3 Bite-Worthy Damon/Stefan Scenes + A Bonus Damon/Elena Moment of Goodness, TVD “Ordinary People” 

One of the downsides of having Stefan off with Klaus being all badass and vampy and tearin’ up the world one bite at a time is that there hasn’t been much in the way of Damon and Stefan scenes. The brothers get to share space every once in a while but it’s never really enough for me. Most of Season 3 has been Stefan shutting Damon out or saving his life then disappearing. I love the brothers getting to be brothers, warts and all. And I need this to happen more. Finally, we get an episode where the sexy Salvatore siblings spend some quality time with each other. The Stefan/Damon story in “Ordinary People” can be told in three scenes:

The “Lexi Recovery Plan.” Stefan’s still chained up from last week while the Mystic Falls gang tries to figure out a way to kill Klaus and bring back Stefan’s humanity. The scene is, naturally, filled with tons of sarcastic statements and replies. A humanity-free Stefan means he talks much like Damon does, after all. But Damon decides to try a new strategy. At the end of this scene, he frees his brother and wants to take the bonding elsewhere. I think Damon wants to prove there’s another way to get through to him. He realizes Stefan’s not fighting to beat Klaus’ compulsion. So he takes things to another venue.

Bonding at the Bar. Call me twisted but I really like the brothers hanging out at the bar, drinking shots of whiskey and much, much more. Damon compels the blonde bartender for Stefan. It’s like this is the way Damon has wanted things to be between the brothers all along. In the recent past, Stefan’s denied this dark side of his so there was no partaking in human blood and in Damon’s thoughts, no partaking in fun. But now, Stefan’s not saddled by the guilt that comes from making meals out of humans. They’re hanging out, doing their vampire thing. We even get Damon dancing all Hogs & Heifers-style on the top of the bar with a gaggle of girls. Damon hopes Stefan learns that freedom is fabulous and that living life as Klaus’ bitch is not so fabulous. I love how Damon clues Stefan into the fact that he doesn’t need to live this all or nothing existence. He’s either denying himself or he’s the biggest baddest vampire out there. I kind of like Damon’s way of thinking. And if I can be shallow for a minute, how hot were Damon and Stefan during these bonding scenes?

Of course things took a nasty turn when Mikael entered the picture. Papa Original threatened to kill Damon if Stefan didn’t help him find Klaus. Despite not having his humanity, he still comes through for Damon and saves his life again. Mikael was thisclose to ripping his brother’s heart out. Stefan tells Mikael he’ll lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls. It’s a deadly proposition considering Papa Original says if he gets Klaus to return to Mystic he’ll “gladly drive a stake through his heart. Fail, I’ll drive it through yours.” Ruh roh. Anyway, love that Mikael helped find a little “loophole” in Klaus’ strong compulsion spell. Even with no humanity, Stefan saved his brother’s life.

After escaping Mikael. My favorite Damon/Stefan moment, among a sea of bite-worthy moments, had to be when Damon finally admitted why he’s trying so desperately to save Stefan:

“Why are you doing this, huh? What do you want from me? Why is everybody trying to save me?” “Because I have to, Stefan. Because you’re in this mess with Klaus because you saved my life. Because I owe you. And I can’t just leave you in a cell to rot.” “Uh huh. Better be careful, brother. You’re humanity’s showing.”

And then Damon proceeds to kick Stefan’s ass, which is pretty awesome considering Lexi had just about done the same thing in “Ghost World.” Of course Damon had to be feeling a whole world of guilt. Stefan wouldn’t be this deep under Klaus’ compulsion if he hadn’t had to find a way to save Damon from succumbing to that werewolf bite. Oh brothers, I do so love you guys. It was so amazing to watch an episode where, yes, there was tension. But they were also able to hang without trying to get away from each other. And they had some really significant talks too. More please. Stefan’s tentatively on Damon and Elena’s side as is Rebekah. The forces against Klaus are shoring up. The mid-season finale coming up promises to be an epic episode, don’t you think?

Bonus Damon/Elena Moment of Goodness: Damon and Elena talking in bed: When Elena enters her bedroom, Damon’s already waiting for her. At first she tries to get him to get off her bed. When she realizes that’s not going to work, she joins him. And what unfolds is this nice intimate scene where Damon wants Elena to rant away since he did go behind her back and let Stefan free. Surprisingly, she’s rant-free. She’s completely exhausted and I think she doesn’t have that kind of fight in her. She’s not mad at Damon. She’s understanding some things now. She tells him a little bit about Rebekah and how Rebekah’s now on their side. And she says something else pretty insightful too. And I hope this actually is true:

“I’m not mad at you for letting him out, Damon. I think that you’re going to be the one to save him from himself. It won’t be because he loves me. It’ll be because he loves you.”

You know, this show really knows how to deliver what people want. There were great bonding Stefan/Damon scenes that we’ve been missing all season. We learned how the Originals came to be and why Michael has it out for his “son.” And there’s a build up to what could turn out to be an epic take down of Klaus. And they button things up with a quiet moment between Damon and Elena that was just so sweet and so satisfying on all levels. I love the way these two are dealing with each other these days. This show keeps getting better and better every season.

The Vampire Diaries airs Thursdays at 8/7c on the CW.