The Vampire Diaries April 19 recap: Heart of Darkness

April 19 – Several characters from the past made return appearances, a new allegiance was forged and Damon made some serious progress in his bid to win over Elena’s heart in the latest episode of TVD, “Heart of Darkness.” The Salvatores and Elena decide they need to get to Jeremy in Denver before Klaus now that Klaus has discovered his whereabouts. Stefan suggests that Elena and Damon will hit the road alone while he stays home to watch over Alaric and wait until his evil alter ego reemerges with the secret to the location of the dagger that can kill Klaus. Stefan thinks Elena needs some time alone to assess her feelings for his brother. Bad idea! When Damon and Elena find a studly Jeremy at a batting range, they explain to him that they need to trace the lineage of each Original vampire since killing an Original will destroy all the vamps he or she sired. Getting in touch with Rose, through Jeremy’s gift, is their next step. Naturally, danger follows Jeremy wherever he goes and a friend he’s expecting turns out to be Kol, who’s thirsting for a rematch with Damon. Damon manages to outmaneuver Kol and the three hide out at a local motel. Jeremy manages to conjure the spirit of Rose in her cute little shag haircut and she reveals that her sire was not Klaus but a woman named Mary Foster, whom Damon refers to as “Crazy Mary.” She also clues Jeremy in on the developing bond between his sister and Damon. Elena is touched to learn how Damon compelled the dying Rose to imagine herself spending a final day in the sun as a human rather than feel the pain of her impending death. Elena realizes that, although well hidden, Damon still has his humanity. This is very bad for Stefan, folks. We all know there’s nothing sexier than finding the soft side of a bad boy vampire. That night, a vigilant Damon watches over Elena, shirtless of course as his chiseled body shines in the moonlight. Damon is uncomfortable when Elena brings up his good deed for Rose, but reaches out to her, sensing that it’s brought them closer. Although torn, Elena can no longer fight her attraction to Damon and the two melt into a steamy embrace as they devour each other in passionate kisses! This ain’t no chaste “Twilight” scene, folks. Team Delena cheers. Team Stelena hisses. Our collective screams are interrupted by Jeremy, of course, with the news that Mary Foster is living in Kansas. When the trio arrive at her home, they discover it’s more like she’s dead in Kansas, staked by Kol, who beats Damon up but inexplicably doesn’t kill him. Afterward, Damon senses Elena pull away from his caress and discovers that she expects him to do something to ruin their new bond. Realizing their trip was a test of her feelings, Damon’s disappointed, hurt and tells her he won’t make it easy for her to choose Stefan over him. The choice between the Salvatores is one she will need to make on her own. As the trio head back home, Damon and Elena stew in uncomfortable silence while Jeremy gets another visit from Rose, who explains to him that Damon deserves his chance to win Elena because he challenges her in ways Stefan does not.

Back in Mystic Falls, Caroline and Rebekah clash over competing ’70s and ’30s themes for the upcoming decades dance (another excuse to put the cast in cute costumes I’m sure) and Matt sides with Becky.  What the Beckster doesn’t realize is that Matt and Caroline set up the argument to distract her while Caroline sets out to meet a returning Tyler.  When Matt drops Becky off at her home, she discovers her mom Esther there. Mother and daughter have a tense confrontation that ends with Esther collapsing. Klaus arrives and Becky tells him their mother is dead. Is she really? Tyler, randy as ever, has a vigorous naked reunion with his voluptuous vamp but is disturbed to learn that his life is on the line if his sire Klaus is offed. He’s even more upset to discover that Klaus is putting the moves on his gal and Caroline may not be totally immune to his attentions.  Alaric goads Stefan into beating the crap out of him to set loose his dark side and indeed, Bad Ric emerges and tells him that the stake with Klaus’ name on it is in the cave where vamps can’t enter. Trouble is that Klaus and Rebekah are in the living room and know it, too! Rebekah takes Bad Ric down to the cave to retrieve the dagger while Klaus and Stefan have a little chat. Klaus plays it all big and evil, trotting out the usual threats against Stefan and all those he holds dear, but Stefan sees right through his theatrics. He knows Klaus doesn’t really want to kill him and Klaus counters that it’s only a matter of time before The Ripper returns to his side. In the cave, Bad Ric decides he doesn’t want to return the dagger to his captors, but Becky does him one better by stepping into the cave! She’s actually Esther inhabiting Rebekah’s body and she wants to team up with Bad Ric to get rid of the Originals once and for all!

