheer stupidity agrees to go with him. Well, I suppose she couldn’t stop Elijah. Elijah takes her to the caverns he used to play in as a child and reveals he knows Elena is lying to him and she tells him the truth about what Esther has planned. Needless to say, Elijah isn’t happy about this and punches a hole in the earth (literally) and takes Elena down there as a hostage.

Nobody can find Elena and Damon suspects that Elena is out trying to put a stop to their ‘Kill the Originals so Klaus can die’ plan and calls Alaric who hasn’t seen Elena and is at the bar with Dr. Fell. Ugh---I’ll get to that bitch in a few minutes. Alaric—seriously, why do you have such bad taste in women? The only good person you had in your life was Jenna. Isobel and Meredith suck.

Well, the brothers have found out what happened to Elena, Elijah so rudely  (and by rudely I mean AWESOMELY) enters their house and waits for them to show up to demand their assistance in stopping their mother otherwise Rebekah, who is down in the caverns with Elena will quite happily kill her. Oh wow! Somebody threatening to kill Elena—again? Color me shocked. Can we have an episode or a plotline where Elena isn’t in danger?

So Damon and Stefan have until 9:06 (and it’s a full moon) to stop Abby and Bonnie from helping Esther, but Stefan is hesitant to go and kill Bonnie and Abby, so Damon has a better idea. Since the siblings are all linked together, daggering one of them would incapacitate them all, but who to dagger?

Cut to Alaric at the grill with Meredith playing pool. Klaus and Kol are still at the bar getting nice and drunk. Separate them and go in for the kill. Cue Caroline coming in all hot and sex to lure Klaus away from his little brother. I’m sorry—but these two are SO CUTE TOGETHER. This needs to happen, people! Klaus and Caroline would be an amazingly adorable couple. She brings out his humanity and makes him look like a bumbling school boy trying to impress a girl for the first time. While Klaus is trying to woo Caroline, Kol is trying to get into Meredtih’s pants because he likes mouthy women, only to be daggered by Alaric.

BAM. All originals go down. Except for Klaus. He suspects Caroline had something to do with distracting him and runs off to help his little brother and nearly kills Stefan and Damon after pulling out the dagger, but stops when Elijah tells him that they need Damon and Stefan alive to help them take down Esther. Damon takes great pride in gloating to Klaus that his mother wants him dead—kinda cold, Damon. I mean, really. Elijah tells Stefan and Damon to find and stop the witches now or Elena dies.

Meanwhile, Elena is running from Rebekah and hides in the cave with the writings on the wall. Rebekah can’t get in there so she does something else to try and lure out Elena, she throws gasoline in the cave and on Elena and lets some matches, threatening to throw the next one on Elena. Elena points out that Rebekah won’t kill her, because she will have used up her revenge and Rebekah would rather have Elena suffer. She tries to explain to Rebekah that Esther doesn’t hate her, she just doesn’t have a choice. Rebekah doesn’t want to hear this from Elena—she doesn’t want Elena’s pity. Elena literally stabbed her in the back and faked friendship with her in order to do so. Rebekah has every right to be angry with her, but killing Elena won’t fix things—or make her feel better.

Stefan and Damon know that either Bonnie or Abby have to die in order for Esther to stop drawing power for them. It would destroy Elena if something happened to Bonnie, and Elena would rather die than have a friend hurt, so Damon and Stefan flip a coin to decide who does the killing.

Back at the Witch House, Elijah, Kol and Klaus are going to confront their mother and Finn. Seeing as it’s not 9:06 yet—it’s too soon for them to be there and for Esther to complete her spell. She tells them she regrets making them and even Elijah who acts so moral has killed if it suited him and advanced his agenda. She feels no pity or remorse in killing them. Esther will not be getting the mother of the year award.

While this is happening, the two witches go and hide—only to be confronted by Stefan and Damon. Stefan tells Bonnie that if they don’t find a way to stop Esther, Rebekah will kill Elena. Bonnie doesn’t know how to stop Esther, but Damon and Stefan obviously do. Damon feeds Abby his blood and snaps her neck.

Okay—lets stop here for a second:

SERIOUSLY?!

