Vampire Diaries – S03E13 – Bringing Out The Dead

February 3rd, 2012 by Thomas

Posted in: Tales of the Supernatural • The Vampire Diaries • The Vampire Diaries: Season Three

133 Comments »

133 Responses to “Vampire Diaries – S03E13 – Bringing Out The Dead”

1. Vampire Diaries – S03E12 – The Tie That Binds - Thomas-Galvin.com says:

   February 3, 2012 at 11:27 pm

   [...] On to the next episode! [...]
2. Amanda says:

   February 4, 2012 at 12:12 am

   It can’t be Katherine, because she’s supernatural. Elena wouldn’t have had to kill Ric unless he had been attacked by a human. Hey, maybe Elena has a conveniently absent ninja-twin. ;P Anyway, you’re completely hilarious.
3. Sara A says:

   February 4, 2012 at 12:16 am

   Damon really is totally awesome. This episode was just pure Damon being awesome all of the time.

   I am not happy at being dicked around with the whole ‘Alaric’s ring might not work any more!’ plotline. Obviously that was all just a set up so that we would think Ric might actually die, and now it is cast off, just another pointless plotline floating in the ether.

   I’m sorry you got spoiled Thomas. I wasn’t, and the Esther reveal was just lame for me. I was expecting some carnage, and then Esther walks in and forgives him. Like, what? So Klaus ‘killed’ her, but she is still alive and all this drama has been for nothing?

   I am less worried about Boring!Stefan, as he proved this week that he still has plenty of asshole in him. Plenty of hypocrite too, and I’m glad Damon called him on it for once.

   I feel sorry for Matt and Bonnie sometimes. It can’t be easy to be plot devices who get dialled in when needed and forgotten about the rest of the time.

   And I really love Elijah. That is all.
4. Jennifer says:

   February 4, 2012 at 12:17 am

   “Sure! Right after I tell the audience that I still love Elena and will always love Elena and Elena Elena Elena and look out world here comes Boring!Stefan!”

   Yes! This! Did I call it or what?? That clip I posted on your FB wall last week, remember? Totally called it. God, this sucks.

   Your recap was hilarious, tho. Really sorry you got spoiled, that really blows. :-(
5. Jennifer says:

   February 4, 2012 at 12:19 am

   Amanda- He didn’t KNOW who attacked him. Didn’t know whether they were supernatural or not- that was the point. In order to be sure that he would come back, Elena had to be the one to kill him. :-)
6. Jennifer says:

   February 4, 2012 at 12:20 am

   “the Esther reveal was just lame for me. I was expecting some carnage, and then Esther walks in and forgives him. Like, what? So Klaus ‘killed’ her, but she is still alive and all this drama has been for nothing?”

   Totally agree with you on this, Sara. VERY lame.
7. Heather (ecotwin1) says:

   February 4, 2012 at 12:40 am

   I am sooo glad I miraculously avoided reading the spoiler on Twitter. I HEARD about there BEING a spoiler, but then averted my eyes to avoid any possibility of stumbling upon it. That is awful that it was brought directly to your attention!!
   While I am a little Elijah-biased about this episode (as in, Elijah is in it so it is awesome regardless!), I was amazed at all that was crammed into it so flawlessly! What I love is the combination of the ‘big plot turns’ with the best lines thrown out here and there that are just brilliant! I especially loved Klaus’ school-boyish giggle and excitement over wanting to dish the Elena gossip to Elijah. I admit to really not being a fan of Klaus/JM in the beginning, but I LOVE HIM now! He is a brilliant actor in this portrayal of Klaus. I just saw “The Descendants” tonight, and this one character starts out as being horrible, someone you just don’t like and are actually annoyed by. His performance and the development of his character are so well done that I genuinely liked him by the end. Same deal with Klaus for me. Anyways. I for one was surprised by mama original’s appearance. I am almost giddy in my excitement to find out WHAT COMES NEXT!
   Thanks for your great recap ~ now I can’t wait to read your Secret Circle one. Wondering if you were as bored as I was during that ep, and wasn’t at all surprised (duh!) that once again, the lovely lady isn’t really to be trusted, Cassie. You’d think dark magic would bring a more reliable sense of intuition with it. :)
8. Jochebed says:

   February 4, 2012 at 12:43 am

   Great recap as always! :D

   I love that after Elijah got undaggered, his next order of business after kicking Klaus’s butt was to get a haircut. :D Nomnom!
9. Samantha says:

   February 4, 2012 at 12:48 am

   I’m just still in shock that Damon knows who the hell Matt Donovan is.

   If it was a supernatural being that’s been going around killing everyone, one would think they would just go for a necksnap or a heartsnatch. So, obviously, the killer is human or meant to look human. I don’t know, if I was dumb enough to put money on anything in this show (unless it was spoiled on Twitter first), I would say that the mystery murderer is Katherine because of the fingerprints thing. That girl’s been too quiet lately.

   Anyway, can we all just take a second to appreciate how absolutely amazing that dinner party was? The expressions, the snark, the ELIJAH. Just priceless.
10. Samantha says:

    February 4, 2012 at 12:56 am

    Also, I don’t buy for ONE SECOND that Mama Original/Esther is willing to forgive and move on. I mean, we’ve been made to believe that this lady basically cursed her son to be forever alone and has been presiding over the Klaus Hate Club from beyond the grave for a thousand years. No way is she gonna let it go now. Personally, my theory is that she CAN’T kill Klaus right now, so she’s biding her time under the guise of forgiveness until she can. Never trust a witch, Klaus. They will screw. You. Over.
11. Rachel says:

    February 4, 2012 at 1:30 am

    Mama Original seems like she’s going to be an evil heinous wench. I missed out on the last couple of minutes of the episode(aka the reveal) but I was already pretty sure who it was gonna be so I was unsurprised. Well scratch that, I was surprised that I was unsurprised and they didn’t throw in something like Klaus’ sister-in-law being in the coffin. You know something unexpected. But um her solution to the whole Team Klaus vs Team Elijah debate? Pretty twisted.

    Elijah: I’m the good reliable one! I’ll be good to her and we’ll have a happy normal life. I know what she really needs!
    Klaus: Fuck that I’m the sexy dangerous warrior one. She knows I love her, and I’ll show her the world!
    Tatia: Honestly I don’t know where the hell y’all came from. I was just chilling over here with my baby I had out of wedlock but somehow everyone still just lurves me!
    Esther: Boys stop arguing. It’s all this chick’s fault. *stabs and uses for blood ritual*
    Tatia: DX

    Also and the fact she bluntly stated they’re gonna reek some havoc :D apparently. And they cant kill Klaus yet, he’s too awesome of a villain.

    Oh and return of the good noble Stefan. Bleh. I really hoped they were gonna wait till next season, but whatever.
12. Nicki says:

    February 4, 2012 at 1:31 am

    Great recap, lol. I’m glad how you called Elena out on her whole “everyone should have choices” speech because as soon as she said it I was like, really? You’re one to talk! I was really kind of hoping that it was going to be like, Tatia, or something in the box to really throw some doppelganger hijinxs through the roof, but I guess mama original works….And as for the mysterious killer, why do I have a sneaking suspicion it’s actually Sheriff Forbes? I’m sure she hates the council, wasn’t too fond of Mr. Forbes since what he did to Caroline, and she probably had a good idea of where Rick had some ammo stored. I don’t know, but it’s certainly possible…. I’m excited for the Blood Ball coming up! :)
13. Rachel says:

    February 4, 2012 at 1:32 am

    Also 2.99? Dayum. I have been planning to buy a copy but now I’m really eager too.
14. Brian in Shortsville says:

    February 4, 2012 at 1:35 am

    1st things first from my quarter. Most sincere applause for Septien and Meyer’s writing last night. I’ve said some deservedly awful things about those two since they’ve joined the show.

    But they ran FOUR stories last night, and three were at least pretty good (Bonnie and her MZZZZZzzzzz), and their writing was the kind of writing I’D aspire to do were I in their shoes. It was very generous in a way, in that for every can of worms they cleaned up, they opened five more for the NEXT gal to choose among to jump off from.

    And “you’re free to go, this is family business” is BAR NONE the most perfect moment this show has put on my TV.

    Now, I’ve talked myself into thinking we weren’t spoiled. This show.

    We saw ‘X’ happen (coffin pops open), then ‘Y’ happen (Damon and Stefan find the Bennetts KTFO’d), then ‘Z’ happen (Esther walks into Chez Original). Any reasonable person assumes Occam’s Razor, that Y and Z were caused by X.

    Did anyone SEE Esther climb out of that coffin? Watching this show has taught us NOT to assume that what we saw happen is exactly what happened.

    Watch them pull the fakeout and reveal the coffin released the faerie AngelSpirit of Tatia or some shit JUST to subvert the assumptions (and spoiler leakers). Until she or someone else says something about her being free of the coffin, I’m not taking it as canon she was in it.

    I actually feel a little bad for Team Mystic Falls. They did everything right. They got the coffin open, Elijah changed teams, the other three Originals did exactly what they thought they’d do…

    … and they’re STILL screwed ’cause Mama Original is giving out hugs instead of spankings. And when she was introduced in the last flashback episode, word of god was that she was fierce, and fiercely protective of her family. So, now instead of contending with Klaus, they’re potentially dealing with FIVE Ancient Murder Machine cubs AND Mama Bear.

    That even went differently in ELIJAH’s head (Klaus: I have nothing to fear from you! Elijah: You will when we have that coffin). Team Salvatore’s only option ever is failure anymore.

    The A story was perfect. From Elijah’s superman punch ot Klaus’ faceoff with Estehr. Except (good call Thomas) how did the BULGARIAN girl get to pre-Columbus America?

    Dumping the Bennetts and the locked coffin in the rune-covered cave wasn’t exactly a recipe for riveting TV, either. At least they kept the suck in a containment area. Blood Knot? Keep that one handy. Y’know in case two generations of supernaturals get together again for… something… later…

    The Bill Forbes story was only noteworthy to me in that it wrecked Caroline’s happy place AGAIN. These writers get a bonus for beating up on Caroline every week? did we complain too much about Elena’s therapist LAST season and they decided to share the wealth?

    And WOW did they drop Meredith right into the middle of things, using her handy back-story. Still only has an alibi for one of the three murders.

    I don’t think it’s Katherine that’s the serial councilor killer. Her motive is always evade and survive Klaus. Killing Alaric, the medical examine or Bill Forbes doesn’t help her with that. And The Sheriff said the only “clear” print was Elena’s. Not that there weren’t other prints, just none that were identifiable.

    Still, Neville is right, bad idea to monogram your daggers. You never know if you might have to leave one behind someday. That’s a rookie mistake by Original John Gilbert.

    I also thought of Jeremy, maybe under compulsion, or maybe because he chugged a pint of vervain after standing in front of the Hybrid’s Evil Hybrid and therefore Damon couldn’t actually compel him to leave town. But what would be HIS motivation to go after any of the victims (ALARIC of all people)?

    Tyler is trying to go through Bill Forbes to get back INTO Caroline’s drawers, not get locked out for life. And he had no beef with the ME. Alaric, maybe.

    Matt has an alibi for at least Alaric’s shanking.

    Mayor Lockwood hasn’t been seen in awhile and we’ve seen her handle a vervain dart-gun. But could really she get the drop on Alaric?

    Maybe two (or more) of the above (or others)? That would make it possible for one to have an alibi while an accomplice did the shanking.

    Alaric’s “murder” was extra well done. Since he couldn’t identify who stuck him, we didn’t know if it was supernatural or not. That was tense, I actually thought we might lose him this time for a second.

