Elena wakes up with Stephen waiting by her bedside. He tells her that she was in an accident, and Damon says that Matt is alive. Damon is clearly upset that Stephen didn't save Elena instead of Matt. The two of them tell her that she is now a vampire, which upsets Elena, and so Stephen tries to calm her by saying that he talked to Bonnie and there may be something that she can do. We aren't even five minutes into the new season and already they have found Bonnie work to do saving Elena. It's also worth noting that when Bonnie's mother became a vampire that she didn't even try to halt the transition. Why is Elena so important when her own mother wasn't? Damon believes that Elena should just feed, but Stephen counters and reminds Damon that she has all day before she has to feed. Damon is not convinced and says, "we all know the drill, you feed or you die. There is no door number three." Elena says that she was ready die and that she was supposed to die because she cannot be a vampire. "If there is something that Bonnie can do, we have to try," Elena cries. Damon replies, "your choice Elena as always," and leaves the room. Oh woa is me, let the angst begin.
The brothers start to argue about Elena's decision and Stephen says that he made a choice that he will regret for the rest of his life. Upstairs, Elena looks in the mirror and starts to examine herself for any changes. Jeremy enters and asks Elena if she is okay and he tells her that he watched Vicki go through this and it was a mess. Jeremy tells Elena that she needs help, but she snaps and says that she is fine. Jeremy says that when he was shot, Bonnie made some plea to the witch spirits and Elena points out that the consequences were horrible. Jeremy believes that nothing could more horrible than Elena turning into a vampire. "I need my sister, not another one of them," Jeremy says. Elena assures him that they are going to find a way out of this and that everything is going to be okay.
Bonnie is looking into a coffin at Klaus' body when he approaches. Bonnie is not impressed and reminds him that the deal they made is that as soon as they found another body, he would jump into it and leave Tyler alone. Klaus says, "yes, but fate intervened and there I am, put me back." Bonnie says that she cannot because she has to help Elena, but Klaus being the logical one says that Elena is dead and no longer his concern. He grabs Bonnie by the throat and threatens to rip her tongue out if she does not put him back in his body. Bonnie counters by reminding him that if she can keep Elena human, he can have an endless blood supply to make his hybrids. Klaus releases Bonnie and says, "same rules apply, no one knows." Though Micheal Trevino isn't as great as Joseph Morgan, I have to say that I am pretty happy that they brought Klaus back. He really is the most interesting character since they have decided to make Damon soggy.
Pastor Young shows up at the hospital and says that he is there to check out the blood because it has a habit of flying off the shelves. He makes it clear that he is there with council authority and that unlike some of the founding families, he doesn't have conflicting interests. When Meredith asks what he means by this, Young says "Alaric told us everything and it's probably time for you to start looking for a new job."
Matt is feeling guilty because Elena asked for him to be saved instead of her. Caroline points out that "she doesn't want to be dead and now she is not." Matt will not be swayed and insists that this is his fault, because he was the one who was driving. When he insists that Elena is a vampire because of him, Caroline asks him to cool it because she is a fugitive and is supposed to be half way to Florida by now. Matt asks, "if the council is after you, then why are you here?" Caroline replies, "because I don't know where to go. Tyler's dead and everything is different now." She starts to cry and Matt hugs her. One of Young's man enters the room and they pull apart.
Young is keeping himself busy and he heads off to the Lockwood estate, arrests Tyler's mom and informs Carol that she is no longer the mayor. Next, he catches up with Liz and he tells her that she is not going to work today because she is not fit to protect them. Liz tells Young that he has no idea what he is up against. Young says that he has taken all of her deputies and has the towns entire stash of vervain, including the stuff in the Salvatore house, because they are making their move.
Caroline is walking through the house grabbing things, when she gets a phone call from Liz asking if she is far away. As Caroline walks out the door, she is attacked and someone shoves a needle in her throat, as Liz asks what's going on.
Elena is trying to eat a sandwich and has to spit it out. Elena admits to Stephan that she can't stop thinking about blood and Stephan says that he should have saved her first. Elena points out that if he had saved her, then Matt would be dead. Again, Elena tells him that he did the right thing and that he respected her choice. Stephan asks what he's supposed to do if Bonnie can't figure out a way to help her, because the choice then is either to let herself die, or become a vampire. Elena replies that they will cross that bridge when they get to it. Elena starts to laugh asking if he said cross that bridge. Stephen tells Elena that her emotions are a heightened today and hugs her, as she switches from laughing to crying. Stephen promises to be there for her no matter what happens and suggests that Elena go back upstairs where it's dark while he cleans up.
