The Vampire Diaries February 16 recap: Damon makes Abby a vampire!

Turning Abby into a vampire is one of the worst things Damon has done in a long time, but he did it to spare Stefan from doing the dirty work.

If you think it was tough for Bonnie to accept Elena’s love for the Salvatores, just imagine what she’s going to go through with a vampire mom! That’s the question in the air after Damon and Stefan went to extremes to stop Esther’s plot to wipe out her children with an ancient spell that required the combined powers of the Bennett witch bloodline, putting Abby in a pivotal spot that will test Bonnie’s tolerance. If the history of past TVD newbies is a good sign, Bonnie won’t have to adjust to having a vampire mother for long. The drama began with Elena arriving just in time to catch a very satisfied Rebekah leaving Damon after their vigorous revenge hookup. Elena recognizes that an inebriated Damon’s one-night stand with Becky was his lashing out over her rejection of his love and concern for her. He’s determined to reclaim his bad boy crown and is off to a good start. Elena’s dismayed that neither Salvatore brother supports her plan to head off Esther’s plan, which she feels unfairly lumps Elijah with his wicked siblings. The Salvatores change their attitudes when Elijah, suspecting something’s afoot, kidnaps Elena and holds her for ransom when she tells him about his mother’s scheme. Either Damon and Stefan help him stop Esther or Elena’s going to be Becky’s next meal! The Salvatores team up with Alaric to split up Klaus and Kol at the Grill. Caroline lures a smitten Klaus outside while Kol puts the moves on Dr. Meredith. Ric daggers Kol, which sends all the siblings into comas, except Klaus, that is. The Klauster dashes over to toss aside Kol’s assailants and undaggers him. Down in the caverns where Elijah had left Elena with Rebekah as her guard dog, Elena takes advantage of Becky’s momentary paralysis and makes a break for it, entering the area with the hieroglyphics which vampires cannot enter. A crafty Rebekah tosses a convenient can of gasoline all over the room and sets it ablaze. Either Elena leaves the room or burns inside it! Becky’s brothers, meanwhile, confront their mother and traitorous brother Finn. Esther’s not budging, but the Salvatores put a twist on the proceedings when Damon snaps Abby’s neck, ending her life as a witch and weakening Esther’s incantation. In a flash of fire, Esther’s gone and the Original siblings are safe to continue their tyranny over Mystic Falls, for now at least.

"We're monsters," a guilt-ridden Elijah tells Rebekah.

Elijah feels guilty over having to endanger Elena in order to force the Salvatores to do his bidding. Rebekah is happy to let Elena live so she can gloat over the suffering that’s to come her way. Damon and Stefan have their own heart to heart, noting that their temporary role swap seems to  be coming to an end. Stefan thinks it’s too late to reclaim his title of resident good guy while Damon remarks that he’s better at being the bad guy. Speaking of bad guys, it turns out that Meredith may be one after all after Alaric finds incriminating evidence regarding the recent spate of murders in her apartment. “You weren’t supposed to see that,” she says as she shoots him.

Photos courtesy The CW Network, LLC.

The Vampire Diaries February 2 Recap: The Originals return!

Is Elijah (Daniel Gillies) going to take over as head of the Originals family now that everyone's back?