I’m not a huge Bonnie fan, but this girl has had to deal with way too much since Season 1 and all due to helping Elena and vampires. She lost her MOTHER because Abby lost her powers having used all her magic to seal Mikael to protect Elena, her Grams DIED in the spell to lift tomb seal because of Elena and the Vampires, her other best friend was turned into a vampire because of Damon and Katherine, her ‘ex-‘boyfriend—and I say ‘ex’ because Bonnie still obviously loved Jeremy—left town because Elena told Damon to compel Jeremy to leave to keep him safe and NOW her mother who just re-entered her life has been turned into a vampire—HOW MUCH MORE SHIT DOES BONNIE NEED TO GO THROUGH BEFORE SHE SNAPS?! I’m willing to bet that like Bill Forbes, Abby won't transition and Bonnie will lose another family member. Seriously, how much more does this girl have to suffer before she snaps and turns against them all? I would not be surprised if Bonnie sided with Esther to put an end to all vampires or if she washed her hands of Elena all together.

Now, it’s not Elena’s fault that Damon and Stefan did this—but I don’t blame Bonnie for not wanting to see Elena after it happened, because Caroline is absolutely right, Bonnie is the one who always ends up getting hurt.

With Abby ‘dead’, Esther can no longer draw power, leaving the Originals safe for now, so Esther and Finn flee.

Elijah is true to his word and has Rebekah release Elena to safety. Rebekah confirms that Elena is right: she’d rather see the girl suffer slowly. I sincerely doubt things will ever be okay between these two.

Rebekah comes home to find the majority of her family gone. Kol has fled and Esther and Finn are in hiding. Elijah confirms that Esther was right---he acts noble, but he does kill and hurt innocents to advance his agenda, no matter what Elena did—he dragged her into a dangerous situation today—and used his own sister’s hate of Elena to his advantage. He feels extreme guilt for that. He will be leaving Mystic Falls (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!). He even leaves a letter apologizing Elena on her bed, imploring her to keep her compassion and forgiving nature, while he carries around his regret over what he’s done. Oh Elijah, you’re so smitten with her.

Rebekah goes to see Klaus who is burning his drawings. No Klaus! Those better not be pictures you sketched of Caroline! Sure she distracted you tonight, but you still love her! Damnit I need to have these two together! DON’T GIVE UP KLAUS!! Ahem, anyway…Klaus is surprised his sister is still here. She admits she was mad at Klaus when she found out he killed his mother, but in 1000 years, Klaus is the only one that has stuck by her side. It appears Rebekah will remain loyal to Klaus. She also reveals the fact that due to the cave paints on the wall, she has discovered that there is a new white oak tree—they can still be killed. New mission: Operation Burn Down Tree!

Damon and Stefan discuss the night’s events. Stefan points out that he lost the coin toss and he should have been the one to kill Abby, but, in a truly touching scene—Damon was looking out for Stefan—he’s noticed Stefan changing back into his old self again, and notes he’s no longer drinking human blood. Stefan admits he hasn’t had any since the night he threatened to drive Elena off Whickery bridge. Damon is willing to be the one Elena ends up hating and being mad at. He knows she loves Stefan. He admits he tried to win her away fair and square, but Elena just didn’t want him. He acknowledges he still loves her, but he’s better at being the bad guy.  This is truly selfless. Damon truly and genuinely loves his brother and seems to be bowing out gracefully. I only hope Stefan acknowledges the sacrifice that Damon is making for him and gets back with Elena.

Remember how I said I’d get back to Alaric and Meredith. Here we go. SO—Alaric got injured in the scuffle with Kol and Klaus, so Meredith brought him back to her place to rest because he might have a concussion etc. She talks about how she couldn’t get any indication on who attacked him because his wound was partially healed when he got to the hospital. Okay, fair enough. He wants to go look for Elena but Meredith forces him to stay and rest because he might have a broken rib—fair enough. After all she helped play sexy bait for Kol—so cool, listen to her. Ya—okay, now cut to the end of the episode. Alaric wakes up having fallen asleep on the couch—Meredith is sleeping in her room so he goes to the kitchen to get some pain killers and finds…all sorts of shit—medical records, pictures of her ex-boyfriends dead body, and a knife—there is a nose behind him, so he turns to look, right?

…

….

…

THAT CRAZY BITCH IS STANDING THERE WITH A GUN AND SHOOTS HIM. AND THAT IS HOW THE EPISODE ENDS!

Okay, I thought they were making Meredith out to be the red herring, I would have sworn it was Katherine or hell, even Tatia (the Orignal Petrova) that was doing the killings, but Dr. Fell? Bitch, your days are numbered, Damon will cut you for hurting the bro in his bromance. Alaric better not die—but if he does—it might be cause to bring Jeremy back—STILL—Ric, you better not die damnit!

