Plan B

I was totally not expecting this opening scene. I’d been certain that we were going to open with the Katherine/Mason in the bed scene. Stefan and Elena - that was a total surprise. I really think that there’s a correlation to Stefan drinking Elena’s blood and the fact that we see them in bed together...he’d been intentionally distancing himself after his human blood issue - leading to less physical intimacy between the couple. Now that he’s drinking her blood, he’s not afraid of being overwhelmed by the need and losing control.

I did like the parallel scenes between Stefan with Elena and Mason with Katherine. (Book nerd moment - the fact they’re in Mrs. Flower’s house....so cute.) Katherine and Elena may be physically similar, but watching them with their significant others really shows their personality differences. Elena’s warm and tender when she’s with Stefan. Katherine’s possessive and dominant.

Jeremy’s arrival at the Salvatore house was also unexpected. He’s so isolated he’s willing to share his information with the vampire who tried to kill him. I haven’t decided if he’s just trying to be part of the team or if he’s trying to protect Elena here.

At party headquarters, Jenna shows she’s not as clueless of a guardian as I might have expected. She’s just cool with things that wouldn’t go down at my house.

Bonnie and Elena’s meeting seems really forced. (I do have to say that I really like Bonnie’s hair here - my favorite look for her out of all the looks she’s had.) Elena’s trying to help Caroline adjust to her new life. Bonnie’s out and out hate of all things vampire has left her alone.

Caroline and her mom’s initial chat was so much like I would have written it. (Hey, I did write that they bonded over Caroline taking dishes away.) For the first time, Sheriff Forbes doesn’t just see a creature she hates - she realizes that her daughter really did die. No mother could stay cold and indifferent after that realization.

Alaric arrives with more of Isobel’s research. He’s surprised to see Jeremy there, and he asks if Elena knows about Jeremy’s involvement. Ummm, that would be a no. Damon might not be a believer in the curse about the moonstone, but he’s not taking any chances. He wants the moonstone.

I’m surprised that Bonnie apparently didn’t know the story of how Caroline turned. She’s been more closed off from her friends than I realized.

Mason seeing Stefan at the Lockwood house has to be one of my favorite scenes in this episode. The look on his face...yeah, he wasn’t expecting to ever see Stefan again. Bonnie bumps into Mason and gets an unexpected vision. Interesting that she immediately thought it was Elena. Yes, Elena’s supposed to be having a rough patch with Stefan, but she wouldn’t be kissing Mason Lockwood. Is she blocking out the undead lady who bears such a striking resemblance to her best friend? Last time I saw the pair of them together, Katherine had Bonnie by the neck. I would have thought that would have left a lasting impression with her. Did she think Katherine had left? She does confide in Stefan, though. He makes the connection.

Jeremy and Elena discuss Jeremy’s involvement in Team Blood, Beer, and Cookies. As expected, she’s not a fan. He tells her that she hasn’t left him much choice. She doesn’t get to tell him what to do.

Damon and Stefan are surprised they missed Katherine’s connection to Mason. (Hey, guys, I called that a LONG time ago. They both got to town at the same time.) Stefan is unimpressed that Damon’s letting Jeremy be in on the anti-Katherine plan. He was so funny when he punched Damon’s shoulder in annoyance.

In the interest of length, I’m not commenting on the Tyler/Matt/Jeremy scene here.

Elena’s feeling out of the loop, so she’s texting Stefan to find out what’s going on. We know she’s big on texting - nice to see it here. When she discovers Stefan is with Bonnie and Damon, alarm bells ring. She calls him. (Nice point here...Stefan doesn’t want Elena to be calling him in a public place. That breaks the “we’re fighting” scenario they’re trying to keep.) Damon chats with Bonnie as Stefan talks with Elena. He says that Katherine and Mason are the bad guys. Last year, he would have said that about himself. He knows how to push Bonnie’s buttons...by helping him, she’ll be protecting Elena. She agrees.

Seizing on Mason’s nice guy image, Bonnie assists in ambushing Mason by giving him a now-famous witchy headache. When he goes down, Damon tosses Mason in the back of his truck.

Sheriff Forbes seems shocked that there’s an alternate to killing. Caroline is so cute when she says she’s better at controlling herself than Stefan. All that work for Miss Mystic Falls must have paid off. She’s been a control freak - now that nature is accentuated as well.

