This episode opens with a candlelight vigil for Carol Lockwood with Liz eulogizing her. Tyler who is sitting next to Caroline gets upset and leaves. Elena gets up to follow Tyler and we learn that Rudy Hopkins, has been selected to be the interim mayor. As Elena walks the halls, she runs into April who is crying. April tells her that the death of Carol is making her think of her father. Suddenly, April shifts the conversation and tells Elena that she knows Elena is a vampire. Elena is shocked and then Rebekah appears behind her and snaps her neck.
Caroline is making her way out of the assembly and calls Stefan, who is getting his drink on. Caroline is not the least bit impressed and Stefan replies by telling Caroline, "my brother slept with Elena, it kinda puts a little bit of a damper on things." Caroline says that Tyler is spiraling and should get top priority. Stefan points out the obvious - the fact that his mother just died. Caroline is concerned that Tyler is not talking to her about his feelings and that he keeps referring to his mother's death as an accident - a code she believes for drunk. Stefan asks if she believes that Klaus killed Carol and Caroline replies, "I don't think she drowned in her martini glass." Caroline asks Stefan to get it together because she believes she cannot do this alone.
When Elena wakes, she is in the library and is confronted by April, who informs her that the assembly is over and that the school will be empty soon. April wants to know how many times Elena compelled her and demands that she tell the truth. April goes on to add that Rebekah says that she lies and when Elena questions Rebekah's honesty, April reveals that she knows Rebekah is a thousand year old original vampire. Elena grabs April in an attempt to flee and she is confronted by Rebekah, who instructs her to have a seat because everyone else will be there shortly.
Damon is checking his messages and gets one from Elena, who says that she hates not being near him. Jeremy and Matt are sparring and when Jeremy takes Matt to the ground and expects praise from Damon, Damon informs him that he moved in slow motion. Jeremy is frustrated and points out that they have been there for days and so far all Damon has done is bark orders and so he demands to be taught something useful. Damon concedes and picks up a stake and Jeremy attacks only to find himself quickly over powered. A young woman drives up with a pizza delivery and Damon pays her extra not to deliver any more pizzas. Jeremy is not impressed and asks if he is to be starved and Damon replies, "if that's what it takes to become a hunter." Damon orders Jeremy to run around the lake twice and for Matt to follow. When Matt says that he doesn't have to listen to him, Damon quips, "you do if you want to eat." As soon as Matt and Jeremy leave, Damon picks up his phone and listens to Elena's message again.
Rebekah calls Stefan and says that not only is she free but that she is holding Elena hostage at the highschool. Stefan asks who was dumb enough to pull the dagger out of her, but Rebekah tells him that she is the one who will be asking the questions and hangs up. Stefan then calls Caroline and asks how she would like to drive a white oak stake through Rebekah's heart. Caroline agrees, as long as it means that Stefan will stop trying to drink his way through the Mystic Grill.
At the Mystic Grill, Liz is talking with the interim mayor Rudy Hopkins. Liz passes Rudy a folder and says, "welcome to the world of cover ups." Apparently, they ruled Carol's death as head trauma from a fall and when Rudy looks at the folder, he points out that Carol did not go gently and asks if they have any leads. When Liz admits that they have ideas, Rudy says, "let me guess, sharp teeth and bad table manners." Liz questions whether or not Rudy really wants this job because apparently six people were offered this position before him, but Rudy says that he is saying yes for a reason. He announces that his reason just walked up, as Bonnie approaches the table. Rudy points out that a few of Bonnie's friends were missing at the assembly and adds, "so much for mandatory." Bonnie tells Rudy that he cannot come in here and start making rules. Rudy replies that this town could use a few new rules. Bonnie reminds him that she can help protect the town and Rudy responds, "I am well aware of your gifts Bonnie but I am you father, don't forget I get to protect you."
At the highshchool, Caroline texts that the second floor is clear. Stefan is walking through the halls when someone moves by quickly. He texts back, "first floor I'll distract her." Stefan pushes Rebekah up against the lockers and she holds up a stake and says, "I hope you're not waiting for Caroline to stake me because I already found her." Rebekah brings Stefan into the library to join Elena, Caroline and April and says, "you've all been compelled, you know the rules, answer my questions honestly." Rebekah reminds everyone that Klaus learned about the vampire hunters in 1114 and their tattoos revealed a map, which led to a cure for vampirism. She adds the last time they met, Stefan tricked her to find out where the sword was and that the fact that they're all still vampires, means that something went wrong. Rebekah sends April off on a nonsense mission, and Stefan says that Rebekah is wasting her time because they don't know anything. Rebekah finds this hard to believe and replies, "I thought that you would do anything to save Elena, even if it means taking the cure yourself so that you can grow old and die with her." Elena and Stefan make eye contact, causing Rebekah to ask why Elena looks so surprised. Caroline intervenes and tells Rebekah that Stefan and Elena broke up. This shocks Rebekah and so she says, "I'm confused, I thought Elena was your epic love Stefan. I asked you what happened, you have to tell me." Stefan admits that Elena slept with Damon.