And now we enter spring hiatus—we have to wait until March 15^th to get the next episode—which happens to be a flashback episode introducing a new vampire that knew the Salvatores (and the Originals) by the name of Sage—and then we have to wait until April 5^th to get the episodes that will close out the season. So, I’ll try and think of something witty and awesome and TVD related in the meantime to write about.

I do have to wonder if Esther and Finn will end up being the big baddies for the end of the season. Klaus seems relatively harmless enough now. All he wanted was his family. He behaved at the ball last week, and he only seems to get violent if someone attacks his family. With Elijah and Kol leaving, all he has left is Rebekah. Will he be out for Elena’s head for helping Esther bind them? Or will he be mindful that he needs her to make more hybrids? Will he go after Damon and Stefan for daggering Kol or will he be more focused on trying to find and burn down the White Oak tree? Personally, I’d like to see Klaus, Rebekah, Kol and Elijah be recurring—if not permanent—additions to the show. The Salvatore’s can’t be the one ruling Mystic Falls. Granted, I know Daniel Gillies has his other show that he’s on, but he can totally be a recurring character.  The show needs King Elijah around….and where the hell is Katherine, can she come back please?

So I leave you to ponder these questions:

1.       Will Bonnie snap and go against Elena and company?

2.       What’s Esther and Finn’s next big move?

3.       Is Klaus officially over Caroline?

4.       Will Elijah be back?

5.       Will Stefan and Elena PLEASE get back together already?!

6.       Will Alaric survive? Are Dr. Fell’s days numbered? What’s her motive?

7.       We’ve seen Stefan and Damon shirtless…is it time to see the Original men without their shirts on?
                                                                                                                                    

Dangerous Liaisons Waltzes Its Way To Success

Tonight’s episode of “The Vampire Diaries” titled “Dangerous Liaisons” was another episode that did not disappoint! We were privileged to receive Salvatore’s and Originals in tuxedos, what could be better?

Our episode began with Elena and Matt checking on Alaric at the hospital. Looks like our haggard history teacher will be resting in the observation wing tonight. I wonder what sort of miracle excuse Dr. Fell is going to come up with for a man who was nearly stabbed to death and had been admitted days early for being run over by a car.

We have no time for such trivial matters because Matt is saying goodbye to Elena and letting her walk to her car—alone. You know, after somebody was in her house—killing her not-parent but sort of guardian? Aren’t ex-boyfriends classy? Elena senses something is outside of her car—so—like an idiot in a slasher movie she goes out to check and…

HI REBEKAH!

Look, it’s Rebekah and she wants revenge on Elena for stabbing her in the back (literally) with a dagger. But wait--

HI ELIJAH!

Elijah is here to save Elena from being Rebekah’s meal and tells his sister to go home. Rebekah makes a snide comment to Elijah saying that he’s weak (perhaps she senses her older brother has a crush on Elena), leaving Elijah to deal with the awkward reveal that they are all awake.  Oh Elijah, we’ve missed you so much.

Elena and Elijah apparently had a little chit chat because the next scene is her filling Stefan and Damon in that Mommy Original was in the 4^th coffin. Damon and Stefan are a little shocked (and Damon feels a little used) to say the least, but an invitation interrupts our trio from further discussing if Esther is there to do good or bad. It seems like the Originals—who are now going under ‘The Mikaelson (LOL—I see what you did there) family is requesting the presence of Elena (and the entire town) at a ball that is going to be thrown later that evening. Geez—can we say short notice? Luckily this one horse town has a dress for literally every occasion stored up in their closets.

Damon and Stefan argue over who should take Elena. Elena doesn’t feel she needs protection, Stefan is still acting like he doesn’t care about Elena and tells Damon it’s his job to care if Elena lives or dies now. Damon insists that he’ll go to the ball with the hidden undertone that Elena will be staying at home where it’s safe.

Ever wonder what Originals do on their day off? Me too! The family is getting ready for their party and having delightful conversations about the current state of the union—no I’m just messing with you, they’re bickering. Did you expect anything less? Kol seems to be an egotistical narcissist, Finn eerily quiet, Elijah solemn and contemplating everything that’s going on—and Klaus? Well Klaus wants to vent his spleen and make threats at Rebekah because she nearly went after his precious blood source, Elena. Esther, has the good sense to put an end to the bickering—but Klaus cannot understand why she forgives him when his siblings cannot. Esther, ever wise, tells him she’s had 1000 years to stew in anger and heal her wounds, her children—haven’t and advises him to give them some time to come around. She asks like any nosey mother would if he’s bringing anyone to the ball and Klaus tells her it’s a miracle he even agreed to go at all. It’s kind of adorable to see how flustered and awkward Klaus is about having Esther curious about his personal life.

