This episode opens with Alaric teaching Elena some defensive moves against vampires. He tells her that she needs to bulk up, because she is not physically strong enough to stab a vampire. Alaric makes the point of telling Elena that a vampire will hurt her without remorse, and she tells him that he doesn't need to use pronouns and that she knows he is talking about Stefan. Finally, Elena is recognizing that Stefan is dangerous.
At the school, yes I said school, Caroline seems excited about her senior year of high school. What shocked me is all of the Black people in the background. Where did all these Black kids from? And behold, Caroline isn't actually feeding on them. Elena is upset because she met Stefan a year ago on the first day of school, but she apparently is putting it all behind her, because she is starting a new life. Bonnie however is miserable because Jeremy is able to see Anna and knows that their relationship ended because she died, and not because they actually broke up.
At Stefan and Damon's, Stefan has compelled a few girls to play twister as he feeds off of them. Of course, Rebecca shows up to whine that Klaus left her behind. Rebecca is quickly becoming my least favorite character to ever appear on this show. I can handle self-concerned vampire, but whining and snipping in a creature this old is ridiculous. She behaves as though she is 16 and not ancient. When Rebecca asks which one her room is, Stefan tells her that she is not staying there, and she calls them rude and stalks off to find her own room.
Bonnie is actually jealous of Anna the ghost. Anna is dead, but yet Bonnie feels the need to tell Jeremy that he has the power to decide whether or not he sees her. Sitting in his truck, Matt reminisces with Vicky about the first day of school last year. When he tells her that he misses her, Vicky tells Matt that there is a way that he can help her come back. Once again, I feel that this whole storyline exists simply to justify Matt's continued participation on the show.
When Tyler shows up with blood on his shirt, Caroline and Elena drag him into the bathroom. It seems that Rebecca hooked him up with a blood bag. Rebecca's job is to keep an eye on Tyler because he is the first hybrid. He is absolutely giddy about this, but Caroline is not at all pleased. For Tyler it means a whole new world and I can understand why he is excited.
When Elena leaves the bathroom to let them argue it out, she is stopped by Stefan. Apparently, he is playing the role of high school Sr. to keep an eye on her. When Alaric interrupts them, Stefan slams him up against a locker, and tells Alaric that he is not going to want to get into his way. Elena explains the situation to Alaric, and then tells him that Stefan being in the school is not good for anyone. That's a case of no shit sherlock if I have ever heard it. In class, Rebecca of all people shows up.
Matt and Vicky talk in the stoner pit, and she tells him that she has a witch ( I wonder how Black the witch is?) on the other side, who is willing to push her through, and that she will be able to come and go as she pleases, if Matt performs the ritual. Jeremy shows up and talks to Matt, pretending that he does not see Vicky. He walks off and talks to Anna, who tells him that Vicky is surrounded by darkness. Anna tells Jeremy that you cannot upset the balance of nature from the other side, and that Vicky must have agreed to pay a price. Vicky plays upon Matt's emotions, telling him that he does not have to be alone anymore.
It seems that Rebecca is interested in playing bad girl. She tells Catherine that she is interested in her squad, her popularity and maybe even her boyfriend. Again, tell me why an ancient vampire is interested in high school politics?
Elena starts lifting weights, and tells Damon that Stefan called her a human blood bag. Her plan is to lock Stefan up until they can get Michael to kill Klaus and break the spell. Damon tells her, compulsion or not, Stefan is high on human blood. Once again, this is another comparison of vampirism to alcoholism. These analogies to real human diseases have got to stop. Alcoholism destroys lives and should never be played with so cavalierly. Damon even goes as far as to tell Elena, that locking him up is not a stint in rehab, but she begs him to do this for her, because she feels like she is going to break every time she looks at Stefan. Damon grabs Elena and assures her that he will keep her safe, especially from his brother. Clearly, the attraction between Damon and Elena is building. I have to say that I like the chemistry between the two, but this probably really easy to achieve, because the actors are actually dating.
At the bonfire, Elena plans to lure Stefan away and then have Alaric douse him with vervain.When Damon asks why they don't just get Bonnie to do some woo woo, I burst out laughing. Finally, someone admitting that Bonnie is only around to do magic. Elena tells Damon that she does not want to get Bonnie involved because of the danger level. Gee, funny how this has never stopped her before.