Jeremy is practicing assembling a gun and Damon tells him to do it like his life depends on it. Jeremy stands up and says, "don't act like you care about my life. You care about the hunters mark and Elena, so she's not sired to your ass." Damon points out that both require his life. Damon asks if he has talked to Elena and Jeremy asks if he is running out of voicemails to listen to. Klaus walks out of the woods and asks how many vampires Jeremy has killed. Damon says that if they throw Jeremy out in the world right now he's chum. Klaus replies "yeah see, that's not a number. Twelve, that's how many of my hybrids I slaughtered with my sword. Three, that's how many days it took to quell the urge to kill your brother, after he knowingly watched as I walked into a death trap. One, that's the number of purposes you serve. You are here to grow Jeremy's mark, so I'll ask again, how many vampires has he killed since he's been here?" Damon answers, "zero." Klaus says that he is going to need the cure sooner rather than later because of the hybrid shortage and wonders how he can help. Damon tells Jeremy to watch and learn, then shoots Klaus twice in the chest saying that his actions were for Carol Lockwood.
Back at the library, Rebekah says, "vampire Elena is a trollop who likes bad boys, which explains why Stefan reeks of alcohol but what it doesn't explain is why sweet, loving innocent Elena would be so heartless towards Stefan. How could she hurt you like that?" Stefan replies that Elena didn't know that at the time that she was sired to Damon. Rebekah calls this fascinating and asks Elena what she thinks of this. Elena replies, "I think that your sad, tired and desperate need of a hobby." Rebekah believes that Elena is hiding something and so Elena admits, "I didn't sleep with Damon because of a sire bond, I slept with Damon because I'm in love with him." As looks are exchanged, Caroline asks what any of this has to do with the cure and so Rebekah asks Stefan how she can find the cure. Stefan then tells her about Shane and that he knows where the cure is.
Shane is in his office with Bonnie, who is complaining about her father. She says that Rudy hates her witch heritage and that it's the reason he travels all of the time, so she is upset that he suddenly wants to be a protective father. Bonnie asks if there is some magic therapy that Shane hasn't shown her yet. Shane tells Bonnie that she doesn't need his help anymore and then hands her a necklace made of human bone saying happy graduation. Shane says that it was worn by a two thousand year old witch, who drew on it for strength. Bonnie asks if she has to go home now and Shane says that he has a stack of papers that he has to grade for tomorrow. When Bonnie leaves the office, she see Kol but when she goes running back to the office, Shane is gone.
Tyler is at home when he gets a call. He answers believing that it's Caroline but it's Rebekah. Rebekah tells him that she knows Klaus made a real mess of his life and that she can relate and offers her condolences. She tells him that he should come down to the highschool, so that he can extract them in person. When Tyler asks why he would do that, Rebekah tells him that she has Caroline and adds, "maybe you have a better shot of saving her than you did your mother." Tyler hangs up the phone and throws it. Kol enters the library and tells Rebekah that she is even worse than Klaus. Kol then brings Shane into the room.
Damon is whittling of all things, when he is approached by Klaus. Damon says, "if you're here for payback go for it because you will be stuck babysitting the little hunter that could." Klaus says that he is perplexed as to why Jeremy hasn't killed any vampires and Damon replies, "Darwinism Klaus, he's got to protect himself before we hunt down his first vampire nest." Klaus points out that Jeremy needs more victims and that there is a town of people just waiting to be turned into vampires for the slaughter. When Damon says that of course that idea occurred to him, Klaus replies, "the tragedy is that it did occur to you and yet you chose to ignore it. My guess is that you did it to impress Elena. Somehow to honor her, you'll find a way to spare innocent lives and walk Jeremy down the moral high ground. That's why I've already made the necessary corrections."
The pizza girl shows up at the cabin and Matt answers the door. She claims that she ran out of gas and that her phone is dead. When she tries to enter the cabin, it turns out she can't. Clearly, Klaus has turned her. Jeremy comes downstairs and says, "I'm about to go and take a shower but you are more than welcome to come inside."
