Episode 2.19 – “Klaus”

Okay so I know that season 2 is long gone now, but I just hate leaving things unfinished, so I thought I’d continue with the recaps at least through the end of this season. 

As we start the show, Elena has just removed the dagger from Elijah’s chest and sits there, calmly waiting for him to wake up.  (I don’t think I’d be quite so calm!)  When Elijah opens his eyes for the first time, he mistakes her for Katherine (or Katarina, as he calls her) and we are transported back to England 1492 with another period flashback.  Will we get to see the elusive Klaus?  I’m assuming so from the title of the episode.  Everybody gets their silly hair of course, but when Elijah sees Katarina, he’s very taken with her as she reminds him of someone else.  Klaus makes a grand entrance, and proceeds to woo Katarina without any real interest in her; something she picks up on, even as she acknowledges that he’s very charming.  Elijah points out that many unions have been built on less but Katarina insists that she wants more.  She makes a very pretty speech about love, saying that there’s no point in living without it.  Elijah says he doesn’t believe in love and might have said more but Klaus returns and spirits her away.

Episode 2.18 – “The Last Dance”

Klaus in Alaric’s body is getting a crash course on Alaric’s life from Katherine while he looks for something to wear out of his limited wardrobe.  Katherine pleads with him to kill her and spare her the torture, but he’s not done with her yet.  He searched for her for over five hundred years and her death is going to last at least half that long if he gets his wish.  Before he leaves, he compels her to stab her own leg with a knife over and over again.  The wounds heal quickly, but still cause her considerable pain and blood loss.  The torture begins!

Elena officially signs the papers that give her ownership of the Salvatore boarding house.  She invites Stephan in right away but makes Damon promise to obey her and he does so reluctantly (why do I not believe him?).  But just as soon as she secures her safety, she and Bonnie leave to go to school despite Damon and Stephan’s protests that they didn’t give her a safe house so she could leave it.  Bonnie promises to stick by her side and since she’s the best weapon they have against Klaus, they agree to let her go. 

Klaus has a little trouble fitting into Alaric’s life when it comes to teaching about the 60’s.  All he can say about them is that they kind of sucked except for the Beatles.  Unfortunately we only get to watch him flounder his way through it for a few minutes before we’re shown the preparations for the dance.  Jeremy continues to push Bonnie to tell the others that it could kill her to harness the power of the other witches but she won’t budge.  He leaves in a snit once Elena arrives in the cafeteria.  Random girl we’ve never seen before this episode shows up to tell Elena that a totally hot guy named Klaus asked if she’s going to the dance tonight and if she’ll save him the last dance. Bonnie and Elena look suitably freaked out, but the girl doesn’t seem to notice. 

Damon and Stefan plan to go to the dance to try and spot Klaus and keep Elena safe.  In the midst of making plans with Elena and Bonnie, “Alaric” shows up, proving that Klaus needs no invitation to enter the house while in his body.  He learns that Bonnie not only has her powers but is capable of channeling the power of the witches.  There’s also a live demonstration when she easily bats down a surprise attack from Damon who wants to test how strong she is.  So much for the secret weapon!

Episode 2.17 – “Know Thy Enemy”

And we’re back!  After a crazy 6 week hiatus, I spent most of the day in giddy anticipation and the show definitely did not disappoint!  The episode was chockablock with “holy crap!” moments, so let’s dive right in, shall we?

Elena keeps Jenna from inviting Isobel into the house, but the damage is done when Isobel comes out swinging with “So you’re the woman dating my husband.”  Poor Jenna!  She looks like she’s having a Twin Peaks experience.  Elena slams the door in Isobel’s face, but Jenna is devastated that everyone but her knew that Ric’s wife was still alive.  Locking herself in the bedroom, Jenna refuses to talk to anyone, looking like she’s having a panic attack. 

Alaric shows up to try to talk to Jenna, but she’s already packed a bag, planning on staying at the University since she has a thesis to write and doesn’t want to stay in the house on the count of all the rage and betrayal she’s feeling at the moment.  Jenna leaves, telling them she just doesn’t have it in her to listen to any more of their lies.  John shows up, is pretty much a jerk so Alaric gets in a good solid punch to his jaw and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. 