Bonnie tries to “read” an unconscious Mason. After discovering it is in a well, she bolts. As she’s leaving, Caroline comes to meet her - uncomfortable..... Bonnie has an idea of which well the moonstone is at, and she’s ready to go meet Stefan at the well. Thankfully, she reluctantly agrees to take Caroline with her.

Oh look! Matt and Elena have a scene together. He’s concerned about Elena, but he doesn’t press her on what’s going on.

Not gonna lie - the Damon torturing Mason scenes were really uncomfortable to watch. It was good to see a hint of the dark Damon - he may be a work in progress, but he’s still totally a vampire.

Stefan arrives at the well - mildly annoyed that Elena followed him. He jumps into the well only to discover that Mason has done an excellent job of hiding the stone from Katherine. The water’s full of vervain. His skin is literally boiling. Ew!

Elena totally freaks out. Caroline hears her and rushes to help, but Elena stops her before she jumps in. Thankfully, the huge metal chain is next to the well.

Damon continues his dealings with Mason. He’s mildly troubled when Jeremy arrives, but warms to his arrival when Jeremy explains about the wolfsbane. Damon strokes Mason’s cheek with the plant in much the same way Stefan taunted Katherine with the vervain back in “Memory Lane.” When he realizes Mason’s not going to talk, he force feeds the vervain to him.

Caroline lowers Elena into the well where she finds a severely injured Stefan. After securing the chains around him, Elena goes in search of the moonstone. Bonnie and Caroline lay Stefan on the ground as they encourage Elena to get out of the well. While surrounded by snakes, Elena finds the moonstone. Honestly, I expected her to react to the snakebites - glad I was wrong. Stefan is only semi-conscious. Elena slices her hand open (causing Caroline to turn away) and allows him to feed.

Damon clearly gets into his torture. He’s pressing on - determined to get the information out of Mason. Once he realizes Mason has no more to tell...time’s up. Damon tells Jeremy to take a walk. Mason knows what’s coming. He begs Jeremy to help Tyler - don’t let the curse happen to him - he’s not going to be around to help his nephew.

Jeremy stands his ground. He’s not going anywhere.

Damon throws Jeremy into a chair and explains - it is kill or be killed (actually, that was last week’s episode....). Thankfully, Jeremy chooses to leave.

Damon has a moment of shocking clarity at this point. He understands that Katherine has convinced Mason of her love for him. History isn’t just repeating for the brothers....Katherine has found a new man to manipulate as well. Damon realizes that Mason is truly burdened by the werewolf curse. He’s almost doing Mason a favor as he ends his life. Mason clearly hated what he’d become. He may have loved Katherine, but he wasn’t happy with his life and the potential to hurt others. Damon had to see a portion of himself in Mason - both turned into monsters by the woman who they thought loved them.

Awww - sweet Alaric and Jenna moment in the kitchen. On this show, nothing that tender lasts for too long. Elena comes home, and Alaric realizes something’s wrong.

Caroline excitedly tells her mother about rescuing Stefan, and Sheriff Forbes says what I’d been so hoping to hear. She loves the young woman that Caroline has become. She doesn’t want to lose those memories. Caroline knows, though, that her mom will never trust Damon and Stefan. She has to protect them. She compels her mother to think she’s been sick with the flu for the past three days.

A visibly drained Stefan meets Damon in the living room. When Damon makes a call to taunt Katherine, Stefan tries to stop him. Damon seriously should have listened to his brother. When he talks with Katherine, he realizes his mistake. He’d underestimated Katherine.

Jenna’s on the phone while Alaric and Elena talk. Katherine’s on the phone - she knows about Stefan and Elena sleeping together. Jenna’s been watching Elena and Stefan and reporting in to Katherine. Katherine makes good on her threat to Stefan. She’s compelled Jenna to stab herself, and she makes certain Elena is watching.

Elena comes to tell Jeremy that Jenna’s going to be alright. She’s as broken as we’ve seen her. She knows Katherine really can get to anyone. Jeremy takes his sister in his arms, and he gives a shockingly determined look as he strokes her hair. Katherine is going to pay. He’s going to make sure of it.

Insert Tyler scene here....