    They finally brought back up that Elena IS a supernatural herself in the same episode we got our 1st info-dump on Tatia and what became of her. And they didn’t advance who knew what about Elena being the doppelganger 15 years ago.

    The doppelgangers are a creation of witches, the Servants of Nature. Logically, doesn’t the balance of nature require there be some UPSIDE to that? It can’t ALL be “born to bleed and die” can it? Even harmless little herbivorous bunnies hop fast and can blend into their surroundings as means of self-defense. I think Elena has an untapped super power.

    I’m sure we’ll see Tatia. The didn’t spend all that time on the ghost world plot just for fanservice. And there’s a powerful witch on the other side. Ayanna?

    Like I said, lots of places to jump off from this episode. But there was a lot in this episode’s own merits that was good.

    And thanks for the shoutouts here and last night on twitter!
15. Jim S says:

    February 4, 2012 at 1:36 am

    Hey, ease off Bill, I thought he made some good points about what it means to be human. He mentioned a Steve. Are we to assume it’s his significant other? For a second, I thought it was a heretofore unmentioned son.

    I got spoiled when I saw Alice Eve’s name in the opening credits. They have to start putting those names at the end.

    Also what would Klaus do with Elena. She’s got what 60, maybe 70 years of life in her. For a guy who’s 1,000, that’s not much. As you pointed out, allthe werepires are easily killed, and the number of werewolves are finite, so there’s a flaw in his army building.

    Loved the recap. Keep up the good work.,
16. nvo says:

    February 4, 2012 at 1:49 am

    Okay Esther dropping the big “I forgive you” bomb screams awesomeness. I have to much faith in the writers not to believe that something is up with her. I was spoiled too but since that was most people’s main guess the spoiler wasn’t really a surprise. I think I’m gonna stay away from the internet right before episodes air.

    Anyway loved the episode! Elijah’s “I’m so confused face” after Klaus starts laughing at his question about Elena was hilarious. But I don’t think old Stefan is back just cuz he still loves Elena. Now he’s pissed off Stefan. He keeps making snide comments about her and Damon. He’s being kind of petulant.

    I didn’t like Bill Forbes but I wanted him to stay alive for Caroline’s sake. Poor girl! As for Elena, what is the protocol on advising people on the right thing to do when you haven’t done it yourself? Prelude with a Do as I say not as I do? Also I’m pretty sure if she loses someone else she will fall apart.

    Great recap as usual! My TVD experience is not complete without it.
17. @BrieanneVanessa (twitter) says:

    February 4, 2012 at 2:08 am

    Loved it! Laughed out loud a LOT, as usual. Seriously been waiting for this since last night, and you didn’t disappoint.

    Ok so I don’t think it’s Meredith killing people. Even though Alaric wasn’t dead yet when they found him, I think it’s Katherine. They weren’t sure if he was stabbed by a supernatural being or not, which is why Elena stabbed him with the kitchen knife. And holy woah! I can’t believe she did that! What if his ring didn’t work all of a sudden?

    Anyway.

    I want Stefan to say nasty and sexy. When all of his focus is on loving Elena, he’s SO BORING as you said.

    I’m not a fan of Damon stepping back to give Elena space, and help save his relationship with Stefan. I want some Delena lovin’, or at least some solidarity in their relationship. BLAH! Not a fan of this Elena avoiding Damon, and Damon actually considering that Klaus is right (neither SalvBro is good for Elena).

    Poor Caroline! Love that it was a TTWW for a couple hours. And I love that the girl can act. She needs a PCA next year… and I predict she’ll be the lead in a new show within the next couple years.

    Thanks for including Neville the Corgipire in this recap. I was hoping you would! I also really enjoy The Lady of the Manor’s comments.

    Bring on the party dresses in 3×14! I hope Delena’s dance is full of hot eye sex!
18. sepiriz47 says:

    February 4, 2012 at 2:56 am

    Overload. After sufficient time to process: The dinner party was hilarious. The reunion was great. Why make Elena blatantly hypocritical? Alaric dying again was pointless. I did not notice that Stefan was briefly shirtless or pay more than a modicum of attention to the Benetts. While I didn’t hate Bill, his subplot leaves much to be desired. I, and most I’m guessing actually figured out everything with Bill based on the synopsis and the 3×13 promo though. Do I need to avoid the promos and the synopses now? Caroline needs different storylines but of course Candice was excellent. Caroline went through all 5 stages of grief right? Hopefully Klaus/Caroline won’t devolve into a UST/boring romantic subplot too quickly.

    I knew people had been spoiled but I wasn’t. The Esther reveal was surprising but obvious (for storytelling purposes) in hindsight. Mind you I thought that there would be Original factions at the end of last season. That Tatya was loved by both Klaus and Elijah wasn’t surprising. I wonder why Klaus never loved Katherine and has no romantic feelings for Elena as opposed to Elijah.

    I’m digging the murder mystery. The only suspects, in my opinion, for all 3 attacks are Klaus (including through compulsion of others) and Mer (if she’s nuts).

    The Original that’s been dead for 900 years should sound like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaPSRCPREDI#t=0m57s
    I hope there’s culture shock for Koll and Finn in future episodes.

    Should we change the Benett name to Plot Device or change magic to plot devicery?
19. pjt says:

    February 4, 2012 at 7:07 am

    Great recap! The “This show really should just call itself Vampires Fighting Over Nina.” line just made me laugh out loud :D.
    Also this was another episode that showed how much Elena and Damon were made for each other. I mean they have so much in common, like they both killed Alaric. But Damon is still leading 2:1… :D :D
20. Emaleth says:

    February 4, 2012 at 7:19 am

    The recap is great as always… and I absolutely loved this episode. As for Alaric’s problems with the ring… I see two possibilities… maybe the ring did only half of the job because the death was accidental (the hybrid intended to kill someone else) or maybe because the majority of the work in this kill was done by a car and laws of physics that are hardly of supernatural origin… but that’s just a wild guess.
21. Jenni says:

    February 4, 2012 at 8:10 am

    Great recap, as ever :)

    I can’t verbalise my opinions properly – I’ve just watched Supernatural as well, and I seem to have tapped in to my inner teenager so I’m all OMGWTFBBQAWESOME!

    I LOVED the dinner scene. Just… amazing. All smiles and winks with the undercurrents of “I will totally stab you when you’re not looking.”
    I think I actually said “THANK YOU!” out loud when Damon called Stefan on his bullshit. (I have a longer rant about this, how most of the characters are all “Damon you suck” but when Bonnie or Stefan do something reprehensible they’re all “OMG my hero!” – I do love both of the Salvatores but I’m not a rabid Team Damon player that thinks he can do no wrong; he is a huge douchebag a lot of the time.)

    Totally insignificant point, but I want Elijah to have his old hair back. His new hair isn’t good for doing the BAMF nonchalant post-heart-rip hair toss.

    Finally, unrelated to TVD, I bought Sire a few weeks ago and I LOVED IT! I don’t really know what to say about it is coherent – there’s a lot of “OMG, this bit was great!” and “OMG I loved that character!” – but in brief, I couldn’t put it down. Literally – I was reading it thinking “Ok, it’s late, one more chapter then bed” then it was 3am and I knew I was going to be late for work but I couldn’t stop. Well done, can’t wait for the next one :D
22. Amanda says:

    February 4, 2012 at 8:34 am

    Alaric Saltzman: Hi Elena! I’ve been inventorying all of my weapons! I checked the ones I hide here, the ones I hide in the school, the ones I hide in my apartment, the ones I hide in Damon’s car, the ones I hide in Damon’s closet, the ones I hide under Damon’s bed, the ones I hide under Damon’s pillow, the ones I hide in Damon’s bedside table! And you know what I’ve discovered? The only person who had access to the types of weapon used to murder Meredith’s ex was … Meredith!

    LMAO!!!

    Klaus: Okay, three points. One, I still need Elena to make my completely useless hybrid army. Two, both of you have threatened to turn Elena into a vampire against her will, and she’s useless to me with fangs. Three, sitting before me is the greatest assembly of horrible planning the world has ever seen, a pair of men so terrible at plotting the demise of a Big Bad and the protection of their beloved that real vampire slayers actually have a saying: WWTSBDBYSDTEO: What Would The Salvatore Brothers Do Because You Should Do The Exact Opposite. So, in closing, no, I will not be leaving town, and no, I will not be abandoning Elena Gilbert.

    Coming from the most inept villain ever, that’s rich! This 1000 year old vampire can’t kill a 100 something year old Stefan? Why didnt he just lock him up until the vervain was out of his system and compel him to tell him where the coffin is? At least Damon gets off his ass and attempts to do something. Klaus belongs to Stefan’s school of planning…shrug and do nothing. Okay, he’s slightly better than that, he rants and makes empty threats. How scary!!

    Stefan Salvatore: Sure! Right after I tell the audience that I still love Elena and will always love Elena and Elena Elena Elena and look out world here comes Boring!Stefan!

    I hope so. I much prefer Boring!Stefan to the current incarnation. Petulant!Stefan makes me ship him with sharp wooden sticks, and also makes me want to poke my eyes out with blunt forks..

    Stefan Salvatore: Hey Damon, you know what I said about your plans always being awesome? I rescind my statement.

    One never knows. I’m not going to give up on it just yet. I have a feeling Mama Original is just pretending to forgive. She doesn’t seem like the forgiving type. Isn’t she the one who placed the hybrid curse on her son, killed Tatia for coming between her sons, tried to incite Vicki to kill Elena from the other side? Speaking of, if she wasn’t a ghost, how the hell did she communicate with ghost Vicki?

    Bonnie wasn’t completely useless! And neither was her mother! They’re still plot devices, as opposed to real characters, but at least they aren’t annoying!

    I beg to differ. They let Mama Original get away after they opened the coffin. Bonnie and her mother are still pretty useless, lol
23. Daniela says:

    February 4, 2012 at 8:45 am

    Just a pair of quick corrections:
    Klaus: So! Where’s the lovely Elena this fine evening? – should be Elijah
    Elijah: And I’m gonna eat an extra! :-)= – should be Klaus

    Anyway, as a die-hard fan of the Originals, this episode was everything I had wished for. Elijah’s “Do that and you will have Kol to deal with” – why is Klaus so afraid of the baby Original? Plus Finn’s crazy eyes, which pwned even Damon’s… this family is made of win.
24. Ellyria says:

    February 4, 2012 at 11:57 am

    Boring!Stefan? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! /vader

    Haven’t been on twitter in forever, so I didn’t get spoiled. However, *yawn*, I wasn’t that excited. I figured it would be Mama Original or the Original Sacrifice. (or maybe another Klaus because of Bonnie’s dream?! ;) )

    There was Elijah. <3 Sooooooooo much Elijah. <3 Although he can't do his sexy hair flip/toss with his new haircut. *SADFACE* But still… ELIJAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! <3

    Team Original is going to be so much more awesometastic than Team Salvatore, I can feel it. I can't wait till next episode, I love ball dresses and Originals. <3
25. TeamElijah says:

    February 4, 2012 at 12:04 pm

    Elijah owned this episode!! besides him the only original i’m interested in learning more about is mini elijah(kol) but finn looks crazy as hell!.lolol

    esther? meh

    klaus is a punk, the big bad villain? rotfl what a joke! awesome? i think not <_<

    needed more bonnie, and loved jerk!stefan.
26. Petra says:

    February 4, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    Hey, what if Damon hooks up with Elijah? He is a “hot vampire we’re all familiar with”? Would explain the note and the wink and the looks they shared in this week’s ep… :D ;)
27. Jawly says:

    February 4, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    I know who the murderer is. Its:

    SPOILER XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

    Tatia. The weapons have Elena’s fingerprints, so let’s break down which doppleganger it is:

    Elena: LOLOLOLOL soi soi soi/roflcopter. She’s far too incompetent for that. And Caroline would hate her guts if it was her.

