THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: Memorial

Wow! Every week I am amazed by this show. We are only 2 episodes in Season 4 and I am sucked in (pun intended). This episode began with Damon and Stefan having a little Salvatore spat over how Elena should feed.  Damon thinks she should drink from the vein first in order to be able to control her bloodlust (because all vampires fall off the wagon anyway at some point) and Stefan wants her to start off on animal blood to save her from the pain of killing a human. Elena chose Stefan’s method and fed from a deer. She cried afterwards but she got through it.

Stefan attempted to teach Elena how to use her new vampire speed, but she couldn’t concentrate with his hands touching her. All of her senses are heightened so she turned around and he pushed her against a tree and the clothes started coming off. It was about to get sexy  but she had to stop suddenly to throw up. That’s one way to kill the mood.

Over at the Grill, Sherriff Liz asked Damon if he started the fire that killed the council members. He told her if he wanted to kill the council members he would have had a dinner party.  A good looking man, Connor Jordan enters and introduces himself to Liz as an “independent contractor” investigating the fire. He extended his hand and we see he has a glove (which he soaked in vervain to identify vampires).

Elena tried to tell Stefan that she got sick from drinking the animal blood but he didn’t understand she couldn’t keep any of it down. He told her it would get better with time and wanted to celebrate her first feed with champagne from the year she was born. Damon then called to tell them about the fire and Elena met him at the Grill. Damon would not let her sit on his left because that was Alaric’s chair (even though he isn’t there, Damon was having a moment and missing his friend). He assured Elena that he did not start the fire and she shared that she was not able to keep the blood down. He told her to pick someone she wanted but she wasn’t interested. He took her to the bathroom, bit his hand and told her to drink his blood. He warned her not to tell Stefan because vampire blood-sharing is “kinda personal.” She took his hand and drank, and they both looked like they were enjoying it a little too much. Yowza!

Tyler and Caroline are getting hot and heavy but she stops him because she feels guilty for getting intimate with him when so many people lost their lives. He told her he loved her and she told him she loved him, too. They started kissing again and the doorbell rang (apparently no one is going to get any action this episode without being interrupted). It was Connor and he wanted to talk to Mayor Lockwood about the fire. Tyler came downstairs when he heard Connor asking his mother why she wasn’t with the other 12 Council members that died. Connor introduced himself and shook Tyler’s hand. Tyler immediately had a reaction to the vervain, and Conner did not hesitate to shoot him several times. Conner reloaded his gun and that gave Tyler time to jump through a window. He went to see Stefan who removed the wooden bullets from Tyler and told him that he would have died if he wasn’t a hybrid. The bullets were specially carved, had impressions on them, and they burned Stefan when he touched them.

At the memorial for the Council members, Elena sat down with April (Pastor Young’s Daughter who she had not seen since her parents funeral), who was nervous about speaking at the service. Elena touched April’s arm to comfort her and she had a vampire moment of weakness. She felt her veins and had to rush off to the bathroom to throw up again. She couldn’t keep Damon’s blood down either.

Stefan paid Bonnie a visit to ask her about the bullets. He found her depressed and hugged her when she invited him in (Stefan can be so sweet sometimes). She told him about Grams dying all over again because she ignored her warning about the dark magic. He comforted her and she asked why he stopped by. He took out the bullets and she confirmed the drawings on them were not magical.

Elena called Damon to bring her a new dress because she messed up her dress pretty bad when she got sick. Connor was at the bathroom door trying to get in when Damon arrived. Connor extended his hand and introduced himself, but Damon was smarter than that. He told him he was a germaphobe and did not shake his hand. Elena came out and apologized for taking so long and they left with the bloody paper towels she used to clean the bathroom in her purse.

April was practicing her speech in the balcony, when Conner came in and stabbed her with a stake (seriously who is this guy?).

Damon brought Elena a blood bag to try and she spit that right back up. She is not having any luck in the blood department. She started to think maybe she would be better off dead but Damon caressed her face and told her she would be okay (this was a nice moment for Delena fans, myself included).

Elena, looking pretty pale, stumbled into the service sat next to Matt. Tyler and Caroline were sitting nearby and refused to let the hunter scare them away from paying their respects. Mayor Lockwood called April to speak about her father, but she didn’t show up so Elena felt she should speak. Not a good idea. Damon sat down next to Stefan after blessing himself with Holy Water and giving us that Damon smirk we all love.

Connor was in the balcony with his gun waiting for someone to react to April’s blood that was dripping. Damon warned them not to react because it was a test but with Elena being on stage it was tough for her not too. Luckily, Stefan got to her and escorted her off the stage just as her eyes started to change. Stefan explained to Matt that Elena hadn’t fed in days and they couldn’t leave the service because they were being watched. Elena was on edge and feeling like she was losing it so Matt offered for her to drink from him. She did in a discreet way that just looked like they were hugging and she immediately looked better and thanked him. She could still smell April’sblood and wanted to help her, but Stefan thought it was too risky.

Tyler went to the pulpit to talk about Pastor Young. He shared that Pastor Young taught him what it means to be on a team, but was interrupted by getting shot again by Connor. Tyler knew he would get shot and it would clear out the church. Damon is ready to rip Connor’s head off. Unfortunately he underestimated Connor, who shot Damon a few times and fled.

Elena tried to help April but the smell of her blood was too much for her and she almost attacked her. Luckily Caroline got there just in time and told her she would kill her if she fed on her. She reminded her that April was her friend and she needed her now. Caroline gave April her blood to heal her and coached Elena to compel her. She told Elena to believe what she was saying. Elena told April she’d get through it and she’d help her. She told April that she’d watched the service in the balcony so she could grieve alone and people said really nice things about her dad. Elena did a good job for her first time compelling anyone.

Over at the Grill Connor asked Matt about the bandage on his neck. Matt told him his girlfriend went a little overboard and laughed it off. Jeremy noticed a big tattoo on Connor’s arm and the symbols looked like the symbols on the bullets. He said “Nice ink,” to Connor. Matt thought it was strange because he didn’t see a tattoo (and neither did we). Weird!

Connor went to his trailer and had a lot of research on Mystic Falls (including a list of Council members and a letter Pastor Young left for April). In the letter, Pastor Young referred to the Council’s deaths as “a necessary sacrifice” and said, “There’s always been an evil that spread through Mystic Falls, but now a greater one is coming. My death is but the first in the war ahead.” That doesn’t sound good.

Stefan gave Elena a drink to help her with her cravings. He was upset because she lied to him about her blood digesting problems and went to Damon for help (and drank Damon’s blood which means a lot to Stefan). Elena didn’t want to hurt Stefan and started crying. She felt like she couldn’t stop feeling everyone’s grief, and Stefan understood that everyone needed to heal. He called everyone to the school so they could light paper lanterns and finish the Memorial that was interrupted by Tyler’s shooting. Everyone participates except for Damon. He left and decided to grieve by drinking at Alaric’s grave. He talks candidly to Alaric like he was there and he was. Alaric was sitting in the Graveyard listening to Damon go on about “the kids.” Damon thanked him for leaving him there to babysit and said he owed Damon big time. It is obvious that Damon misses Alaric and walked away. Alaric said, “I miss you, too, buddy.” (I almost had to reach for a tissue but I held it together). So sweet!

So what did you think? What Evil do you think is headed toward Mystic Falls? Why can Jeremy see Connor’s Tattoo but no one else can? What do you think of the Stefan/Elena/Damon love triangle? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below and we will see you back here next week!

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