February 2: The Salvatore brothers discover how much they share in common with Klaus and Elijah, Caroline loses her dad and the Original vampire clan is reunited at last in the latest episode of The Vampire Diaries “Bringing Out the Dead.” A resuscitated Elijah is understandably upset with his brother and the two have a brief scuffle before Klaus convinces him they should join forces to get the remaining coffin back from the Salvatores. Klaus needs to keep an eye on his brother, though, because Elijah meets with Damon, who offers him his own deal. Will Elijah betray his bloodline? The mystery of who killed Meredith’s ex, the medical examiner, deepens when Caroline and Elena visit Mr. Forbes in the hospital and find him with a knife sticking out of his chest. Bill isn’t dead — yet anyway — and is dismayed to learn he must drink blood to finish the process of turning into a vampire. No way, he says, to his daughter’s horror. Stefan takes Bonnie and her mom to the remaining coffin and orders them to open it at all costs. The witches are successful and are shocked at what they find inside. Perhaps I should say whom they saw inside? When Sheriff Forbes reveals that the knife used to kill the medical examiner belonged to the Gilbert family, Elena and Alaric compare theories on who may be the crazed killer who’s offing members of the town council. Elena confronts Stefan and he asks her whether she posed the question to Damon, too. Stefan and Damon’s rivalry over Elena is mirrored in a story Klaus and Elijah share over dinner about the original member of the Petrova bloodline, Tatya. It seems that Tatya’s mother was a powerful witch who refused to let her end up with either Klaus or Elijah and took her life. It was Tatya’s blood the brothers drank the night they became vamps. When the Salvatores reject Klaus’ offer to protect Elena as long as they let her marry a human and make baby doppelgängers to maintain his source of hybrid juice, he tosses aside all politeness and overpowers Stefan, commanding Damon to retrieve the coffin with Elijah tagging along as a watchdog. Elijah, however, has other plans. Elena and Matt return home after accompanying Caroline on her vigil over her dad and discover that Alaric is the latest victim of the Mystic Falls’ killer on the loose! Luckily, Alaric’s regenerative power brings him back to life.

Meredith (Torrey DeVitto) has an alibi for the latest attack. Does she have a partner in crime?

Elena learns from Sheriff Forbes that Meredith was in surgery, giving her an alibi in the latest attack. I think she may be working with an accomplice. When Elijah returns, he’s accompanied by his revived siblings Rebekah, Koll and Finn, who take turns stabbing Klaus with the magic daggers. Elijah frees the Salvatores to contemplate their complicated love triangle with Elena. Who will win her love in the end? Back at the Originals’ home, Mama Original shows up alive and well. She’s not after revenge on her treacherous son, however. She wants them all to be a family again. Next up, we’re all invited to attend a ball thrown by the Originals. Hope you survive the night!

Photos courtesy the CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Vampire Diaries January 19 Recap: Damon resuscitates Elijah!

Will Abby let Bonnie down again?

It was parents’ day on the latest episode of The Vampire Diaries as Bonnie tracks down her long-lost mother Abby and Caroline’s father Bill turns up to set Tyler straight about putting his daughter in danger. Bonnie has been plagued by nightmares about those pesky coffins and her inability to open them with her magic. In one especially spooky dream, she is buried alive and is rescued by the mother she hasn’t seen in 15 years. Could it mean her mom holds the key to opening the coffins? Damon pulls some strings and gets Abby’s address in North Carolina but Elena forbids him to join her and Bonnie on their road trip. Bonnie picks up on the tension between Elena and Damon, who gleefully clues her in on their kiss. Klaus confronts Damon about getting the coffins back but Damon holds on to one that he figures out contains something more valuable to Klaus than his relatives. Klaus sends one of his hybrid henchman to put Abby under Klaus’ control by compelling her handsome young charge Jamie (played by Richard Ri’chard) to kill himself if she fails to help get the coffins back. Things get ugly fast as Stefan shows up only to get shot by Jamie, who ties up Elena while Abby overpowers Bonnie. Talk about a Mommy Dearest!  As the hybrid looks on, Abby begs Bonnie to help her find the coffins to save Jamie, but discreetly shows her a text message on her cell phone to warn her friends. She’s good after all, it seems, but is practically powerless since her magic has slowly abandoned her over the years. Can Bonnie really trust her? Elena tricks Jamie into untying her and knocks him out. As she removes the bullet shrapnel from Stefan’s body he comments on her new strength. She counters with the news that she kissed Damon. Awkward moment alert! Stefan pops Damon in the face when he returns to Mystic Falls and is peeved to learn his brother returned the coffins to the Klauster. On top of that, Damon pulled a dangerous move involving one of those mystical daggers.  Tyler apologizes to Caroline for biting her, telling her he suspected Klaus compelled him to do it even after Tyler had refused his orders to kill her. Realizing he needs to break Klaus’ sire hold on him, Tyler recruits Caroline’s dad Bill to administer some of his aversion therapy on him. To free himself from Klaus, Bill says, Tyler must willfully transform without pain thereby attaining full control over his lycanthropic half. That’s easier said than done and Tyler nearly kills Mr. Forbes when his chains prove too weak to hold his werewolf form. At the hospital, Bill tells Tyler he has a long way to go before controlling his curse and won’t be allowed to get near Caroline until he succeeds.