    Katherine: She’s out of town. She has no reason to come back with Klaus around. Also, the murders are too random. She usually harasses people in Elena’s life to send a message, and it seems rather pointless to kill the medical examiner as a start who has no connection to Elena whatsoever.

    Tatia: There’s no one else. Katherine kills people at any time, which is quite sloppy. Tatia kills people at night, with no rhyme or reason. She kills anyone just because. She’s not trying to shove it to Elena like Katherine, she’s killing anyone who so much as sees her. She’s trying to stay hidden yet she wants her existence known, for some reason. Maybe she wants Klaus and Elijah to herself, like Katherine wants Stefan and Damon.

    Usually, a doppleganger’s behavior changes dramatically after being dragged into the supernatural. Elena has become much more self-aware, Katherine makes it known that she’s queen bitch, and Tatia is a heartless murderer. No redeeming qualities like Isobel or Katherine, just an angry look alike.

    That’s just my theory, nothing official, but I think it’s pretty spot-on still.

    Klaus-I’m glad he FINALLY got the shit kicked out of him. You wonder why I don’t like Damon or Klaus? It’s the arrogant, dickhead attitude. He needs his heart ripped out YESTERDAY.

    Originals-They also need to die. Why do they even exist? All they want is to be a family, but why in Mystic Falls? Why are they inviting Team Elena over? Klaus wants Stefan dead, Rebekah wants Elena dead, Ester is the Original witch (good luck with this one Bonnie and Abby) who probably also wants Elena dead so as to not tamper with her son’s affections. This storyline has been dragged on long enough. When the hell will they explain why they’re even here?

    Hybrids-Why does Klaus want them? It can’t be because he’ll be alone. He has his family back, so he’s not alone, and also they’re much stronger than hybrids, and the hybrids are total strangers. When Tyler tells the hybrids how to be free of Klaus, they’ll be gone. Why does he need an army? Is Tatia stronger than him…? Is she something we don’t know about yet? Dopplegangers existed before vampires, but the only thing going for them is their image. I have no idea what is going on. Dammit Kevin and Julie!

    Bill Forbes-Meh. The reverse gay bigotry is annoying. Last time I checked, people hated the gay guy, not the gay guy hating on everyone else. Dammit people, you’re doing it wrong! XD Too bad I still have no idea how to resist compulsion. The real reason why I don’t like that he died was because Caroline hasn’t lost anyone. Stefan, Damon, Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler and Alaric all lost someone in the first season. It feels like she was dragged into it. I guess the bigotry thing was to lessen the pain the fans felt.

    Ring-Alaric might have switched his with Jeremy’s. The ring seemed to have revived him just fine, and there was no emphasis on it at all.

    Ester in the coffin-saw that one coming. I figured as much, since she’s not a vampire, so the dagger wouldn’t work on her, so Klaus needed something else to seal the coffin shut. Also, who else would it be? He’s all about family…even though he’s the dildo that put them all there. What sweet, reverse love he has! She’ll be furious about Mikael, even though she didn’t do shit to defend Klaus growing up. The only thing that surprises me about her is how she survived for 1000 years. She can’t dessicate, so maybe she did a Longevity spell. Similar to Gloria, but over 9000.

    All in all, this episode reveals the whole theme of the season-Originals. Original vampires, witch, doppleganger. Now just bring in the werewolves, and that’ll sum up everything.
28. katherine_fan says:

    February 4, 2012 at 2:50 pm

    I was going to write my favorite parts of the recap,but that would take a whiiiiiile so I’m just going to say I ‘ve been looking forward to it and I’m super excited by what I ‘ve read!!;)))I ‘d just like to draw attention to a few parts of the episode:
    *I ‘m assuming Elijah de-daggered his siblings when he left the room with Damon.So when exactly did he tell them about Esther’s murder and when did they master the plan to leave Klaus behind?Elijah was gone for,like, 2 minutes!
    *I think Esther is a ghost,not the person in the 4th coffin.When Abby and Bonnie did their magic to open the coffin,Esther did magic from the Other Side and was able to cross over,just like Vicki.
    *I noticed that none of the siblings was happy to see Esther again.Yes,they know she’s dead,so they were confused but no one expressed any emotion upon seeing her again!(Not that I blame them!I hate her!)
    *I vote for Alaric to be the killer!He had access to all the weapons used in the attacks,has a grudge against the Council and he ‘s the sole survivor of the 3 attacks!
    *Can Klaus NOT cry in every episode????They are ruining his character.I ‘m afraid they are going to turn him into !BoringKlaus if they keep this up!
    Well,that’s it for now!Can’t wait for your response!!
29. meredith says:

    February 4, 2012 at 2:59 pm

    Great recap, per usual. My thoughts:

    I’m also unconvinced that Esther was in the coffin. Bonnie’s mom looked terrified at whatever came out, and I can’t see Esther inspiring that (unless she used some witchy special effects).

    Remind me when, exactly, Alaric’s ring stopped working well? Because I wonder if it has something to do with Klaus temporarily inhabiting his body. Sort of like how Elijah started spasming when his body was brought into a house he wasn’t invited into: there are certain magical laws that have to be followed.

    Finn’s got the crazy eyes.

    I still feel like we don’t have the full story about what happened to Esther. Did Klaus truly try to kill her? Was that just a cover-up story for something else that went down? Did Esther purposely get pregnant by a werewolf to create a hybrid? Is she herself now a vampire-witch hybrid? I always thought there was something odd about the dynamic between her and her husband–maybe all along she was really the tough one, planning and scheming behind the scenes.

    I also figured they’d go there with an Elijah/Klaus/Nina Dobrev triangle, but it’s starting to get to be a bit weird to have to imagine Nina paired off with nearly everyone.

    Curious how Kol got his reputation. The fact that he was in his coffin for only 100 years suggests that he must have been good at running from Klaus.
30. Saggie22 says:

    February 4, 2012 at 2:59 pm

    Alaric Saltzman: Morning Elena! Have I told you that I love living here? Because it’s awesome having a teenage girl to talk to about my rampant alcoholism and failed love life!

    Elena Gilbert: You do remember that I’m your student, right? And that we’re kind of depending on you to pay the mortgage? ‘Cause “lynch pin of a vampire love triangle” and “hybrid blood donor” don’t exactly pay well and we sent Jeremy out of town, so that fat bus boy paycheck isn’t rolling in any more.

    Alaric Saltzman: I drunk dialed Meredith last night!

    Elena Gilbert: Don’t get fired, is what I’m saying

    He…I always find these two`s slightly inappropriate relationship so funny! Maybe I`m just reading too much into it! While on Alaric, I wonder if he has more or less the same number of lives as cats do. If so, he only has four lives left…not good. If the show lasts a couple more seasons, he`s gonna run out. Please be careful Alaaaric!

    Petulant!Stefan is soooo getting on my nerves, at this point I`d rather he went back to Boring!Stefan. At least then I could stand him.

    I must be one of the few people who thinks Bill did the right thing by letting himself die. He would have made a miserable vampire, and I`m with him there when he says “This is what it means to be human.” HUMANS DIE, that`s just the way it is. I would have respected him less if he had suddenly embraced being a vampire as that went against every belief he had.

    Also I think the writers may be setting up a narrative about what it means to be human, `cos Klaus mentioned that what would be best for Elena is if she stayed human(of course he has his own agenda there), Elena in the bridge episode was trying to figure out who she is – minus the vampires, and(this is not a SPOILER, just speculation), I think going forward in the show, Elena is going to start focusing on what it means to be human. So I think that line of Bill choosing humanity over vampirism might have some significance, just my thought. That would be swell `cos I`m Team Human(but love Damon and Elijah) all the way, that`s probably the only reason I defend Bonnie and Bill so strenuosly. I honestly don`t care for their characters, but I respect them for wanting to keep the humans safe. I didn`t even mind when she locked Alaric in the witch house for his own safety. I mean he`s alive, right?
31. Muppet says:

    February 4, 2012 at 5:01 pm

    “Thomas: This show really should just call itself Vampires Fighting Over Nina.”

    LOL! Seriously, ever ever there was 1 sentence to sum up the show, this would be it. I think I might roll my eyes until the pop out of my head if another Original boy falls in love or has fallen in love in the past with a Nina Dobrev character.

    “The Lady of the Manor: Ding dong, the deadbeat dad’s dead!” I literally LOLed at this because I sang the same song in my head when he died! Also, his story seemed pointless. I can’t see any impact he had on the story or it’s progress aside from giving Candice another chance to showcase her acting chops. Caroline isn’t my favourite character, but Candice is the most engaging actress on the show and Caroline is such a well-written character, IMHO. And while as a Bonnie fan, at times I get jealous of all the good material she’s given relative to Bonnie, I can see why the writers keep throwing her bones.

    Bonnie & Abby. So disappointed in this storyline. I really thought Bonnie would finally have a something juicy on the show. But alas, as you said, she remains a plot device. And so far Abby is one of, if not THE, lamest character they’ve introduced to the show. I really hope all this lame 1-note ‘I couldn’t hack raising you, so I raised someone else’s kid instead, sowwy.’ BS is all just a bit of a red herring and there will be a reveal of a more awesome and understandable reason for why she left.

    Damon’s dialogue was the best it’s been in a while. Love the ‘dial down the judgement until dessert’ line and glad you quoted it directly in your recap. Not only a great bit of dialogue, but it also finally shoved Stefan’s hypocrisy in his face. But overall, Damon still doesn’t have the balls and edge he did in S1. I’m all for character growth, but I just wish he wasn’t so overtly soppy over Elena this season.

    Klaus/Joseph Morgan wins my award for best acting of the night. In the minute or so he was talking to his Esther, his body language, tone of voice, delivery, everything was pitch perfect. Even his performance while they were eating reminded me of the Joker from Batman. Kudos!

    Elijah is a god among men. I really hope at some point in my life I can use the phrase ‘vulgar promises’ at someone who’s pissed me off.

    The Originals’ reunion. I could hear Twitter exploding when Finn and Kol appeared on screen. Kol, last I checked, is still trending on twitter 2 days later. He looks like a mini-Elijah, but I wonder if he’s going to be more like a mini-Klaus in temperament. I’m really looking forward to what’s in store now that all the Originals are unleashed. I think we’re in for fun times.

    Matt, oh Matt. It has gotten to the point where I’d rather see him killed off then live in this limbo of not even being a plot device…but just there. Shame to, because being the only truly human character in the original scooby do gang there is so much they could do with him. I would love to see him and Jeremy team up like a Batman & Robin slayer team.
32. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 5:39 pm

    Thanks Amanda :-)

    The thing is, Alaric didn’t know who stabbed him, so Elena had to do it just to make sure it was a supernatural who killed him.
33. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 5:48 pm

    Hi Sara A :-)

    I’m still into the Short Circuiting Ring thing, just because I’m a sucker for “rule of the supernatural world” thing. I love mythology.

    I’m not sure how I would have reacted to Mama O, but I think they were playing against the expectation that she was going to unleash hell on everyone. I think her being on Team Original actually opens up more potential plotlines, and we did get to see an Elijah v Klaus throwdown, so … I’m happy.

    You’re right, I have a lot more confidence about Stefan after this week. If he maintains his edge, he can hook up with whoever he wants.