At casa de Salvatore, Stefan is about to go see Elena and try to figure out what Isobel wanted, when Katherine (with lots of curly hair this ep) suggests that they might not want to mention to Isobel that she’s in town if they happen to run into her.  Besides, it’ll work better if they need her to swap places with Elena again if fewer people know she’s around.   

Poor Elena is freaking out with the idea that Jenna is about to find out what’s really going on, and Matt is MIA after having found out.  Just when she can’t feel any more powerless in her own home, John comes in to talk to her, after having invited Isobel in against her wishes.  He begs her and Stefan to listen to what she has to say, feeling that they can trust her.  Isobel tells them that she’s been doing everything she can to try and find Klaus.  While she hasn’t been able to find him, there are rumors going around that there is a doppelganger out there and Elena’s in more danger than ever, as vampires looking to gain favor with Klaus will come after her.  Isobel offers to take Elena to a safehouse with a deed in Elena’s name, leaving out the part where THIS IS ALL A HUGE TRAP!  Luckily, Elena isn’t buying it, and tells her to get the hell out of her house. 

Isobel doesn’t sulk for very long, leaving them behind to hole up in her new place; the nicest foreclosure in town.  In a nice “holy crap!” moment, Katherine shows up and after a little playful tussle, they embrace as friends.  Okay that’s gotta be creepy for Isobel to be huggy friends with an old vampire that looks exactly like her daughter who she doesn’t give a damn about.  I’m just saying.  Anyway, Isobel says that she’s been busy making a deal with Klaus to keep Katherine safe by delivering the moonstone and Elena.  The only reason that Isobel even went to Elena’s house was to see Jenna because she got jealous that Ric was dating “Auntie Vanilla”.  If Katherine can get the moonstone, Isobel will deliver both to one of Klaus’ witches who has negotiated Katherine’s freedom.

Episode 2.16 – “The House Guest”

My nights have been crazy between being sick and my daughter’s birthday. (somehow she thinks she gets to celebrate ALL week, lol) Again I’m sorry this is so late, this cold has been kicking my ass for more than a week.

Here we go…

Elena is rushing around, worried about being late for school. In a rare playful moment, Stefan tries to lure her back into bed, having no problems at all being late for school. She agrees to 5 more minutes and they fall into bed. Downstairs, “Elena” walks into the room and Damon automatically attacks her, thinking that she’s Katherine. Stefan walks in and sees her, thinks that Katherine was the one he was fooling around with upstairs and goes back up and attacks her. Katherine (who was the one downstairs after all!) shows up, saying it’s getting easier to impersonate Elena. Elena demands to know what she’s doing there and Stefan admits that the moment Elijah died; Katherine was freed from the tomb. “But what is she doing here?” Elena wants to know, clearly having expected her to head for the hills. “I don’t want her here.”  Katherine insists that they need her help. She is the only one who knows where Klaus is, and what he looks like. But since no one feels like wanting her help, she’ll go down to the Grill. “Maybe Aunt Jenna is free for a bite.” She taunts.

Stefan and Elena go to school for once, speculating on why Katherine is sticking around. Stefan seems to think that they all want the same thing, Klaus dead. Elena is less convinced, and not at all happy that Katherine’s staying with them. He offers to stay at Elena’s place tonight, but she declines, they’re having a girls night with Bonnie and Caroline and jokes that maybe Katherine can join them. They share with Bonnie and Jeremy that Katherine’s out of the tomb. Jeremy goes in for a kiss once the others move off, but Bonnie’s hesitant to do so until she has a chance to talk to Elena.

Elena is busy talking to Alaric who is racked with guilt over having to lie to Jenna all the time. He tells her that he even gave John his ring to keep him from stirring up trouble between them. He wants to tell Jenna the truth because he can’t be with her and not tell her. Elena agrees it’s becoming more dangerous for her not to know but was hoping to wait til they were done dealing with Klaus, but she has no idea how to tell her. Alaric says that he wants to be with Jenna but until they are able to tell her everything, they’re done.

Matt asks Caroline if she’s heard from Tyler, and she says no, not a peep. He’s starting to clue in to the idea that Tyler’s left town. Still upset that Caroline hasn’t made a commitment to be with him, he tells her to make a decision or leave him alone.

Episode 2.15 – “The Dinner Party”

So many surprises in this episode!  Let’s get right to it.

