THE VAMPIRE DIARIES RECAP: DEAD MAN ON CAMPUS

Wow! Although this episode didn’t seem action packed, a lot happened! Damon, Katherine, and Jesse! I am very unhappy about Jesse’s outcome. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty shall we?

We begin with Dr. Maxfield giving Jesse a bag of “undiluted Augustine blood” for the first time through an IV. Jesse was super strong and broke free of the restraints Dr. Maxfield put on him. Jesse grabbed the blood bag and drank it, but that wasn’t enough I guess because he bit Dr. Maxfield but didn’t kill him. Jesse was not like other new vamps.

Caroline and Elena were planning to throw Bonnie a welcome back party in their dorm. Damon asked Stefan if he wanted to tag along, but he wasn’t in the mood. His flashbacks of his time in the safe were vivid. Stefan passed on the party invite and went to Grill to have a drink and be alone.

While preparing for the shin dig, Caroline got a call from Jesse who sounded completely freaked out. He asked her to come to his room and hurry because his roommate would be back soon. Caroline got there and saw Jesse feeding on Aaron (Jesse’s roommate) but again he didn’t kill him. Caroline was shocked that Jesse was a vampire. Jesse told her how Dr. Maxfield did experiments on him for days and that he got free and locked Dr. Maxfield in his lab. Elena came with a stash of blood bags to help Jesse cope with his new fate. They showed Jesse that his blood could heal Aaron and how they can compel humans. After Vamp 101, Jesse and Caroline were touching hands and he told her it felt amazing. She explained that their senses are heightened as vampires.

Jesse talked with Bonnie who was looking for Jeremy. He noticed she wasn’t paying attention and she explained she was looking for someone. She wasn’t sure if she should say her boyfriend so she just admitted that she thought she was madly in love with him. Aw! So sweet (although when she described him as her best friend’s little brother who was still in high school, it sounded a little creepy. She could have kept those details to herself).

Elena sent Damon to get some answers from Dr. Maxfield, and Caroline thought for sure Damon would kill him. Elena assured Caroline that Damon wouldn’t kill him, but she wasn’t convinced.  

At the Grill, Katherine was drunk and Matt was trying his best to ignore her. He was watching the video of himself when he was possessed by the Traveler. Katherine watched it and translated some of it for Matt (in exchange for more alcohol of course). She told him that he had a traveler, Gregor, inside his brain and he was hanging out there. Katherine had a feeling Nadia was involved (and she was not wrong). She grabbed a bottle of liquor (hasn’t she had enough already) and tried to convince Stefan to have a drink with her. He tried to leave but she got him to stay. Since she was so drunk and probably wouldn’t remember, he confessed that he thought killing Silas would help him move on with his life and it hasn’t. She said he suffered from PTSD and she could relate. She told him she suffered from it after her father took her baby from her and Klaus killed her family. Nadia entered right on cue.

In the lab Damon was having a little fun torturing Dr. Maxfield. He found viles of diseases like Rabies and Flesh-eating Bacteria and injected them into Dr. Maxfield to get him to talk. He would feed him his blood to heal him as long as the doctor cooperated.

Katherine decided to help Matt get rid of his Traveler problem. Matt gave her the knife that Gregor told him to keep safe. Nadia spoke to Gregor and once he took over Matt, Katherine took over. She said she was Nadia’s mother and wanted to meet anyone who wanted to date her daughter (this whole scene was great). She asked what he was really doing in Mystic Falls. He said it was to track and kill Silas and once that was done he was supposed to kill her (whoa, didn’t see that one coming). The Travelers wanted Katherine dead also. She took the knife and stabbed Matt (I completely gasped! Not Matt!). She explained that Matt would be fine but Gregor was gone. That knife was the only way to kill a Traveler and that’s why Gregor instructed Matt to protect it. Nadia didn’t look too happy with Mama Katherine after that.

Back at the party, Jeremy finally got there and took Bonnie away to go “register for classes” (which was code for making out). Caroline and Jesse got close and started to kiss. Jesse looked like he wanted Caroline for dinner and bit her lip. He freaked out a little and had to leave.

