'The Vampire Diaries' recap: Self-sacrifices and spells

Elena (Nina Dobrev), Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) took radically different approaches to their not-so-little Klaus problem tonight. Stefan and Damon wanted to get the moonstone from Katherine so they could de-spell it, but Elena wasn't so sure doing that would prevent Klaus from killing “everyone that I care about, including the two of you.” Interesting that she included Damon in that statement. So while Damon and Stefan enlisted Bonnie (Katerina Graham) for magical help, Elena went to Rose (Lauren Cohan). Elena wanted to get more information about Klaus, so they went to Slater's house. They discovered his body, which makes two dead friends for Rose now. They also discovered his shocked, goth-lite, vampire wannabe girlfriend, who cracked into his e-mail. Elena told her to send a message – the doppelganger is alive and she's ready to surrender.

Meanwhile at Team Moonstone, Bonnie created some ashes out of a photo belonging to Katherine (Nina Dobrev) that would allow Stefan and Damon to incapacitate her for two minutes. Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) was worried about the toll lifting the tomb spell would have on Bonnie and sneaked some ashes away. He entered the tomb and blew the magic dust on Katherine, but by the time he found the moonstone, she was awake and quite hungry for some blood, not to mention a new toy. Katherine is very bored inside the tombstone, even more so than she is hungry and dirty. But even channeling her warlock friend Luka (Bryton James) didn't make Bonnie powerful enough to lift the spell, so Stefan swept in and pushed Jeremy out, trapping himself inside the tomb.

After Rose called him, Damon rushed off to knock some sense into Elena. This was not a decision she would get to make to sacrifice herself. “When have I ever made a decision? You and Stefan do that for me now,” she replied. “This is my decision.” She makes a good point. Stefan and Damon's love for her has been overwhelming and blindsiding. They want to whatever they can to save her, help her, sometimes without even seriously considering what she wants. Case in point: Elena tells Damon, “I don't want to be saved.” What does he do? Drags her back home because he loves her and can't accept such a possibility. But as Elena points out, he shouldn't be surprised that she, like Damon and Stefan, wants to save her loved ones.

Elijah (Daniel Gillies) also made an appearance at Slater's, killing two vampires by simply pulling out their hearts. It wasn't as awesome as decapitation by hand swatting, but it was still quite the display of power. He could have easily killed Damon too, but instead, he left, sparing Elena and Damon. He told Luka's dad Damon and Stefan would do anything to keep her alive and that's what they needed to keep Elena safe. Are they trying to keep her safe from Elijah? Or just safe until his arrival? I had suspected that they were bad guys, but now I'm less sure of their intentions. Regardless, Elijah certainly knows the Salvatore brothers well. Later, Stefan made Damon promise to keep Elena safe no matter what while he's trapped. Katherine called it the “biggest mistake you'll ever make” because it will only bring Damon and Elena closer together.

There were also some interesting developments between some of the new pairings on the show:

Bonnie/Jeremy – Actions really do speak louder than words. Jeremy risked himself for Bonnie, but she told him he can't feel that way about her. The feelings are already there though, and he knows they aren't one sided. It looked like a kiss was going to happen, but then Bonnie pulled away and said, “I can't.” Maybe it has something do with her new friend...

Bonnie/Luka – He showed her how to tap into another witch to increase her power. No, it was not at all weird that they were standing in the middle of windy high school quad, sharing a moment – eyes closed, hands grabbing talismans – while all the other students ran for cover. But I don't think he's going to be so sweet on her after she nearly gave him an aneurysm while channeling him. Even though he's bonding with Bonnie per his mysterious father's instructions, I do wonder if he actually likes her. They seem to genuinely connect. But Jeremy looks more and more like the right choice when you consider all the manipulation and secrets going on with Luka and his dad.

Caroline/Tyler/Matt – Caroline and Tyler discovered Mason's (Taylor Kinney) diary – yes, another one! -- and a memory card with footage of Mason's first transformation. Apparently, the process took hours and hours and was horribly painful. Mason's tortured cries were truly horrific. Tyler had a freak out while his new friend Caroline -- “I don't want you to be alone,” she told him – tried to calm him down. And then Matt – he's alive! -- showed up at Caroline's door because he misses her! I don't know whether to be more excited about the fact that Matt showed up on screen again or that he misses Caroline, which creates a nice, little triangle.

