THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: Before Sunset

Wow! I thought last week’s episode packed a punch! This episode was a real heart stopper (pun intended) from beginning to end. We only have 1 week until the season finale, Ah! But on the bright side, The Vampire Diaries has been picked up for season 4 so there will be plenty more Salvatore goodness in our future. Yay! Ok, let’s get to it!

Guess who’s getting out of town? Klaus! He has decided to get out of dodge. While the packing begins, Rebekah heads over to the high school to clean up after the dance (that she never made it to). Caroline is there and they have a moment. Caroline gives condolences about her mother and Rebekah gives condolences for Alaric (boy is she in for a treat). They almost have a tender moment when Bam! Evil Vamp Alaric attacks! Caroline stopped him from killing Rebekah and they stab him with the white oak dagger. It doesn’t hurt him, but it gives the blonde vamps time to try to escape. Caroline wasn’t fast enough and Evil Alaric bashes her head into her car and snaps her neck. Then he drags her into the school while his skin is sizzling from the sun, and Rebekah saw the whole thing (this vamp evil Alaric is not playing games).

At the Gilbert’s Elena and Jeremy are painting Alaric’s room (still thinking he died). Stefan drops by to check on them and Jeremy is totally over it. He just wanted one day without vampires in it. Stefan gets ready to leave and is greeted at the door by Damon and Bonnie (glad to see she is alive thanks to Damon giving her his blood). They tell them that Evil Alaric is alive. In the other room Elena gets a call from Alaric. She is hesitant to answer, but she does and he tells her to come to the school alone or Caroline will die. Of course she sneaks out without thinking twice.

Klaus shows up at the Gilbert’s to collect a few things, mainly Elena. Jeremy refuses to invite him inside. They then realize that Elena is not there. Upset he is unable to go inside the house, Klaus starts throwing things. Literally, like a mini vampire fit. He then has a propane tank and a torch ready to burn everyone out. Stefan goes outside to let him know the bad news. Evil Alaric has Caroline and Elena and he will kill them both if Klaus doesn’t turn himself over to him.

Klaus won’t do that, but he will help the sexy Salvatores to bring evil Alaric down. Their plan is to attack Evil Alaric and draw blood, allowing Bonnie to use the same desiccation spell her mother Abby used to take down Michael (Klaus’ father).

Elena arrives in the classroom to find Caroline with pencils stabbed through both hands and tied up with a cloth soaked in vervain. He lectures Elena about trusting vampires and that she could have been a hunter. Then he gives her an order, kill Caroline (this guys is pure evil)!

Bonnie asks Jamie to contact Abby because she needs her help to do the spell. Bonnie heads over to the Salvatore Mansion and after awhile, Abby shows up. She tells Bonnie that the spell is harder than she thought it would be and she would have to go to dark places to complete the spell. If she wants to stop Evil Alaric’s heart, she will have to stop a human heart in order to create a balance in the world. Jeremy volunteers with the hope that Bonnie can restart his heart. Bonnie agrees and before they head out to the woods she gives the vamps a vile of her blood to drink so they will be bound. Whoever hits Evil Alaric hard enough to draw his blood will be used as a channel for the desiccation spell. Before Klaus takes his sip of Bonnie’s Blood, Klaus tells them that he sired their vampire line (Damon thinks he’s bluffing just so they won’t kill him).

Over at the school, Evil Alaric gives Elena the white oak dagger and orders her to kill Caroline. She attempts to stab Evil Alaric and stops her without batting an eye. She grabs the glass full of vervain and smashes it in his face. While he sizzles, Elena frees Caroline and tells her to go get help. Caroline runs down the hall and Klaus grabs her and tells her that she is safe. He says he will save Elena (because she is always saved) but she needs to go home and stay there.

Evil Alaric grabs Elena by the neck and tells her that she doesn’t deserve to live. The Salvatore brothers arrive just in time, but Evil Alaric is much stronger than them. He breaks both of their necks before Klaus steps in and tries to rip out his heart. Evil Alaric slams Klaus on the ground and tries to stake him. At this moment Elena realizes that Evil Alaric won’t kill her because Esther has tied his fate to hers. If she dies, so will he. Elena then starts to cut her neck and this distracts Evil Alaric long enough for Klaus to swipe her and take off.

With this new information, Klaus took her home and tied her to a chair. He compelled a nurse to drain her body of all her blood. Tyler walks in and almost blew his cover (that his sire bond with Klaus is broken) when he saw Elena. Klaus ordered him to get more blood bags and he kept it together and left the room.

Trying to free herself, Elena tells Klaus the only reason he needs her blood is to create a new hybrid family because he thinks his real family will leave him. He tells her that the only reason she hasn’t chosen between her Salvatore boys is because she knows it will tear them apart. He then says that he is doing her a favor by draining her blood and killing her.

As soon as he leaves, Tyler sneaks in to let her go. Klaus catches him and knows the sire bond is broken. He asks how he broke the bond and Tyler told him it was by breaking every bone in his body 100 times for the girl he loves (aw! so sweet). Klaus throws Elena across the room and attacks Tyler. Damon and Stefan burst in and Stefan punches Klaus, digging his fingers into his skin. Bonnie uses their connection to start the spell and she stops Jeremy’s heart.

Suddenly, all the color is drained from Klaus’ face and he looks ill. He struggles and falls to his death (is he really dead? OMG). In the woods, Bonnie tries to restart Jeremy’s heart and it doesn’t seem to work at first. Then Jeremy takes a breath (and I had a huge sigh of relief).

Damon and Stefan take a very weak Elena home before heading out of town. They have to leave before sundown to keep Evil Alaric from finding them. Elena looks at both of her men and apologizes for stringing them along, but can’t bear the thought of losing either of them. She walks in and the whole gang is there. Caroline, Tyler, Matt, and Jeremy are in the kitchen and they all do shots toasting to a life without Klaus.

Evil Alaric has called an emergency meeting of the Town Council. When Sheriff Forbes arrives, Evil Alaric tells everyone there that her daughter is a vampire and the mayor’s son is a vampire-werewolf hybrid. He accused them of working together to cover up the crimes their children commit. When Sheriff Forbes tries to leave, Evil Alaric won’t let her. This meeting has just begun.

Damon and Stefan are on a road trip with Klaus’ body in the back seat. Stefan offers to leave town if Elena chooses Damon so that they can be happy together. After hesitation, Damon offers to leave town too. “All this over one girl,” Damon says. “She’s a pretty special girl,” Stefan replies (is she really that special? I mean come on).

Jeremy and Elena go back to painting Alaric’s room. Jeremy steps out for more supplies and Elena’s nose starts to bleed. She passed out on the floor. Uh oh, who will save her this time?
So, what did you think? Is Klaus really dead? Will Elena finally choose a Salvatore brother? Will they be able to kill Evil Alaric? Let me know your comments in the section below. Make sure to come back next week for the season finale!

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