If I could use only one word to describe this episode it would be ANGST. Between Elena and her conflicted feelings for Damon, the return of Esther mommy dearest, Rebekah vampire barbie quarreling with Caroline over a dance it was all a bit too much.
The episode begins with Stefan sending Elena and Damon off on a road trip to find Jeremy so that he can talk to Rose and find out who their line began with. Stefan feels that he can make amends for everything that he has done, but he must know if Elena truly loves him. Stefan decides to stay with Alaric in the hope that when Alaric falls asleep that his other half will make an appearance.
At the highschool, Vampire barbie and Caroline are arguing over the theme for an upcoming dance. I understand that The Vampire Diaries is supposedly a YA show, but they just need to stop with the high school talk, since they never actually attend class. Furthermore, if they expect me to believe that Rebekah is actually over one thousand years old, they need to stop writing her character like an angsty teenage girl. It's nonsense and an insult to the viewers intelligence. It's bad enough to have these two snipping at each other, but the upped the ante by having Caroline through in a little slut shaming for good measure. Yes, we know that Rebekah is insecure and falls for anyone paying her the slightest bit of attention but that is no reason to shame her for her sexual behaviour. It turns out that the little squabble was simply a distraction so that Caroline could sneak off and see Tyler.
When Elena and Damon find Jeremy he is at batting practice. They quickly explain that they need him to talk to Rose but Jeremy tells that he doesn't even know Rose and that his powers don't work like that. He promises to help them after he hangs out with his buddy who just happens to be Kol. Elena tells Jeremy to run just as Kol picks up a bat and starts to beat up Damon. They manage to get away when Damon grabs a broken wooden bat and stakes Kol with it.
Caroline and Tyler meet up on the old Lockwood plantation. They go into the cell where Tyler used to change and make love. When it's over, Caroline tells him about the plan to kill Klaus and Tyler quickly realizes that this could mean his death, because Klaus turned him. In turn, he tells Caroline that he still needs to check and see if he has really broken Klaus' sire bond.
Back at the Michaelson mansion, who should show up but Mommy dearest. Rebekah is not impressed by this arrival and becomes even less sympathetic when Esther tells her that she is dying because the the connection to the Bennett witches has been severed. Rebekah is still upset that her mother tried to kill her, and complains that she never got the chance to live a life. Uh huh, and this somehow explains her fascination with high school right? Esther comforts her by telling her that she watched over her from the other side before collapsing at Rebekah's feet. When Klaus walks in, she simply tells him that their mother is dead.
Not big on mourning the two head to the Salvatore's where Stefan is busy trying to get Alaric drunk enough to pass out. Klaus simply wants to Klaus but Stefan tells him that they cannot leave the stake unaccounted for because if an original dies, so do all of the vampires in their line. Klaus is not impressed that the fate with vampires lies in Alaric's hand and kills him. Luckily, Alaric is wearing his ring so he is down but not out.
Back at the hotel, Jeremy starts asking questions about Rose in order to contact her. Damon tells them about Rose's last day which catches her attention. They start of with pleasantries and this includes a request from Rose to tell Damon that she is rooting for him and Elena. This completely throws Jeremy off his guard. He clearly is not happy about any potential relationship between his big sister and the big bad vampire. Rose promises to return when she has tracked down her sire.
Elena goes to bed and Damon walks into the room shirtless. Yes, man flesh everyone. As he sits having a drink, he notices Elena staring at him. When he gets into bed next to her, she asks why he doesn't let people see his good side, and responds that he does not want people to have expectations. They end up holding hands but Elena quickly gets out of bed and leaves the room. The whole time I kept thinking, does she not realize that she is in bed with a vampire, who can tell how she is feeling from her racing heartbeat? Why even bother to run at this point? When Damon approaches her, at first she tells him no but then ends up running into his arms. They kiss until Jeremy disturbs them to announce that Rose has returned.
In the Salvatore cellar, Alaric finally comes to. He quickly realises that there is no reason for his double to come out. He takes off his ring and tells Stephan to beat him up until he reveals where the stake is. Stefan at first his resistant but quickly starts beating Alaric until he starts to bleed. Once he smells blood Stefan's vampire side comes out and he backs off, but Alaric encourages to keep going. Finally after getting a few more gratuitous punches Alaric's alter comes out and admits that the stake is down in the caves where no vampire may enter.
When Elena and Damon show up at Rose's sire, they tell Jeremy to wait outside and he quickly protests. Damon tells him to do what his big sister said. This continues to irritate me because Jeremy has repeatedly shown greater sense that the ever so spunky Elena. When they enter the house it is filled with useless items, causing Damon to make a crack about vampire hoarders. Really? Hoarding is not something that she be a cheap punchline because it is a mental illness and families have been destroyed by it. They quickly find Rose's sire and Kol. It seems that Kol was well aware of what they were up to and is determined that they never figure out which vampire they originate from. He then proceeds to beat up Damon. When Elena tries to run, Kol grabs her and pushes her out of the way saying that she is lucky that Klaus says she is not to be touched.
Caroline is grabbing pillows and blankets for Tyler while he stands in her bedroom. It seems that Liz had given permission for Tyler to stay there but has made it clear that he has to sleep on the couch. Okay, Caroline drinks, hardly attends school, goes on long trips and is a vampire, but sharing a bed with her boyfriend is a no no? Tyler is still worried about the plan to kill Klaus but Caroline promises that she will not let anything happen to him. In an effort to interject angst into every last moment of this episode, Tyler finds the drawing Klaus did of Caroline and the horse. He is very concerned that Klaus is into Caroline and upset that she kept the picture. She tries to assure him that nothing happened, but he storms out anyway.
After Kol is gone Damon stands up and straightens out his arm. He notices that Elena is injured but she says that she is fine. He finally asks about the kiss and she admits that Stefan wanted her to discover whether or not she had feelings for him. Damon makes a comment about her waiting for him to ruin it and she responds saying that he is always pushing people away. Damon is upset and asks what happens if he is good? He tells her that she is going to have figure this out on her own before storming out.
Back at the Salvatore's, Stefan says he now knows where the stake is, but Klaus makes some comment about how he would have been more gentle with Alaric. Rebekah grabs Alaric and they head off to the tunnels. Alone with Stefan, Klaus starts to taunt him about seeing the ripper just under the surface, but Stefan responds that he has it under control now because he is not denying who he is. He tells Klaus he knows that he is not going to kill him because he would have done so already. Finally, Stefan informs Klaus that if he does not intend to stake him to leave.
In the car ride on the way back, tensions are running high. Neither Elena or Damon or speaking or even making eye contact. Rose makes an appearance and tells Jeremy that she know that he does not want Elena and Damon together but they are good for each other. She apparently brings out his good side, and he pushes her into new situations and to take risks. She says that Stefan will always love her faithfully and that Damon could either be the best thing or the worst thing to happen to her before disappearing. Personally, I don't care who she ends up with, I just want the love triangle to come to an end already.
In the caves, Alaric enters and grabs the stake. He turns and asks Rebekah why he should give it to her saying, that if she helps him, that he won't kill her. Rebekah is not interested in bargaining and walks into the cave. It turns out that Esther has taken control of Rebekah's body and she plans to use the stake to kill all of the vampires.
Okay mommy dearest has clearly been set up to be the season ending big bad. Klaus is far too popular for the show to actually consider taking him out. I can only hope that if nothing else, Esther manages to kill Rebekah. I have had more than enough of this character.