Caroline gets a voicemail form Tyler who is off by himself somewhere, trying to condition himself to transition into a werewolf painlessly so that he can destroy his sire bond to Klaus. He tells her he heard what happened to her father (I’m guessing a call from his mom) and wanted to let her know he was sorry and that he loved her. We have no time for sweet sentiments however because Klaus has had a dress delivered to Caroline!...Do you think Klaus could have a crush on me please? I need a new wardrobe and a cute pair of boots.

Elena and Caroline ponder over this ball at the Grill and Caroline chides Elena for not telling her that she and Damon kissed. Elena had good intentions for not telling Caroline, but Caroline still feels a little hurt that she had to hear the information from Bonnie. The moment is interrupted by Rebekah showing up at the Grill to invite Matt to the party as her date. Caroline and Elena are both shocked and worried for him—a reaction that Rebekah probably wanted to trigger. Point goes to Rebekah. Elena reveals she has every intention of going to the ball, but has no intention of telling Damon or Stefan. She wants to find out what Esther wants—doesn’t Elena know that curiosity killed the cat?

We are now at the ball—the grand centerpiece of our episode. The costumes and set designs are amazing. I’m serious—how does this small one horse (no really, there is one horse) town have so many fancy dresses? Where do I need to move to be in a situation where I could wear dresses like these all the time? Stefan and Damon are not amused that Elena is there. Neither brother is pleased to see that the other one showed up either. I guess neither one of them noticed the other leaving the house in a tuxedo?

Damon makes a few snide comments to Carol Lockwood for coming to the party and Carol Lockwood replies that when the oldest and deadliest vampires settle in your town? Greet them with a smile. Re-elect Carol Lockwood, y’all!  Kol comes over to introduce himself and—the strangest thing happens. Damon introduces himself to Kol and remarks that he looks familiar. I don’t find this to be a smartass comment, no, I’m genuinely curious. Did Kol and Damon know each other? Could Damon have possibly been compelled to forget meeting him? I’m genuinely curious—I need to know!

And then our lovely Elena enters the room—and damn do I want that dress. Seriously, again, how the hell did she get this dress? Why don’t I have this dress? Anyway—Damon and Stefan are not pleased to see her, quiet displeased—but Damon cannot help but make some longing eyes at her. He’s a vampire in love. Elena resigns herself to having Salvatore bodyguards (for now) and enters the party with the intent to find Esther and find out what mommy witch wants.

Caroline decides to show up as well, even being so kind as to wear the dress (and bracelet) Klaus gave her—but not for a lack of trying to find something else to wear first. Klaus seems completely smitten. For the first time Klaus looks almost human and happy. He’s in love and I believe it’s real: no hidden agenda, nothing. He’ s starting to feel. Caroline initially just walks past him blurting out “I need a drink!” Clearly she’s not drunk enough to deal with Klaus’ obvious affection for her. It’s okay, I’ll take care of him.

Elena goes to get some refreshments and Finn introduces himself. He…makes me uneasy. He’s not…threatening, but something is off about him. He very bluntly tells her that if she wishes to have an audience with Esther that Damon and Stefan will not be allowed in the room. She will have to come alone. The conversation is interrupted by a speech from Elijah about how whenever Esther brings the family together the tradition is to end the evening with a dance. Tonight’s dance will be an old fashioned waltz. Let me get my dance card ready, I choose Elijah to dance with. Yes? No? Please?

Damon tells Elena it would be rude of they didn’t dance—and well—lets face it—anytime dancing is involved—they dance together (with the exception of the 50’s dance of course.) So we get a charming scene of Damon and Elena and Klaus and Caroline dancing. Klaus comments about how Caroline is a remarkable dancer and Caroline remarks she had training—she was Miss Mystic Falls. Klaus almost seems worshipful when he tells her he knows this. It’s really cute…I can’t explain it. Seeing Klaus so totally in love is adorable. Meanwhile, Damon is remaking to Elena that she looks stunning as they enjoy their dance but Stefan isn’t having any of this romantic crap. When the time comes to change partners, Elena finds herself in Stefan’s arms. Did you hear that? All around the world Stelena fangirls squeed in unison.  Damon is now dancing with Rebekah and is teasing her about her inviting Matt to the ball and Caroline is now dancing with Matt and asking him why agreed to come to the ball with Rebekah.  I don’t think Caroline is acting like a jealous ex-girlfriend, but more like a concerned friend.