Damon/Rose – Still doing it. But after the way she ran off at the sight of Elijah, I don't think there's going to be anymore of that in the future.

Alaric/Jenna -- Also doing it, which made for a very awkward, half-naked on Alaric's (Matt Davis) part hallway run-in with Elena. Other than that, things are "really good," said Jenna (Sara Canning), practically glowing.

Readers, were you excited to see Mason again? Is Elena right to want to sacrifice herself? What do you think Elijah and Luka's father are up to? Are you worried for Tyler? And what do you think of Jeremy's grand gesture?

-- Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)

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Photo: Stefan (Paul Wesley), Bonnie (Katerina Graham) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) work together to get the moonstone. Credit: Quantrell D. Colbert / The CW.

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'The Vampire Diaries' recap: Katherine tells a tale

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How fitting that this info-packed episode took us to what was basically a vampire cyber cafe, complete with double tinted windows to keep the sunlight out. Rose's (Lauren Cohan) friend Slater (Trevor Peterson), who has oodles of knowledge thanks to his 18 degrees, three masters and four PhDs and countless years as a vampire, gave Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Rose the 411 on Klaus and the Curse of the Sun and the Moon. We also got quite the info dump as Katherine (Nina Dobrev) shared her Lifetime-gets-horrific life story with Elena (Dobrev). Entombed Katherine kind of looked like a zombie extra who got rejected from “The Walking Dead” because she didn't look decayed enough. But her hoarse voice and limping stride were still plenty creepy. Even a slightly slower Katherine kept her wits about her, not to mention her perfect eye makeup, as she dished to Elena. Here's what we learned:

1. Katerina Petrova, who shall be known as Katherine from here on out, had a daughter.And now we also know that Elena and Katherine are related through that blood line. In 1490, Katherine gave birth to a girl, who was taken from her by her own father and given away. Dobrev really sold the crushing emotions of having one's child ripped away from them. Pretty impressive for such a young actress. But then again, she had practice playing a teenage mom on “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”

2. In 1492, Katherine was banished from her native Bulgaria.Having a child out of wedlock was a big no-no, so when Katherine was disowned, she fled to England and adopted a British accent. I hope Dobrev got paid overtime for all the extra accent work she did in this episode, not to mention having to play three characters essentially. It was in England that Katherine caught the eye of a nobleman named Klaus, but then she realized what Klaus wanted to do with her and ran away. Lovesick Trevor (Trent Ford) -- the guy who got beheaded last week –- helped her escape to Rose's cottage.

3. The Curse of the Sun and the Moon was bound with Petrova blood. And the Petrova doppelganger was created to undo the spell. Thus, Klaus needed Katherine to drain her blood as a sacrifice to break the spell.

4. Katherine basically turned herself into a vampire to save her own ass. After Rose discovered that Katherine had stolen the moonstone from Klaus, she told Katherine she was going to turn her over to Klaus rather than risk her and Trevor's lives. She fed Katherine her blood to heal her wounds. Then when Rose left the room, Katherine hanged herself and became a vampire. “Better you die than I,” she replied when Rose accused her of using herself and Trevor to escape Klaus. Looks like that charming personality got its start before Katherine became a vamp.

5. Katherine came back to Mystic Falls to gather the ingredients to break the spell. She hoped that by giving Elena to Klaus –- only a human doppelganger will do –- he would stop trying to get revenge on her for running away. Klaus even killed her entire family back in 1492, so that baby really is the only blood line left. And Caroline (Candice Accola), Tyler (Michael Trevino) and Bonnie (Katerina Graham) were part of Katherine's plan. You also need a vampire and werewolf for the spell and a witch to perform it. “Better you die than I,” she told Elena. That should really be on her headstone. If she ever dies.

