The Vampire Diaries- The Ties that Bind

"You've changed. Somethings different about you. Your stronger, tougher."

What a bloody brilliant and brutal episode. When The Vampire Diaries gets its, they get it right, right to the core... if you know what I mean. There was more action in this episode than there was in One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars, and 90210 combined and there was not one moment that I wasn't stressing out about what the hell was about to go down.

Its good to see Bonnie and Elena working through their differences and being there for each other like the best friends they used to be. Going on this road trip was something they needed just to get away and catch up on things like lip-locking with Damon, but it was also an awfully stupid move on their part knowing that in Mystic Falls you never go anywhere without an accomplice (aka a vampire). So its a good thing that Stefan showed up even though he wasn't really the one that took control of the situation. Elena takes the gold on this one because for the first time in all the seasons she has actually toughened up and used all that strength and anger that Damon and Ric have been helping her achieve and kicked some ass. 

See the wonderful thing about Elena is that she has a heart and no matter what kind of asshole Stefan is to her, her heart wont let him suffer, even if that means sticking her hand inside his open wound to take out the wooden bullets and ease him from his pain. After all this time I think something finally got through to Stefan when she admitted  that she kissed Damon and didn't feel guilty about it. Funny thing happens with guys; their allowed to say the meanest things to you, push you away and treat you like crap yet they feel no remorse for it. But when the girl takes action and blatantly puts it out there that she's moving on they are so hurt and confused. Despite everything though I feel so bad for Stefan and that's weird cause I am a firm believer of Delena. Ah I'm so conflicted... so truthfully no one can even blame Elena anymore. See Elena and Stefan had a passionate love, while Damon and Elena have that irresistable love. She has two wonderful guys, who both have their flaws and are both in love with her, who do you choose?

Since the brotherly bond between Damon and Stefan has not been so prevalent lately, it was quite tasty to see Damon take on his best friend duties and make sure that Ric's new score was not some psychopath. Which at first, seemed like she was I mean granted thats her role in every other show, but never fear, she only attack vampires to take their blood and save the people that are brought to her hospital on their death beds. She's a doctor with a twist, so to speak. But this brings me to point B. Who killed her ex bf and why? Why did they stake him like he was a vampire? It was brought up on multiple occasions throughout this episode so I'm assuming it has some major relevance to the Ric+ hot doctor plot line. Come on detective Damon, get to the bottom of this.

It seems like everything in Bonnie's world has been falling apart lately; she lost her gramz, her ex bf cheated on her with a ghost, she had to send him away and now she finally gets the strength to meet her birth mother and her mother is compelled by Klaus's hybrids. Shit just got real. But seriously, how do you trust someone after all of that? Of course she's your mother so your always going to have a weak spot for her but really Bonnie could never really on her before and this was just more proof that she might not be the most reliable person.  The fact that her mother was working for Klaus really took me for a spin, Klaus tainted mommy Bennett before Bonnie could even explain why she was there. And how crazy is the fact that Bonnie's mother was best friends with Elena's mother and she was fighting this battle long before the girls were involved. Michael actually came for the doppleganger when she was born. I hope they expand on this story line a bit more because it would definitely be interesting to see how their parents were involved.

Since Bills very first episode, everyone knew he was up to no good. He couldn't accept the fact that his daughter was a vampire and he wanted to do everything in his power to "fix" her. Tyler kind of screwed himself over when he called Bill in for reinforcements. Yes, he has a solution one that might or might not work, yes he is going to push Tyler to the max, but he also won't let Tyler see Caroline until he has broken the sire bond and he has no problem threatening to kill Tyler. How can he be so sure that it will work? What if it doesn't? Is Tyler's love for Caroline really that strong? 

This whole season has been a villain vs. villain game. A game of cat and mouse. As Klaus was always one step ahead of everybody, he is now one step behind. He might be able to catch Elena and Bonnie by offguard, but at the end of the day he's still the one that gets pounced on. He got his coffins back, indeed, but what he didn't get back with them was what was inside the coffin. My guess is that whatever was inside the coffin was what Damon had at the end of the episode- a weapon to kill an original. And then if that wasn't a surprise enough, I guess Damon had the decency to let Elijah out of the coffin and gain revenge on his brother. Oh this town is just full of surprises. And if that wasn't enough, things at the Salvatore house weren't calm either. Damon, thats what you get for taking your brothers girl. Was it worth it? Hell yeah.  

Memorable Quotes

• Damon: Road-trip! I call shot gun!
• Elena: Yeah No.
• Damon: Want me to hang out in the back with you?
• Elena: Your not coming Damon.
• Damon: Why? I'm the one who found her.
• Elena: Look Damon, Bonnie hasn't seen her mom in over 15 years. We don't need your snarky commentary narrating her experience.
• Damon: We kissed, now its weird. Have a good trip!
• Bill: Because he made a mistake and now he wants to make good and I understand that.
• Renee: And a drunk doctor, is a bad doctor.
• Ric: What would my exes call me?
• Damon: Nothing, their all dead.
• Elena: No I'm not Stefan. We need a night off from your insanity.
• Stefan: Hey Elena, nice lake-house.
• Renee: You think I killed my ex boyfriend?
• Damon: I think psychopaths are incredibly high maintenance.
• Ric: What are you doing here?
• Damon: Oh looking for a bunny.
• Damon: I went to the hospital to accuse her of killing her ex boyfriend, which btw very sensitive subject.
• Elena: I have to tell you something and its not because I feel guilty that it happened its because I feel guilty you don't know.
• Elena: I didn't plan on kissing him.
• Stefan: Your better than him Elena. Your better than both of us.
• Damon: Is Elena ok?
• Stefan punches Damon
• Damon: I take it you two had a heart to heart... And I take it you don't want to talk about it... Noted.