Collateral Damage

It was a night of betrayal; a night of dancing, decisions, discussions, and deceit. It was a night of romance. Sadly, the romance was crushed, stomped on, and set aflame by the end of the evening. The tension was so thick, even Stefan’s teeth couldn’t break the seal. However, there is still hope. Right? *Silence* At least, some? A tiny bit? A thimble full? Okay, moving on. While the episode confirmed our suspicions about a certain Original, it also left us wondering. Have we judged wrong? Could our favorite bad-boy hybrid have a soft side? Can his evil ways be changed by the right vampire? Only time will tell. Last night pushed us into uncharted territory. The road leading to this chaotic setting will be treacherous. Hold on tight. This is a SPOILER ALERT!

Today on As the Vampires Turn, Matt and Elena leave after a late-night at Mystic General – taking time to make sure Alaric is all right after his latest near-death experience. The two seemingly close friends part ways after giving us a quick recap of the events of the past week (i.e. Bringing out the Dead). Elena gets into her car, puts it into drive, and somewhat carefully backs out. BAM! Not carefully enough. Our good human rushes out of her car, thinking she’s hit some poor elderly pedestrian, only to find that’s not the case at all. “Drive much?” Elena comes face to face with a very angry Rebecca. The Original’s fangs are set to sink into the humans flesh when our good friend, Elijah, steps in to intervene. With a new sort of air about him, Elijah presents himself as the premier vampire in town, bringing style and makeovers to all in need (a.k.a. The entire Mikaelson Family. a.k.a. The Original Family).

Contradictory to this new change, the mighty seem to have fallen. Hard. Klaus acts more like a petulant child than a seriously disturbed hybrid with a master plan. Despite his complaints, Mama Original is determined to make peace with the people of Mystic Falls. Which means it’s time to throw a party. Again? Yes, again. The residents of Mystic are rewarded with handwritten personal invitations. Very classy. And a special message. Elena Gilbert curiously opens her envelope to find a personal invitation to chat, from non other than Mama Original herself. Damon strongly opposes any sort of meeting. Of course. Always ruining the fun. He rips the envelope from her hands and vows to go in her place. Damon! Be careful. You could have given Elena a paper cut. And we all know what happens then, don’t we? Putting Elena’s invite to shame, Caroline opens her personally sealed envelope to find a simple request . . . from Klaus. “Save me a dance.” Not to be outdone, the hybrid also bestows upon the blonde vampire a simple (and by simple, I mean extravagant) blue ball gown for the special occasion. What a charming bastard, eh?

Later that night . . . Wow, these Originals sure do know how to throw a party. The stage is set. The guests drink and mingle; the conversation and the champagne flowing freely. Damon Salvatore – who looks quite sexy in a tux, I must say – glances around the room. Well, what do we have here? He watches as Elena Gilbert slowly makes her way toward the large hall, but before he can get to her, Stefan takes his place by her side. Damn. Though their longing looks speak differently, the brothers aren’t quite pleased with Elena’s appearance. She wasn’t supposed to be there. Elena is relentless. She will not leave until she knows what Esther (Mama Original) wants from her. The boys know that they are fighting in a losing battle. They relent, holding out their arms for Elena to take. Lucky girl. Together they walk into the lion’s den.

Knowing she must talk to Esther alone, Elena asks Stefan for help. He is the only one that understands. She won’t get the answers she needs from the Original if she has Damon constantly watching her. The two devise a plan. Elena convinces Damon to meet her alone. He steps into the room, but is quickly restrained into unconsciousness by Stefan. It’s time. Suspicious of his mothers intentions, Elijah requests that Elena relay everything she is told in the meeting. Elena agrees. We can trust him, can’t we?

When Esther and Elena are finally alone, Mama Original spills some insider secrets. How is she alive, even though Klaus ripped her heart out? Her witch BFF (who is also a Bennett) preserved her body with a spell. Okay. Thriving on power from the Bennett line, Esther’s soul (so to speak) was kept on the other side, until she could be released. What does Esther want? She want’s to erase her mistakes, to rid the world of the evil she created. Fair enough. How is she going to kill Klaus? Well, it’s going to take some time and some magic. Oh, and some doppelgänger blood. Not much, just a drop or two. Um . . . alright. What’s the plan, then? Esther will need to perform a ritual. With Elena’s blood, she can create a spell that will link all her children together as one – since she can’t kill Klaus just by himself. Uh, where are you going with this? ALL her children will die (NFW!) when they drink the potion. Which is masked in the champagne. Classy. Esther understands, or rather, believes what she created for her children is evil. It’s her duty to kill them. Yeah, I’m thinking that trusting Esther is definitely not a good idea.

Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. As Damon regains his footing, the vampire is less than thrilled to hear what has been going on in his absence. He only wants to keep Elena alive! Is that too much to ask? No. I don’t think so. Stefan believes Damon is letting his emotions get in the way of what needs to be done. “You care too damn much.”

Keeping her word, Elena tells Elijah what happened when she met with his mother. Sort of. Kind of. Not really. Elena plays the age-old game of betrayal and deception, allowing Elijah to drink from the poisoned glass. Oh, hell no. We like him. We don’t want him to go away! The others follow, as well; drinking the concoction with ease. When the lights are dimmed, Esther sets to finish the spell. With some help and some blood from her son, Finn, Mama Original completes the link.

Though reluctant to appear, Caroline finds herself seeking out Klaus’ company. Oh, my. Lust drips from Klaus’ eyes as he spots his beautiful vampire. She is hesitant, at best, to trust the hybrid’s friendship. In fact, Caroline is more concerned with preventing Matt from making any kind of connection with the willing Rebecca. Which is a good thing, since Rebecca wants to kill him. Barbie Klaus procures Bad Boy Kol’s help, but before she can lure Matt into a trap, he shows her an act of kindness that changes her outlook on things. Rebecca saves him from an untimely death. Should we start the name combination now?

Meanwhile, Klaus is still trying to secure Caroline’s affections. “I fancy you.” *Breath hitch* Okay, that’s it! I am officially on Team Klaroline. Tyler, who? How ridiculously charming is this man? Have you ever met someone so evil, and yet, so sweet? Smooth words, promises of exotic places, and beautiful art (That Klaus, himself, drew!) don’t change Caroline’s thoughts, unfortunately. She doesn’t want to be bought. She wants Tyler back. Boo! Later, Caroline is surprised and quite angry to find another gift from Klaus. She opens the jewelry box, but instead of diamonds, she finds something infinitely better. A picture. Klaus’ sketch depicts the object of his affections; a few lovely words for her to unravel. Gah! Just open your heart, Caroline!

As the party comes to a close, Damon confronts Elena. Anger radiates off him. He doesn’t understand why she went behind his back. She shouldn’t have done that; she shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Elena tries to reason with him, but fails in her attempt. Is he mad because she didn’t include him in her plan? Is he mad at her for including Stefan? “No. I’m mad at you, because I love you.” You know, it gets better every time you say that, Damon. Elena pauses. “Well, maybe that’s the problem.” Oh, no. She didn’t! Yep. She did. It seems Delena is barely hanging on by a thread. Damon backs away, a familiar coldness sweeping in. Moments later, Damon returns to his old ways. Though saving Matt from Kol’s dastardly intentions, Damon unwisely picks a fight with the Original. That probably wasn’t a good idea. Even Stefan agrees. “What are you doing? Are you crazy?” Maybe, a little.

Well. Since Delena seems to be at a standstill, any hope for Stelena? Um, maybe? Elena wonders how Stefan can just not feel; how he can go on and pretend that he doesn’t care. “If I let myself care, all I feel is pain.” He hates himself for hurting Elena. He doesn’t want to hurt her anymore. Sigh. I wish vampires would learn that running away from your problems is not the answer.

Here we are again, Damon. Drinking away our problems. Do you know what’s even worse? Drinking your problems away with Rebecca. Yeah. Bad move, my friend. The two melancholy vampires share a drink, flirting their way into a very bad decision. Hot vampire sex! Yay! No. This is not a good thing . . . despite the steamy session. You know what this means. No more Delena. And we didn’t even really have Delena in the first place! No. This is not good at all. Wait. Did he just . . . ? Oh, my. Um, I think I’m going to need a moment. FanGirl down! FanGirl down!

The Vampire Diaries

What did you think of the episode? What was your favorite scene? Favorite line? Are you on Team Klaroline? What did you think of Esther and her plan? Will Elijah be the one to stop his mother? Are Damon and Elena officially over? Tell me in the comments!

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