Vampire Diaries January 27 Recap: Damon does a mercy killing.

Damon had no choice but to put Rose out of her agony.

January 27 – This episode features some mighty fine acting by Ian Somerhalder, who goes from touching to terrifying in the blink of an eye as the torn Damon Salvatore struggling to reconcile his savage vampire nature with his resurgent humanity. He definitely goes through the ringer on this one and I was feeling for Damon a lot. We also got more evidence that Jules is one baaaaad werewolf chick. She may not be as powerful as Katherine, Mystic Falls’ undisputed top villainess, but Jules is trouble with a capital T. We first see her waking up in the aftermath of a particularly grisly kill at a camp site where she tries to burn the mangled remains. When an unlucky deputy happens upon the scene she bludgeons him to death to cover her tracks. After Damon leaves an ailing Rose in Elena’s care at his place he confronts the she-wolf and tries to bargain with her to find a cure for the wolf’s bite. His intimidation gambit falls flat because Jules isn’t afraid of big bad Damon. “Put a stake through her heart,” a defiant Jules suggests prophetically. Elena is thinking the same thing when a delirious Rose turns rabid and attacks her. A resourceful Elena uses sunlight to fend Rose off and locks herself in a room with a makeshift stake. When she exits the room she encounters Damon and the two head out to find Rose, finding her just as she bites big, bloody chunks out of a young couple leaving the latest festival. Damon returns Rose to his home and comforts her as she grapples with unimaginable pain and guilt over killing the innocent locals. Realizing there’s no other options, Damon lulls Rose into a dream in which she revisits her idyllic human life in England and gently stakes her to release her from her agony. Ian’s lone tear drop is an acting coup and I really felt for Rose, whom I admittedly found annoying because I thought she lacked chemistry with sexy Damon. Still, the scene belonged to Ian.

An unlucky woman paid the price for Damon's emotional turmoil.

After Elena hugs him to express her condolences over Rose’s death, a tortured Damon gets smashed and lures an unsuspecting female motorist to her doom, the whole time keeping us on pins and needles as we beg him not to kill her knowing full well that he was gonna do it. And boy did he ever! Yikes!  While Damon reclaimed his bad boy credentials, Caroline finds herself smack in the middle of a love triangle. Matt kisses her after she confesses her love for him but she pulls away without sharing the news of her bloody new diet with him. While the eternally clueless hunk scratches his head in confusion, Tyler shows Caroline his gratitude for her support with a big wet one and she responds. Pulling away, she exclaims “Everyone just needs to stop kissing me!” Lucky girl. Tyler has reason to change his tune where Caroline’s concerned when Jules reveals her werewolf status to him and implicates Caroline in Mason’s death. Join us, she tells him, adding that more werewolves are on their way to Mystic Falls for a showdown with the vampires. She’s trouble I tell ya!  Stefan, meanwhile, gets Isobel’s number from Alaric so he can enlist her help in saving Elena from super vamps Elijah and Klaus. His search reunites Elena not with her mysterious mom but with her daddy dearest, “uncle” Jonathan Gilbert!  Where’s Katherine when you need her?

Photos copyright 2011 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

Sneak peek pictures from The Vampire Diaries January 27 episode!

Who is the mystery girl with Damon?