6. It really is just a two-way race now to see who will get to the spell first.Slater told Damon and Rose the only way he knew to find Klaus was through a Craigslist personal ad. Seriously? But that would eventually lead to a dead end. Meanwhile, undead Elijah (Daniel Gillies) was eavesdropping outside the cyber cafe. He gathered a handful of coins and flung them at the cafe's windows, shattering all the glass. As all the vampires inside withered in pain under the sun, I couldn't help thinking that this felt like the vampire version of a terrorist attack. And between this and the powerful beheading by swatting last week, I'm starting to think Elijah is Klaus. Elijah compelled Slater to tell Rose they needed the moonstone to destroy the curse and that a witch would know what to do with it. Then he made Slater stab himself. Bummer. I really liked the guy and his oddly nerdy thirst for knowledge and “what is the point of being a vampire?” attitude. He also looked like he could have been Misha Collins' (“Supernatural”) younger brother.

7. Katherine doesn't want out of the tomb. Even though she's got the moonstone, she's not planning to exchange it for her freedom. When Klaus comes to town to kill them all, “I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town,” she told Stefan (Paul Wesley).

8. Bonnie's got two suitors and one of them may be up to no good. After quite a dry spell –- no pun intended –- Bonnie's now caught the eye of Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) and new guy Luka (Bryton James), whose dad asked Bonnie if she's related to any Bennetts in Salem. It seemed like Bonnie felt something less than great when she touched Luka's shoulder. Then Luka won Bonnie over by revealing that he's a warlock. But Bonnie may not want to trust him because Luka's dad and Elijah are working together. Looks like Bonnie's being set up to get caught up in the middle of all this spell breaking messiness.

Oh, yes, and Damon had sex with Rose. It was too short to really make an impression, although I do think the characters play off each other well. When Rose told Damon, “You can trust me,” I scoffed. The boy has some pretty big trust issues thanks to a certain dark-haired vampire. I scoffed even more so when Rose told him he needs to turn off his emotions to stay safe and then jumped him. Desire and lust are some of the most powerful emotions.

I actually loved the sweet little exchanges between Stefan and Caroline more. Their blossoming friendship has been a highlight this season. When Stefan told her she reminded him of his best friend Lexi –- RIP –- I smiled. Here's hoping Caroline's fate is not the same as Lexi's.

Readers, what did you think of Katherine's backstory? Was she selfish or smart? Or is it just sad? Do you think Luka is bad news? Did Rose manage to get your mind off Damon and Elena? And what do you think of my "Elijah is Klaus" theory?

-- Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)

RELATED:
'The Vampire Diaries' recap: 'It's Elena.' Again.
'The Vampire Diaries' recap: The killing time
Complete "The Vampire Diaries" coverage on Show Tracker

Photo: Damon (Ian Somerhalder) goes to a vampire cyber cafe. Credit: Quantrell D. Colbert / The CW.

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'The Vampire Diaries' recap: 'It's Elena.' Again.

After the crazy Katherine-induced escapades of the previous episodes, tonight's installment didn't pack quite as much of a punch. Katherine (Nina Dobrev) brings a certain manic, unpredictable energy to the show, but since she's locked up in the tomb, some new vampires shook things up this week. Although this might have seemed like a more subdued episode in comparison, subdued for “The Vampire Diaries” still means packing enough plot reveals, new characters and deaths to fill half a season on another show. And let's not forget two juicy, emotional scenes for Ian Somerhalder as Damon.

The theme of this episode – and the entire series – might as well as be, “It's Elena.” It's Thursday. Elena's (Dobrev) in danger. Again. Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon are worried and strategizing how to keep her safe. Again. But more than that, this episode finally gave us a little more information about why everyone, not just Stefan and Damon, is so interested in Elena. We knew she was special because she looked exactly like Katherine, but tonight, we learned to what use that could be put.