When she gets upstairs, Elena thinks that she sees Damon waiting for her, but it's actually a flashback to him returning her locket. When she looks around she realizes that she is alone. In the flashback, Damon tells her that he loves her and that it is because he loves her that he cannot be selfish with her. Damon says that he does not deserve her but Stephen does. Elena now remembers all of this and then puts her hand where her locket used to be.
Rebekah is looking at Klaus' drawings and becomes upset and sweeps the table in front of her clean.. Damon walks into the room and the two start to bicker immediately. He raises a stake and tries to kill her. The two struggle, with Rebekah quickly getting the other hand, until she is shot twice and falls to the ground.
Back in her room, Elena hears something and when she comes downstairs, Stephen is surrounded by armed men. Klaus' is standing guard over his body when he gets a call from Carol wanting to know if he is okay. Carol says that Young had her arrested and that the council grilled her about his whereabouts. Carol says that she was so scared that he was with Caroline when the council took her.
Police cars are racing down the street with sirens blaring and inside a van is Caroline and Rebekah.. When Rebekah awakes, Caroline tells her that Alaric ratted them out to the council, but Rebekah is not impressed, sure in the knowledge that they cannot do anything to harm her. As soon as the words come out of her mouth, the van they are traveling in is struck. Klaus frees Caroline and she starts to cry, believing that she is being saved by Tyler. When they start to leave, Rebekah asks about her, and Klaus says, "Keep 'em busy little sister."
Liz, walks in and Damon asks her what information she has. Liz says that she has no new information because both she and Carol have been locked out of their offices. Damon is not impressed and feels that they should have had some sort of backup plan. BTW, am I the only one wondering why Young's men grabbed Rebekah and not Damon? They were in the same room when Rebekah was taken. Meredith tells Damon to relax and asks Liz when Caroline called to say that she got away, if she mentioned where they were planning on taking her. Liz says that Caroline has no details. When Matt walks into the house asking for Elena, Damon grabs him and says, "in what world are you the one who gets to live," as he strangles Matt.
Young has Elena captive and asks if she still wants to be a writer and that he remembers that she used to read his daughter her short stories. Since when has Elena ever had time to do more than angst? Elena asks why she has been brought there and Young replies that it is safe there because no vampires have been invited in. Elena looks up at the clock and realises that she is starting to run out of time. He says, "it may sound crazy, but years ago, it was actually your parents who advocated having an emergency plan like this. I never thought we would actually have to use it." When Elena asks about Stephen, Young tells her that he is where he cannot hurt her, but Elena argues that he would never hurt her. It seems that she has already forgotten how many times he was violent with her last year when he was under Klaus' control. Furthermore, considering all of the murders that Stephen has committed, he is hardly harmless. Young says that wherever she is, Salvatore vampires seem to follow and so the plan is to hold both Elena and Stephen, until Damon comes searching. They plan on holding Rebekah to lure her siblings back into town. When Elena gives them the white oak stake, they plan to exterminate the vampire race for good. Young puts a steak in front of Elena and she becomes overwhelmed by the sensation and runs out of the house. Before she can get far, one of Young's men punches her in the face.
In the forrest, Caroline is so happy to see Tyler that she is kissing him. I just have to say it, Candice Accola and Michael Trevino have zero chemistry in this scene and look more like brother and sister engaging in sexy times. They are so clearly not into each other. Caroline says, "I never thought I would see you again. How are you alive?" Before he can answer, Caroline kisses him again. He stops for a moment and says, "easy love, wrong time, wrong place, wrong equipment." The fact that he called her love should have been a clue that he is not Tyler. Caroline says, "but you're miraculously alive, we're fugitives on the run, all signs point to hot hybrid sex." They start to make out again and Caroline pauses when she realises he called her love. She pulls back and asks what he did to Tyler and says, "Oh my God, you're Klaus, you're disgusting." When Klaus says that she is a glorious kisser, Caroline punches Klaus squarely in the mouth. Klaus points out that he didn't have to risk exposure to save her and Caroline says, "you do one semi decent thing and now you're my hero. Oh I need to go sanitize my mouth." Klaus replies, "your mouth was all over me. I'm an innocent victim." Caroline demands that he put Tyler back and Klaus responds, "gladly, then maybe I'll take you up on your offer of hot hybrid sex." Tevino is actually playing the part of Klaus quite well, though the missing English accent does not make any sense.
Bonnie is sitting cross legged surrounded by candles, as Jeremy paces back and forth. Bonnie stops and says that the spirits aren't listening. Jeremy asks if this all she can do and Bonnie replies, "if the witches won't help me save Elena, then maybe I can go to the other side and bring her back myself." Jeremy points out that the other side is for dead people, but Bonnie says that Elena is still in transition and is not fully dead or fully alive. Jeremy points out that even if she can, that Bonnie is still alive. Bonnie reminds him that she was able to stop his heart and stop Klaus, and so she can do the same thing for herself. Bonnie says that she is stronger now and that she has found a new source of power, but Jeremy is not convinced and wants to know what sort of power is going to let her kill herself and bring herself back from the dead. Bonnie asks, "do you want Elena back or not?"
