THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: Do Not Go Gentle

“Do Not Go Gentle” was definitely one of the most emotional episodes of The Vampire Diaries thus far. A whirlwind of emotions are packed in this episode so let’s get down to the nitty gritty! Warning: you might need a tissue, or four.

It’s time for the 20’s Decade Dance and as history has proven it doesn’t always end well. Rebekah (possessed as her mother Esther), asked Evil Alaric for help to set her plan to kill her children in motion. Evil Alaric stabbed her with a dagger brushed in ash so Rebekah would be placed in a coffin and Esther would return her own body.

Elena has a huge decision to make. Should she take sexy Salvatore brother number 1 or number 2 to the dance (if only my decisions were so hard)? With a little push from Caroline she decided to ask Stefan and he accepted (even though she made out with his brother at the motel last week).

Evil Alaric is with Esther at the tomb and she uses Alaric’s ring to make the stake indestructible, and can be used to kill all Original Vampires (I seriously would not want this woman on my bad side).

Over at the school, the 20’s dance is in full effect and everyone looks super hot in their costumes. Caroline and Tyler are dancing together and of course Klaus wants to cut in (possessed Rebekah convinced him to go to the dance as part of her plan). Tyler is not happy about it but has to oblige so Klaus will not suspect his sire bond has weakened. Stefan and Elena are dancing and she tries to tell him the truth about Damon, but he stops her. He told her that if they find their way back to one another then she could tell him, but for now he just wanted to enjoy being her date (aw sweet Stefan has returned). Damon interrupted this moment to warn them that evil Alaric has returned and he thinks they should put him out of his misery. Jeremy and Elena are not going for that plan at all. Alaric is the only family they have left (he is their guardian).

Next thing you know here comes Esther and she tells Elena if she wants to help Alaric she has to come with her (oh lord, not another Elena adventure where she has to be rescued and someone else gets hurt….sigh). Elena orders Jeremy to get Damon and Stefan immediately and she follows Esther. When the sexy Salvatore’s come outside, they are unable leave. Esther put a binding spell on the school locking them in. They find Bonnie dancing with Jamie and of course they need her help.

Elena follows Esther in the woods. She finds out that Esther wants to turn Alaric into a vampire that will end all vampires. She admitted that each time Alaric died she was on the “other side” filling his head with hatred for vampires. She is responsible for Evil Alaric. Whoa!

Back at the dance Bonnie is doing her best to break the spell that won’t allow the vampires to leave. Since humans have no problem leaving, Jeremy and Matt go to find Elena even though Stefan warned them that it would be a suicide mission.

At the tomb Esther needs the blood of the Doppelganger and Elena refused. So she magically cuts Elena’s hand to get her blood for evil Alaric to drink. Elena begs him not to do it, but evil Alaric takes a drink and Esther stakes him. Elena waits for Alaric to wake up hoping he will be nice Alaric but Esther tells her that Alaric will kill the Originals and die when the task is done.

Jeremy and Matt show up and Esther uses magic to make their weapons point to each other instead of her. Elena is begging them to stop (like only Elena can) when nice Alaric wakes up and stabs Ester. Alaric realizes that he is doomed (break out the tissues folks).

With Esther dead, the spell was broken and the vampires head over to the woods where Alaric and Elena were. Klaus takes Esther’s body while everyone else gives touching goodbyes to Alaric. Elena and Jeremy have a private moment with Alaric in the tomb to say goodbye. When they walk outside everyone is there, and there are candles lit paying a tribute to a dying Alaric(at this point I don’t know how anyone was not crying).

Alaric goes inside the tomb to die. Damon joins him so he won’t be alone. He apologized for killing him twice and they laugh about it. They have a drink and eventually Alaric closes his eyes.

Jeremy and Matt head over to the grill and Matt pours a shot for each of them. They toast to Alaric and Jeremy had tears running down his face (OMG this killed me! Jeremy’s tears literally caused me to pause the show and get another tissue, Heartbreaking)!

Meanwhile Bonnie went home and Jamie is staying with her so she won’t be alone. They fall asleep in each other’s arms and Esther visits her in her dreams. She tells Bonnie she has to finish the job she started. We think it was just a dream until Bonnie is at the tomb. It is like she is in a trance, Damon tries to stop her but she uses magic to give him a major headache. She went into the tomb, cut her hand and forced Alaric to drink her blood. Next we see Alaric’s fangs and he bites Bonnie on the neck. The transformation is complete. Goodbye nice Alaric forever, hello evil vampire Alaric (I think my jaw was on the floor this entire scene). Just like Esther warned, he picked up the stake they created, and he’s on a mission to kill the Originals.

Holy Salvatore! This episode was intense and emotional. What did you think? Did you cry? What do you think will happen now that Alaric is a vampire killing vampire? I think we are in store for a lot more edge-of-your-seat drama in weeks to come. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below and make sure to come back next week!

The Vampire Diaries airs Thursday nights at 8/7c on the CW.