In the crypt, Katherine drops blood onto Michael's lips, and he tells her to get it away from him. When they tell Tyler to raid his mother's vervain supply to put Stefan down, he tells them that this is not in Klaus' best interest. Damon tells them that Tyler has been sired, which means he is programmed to seek acceptance from the one that created him. When Caroline asks Damon how to fix Tyler, he tells her to get a new boyfriend.
Matt begins to perform the ritual, and Vicky tells him to concentrate on her and say that he accepts her. When it's over, they realize that they can touch each other again. At the high school, Jeremy tells Bonnie that Vicky has been talking to a really strong witch, and of course Bonnie is jealous and tells Jeremy that he should have come to her first without going to Anna. When she realizes that Anna is there, Bonnie walks away saying that she is going to go deal with Matt.
Back at Matt's, Vicky tells him that now that she is there, her task is to restore the balance of nature and that Klaus' hybrids cannot be allowed to survive. Matt initially believes that she is there to kill Tyler, but Vicky tells him that it's Elena who is the key to everything. Can we not have a storyline that isn't wrapped around Elena for five freaking minutes? When Matt tries to stop her, Vicky knocks him unconscious saying, "I'm sorry Matty but I want to stay".
Matt calls Bonnie and tells her what he did. Bonnie tells Matt that he needs to tell her exactly what he did to let Vicky out, so that she can send her back. Elena gets into her SUV and it burts into flames and she is unable to open the door. Vicky gets into the car with her and tells her that she is sorry. Bonnie starts a spell to break Vicky's access to the magic, and Vicky is drawn back to Matt's. Yeah, Bonnie saves Elena yet again. I think she must have amassed some great frequent saving miles as this point. Bonnie tells Matt that the spell is working, and that she is still earthbound because of him. Matt says to Vicky that he has to let her go because she isn't supposed to be there, and when she pleads with him, he says goodbye.
Michael talks Katherine into taking off his chains, saying that he knows how to kill Klaus and intends to do. She tells him that a little blood would loosen his muscles right up, and he responds that he does not feed on living things, and then proceeds to feed on her. Katherine is supposed to be calculating and smart, why would she put herself in that position with a known vampire hunter? Oh I know, we cannot have a smart female character on this show.
At Tyler's Vicky tells him that his personality is heightened now that he is a vampire and that he is becoming like the pre-werewolf Tyler. They make love and when she goes to leave, Tyler tells Caroline that she is always running away from him, and she responds by telling him that he has to earn an over nighter. As soon as she leaves, who shows up but Rebecca holding a girl captive. Rebecca tells Tyler that Klaus would want him to experience all the joys of his new body but Tyler timidly tells her that she should leave. Rebecca draws blood from the girl and sucks it off her finger. This proves to be too much for Tyler and he attacks the girl. Here we go again with yet another triangle. Enough already with the triangles. The writers really need to come up with a new concept.
As Alaric and Elena are leaving, Steffan asks why she didn't let him die in the fire, and she tells him that she knows who he is better than anyone and that she still has hope. Stefan calls her pathetic and she stabs him with wood. If Elena really knows who Stefan is, then her actions make no sense. She has watched him kill savagely, read the long list of names of his victims, and yet loves him anyway. Woo Woo explaining away the violence is ridiculous. We see this repeatedly with female protagonists in this genre. Stefan is not just a "bad boy," he is a serial killer and the idea that he just needs to be saved is damaging. This whole concept plays upon the belief that a woman can change a man if he truly loves her and we all know where that harmful idea leads.
Jeremy calls Bonnie to try and apologize, and low and behold Anna shows up. She tells him that she shouldn't be there and asks why he is thinking about her when he is calling Bonnie. Jeremy admits that he cannot stop thinking about her. When their hands touch, they realize that they can feel each other again. Great, I take it that this ridiculous love triangle is going to last the entire season.
The episode ends with Michael sneaking up on Damon and knocking him unconscious. He says, "this is going to be fun," as he slowly approaches Damon. I think that this is yet another nonsense cliff hanger. We all know that Damon is not in actually any kind of danger and so it is only a matter of how he will escape, rather than if.