    And yeah, the c-string on this show are really c-string … even though their acting is still top rate.
34. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 5:55 pm

    Hi Jennifer :-)

    Yeah, it sucks about the spoiler, but I’ve had two days to get over it. And this spolier was a full-fledged cultural phenomena … I only know one or two recappers who weren’t spoiled, and they had to abandon Twitter entirely to avoid it.

    My joke aside, if they can keep Stefan’s current asshole demeanor, I’m okay with him getting back together with Elena. I’m not a huge shipper, so as long as he’s entertaining, I’m good.
35. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:00 pm

    Hi Heather :-)

    Yeah, the only people who weren’t spoiled pretty much had to abandon Twitter altogether. I pretty much live on there, and use it to drive all of the readers to my blog, so that wasn’t an option for me. C’est la vie.

    This episode was TVD in its top form. Character development, action, twists, turns triangles… this one really had it all. I could watch Klaus, Elijah, and the Salvatores eat dinner all day long. So much tension and secret agendas… perfect.

    I’ll let you in on a secret … I actually didn’t watch the last fifteen minutes of TSC yet. I went out to help The Lady do the dishes and take out the garbage. That show just doesn’t hold my attention the way TVD does. I still like it, but I don’t have to watch it live. I’ll probably write the reacp tomorrow some time.
36. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:00 pm

    Hi Jochebed,

    It is kind of hilarious that he had time to get a makeover before meeting Damon, isn’t it?
37. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:02 pm

    Hi Samantha :-)

    That’s come up in a few of the recaps. Cindy tweeted that her favorite line was something like “OMG Damon knows who Matt is!”

    Katherine is the obvious choice, because of the fingerprints, but I still think that might be misdirection. I mean, Elena’s handled those weapons before, so it could just be anyone wearing a pair of gloves. I actually kind of wonder if they aren’t setting up next season’s villain right now.

    And the dinner is how all tv should be all of the time.
38. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:03 pm

    Samantha,

    That’s an interesting point about Mama and Klaus. I had actually forgotten that she had been trying to screw him over via Vicki and such.
39. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:06 pm

    Hi Rachel,

    I almost made a “since we’re Jewish, she pulled a Solomon and divided Tatia in half for us” joke, but it felt forced. And yeah, that shows that Mams is not to be trifled with. I really hope Tatia is still around in some form or another.

    This ep gave me hope Stefan can become “good” again and still stay an asshole. I’m really, really hoping that’s how it works.
40. TriniJax says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    Good job Thomas, as always. Brian in Shortsville and several others made a very valid point. We didn’t actually see Esther get out the coffin and it wouldn’t be the first time the show has thrown us a blatant red herring. In any case, I’m hoping Mama O turns out to be evil and twisted.

    Matt, Kat and Mrs Lockwood are my top three murder suspects. Matt could easily have stabbed Ric before rocking up at Caroline’s place.

    On another note, you know things are SCREWED in Mystic Falls when the two beings who talk the most sense are Klaus and Damon…
41. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    Hi Nicki :-)

    I’m excited about Mama O just because she should have the power to really unleash some havoc. It’ll be fun to see what a witch that knows what she’s doing cut loose.

    Right now, I’m kind of leaning towards the killer being someone we haven’t met yet, but we’ll see.
42. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    Hi Rachel,

    Yeah, I’ve been playing around with the price a bit, and I think $2.99 is the sweet spot, at least until I have more books out.
43. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    Hi Brian,

    I was worried when you pointed out that this was a Smallville alumn episode, but I agree … they hit this one out of the park. I mean, yeah, the witches cast yet another sleeping spell, but that happens no matter who’s writing, so I’ll give them a pass. The dinner was flawless, and family business … yes please.

    Your theory is a long shot, but in Mystic Falls, even long shots have a damn good chance at happening. And I would do a goddamn dance if something else hopped out of the coffin.

    Team Elena is, once again, effed in the ay. But that’ show this show runs. Bring in a honey badger to deal with your mountain lion problem, then hope you can take a level in badass in between seasons. Remember when Katherine was scary? Right.

    And I can’t wait to see Damon’s face (literally) when he realizes Mama is playing for Team Klaus.

    I love Superman punches. They’re fucking useless, but they’re fun to watch. And I’ve given up trying to make sense of the timeline/history/genealogy/whatever on this show. They fail history forever, and it’s a lot easier to enjoy this show if you just accept that and move on.

    The blood knot was the only literal facepalm moment of the episode for me. Wow, how convenient, we’re just now learning that we need a mother-daughter tag team to open the coffin! Good thing Stefan kidnapped us both!

    RIP Bill Forbes. You will not be missed. I thought Price’s thoughts on the matter were really good, actually.

    Since I’m assuming all three murders were done by the same person, an alibi for one counts as an alibi for all, as far as I’m concerned. Unless she’s able to clone herself or something.

    Monogramed weapons are just … yeah. No.

    The fact that I don’t know anyone who has reason to hate all three victims makes me think we haven’t met the murderer yet. Possibly setting up next season’s big bad?

    Alaric has been in a pretty precarious position lately. Between the malfunctioning ring and random (possibly) human mayhem, he’s close to the top of my “might get bumped off” list. Which puts the TVD set really close to the top of my “might get burned down” list.

    How are your follower numbers looking?
44. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:30 pm

    Hi Jim,

    Steve was name-dropped way back in the first season. He’s the guy he left Liz Forbes for when he came out of the closet. Apparently they’ve been together for … eight years? If Caroline hasn’t really seen him since she was ten.

    Price Peterson has a really good list of reasons he didn’t like the Bill Forbes storyline. He says it better than I can, so I’ll just link to him. Also, if you (collective) aren’t reading his recaps, you should start.

    It really seems like Klaus could get everything he needs from Elena just by taking her to the blood bank once a month and replacing his coffin mobile with a refrigerated truck. And you’re right, he needs to set up a breeding program for werewolves if he’s serious about this whole “master race” thing.
45. Mal says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    My own personal theory is that Alaric is the killer. He blacks out but simply attributes it to all the damn whisky. I don’t know how that explains him stabbing himself (I didn’t say it was the greatest theory…) but they made such a point about it being someone who had access to all their weapons. Plus Meredith wasn’t the only person to have an altercation with the medical examiner that night, Alaric was there too.

    Maybe related to Klaus inhabiting his body last season, some evil vestige of Klaus has remained in him. Which might be why his ring has been malfunctioning; he’s not entirely “human” anymore.
46. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:37 pm

    Hi nvo,

    The problem – well, the big problem – is that this spoiler hit a few days before the episode. Like, I know a lot of West Coasters turn off Twitter for the three hours after the East Coast gets an episode, but to avoid this spoiler you either had to be really lucky or completely off the internet for a week. It sucks.

    After all of the comments, I’m now torn between whether Mama O is on Team Klaus or just pretending to be on Team Kluas until she has her mojo back enough to murder him. Because unless I’m mistaken, he was the one trying to ruin his werepire army plans from beyond the grave.

    I agree, I have a lot more confidence about Stefan’s redemption after this episode. If he can maintain his assholeishness, he can reform as much as he wants.

    Caroline was, as always, awesome, but I’m glad Bill is dead.
47. Thomas says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:37 pm

    Okay everyone, I have to run out to meet some friends. I’ll be back later to finish up responding to comments.
48. Brian in Shortsville says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:38 pm

    LMAO! I was afraid you’d ask me that. Gained three Thursday night, blocked two since, so 18.

    See, math doesn’t lie, you’re a loveable dick, I’m JUST a dick.

    Oh, and BTW, facepalm I’ve TOTALLY got the murderer ID’d. I’m not gonna give it up though. It’s SO damned obvious, everyone will have it before it’s revealed on the show, then facepalm when it is.

    Seriously, who’s got a reason to have an OLDE grudge with the MF Founder’s Council, and maybe hasn’t heard that Damon is ON the MF Founder’s Council?
49. SoccerMom says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:38 pm

    Stefan Salvatore: Oh, I see how it is. A guy goes on one six month murder spree, leaving a trail of bodies that would make the worst human serial killers in history bleed with jealous, then spends a couple of months playing henchman to the guy responsible for all of the terror and torment you’ve suffered over the last two and a half seasons, then kidnaps you and threatens to murder you in the same way your parents died, and suddenly he’s the prime suspect in every little murder in town! Did you even ask Damon if he staked the guy?

    Kate Linnea Welsh: Protip: When you ARE a murderer, you lose the right to be mad at people who suggest you might be a murderer.

    Thomas: Please. The only person Damon’s staked lately was Elena. With his penis.

    Too flipping funny. Thanks for the link. Very convenient – $2.99 totally got me. Bought it before I even finished reading… but after I nearly wet my pants laughing at your recap. Always funny, but this one was off the hook!
50. Patricia says:

    February 4, 2012 at 6:46 pm

    How I loved this recap!!! almost as much as the show!! Awsome!!
51. Amanda in Brooklyn says:

    February 4, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    Hi Thomas,Lady and Corgipire!

    Great recap – funny as hell as usual, but I’ll be quoting a comment:

    “Alaric has been in a pretty precarious position lately. Between the malfunctioning ring and random (possibly) human mayhem, he’s close to the top of my “might get bumped off” list. Which puts the TVD set really close to the top of my “might get burned down” list.”

    LOL and AGREED! Hands off Ric, Storyrunners! Just drop the stakes, hand the man a whiskey and back away slowly and no one has to get hurt.

    Regarding the witch trying to stop Klaus from the Great Beyond as it were- I think it was (original Bennett witch?) Ayanna – not Momma Bear-Klaus.

    And, for the record – although I stay away from all spoilers and even largely Spec threads just so I will be *completely* floored no matter what happens (seriously, I don’t even follow casting news, so new characters popping up will surprise me) – Brian in Shortsville’s comment about how face-palmingly obvious the murderer is, is driving me absolutely fucking nuts. GAH!@
52. Mona says:

    February 4, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    What an episode! I loved it. So much more fun than last weeks!
    TOTALLY called Bill Forbes turning. That one I saw coming, mainly because its exactly what happened to Caroline. Mystic Falls hospital is about as safe as the Gilbert house. Matt was totally right: that town is messed up.
    I’m very much intrigued by the mystery murderer: I cannot even think of who it is.
    LOVED the return of the Originals -and as I’m not on Twitter and boycotted all things VD until I’d accessed the episode, I got the full effect of Esther walking in. Not buying the ‘forgiveness’ shiz, but as someone pointed out, Ayana may well factor in yet with the eventual season finale saga.
    Wonderful recap Thomas, so glad you kept Damon’s line about Stefan killing their dad: it made be giggle like a 3 year old when he said that.
53. Eve says:

    February 4, 2012 at 11:47 pm

    Lady of the Manor: I wondered the same thing, four vampires sit down to dinner and eat people food?? These vampires are the most human I’ve ever seen. It hardly matters that they’re vampires.

    However, I enjoyed the get together of the four of them. That Elijah and Klaus also were in love with the same woman is funny. Aren’t there any other plots??

    Thomas: As someone who is not on Twitter, I’m sorry the ending was spoiled for you. Makes me even more glad I’m not on it. I like it that the Original family is back together – except for Daddy Original of course, but I would not be surprised if he shows up too. Death is not particularly final on this show.

    The Magic Ring of (Sometimes) Not Dying is just another random thing thrown in the mix. Like the way to break the Sire bond for Tyler is turning at will without pain. Since when is the Sire bond so strong, anyway? Katherine is the Sire of Damon and Stefan, right? Not so strong. Damon is the Sire of Caroline. No bond in sight there. There are more inconsistencies than not. We accept it because the show is still entertaining.