A pair of very old vampire BFFs – think 500+ years old – named Rose (Lauren Cohan) and Trevor (Trent Ford) kidnapped Elena. Rose, obviously the more “adult” vampire in the friendship, got sucked into Trevor's mess when he trusted Katerina Petrova. Whatever Trevor did pissed off an old world group of vampires that Rose calls “the originals.” Are they the very first vampires ever? Rose and Trevor have been running from them, and in particular, a dastardly, very powerful vampire named Elijah (Daniel Gillies), for the past 500 years. They plan to trade Elena for Elijah's forgiveness/clemency. What could Elijah possibly want with Elena? Turns out the blood of the doppelganger is what breaks the curse of the sun and the moon. Elena is killed as a sacrifice, and...all the vampires go free into the sunlight? From Rose's description, it also sounded like Katherine is a doppelganger too. Could this be what she was running from in 1864?

Stefan and Damon came to Elena's rescue with some help from Bonnie (Katerina Graham) – she used a spell and Jeremy's (Steven R. McQueen) blood to locate Elena – and with more goodies from Alaric's (Matt Davis) weapons chest. I'm starting to get worried that Alaric is becoming the far too convenient go-to source of tools, excuses, covers, distractions, etc. and all while offscreen. Not cool. But Alaric's weapons weren't too helpful at first against the powerful Elijah, who had a very old world, European, aristocratic feel. Compared to him, Damon and Stefan are babies. He decapitated Trevor with a hand swipe! The vervain grenade? Scarred the guy for like two seconds. But it did provide a distraction that led to Damon staking him. The look of joy on Damon's face when he thought Elena was looking at him in gratitude was so pure and vulnerable. Then it crushingly turned to disappointment when he realized Elena was staring at? Stefan, not him. Still, she whispered, “Thank you,” as she hugged Stefan, and Damon gave her a signature eye wink and possibly the most sincere, unselfish, “You're welcome,” he's ever delivered. But then Damon did something even more unselfish. After giving her back her vervain necklace, Damon gave Elena quite the swoon-worthy speech: “I love you, Elena. And it's because I love you...I can't be selfish with you. ... I don't deserve you, but my brother does.” Then he kissed her on the forehead before compelling her to forget everything he just told her as a tear escaped. I can certainly see how playing this more softer side of Damon has been more challenging for Somerhalder, but as a viewer, it's been an absolute pleasure to watch him shift between such varied emotions.

But lest you think Elena is out of danger, Rose came to the Salvatore mansion to warn Stefan. Once upon a time, Lexi had tried to fix her up with Stefan because he was one of the good ones, so she wants to help. Elijah might be dead – he's not, by the way – but others will be coming for Elena, including some dude named Klaus.

Meanwhile, back in Mystic Falls, some new twosomes were bonding. Tyler (Michael Trevino) kept harassing Caroline (Candice Accola) at school – they still go to classes? – trying to get to the truth about what she was and how she knew about him. He even broke into her house and accused her of being a werewolf, which made Caroline burst into laughter. After he nailed her against the wall, Caroline retaliated and let out her fangs. She made him promise not to tell anyone, and Tyler replied, “I have no else to tell... I'm alone with this.” Sad and true, but now he's got Caroline. It's just too bad their newfound friendship involves a giant lie – that there aren't any other vampires in town.

Jeremy and Bonnie were also getting close while trying to help Elena. Bonnie tried to get a note to Elena using a spell, but it took a lot out of her. Like it took consciousness out of her. She passed out on the bed as Jeremy looked on worriedly. When she came to, she made him promise not to tell anyone because she didn't want to look weak. “I'm all alone in this,” she said. Noticing a trend?

Readers, what'd you think of Damon's confession? Is this the first step in his being deserving of Elena? Do you think Elena's starting to forgive him? Are you worried that Bonnie's pushing herself too far? And what did you think of Rose? I liked Cohan on “Supernatural,” but her character, Bela, never quite gelled. She seems much more well-suited in this role. I'm glad she escaped the wrath of Elijah and look forward to seeing more of her with Damon. There was definitely a little spark in that tiny moment they were together. Plus, she said it herself. She's a sucker for bad boys.

-- Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)

RELATED:
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'The Vampire Diaries': Taylor Kinney on Mason's journey and his love for Katherine
Complete "The Vampire Diaries" coverage on Show Tracker

Photo: Rose (Lauren Cohan) with a kidnapped Elena (Nina Dobrev). Credit: Quantrell Colbert / The CW.

