Characters from the past become quite important for present day Mystic Falls in this episode. Spoilers ahead!
While getting a routine CAT scan, Alaric is alarmed to see his reflection changing in a mirror. He worries that the Gilbert ring is the source of his mental trouble and gives it to Elena to keep. Damon picks Alaric up from the hospital and Elena confronts him about letting Stefan feed on a human. Damon claims it’s to teach Stefan self-control, but Stefan managed to control himself just fine when he was drinking Elena’s blood.
It wouldn’t be Mystic Falls without someone pouting or sulking, and right now it’s Abby. Bonnie makes her a daylight ring so she can be in her garden, but Abby is upset because she no longer feels her witchy connection to nature.
The Wickery Bridge is going under reconstruction. Alaric was supposed to bring the original bridge sign as a historical artifact, but forgot since he’s been switching personalities. This is important later! At the site, Damon runs into Sage. She’s in town because she heard Finn was freed from his coffin and wants to reunite with her true love. Finn is also the vampire who turned her.
Elena runs into Stefan while looking for a book about Samantha Gilbert. Stefan tells Elena the end of Samantha’s story – she gave herself a lobotomy with a knitting needle and bled to death. He also tells Elena that he just can’t be what she wants him to be yet.
Sage tells Damon to exploit Rebekah’s weakness in order to get inside her head and find out what she wants. Damon invites Rebekah back to the house for a threesome with Sage. She turns it down, but she’s clearly still interested in Damon. Who wouldn’t be?
Caroline convinces Jamie to give vampire Abby a chance. Unfortunately, when Jamie hugs Abby, she bites him, fulfilling his worst fears. Elena asks Caroline for Bonnie’s help with Alaric. Alaric goes through his own police reports, not remembering any of it.
Abby is freaking out and thinking of leaving, but Bonnie begs her to stay. Bonnie will be able to work her witchy magic on Alaric, but she’ll need a personal object of his from before he wore the eternity ring. He tells Elena to fetch his wedding ring while he stays behind with Meredith.
Rebekah shows up with a bottle of wine and tumbles into bed with Damon. While Rebekah sleeps, Sage gets into her mind. She gives this information to Damon (while naked and kissing in the shower, natch) and he sees there’s another white oak tree, and that’s she’s looking for the old milling records. Of course, Damon locates them in the Salvatore library and discovers something shocking.
Stefan meets Elena at Alaric’s old place. He tells Elena that Samantha Gilbert killed 2 people while she was on suicide watch. She wouldn’t have had any of her personal effects (like jewelry), which means a person can still be affected when they’re not wearing the ring. Cue crazy Alaric, who finds hypodermic needles in Meredith’s bag and clutches them menacingly.
Damon realizes that the wood in the Wickery Bridge came from the white oak tree. All of the wood being stripped is a murder weapon for an Original. Damon promises that if Sage helps him kill Rebekah he will consider Finn untouchable. She agrees, but almost immediately disappears, along with Rebekah.
At Alaric’s apartment, Elena and Stefan find pictures of Alaric’s victims and a strange note to Jeremy about the Council needing cleansing. Back at the Gilbert house, Alaric asks Meredith if she ever feels remorse for being a Council member that looks the other way about the town’s vampires, especially since she is happy to use their blood for healing. Sensing trouble, she throws coffee on him and locks herself in the bathroom, but she has not escaped a stab wound from the knife he was carrying.
Damon rushes to the bridge, but Rebekah is already there, setting it ablaze. Sage tipped her off to save Finn, but now she’s angered Damon, who vows to kill Finn first.
Stefan and Elena return to the Gilbert house, where they find the smashed mug and blood on the floor. Stefan hides as Alaric comes downstairs, acting as though nothing happened. When Elena sees the bloody knife, Alaric moves to strike her, but Stefan knocks him out. Suddenly sensing something, Stefan asks Elena to come upstairs with him, where they find a bloody Meredith in the bathroom. Stefan looks like he’s about to turn, but instead he bites his own wrist and feeds his blood to Meredith, quickly escaping before he does anything else.
Alaric awakens fairly sane after Bonnie performs her spell. She gives Elena some herbs that Alaric will have to take every day. Elena apologizes to Bonnie, and it seems Bonnie finally forgives her.
Jamie and Caroline work in the garden together. Is this another budding romance? Caroline walks in on Abby writing a goodbye note. Caroline tries to dissuade her, but Abby leaves anyway. Alone in the house, Elena calls Jeremy. He sounds happy and is actually leading a “normal” life with friends and classes and a dog.
Damon reveals to Stefan the original Wickery Bridge sign, which is made of the same white oak as the bridge itself. They have the weapons to kill the Originals. And it looks like next week they train the others to use them!
What did you think of the episode? I’d love to see more Damon shower scenes, but I’m glad Abby is gone. Bonnie doesn’t need more instability in her life! Will Caroline and Jamie become a new couple? He’s bound to have some vampire issues after being bitten. We’ll see what’s to come next week. Until then!
If you missed the previous episode, be sure to read our ‘The Vampire Diaries: 1912’ recap to catch up.