(Sorry - this next scene is brutal for me to recap. Nina and Paul do such a good job of visually showing their characters’ angst....words don’t accurately capture the emotion they’re conveying.) Elena walks into the Salvatore library. Stefan’s there...staring into the fire. When he turns, he’s already fighting back tears. He chokes out an apology as Elena says they’re the ones to blame. They didn’t listen to Katherine. There’s only one thing they can do. Stefan has no words. She has to say it. They have to end it. She’s so torn, and I really think she’s conflicted knowing just what he’s been through that day. The guy’s boiled in vervain water. On a different day, he might take her in his arms, but he’s simply spent. She gives him one more kiss and turns to leave.

She’s clutching her stomach as she speeds down the hall. Damon calls out to her as she reaches the door. In a moment of total maturity, he tries to take the blame for what’s happened. Elena dismisses him. It doesn’t matter. After all they’ve been through, a tearful Elena admits that Katherine won. Seeing the tears in Elena’s eyes seems to make something click in Damon’s expression. Katherine’s gone too far now.

Poor guy, Matt can’t catch a break. First Caroline breaks up with him...now Katherine needs a favor. She needs a new werewolf, and she needs Matt’s help. She compels Matt to attack Tyler. He can’t stop until Tyler kills him.

Bad Moon Rising Recap

Mystic Falls has a new council of sorts. Alaric, Stefan, Damon, and Elena meet to discuss the Lockwood issue. Did Isobel ever mention another supernatural element in Mystic Falls?

Werewolves...

Of course, what would a vampire story be without a werewolf plot? Damon is skeptical. He’s been around a long time, and he’s never run into a werewolf. Therefore, they must not exist. Despite his skepticism, the group decides a road trip to Isobel’s office is in order - except for Stefan. He has to stay home and babysit baby vamp, Caroline.

And he’s not exactly thrilled about it. Elena realizes he’s on edge having her going away with Damon. She offers to reschedule the trip, but he says he’ll be fine - while admitting he’s going to hate her being gone. As Elena puts her bags in the car, Damon offers to take very good care of her. She’s tired of Damon, at least she’s not calling him the D word this week, and she knows Stefan’s still uncertain about the trip. She glares at Damon, pulls Stefan close to her, and gives him a passionate kiss - while Damon looks uncomfortably at the pair.

Sunlight is still giving Caroline major issues. When Matt arrives to spend the day with her, she can’t even answer the door. Thankfully, Stefan has thought of this, and he meets with Bonnie to try to solve the problem. In a complication I expected (but hoped to be wrong about), Bonnie’s not so sure about providing Caroline with her own anti-daylight jewelry. At first, she tries to play the “I’m not strong enough card,” but Stefan nixes that idea. If she can drop a vampire with a single glare, she can make the ring. The instructions are in the grimoire. Stefan insists that Caroline needs the ring to give her a tie to her humanity not to make it easier to hunt. Finally, Bonnie agrees.

We move on to Caroline’s room, and Caroline is cranky. She wants to know why she didn’t have any say in picking the ring, and she’s not enjoying the “judgy-Bonnie” treatment. She didn’t have any say in turning into a vampire, and she’s not pleased that Bonnie seems less than friendly. Stefan intervenes before Caroline drives Bonnie away, and Bonnie successfully spells the ring.

Damon’s not the only one curious about what’s going on with Mason Lockwood. Tyler follows his uncle into the woods and discovers a hidden room beneath the ruins of the old Lockwood home. Curious, Tyler asks his mom about the room. The Lockwood house burned down ages ago (seems to be a lot of that in Mystic Falls), and the room isn’t something mentioned in polite company. Slavery, you know. Somehow, I’m thinking slavery isn’t why the room wasn’t mentioned. Does Mrs. Lockwood know the family secret?

The road trip crew arrive at Duke. Alaric introduces Elena and Damon to Vanessa, a former student of Isobel’s, who has the key to the office. Vanessa seems to stare at Elena for a very long time. If she was Isobel’s research assistant, is she more familiar with Mystic Falls’ past than she initially volunteers?

Vanessa leaves the room, and Elena studies the shelves of the office. Damon casually questions where Vanessa went just as she comes around the corner with a device that looks disturbingly familiar. Without any warning, she fires a dart - straight at Elena. Damon jumps in front of Elena, taking the dart in her place. Alaric knocks a frightened Vanessa against the wall.