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"The vampire diaries" Let's recap: dead time

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Tonight, Damon (Ian Somerhalder), Stefan (Paul Wesley), Bonnie (Katerine Graham), Caroline (Candice Accola) and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) banded together to take down Katherine (Nina Dobrev). I had to remind myself that this was only the seventh(!) episode of the season. And yet, we got six great OMG moments and two dead bodies:

1. Katherine kills the half of Tweedledum and Tweedledee known as Aimee (Tiya Sircar), a.k.a. the girl who was crushing on Matt (Zach Roerig) before Caroline compelled her to stay away. Aimee was minor enough of a character that her death wasn't too shocking. It was the manner in which Katherine killed her that was shocking. Thinking she was Elena (Dobrev), Aimee complimented Katherine on her masquerade dress -– that was one fancy masquerade ball for the homeless! -– and Katherine complimented her necklace, stepping behind her to correct the crocked piece of jewelry. Then Katherine swiftly and discretely snapped her spine, paralyzing her. She finished her off, dumping her into horrified Stefan's arms. No one on the dance floor even batted an eyelash.

2. Katherine and Elena are connected! Like dominoes, one by one, the gang did its part in trying to kill Katherine. Jeremy told her that Stefan and Damon wanted to meet her. Katherine wasn't about to play by their rules and went to Caroline, nearly strangling her until she told her what Damon and Stefan were up to. But Caroline was playing her, faking fear and tears to lure her into a bedroom where Bonnie had cast a spell to trap her. Caroline looked so proud of herself for fooling Katherine. There also seemed to be a bit of relief that manipulative Katherine was finally going to be out of her life. Damon and Stefan came after Katherine with the full force of Alaric's (Matt Davis) "how to kill a vampire" weapons stash, but all the wounds they were inflicting on her were also inflicted on Elena. By killing the woman they hate, Damon and Stefan would kill the one they loved. Poetic, isn't it? Also poetic? That the woman who drove Damon and Stefan apart has brought them back together. "This woman ruined our lives. She destroyed us. Tonight it ends. We'll do it together. I got your back," Damon said. Thankfully, Jeremy got there just in time to warn them. I immediately wondered if this was part of the doppelganger deal, but Bonnie realized it was a spell that Katherine's witch friend Lucy (Natashia Williams) had cast. Whatever Katherine feels, so does Elena. Did she get some of her attitude too? Because she was kind of sassy and Katherine-esque when she asked Alaric what he was hiding.

3. Tyler (Michael Trevino) kills Sarah (Maiara Walsh), the other half of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, triggering the werewolf curse. A compelled Matt was hounding Tyler all night, giving him a serious run for his money in the jerk department. (Dear writers: I prefer my Matt sweet, here for Elena always, and pretending he runs into knives. But props to Roerig for playing jerk Matt so convincingly. That must have been a nice change of pace as an actor.) Matt called Tyler's dad a nasty word and poured alcohol on his picture. Then he started to beat up on Tyler. Caroline came into the room to see what the commotion was about and knocked Matt out when he wouldn't stop hitting Tyler. But Katherine got to Sarah too, who took over and tried to stab Tyler. In the process of trying to protect himself, Tyler swatted her away and her head hit the table. And out came the werewolf eyes. Now that Tyler and Caroline have been through this experience together and are wising up to each other's secrets while Matt remains clueless, it seems like we have another unlikely, unexpected pairing on our hands. The other came in Bonnie and Jeremy, who bonded during the episode. I think they connect because they've both been pulled into this vampire drama against their will, but want to do the right thing. It's sweet, if a little weird with Jeremy being Bonnie's best friend's little brother. But as Jeremy pointed out, "I'm not a kid anymore, Bonnie." He's certainly not after the way he's stepped up in the last couple of episodes.

4. Katherine's dead! OK, not really, but we'll get to that in a second. Lucy took offense that Katherine hadn't told her there would be another Bennett witch at the party -– they're family! -– and lifted the spell. She handed over the moonstone to Katherine, but she must have done something witchy to it because as soon as Katherine touched it, she started to choke and cry out in pain. It appeared as if it was killing her, but...

