THE VAMPIRE DIARIES RECAP: NO EXIT

After a brief vacation, The Vampire Diaries is back! Yay! We were left wondering what was going to happen to vampire-blood lusting Damon, so let’s get down to it!

We begin with Damon and Enzo in a house with an unconscious man they just turned into a vampire. Enzo killed the guy, then when he woke up Enzo would give him blood (which made sure he was a vampire) and then Damon could feed on him. It was the perfect plan for them to be able to continue to hang out as buddies. The guy woke up and was confused. They had some small talk and Damon attacked the guy until his head popped off and this time for a change of pace, we begin the episode with Damon’s bloody mouth.

Stefan was helping Elena (which we all know is really Katherine) study for her upcoming history test. She almost busted herself out by claiming the dates in the history book were wrong on a few things. Stefan looked a little puzzled, but she got it together by saying she wrote a paper in high school about the Holy Roman Empire. Caroline came over because Stefan asked her to help him find Damon (and “Elena” was not happy about her alone time with Stefan being interrupted). Caroline had some files from her mother that gave them an idea where Damon was and Stefan knew by the condition of the bodies that Damon was feeding on vampires. Stefan regretted letting Damon chase after Dr. Wes, and Caroline tried to tell him it wasn’t his fault. Then Caroline got a call from Tyler (she hadn’t talked to him since the whole Klaus incident). Tyler told her that he was concerned about Matt because he has been missing, and he knew Nadia was compelling him. “Elena” overheard Tyler on the phone so she acted concerned for Caroline and offered to go with her to Tyler’s. Caroline declined and said they needed to work on their post relationship friendship, so “Elena” was off to go look for Damon with Stefan (which is what she wanted to do anyway).

Katherine called Nadia to find out what was going on with Matt. Nadia told her nothing but when she told her about Tyler and Caroline looking for him, she admitted that he found out the truth about Katherine stealing Elena’s body. Katherine told Nadia to kill Matt because she couldn’t take the risk of the truth coming out.  Nadia has been holding him hostage until the vervain left his system and then she would compel him to forget everything. She wasn’t going to kill him.

Damon and Enzo tried to leave the house and there were Travelers chanting outside. They tried to leave but they were stuck inside. Dr. Wes was there and had a new experiment for Damon. He wanted to know how long it would take for Damon to attack his best friend (being his only option for food).

Stefan and “Elena” stopped for gas before they headed on the road trip to find Damon. They talked about Damon’s redemption and “Elena” made it clear that she was only going along for Stefan. She was tired of the ups and downs of Damon’s redemption. Stefan was still hopeful that it wasn’t too late to save him. Stefan went inside for a snack run, and Katherine broke a pipe out of the car (to ensure car trouble). Stefan came back out and of course the car wasn’t working so “Elena” suggested they get a hotel to clean up (she purposely got grease on her shirt and her face) and wait for the car to be fixed. At first, Stefan was hesitant but he gave in.

Nadia and Matt went back home to find Tyler and Caroline. Matt tried to convince them that he and Nadia had been in Atlantic City for the last few days. After a little convincing, Tyler fell for it but Caroline knew Nadia was up to no good.

Enzo wanted Damon to call Stefan or Elena for help, but Damon refused. Damon didn’t want to take the chance of feeding on them. Enzo chained Damon to the chair to help restrain him before his next feeding time.

At the hotel, Stefan told “Elena” that he could relate to what Damon was feeling because he too, had loved and lost her. Katherine was trying to loosen Stefan up with a few drinks. He went to the bathroom to clean up and his phone rang. Katherine answered and it was Enzo. He told her about Damon and asked that they come as soon as possible (Damon was yelling “Don’t come here” in the background). She told him to text the address to her phone and that they would be there as soon as they could. Stefan peeked out and asked if she said something, and she said no (maybe his vampire hearing was off that day).