There is sadly a point to Stefan and Elena dancing, however, and it’s not for the two to get back together. No, Elena needs Stefan to distract Damon long enough so Elena can go be alone to speak with Esther. After luring Damon into a room, Stefan comes up behind him and snaps his neck, giving Elena the opportunity to go and speak to her alone.

Elijah has some suspicions as to why Esther has forgiven Klaus and wonders if everything is as it appears to be. He knows Elena plans to speak privately to her and asks Elena if she will tell him if he has any reason to doubt his mother. She promises to tell him of her conversation.

And this, my friends is where it all goes into OMG territory. Esther is not what she appears. As a witch she realizes turning her children into monsters was a no-no. She’s been alone on the other side as punishment. The reason why she’s alive is her witch friend Ayanna (whose descendants are the Bennets) did a spell that preserved her body. Um…cool? Anyway—the point is that Esther needs some of Elena’s blood. Why you ask?

…

….

….

TO. KILL. HER. FAMILY. I told you this woman was evil! I called it! She needs Elena’s blood to put in the champagne to bind them together so if one dies? They all die. Now I’m not clear if this is ALL vampires or just her children. Maybe just the vampires who drunk champagne? Either way, classless move, lady. Stay away from my vampires. Elena agrees to help. Oh Elena you treacherous snake.

Throughout the party Kol has been teasing Rebekah for bringing a mortal boy to the party, wondering if she has a crush on him. Rebekah replies that Matt is here to die to cause Elena pain. Kol is down for this. Any chance to disobey his mother is fine by him. They agree to kill him out the parking lot. However, some acts of kindness from Matt have Rebekah changing her mind, leaving Kol displeased.

Back at the party, the evening is winding down to a close and Elijah goes to ask Elena if there is anything that he needs to worry about in regards to his mother’s intentions. Elena has the opportunity to tell Elijah the truth, but does not. Instead she lies to him and tells him that his mother’s intent really is to forgive Klaus and bring the family together again. Therefore, Elijah drinks the champagne. Nooo! Writers if you kill off Elijah again I will go on a hunger strike!

 Damon has woken up from his neck snapping and is pretty pissed at both Elena and Stefan. Stefan makes some pretty cruel comments about how Damon cares too much and his emotions are getting in his way, and thus is a liability. This is a cosmic case of irony considering all Stefan wanted in the first season was for his brother to have humanity and to feel. When Damon tries to demand that Elena leave the party, she remarks that he’s mad at her. He tells her he’s angry that she risked her life because he loves her.

GASP.

Well we all knew it was true, and so did Elena, but damn. I loved it. Elena tells him he shouldn’t, which…crushes Damon. This guy can never get a break. Elena tries to tell him she didn’t mean it like that, but he storms off. Way to go Elena, seriously.

Meanwhile, Klaus and Caroline are having a few truly touching moments. Klaus tells her a story about how his father once killed his favorite horse by serving its head (ew) and that horses are loyal, unlike people. He later shows her his drawings and boasts that one of his paintings is in a museum in another country. He tells Caroline he’d take her anywhere she wanted to go: Rome, Paris, Tokyo—but Caroline is having none of that. She can’t be bought off. She believes in making connections and friendships with people—something Klaus does not do. She rips off the bracelet he bought her and storms off, leaving Klaus truly hurt. He later leaves her a gift on her bed—a drawing of her and a horse—he thanks her for being honest. I suspect this is the first time someone has told Klaus what they really think of him.

Kol tries to kill Matt by luring him to a balcony. He introduces himself and goes to shake Matt’s hand and breaks it. Damon, however, comes to the rescue and pushes Kol off a balcony, jumping off after him and punching him repeatedly in the face. Um, oops, the entire party went outside to see that, so Damon storms off after throwing Stefan’s words back in his face (“I wouldn’t want to be a liability). Ouch. Point goes to Damon.

Back at the Gilbert house, Elena thanks Stefan for his help and once again tries to get him to admit he feels. Stefan tries to fight it, but we all know it’s there. We all know he feels and loves, he especially Elena. It’s there, it’s right, it fits. However, Stefan can’t bring himself to forgive what he did to Elena—hurting her, feeding off her—and if he does feel—all he does feel is pain. Oh Stefan, let Elena take your pain away. 14 episodes without you two together is way too long. Sorry folks, I’m a Stelena shipper at heart.

