[Warning: Spoilers ahead from Thursday's episode.]
It's Remembrance Day on The Vampire Diaries, which means one thing: reliving the past.
The latest episode of The CW drama had several nods to past seasons and pivotal moments in Stefan's (Paul Wesley) history in Mystic Falls and his relationship with Elena (Nina Dobrev). It was also the hour when Bonnie's (Kat Graham) sacrifice to save Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) became known to her inner circle.
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The Hollywood Reporter compiles the biggest storylines from the episode, "For Whom the Bell Tolls."
Amnesia Stefan gets his Ripper fill: Because he can't recall what's done, who he's met and more importantly who he's killed, Stefan -- or to be more appropriate, let's call him Amnesia Stefan -- gets the download from Damon (Ian Somerhalder) about his gory and history-filled past. Stefan finds out he's a vampire from a page straight out of an action movie: Damon flips the car over at least a dozen times. Yup, that would do it. Because it's Remembrance Day (coincidence?), Stefan quips about Mystic Falls' continued celebration of death: "This town always so upbeat about dead people?" Stefan goes from Amnesia Stefan to Sorta-Maybe Ripper Stefan when he eyes the "cute" waitress' neck, so he of course worms his way to the back, coming thisclose to taking a bite, but good ol' Damon stops him in the knick of time.
Remembrance Day festivities take place at the local cemetery (really just a reason for the townspeople to drink and party among the dead), and Stefan makes an off-the-cuff remark about Honoria Fell. "What kind of a name is Honoria Fell?" Stefan asks as he and Damon make their way through the grounds. "You kinda killed her," Damon replies. "Oh." Stefan is having trouble not becoming his old Ripper self (he's aware he's heading down that road), and his first victim is Caroline's friend Jesse (Kendrick Sampson). Is he going to become homicidal again? Not this time. His only friend, the only person he ends up trusting is Caroline (Candice Accola), after feeling betrayed by Elena and Damon.
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Revisiting "Stelena": If someone turned on the TV in the first half of the episode, nope, it wasn't a rerun of a season one episode. A significant chunk of time was paid to the "Stelena" coupling, with the two former love birds recalling their first meeting at the local high school, among other pivotal relationship moments. In fact, just as Stefan leans in to re-enact their first kiss, Elena pulls away, breaking the news that she's with his brother Damon now. At least for a brief moment, "Stelena" fans had their fill.
Caroline moves on from Tyler: A study date is set between Caroline and Jesse, Dr. Maxfield's lab assistant at Whitmore College. Of course, Jesse makes the first move when he kisses Caroline, who's already showing signs of wanting to move on from Tyler. But their moment is short-lived and a new love triangle possibly forming when Tyler makes an unannounced reappearance in Mystic Falls, reuniting him with Caroline. (More on his return below.)
Bonnie's death becomes real: It took a while for the Mystic Falls residents to find out about Bonnie's reality, and when Elena, Damon, Matt (Zach Roerig) and company find out, it's devastating. Bonnie fights Jeremy to the last possible second not to break the news to her friends, but he doesn't listen, mainly because everyone's been asking why Bonnie hasn't been returning their calls or messages. First, Jeremy breaks the news to Damon, who pleads with him not to say anything, only because everything in Elena's life will change. Then he breaks the news to Matt, followed by everybody else.
Elena, understandably, has a difficult time coming to grips with the death of her best friend. "Stefan's gone, Bonnie's dead," she says hysterical. "She gave up her life so I could get my brother back and I didn't even know about it!" There's a good amount of grieving done after the news is broken, but Bonnie -- through Jeremy -- tells everyone at the funeral that she "is not going anywhere" and "she has been here all along."
Matt vs. Gregor: After continued blackout episodes, Matt has figured out a way to get more answers from what's been happening to him. He sets up several video cameras around the house to record his antics. After one blackout, where he finds himself with an incredibly deep cut on his hand, Matt replays footage. What he sees is Matt, with Gregor as the dominant force, speaking to the camera, telling Matt to guard the blade with his life. "What the hell?" Matt says appropriately. Exactly!
Jesse a vampire? What does shady Dr. Maxfield (Rick Cosnett) have up his sleeve? It looks like he wants to turn Jesse into a vampire. But why?
What are your thoughts on Thursday's episode?
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