Kol pushes Shane into another room and Shane is stupidly excited that he is in the same room with two original vampires. Rebekah tries to compel Shane to say where the cure is but he tells her that he learned in Tibet how to block being compelled. Rebekah says that this means that they have to do this the old fashioned way and demands Kol beat Shane until he tells him where to find it. Rebekah returns to the library and comments about the tension in the room. Rebekah asks Elena, "truth or dare". This irritates Stefan and he says that he is done playing Rebekah's game, but she reminds him that they are compelled and so Elena says, "dare." Rebekah says, "I dare you to tell Stefan the truth about Damon." Caroline cries out, "seriously!" Elena says, "being with Damon, makes me happy." Rebekah is not impressed with her response and demands that Elena dig deeper. Elena adds, "When I am with him, it feels unpredictable, like I'm free." Rebekah then asks how Elena feels when she is with Stefan to which Caroline yells, "stop!" Elena says that she feels like she is a problem that needs to be fixed and that she can't be with someone like that because when he looks at her, all he sees is a broken toy. Rebekah asks if she still loves Stefan and she says yes and so Rebekah follows up by asking if she is still in love with Stefan, and Elena replies, "no." Rebekah asks Stefan if it hurt having someone he loves shove a dagger through his heart, and he replies, "yes". Rebekah says, "welcome to the last 900 years of my life."
Tyler shows up and Rebekah tells him to stay in the building and that there is to be no vamp running in the hallways. Rebekah turns to Tyler and compels him to turn. When Caroline points out that Tyler will lose control, Rebekah says that this is the whole point because now that she has Shane, anyone left around is competition to get to the cure. Tyler says that if he turns that he will kill them and Rebekah again instructs him to turn.
At the cabin, Matt grabs his phone and is attacked by the pizza delivery girl. Jeremy pulls her off Matt and then quickly stakes her. When Damon enters the room, he watches as Jeremy's hunters mark expands.
April walks into the lab and finds Bonnie. April asks if Bonnie did a GPS magic locator spell and adds that Rebekah told her that Bonnie is a witch. Bonnie asks what is going on and April says that Rebekah has Caroline, Stefan, Shane and Elena compelled and is getting them to tell the truth for a change. Bonnie says that Shane cannot be compelled and that Rebekah will torture him to find out what he knows. Bonnie starts to look for salt and April passes it to her. Bonnie uses the salt and the pendant to connect her with Shane and do a protection spell.
Koll keeps dunking Shanes head under water so that he cannot breathe. Rebekah points out that Shane is human and wants to know why he won't tell and so Shane says, "that's the beauty of it, I don't want the cure, I just want Silas." Kol asks what Shane knows about Silas and Shane replies that Silas is the the world's first immortal being and that Silas is a prisoner of the cure. Kol dunks Shane back under the water as in the lab, April stars to spew blood from her mouth. Rebekah tells Kol to stop and in the lab, April stops choking. Rebekah tells Kol that Shane is no use to them dead and Kol replies Silas will kill all of the originals. Rebekah is convinced that Silas does not exist and is a fairytale made up to scare children into eating their vegetables. Shane stupidly says that Silas is real, that he knows where he is buried and that soon he will have the spell to excise him. Kol says that he cannot get to him. Shane says that he knows about Silas' tombstone and the dozens to die in a pained sacrifice and that those massacres were a pain to engineer. Rebekah realizes that Shane is the one who blew up the council. Shane says that it was a noble sacrifice and that it was temporary because once he raises Silas, Silas will raise every last soul who died on his behalf. Kol then stabs Shane in the gut and in the lab, April falls over bleeding.
In the library, Tyler is struggling not to change but he cannot control it and tells everyone to run. Stefan and Elena run and block off the doorway but Tyler struggles to get through. Suddenly, everything goes quiet.
Kol tells Rebekah that he should thank her because Silas on the loose would be hell on earth. Rebekah is not pleased because Shane was her only lead. Kol then pulls out a stake. As they walk out of the room, Shane awakens and pulls the implement out. He calls out for Bonnie. In the lab, Elena and Stefan walk in and find April on the floor. Bonnie tells them that her spell accidentally linked Shane to April and she didn't realise it because she didn't feel pain or bleed. Stefan bites his wrist and puts it to April's mouth and she comes back. April wakes and Stefan tells Bonnie to get April out of the school and to be careful because Tyler has changed and is on the loose. When Bonnie asks about them, Stefan says that they cannot leave because they have been compelled to stay.
As soon as they leave, Elena says that they have to talk about what happened. Stefan is not interested and asks how many more ways there are for her to rip his heart out. Elena says that she is sorry and so Stefan asks if she is sorry that it happened, or that he found out. Elena says that she is sorry about all of this and that she didn't mean to hurt him. Rebekah enters the room and asks, "why are my least favorite people always the least vulnerable?"
In the gym, Caroline finds a naked Tyler. He says that he is sorry and when Caroline tells him that he has nothing to be sorry for, Tyler replies, "this whole thing, it's all my fault. I should have saved her." Tyler starts to cry and Caroline comforts him.