5. Damon put a weak, but very alive Katherine in the tomb! After thinking she was in there for more than a hundred years only to find out she was trapezing all over the world, Damon finally got to enclose Katherine in the tomb and close that chapter of his life with a pained look. But not before Katherine got another reveal/plea in. She told Damon he needed her because Elena was in danger. "Why do you think I haven't killed her? Because she's the doppelganger. She needs to be protected," she cried out. "Then I'll protect her," Damon replied, "while you rot in hell."

6. Elena got kidnapped! Guess Katherine wasn't lying. As Elena walked to her car, a masked figure grabbed her. Could someone want to use Elena for her physical similarity to Katherine? Is this the danger Katherine warned Damon about? Why the heck do these two look so alike? And what was Katherine running from in 1864?

One last thing... Katherine sure is boy-crazy. Among her gems:
(To Matt) "God, you're hot. Now go away."
(To Stefan) "I love you in a suit. So dashing." And how great was Dobrev's delivery of that whispered "I love you"?
(To Damon) "God, you're hot. When did you get so hot?"

Readers, were you glad to see Katherine locked away in the tomb? I'm relieved they didn't kill her completely. She's just too good of a villain to be gone forever. What do you think of the new budding romances/friendships? Are you sad that Elena and Stefan are still on the quits even though Katherine's out of their hair? And superficial time: Who was best dressed at the masquerade ball? I loved Katherine's mask, but Caroline's dress was gorgeous.

-- Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)

RELATED:

'The Vampire Diaries': Taylor Kinney on Mason's journey and his love for Katherine
'The Vampire Diaries' recap: Don't mess with Katherine. Seriously.
Complete "The Vampire Diaries" coverage on Show Tracker

Photo: Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Katherine (Nina Dobrev) at the masquerade ball.

Credit: Quantrell D. Colbert / The CW

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"The vampire diaries" Let's recap: mess with Katherine. Seriously.

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Tonight's very eventful episode was brought to us by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain. If you're a fan of Joss Whedon and his shows, then you may have heard of Craft and Fain before. They worked on “Angel” and “Dollhouse,” as well as “The Shield,” “Lie to Me” and “Vampire Diaries” co-creator Kevin Williamson's short-lived WB series, “Glory Days.” So in short, they're good. And boy did they deliver on that tonight. Because “Plan B” was so jam-packed with action and goodness -- I'll be sending the bill for my blood pressure medicine to the show –- I want to present my nine favorite things about tonight's episode and one thing I'm not so crazy about.

1. The opening teaser, which was so perfectly intercut between Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Katherine (Dobrev) and Mason (Taylor Kinney) both fooling around in bed. The juxtaposition and attention to detail really showed off the differences between the two relationships. Warm, soft light and rosy colors for Elena and Stefan. Dark, cold-like blue for Mason and Katherine. Elena and Stefan exchanged I love you's, as did Mason and Katherine, but somehow, hearing Katherine tell Mason, “We'll live happily ever after. I promise,” didn't fill me with comfort. Who hasn't she told that she loves them? And a very nice twist on the old standby of the creepy, stalker-like vampire watching the girl sleep as Elena watched Stefan sleep.

2. Jeremy's (Steven R. McQueen) “search for life's purpose,”as described by Damon (Ian Somerhalder). Finally accepting his place in the town's supernatural shenanigans, and even fighting for it, Jeremy went to Damon to share what he knew about Tyler (Michael Trevino) and the moonstone. His information actually proved invaluable to Damon and Stefan in their quest to take down Mason. And when Elena didn't like that Jeremy was getting so involved, his stood up to her and told her he was in it now because of her and she couldn't keep him out of it. Things got a little too heavy for Jeremy while Damon was interrogating/torturing Mason with yet another killer plant. (What is it with this show and torture by plant?) “Kill or be killed,” Damon said, grabbing him by the neck. “Suck it up or leave.” I think it's safe to say Jeremy's here to stay. “I don't know how, but she's going to pay,” he said with resolve after Katherine threatened Elena and their family.