Is The Vampire Diaries' sexy doctor Meredith a healer or a killer?

Daddy Forbes was saved by hot doc Meredith, who turns out to have a few secrets of her own. While Alaric remains warm for her form, Damon thinks she’s a homicidal maniac who kills her lovers. When Damon confronts the good doctor she shoots him full of vervane and draws his blood, using it to save Bill’s life when Ric comes calling for an explanation on her attack on Damon. It seems the healthcare hottie uses the regenerative powers of vamp blood to heal good folks on their death beds. This is why she’s fascinated by Alaric’s protection ring but he wisely stops her from removing it from his finger. Just because she uses vamp blood for a good cause doesn’t mean she’s not a crazy-pants black widow! At Casa Klaus, the Viking vamp barely has time to celebrate the return of his siblings’ coffins when the heart of his hybrid lackey is ripped out by a resuscitated Elijah, freshly un-daggered and sporting a sleek new haircut!  This cannot be good.

The Vampire Diaries January 12 recap: Tyler bites Caroline!

Is Caroline bound to Klaus now that she drank his blood?

January 12 – Klaus did a very nice thing, for a change, Stefan went way too far in his high-stakes game with Klaus and it’s hinted that Alaric’s new love interest may be a murderess in the latest episode of The Vampire Diaries. Damon and Elena deal with the ramifications of last week’s boffo kiss in drastically different ways. Damon is all smiles and shirtless as he basks in the afterglow while Elena is wound tighter than a drum, exercising like a mad woman to work off the sexual tension. Sorry Miss Elena, but I think you have a bad case of Damonitis and no amount of jogging and kickboxing is going to help you outrun its delicious symptoms. Besides, why would you want to?  Elena gets a slight respite from her guilt courtesy of Bonnie, who’s helping her plan a 17^thbirthday party for Caroline, a year the blonde vamp will be celebrating for eternity, mind you. Bonnie’s not digging that Elena had Damon compel Jeremy to move to Denver to keep him safe from Klaus. Bonnie’s been having dreams about the coffins containing Klaus’ slumbering siblings. Damon is frustrated by his inability to crack them open while Stefan pressures Klaus to send his hybrids out of town, even boldly confronting him on his own turf. The two trade threats and Stefan beheads Klaus’s henchwoman Mindy to prove he means business.

Elena (Nina Dobrev) was devastated by Stefan's willingness to endanger her to beat Klaus.

Damon is concerned that Stefan has become dangerously unpredictable, with good reason. “To beat the villain you’ve got to be the better villain,” a scarily icy Stefan tells his brother. Proving his point, Stefan grabs Elena, feeds her some of his blood and calls Klaus from his speeding car and tells him he’ll run the car off a cliff to convert her into a vampire unless he banishes the hybrids. Klaus gives in and turns his attention to Tyler, commanding him to kill Caroline. Tyler refuses but nearly does the deed accidentally when he crashes the drink-a-thon set up by Elena, Bonnie and Matt to cheer up a down-in-the-dumps Caroline, who’s feeling ambivalent about being an eternal teen vampire. Tyler finally tells Caroline he loves her but in the heat of their passion he nicks her by mistake (remember, folks, hybrid hickies are lethal for vamps)! Klaus shows up at Sheriff Forbes’ house and feeds her his blood, assuring her that life as a vampire ain’t so bad and can be filled with an eternity of art, culture and the occasional slaughter of innocent humans on the side for kicks. OK, I added that last one for fun. He later sends Caroline a more expensive piece of jewelry to outdo the cute charm bracelet Tyler had given her. Does this mean Klaus is sweet on Caroline now? At the very least, she is bound to him by blood, just like Tyler.  Elena is understandably heartbroken by Stefan’s latest descent into Bad Guy Land. Although Stefan assures her he knew Klaus would give in, his poker face is too good for Elena’s taste. He’s playing too rough and Damon is poised to catch Elena when she falls. The two almost kiss again (darn!), but Elena doesn’t think it’s right for them to proceed. “It’s right, just not right now,” Damon tenderly assures her. Last but not least, Alaric runs into Meredith, the hottie doctor who treated him for his wounds at the hospital, at a Founder’s Council meeting at Mayor Lockwood’s house. She certainly gets around. Seems Meredith is a council member and Ric steps in when he comes upon a prickly altercation between her and a blandly cute dude named Brian Walters. Brian later turns up dead with a big, nasty blood stain on his chest. Is Meredith a serial killer? Perhaps she’s a soul-sucking succubus? Given Alaric’s track record, I wouldn’t be surprised.