Elena is reading the Gilbert journals, learning all about Stefan’s wicked past.  It feels like we’ve already tread this ground before with previous shows where the good vampire has a dark past (Buffy, True Blood, etc) but I suppose it’s a given that they have to go there.  Damon calls to let Stefan know that Tyler ran away from home.  He also shares with him his plan to get rid of Elijah with the magic dagger and ash. 

Jenna and Elijah are wandering through old ruined properties in town.  He tells her that the “founding fathers” of Mystic Falls didn’t actually found anything, the region had been settled a couple hundred years earlier by witches from Salem.  (Why do I think this is going to come into play later?)  Alaric shows up acting like a jealous boyfriend, which is making Jenna feel a little uncomfortable by the looks of it.  The moment Jenna leaves to get something from the car, Elijah mentions that Alaric is on the list that Elena gave him of loved ones to protect.  Alaric points out that Jenna is on the list too and Elijah teases that he doesn’t pursue younger women. 

Bonnie and Jeremy meet at the Grill; he invites her over to his place that night to “practice” her witchcraft to help her get stronger.  Luka shows up demanding to know what happened the night before since he can’t remember anything.  He doesn’t buy it when she denies knowing anything about it, but Jeremy gets all manly and demands that Luka back off.  (Doesn’t it seem like Luka wouldn’t be afraid of Jeremy?  Besides his powers he probably outweighs him by at least ten pounds of muscle, I’m just saying…)

When she arrives later, Jeremy has a bajillion candles lit and Bonnie freaks out a little, not having realized it was a date.  She doesn’t want to continue anything with him until she has a chance to talk to Elena first, make sure she’s cool with it.

Elena seems pretty upset about what she reads in the journal about Stefan.  Stefan takes over the storytelling about the past and we get more flashbacks into his undead life of debauchery.  (seriously, how many chicks does he need to kill in one night?)  We see Damon (with awful hair again) get fed up with him and leave after compelling some of Stefan’s intended victims to leave and never think of this place again.  Stefan promises to do better if he won’t leave, but Damon isn’t listening.  That’s what drove Stefan into switching off his emotions.  “It sounds like you were Damon,” Elena says.  “I was much worse,” Stefan admits. 

He goes on to tell her about how he would haunt the camps during the war and feed from the wounded.  There he meets a mysterious woman in a cloak who turns out to be Lexi.  He takes her home to offer shelter for the day but she balks when she sees the dead women in his parlor.  “My god, you’re a ripper…” she gasps.  But that doesn’t seem to be enough to send her packing, she just accepts it and tells him “we’re going to have to change that.” 

Episode 2.14 – “Crying Wolf”

Okay, here we go… The werewolves are burning their fallen comrades out in the woods and I’m thinking… wow, they really did kill more werewolves than I thought in that fight!  I thought there weren’t all that many werewolves to be found?  That’s why Katherine had to activate Tyler’s curse after Mason was gone?  But here comes wolf Stevie, who tells Jules and Brady that he should have known something was up when Mason started dating that hot vampire chick Katherine and asking about the curse.  So he’s obviously met her and she must have known there were other werewolves around.  But I digress…

Stevie tells them that the moonstone’s what’s needed to break the sun and moon curse and that the vampires must be working to break the curse.  “We can’t let them do that, even if we have to kill every last vampire in town.”  Brady says.  Um…. Yeah you and what army?  Cause it seems like you had your asses handed to you after coming up against just two of them last night… I’m just saying.

Tyler shows up and they enlist his help to try and find the moonstone.  He demands an explanation and they fill him in about the curse and the stone and the doppelganger.  Jules says if we can change at will, that means we don’t have to turn at all.  Yeah somehow I don’t think that’s their real desire to break the curse, but it catches Tyler’s attention because he never wants to turn into a wolf again.  Stevie shows him a picture of “Kathy”, Mason’s vampire girlfriend and he recognizes Elena right away. 

Elena, Caroline and Bonnie are all crammed in Caroline’s bed and clearly not early risers when Stefan calls to check in with Elena, but then again, I suppose I’d be tired after a slumber party too.  Elena (with perfect eye make up mind you) gets up for a little chat with Stefan who promises to take her away for the weekend to get away from everything that’s going on, especially John hanging around her house.