3. Everyone working together.The show just hums like a finely tuned, well-oiled machine when all the characters come together for yet another Mystic Falls event and chaos erupts, forcing everyone to work together. “Judgey,” as Damon has nicknamed Bonnie (Katerina Graham), was able to temporarily overcome her hatred of vampires to help out Stefan and Damon. Not only did she link Mason to Katherine, she also incapacitated Mason and found out where the moonstone was. That “thank you” from Damon was well-earned! Then Bonnie, Caroline (Candice Accola) and Elena –- girl power! –- worked together to get Stefan out of the vervain-filled well. All that hard work even managed to get Bonnie and Caroline past their silent treatment. One of my favorite aspects of the show has always been the strong female friendships, so it was great to see that in play with Bonnie and Elena and Bonnie and Caroline talking again.

4. Tyler, ever the class act. Matt was back, and he was showing some signs of damage from his breakup with Caroline. He asked Elena if she was seeing someone since she wasn't playing party planner. We also saw him discussing Caroline with Tyler, who called her an “insecure, neurotic twit.” But “she's got heart,” he added. Nice save, Tyler.

5. Damon rips out Mason's heart. After getting all the information he could of out Mason -- Katherine loves him and wants the moonstone to break the curse so Mason won't have to turn anymore –- Damon pulled out the foolish muscle that had led to Mason's downfall. Damon wasn't blind to the parallels between them. They were both foolishly in love with Katherine, but clearly, Katherine was not after the moonstone because of her love for Mason. She quickly moved on to Matt –- oh, poor Matty, but at least he's being brought into the fold –- compelling him to go after Tyler until he killed him. Interesting that she seems to need the moonstone and a werewolf. And if she lifts the werewolf curse, could she also lift the vampire curse?

6. Jenna (Sara Canning) gets a storyline, only to stab herself!Poor, clueless Jenna. At least she knows Stefan is sleeping over, even if she doesn't seem to mind too much that her niece is spending the night with her boyfriend right under her roof. Turns out Katherine has gotten Jenna off the vervain –- why haven't they moved or done some spell to keep Katherine out of the house? –- and she's been compelling her to spy on Elena and Stefan. She also compelled her to stab herself, but Jenna got lucky and survived. And I was surprised to find that I was relieved. Elena and Jeremy need someone normal in their lives, and having Jenna around gives Alaric (Matt Davis) reason to be conveniently around when Katherine calls to give Elena the smack-down about always being one step ahead of her.

7. & 8. Caroline and her mom bond, but not for long.Accola continued to prove that making her character a vampire was one of the best things the show has done this season. We finally got to see more of the dynamic between Caroline and her mother in a perfectly heartbreaking scene. Sheriff Forbes (Marguerite MacIntyre) finally came to terms with her daughter's new vampire state and even recognized how confident and strong it had made her. She promised to keep her daughter's secret, but Caroline recognized that she would not be able to trust Damon and the rest of the gang. She compelled her to forget what she knew, spinning a bittersweet, touching tale about how Sheriff Forbes was sick for the past three days and her selfish daughter took care of her before ignoring her again. The scene was so perfect, it almost made me forget that I'm not so happy Sheriff Forbes is back to square one now that she's been mind-wiped.

9. Stefan and Elena breakup.This isn't a favorite scene because I was rooting against them. I've actually grown to like them quite a bit and admire their mostly healthy relationship. Their breakup was yet another mature decision to sacrifice their love for the safety of their loved ones. I could do without the blood sharing, though. But now that they're broken up, is that going to lead Stefan to seek blood elsewhere? Will that lead to trouble and falling off the wagon? Caroline did describe Stefan as a “bloodaholic” in this episode.

10. Damon kicking Mason in the face with his knee. He kind of deserved it.

Readers, are you going to miss Mason? Are you glad Jenna survived? What do you think of Jeremy becoming a “scoobie”? Do you think Caroline was right to erase her mom's memory?

-- Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)

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Complete "The Vampire Diaries" coverage on Show Tracker

Photos: Caroline (Candice Accola) and Bonnie (Katerine Graham) work together. Credit: Quantrell Colbert / The CW.

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