Stefan brings Caroline to the woods for a hunting lesson, and it isn’t going well. Caroline’s enjoying her first taste of freedom in days and hunting bunnies is not at the top of her list. She wants to go to the swimming hole to hang out with Matt. Stefan understands, and he agrees to go after they’re finished hunting.

Elena introduces herself to Vanessa - asking her for help researching Katherine. Vanessa shows them all the research Isobel had on Katherine, but it isn’t much.

Tyler’s taken over Duke’s job as the official Mystic Falls party host. Mason pulls up, and Tyler questions if he’s there to bust them. No, they can continue with the party but everyone needs to be out by dark. Why Uncle Mason? Does it have to do with that dark, scary room on our property? Of course not, Mason just doesn’t want anyone to end up drowning after dark.

Caroline and Stefan arrive, but they can’t go join the others until Stefan and Mason engage in a stare-down. (Sorry, but I totally flashed to Twilight when Jacob’s dad stared at Edward. I guess you can only glare so many different ways....) Caroline comments on Stefan’s “serious vampire stare” as compared with “worried vampire look” and “hey, its Tuesday!” Can I say how much I’m enjoying this Caroline/Stefan interaction? We have a hint of the Stefan we saw with Lexie, and its awesome. If this is his normal personality, why is he so serious around Elena?

Matt can’t swim with the others - no waterproof cast. Thankfully, Amy Bradley decides to keep him company. Too bad for her, that’s exactly when Caroline arrives. Amy, if you don’t want to meet the fate of a random crew member wearing a red shirt on Star Trek, I’d seriously follow Caroline’s compulsion to the letter. Matt doesn’t like Caroline’s continued insecurities. Stefan’s not pleased that Caroline compelled Amy. Caroline doesn’t seem to be enjoying this experience at the swimming hole as much as she thought she would.

Vanessa doesn’t have much information about werewolves, but she does have a sketchbook of some type. Both proved dangerous to Native Americans, and a curse was placed on the supernatural beings. Vampires are forced to be creatures of the night, and werewolves are ruled by the full moon. Long ago, vampires hunted werewolves almost to extinction. Few werewolves still exist, but they’re still dangerous to vampires. A single werewolf bite is fatal to vampires.

Darkness has fallen. Caroline apologizes to Matt. He has a brilliant idea. Let’s go make out in the woods! Sure, nothing bad ever happens in the woods at night.... In Caroline’s defense, she hasn’t been part of the werewolf discussion. She probably thinks she’s the scariest thing in the woods right now.

Elena has important news for Stefan. He needs to stay away from the werewolf or he could die. Stefan’s awesome here. He immediately looks around for Caroline, and she’s gone.

Back at the scary Lockwood room, Mason’s wrapping himself in chains and fastening himself to the walls. He must have gotten a late start because he seems really rushed.

What’s that noise?

Looks like Amy took Caroline’s advice. She found a single guy. Too bad she found Tyler, and Tyler decides to take her exploring in the dark Lockwood room. Mason hears them coming and bolts - still wearing his chains.

Elena pages through Isobel’s research and stops on a picture of Katherine. She waits for a second, then she asks Vanessa what she knows about doppelgangers - not much. Did we think the answer would be different? All she knows is the person enjoys tormenting the person who looks like them and tries to undo their life. Elena seems disappointed. She must have thought the look-alike issue would be explained in Isobel’s papers.

Damon hints that he knows more to the story, but Elena’s tired of dealing with him. When he won’t tell her what he knows, she grabs her things and walks out to the car.

Mason tries to chain himself to a tree, but he must sense his time is limited. He jumps into his truck.

Stefan’s still looking for Caroline when he sees Mason’s truck. Stefan, if you think he’s a werewolf, this is the time to go away. No, Stefan gets closer to the truck and sees the claw marks in the ground. Walking closer to the truck, Stefan’s reflection looks back at him - until he’s staring into the eyes of a wolf. The wolf explodes through the back window of the truck and knocks him to the ground before it speeds off into the night.

Caroline’s compulsion seems to have worn off. Amy’s still in the dark room with Tyler when she questions what she’s doing. She likes Matt, not Tyler. Still somewhat confused, she leaves.

