Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 19 of The CW's "The Vampire Diaries," entitled, "Heart of Darkness."
Holy make out, Batman! After three seasons of major sexual tension -- and frustration -- Damon and Elena finally gave into temptation and had a full-on make out in a hotel. Ironically, this was all Stefan's idea.
After Elena confessed her feelings for Damon to Stefan in the last episode, he decided to send them on a road trip together. If Elena is confused about her feelings for Damon, then he's going to force her to finally make a decision.
So Damon and Elena hit the road to see Jeremy -- they need him to connect with Rose in the afterlife because he can see dead people and stuff -- but when they find him, he says that he's on his way to meet "a friend."
Of course, we all know that Jeremy doesn't make friends so easily. His "friend" happens to be ... Kol! And he's not so happy with Damon. After all, he did kill his brother. After a less-than-enjoyable Denver welcome, Damon manages to stake Kol with a wooden bat. He's not dead, but he'll be stunned for a while.
After informing Jeremy of their plan, they head to the motel, where Jeremy connects with the all-knowing Rose (who's totally a Delena shipper) and she tells him that the vampire who sired her was unfortunately not an Original, but rather a vampire named Mary. She doesn't know where Mary is now, but she'll try to find her.
So now Damon and Elena have all this free time on their hands. Oh my, whatever are they to do? First came pillow talk -- and a half-naked Damon -- then hand holding, then a full-blown make out session by the vending machines.
It was pretty much everything I hoped it would be and more, including the Florence + The Machine background music. Well, not everything, but those writers need to give us something to look forward to. But I will say that when I look at Damon, I hear Florence Welch too.
If only Jeremy wouldn't have ruined it with his "judgy" stare. Come on, Jeremy. You're back for less than an episode, and you're already killing me. Jeremy tells Damon and Elena that Rose found where Mary lives, but when they get to Mary's creepy old hoarded house, they discover that they were too late. Kol had already killed her, and he knows their plan to trace the Salvatore bloodline to one of the Originals.
Can I just say that I really enjoyed how devilish Kol was in this episode? I know that he's a bad guy and all, but he's incredibly fun to watch -- even when he's hitting Damon with a baseball bat.
Sadly, despite Damon and Elena's motel make out, it looks like we may not get an encore any time soon because Elena still doesn't know what she wants. Once again, Damon gets his heart ripped out, but thankfully, he puts Elena in her place for manipulating him.
As much as I love the idea of Elena and Damon, I just can't stand how awful she's been to him this season. She constantly judges him for not being who she wants him to be, and then when he meets her expectations, she pushes him away.
"It wasn't about you," Damon said. Finally someone willing to tell Elena that something, anything isn't about her.
I'm going to disagree with Rose on this one. She said that Damon is either the best thing for Elena or the worst. In my opinion, it's Elena who is either the best thing for Damon or the worst. And right now, she's definitely the worst.
Back in Mystic Falls, Alaric is being locked away in a cellar because his killer alter ego is the only one who knows where he hid the last White Oak stake. Now it's up to Stefan to force its location out of him, even if that means almost killing him to try and get his evil alter ego to come out.
While Stefan's spent an hour playing mind games with both of Alaric's split personalities, Rebekah had her own demon to take care of: Her mother. Let's just say that Rebekah wasn't so happy to see Esther, especially after, you know, she tried to kill them all.
However, now it's Rebekah who wants to kill her dear mother. That is, until Esther tells her that she's dying. Say what?
Esther tells Rebekah that she draws her power from the Bennett line, and when Abby died, her powers were severely weakened. The two share a heart-to-heart (something along the lines of: "I needed a mom!" "Even though you're an abomination, I was always looking out for you!") before Mommy Dearest grabs Rebekah's hands and starts to uncontrollably shake. She then drops dead in Rebekah's arms.
But, wait, did she really die? Or is she now possessing Rebekah's body?
Meanwhile, Tyler finally returns to Mystic Falls, much to Caroline's excitement. Looks like Damon and Elena weren't the only couple to have a steamy make out because after being separated from one another for so long, Caroline and Tyler had a lot of catching up -- and making out -- to do.
As if making out was all those two crazy kids did. They also totally had hot cave sex (sans Tyler's werewolf chains, unfortunately). Of course, Caroline totally kills the moment by telling him that Damon is hellbent on killing Klaus, no matter what, and if Klaus dies, Tyler will die too.
But then things turn even more sour when Tyler discovers the pretty little horse drawing Klaus gave to Caroline. Somebody is jealous, and it's totally going to turn into a fist fight. I can't wait.
Back in the cellar, normal Alaric takes off his ring and tells Stefan to try and kill him. If his evil alter ego wants to live, then hopefully he'll come out to defend himself. After a few broken bones and major blood, Alaric's alter ego finally revealed that the remaining stake is located in the no-vampires-allowed cave.
So Rebekah takes Alaric to the cave to get the final stake, and at first I thought this was odd. Why send Alaric into the cave to grab the one thing that could kill you?
In the cave, Alaric tries to make a deal with Rebekah, promising her protection, but Barbie Klaus had another plan in mind. She didn't want to save herself; she wanted all of the Originals to die.
This all became clear when she crossed the threshold and entered the cave because ... wait for it ... she's being possessed by her dead mother's spirit. Now that's what I call a cliffhanger.
Notable Quotables:
Stefan: "No matter what I go through to get her back -- fighting my blood lust, controlling my urges -- none of that matters if she's in love with someone else."
Jeremy: "I can't believe Kol is a vampire."
Damon: "I mean, didn't you find it weird that you made a friend so fast?"
Jeremy: "Come on, Rose. You're not going to make us wait, are you? I know you're obsessed with me."
Alaric: "Who knows? Maybe his alter ego is a pot-smoking, hippie pacifist."
Damon: "So we're just stuck in this motel until she gets back to us."
Elena: "Wait here."
Jeremy: "Why? So you guys can make out some more."
Damon: "It's like vampire 'Hoarders.'"
Klaus: "I'm still waiting for my old friend to come back, and from the looks of it, it looks like he's just under the surface. Isn't that right, Ripper?"
Stefan: "So, unless you're going to stake me, why don't you get the hell out of my house?"
"The Vampire Diaries" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.