The Vampire Diaries January 5 recap: Jeremy leaves Mystic Falls (and Damon kisses Elena again)!

Damon is tired of feeling guilty for "wanting what he wants."

January 5 – Jeremy goes through some major changes and Elena makes “A New Deal” with Klaus to protect someone she loves as The Vampire Diaries returns from its holiday break with a twisty, action-packed episode. The Mystic Falls gang is feeling antsy waiting around for Klaus to retaliate in response to Stefan’s theft of the coffins containing the remaining members of his slumbering family. Bonnie is haunted by a spooky premonition of finding the coffins while Elena has an unsettling encounter with a handsome stranger who turns out to be one of Klaus’s hybrid henchman stalking her as she jogs. Damon gets tipsy drinking alone at The Grill while he and Alaric try to figure out what Stefan and Klaus are up to. Meanwhile, everyone is concerned about Jeremy’s behavior in the wake of his breakup with Bonnie. Elena’s baby brother has taken to cheating on this schoolwork, got fired from his job at The Grill and, most alarmingly, is suddenly buddy-buddy with Tyler. When the trio springs an intervention on Jeremy it backfires and he invites Tyler into the Gilbert-Saltzman home. Now a dangerous hybrid under the influence of Klaus has complete access to their home, Elena worries. Although Tyler assures the gang he’s not a threat to them, Klaus activates a deadly plan B from afar when his ploy to win Damon’s cooperation in getting the coffins back from Stefan fails. To wear down Damon and Elena’s resistance, Klaus compels Jeremy to stand in front of an oncoming SUV driven by his henchman but Ric pushes Jeremy out of the way and is “killed” temporarily while Elena tends to her confused brother. Jeremy is fed up with the daily threats to his life and confronts Tyler about weaning him off vervane to make him vulnerable to Klaus’s influence. Tyler, in turn, is miffed at Klaus’s willingness to sacrifice Jeremy to achieve his goals. Bonnie discovers that Stefan is hiding the Originals’ coffins in the abandoned house haunted by the grouchy witches from the past and clues Elena in. When Elena asks Stefan for his help to protect Jeremy, she’s disgusted by his refusal and slaps him! Damon endures the agonizing sunlight unleashed by the witches to keep him out of the house and drags Stefan outside where he beats his younger brother into admitting he spared Klaus to save Damon’s life. The Salvatores agree to cooperate to work against Klaus while keeping Elena out of the line of fire. Elena, however, has other ideas. She reveals to Klaus Rebekah’s daggered body in exchange for his pledge to not hurt Jeremy. He promises to keep Rebekah from hurting her but Elena warns him that he will need protection from Rebekah as well since she now knows that he killed their mother back in the good old days. Klaus somberly decides to keep his unpredictable sister daggered, which leaves the door open for the eventual arrival of Klaus’s two other brothers Finn and Kol, played by Casper Zafer and Nathaniel Buzolic, respectively.

Have we seen the last of Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen)?