At the house, Liz tells Damon that with the vervain and Damon's weapons that Young could be anywhere. Damon encourages them to think because it takes a lot to hold a vampire like reinforced steel and iron doors. Matt points out that Young has a cattle ranch which could be easily modified. Meredeth says that its remote and secluded. Damon tells Matt that he now has a chance to prove how sorry he really is.
Elena starts to come to and finds herself in a cage Rebekah tells her that they thought she was a vampire, so they stuck her in there with them. Stephan asks Elena if she is okay and Elena says that she didn't feed. Rebekah says, "I see what happened. You died with vampire blood in your system and you didn't feed and now you're locked up in here without a drop of human blood in sight. That is a problem. I'd say that you have less than three hours to feed before I get to watch you die all over again." Unfortunately, we all know that the cavalry is going to come running and rescue her, but I too would like to see the end of Elena.
Bonnie continues to try to work magic, but this time holding Jeremy's hand and this time we start to hear sounds. As blood starts to pour out of Bonnie's nose, Jeremy tells her to open her eyes because he cannot let her do this. When she does not stop, he yells out, "you'll die." Bonnie collapses to the ground and Jeremy gets up and starts to shake her, begging her to wake up. Why the hell is Elena worth this sacrifice? What good has she ever really done Bonnie?
When Bonnie does find Elena, she is in the cage and Bonnie tells her to come back. Bonnie starts to lead her away, when she is stopped by her grandmother, who tells her to stay away from this sort of darkness and most importantly, that Elena is not her problem. I don't know about you but I found myself cheering for Bonnie's grandmother. Bonnie starts to beg to stay but her grandmother warns her that if she tries to touch this magic again that the spirits will make her stay there. Bonnie then awakes in a room with Jeremy and admits that she couldn't do it.
Elena calls out to Stephen that she is out of time and needs blood. Stephen starts to call out for anyone and Rebekah tells him to shut up. A human enters the room and threatens Elena with vervian. Stephen tells him that Elena is going to die if they don't let her out. For his troubles, the man shoots Stephen a few times.
Klaus approaches Bonnie to get his body back and Jeremy says that she is not strong enough. Klaus is not happy, even when Bonnie tells him that she upset the spirits trying to save Elena and cannot use that kind of magic again. Caroline interjects and says that Bonnie is not strong enough and that they just need to wait a few days until Bonnie is strong enough to do it with traditional magic. Klaus begins to hurt Tyler's body and when Caroline asks him what he is doing, Klaus says that he is ripping Tyler's heart out. Klaus says he will just jump into someone else's body and when Jeremy points out that he is going to need a witch to do that, Klaus asks, "what makes you think I won't have one, or ten?" Klaus tells Bonnie that she has to pick herself or Tyler. Bonnie yells at him to stop and says that she will do it. Can we please have Bonnie stop being willing to sacrifice herself for the White people in this town.
Stephen pulls himself up and yanks the shards of wood out of his knee and calls out for Elena, who can barely answer him. Elena says that she is okay but Stephen replies that she is not and that he can hear her breathing. He tells Elena that Damon was right and that she should have fed this morning. Elena tells him that he was right and that he had hope, which is all she ever wanted him to have. Stephen says that he loves her and Elena reveals that she was on the bridge because she had to choose and she picked him because she loves him. I suppose this is meant to be an aww moment, but I just really want Elena to die.
Matt and Damon get out of the car at Young's place. Matt asks if they are to storm the place with zero weapons and Damon grabs him and feeds saying they don't need weapons, just bait. Damon calls out to Young and he comes out onto the porch. Young tells Damon to leave Matt alone because he is an innocent. Damon then threatens to kill Matt and Young tells him to go away because he was not invited in and he is not coming out. Suddenly there is a shot and Damon falls to the side.
Bonnie starts to do the spell and Jeremy says that this is Black magic and that she shouldn't be doing this. Suddenly, Tyler makes an appearance in his own body and falls to the side. Her grandmother appears and says, "I warned you child. You've made your choice and now they are taking it out on me." Jeremy tells her to stop the spell because it worked but Bonnie cannot stop. Bonnie tells her grandmother that she is sorry and starts to beg the spirits not to hurt her, but her grandmother falls to the ground screaming in pain. For the record, this is the second time that Bonnie's grandmother had died to benefit the White people of Mystic Falls.