    The scene where Stefan and Damon both came right out and said they love Elena – ok, no surprise there but what they *didn’t* say, and what is even more interesting is they love one another more. Both of them will do absolutely *anything* to keep the other one alive.

    I’m not glad Bill Forbes is dead. He was a total dick but he came around and started being a real father to Caroline. It was late for sure – very late, and she had every reason not to accept him – but she DID accept him and wanted him to stay in her life, so for that reason I wish he did.

    Oh, last weekend we went away for a few days and I finished reading Sire, and really enjoyed it! Kept me interested all the way through and I’ll certainly get the next book. :) Keep up the good work.
54. Jennifer says:

    February 5, 2012 at 12:16 am

    Reply to Brian’s theory about the coffin:

    I actually like this theory for two reasons:

    1) She wasn’t a vamp when she ‘died’, she was mortal. So she SHOULD have simply DIED. Like, actually well and dead. This being the case, it would make no sense for Klaus to cart her around for 1,000 years. What does he need a dead body for?? His siblings could be revived, but not his mom.

    2) He seemed VERY shocked to see her. Like he was literally seeing a ghost. I have no doubt that he truly thought she was permanently dead.

    However, that being said, I think you are giving the show too much credit here, Brian. lol
    I do (sadly) think that your awesome idea is wrong, and that she really WAS in that coffin (even though it makes no sense). The reason why I think this: Bonnie’s dream. You know, the one where she was able to get the locked coffin open, and Klaus was in it? Well, in that dream, he was clutching his MOTHER’S necklace in his hands. To me, that pretty much says it all. This ‘secret’ was already spoiled long before that promo was leaked… *shrug*

    Of course, all this is assuming she ever actually DIED in the first place. Did Klaus really kill her, or is there some sort of cover up going on here? With this show, you can never REALLY be sure that what you THINK you know is actually the truth. Remember the freakin’ sun-and-the-moon-curse??? Yeah.
55. Jennifer says:

    February 5, 2012 at 12:22 am

    Eve- The sire thing is limited to hybrids, from what I understand. It’s not a vamp thing.
56. sepiriz47 says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:18 am

    Yeah, I did think Esther might not have been in the coffin but that makes things too convoluted. Esther being in the coffin is less complicated but there’s probably some retconning/debunking coming soon.

    Vampires can be sired to their makers but it’s rare. The nature of a hybrid makes siring much more likely. In my opinion Petrova blood might increase the chance too.

    On another note, the Sheriff was born into a founding family probably and Forbes is her married name so what’s her maiden name? We can rule out Gilbert, Salvatore, and Benett. I’m not sure about Fell but there’s a bunch of other founding families we know nothing about. Mind you, she could be a a Forbes but just distant relation of Bill’s.
57. nvo says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:26 am

    So I read Price’s review and it was funny as usual but I didn’t agree with his take on Bill Forbes’ plot line. Yes the vampire/homosexual analogy was obvious but persecuted people groups are not necessarily more empathetic to other persecuted groups. For example, many older black people who were alive during the civil rights movement don’t support gay marriage. And it’s not like Bill Forbes’ hatred was completely unfounded. Vampires, in general, kill people. Bill’s problem was lumping them all into one group and assuming he could remove their blood lust. He was a narrow-minded prick who happened to be gay not a narrow-minded prick because he was gay. Hello, Kevin Williamson is gay. So for a straight man to get all huffy about how offensive the whole thing is…

    As for his choice to die rather than cheat death and live forever, I understood it. What I hated about that scene is that his only daughter was begging him not leave her and he did it anyway. It’s complicated just like everything on TVD.
58. Jagna18 says:

    February 5, 2012 at 5:16 am

    I don’t trust mama original. I think the only side she’s on is her own. I think that klaus will have to step in and prevent Rebecca from getting her hands on Elena, that backstab was harsh. Maybe Tatia will get dragged in to take care of Mama- she’d be all ” I never wanted your boys anyways, jerk.” :)
59. Mal says:

    February 5, 2012 at 7:16 am

    I too had the ending spoiled on Twitter. I saw Julie Plec lamenting about things being out of her control, and right there in the replies to her tweet were people saying stuff like “Aww don’t worry about it, we all guessed it was Esther in the coffin anyway :-)”

    Somehow this angers me more than people who write spoilers maliciously.
60. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    Hi @BrieanneVanessa :-)

    Yeah, that was a ballsy move on Elena’s part … but it was the best they could do in the situation the were facing. Stupid ring with its stupid rules and stupid battery.

    I’m still not sold on the murderer being Katherine … it just seems too simple. But then again I thought having Mama Original in the coffin was too simple, too, so who knows?

    If they can keep Stefan a badass, he can focus on Elena as much as he wants. Though honestly? The brothers are more interesting when they’re longing for Elena than when they have her. And I think Damon’s step back is more about what Klaus said – you two are the very worst thing for her – than any respect for his brother. Damon is kind of a hos before bros guys.

    Candice Accola is fantastic. She deserves her own show, but I don’t want her to leave ours lol

    I think Neville is going to explode when I introduce him to Teen Wolf this summer.
61. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 12:52 pm

    Hi sepiriz47,

    Elena I think is the one real example of the writing team not being on the same page. They all agree Damon is a snarky bastard, that Stefan is an asshole with a boring caramel center, that Caroline is awesome and should be tortured mercilessly, and that Bonnie should never be given anything resembling a plot or character development … but half of the writers seem to think that Elena is a smart, though girl that can handle her shit and make everyone around her better because of it, and the other half seem to think she’s a brain-dead, whiney hypocrite. It’s jarring they way her characterization changes from week to week.

    I tend to avoid the promos and synopsis, and since the CW seems hell bent on ruining everything, I might have to become more adamant about that. JP and KW must be so frustrated at the CW for what they pulled.

    I think Klaus did kind of fall for Katherine … he just wanted to break his curse more. And by the time he got to Elena, he was in full “let’s kill the bitch and get on with world domination” mode. It kind of surprises me that Elijah wasn’t more concerned with Elena’s welfare … though having an immortal asskicker slash family murderer for a brother might trump the “hey she looks just like that girl I banged in high school” card.

    I’m still kind of thinking that the murderer might be someone we haven’t even met yet.

    I think they kind of have to give Kol and whatshisname a few culture shock moments. It could be hilarious if they do it right.
62. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    Hi pjt,

    Now I kind of need them to set up a whiteboard in the Gilbert kitchen that says

    Times I've killed Alaric:
    
    Damon | Elena
    -------------
      4   |  1
    
63. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    Hi Emaleth,

    That’s certainly a possibility. I think there’s still a lot of mythology to flush out when it comes to the ring, and since I’m a sucker for that stuff, I really hope they address it soon.
64. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:03 pm

    Hi Jenni,

    The dinner was perfect. One of the best things on TV this season. Those guys are just amazing, and the characters interact so well.

    I don’t think Stefan is getting a free pass anymore … he was one of the first people Elena suspected of the murders, after all. Bonnie does still get off scott free a lot of the time, though. But “Hey Stefan, remember when you killed dad?” was priceless.

    I’m so glad you liked Sire! I’m about 30,000 words into the sequel. Work keeps interfering with my writing schedule, but I’m getting it done as fast as I can. :-)
65. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:08 pm

    Hi Amanda :-)

    You’re right, Klaus really does have the ability to just grab the Salvatores and dry them out, and when you actually point that out it seems silly that he hasn’t even tried.

    You might be right about Mama O. Part of me thinks she’s just biding her time until she’s at full strength … and able to kick her son’s ass for all of the crap he’s pulled. Which also leads me to believe that it was Ayana who was playing puppet master to Vicki a while back. Maybe Ayana was the original Bennet witch?

    And in Bonnie’s defense, I don’t think any of the witches we’ve met would have had a chance at stopping the Original Witch. She was powerful enough to create a race of unkillable murder machines, so I kind of doubt a little mind ray or candle lighting would slow her down.
66. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    Thanks Daniela :-)

    Right? I love that Elijah was just like “um, yeah, you want to wake up him?” and Klaus was just like “well you have certainly made an excellent point!” And we have a ren faire vampire now! The Originals really are pure win.
67. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:12 pm

    Hi Ellyria :-)

    Yeah, the good money was on Mama O or Tatia, but … I still would have liked to come in clean.

    I still think it’s funny that vampires can cut their hair now. Like somewhere in the 90′s everyone just decided that the whole “Interview with the Vampire ponytail” thing was played out.

    I am solooking forward to seeing the Originals unleash havoc in Mystic Falls. :-)
68. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:15 pm

    Hi TeamElijah :-)

    I think it’s hilarious that Elijah has a MiniMe now. And as much of a punk as Klaus has been portrayed lately, he has done a few things that no one else – including the Originals – could pull off, like killing of Mikael. Also, he can’t be daggered, and he’s managed to put every single Original in a coffin at one point or another.
69. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:15 pm

    Hi Petra :-)

    I’m pretty sure if you google “damon slash elijah” the internet will be happy to answer your question .. ;-)
70. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    Hi Jawly :-)

    We really exist on different planets lol … the reason I love Damon (and Klaus, to a certain extent) is because of the arrogant, dickhead attitude.

    I don’t think there’s been time for the Originals to develop anything like a reason for being in town. Klaus needs Elena’s blood to make his useless hybrid army, but the rest of them? They’re there because Klaus dragged their corpses into town in a U-Haul. They’ve only been awake for about ten minutes, so I doubt they’ve developed any overarching plans yet.

    I think the only value in the werepires is that they’re very willing cannon fodder. Even a Salvatore can take one out, but Klaus can throw a dozen of them at whatever problem comes his way, and they’re good for a distraction, if nothing else.

    I think the Bill Forbes storyline could have been better handled, or better flushed out, but for now I’m just deferring to Price’s thoughts on the matter. He’s given it more brain time than I have, and I don’t see any faults in his logic.

    I wonder if Mama O has been awake the entire time she’s been in the coffin. If she has, I can imagine she’s plenty pissed.
71. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    Hi katherine_fan,

    Elijah must have un-daggered the siblings well before the dinner even started, probably right after he met with Damon. It takes the Originals a few hours to wake back up, so there wasn’t enough time in between Elijah prancing out and storming back in.

    It would be really cool if there was still someone else from the coffin.

    It would be a twist if Alaric was the bad guy … but that was an awful lot of damage to inflict on himself. I could see a guy giving himself a flesh wound, but that kind of carnage? I doubt it.

    I honestly love the contrast between “I’m going to rip your innards out” Klaus and “oh shit mama’s gonna spank me” Klaus. He really is a bully … tough when he knows he’ll win, a baby when he thinks he’s outmatched.
72. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:31 pm

    Hi meredith,

    It would be really cool if there was one more coffin surprise left in store.

    It’s been taking progressively longer for Alaric’s ring to work for a long time now. The first time I really noticed it was when Damon snapped his neck, and Alaric didn’t wake up until the next morning. Contrast that to John Gilbert, who was back on his feet a few minutes after Damon gave him the same treatment.

    I definitely think that Esther is the only one with the whole picture right now. I’m not even going to speculate on what he game is, but I bet it’s pretty twisted.

    I think Nina has a clause in her contract that states she gets to make out with every hot guy on the show at least once. It’s the only explanation. Also: it must be weird for Elena to be standing in a room full of people who have seen her – or someone who looks exactly like her – naked.
73. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:36 pm

    Hi Saggie22 :-)

    Alaric and Elena really are hilarious. He’s all “gosh darn I did it again,” and Elena’s just like “oh, Alaric.” And yeah, it is so inappropriate lol

    I would love to get more info on how the ring works, who created it, why, etc.