Vanessa asks Alaric if he’s heard anything else about Isobel. He admits that Isobel literally became her research. She’s a vampire now, and Vanessa hints that must be really hard on their marriage. Oh, she’s so hitting on him right now.

Speaking of hitting on people.... Damon meets up with Elena at the car. He’s in serious apologizing mode, and he comes bearing a gift. Oh, it seems to be a journal of some sort, but the name stamped on it is Petrova. Hmmm, Katherine Pierce isn’t her real name. Originally, she was Katerina Petrova, and she was originally from Russia. Damon seems to know more background information about Katherine than Stefan. His excuse - men snoop too.

Now he gets to the reason for the gift. He wants to know if he’s destroyed their friendship forever. She hated him before, and they still became friends. Can’t she work through it again? Elena doesn’t answer - she just slides into the car.

Matt has found the perfect spot in the midst of the woods. Caroline’s totally ready for this. She takes charge and knocks Matt against a tree. Poor Matt, he scraped his wrist. How clumsy of him... Caroline doesn’t mind. In fact, those bunnies from this afternoon seem to have worn off. She can’t resist - she begins by licking the blood off his wrist but soon loses control.

Thankfully, Stefan knocks Caroline off Matt. Matt drops to the ground, and Stefan tells him to stay there. Stefan and Caroline must lead the werewolf away from Matt. If they run, Mason will follow.

The pair speeds through the woods until they meet up with Tyler. What are they doing out there? As Stefan tries to explain, Mason leaps atop Caroline. Stefan vamp speeds him off, and he and Mason face off. Before either can make a move, Tyler yells for Mason to stop and it works.

Caroline compels Matt to believe an animal attacked him in the woods. While he’s leaning against the truck, confused, she walks to Stefan. She can’t believe she hurt Matt - the person who means more to her than anyone else in the world. Realizing how much danger she’s putting Matt in simply by being with him, she asks Stefan if she should break away from Matt. Stefan’s not the person to ask. He knows he should have walked away from Elena long ago, but he simply can’t.

Tyler finds Mason’s abandoned truck in the woods - complete with Mason’s pants. Mason, covered in mud and grime, approaches Tyler and asks for his pants. Tossing him the clothing, Tyler asks Mason if he was the creature in the woods. With a single nod, Mason confirms Tyler’s fears.

Matt sits alone at a table in the grill. Amy sees him and comes to keep him company - again. This provides Caroline with a much needed excuse. No matter how shallow Caroline has seemed in the past, what she does now is truly selfless. She picks a fight to make Matt break up with her. She knows she can’t safely be around Matt, and she can’t let herself risk hurting him again. She allows Matt to think he’s the one making the decision. As he walks away, Caroline is heartbroken.

Alaric arrives at Elena’s house. Without even knocking, he walks into the room and surprises Jenna. She seems confused until he wraps his arms around her in a passionate embrace. Going to Duke has given him the freedom to move on, and he’s ready to take the next step with Jenna.

Damon and Elena linger on the porch. Damon comments that road trips are good for them, but Elena says that not everything is back to the way it used to be. She has to know, despite what he’s said earlier, did Damon really see the ring? In an unusual moment of transparency, he admits that he didn’t. Katherine had thrown him for a loop, and he was striking out at everyone around him. He’d gotten lucky with the ring. If Jeremy hadn’t been wearing it, Damon didn’t know what he would have done.

Elena thanks him for his honesty. Now she’s ready to answer his question. Yes. He’s gone too far. He’s lost her - and her friendship - forever.

Damon realizes all the interaction with Elena throughout the day had been an act. She’d been playing him. She admits it. He had information she needed, and she kept pressing until he gave it to her.

He’s stunned. This isn’t the Elena he knows. In fact, she reminds him of someone else. In a cutting remark, he says Elena has more in common with Katherine than her appearance. He turns and walks away, leaving a stunned Elena on the porch.

Morning comes, and Caroline’s still asleep in her room. Someone else is there - Katherine. Caroline slides away from her as Katherine takes a seat on the edge of the bed, but Katherine says not to be afraid. They’re going to have lots of fun.

This episode’s preview promised to be intense, and it delivered. I’m counting the days till next week, though, when Katherine and Elena finally come face to face. Not just that - its a flashback episode. What really happened when Katherine came to Mystic Falls?