THE VAMPIRE DIARIES RECAP: FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

Holy Salvatore! This episode got me! Bonnie, Tyler, Jesse! Grab a tissue and let’s get to it!

It was Remembrance Day in Mystic Falls which is where you ring a bell to acknowledge a fallen loved one and toast them (or just an excuse to get hammered). Caroline had a study date with Jesse in the graveyard during the Remembrance Day festivities. She has been studying all things biology so she could impress Dr. Maxfield and try to figure out what he is up to.

Damon told Stefan about Remembrance Day and Stefan was distracted by the vein on the waitress’ neck. Stefan thinks that maybe he was “Ripper Stefan” because of his guilt from his early vampire days. Since he can’t remember anything, he thought he might be able to drink from a human and not rip their head off. Damon didn’t want to find out if his theory is true.

Matt asked Jeremy to come over because he wanted to find out why he was losing time. He knew he was having blackouts, and set up cameras all over his house to see what he was doing during those times. He tried to reach Bonnie several times and was upset that she wasn’t returning his emails. He knew she would be the one to help him figure out what was going on.  

Stefan snuck up on the waitress he was checking out earlier and compelled her not to scream or move. He said he didn’t want to hurt her but the hunger inside of him was much more powerful. He was just about bite her neck when Damon showed up to stop him.

Damon and Elena wanted to keep Stefan away from humans until he got his memory back, so they took him to the family crypt. They went through the crypt and rang a bell for their father (who art in hell according to Damon…Hilarious), Their Uncle Zach (who Damon Killed), and their Mother. Damon got a text from Jeremy asking to see him alone. He left to meet Jeremy and Stefan and Elena were left alone.

Damon didn’t really fill Stefan in on who Elena was yet. Stefan hoped her past wasn’t tragic like his was, but she told him her backstory and everyone she’d lost. He asked her “How do I not remember you? You’re smart, you’re pretty, you’re funny. Obviously you’re the strongest woman in the world if you managed to figure out a way to get through all of that.” (Watch out Damon the doppelganger love connection is being ignited). She told him she surrounded herself with amazing people, like him. He said they were bonded by death and hoped they didn’t meet in a cemetery. She told him no and then took him to school to try to jog his memory on how they met.  

At school, Elena and Stefan tried to reenact how they met when they bumped into each other in the hall. It didn’t trigger anything for Stefan except some flirting and when a bleeding student entered the hallway, Elena knew it was time to get Stefan out of there. They went outside and jumped on the roof of the building. Stefan is no dummy and figured out they’d dated. He guessed that his Ripper days turned her off.  She told him that wasn’t the case. She said he was the most compassionate person she knew and was always in control. She told him that she changed when she became a vampire. He asked her how it happened and she decided to show him.  

Caroline and Jesse were studying in the graveyard and he was impressed with how much she knew. She told him that she wasn’t really talking to her boyfriend (because he is MIA) and just wanted to hang out with him. He kissed her and then apologized. He said he wanted to kiss her since the day they met.

Damon met up with Jeremy and he slowly tried to break the news that Bonnie died. He felt it was time for people to know the truth because they were all counting on her to save the day. Damon knew Elena’s world would be shattered by this news so he didn’t want to hear Jeremy say the words. But he said “Bonnie’s Dead” and Damon yelled! Then he walked toward Jeremy and hugged him. Aw. Sweet Damon.

Elena explained to Stefan about her two accidents on the bridge, and what a great boyfriend he was. They started to get close and Stefan told her that his hunger was better now that he was with her. She told him that she was never afraid of him. She touched his face and they were about to kiss and she told him that she was with Damon. He said, “You’re with my brother? And neither of you thought that was something I should know?”  She said they weren’t hiding it from him, and Stefan said his hunger was back and he left.

Matt woke up on the couch with a big cut on his hand. He watched the video of himself and saw that he talked on the phone to someone and his eyes went black. When he hung up, he walked over to the camera and started talking to himself! Weird! He picked up a knife and said, “Hello, Matt Donovan. I’m the passenger inside you. I know you have questions but all you need to know is that one day my friends will come looking for this blade. Protect it at all costs.” Then he cut his hand and threatened “Or this will be your throat.” Whoa Matt!

Caroline bumped into Stefan in the graveyard and he knew she was his best friend because of pictures he’d been studying. He was a little drunk and told her that she was hotter in person.  Jesse came over to Caroline with some drinks and she compelled him to leave. She knew Stefan was tempted and told Jesse she would find him. Caroline went to get Stefan a blood bag to take the edge off, but he disappeared on her.

Jesse was in the family crypt and left a voicemail for Caroline saying he wasn’t sure why he was there. Stefan came up behind him and bit his neck! Then he stopped and was proud that he didn’t kill him. Jesse was so confused and just wanted to leave. Stefan went on to tell Jesse that he was good and compassionate, but he has nothing to show for it. He can’t remember anything, his brother stole his girlfriend and she willingly went with him. He saw no point in being good. Ripper Stefan showed up and attacked Jesse again! Caroline got there just in time to pull Stefan off of Jesse before he killed him. She told Stefan that was not who he was, and he was better than that. Stefan left. She saw how weak Jesse was and she fed him her blood to heal him.

Back at Casa de Salvatore Stefan was burning his journals. He didn’t want to be that person anymore. He told Damon and Elena that he trusted Caroline and she was there for him and he left.

Elena was worried about Stefan more now than ever and just wanted to talk to Bonnie. She knew Bonnie would be able to fix things because she always does. Oh boy. Here it comes. Damon broke the news to her that Bonnie died and she was devastated.

Caroline went to see Stefan at the crypt and told him that their friend died. Caroline didn’t want to go into detail with Stefan about Bonnie’s death because she didn’t want to cry. She told him that she kind of wished she could trade places with him and not remember anything so she wouldn’t be in so much pain. She didn’t know how she was going to move forward without Bonnie and Tyler. Stefan comforted her and told her that he was there for her.

Now that the word was out about Bonnie’s Death, they had a small service for her in the woods (take out the tissues folks!). Jeremy, Damon, Elena, Caroline, and Matt all dressed in black, one by one put objects that reminded them of Bonnie on a tree stump. Bonnie was there and told Jeremy she needed this and so did they. Jeremy took the bell to ring it in her honor and tears fell. Bonnie told Jeremy to tell them that even though they couldn’t see her, she was there the whole time and she’s not going anywhere. She had Jeremy give each one of them an individual message as she stood by them and everyone was in tears. Just when I thought I could stop crying, Tyler walked up carrying a white rose (Aw. I’ve missed Tyler)! Bonnie said “This is good. This is all I wanted. I’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay.”

Jesse was in Dr. Maxfield’s office and told him that he couldn’t remember part of his night. Dr. Maxfield took a blood sample and discovered he had vampire blood in his system. He told Jesse that either someone tried to heal him or they wanted to make him a vampire.  Dr. Maxfield took the liberty to make that choice for him and injected him with something that made his heart stop. Looks like Jesse is going to be a new vampire and Dr. Maxfield is up to no good.

Whew! Are you still crying? What kind of experiment do you think Dr. Maxfield is doing? What do you think about Matt and his passenger? Do you think Tyler is back for good? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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