When Ric comes back to life his protection ring fails to cure him of his internal injuries from the car accident and Elena calls an ambulance. The paramedics, however, turn out to be under the control of Klaus’s henchman, who demands to be let inside in order to save Ric. Just as it looks hopeless, Jeremy shoots him with a crossbow and decapitates him in front of his horrified sister. At the hospital, Ric’s regenerative power catches the attention of a sexy doctor played by Paul Wesley’s wife Torrey DeVitto, who’s rockin’ a serious Angelina Jolie vibe. Will the hot doc help Ric with his damaged power or will she complicate matters? Stay tuned! After cleaning the latest blood stains off her porch, Elena decides to take drastic action to keep Jeremy out of harm’s way. Damon compels Jeremy to leave Mystic Falls indefinitely as a tearful Elena looks on. Feeling guilty when a grateful Elena cozies up to him, Damon admits that Stefan didn’t really betray them when he saved Klaus then he indulges himself by giving her a red-hot kiss that’s worth feeling guilty over. The kiss leaves Elena breathless and Stefan one step closer to losing his gal. Watch out Team Stelena!

Photos courtesy of The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

TVD’s Fierce Females: Caroline is the Wonder Woman of The Vampire Diaries

It's easy to understand why Matt and Tyler love Caroline so much.

It’s December 31 and I’m getting ready for tonight’s New Year’s celebration. Before I ring in 2012 I am continuing my tribute posts to the ladies of The Vampire Diaries by giving a huge shout out to Candice Accola as vamp-in-training Caroline Forbes. While the Salvatore brothers swapped personalities and revealed some new sides of themselves to TVD fans this season, it’s Caroline who gets my vote for the Mystic Falls resident who has changed the most over the years. The decision to turn Caroline, the stereotypical vapid cheerleading-captain-slash-homecoming-queen, into a feral vampire was a shocker. We all thought she might go the route of Vicki and be another of Damon’s short-term victims (although technically it was Katherine who completed Caroline’s transformation). Then the TVD writers pulled a switcheroo, to our huge benefit, and gave Candice the juicy opportunity to take us on her journey from confused baby vamp holding on to her dumb-blonde traits to confident, caring vampire coming to terms with who she is and using her new strengths — both physical and emotional — to protect the people she loves. I loved the scene in the Ghost World episode where she took on the ghosts terrorizing the crowd at the Founder’s Day festival. She jumped right in and started tossing those guys around like Wonder Woman.  Candice also shines in scenes where she confronts her parents with the reality of who she is and how becoming a vampire has helped her grow up. Her love scenes with the muscular Michael Trevino as Tyler crackle with a sensuality perhaps more suited to cable shows, but they reveal the many layers of this talented young actress.. quite literally! Let’s not forget what a great singer she is, too. Who can forget her serenading Matt with a killer rendition of The Bangle’s “Eternal Flame?” I suggest the TVD writers give Caroline a job as a singer at The Grill so we can hear Candice sing more often. I’m sure Matt wouldn’t mind.

Photo courtesy The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

TVD’s Fierce Females: Why Bonnie Bennett is TVD’s hero.

Kat Graham is TVD's guardian angel as Bonnie Bennett

I guess I should have used the word heroine in my headline, but I think Bonnie stacks up to the guys when it comes to mixing it up during TVD’s action scenes so please forgive my grammatical fudge. This week I’m paying tribute to the ladies of The Vampire Diaries and any shout out to girl power in Mystic Falls cannot be complete without showing some love’ to our Miss Bonnie. When the show debuted I thought Bonnie was uptight. Mind you, she had an understandable aversion to those of the undead, bloodsucking persuasion, regardless of how hot-looking they might be. Her sorceress roots put her at natural odds with the Salvatores but it’s admirable how she has come such a long way to collaborate with them and understand, or at least tolerate, Elena’s love for them. As her powers have grown stronger, she’s emerged as the gang’s resident guardian angel. She keeps a watchful eye on Damon — rightfully so — but has teamed up with him and Stefan to fight off the real baddies like Tyler’s original wolf pack and Klaus. I particularly loved how Bonnie came up against Klaus at Mystic Falls High to protect Elena despite the prediction that she would die during the encounter.  Bonnie laid it all on the line for her best friend and doesn’t hesitate to risk her life repeatedly for her friends. Just don’t cross her. Jeremy found himself in the doghouse after giving in to his old feelings for ghost girlfriend Anna while Tyler and Damon were reminded of her awesome power when she broke up their most recent brawl with a mind zap. When the show resumes next month Bonnie will have some new storylines to distract her from the heartbreak of Jeremy’s betrayal. Former Girlfriends star Persia White will play Bonnie’s mysterious mother Abby and hunky Robert Ri’chard comes aboard as Jaime, a new love interest for Bonnie.  Will Jamie have super powers? Time will tell, but a Google image search reveals that he certainly has super looks. Check him out here.