    I still love Asshole!Stefan. Especially when Damon gets lines like “Hey, you remember when you killed dad?” That was perfect.

    I’m just glad Bill is dead because that’s one less person around to torture Caroline.

    Bonnie locking Alaric in the witch house is, to me, unforgivable. Sending Jeremy away is close to the same level, but Jeremy wasn’t denied being with his lover one last time before she was effing murdered. I still get so angry every time I think abou that.

    But you might have a point. I really, really want Elena to vamp, but I can see them taking a spin down humanity lane for a few episodes, at least. That plays in to what Alaric said to the Sheriff and Mayor, too: “your son’s a werewolf, your daughter is a vampire, but who’s looking out for the humans?”
74. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    Hi Muppet :-)

    Well, she is the main character(s), so I can’t fault them for that. I honestly really like the parallels between the Original brothers and the Salvatore brothers … especially when the Originals told the Salvatores that they were going to lose each other over Elena, and that they were talking from experience.

    Candice Accola really is the breakout star on this show, I think. I mean, they’re all amazing (and Nina might actually be just a smidge better, since she can switch between Katherine and Elena so easily), but it really is completely understandable that they keep giving Caroline tasty scenery to chew.

    I wouldn’t get your hopes up regarding Abby. The writers seem allergic to giving a Bennet character development. I will say that I’m impressed Bonnie didn’t get a nosebleed when she went to open the coffin.

    I did love Damon in this episode, and I hope that distancing himself from Elena will give him his edge back.

    JoMo is fantastic. He can go from crazy killer to whipped puppy in a heartbeat. The Originals need their own show, it’s a fact.

    Elijah is just so slick. Vulgar promises really was fantastic. And I kind of get the sense that what really ticks Elijah off is that Klaus just straight up lies, rather than taking the time to craft a cleverly misleading promise.

    I just want to know what it is about his baby brother that has Klaus so nervous. Maybe he was like Season One Damon? Not out to kill Klaus, but determined to make his life a living hell?

    Yeah, I’m kind of surprised Matt hasn’t gotten eaten yet. But it seems like they might just be revisiting the Matt/Elena lovers thing, so maybe he’ll get some more screen time. And then get eaten.
75. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:47 pm

    Hi TriniJax :-)

    It would be so damn awesome if Esther was just a fake out. I don’t put a whole lot of stock in the idea, but it’s still intriguing.

    Matt is certainly a possibility … but that still leaves the question of why? Or more exactly, why someone would compel him to do it.

    And Damon is forever shocked that he’s the most sensible person around lol
76. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    Hi Mal,

    That’s a very interesting idea, actually. I still think that the murderer is someone we haven’t met yet, but the ring malfunctioning because of Klaus’ body-jacking … that’s intriguing.
77. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:52 pm

    Hi Brian,

    If you’re taling about Katherine … it just seems too obvious. But so did Mama O, so … who knows?
78. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:53 pm

    HI SoccerMom :-)

    Thanks :-) Hope you like Sire … I’m told there are a few lines that will make you laugh in there, too ;-)
79. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:53 pm

    Thanks Patricia :-)
80. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    Hi Amanda,

    The thing is, putting Alaric (or Caroline) in a bad spot is great tv … I just hope they want to keep going back to that well enough that they don’t fill it with sand.

    Yeah, my money is on Ayana being the Original Bennet, and the one from ~~~The Other Side~~~

    I really hope the murderer isn’t obvious. Honestly, I’d be happy if it’s a new character altogether, maybe a new Big Bad.
81. kattafre says:

    February 5, 2012 at 1:58 pm

    Hey Thomas, great recap as usual!
    I’m glad that I’m avoiding Twitter and any kind of TVD sites (although it’s always more tempting to read them on a hiatus…), so the Mom Original came as a total surprise to me. Mainly because she was the one I was sure couldn’t be in the coffin for so many reasons; she was dead and no vamp, so presumably really dead, and Rebekah and Klaus burried her! Even if she survived somehow and slowed down her aging – Gloria looked older after only 90 years, how could Esther not age a day over 1000 years? So I still think it wasn’t her in the coffin. I’m going with the assumption that she’s a ghost, that makes perfect sense to me. And why the hell would Klaus cart her with him all those years when he’s so obviously scared to death of her? Only to have her under control? I for sure would prefer to hide her somewhere no one would ever look for her if I was him. And it gives us the opportunity to have another revelation about who really was in that coffin…
    I have to admit though that it even didn’t occure to me that it could’ve been not her coming out of the coffin until Brian mentioned it (yes, I’m the perfect audience for Plec/Wiliamson, I’m always fooled by those things…), I was just slightly confused. But since I read it, I’m quite sure it wasn’t her.
    Wether Esther’s de-coffined or a ghost, I don’t buy her forgiveness at all. She’s evil. Seriously, using the girl her sons are loving, even if they are fighting over her, for creating a cruel ceremony to turn her kids into vampires? Evil. Even if she didn’t have to kill her for this purpose. I’m excited to see an awesome familiy reunion of those guys with loads of issues they have with each other…

    The murder plot is awesome. I might be a kiddy pool (thanks Caroline!), but to me it isn’t obvious at all who is the ominous murderer. Alaric compelled (or rest-posessed by Klaus’ blood) makes sense, but why would Klaus even do that? I don’t know anything, which is good…

    I loved that Elena considers Alaric as family! I don’t think that this relationship is any weird; they’ve been through so much together, they are room mates for months now, Elena’s grown up, and she doesn’t go to school anyway, so for me they are simply two grown ups living in the same house, building kind of a chosen family.

    The For Vampires Only Dinner Party was hilarious! What I really found quite remarkable though was that Damon was the one who was fazed by what Klaus said, that the worst thing for Elena is the two of them. He seemed to be truly disturbed, so much that he had to leave the room for a while, because he saw the truth in those words, and I really felt bad for him. I think that he’ll try to back off now, what he already did with dodging her call in the wood (what also served the brotherly relationship once more, another thing visibly getting to him during the dinner party). Which is him acting selfless with her again, kinda sad, because I want to finally see him happy for a while…

    For once I thought Bonnie was awesome; okay, running away when the coffin finally cracked open was a dumb move, but I loved her calling out on her mom for abandoning her and then telling her practically to quit finding excuses and help her now instead. She seemed to be the mature one in this situation, and I liked that.

    Loved this:

    ‘Neville the Corgipire: Do you think they’ll drop any food for me?’

    And the Lady is, as always, spot-on with her comments…
82. Spikeabunny says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    I can’t get my head around how the original witch was in the coffin, I think it’s cool she’s back and it’s going to be fun, but the narrative weave is beginning to look like the moths have been at it!

    A random observation on the whole ‘we all fell in love with the same girl’ conversation, it seemed tricksy to me. Tatia was an exquisite beauty, the originator of the Petrova line but NOT a dead ringer for Katherine/Elena, at least it wasn’t mentioned. Also what was so special about her blood that it created a whole family of vampires?

    The identity of the council culler eludes me (unlike Brian in Shortsville {I looked that up there really is a place called Shortsville, I LOVE that. Perhaps Trevor should visit} I’m not seeing an obvious contender) but I’d like it to be Matt :-)

    I don’t think Rebekah is going to find Mommy dearest easy. Is she going to return the god awful necklace of doom? It was sweet (?) Elena left it with her….

    Finally, two related witches to open the coffin because two related witches locked it, I think we need to ask who they were…
83. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    Hi Mona :-)

    Turning Bill honestly never even occurred to me, since he was perfectly healthy the last time we saw him. Either way, I’m glad he’s dead.

    The murder mystery is pretty awesome so far. I still kind of think it’s a totally new character doing all the stabbing.

    “Hey Stefan, remember when you killed dad?” was absolutely perfect. I loved that line so much.
84. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    Hi Eve,

    I would like to see more blood drinking from out vampires, particularly the evil ones. There should have been goblets of blood all over that table. But, yes, the dinner scene itself was perfect.

    Twitter is awesome, but in situations like this … yeah, it can be a bummer.

    Damon did say that a Sire bond is an unusual thing. Though it does seem that everyone Klaus sires is bonded to him.

    I do like that the Salvatores care more for each other than a girl they’ve known for less than a year. And I kind of hope Damon regains some of his snark while he’s taking a break from girls played by Nina Dobrev.

    It does suck for Caroline that he daddy is dead, but her daddy is a huge dick, so I’m glad to see him go. And honestly? I’m not convinced that he would have actually been a real father to her if he had turned.

    Glad you liked Sire!
85. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    Hi Jennifer,

    All we know for sure is that Elijah and Klaus both believed the contents of the coffin would be able to destroy Klaus. So yes, it is a possibility that there was something else inside. I’m still chalking this up as “possible, but unlikely”, but it would be so so cool.
86. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    Hi nvo,

    I think the point Price was making is that a lot of people view homosexuals as “bad,” and when your only homosexual character is bad, it can kind of reinforce that stereotype. I agree that it was unintentional, but I can also see where Price is coming from.
87. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:29 pm

    Hi Jagna18 :-)

    Oh, someone is definitely going to have to put Rebekah in a time-out chair before she gets to Elena. And I think it’s a pretty safe bet that Mama Original’s plans and motivations are going to be as complicated as everything else on this show.
88. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    Hi Mal,

    Yeah, dumb people almost cause me more pain than mean people. Mean people I at least feel justified in punching. Dumb people really can’t help themselves.
89. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:35 pm

    HI kattafre :-)

    I agree that there’s potential for another coffin surprise, but I kind of doubt it. I agree she might be – maybe even probably is – a ghost, but I’m sure the writers will explain all of that pretty soon. And I think there’s a really good chance she’s just biding her time until she has enough strength to kick her son’s ass.

    I still think we haven’t met the murderer yet, but these people always surprise me, so …

    I love that your justification for Alaric and Elena’s relationship is “she doesn’t go to school anyway” lol … that’s so true.

    I agree about Damon. I think he’s going to take a break from Elena, at least for a while … and it really shows how much he’s grown that Klaus’ words got to him so much.

    Bonnie is definitely more mature than her mother. And props to them for cracking the coffin.
90. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    Hi Spikeabunny,

    Maybe Klaus was carting around Esther’s corpse, which is why Abby freaked out when it opened, and “Esther” is really just a ghost?

    I think the whole point of the term “doppelganger” is that Katherine and Elena are dead ringers for Tatia. It wouldn’t make sense to call them that otherwise. And as far as I know, the only thing special about her blood is that Esther picked her as the sacrifice.