Just two more weeks before The Vampire Diaries returns with fresh episodes, folks! It can’t come soon enough for me. I’m on pins and needles over the fate of Rose. We know from the previews that she’s gonna turn rabid and go after Elena. My question is whether she survives the episode. A few new preview photos released by The CW just might provide a clue or two.  It looks like Damon is gonna get some major screen time, not that we mind, of course. He’s pictured with some mystery gal and these pictures indicate their conversation will be pretty intense. Is she someone from his past? More importantly, is she going to figure in his future? Jules is set to take a walk in the woods rockin’ a lady lumberjack look like she’s ready for a date with Wolverine from X-Men. Regardless, Jules looks spooked in one shot and comes across a fire in another. Did she set it? In other news, Caroline ends up in a pickle when a grateful Tyler plants one on her just as Matt makes move to further their reconciliation along. Will she pick the human hottie or the hot-headed werewolf? Tune in on January 27!

Photos copyright 2011 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

 

I thought Damon's emotional moments were only for Elena!

 

At least Elena gives Damon some solace.

Will Damon have to kill a rabid Rose to save Elena?

Will Jules get what's coming to her from a vengeful Damon?

Is Jules getting rid of evidence? A body, perhaps?

Here's a shot of Damon lookin' mighty fine. Go figure.

Will Rose die of rabies on The Vampire Diaries?

The new YouTube preview of the next episode of Vampire Diaries is chilling! We’re finally going to find out what happens to a vampire after getting bitten by a werewolf. We’ve heard for most of the new season about how deadly werewolf bites are for vampires but I’m guessing most of us thought that the results would be like any regular wolf bite — major pain, lots of bloodletting and a relatively quick death. From the looks of the next episode, it appears that the after effects are far more drawn out and gory. As we all know, Rose, who clearly has a crush on Damon regardless of how casual she wants to come off, took a bite meant for him from Jules in wolf form. Although the wound seemed to heal miraculously quick, it was replaced by some ominous, bubbling skin tissue on her shoulder. I think a werewolf’s bite infects a vampire’s bloodstream with a venom that turns him or her into a werewolf-vampire hybrid acting like a zombie straight out of “Night of the Living Dead.” This stuff looks pretty gruesome. Jules is of course pretty happy about it and refuses to help Damon find a cure — if there is one. Elena, our perpetual damsel in distress, seems to be square in the line of fire, as usual. Vampire Diaries seems to be setting up a steady stream of villains this year and I think Jules’ unseen collaborator will figure prominently in the coming weeks, especially if Damon does anything to Jules. Killing werewolves doesn’t seem to be a wise move for peace in Mystic Falls. They move in packs, after all, so it stands to reason there will always be a new one on the scene to avenge the death of a fallen pack mate. I suspect Lauren Cohan, who plays Rose, won’t be on the show much longer so I looked her up on IMDB and found out that she was born in Philadelphia in 198 2 and was raised in the United Kingdom, hence the British accent. She’s in a direct-to-video flick called “Death Race 2″ and will appear as Leto in “Young Alexander the Great.” For more information on Lauren, visit her profile here.

Sneak peek at Dec. 2 episode of The Vampire Diaries

Stefan's life will be endangered by something Jeremy does!

I hope everyone enjoyed last night’s journey back in time to explore crazy Katherine’s history. The bad news for fans is that The Vampire Diaries won’t be airing fresh episodes until December 2, but the good news is that our Mystic Falls favorites look to be returning with a bang when they do.  Elena starts a new plan to foil the big Klaus caper and recruits Rose’s help, but Rose ends up calling on Damon (big shock!) when Elena’s plan goes in an unexpected direction. That Rose has her sights set on Damon and I’m not liking it one bit.  Meanwhile, Jeremy is heading for trouble when he teams up with Bonnie to retrieve the moonstone, forcing Stefan to put himself in danger.  At the Lockwood home, Tyler and Caroline will make a discovery that leaves them both terrified. Anything that spooks a vampire and a werewolf cannot be good. Check out these sneak peek photos!

Bonnie is collaborating with the Salvatore brothers more than ever.

Will Rose's meddling be the end of her? One can only hope.

What will Caroline and Tyler find in the Lockwood cellar?

All photos copyright 2010 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.