Stefan tells Rebekah to leave Elena out of this and Rebekah replies, "you're still protecting her. Must I rip your bleeding heart from your chest and show you the scar tissue that is Elena Gilbert?" Rebekah tells them that there is a solution to all of Elena's problems and that she can compel Stefan to forget all about her and every bit of love he has for her. Stefan tells her to do it and Elena says no. Rebekah starts to laugh and says that it would be far to easy and that she refuses to have Stefan forget Elena, the way that Klaus made Stefan forget all about her. She then turns to Elena and says, "at least you know how he really feels." Rebekah then turns to Stefan and adds, "consider your eternity of pain my revenge Stefan. I've used you for all you're worth, so now you are free to go" Stefan turns to leave the room and Elena rushes after him.
In his office, Shane finds April's bloody shirt. When Bonnie walks into the room, Shane tells Bonnie that he miscalculated and that Kol is going to be a problem. Bonnie tells him that she almost killed someone and is upset that Shane only cares that he miscalculated about Kol. Bonnie says, "my father just became the mayor, I cannot be doing black magic." She turns to leave the room and Shane calls out that expression magic isn't good or bad and how she uses it is up to her. Shane tells Bonnie that she is the key to everything and that he would hate to have anything bad happen to her.
Damon's phone starts to ring, as he is digging pizza girl's grave. It's Elena and she tells him that Stefan knows about them, so Damon asks her how he took it. Damon says that for the first time all week that he is happy to be at the camp. Elena asks about Jeremy and thanks Damon for looking out for him. Elena says that she realised today that she loves him and Damon replies that he is going to get the cure for her and that he is going to have to do things that she is not going to like. He instructs Elena to get in her car and come to him. Elena promises to be there soon.
Rebekah shows up at Stefan's and he asks if she still wants to find the cure. It seems that her plan is to shove it down Klaus' throat and look into his eyes as he realises that he is mortal again. Rebekah points out that Shane is dead and that Stefan is useless. Stefan tells Rebekah that Shane is not dead thanks to a spell done by Bonnie. Rebekah says that Stefan didn't have to tell her that and so Stefan admits that he is there for an eternity and will go insane if he doesn't know how Elena truly feels about Damon. Rebekah tells Stefan all about Shane's agenda and Stefan realises that Shane is using dark magic. Stefan says that they both hate her brothers and that two of them are the only one's left with nothing.
April says that her father had no reason to kill himself and that he loved her. April says that professor Shane brainwashed him and that it's time the entire town started telling the truth.
When Damon, Klaus and Jeremy arrive at the Mystic Grill, they find Klaus surrounded by people he has turned into vampires. Jeremy points out that Damon had promised to convince Klaus to do this another way, but Damon replies, "I thought about it, but his way is better."
If I only had one word to describe this episode it would be ANGST. Of course it coincided with the return of cheerleader vampire. Why the hell is a thousand year old vampire so interested in this relationship angst? And truth or dare? Really? A thousand year old vampire playing truth or dare? Don't people usually stop playing that game by the age of fourteen? They're not even trying to make this remotely believable at all.
There was absolutely no reason to spend the majority of the episode focused on the fact that Elena is now in love with Damon instead of Stefan. I get that they want to push the whole love triangle thing but this was like being hit over the head repeatedly with a blunt object.
Since Elena and Damon confessed twu wuv, Elena has continually been slut shamed. It wasn't cute having Vampire Cheerleader call her a trollop because Elena chose to sleep with Damon. Let's be clear, Stefan may be a whole lot more musty than Damon but neither one of them is actually a good person. They are both mass murderers and while Stefan may be somewhat regretful, it does not take away from the fact that he has killed to the point where he earned the nickname the ripper. Elena is not smart to be involved with either brother, but she does not need to be slut shamed for her having sex. Another point worth noting, is that Elena did not consent to the sex itself because of the sire bond but let's all just over look that fact because yeah, it's slut shaming time.
April Young has moved to the point of annoying. It is reasonable for April to be upset that no one told her about the vampires and that she may have been compelled. Why her rage is only aimed at Elena et al makes no sense to me. It seems to me that vampire cheerleader didn't exactly confess to being an original, until April freed her from her coffin. April has a right to be upset about the death of her father but her allegiance to Rebekah makes no sense beyond wanting to give Rebekah a human sidekick.
It was nice to see someone caring for Bonnie at last. I do however think that Rudy is on borrowed time, given The Vampire Diaries history with people of colour. If this turns out to be the case, that will leave Bonnie all alone and I am not pleased with the prospect. I know that Rudy is an absentee father but it really plays into the social meme of all Black father abandoning their children. Just watching television, would believe that no Black child ever received love and nurturing from their father.