    Good point about the two witches who locked the coffin. Maybe Ayana and her daughter?
91. katherine_fan says:

    February 5, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    @Thomas.I doubt that it was Ayana and her daughter who spelled the coffin ,b/c there were no coffins 1000 yrs ago.Which is why I believe someone else was in there!
92. Mal says:

    February 5, 2012 at 3:19 pm

    @katherine_fan I doubt there were any English-speaking Vikings called Niklaus and Elijah in Virginia 1000 years ago, either. ;-)
93. sepiriz47 says:

    February 5, 2012 at 3:36 pm

    In 3×12, Bill has Damon’s blood in him. The promo for 3×13 shows Bill staked and bloody. The synopsis for 3×13 says “Caroline is heartbroken when she is unable to stop a tragedy from unfolding”. It was obvious to me that Bill would be in transition and let himself die.
94. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 3:38 pm

    HI katherine_fan,

    Technically you’re right, but there wren’t Jewish Vikings in America 1,000 years ago, either, so …
95. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 3:38 pm

    Also, what Mal said lol
96. Thomas says:

    February 5, 2012 at 3:38 pm

    Hi sepiriz47,

    Yeah, and that’s why I avoid that stuff.
97. Jim S says:

    February 5, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    Two points and then I leave you alone, not wanting to be that guy. First, Bill may or have may not been written poorly, but I don’t buy the arguements slamming him. They don’t need a being gay metaphor because they have Bill being openly gay. His wanting to teach Caroline to control her thirst was spot on, but too late, she’s a murderer and that’s bad in anyone’s book. He’s a gay man who married and fathered a child and decided to come out of the closest despite the pain it caused. That’s being honest. He sees being human as being good, and he’s not about to throw out the bad with the good. He’s right to despair that Caroline is a vamp. She can’t be a mother, she can’t grow old with someone she loves. She exists in an unnatural state of 17 years old. She will always have to be on guard about ripping someone’s throat out. I predict she’ll be the one to kill her father’s stabber. Enough of that. I am this close to being that guy, so on to point two.

    Remember, the originals didn’t start off as super vamps. They had all the vamp weaknesses, sunlight, vervain, can’t go in a home. So who super vamped them? That’s a card that hasn’t been played yet. So that’s my original observation.

    Keep up the good work.
98. katherine_fan says:

    February 5, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    @mal @thomas.You are both right!I would have mentioned it myself but If I had brought that up,I would have had to make an entire list of things that made that episode one of the worst episodes in TVD.
99. Eve says:

    February 5, 2012 at 7:27 pm

    To everyone who pointed out the difference between a vampire sire bond and a hybrid one – ok, good point, I stand corrected on that and am happy for any consistency!

    The chalk board in the kitchen idea for Alaric kills – LOL! Yes, it’s needed.

    Abby and Bonnie continue to be lame, IMO, and Abby’s decision to go raise some other kid instead of Bonnie makes her leaving beyond belief. Anyone notice that Bonnie said ‘Dad and Gram never talked about you’? So Dad was still there, which seems to suggest he and Abby were a couple when Abby took off. So where the heck was Dad all along? Why didn’t he raise Bonnie and where is he now? And he and Gram just accepted Abby’s decision to start her new life 10 miles down the road, and gave Bonnie nothing whatsoever as an explanation? This is a whole new level of bad parenting. This makes Bill Forbes look like Father of the Year.
100. Courtney_D says:

     February 5, 2012 at 8:22 pm

     Great recap! Had me cracking up as always!

     About our mystery murderer: Most people I’ve read in comments and forums point to Katherine, which makes no sense to me for a couple reasons. One: why target Council members? Katherine was never in the tomb, in fact she led them to the other vampires and had a Lockwood help her escape. And the council played right into her hand with the Founder’s Day Gilbert Device debacle. Katherine also KNOWS about the Gilbert rings of (occasionally) not dieing. The first thing she did when attacking John Gilbert was chop is fingers off and she commented on Jeremy’s a couple times. She would have seen it on Alaric and most certainly would not have left it behind, not if she wanted him dead-dead.
101. Saggie22 says:

     February 5, 2012 at 9:44 pm

     Eve: “This is a whole new level of bad parenting” I hear ya. But I say it`s a whole new level of bad WRITING. Nothing about Bonnie`s character and life makes any sense and it seems more like a case of lazy writing than anything else. Isn`t it weird that Bonnie is a main character and we don`t even know where she lives, and who she lives with? I mean she is still a teenager, is she really living alone? With her dad? The one we know nothing about?
     At least even Grams had a house, hey even plot-devise Matt has a house. Seems like Bonnie isn`t deserving of one. Which would explain why so many people can`t relate to her. She doesn`t have a home life.

     At this point I will be happy if they ended Bonnie`s character. I don`t think there`s anything the writers can do now to make up to just how badly they have handled her character. Save everybody all this vitriol directed at her and just kill her off or make her visit her vague relatives indefinately, or leave with Abby when she returns to her farm in North Carolina. And then bring in a 3-dimentional witch to – of course – save Team Elena. Maybe even Lucy, she has Bennett blood in her, she`ll do just fine.
102. April says:

     February 6, 2012 at 2:08 am

     Great recap as always Thomas!

     With regards to the murderer, I think it’s either someone we haven’t met yet or someone being compelled.

     Despite what seems to be a limited ring, it’s still an extremely valuable item. Most people on the show know this, so if they were trying to kill Alaric (assuming that was their goal), they would of taken the ring off first, and then kept it for themselves. Even if they couldn’t use it, it’s still a powerful bargaining tool, and someone like Katherine, who takes anything and everything that will be of use to her, would of definitely taken the ring.

     So if the murderer is someone we know, they’re probably being compelled by an unknown vampire, or else they would have taken the ring for themselves, or at least been compelled to take it if it was a vampire we knew. Some ideas I have are Jeremy or Mrs.Lockwood being compelled, but I think it’ll be someone we know of but have yet to meet, like Tatia.

     As for my completely outrageous but ‘you never know with this show’ guesses, I’m thinking maybe Matt’s mom? We never did learn much about her, besides the fact that she won’t be winning mother of the year any time soon. And did we ever learn about his dad? Bonnie’s dad has also been hinted at lately, and he’s another one we know almost nothing about.

     And then there’s the whole potential ‘are Elena’s parents REALLY dead?’ plot, but if that does happen, I don’t think it’ll have anything to do with the murders.

     Also, I heard somewhere (can’t remember where, so I don’t know if it’s true) that Mama Salvatore would be making an appearance on the show, we just don’t know when. We have absolutely NO info on her, in fact as far as I can remember, I don’t think she’s even been mentioned. Maybe this will be her introduction?

     Another thing is that we don’t know if Alaric is even the target. He only just started living at the Gilbert’s, and Jeremy just recently left (as far as I can tell at least), so maybe Jeremy or Elena were the targets? We don’t know if it’s the council that’s the target, or the founding families, since they are no longer completely one in the same. I’m thinking a Lockwood (Mrs. Lockwood?) will be next though, unless it’s a Lockwood killing everyone.

     Or maybe even Esther herself? Like Brian said, it has yet to be confirmed if it really was her that was in the locked coffin.

     Gah! So many possibilities!!

     These are just some of my more outrageous and highly unlikely ideas, but like I said, you just never know with this show. I can’t even begin to imagine what’s going to happen in these final 9 episodes!!!
103. lucia says:

     February 6, 2012 at 3:44 am

     I could have been Katherine even if she is a supernatural being, Elena killed Alaric tu be sure he was killed by a supernatural being, because she didn’t know if he was going to come back
104. Nadin says:

     February 6, 2012 at 7:58 am

     Sorry for being so damn late with responding. Yeah, it’s the 5th time I read it lol

     Alaric’s officialy sotryline is dying. I blame it on poor writing. All of the awesomeness goes to the Originals, and apparently the supply of it is not limitless.

     About the murders, it is by far the most intriguing storyline (aside from Elijah’s hair getting even more awesome – and cropped! – after a few months in the coffin). I doubt it’s Katherine because I don’t see WHY?? But maybe that’s the thing – maybe we don’t have to see until it’s thrown in our faces :P

     Anyway, without your recaps the show wouldn’t be half as awesome :)
105. Thomas says:

     February 6, 2012 at 9:36 am

     Hi Jim S,

     The thing is, Caroline already had her urges under control. She isn’t walking around fanging out at anyone who scrapes a knee. She just dips into the Salvatore Blood Supply and carries on with life.

     I’m still a bit muddled on the Original’s powers. I think they still have the same weakness to the sun they were created with … it’s just that in their case, going sunbathing sans-MRONEITS is painful, not deadly. But I really don’t know.
106. Thomas says:

     February 6, 2012 at 9:40 am

     Hi Eve,

     I honestly don’t think it’s particularly uncommon for young parents who coughcough give their children up for adoption to want kids later in life.

     That doesn’t mean I don’t find Abby a reprehensible person – when I can work up the energy to care about her – but that particular part of her story didn’t strike me as unusual.
107. Thomas says:

     February 6, 2012 at 9:41 am

     Hi Courtney_D :-)

     You’re right, those are very good reasons why Katherine isn’t a likely suspect right now. But I don’t think there is a likely suspect now, which is why I’m leaning toward “new bad guy”.
108. Thomas says:

     February 6, 2012 at 9:51 am

     Hi Saggie22,

     I still think Bonnie could be fixed, but it would take something pretty dramatic. I think it would be awesome if they gave her the Season Three Stefan makeover, for example.

     Maybe they could explain why the Bennet line always seems to be catering to vamps … like maybe Mama Original has some kind of power over them. Bonnie mans up and defeats her – lol – and breaks whatever is making them play nice-nice with the vamps. Then she realizes how much carnage the Salvatores have caused and hops onto Team Vampire Slayer.

     I think that could be pretty compelling. It’ll probably never happen, but I’d enjoy watching it.
109. Thomas says:

     February 6, 2012 at 10:10 am

     Hi April,

     Compelled Accomplice is always a possibility on this show. I’ve heard suggestions that run from Jeremy to the Sheriff to Alaric.

     The fact that they didn’t take Alaric’s ring is probably a big deal, thanks for pointing that out.

     As to casting – Mama Salvatore, Bonnie’s parents, Elena’s parents – I stay out of that stuff.

     But yeah, this whole thing is intriguing.
110. Thomas says:

     February 6, 2012 at 10:11 am

     That it true, lucia.
111. Thomas says:

     February 6, 2012 at 10:12 am

     HI Nadin,

     I would like to see more Alaric Saltzman, Vampire Hunter, but Alaric Saltzman, Town Drunk is at least entertaining.

     And the murder mystery really is cool.
112. Brian in Shortsville says:

     February 6, 2012 at 10:27 am

     I had a couple of goofy ideas I kind of like:

     1. Never mind the chalkboard. Elena and Damon need to get matching tattoos representing their ‘Alaric score,’ like carving notches on their six-shooters. Would also be a handy way to tell Elena from Katherine “quick! roll up your sleeve so I know it’s you!”

     2. I’m looking forward to this week’s episode. Like April said, outrageous and unlikely ideas are SO much of the fun:

     Previously, on The Vampire Diaries…
     Klaus: You’ve come to kill me.
     Esther: No, Klaus, I’ve come to forgive you…

     Cold open
     Esther: …As soon as you get rid of your hybrids, swear to me you won’t make any more of those abominations, hire some proper black people servants, program my cell phone, teach me how to drive a car, wash my car, take out the rubbish, scrub the loo, pooper-scoop the yard, find your brother a proper consort that respects the mullet, and take me to Old Navy so I can get out of these 1,000 year-old rags.

     Klaus: Aw Mom!
113. Dayna Barter says:

     February 6, 2012 at 11:22 am

     Mal, I really kinda like this theory: “My own personal theory is that Alaric is the killer. He blacks out but simply attributes it to all the damn whisky. I don’t know how that explains him stabbing himself (I didn’t say it was the greatest theory…) but they made such a point about it being someone who had access to all their weapons. Plus Meredith wasn’t the only person to have an altercation with the medical examiner that night, Alaric was there too. Maybe related to Klaus inhabiting his body last season, some evil vestige of Klaus has remained in him. Which might be why his ring has been malfunctioning; he’s not entirely “human” anymore.”

     I remember seeing an interview with Julie where she said we’d see some consquences to Alaric having had all of Klaus’s blood pumped into him, and I thought that the ring malfunctioning might have been it, but that would be a really cool scenario if it DID turn out to be Alaric making with the stabbity, either because the blood changed him in some way or it gave Klaus an all-season pass to take over Alaric’s mind any time he wanted to, which would explain Alaric stabbing himself. Also, Alaric has always been a drinker, but the show has gone to special pains this season to really call attention to it; perhaps an attempt to fight against whatever is happening with him?

