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‘The Vampire Diaries’ recap: Self-sacrifices and spells

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Elena (Nina Dobrev), Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) took radically different approaches to their not-so-little Klaus problem tonight. Stefan and Damon wanted to get the moonstone from Katherine so they could de-spell it, but Elena wasn’t so sure doing that would prevent Klaus from killing “everyone that I care about, including the two of you.” Interesting that she included Damon in that statement. So while Damon and Stefan enlisted Bonnie (Katerina Graham) for magical help, Elena went to Rose (Lauren Cohan). Elena wanted to get more information about Klaus, so they went to Slater’s house. They discovered his body, which makes two dead friends for Rose now. They also discovered his shocked, goth-lite, vampire wannabe girlfriend, who cracked into his e-mail. Elena told her to send a message – the doppelganger is alive and she’s ready to surrender.

Meanwhile at Team Moonstone, Bonnie created some ashes out of a photo belonging to Katherine (Nina Dobrev) that would allow Stefan and Damon to incapacitate her for two minutes. Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) was worried about the toll lifting the tomb spell would have on Bonnie and sneaked some ashes away. He entered the tomb and blew the magic dust on Katherine, but by the time he found the moonstone, she was awake and quite hungry for some blood, not to mention a new toy. Katherine is very bored inside the tombstone, even more so than she is hungry and dirty. But even channeling her warlock friend Luka (Bryton James) didn’t make Bonnie powerful enough to lift the spell, so Stefan swept in and pushed Jeremy out, trapping himself inside the tomb.

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After Rose called him, Damon rushed off to knock some sense into Elena. This was not a decision she would get to make to sacrifice herself. “When have I ever made a decision? You and Stefan do that for me now,” she replied. “This is my decision.” She makes a good point. Stefan and Damon’s love for her has been overwhelming and blindsiding. They want to whatever they can to save her, help her, sometimes without even seriously considering what she wants. Case in point: Elena tells Damon, “I don’t want to be saved.” What does he do? Drags her back home because he loves her and can’t accept such a possibility. But as Elena points out, he shouldn’t be surprised that she, like Damon and Stefan, wants to save her loved ones.

Elijah (Daniel Gillies) also made an appearance at Slater’s, killing two vampires by simply pulling out their hearts. It wasn’t as awesome as decapitation by hand swatting, but it was still quite the display of power. He could have easily killed Damon too, but instead, he left, sparing Elena and Damon. He told Luka’s dad Damon and Stefan would do anything to keep her alive and that’s what they needed to keep Elena safe. Are they trying to keep her safe from Elijah? Or just safe until his arrival? I had suspected that they were bad guys, but now I’m less sure of their intentions. Regardless, Elijah certainly knows the Salvatore brothers well. Later, Stefan made Damon promise to keep Elena safe no matter what while he’s trapped. Katherine called it the “biggest mistake you’ll ever make” because it will only bring Damon and Elena closer together.

There were also some interesting developments between some of the new pairings on the show:

Bonnie/Jeremy – Actions really do speak louder than words. Jeremy risked himself for Bonnie, but she told him he can’t feel that way about her. The feelings are already there though, and he knows they aren’t one sided. It looked like a kiss was going to happen, but then Bonnie pulled away and said, “I can’t.” Maybe it has something do with her new friend...

Bonnie/Luka – He showed her how to tap into another witch to increase her power. No, it was not at all weird that they were standing in the middle of windy high school quad, sharing a moment – eyes closed, hands grabbing talismans – while all the other students ran for cover. But I don’t think he’s going to be so sweet on her after she nearly gave him an aneurysm while channeling him. Even though he’s bonding with Bonnie per his mysterious father’s instructions, I do wonder if he actually likes her. They seem to genuinely connect. But Jeremy looks more and more like the right choice when you consider all the manipulation and secrets going on with Luka and his dad.

Caroline/Tyler/Matt – Caroline and Tyler discovered Mason’s (Taylor Kinney) diary – yes, another one! -- and a memory card with footage of Mason’s first transformation. Apparently, the process took hours and hours and was horribly painful. Mason’s tortured cries were truly horrific. Tyler had a freak out while his new friend Caroline -- “I don’t want you to be alone,” she told him – tried to calm him down. And then Matt – he’s alive! -- showed up at Caroline’s door because he misses her! I don’t know whether to be more excited about the fact that Matt showed up on screen again or that he misses Caroline, which creates a nice, little triangle.

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Damon/Rose – Still doing it. But after the way she ran off at the sight of Elijah, I don’t think there’s going to be anymore of that in the future. Alaric/Jenna -- Also doing it, which made for a very awkward, half-naked on Alaric’s (Matt Davis) part hallway run-in with Elena. Other than that, things are ‘really good,’ said Jenna (Sara Canning), practically glowing.

Readers, were you excited to see Mason again? Is Elena right to want to sacrifice herself? What do you think Elijah and Luka’s father are up to? Are you worried for Tyler? And what do you think of Jeremy’s grand gesture?

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

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