At the Young compound, they prepare to bring Damon in and Rebekah calls out that her family has money can castles. The human says that he would much rather watch Rebekah die. The guard backs up and Stephen grabs him, opens up a wound and tosses him at Elena. Elena reaches through the bars, puts her hand in the blood and then puts her hand to her lips. We all knew it was coming but how many really wanted to see Elena saved?
Damon was just playing possum and when the guards come out for him, he attacks them. Damon then walks over to Matt and kicks him. Matt says, "go ahead kill me. You cannot possibly hate me more than I hate myself." Matt has pretty much been a useless character for awhile now. Damon puts his foot on Matt's throat with the clear intention of killing him when he is attacked by Elena as a vampire. Matt stumbles into the cell and Stephen helps him. Matt stands up and says, "stop saving me. You should have let me drown." When Stephen points out that he wasn't his first choice, Matt replies, "Elena is a vampire because of me." Umm yeah and so what. All of this angsting over Elena is getting on my last nerve. Stephen replies, "you don't have to live with that, you get to live with that because Elena put your life before her own. So every morning before you get out of bed, you sure as hell had better earn it." Stephen walks away from him.
Damon and Elena walk towards the car and Elena says, "you were going to kill him." Damon responds, "the guy just won't die." Elena then points out that it was her choice to save him and wants to know why he won't respect that. When Damon says, "it's a little hard to keep track of all of your choices lately Elena." Elena tells him that she remembers everything that he compelled her to forget as one of the highlights of her transition. This includes how they met first and Damon telling her that he wanted her to have everything that she wanted from life. Elena asks why Damon didn't tell her and Damon asks in return if it would have made a difference. Elena does not respond and so Damon says, "I didn't think so." Elena points out that he asked her to make a choice and if he is going to be mad, then take it out on her, not on Stephen, or Matt, or anyone else. Damon asks her if they are done. Elena asks him if it had been him on the bridge instead of Stephen, if he would have saved her or Matt and Damon says that he would have saved her no question. Elena replies that she thought so and that Matt would have been dead because he couldn't let go. Alright, she is being ridiculous. It's absolute instinct to save the one you love, over someone you don't give a damn about. When Elena yells that Matt would be dead, Damon replies, "but you wouldn't be and you would have gotten the life that you wanted and you would have been able to grow up and have the life that you wanted - the life that you deserve. I know that I didn't used to get that but I do now and I wanted that for you Elena and I would have gladly have given that to you and let Matt die because I am that selfish. But you knew that already. The first night we met is not all you remember." Damon walks away after giving his classic eyebrow raise. Ian Somerhalder really needs to move beyond the three facial expressions that he routinely does; it's no longer interesting.
Klaus is busy packing up blood, when Rebekah walks in angry that he saved Caroline over her. Klaus says, "hello brother, I thought you were dead, so pleased that you are not." Rebekah points out again that he left her. Klaus says, "I only had time to save one of you and you can't be killed. Rest assured that I had a worse day than you. I think it's time for us to move on and find some more werewolves." Rebekah is not impressed that he wants to create his hybrid family and says that he doesn't know anything about family. Rebekah grabs the bagged blood and tosses one bag across the room. Klaus tells her to drop them and she says, "I warned you, my heart broke thinking that I would never see you again." Klaus again tells Rebekah to be a good girl and put the bags down. "It's always been me, not Fin, not Elijah, me. I loved you through everything and you didn't care," Rebekah cries. Klaus yells at her to drop the bags. Rebekah breaks open the bags of blood and says, "you want your family, here's your family." Klaus grabs Rebekah by the throat and says, "Rebekah you were right, I don't care. From this moment on, you are not my family, you are not my sister. You are nothing." Klaus punches Rebekah in the face and walks out of the room.
Elena and Stephen are sitting alone together and she says, "the whole council knows who we are now. Everything's about to change." Stephen replies that he is sure that Damon has a revenge plan all cooked up and that they'll figure out a way to deal with that. Elena tells Stephen that he does not have to convince her that everything is going to be okay. Stephan nods his head and says that he wishes he could though and that she'll never crave blood but she will, and that it will be the worst thing that she'll live through. Elena points out that she will get to live, be with him and be a good sister and a good friend. Ummm yeah which to me sounds like an admission that all of this angsting was nonsense from the start. They kiss and Elena says, "I'm going to get through this." When Elena says that they should get inside before sunrise, Stephen hands Elena the ring Bonnie made for her just in case. The two sit and watch the sunrise.
Young and his people gather surrounded by the vervain and he tells them to fear not because he has been chosen to lead them. The gas line has been pulled out of the stove. He tells them that soon they will be free to pass through the gate and that they will all be free in eternity. Young pulls a lighter out of his pocket as one man asks what is going on here. Young says, "we are the beginning," and then lights the lighter. The room explodes in flame, as the people scream.