We survived season three of The Vampire Diaries. There were a lot of flashbacks this episode and for me they felt like empty filler, in a season that was riddled with filler and could not seem to find a direction.
Elijah made an appearance, and I was glad to see it. He is the only one who has consistently behaved like he is a thousand year old vampire. That right there shows the sexism of the show. Rebekah Vampire Cheerleader has the maturity of a 16 year old girl and her brother, who btw has been a vampire just as long is a mature man.
When we last left Elena, she had collapsed on her bedroom floor bleeding. Jeremy calls 911 and she ends up in the hospital. When he calls Damon and Stefan to inform them, they are upset and believe that he has just made her a target. Stefan and Damon demand that Jeremy get Elena released from the hospital immediately. By the time Alaric shows up, Elena is already gone and so he threatens Meredeth. Alaric dumps Meredeth's supply of vampire blood, and promises to get her medical license pulled.
Back at the house, Matt makes tea for Elena and they have a little chat about the past and the ongoing trouble that they are facing thanks to the vampires. In the meantime, Caroline and Tyler are approached by their respective mothers. It's their plan to get the kids out of town, because they believe that now that the council knows about them, that their lives are in danger. Caroline is resistant at first but Tyler insists. Caroline agrees to go with him as soon as she helps her friends. Of course, she cannot put her life first when Elena the precious is in danger.
In the meantime, Alaric approaches Jeremy with a plan. He wants the vampires gone and suggests that Jeremy help by turning over Klaus. Jeremy promises to kill the vampires, and then to allow Bonnie to put the same spell on him, that she placed on Klaus. He uses the fact that their lives are constantly in danger to persuade Jeremy. Jeremy concedes, but it is only a ruse.
Elijah wants Klaus back and though Damon says that this is a bad idea, Elena of course agrees. I loved that he made a point of saying that every decision Elena made has been bad. Finally, someone is admitting that Elena's spunky agency is a problem. When they get to the storage area, Klaus is indeed dessicated and bound just as his father was. Bonnie asks for a moment with him.
In the meantime, Matt has drugged Elena and put her in his truck. He tells her that he did this for her own good and that they are leaving town. I understand the reason why Matt did this, but it is absolutely controlling and manipulative behaviour. Elena does not even get upset with him, because apparently if your attentions are good, drugging and kidnapping a woman is not a bad thing.
Alaric shows up and demands to see Klaus. Damon and Rebecca manage to sneak Klaus out of the locker, but before they can leave the storage facility, Alaric finds them and stakes Klaus. Rebecca moves to go after him, but Damon holds her back and tells her to run. In the last episode, Klaus said that he was the originator of Damon and Stefan's vampire line. Damon realizes that he is now living on borrowed time.
When Elena learns that Klaus is dead, Matt tells her that she has to choose between going to Stefan and choosing to go to Damon. In the end, she chooses to go back home. Damon, believing that he doesn't have much time left asks her to choose between him and Stefan and surprise, surprise she chooses Stefan because he was there first. That's a great reason to choose a partner isn't it.
We get a flashback to Damon and Elena meeting for the first time. He approaches her because he believes that she is Katherine. They share a moment in which he tells her what she needs from love. When her parents arrive, Damon compels her to forget that they ever met.
Back at the Lockwood property, Caroline begins to cry when she hears that Klaus is dead, because it means that Tyler will die because Klaus made him into a hybrid. Tyler tells her to be strong and says that no matter what, that she is going to survive this. He instructs her to tell his mother that he left town. How is your child disappearing forever, better than knowing that your child is dead? Tyler begins to double over in pain and tells Caroline to leave, because he doesn't want her to see him die. Caroline refuses, until she sees Tyler begin to shift into a werewolf.
Everyone is surprised that Stefan and Damon are still alive considering that Klaus is dead. They cannot figure out what is going on, but Elijah and Rebekah decide that Elena has to die, because that is the only way to deal with Alaric. When Elena and Matt cross the bridge, Rebekah is standing in the middle of the road. Matt swerves to avoid her and ends up in the river. They struggle to get out but cannot.
In the meantime, Alaric and Damon are fighting. Damon is holding his own, but is clearly struggling because Alaric is stronger than him. Suddenly, Alaric falls to the ground and begins to rot away. Damon screams because he realizes that the only way this is possible, is if Elena is dead.
Alaric appears to Jeremy and says that he wants to say goodbye. Jeremy does not understand at first, until he realizes that Alaric is a ghost and this means Elena is dead. Alaric promises Jeremy that he will always be with him and that he will never be alone.
Because Elena instructed Stefan to pull Matt out of the river she ends up drowning. Interlaced with the drowning scene we get flashbacks to the death of Elena's parents. Stefan lays Elena out on the ground and cries over her body.
Back at the Lockwood plantation, Bonnie makes an appearance. At first, it looks like Tyler has survived Klaus' death, until Bonnie calls him Klaus. He thanks her for a great spell and she tells him that he didn't do it for him. It looks like Bonnie moved Klaus' essence into Tyler. I wonder if this was done as a way to keep Joseph Morgan on the show for next year? All of the best moments in this season came from him.
Damon shows up at the hospital demanding to see Elena but Meredith intervenes. It seems that she was much more ill than Meredith told Jeremy earlier. Meredith tells Damon that she had to help Elena. In a dark room, Elena suddenly takes a deep breath. I suppose this means that Elena is now a vampire.
I guess we are going to spend the next year watching Elena angst about being a vampire. I also suspect it will be yet another season of poke the original vampire. The decision to make Elena a vampire is certainly better than leaving her in peril, but it certainly is not exciting. I am more upset about what is going to happen to Joseph Morgan than anything else. As for Alaric, after Matthew Davis' racist tweets, I am glad to see that his gone.
What did you think about this season of The Vampire Diaries and where do you see the season going?