     All in all, I was fairly unimpressed with all parts of the episode that didn’t involve the Most Awkward Dinner Party Ever. Those scenes were so strong that all of the cuts to other plotlines became just an annoyance. Especially the Bennett scenes. What’s more annoying that an effing Bennett witch? TWO Bennett witches. Ugh.

     I watched the spoiler promo when it was leaked (because OF COURSE I did), but I’m not anywhere near as disappointed with having been spoiled as I was that it turned out to be Esther in the coffin in the first place. Too predictable, so I’m hoping that y’all are right and it was just a red herring — that it wasn’t her in the coffin, it was just her who released who/whatever was in there.

     I was also exceedingly disappointed in the “reveal” that Klaus and Elijah had fought over the original Petrova. SOOOOOO predictable.

     All in all, not the strongest episode as a whole, but with some of the strongest individual scenes.

     Lastly, because it can’t be said enough: ELIJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
114. Spikeabunny says:

     February 6, 2012 at 2:10 pm

     Loving the Alaric theories!

     however I’ve finally cracked and feel compelled to say that there is evidence that the Vikings made it to north America (specifically newfoundland L’Anse aux Meadows) in the 11th century, also that their christianisation began in the 8th century.

     The runes remain bogus I believe!
115. Ecate says:

     February 6, 2012 at 7:44 pm

     I wanna see Tatia. I don’t care how or when, but I want her. Also to give a sense to the incredible plot hole that has been brought. Last time it was a lame Maya curse, now I really want to know if they are gonna set up a bit about the Bulgarian girl.
     And I’m looking forward to seeing Damon falling from his redemption arc again. I just love how he makes two steps forward and ten backward.
116. JeniCherryCola says:

     February 6, 2012 at 9:33 pm

     I can’t believe we’re more than halfway through the season. Both seasons 1 and 2 had a “this part of the backstory is bullshit” moment, so maybe we’ll have one again in relation to whole original Petrova thing.

     JimS, go ahead and be that guy, I agree with you. I can’t compare intolerance for a sexual orientation with not turning into a possibly murderous species. Even caro ate some people in the beginning.
     Besides her, who would help him stay on the bunny path? He values humanity, and if he doesn’t want to become something that has instincts that threaten humanity, I can’t knock him. Otherwise, he was an ass.
117. Eve says:

     February 7, 2012 at 1:52 am

     Saggie22, that is true, it’s lazy of the writers to leave Bonnie half-baked. Good question as to who (if anyone) she lives with now. She does not have a job so….TVD does not particularly care to fill in the practical gaps, as a rule. But with Bonnie as a main character some of the gaps really should be filled in.

     I don’t hate her but I don’t really think she can be made likeable.

     Perhaps her father will show up, now that her mother showed up. That could be interesting.
118. Thomas says:

     February 7, 2012 at 2:57 pm

     Hi Brian,

     I’ve long been in the “Elena needs a tattoo” camp. Of course, that assumes Katherine couldn’t get one to match … and since Stefan’s seems a little high-quality for the Civil War era, I don’t think that’s a safe bet.

     I would honestly watch Rebekah take Mama to Holister.
119. Thomas says:

     February 7, 2012 at 3:05 pm

     Hi Dayna,

     Klaus’ blood in Alaric’s body would make sense. They did say the ring wouldn’t work on Elena because she was supernatural, so if Alaric has been altered in some way … Though that doesn’t explain why the ring is getting progressively less reliable. Maybe he’s very slowly becoming a vampire? I don’t know.

     My annoyance at being spoiled is more that it takes away my ability to consume media in the way I choose. I like to go into these fresh, no expectations and certainly no spoilers. And I want to be on social media. There are certain people who seem determined to make me choose one or the other, and I’m honestly kind of thinking about smiting the lot of them with my banhammer.

     I actually kind of thought the Klaus-Tatia-Elijah sandwich was already cannon before this episode, it’s so obvious.
120. Thomas says:

     February 7, 2012 at 3:07 pm

     Hi Spikeabunny,

     Yeah, I think it’s pretty well established that the Vikings made it over here before anyone else in Europe … but there still wasn’t a Virginia settlement, and they still didn’t have Jewish names.
121. Thomas says:

     February 7, 2012 at 3:08 pm

     Hi Ecate,

     I think Tatia is pretty much a given. And you’re right, Damon’s whiplash character development is one of the best parts of the show.
122. Thomas says:

     February 7, 2012 at 3:08 pm

     Hi JeniCherryCola,

     I somehow think the Bulgarian Girl thing is in it for the long haul, but we’ll see.
123. Thomas says:

     February 7, 2012 at 3:09 pm

     Hi Eve,

     Evil!Bonnie. That’s what I really want.
124. Sofia says:

     February 7, 2012 at 6:17 pm

     Hi Thomas!
     As usual your recap is so full of win, if I were to quote everything that was awesome I’d be here until tomorrow.Lol

     Anyway, since I’m late this week and for once was too lazy to read all the previous comments I might repeat something that’s already been discussed but I just have to get it out.

     To begin with I’m not thrilled with with the whole Mama O thing. I suspected she would re-surface eventually in some way, but this didn’t work for me. 1. She was supposed to have been human when she died. 2. Klaus ripped her damn HEART out. 3. Coffins were not invented 1000 yrs ago. This means Klaus must have initially carried her around sans heart and coffin, bleading all over the place being gross and decomposing, AFTER he first buried her. And I guess at least one of either Elijah or Rebekah should have been with him at the time since none of them had pissd each other off yet at that time. Wouldn’t they kind of notice this tiny little detail? Then Coffins had to be invented, the heart be magically replaced and the whole decomposing thing be reversed before two generations of witches could seal the coffin magically, I guess against Klause’s will. I’m waiting for a REALLY good explanation for this.

     And I’m seriously doubting this lady’s motifs. She kind of gives me the chills. Mayhem is sure to follow. At first I thought she was the witch on the Other Side trying to restore the balance, but I’m not convinced of that anymore. I’m leaning more towards that being Ayana, but I guess I’m probably wrong as usual =)

     CAROLINE NEEDS A HUG! SERIOUSLY.

     And I jut have to comment on Stefan too. WTF did he expect after being a total prick for months? As I see it he lost all rights to be jealous or pissed at Damon or Elena for kissing. I don’t even understand why he was surprised by this turn of events. He was way more clear sighted when his emotions were turned off and saw it all coming from a mile away. Does he automatically go blind (and get amnesia) as soon as he got free from the compulsion? I mean, his emotions were still turned off at th moment, right? Sigh, I guess this is the end of Fun!Stefan… Now he’s gonna be all mopy again. I just wonder why he now decided to start fighting for Elena again. Is it just to spite Damon? He did spend a lot of time pushing her away, while he still had both free will and emotions intact, I might add, telling how it could never be the same again. I agree, it can’t. Elena may be the most forgiving person who has ever walked this Earth and has managed to get over all the shit Damon has done to her, but the way I see it what Stefan has done is worse. Ok, he didn’t almost kill her brother. But almost all the bad thing Stefan has done to Elena have been very deliberate and calculated efforts to drive her away. He might be sorry afterwords and he knows what they’ll do to her but he still does them. Whenever Damon’s done something bad to her (once his emotions were turned back on) he’s been driven by or fighting those emotions and not thinking about the consequenses of his actions. I’m not saying this is necesarily any better, but it might be easier to forgive than the cold, calculated meanness from Stefan. Especially since he was such a perfect guy when she met him. She knows that Damon can be volatile, his personality is like that, but will she ever figure out Stefan’s true self after something like this? She should drop him like a hot potato and give Damon a chance instead. I mean, she dated Stefan, on and off, for something like 7-8 months? He was gone for three and an a-hole when he got back. That’s not very epic so far.

     god, I’m rambling now. I’m gonna stop. Let me just finish off with EEEEELIIIIIIJAAAAAAAAAHHHH! Not a fan of the new haircut, though. Going to miss his hairflips =)
     And how perfect was that dinner scene? I could watch those four snark at each other for hours. I’m all for an Original spinoff! With Damon guest starring of course ;)
125. Carolin says:

     February 8, 2012 at 3:49 pm

     Great recap once again. I’m really sorry for you getting spoiled. I hate when that happens.
     This episode was great once again.

     1. I loved the dinner party with all the innuendos and especially finally hearing something about the original Petrova. I’m still quite sure that she won’t stay dead. There’s so much more potential in that.
     2. Bill’s actual dying was great insofar as we finally saw someone who really did go through with it. Moreover it’s a tragedy for Caroline and she will change with that.
     3. Of course best was the part of the original witch/mother Esther coming back. How? That will have to be cleared up. That she forgives Klaus after all that I can’t really believe. I’m sure that will be something mind-boggeling.
     4. The mysterious murder: we now know a direction: the council members. The fingerprints could be just because Elena was training with those stakes, but your idea of Katherine is great, too. Just what is her angle?
     Poor Alaric. This guy really really has the worst luck whatsoever. And of course ELena had to kill him just to make sure that a supernatural killed him. Because it can be just a human who thinks that the council against supernatural beings in Mystic Falls should be eliminated as well as the supernaturals, too.
     5. Wow, Stefan admitting that he loves Elena. Right now a bit surprising. And I hope that you’re right: that he is capable of emotions and being tough and badass.
     6. I can’t imagine Elena going back to Stefan right now. Too much had happened. I also can’t imagine her being with someone who hadn’t lived through all this like her. The best solution for everyone would be a real threesome D/E/S: they all love her and each other. But this won’t be happening, I know. sadface!

     Still wondering about the possibility of people knowing about Elena’s doppelgangerness as she was born. But actually I don’t think so. The resemblence will only really become obvious when she was getting around 12 or so.

     I adore your dog. So cute, loved the picture on Twitter. And his comments by you are so cute, too. Woof!
126. Previously On The Vampire Diaries: Bringing Out The Dead (EP313) Recap Roundup | Vampire-Diaries.net | A Fansite for the Vampire Diaries says:

     February 8, 2012 at 4:54 pm

     [...] Thomas Galvin, Thomas Galvin Blog: Stefan Salvatore: Oh, I see how it is. A guy goes on one six month murder spree, leaving a trail of bodies that would make the worst human serial killers in history bleed with jealous, then spends a couple of months playing henchman to the guy responsible for all of the terror and torment you’ve suffered over the last two and a half seasons, then kidnaps you and threatens to murder you in the same way your parents died, and suddenly he’s the prime suspect in every little murder in town! Did you even ask Damon if he staked the guy? [...]
127. Rowan says:

     February 8, 2012 at 5:56 pm

     Finally, someone agrees on Finn! Everyone I’ve spoken to thinks Kol is gorgeous. Finn is beautiful. AND he has a Scandinavian name! All is well.

     I did not like this episode. At all. But WWTSBDBYSDTEO crack made up for everything. Alaric needs to get a bracelet thay says that.
128. Recap Roundup: TVD: Bringing out the Dead and TSC: Medallion - Thomas-Galvin.com says:

     February 10, 2012 at 12:44 pm

     [...] My recap – Follow @thomascgalvin on Twitter [...]
129. Vampire Diaries – S03E14 – Dangerous Liaisons - Thomas-Galvin.com says:

     February 10, 2012 at 10:40 pm

     [...] Previously, on The Vampire Diaries… [...]
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     February 12, 2012 at 7:06 am

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