Image courtesy The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

TVD’s Fierce Females: Why I loved Lexi on The Vampire Diaries

Arielle Kebbel is feisty and fabulous as Lexi.

Today I shared this photo of Arielle Kebbel in a flashback scene as Lexi on The Vampire Diaries from last year. We have two weeks left until TVD returns with fresh episodes and I’m going kind of “batty,” so to speak, without original TVD action Thursday nights as I’m sure you all are regardless of whether you’re Team Delena or Team Stelena. I’ve been on Twitter a lot lately, making new friends and sharing fun pics of our TVD faves. I gotta say TVD fans on Twitter are so creative with their Twitter page designs and Twitpics. We are the best fans for sure. Anyway, I noticed that some of TVD’s long-gone characters are still being worshipped out there and I think it says a lot about how the TVD writers create great female characters.  These ladies, whether they’re “good girls” like Elena or “villainous vixens” like Katherine, are always kick-ass. They are right in the middle of things, mixing it up with the big boys like Damon and Klaus, and they’re not wasting time standing in the corner crying and waiting to get rescued. Hell, this year Elena did the rescuing of Stefan, who was in serious dog poo with all that Ripping he did under Klaus’s influence. So this week I thought I’d give props to some of TVD’s most memorable “fierce females” and I’m starting with Lexi because it was so great seeing her during the “Ghost World” episode. She was in rare form with her dry sense of humor and deadpan delivery as she gave Stefan some tough love, torturing him to make him feel again and reconnect with his humanity. She ran out of time by the episode’s end, but passed the torch — figuratively, anyway– to Elena, and Stefan eventually escaped Klaus’s clutches (for now, at least). She reminds me of the new Caroline. She’s feisty and loving and has a low tolerance for B.S. I hope the TVD writers find another way to bring her back soon. In the meantime, I got really excited to see Arielle emerge from a car that had just struck Liam on the mid-season finale of The CW’s 90210. Will she have a recurring role in Beverly Hills now? Time will tell. We all know The CW takes good care of its homegrown talent.

photo courtesy of The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

TVD fans can win prizes at Buddy TV’s annual holiday trivia contest! #TVD

While millions of TVD fans make do with repeats and support each other through our Stelena/Delena withdrawal on Twitter, the folks at Buddy TV are doing a very cool thing. They’re running their annual holiday trivia contest, which offers some great Vampire Diaries prizes and other goodies for fans of a bunch of TV shows.  The TVD prizes are pretty sweet. They include a  2012 calendar, a necklace, tote bag and Season 2 on DVD!  To participate, just sign up on BuddyTV, leave a comment so they know you’re playing and then answer as many questions as you can about The Vampire Diaries. Not only is there the chance to win swag signed by the stars who donated to the contest, but everyone has a chance to win iTunes gift cards and complete season DVDs.  The contest goes until December 18 so check it out here and let me know if you won anything ’cause you heard about it here. Good luck!

 

The Vampire Diaries November 10 Episode Recap: Klaus kills Mikael and frees Stefan!

The scene is set for a Stefan - Klaus showdown when The Vampire Diaries returns January 5.