At the house, Dr. Wes shot Enzo so he would bleed and make things even harder for Damon. Damon became raged with hunger. He ripped through the chains like paper and attacked Enzo on his neck. Enzo kept yelling for him to stop and he finally did. Not because it was his choice, but because the Travelers somehow altered his blood so Damon wouldn’t kill him. Dr. Wes had one more thing he wanted Enzo for and then he would free him (so he said) and asked Enzo to go with him. Enzo wanted to stay with Damon but Damon insisted he go, so he did.

At the hotel, Katherine was doing everything she could to flirt with Stefan. She was in the bathroom after her shower and opened the door and asked Stefan to hand her a shirt. Then she conveniently left the door cracked when she dropped her towel so he could sneak a peek, and he definitely was looking. Once she was dressed, she walked up behind him, touched his arm and then kissed him. Stefan stopped and said it was wrong and she agreed. The car was ready so he went to settle the bill and she continued to pack with a satisfied smirk on her face. She called Nadia and came up with a new plan. They would go save Damon but she would get him to feed on her and lose control so Stefan would be forced to save “Elena” and kill Damon (Say what??). Classic Katherine Pierce.

Nadia was talking on the phone to Katherine while playing cards with Matt. Matt overheard that Katherine was planning to get Stefan to kill Damon. When they hung up, Matt said that she must have had a different idea of how her relationship with Katherine would be after she saved her. He told her that Katherine seemed to only care about Stefan or the next man and not having a relationship with her. Nadia tried to defend her at first, but essentially said that no matter what mothers do to their children, they will always love them because they are their mothers. Nadia bit his wrist to confirm that the vervain was out of his system, and it was. He knew Nadia was about to compel him, so he pretended that he wanted to have sex with her (why not? he was going to forget it anyway). He said he could think of worst ways to be held hostage and kissed her! Super hot! While they were making out, he took her phone out of her pocket began to text “Help. K” when she caught him.

Caroline got the text but got there too late. Nadia had already compelled Matt to forget everything but sleeping with Nadia (which didn’t really happen, did it?). She got into a fight with Nadia and she was about to kill Caroline when Tyler showed up and attacked Nadia. Nadia got out of there quickly.

“Elena” and Stefan found Damon with a bloody mouth. He begged them to leave, but Stefan said he wasn’t afraid of him (but he stayed outside). Katherine knew this was her chance, so she walked into the house and said she wasn’t afraid of him either (and now she’s stuck in the house with him). Stefan walked into the house too (Ugh…C’mon Stefan would Elena really do this?). “Elena” said Damon wouldn’t hurt her because he loved her and he would fight the urge. She cut her hand and put it right in Damon’s face! Damon was doing his best to fight it, but eventually he couldn’t resist and he bit her neck. She yelled and kicked some wood Stefan’s way (hoping he would stake Damon) and said “He’s going to kill me!” Stefan cut his wrist to distract Damon. Damon bent down to feed off of Stefan and he snapped Damon’s neck. How ya like that Katherine? Sucker!

Tyler apologized to Caroline for trying to kill her, but made it clear to Caroline that he wasn’t ready to forgive her sleeping with the man who killed his mother. She understood but hoped eventually they could be friends.

Damon woke up chained in the Salvatore cellar. Damon told Stefan that he would eventually kill him, and Stefan said that he could teach him how to control it (he was the Ripper and all). Damon was drugged on vervain and before passing out, he told Stefan that Elena was trying to get Stefan to kill him (finally!).

Katherine met Nadia in a restaurant. Katherine was in a good mood, but Nadia was down. Katherine told her she wasn’t up for cheering her up, and Nadia told her she wouldn’t have to worry about her for long because Tyler bit her! She showed Katherine the bite and Katherine actually looked concerned.

Back at the Salvatores, Caroline showed Stefan the “Help K” text she got from Nadia’s phone and told him that Nadia had been compelling Matt. Stefan told her that Elena kissed him and that Damon thought she wanted Stefan to kill him. They thought about it. The K could mean Katherine and Nadia knew how to put Katherine in someone else’s body. They didn’t want to believe it could be possible, but they figured it out. Katherine had been in Elena’s body. Now, what are they going to do about it?

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