We see Finn and Esther talking in private. Finn has been aware of this plan the whole time and has intentions of dying because it’s what his mother wants. I sense some creepy undertones in their relationship together, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Either way, Finn is ready and willing to die in order to fulfill Esther's mission

Before we close, Rebekah goes to check on Matt and apologize for Kol being a douche to him, but Matt spurns her. He doesn’t want to talk to her leaving Rebekah hurt. Damon walks up to Rebekah and remarks about how even if she did sleep with Matt she’d probably break him (he is human) and she needs someone more…durable. Both being spurned by potential love interests that night find comfort in each other and have…extremely wild sex. I’m talking clothes being ripped off and everything. It almost ties the Bill and Lorena sex scene in season 3 of True Blood, but since there was no head turning 180 degrees around, it didn’t quite match it in awesomeness. Almost though, almost.

So that is it for this week, my lovelies. It was nice to see Elijah in a tuxedo. Can the whole episode just be Elijah? That’d be sweet. Elijah just talking about politics or something like that. I’d watch the hell out of that show.

In the trailer for next week’s episode, the Originals seem to have an idea of what their mother has planned, but how? Did Elena feel guilty and tell them? Did Finn cave and admit what he did to his siblings? Either way Elijah has kidnapped Elena and is threatening the Salvatore boys with her death if they do not help him stop Esther. Hmm…not cool Elijah, not cool.

Questions for this week:

1.       Is Stelena finally coming back?  Do you think by the end of the season they will be a couple again?

2.       Do you think Esther’s plan destroys all vampires or just her children? Is she the big bad for the rest of the season?

3.       Damon/Rebekah? Yay or Nay.

4.       Did Damon and Kol know each other 100+ years ago?

5.       Is Finn’s relationship with his mother creepy? Or am I simply crazy?

6.       Why DOES Mystic Falls need so many formal dresses and ball gowns? Why don’t I have these things?

7.       Is the final and true death (no relation to True Blood) of the Originals pretty much guaranteed? Or do you think they’ll find a way to save them all so they can make guest appearances in later seasons?

8.       Is Dr. Fell playing Alaric congenial visits in the hospital?

Until next week! Please feel free to promote this blog! The more eyes that see it, the better!

Bringing Out The Dead? More like Bringing Out The Awesome!

I don’t think I could have picked a better episode to start this blog on! Tonight’s episode of The Vampire Diaries “Bringing Out The Dead” gave fans exactly what they wanted: Originals, Originals…did I mention ORIGINALS?!

The episode picked up where the last one left off, with Klaus being confronted with the fact that Elijah had been undaggered. Elijah justifiably gave Klaus a good beatdown, with Klaus spouting one of my many favorite lines of the night (“Easy! I just finished renovating!”). Naturally,  Elijah was hearing none of it, but Klaus managed to placate Elijah with promises of a reunited family if he helped him do one thing: destroy Stefan Salvatore. The one thing I will note: Elijah did not really seem to care that his father had been killed. Perhaps the entire family resented him for turning them into a vampire.

Sheriff Forbes arrives at Elena’s house with news on the death of the medical examiner. He was killed with a stake from Elena’s lake house and only her prints have been found. Very curious. We know Elena isn’t a killer, so who is it? Katherine? Or could it be someone else?

Damon has a chat with Elena will going to meet an ‘old friend for tea’ and suggests that they question the good doctor, which prompts another classic line (“You’re on speakerphone, dick!”). Damon does have a point…the  evidence points towards Meredith, but this show is fantastic at throwing out red herrings. Elena, however, has other ideas who the killer could possibly be: Stefan. He was out of control crazy that night (ie: kidnapping Elena, threatening to drive her off Whickery Bridge). This causes Damon to lament the Days of Stefan being a “bunny snacking pacifist.” Me too Damon, me too. Return to us soon, my sweet boy.

In fact, Elena went to question Stefan about it. He was still pretty upset at Elena’s confession at kissing Damon and was being snippy with her. He was genuinely outraged when she asked him if he killed the medical examiner and asked her if she had asked Damon the same question. Ouch. Point goes to Stefan.

So, Elijah and Damon arrange to have Klaus and Stefan have an old fashion sit down to negotiate a deal. It was delightful to see Elijah and Damon interact with each other with their mind set on the same goal: destroying Klaus. Make no mistake, Elijah may be playing nice for now, but he has not forgotten how Klaus betrayed him and he has not forgotten what Klaus has done to their family over the centuries.

Meanwhile, Caroline and Bonnie are both dealing with their own issues. Bonnie is learning to trust Abby again and relying on her to help unseal the fourth coffin and Caroline is dealing with the fact that Bill Forbes did not take too kindly to having vampire blood in his system, and after an attempted murder on him by our mystery serial killer gone wrong, he has decided not to transition into a vampire and ultimately die.

