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‘The Vampire Diaries’ recap: Truth be told

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For an episode titled “Kill or Be Killed,” I was expecting some bloodshed, but for the most part, everyone got out of this hour alive (or undead alive). Well, everyone but the nameless deputies, may they rest in peace. Instead, the episode was more about truths finally being revealed than about death.

1. Who did Mason (Taylor Kinney) kill? Solved! Mason finally reveals to Tyler (Michael Trevino) that he triggered the werewolf curse when he accidentally killed his belligerent friend, who attacked him over a girl (isn’t it always about a girl on this show?). Even an accidental death will do the trick, so Tyler needs to extra careful, he warns. Even more reason not to drink and drive and to keep that rage in check, which is easier said than done for Tyler. After running into Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) at Mystic Grill, Tyler invites him and two girls, one of whom has a crush on Jeremy (“When did Jeremy Gilbert get so cute?” she asks.), over to his house. It’s not long before Tyler’s nearly choking Jeremy to death to get the truth out of him. Jeremy reveals that he knows about werewolves, and Tyler confides in him about the moonstone. He doesn’t want to give it over to Mason because he knows he wants it. He’s kind of a jerk like that. Also, he doesn’t trust Mason, which is interesting because Mason would typically be the mentor-like character to Tyler. But in Mystic Falls, everyone’s got a secret, and sometimes, you’re right not to trust your own family. More on that later. False alarm death #2 happened after the crushing girl falls down the stairs when Tyler tries to get the moonstone from her. She was faking it, but from now on, I’ll be holding my breath whenever Tyler so much as touches another human being.

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2. Is Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) fake drama becoming real? They come up with a secret code for their fake fights. When Stefan says, “I can’t do this anymore, Elena,” it really means, “I love you.” But the problem with fake fights is that even though they’re fake, the statements have to come from somewhere. There’s always a tiny sliver of truth. Damon (Ian Somerhalder), by the way, is totally onto their “faux drama.”


3. When will Sheriff Forbes (Marguerite MacIntyre) finally get a clue? How about right about now? Stefan attempts to call a truce with Mason, but it doesn’t go so well. Stefan points out there’s two of them and they’re stronger than him when there isn’t a full moon. Mason gets his retribution by spilling the beans to Sheriff Forbes that there’s two vampire living right under her nose – Damon and Stefan – and he’ll prove it. Interesting that he doesn’t initially include Caroline (Candice Accola). Is he trying to spare the Sheriff? Is he only out for Damon and Stefan’s heads? Surely, he must know about Caroline after “Bad Moon Rising.” Mason puts vervain in the lemonade, which Damon unknowingly drinks and almost chokes on. Stefan and Damon, shockingly agree on something – Mason needs to be stopped. But when they confront him in the forest, they’re the ones who get shot up with vervain by Sheriff Forbes and her deputies.

4. Is this really the end of Caroline and her mom’s fractured relationship? Sheriff Forbes plans to kill Damon and Stefan when they don’t produce answers, but Caroline zips through the old slave quarters and kills the deputies, revealing her vampire state to her mother. “Hi, mom,” she says quietly, blood smeared around her mouth. Once again, Accola killed it – no pun intended – in the delivery. Caroline’s mom doesn’t take this so well. She later tells Damon to keep Caroline away from her. “My daughter’s gone,” she tells Damon, who comes to Caroline’s defense. He knows something about a parent hating their vampire child. All the more reason for some Damon and Caroline bonding scenes! I hope this is not the end of Caroline’s relationship with her mom. It felt like we were just starting to get into it, and Caroline losing yet another human connection is not good. Plus, the sheriff’s black and white view of vampires could definitely be broadened by getting to know her vampire daughter.

5. Just how much will Sheriff Forbes remember/forget? Damon tells her he’ll erase her memory when the vervain leaves her system. I think it’d be more interesting if she chose to remember instead. Erasing the slate is going backwards, and won’t we just end up here again? There’s so many great, new dynamics to explore now that she knows the truth about her “friend” Damon, her daughter, etc.

6. Seriously, just how worried for Matt’s life should I be? Caroline finally came out to Elena about spying on her for Katherine (Nina Dobrev). She’s scared of Katherine, she reveals, crying. She can’t even go home because she knows Katherine will be there waiting for her. But she had to go along with Katherine’s plan because she threatened Matt (Zach Roerig). Katherine, don’t you remember how much you liked his blue eyes? Between the vampire ex-girlfriend, the crazy vampire threatening his life and the fact that Matt’s one of the few human characters left on the show who’s clueless about what’s going on, I’m not feeling good about his chances for survival. And that kills me.

7. Can Stefan control himself on human blood? After being incapacitated by the sheriff’s vervain shots, Stefan realizes that he’s too weak to fight back against Katherine and protect Elena. Maybe if he drinks a little human blood each day, he’ll build up a tolerance to it and be able to control himself the way Katherine built up a tolerance to vervain. Elena’s not crazy about the idea considering what happened last time Stefan drank human blood – the short version: Yum, blood, need more! -- but comes around to it after Damon tells her, “Stefan didn’t drink the people blood, if you’re curious. But he needs to.” She offers up Stefan her blood because they’re in it together. Always. I found this to be a little too much. It’s symbolic, yes, but unnecessary and a little too, “We do everything together!” We all know those couples, and they’re kind of annoying. But I totally support Stefan’s decision to drink human blood because he will probably lose this battle, and crazy, human blood-drinking Stefan was intensely watchable last season. It’s always refreshing to see he’s not perfect and be reminded that a part of him is a monster.

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8. Mason and Katherine are in cahoots?! What?! I suspected there was more to Katherine’s return than just undying love for Stefan, and now it seems my suspicions have been confirmed. Tyler gives up the moonstone to Mason, who takes it to...Katherine! Looks like Tyler was right not to trust his uncle. It’s revealed that Katherine was there the night Mason triggered the curse. Mason tells Katherine he’s got the moonstone, which makes Katherine very happy. She kisses him in delight. So much for Stefan+Katherine 4Ever. It appears Katherine befriended Mason and waited in the wings until he became a werewolf to get to the moonstone, which she had given up to George Lockwood. Seriously, what’s so special about this rock? And how much does Mason really know? Her being Katherine, I’m guessing she’s keeping him in the dark partially.

Readers, what do you think of the reveal that Mason and Katherine know each other? Were you surprised? How long do you think it’ll be before Stefan loses control? What did you think of Sheriff Forbes’ reaction to her daughter? Chime in on all my questions below!

-- Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)

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