Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 21 of The CW's "The Vampire Diaries," entitled, "Before Sunset."
In Mystic Falls, nothing ever goes according to plan. So when Damon and Stefan team up with Klaus to kill Alaric and save Elena, I should have known something would go horribly wrong ... or right, depending who you ask.
After over a season of trying to defeat Klaus, the gang finally succeeded, and they even took shots to celebrate. So why do I feel so sad?
OK, so I know that Klaus is eventually going to come back, right? I mean, he has to. He might not wake up for next week's finale -- although, Rebekah does not look happy on Wickery Bridge -- but he'll eventually be back, especially since it looks like Ric wants to find him in the finale. Until then, dear Klaus, I will be doodling horses in my notebook.
Speaking of Ric, he was a complete psycho in this episode. Not only did he torture Caroline -- tied her up and pinned her to a desk by driving two pencils through her hands -- but then he tried to force Elena to kill her.
But Ric isn't the only super vampire after Elena. Now that Esther has been killed, Klaus and Rebekah are ready to get the hell out of Mystic Falls. There's only one problem: Klaus won't leave without his precious Elena. Scared of Ric's newfound capabilities, Rebekah doesn't want to wait for her brother's scheme. So she gives Klaus an ultimatum: Leave with her or go after Elena. Klaus chooses the latter.
Despite finally having some resemblance of family, he's still hellbent on creating his hybrid army. Sigh. Some things don't change. Maybe he wanted more time to draw Caroline one last pony picture?
After Rebekah leaves in a balze of tears and fury, Klaus heads to the Gilbert household. However, Klaus hasn't been invited into the house, so he decides to throw stuff at it until Jeremy relents and invites him to come inside. This might have been one of the funniest scenes the shows has ever done. Seeing Klaus turn a newspaper into a weapon was a lighthearted moment in an otherwise seriously dramatic episode.
That's when Stefan comes out and tells Klaus the truth: Ric has both Elena and Caroline, and he wants Klaus to come try and save them so that he can kill the Original with the now-indestructible white oak stake. However, the gang still doesn't know if they're a part of Klaus' bloodline, so it's not like Damon and Stefan can just let Klaus die -- no matter how much they want to.
So now Klaus, Damon, Stefan, Bonnie and Jeremy must figure out a way to kill Ric and free their friends. Finally, Bonnie has an idea: She can use a dessication spell like the one her mother once cast on Mikael.
However, she needs to talk to Abby first. Of course she does. It's not like Bonnie can ever do anything without consulting someone else first or anything. Unfortunately, it still isn't clear why Bonnie went to the graveyard in the last episode. Did Esther control her mind from the other side? Whatever it was, she seems to be fine now.
Thanks to Jesse, Abby returns to Mystic Falls and tells Bonnie that spell requires dark magic. In order to stop Ric's heart, she'll need to sacrifice one human heart. Sorry, Jeremy! It looks like you're this week's human sacrifice.
The plan is set in motion: The vampires will storm the school and attack Ric, piercing his chest, while Bonnie will stop Jeremy's heart in the woods.
Meanwhile, back in the classroom, Ric tortures Caroline with vervain, trying to force Elena to kill her friend. Ric tells Elena that it's what her parents would have wanted. Eventually, she manages to distract Ric and throw the vervain into his face, freeing Caroline while he's on the floor seething in pain.
Caroline escapes ... ironically into Klaus' arms. The two share a quite a powerful moment in the hall, and honestly, I totally thought they were going to kiss. Every once in awhile, Klaus shows a bit of his humanity, which made his demise in this episode even harder to watch.
Back with Elena, Ric then takes her out into the hallway and nearly kills her, but doesn't, even when Elena urges him to. Sometimes I don't know if Elena's decisions are completely crazy or borderline brave.
The vamps storm the school, but Ric is a lot stronger than they remember. Ric quickly knocks out the Salvatores, leaving Klaus to fend for himself. Now it's Original vs. Original, and unfortunately for Klaus, Ric manages to pin him to the floor and grab the white oak stake.
Just went you think Klaus is dunzo, Elena threatens Ric with her life. For once, Elena pieces it together: Her life is tied to Alaric's. So if she killed herself, Ric would die too.
When Elena wakes up next, she finds herself tied to a chair in Klaus's mansion. He's draining all of her blood. It's the only way that he can kill his mother's killing machine and still be able to make his hybrid army. Of course, adding insult to injury, Klaus tells Elena that he's doing her a favor. If she's dead, she won't have to decide between Damon and Stefan. He asks her who she would have chosen, but Elena responds, "Rot in hell."
Even near death, Elena can't make up her mind!
Thankfully, Tyler sneaks over and unties her before Klaus can drain anymore blood out of her. When Klaus appears, he realizes that the hybrid has broken his sire bond.
Then, in a flash, Damon and Stefan appear and tackle Klaus. Stefan then pierces Klaus's chest. Did anyone else think Stefan was going to cry? For a second, I thought he was going to remove his hand, but he didn't. Instead, he let Bonnie finish the spell.
Klaus's heart, in turn, slows and finally stops beating. However, it looked like Jeremy wasn't going to wake up. Thankfully, after a few terrifying seconds, he does. I'm not quite ready for Jeremy to turn into a supernatural being just yet. We need some sort of balance between the amount of vampires, werewolves, witches and humans on the show.
The Salvatore brothers drive Elena home before sunset, but before they can walk away, she has one of the most awkward porch conversations ever. She knows that she has to choose between Stefan and Damon, but she just can't -- and she's really, really sorry. If choosing one means losing the other, then she'd rather not choose and have both.
"And I've lost so many people, I just can't bear the thought of losing one of you," she says.
Yeah, Elena, we get it, but after three seasons, it's getting kind of old. You can't choose both. That isn't fair to anyone but yourself.
I really think that Elena should choose herself. She obviously needs time to figure things out on her own -- and being detached from the Salvatore brothers for a bit could be exactly what she needs. Not to mention that Damon and Stefan's bond has never been stronger ... well, at least not in the last few hundred years. Forget Delena and Stelena. I want to see Damon and Stefan act like brothers.
But Elena might not even get the chance to choose anyone because at the end of the episode, she collapses ... and there's blood. Did something happen to Ric? Or was Elena somehow affected by Klaus' death? Maybe Stefan and Damon shouldn't have thrown his coffin into the Atlantic.
Notable Quotables:
Klaus: "Now I know you're not asking me to walk into a certain death."
Damon: "Caroline. Don't you have a thing for her? Or did she reject you one too many times?"
Damon: "I'm sorry, but I forgot about her track record in the dependability department."
Damon: "Bonnie, I don't speak witch."
Klaus: "Look at this. One big happy family."
Alaric: "You're the worst defender of all, Elena. You don't deserve to live."
Alaric: "You two better get going on what you two do best: Saving Elena's life."
Klaus: "You know that once you pick a Salvatore, you'll destroy their bond."
Elena: "If I lose choose one of you, then I lose the other."
Matt: "Please, I'm more stealth than that. I'm like a ninja."
"The Vampire Diaries" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.