The Vampire Diaries “The Last Day” 

What a nice leisurely outing. Stefan and Elena even took a nature hike to the top of Mystic Falls! Hah. If only. So much happened and not all of it as expected, so kudos there, and I love that Julie Plec gave an interview last week where she acknowledged that the bait and switch on the curse was always planned; they just ran out of time to get to it in the way that they intended.

So, to catch up: Klaus is back in Klaus’s body and Jenna’s caught up on the who and what of Mystic Falls. Bonnie is presumably alive and well and shacked up with Jeremy–but we don’t get to enjoy that as they both sit out the second episode in a row.

We begin with Elijah discussing the how and why of the white oak ash and proposing a serum for Elena that will mimic death but keep her alive. It’s apparently what he’d intended for Katherine before she vamped herself. Damon shouts it down and then snits out of the room.

Alaric shows up and gets a face full of crossbow with Jenna on the end of the trigger. He swears he’s really him, and when she says prove it, he offers a bedroom tidbit and she cuts him off at the pass that yes, it’s him. He says he’s alive because Klaus wanted a message sent–he’s ready and coming for Elena.

Following Damon’s fit, Elena, in an act of supreme stupidity, goes to him to plead her case and he responds by BITING himself and forcing his bleeding wrist against her mouth. Stefan rages in as she screams and the brothers throw down and then Damon runs Stefan through with a big damn stake. Alaric and Jenna arrive to catch the end of it, and Alaric sends Jenna to get blood bags, which she actually does without hysterics (yay, Jenna!).

Elena is despondent now that Damon has made the decision for her that she will vamp when she dies, and Elijah takes him down a peg about it when he essentially tells him now she can hate him forever for what he’s done. Stefan recovers while Elena grieves and then he proposes they get out for a day to themselves.

Jenna and Alaric steal a moment to acknowledge that she’s glad he’s not dead and he knew she could hold her own and he’s sorry (which I actually misread and didn’t catch its foreboding. Go, me!). Alaric catches up with Damon and asks him if he’s going to escalate his stupidity. What do you think? Then Klaus saunters in and throws down.

Separately, Matt breaks up with Liz because he can’t be her mole anymore and she handles it fairly well, and he makes a promise to see Caroline later. Maddox throws a wrench in that, compelling Carol Lockwood to call Tyler home because she’s been in accident before throwing her down the stairs. Works like a charm and when she wakes up in the hospital, there he is (yay!). But so is Jules (boo!).

Caroline finds him in the parking lot and they have about 30 seconds of wanting to devour each other right there awkwardness before Maddox and Greta (Luka’s sister) show up and double mojo them. We pick up with them chained in a cage (not like that, you perv) where they finally have it out that Caroline felt abandoned by Tyler and he thought she hated him.

Damon gets a heads up from Katherine about the kidnapping and shows up to free them before they resolve that there’s a thing there, and just as he’s interrupted by Maddox, Matt swoops in to save the day with a rifle (surprise #1 of the episode). He then gets a crash course in “things that go bump include your BFF, who’s a werewolf and is changing into one right about now.” Mazel tov! Tyler takes a bite out of Damon and Matt and Caroline scramble into the Lockwood dungeon and lock themselves in just as Tyler wolfs out.

Stefan and Elena have their day off and there’s a passing nod to Twilight as she wonders why he can’t just speed race her up the side of the falls. No dice, he says. You’re still human. They stop and chat at intermittent points and then she finally unloads what he wanted to hear all along–that she’s too young for this; there are too many decisions to be made in her life about love, family, marriage, and children, and Damon has rendered them all moot. They hug and sort of agree it’s a sad sitaution. I have to say the view from the top was aweome, though. One weird side note here but it’s something TWoP has commented on, too–when they shoot a long lens view of Stefan and Elena embracing, there’s always a gap between them, like they’re standing just a little too far apart; not sure if that’s a character thing that’s supposed to be some sort of latent tentativeness between them but I think we’re well past that, so move a little closer, kids.

Damon goes to see Klaus and sort of gloat that he’s undone the spell for the evening because he has their vampire and werewolf (Caroline and Tyler) but Klaus is nonplussed because he has Elena (which was done matter-of-factly as she just bade Stefan adieu and walked toward him. WTH?) and a backup wolf (Jules) and vamp (TBD), and then he attacks Damon and knocks him out. When Damon comes to, he asks Katherine why he couldn’t be used in the curse ritual and she points out his bite. Hybrid Damon anyone?

Over at the spellcasting grounds (where I didn’t see the house, so I’m not sure if that’s where they were), Greta is walking Elena through the darkness and Elena is trying to humanize her by taking about Jonas and Luka but she’s not interested. She says she can’t see, so Greta lights up the path with a string of fires and they happen upon an unconscious Jenna. Elena races to her and there’s no pulse and then she revives. Greta casually announces that Jenna’s in transition (surprise #2, totally didn’t see that coming, and am reserving judgment on whether Jenna as a vamp rocks or blows).

So that’s our setup for this evening’s events. Good God, y’all.

Haven’t read the books so I don’t know what or where we’re tracking at this point. I think we’re early in the game to pull the trigger on Elena as a vamp, but I could be wrong. They know what they’re doing. Not keen on Carol continuing to be a punching bag for the supernaturals. Would like her to nut up. I was so glad that Matt finally did. I look forward to whatever loaded chat he’s going to have with Tyler and Caroline about what they are, who they are to each other, and where that leaves him (I say date them both, honey). You can read Kara’s take on that here. Finally, I really don’t see how Elijah wouldn’t have just killed Damon in a fit over vamping Elena. He handled that fairly well, I guess because the outcome is the same as it concerns Klaus (and Ian is a regular…).