I will be the first to admit that the Bill and Caroline segment of the episode had me tearing up. The writers have an amazing way for making the parents of the show that you start out despising have the most…heartfelt deaths (John Gilbert, anyone?) and you cannot help but cry at their untimely demise. What was even more heartbreaking was his final words to his daughter, him acknowledging that despite being a vampire, Caroline was good and she was the type of woman that Bill and Liz always wanted her to be. Heartbreaking. I cried.

Abby and Bonnie manage to unseal the coffin, but only after Bonnie lectures Abby telling her that she isn’t opening herself up to the magic, that she isn’t trying hard enough. Abby seems genuine in her regret for leaving Bonnie, but I have to wonder how long Abby Bennett is for this world. We have already seen that parents in Mystic Falls don’t last. The only character who has not lost a parent is Matt, but he has lost his sister and Kelly Donovan is too much of a flake to stick around. Would the writers be so cruel as to take away Abby from Bonnie after she has already lost Grams? It is entirely possibly seeing Elena has lost her adoptive parents, her biological parents and her aunt. Being a parent in Mystic Falls is dangerous. Carol Lockwood and Liz Forbes should close shop and go on a road trip.

So the coffin is unsealed, but what is inside?

We have no time for that, because it’s time for Damon and Stefan to have a sit down with Elijah and Klaus and…talk. Their dinner was absolutely hysterical. Forced politeness and idle chitchat. When Elijah so innocently asked Stefan where Elena was and Klaus started giggling madly, I about fell on the floor laughing. When Stefan quipped that Klaus was too afraid to undagger Rebekah—Klaus pointed out that Elijah already knew that Klaus killed their mother, so there was no point in spilling the beans. Again, Damon slide in with his snarky comments reminding Stefan “Hey, Stefan? Remember when you killed dad?” Touché Damon, touché.

Klaus shared another story from the Originals tragic past and revealed something I personally did not find to be shocking: Elijah and Klaus were both madly in love with the Original Petrova, Tatia. It drove a wedge between them and Esther wanting to keep her family together killed the girl. It was her blood that they drunk to complete their transition, but in the end, Elijah and Klaus reconciled their differences because nothing is more important than family. The look that Stefan and Damon share is very telling. You can tell these boys still have love for each other, and I’m sure they still yearn for the days when they were mortal and best friends, when things were simpler, a time where they had never heard the name Katherine Pierce.

Meanwhile, Elena and Matt have returns home from comforting Caroline to find that someone has broken into her house and stabbed Ric. While he’s gasping for breath he tells Elena that she must be the one to kill him (being a doppgelganger, Elena is supernatural and thus Ric will come back to life). Matt is horrified, but Elena understands what she must do as she stabs Ric in the heart. Thankfully, Ric comes back, but he has no memory of who attacked him and surprise surprise, Dr. Fell has an air tight alibi.

Stefan has had enough of this dinner party and lays his offer on the table: He gives Klaus the coffin and he and the other originals leave Mystic Falls forever and leave Elena alone. At first, Klaus tells Stefan that he will never leave Elena behind because she is the key to him making more hybrids and tells both Damon and Stefan that they are the worst thing for her—that they are ruining her life. Eventually, he agrees to leave Elena alone, assuming she will get married (even suggesting it be to Matt) and have children. Stefan doesn’t like this because it means 300-400 years down the line, there will be another doppelganger for Klaus to drain dry for his hybrids. Stefan does not accept Klaus’ deal.

Well of course, Klaus does not like this and does an extremely bad ass maneuver, breaking some of Stefan’s bones and shoving his hand into an open fireplace and threatening to burn him alive if he doesn’t get his coffin back. Damon snarls that he’ll get it for him and Klaus demands that Elijah go with him to keep Damon honest and ensure he does what he’s told, but…Team Elijmon (Damijah?) have other plans and Klaus is in for a rather nasty surprise when Elijah returns a few moments later to reveal the daggers he’s removed.