Aaron and Elena shared their childhood tragedies. He shared that he was only six when his parents were killed by a “bear” on a camping trip. They had bite marks on their necks (definitely not a bear, probably a vampire). He stayed with different family members until Dr. Maxfield became his guardian.

In the lab, Damon found out what was going on with Jesse. Dr. Maxfield created Jesse to be a new kind of vampire that doesn’t see humans as food, but other vampires. Now that Jesse got a taste of vampire blood from Caroline’s lip, that’s all he would want.

At the Grill, Stefan had another flashback and broke his glass. He went outside for some air and Katherine followed him. She tried to calm him down by having him focus on the names of people he’s killed (starting from the first person). She wanted him to be present and know that he was not drowning in the safe. He grabbed hold of her neck, but she kept telling him to say the names. Nadia found them and Katherine told her she deserved better than Gregor. Nadia told her mother to rot in hell. Aw! They’re starting to bond. 

Elena called Damon and gave her the news about Jesse. Elena made him promise not to kill Dr. Maxfield and he said he wouldn’t (even though he really wanted to). Damon knew that he would just continue his research and create more vampire killing vamps like Jesse and he wasn’t happy about it. Speaking of Jesse, he showed up and asked Dr. Maxfield why he wanted to feed on the girl he liked. Damon asked, “What the hell did they do to you?” Jesse couldn’t control himself and bit Damon’s neck. Damon thought he would be stronger than Jesse since he’s older, but he was so wrong. Jesse over powered Damon and Elena showed up. He asked Elena to help him because Jesse was going to tear his head off. Elena staked Jesse just as Caroline got there. She screamed no and watched Jesse die (Boo! Elena why? I was so pissed that they killed Jesse with his hot self. I hope he pops up on another show soon). Damon tried to explain that Elena didn’t have a choice but Caroline said the Elena she knew would have given Jesse a chance. Poor Caroline; no Tyler and no Jesse. I guess it’s back to the drawing board for her.

At the Grill, Stefan found a goodbye note Katherine wrote for Nadia. She admitted that time was her enemy. As we heard Katherine saying the words of the letter, we see her contemplating suicide on top of a clock tower. She stood on the edge turned around and fell backwards. Right before she hit the ground Stefan caught her (and looked super hot doing so I might add). She admitted that she was dying of old age rapidly because of the cure. He told her that she was Katherine Pierce and she needed to suck it up. He walked away and she smiled at the thought of his words. Great scene!

Bonnie and Jeremy were so ready to be together physically. She was lighting candles and he picked her up and put her on the bed. She took off his shirt and just as they started to kiss, Jesse appeared (total buzz kill). She went to him and he grabbed her arms and told her he wasn’t ready for this. It was not what he wanted and Bonnie bent over screaming in pain as he died. Jeremy asked what was going on, and she explained to him all she would have to endure as the Anchor. He felt so bad for her. She told him that in the end it was worth it because she was back. She told him to kiss her. He slid her back on the bed and they kissed passionately. Steamy!

Elena and Caroline were cleaning up after the party and Elena tried to explain that she staked Jesse because he was dangerous. Caroline wanted to forgive her, but she wanted Elena to be clear about something. The outside world wasn’t as dangerous as the person she has in her bedroom. Elena didn’t like what she was implying about Damon, but Caroline told her she would continue to warn her about Damon as long as they were best friends.

Back in the lab, Damon was putting some vials away and saw a blood bag labeled 12144. He asked the doctor what that meant, because he remembered that he was once 21051. He had several flashbacks of a cell. Dr. Maxfield asked if he was an Augustine vampire and Damon said he hadn’t heard that name for decades. Damon thought the program was shut down 60 years ago, but he was wrong. Forget his promise to Elena, he was going to kill Dr. Maxfield without question. Dr. Maxfield got free and hit an emergency button on the wall that sprayed a vervain gas in the lab. He said to Damon “I’m sure Augustine will be thrilled to have you back.” Wow! Damon is an Augustine Vampire.

Damon woke up in a cell with “D.S. 53” written on the wall. He had more flashbacks of himself bound and tortured. It looks like Damon is headed down a road of torture like his brother.

What did you think of this episode? I can’t believe we have to wait 2 weeks to find out what’s going to happen to Damon! Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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