Nov. 10 – The title of The Vampire Diaries’latest episode “Homecoming,” has a double meaning as Mystic Falls High gets ready for the homecoming dance, which sets the stage for a deadly family reunion between a returning Klaus and his daddy dearest Mikael. It’s a labyrinth of plots and counterplots where the players literally stab each other in the back and it’s hard to keep track of who’s on top. The Salvatores and Elena enter an uneasy alliance with Mikael to lure Klaus back to town and set up an elaborate plot in which Mikael lets Elena stab him with one of the mystical daggers that puts vampires in suspended animation – an undead coma of sorts – so that Stefan can call his master and deliver the news of his father’s death without needing to lie and risk ruining the plan. Rebekah, having learned how merciless Klaus can be, joins in the masquerade and tells him on the phone that the coast is clear for his return to Mystic Falls. Becky is still hurting over her recent trip down bad-memory lane with Elena and berates her father for destroying their family after Elena brings him back to undead life. Later, Rebekah, looking super hot in a red strapless dress, opens up to Elena again as she prepares to be escorted to the homecoming dance by Matt. Suspecting that Rebekah could endanger their plot, Elena daggers her in the back. Damon is proud of Elena’s new-found treacherous streak, but she admits she doesn’t really have the killer instinct and fears she may be the weak link in their team when the showdown with Klaus finally comes. Damon confides to her that he has a top-secret plan. Nobody realizes that Klaus has one, too. Caroline and Tyler bicker over his oafish behavior now that he’s a macho hybrid devoted to Klaus. She’s particularly peeved that Tyler set up Matt with Becky, whom she refers to as an evil blood slut. With Rebekah on ice, Elena takes her place as Matt’s date but a suspiciously timed flood at the school moves the party to a new location where Tyler sets up a festive “wake” – complete with a performance by the rock band My Morning Jacket — for Klaus’s not-so-lamented father. To ensure that Stefan doesn’t interfere with the plot against his master, Mikael bites him into unconsciousness.

Katherine did a great job pretending to be Elena while Matt looked hot, as usual.

At Klaus’s celebration, Tyler learns that his sire has surrounded the gang with an army of hybrids prepared to retaliate should anything happen to Klaus. Fearing a bloody showdown, Tyler stabs Caroline with a needle full of vervane to knock her out and asks Matt to get her out of danger. He next tangles with Damon, driven by his instinct to protect Klaus, but their fight is ended by a powerful mind zap from Bonnie. Damon has the dagger to end all daggers crafted by Mikael using wood from the tree that helped create the Original Vampires. This, folks, is the Super Dagger. Mikael finally shows up at the festivities but cannot enter the house that keeps Klaus safe. Daddy discovers that Klaus’s minions have encircled him and are on orders to tear him apart at the snap of Klaus’s fingers. Unfortunately for the Klauster, his daddy outmaneuvers him and reveals that he has compelled the hybrids’ vampire sides to do his bidding, overriding Klaus’s orders. He pulls out Elena and threatens to kill her to deprive Klaus of the precious blood he needs to grow his hybrid family. Check and mate. An emotional Klaus trades insults with his fiendish father and calls Mikael’s bluff. Mikael promptly stabs Elena – in the back, of course – momentarily distracting Klaus so that Damon can tackle him and kill him. Just as Damon is about to deliver a final blow, Stefan stops him and Klaus grabs the dagger and plunges it into Mikael’s heart. Once again, Klaus is top dog in Mystic Falls … so to speak. It turns out that “Elena” was really Katherine doing a great impersonation of her virtuous lookalike and, after lobbing some wolf’s-bane grenades at Klaus’s cronies, the Kat hightails it out of town to escape Klaus’s wrath. Tagging along with her is Stefan, whom she convinces to get back in touch with his humanity, even if it’s just to get even with Klaus. Damon is angry with Stefan for ruining his plan to kill Klaus, not knowing that it was a move Stefan made to regain his freedom and save his brother. Stefan’s first act as a newly free man is to swipe the treasured caskets of Klaus’s family. It’s Klaus’s move now. To be continued on January 5. Groan.

Photos courtesy of The CW Network LLC. All rights reserved.