At this point, I have to admit I feel bad for Klaus because his family kicks his ass. I mean seriously, it’s a game of lets kick Klaus. First, Finn and Kol show up, and when Klaus turns to bolt out the door, Rebekah is there to stab him in the stomach. Klaus seems rather hurt, trying to explain himself, trying to tell them he built this mansion for all of them, so they could finally be a family again. That’s when they tell Klaus that they will be leaving him behind, Rebekah, Elijah, Finn and Kol will be a family, and Klaus will be forever alone. Rebekah even shares her plans to end Elena’s life so Klaus will never, ever be able to make a hybrid again. The reaction Klaus has…he’s truly devastated and it makes me love and pity him all the more. Klaus has been given a rough lot in life. All he’s wanted is his family and now they are about to turn their back on him. He threatens to hunt them down one by one again, purely out of desperation—after all—they can’t hurt him: he’s a hybrid, he can’t die. Elijah’s remarks that if he does hunt them down again he’ll be the one thing he hates: his father leads me to more questions. Was Mikael after all of them? He told Rebekah she was never his target, but now I wonder if there was something more to the drama involving Mikael.

They are about to walk out of Klaus’ life forever, telling them they will have the power to kill him when they get that coffin back when we get the surprise of our life. The reveal of what was actually in the coffin.  Many people had different speculations of who it was, but the main two guesses being the Original Petrova and Esther. I for one wasn’t exactly sure on either one because in my naïve nature I told my friends, “but wait…they’d be nothing but bones now. How would that do anything for Klaus?” Well. I was wrong! HI ESTHER! Klaus just about swallowed his tongue he was so shocked. He thought Esther was here to end his life, but she has something different in mind: she wants her family back together again. Huh. I guess the others are stuck with Klaus for now. I’m willing to bet they’d tap dance in tutus if Esther so desired it because they finally have their mother back. This leaves me to ponder if Mikael can be brought back—maybe Henrick or the son that died in the old world. I dunno, to me it seems Mikael went much to easily. With only nine episodes left of season 3, I have to wonder if Klaus will continue to remain the big bad of the season or if Esther will step into that role.

Stefan and Damon share one more heartwarming moment together. Stefan thanks Damon for saving him from Klaus. He points out that Damon could have let Klaus kill him and then he’d have Elena all to himself, but Damon said he owed Stefan for all the times Stefan saved his life. Damon, noticing his phone is ringing see ‘s it’s Elena (probably calling him to tell him what happened to Ric and with Caroline), but he ignores the call. Stefan confesses to Damon that he loves Elena (causing my Stelena fangirling heart to squee) and Damon tells Stefan he does as well. Things aren’t fully mended between the brothers, but it’s in the works. None of them have the strength to stay away from Elena I don’t think, and quite honestly, it wouldn’t be The Vampire Diaries if she wasn’t with one of them.

This episode was…amazing. What sealed it was the return of the Originals. They are seriously a bad ass group of people. I only wish that there had been an opportunity for Elijah to embrace the siblings he fought so hard to get back from Klaus (namely Rebekah). Things are certainly going to be interesting in Mystic Falls with them around. I cannot wait to see Elena interact with them (especially Elijah!) but I must admit, I long to see the return of Katherine.

The questions I’d like to ponder and bring up for discussion for this week are:

1.       Who is the serial killer? Why are they targeting Founders Council members? Could it perhaps be Tatia? I have a feeling we will see the Original Petrova before season 3 is over.

2.       Did you cry when Bill Forbes died? Do you think he should have transitioned?

3.       Stefan still has feelings! The world can rejoice! Do you think he and Elena can pull through and make it work?

4.       Elena and Matt have been having a lot of scenes together.  To many scenes for comfort. Do you think this is hinting at them getting back together?

5.       Is Esther sincere? Has she truly forgiven Klaus or does she have an agenda?

Thank you for reading through my first review! I’ll see you next week. Salvatores and Originals in tuxs? Thank you fanservice!

An Introduction Of Sorts

Hello The Vampire Diaries world! I realize I’m late in the game when it comes to blogging about the show and recapping episodes, but I feel it’s better to get into the game late rather than never getting into it at all. I hope you will find my episode recaps and thoughts and opinions on the show and characters insightful and informative. I am welcome to deep discussion and debate and welcome interaction with you: the readers!

So, to tell you a little about myself: my name is Ashley and I’m 27 year old college graduate with a BA in Creative Writing with a minor in Journalism. I also possess a teaching degree in English which would allow me to teach at the middle school or high school level. However, I ultimately want to write and work in the entertainment industry, either as a personal assistant or working in the entertainment section of a magazine. What a dream, getting paid to give my thoughts on television shows! So if anyone important is reading this blog, keep me in mind ;)

I live in sunny Orange County, California with my grandparents, dog and cat and work at an online magazine. I look forward to blogging every Thursday night (or at the latest Friday) and sharing my thoughts and opinions with all of you! Please re-tweet and circulate my blog. I’d love for as many eyes as possible to see it!

Follow me on Twitter: @ms_ashleybrown