THE VAMPIRE DIARIES RECAP: DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME?

What a great episode! The Vampire Diaries is moving along on some of the plotlines and we got some answers! Yay! Bonnie isn’t dead, Elena doesn’t remember her love for Damon, and Caroline admitted to Stefan that she had feelings for him. Grab some popcorn and a glass of wine because we are about to get down to it!

We begin with Elena opening her door and seeing Damon. He looked at her longingly, but she couldn’t remember their love. All she remembered was the pain he caused her loved ones. Damon was so hurt and it was sad. He traveled through time to be with her. Elena apologized and closed the door in his face. So sad!

Damon paid Alaric a visit in the hospital and scolded him for erasing all of the good things about him in Elena’s mind, and leaving her with memories of all the horrible things he’d done. Alaric said he would take it back if he could and Damon believed him. Jo came in and Damon teased her about other vampires wanting her to save them the way she saved Alaric. She shut him down quickly and told him to keep his mouth shut about her rescue. Damon said to Alaric, “”She’s bossy, I like her.” Jo released him from the hospital and expected him to be her date that night for a fundraiser.

Enzo, Stefan, and Matt had Tripp chained up in a house. They each had a different plan. Matt wanted to let the vervain wear off and compel him to forget everything and force him to leave town. Stefan wanted to kill him on the spot and Enzo wanted to torture him to get information, and then kill him. Gotta love that killer Enzo! Stefan hit Tripp’s hand with a hammer and he  admitted that his group was tracking vampires and Caroline was on their list. Stefan told Enzo to get information out of Tripp while he left to warn Caroline.

At Whitmore, Elena told Caroline about how seeing Damon didn’t bring back any feelings for her. Caroline was cool with it and told her to just move on. Liam showed up just in time and asked Elena to be his date for the fundraiser that evening. He also told her that she girl she saved in the maze came into the hospital because of a shoulder injury and he was to check out her labs. Uh oh. Liam is on the path to discover how Elena really saved that girl, because he doesn’t appear to want to give up.

Bonnie woke up (still in 1994) on the couch and crazy Kai was there trying to put the Ascendant back together. He wanted her to help him but she refused. He threatened to take her magic and she wasn’t having it. She stabbed him in the neck with a pen like a super bad ass! She put all the pieces of the Ascendant in her bag and got out of there. Bonnie has it under control people.

Stefan went to the dorm to tell Caroline she wasn’t safe and she didn’t want to be bothered by him. She was still pissed about his behavior. Sheriff Forbes called and asked if she knew where Tripp was. His hunters had her and threatened to kill her if they didn’t get Tripp back. Uh oh. Now it got personal. Stefan took Caroline to Tripp’s location. In the car on the way there, Caroline called Enzo and told him not to hurt Tripp. Once Enzo told Tripp about Sheriff Forbes, Tripp suggested that Matt take him to the border to meet and trade.

Alaric and Jo arrived at the fundraiser looking fabulous. Damon was there to supposedly hang with Alaric, but we all know it was to spy on Elena. Elena walked in wearing a smokin hot dress and Damon couldn’t stop staring. When Liam grabbed her hand you could see the jealousy in his eyes. Damon went over to introduce himself and once he said his name, Liam was like Damon, the ex that died? Elena had some explaining to do. Damon compelled him to forget it and go get Elena a Chardonnay (which she hates). He asked Elena to dance with him and she did. He tried to trigger her memory by talking about how he was her escort at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant (when Stefan didn’t show up). It didn’t work and Elena started feeling guilty. Damon got upset and told her that no matter how much pain he was in, he never would have chosen to forget her. He didn’t understand how she could have made that choice. She needed some air and left.

Caroline and Stefan found Enzo and Tripp was knocked out. Caroline asked what they did to him and Enzo blew it off. Stefan and Caroline started arguing and a light bulb went off in Enzo’s head. It was all clear to him now. He said to Stefan, “She hates you, because she doesn’t hate you at all… She’s got a thing for you, mate.” Caroline looked stunned and then Enzo left. Caroline told Stefan that what Enzo said was never to be spoken about, but she didn’t deny the truth in it.

Bonnie found a hospital and got some painkillers and bandages. She took out the pieces of Ascendant and started to put it back together. She was almost done when she realized there was one missing piece. Crazy Kai showed up with it in hand. She knocked him out and left for Damon’s car, but Kai was waiting in the backseat when she got in the car  (seriously are we ever going to get rid of this guy?). He told her that there was an hour until the eclipse. Insert shiver here. This dude creeps me out.

Elena found Damon at the bar and told him that knowing there was a part of her life that she was missing was driving her crazy. She wanted to remember their love. She thought starting backwards was a good idea to try to remember, so she asked him to take her to the last place she told him she loved him.

Kai attempted to play nice by bringing Bonnie’s teddy bear along. He tried to make Bonnie think that she was a good influence on his crazy ass by saying he won’t  kill the rest of the Gemini coven, and he would give anything to have his family back. Yeah right. Bonnie pretended she believed him and prepared to go home. Bonnie did the spell, but nothing happened. To hide her powers from Kai she put her magic in her bear. What? She put it there for safe keeping. The bear was gone and Kai went postal. No more Mr. fake nice guy there.

At the border, Liz and Tripp were exchanged unharmed, or so we thought. Tripp crossed the border and his throat was slit and he fell to the ground and died. Enzo turned him into a vampire before he left so it looks like Tripp Fell for good. Hee Hee Hee.

Damon took Elena to the Mystic Falls border and told her about the night they died. He went on to tell her a few romantic stories and nothing triggered her memory. She got so frustrated she ran towards the border and flashes of her memory of Damon went through her head. She started coughing up water like she was drowning and Damon saved her. Damon wouldn’t let her risk her life trying to break the compulsion.

Caroline and Stefan were alone while her mother was getting checked out. He asked her why she had a thing for him. He wanted to know how he missed it. She told him maybe it was because she thought he was worth having a thing for. When she woke up as vampire, he told her she’d get through it and she did. When she watched Elena move on with Damon, she couldn’t imagine why Elena would let someone like Stefan go. She said maybe it was because he was her best friend and she trusted him. He apologized for being clueless but he never said if he felt the same way about her. He was truly sorry for the way he treated her. She said she knew he didn’t feel the way she did, because if he did he never would have left. She accepted his apology, but she still had to hate him for ruining their friendship; if she didn’t, she had to hate herself for ruining it and she didn’t deserve that. She walked away. What a great moment of clarity for Caroline. I felt every word she said in that scene. Powerful!

Damon took Elena home and she said she remembered a few things. She wanted  him to tell her about their night in the rain. But for a twist, Damon now changed his mind. He realized she has a real chance at a normal life and she is better off without him. He wanted her to be happy and he he loved her enough to let her go. Then he told her that once it started raining that night, it got cold and she was not happy and they went home (i’m pretty sure that was not what happened).

Alaric went back to Jo’s place. She changed her clothes and she had a huge scar on her stomach. She told Alaric that her brother tried to gut her and she lost her spleen. OMG! Jo is crazy Kai’s sister! She said she had a dysfunctional family (that’s putting it mildly). Alaric wasn’t phased and they started making out on the couch. Bow chicka wow wow!

Liam went to see Elena. She thought it was because she dissed him at the charity event and left with Damon. Wrong. It was because the girl she saved was completely healed and didn’t remember being injured. He wanted to know the truth and she could either tell him or he was going to figure it out on his own.She already didn’t seem credible because of the whole dead boyfriend thing.She needed to figure something out and fast.

Damon drank bourbon and headed to his family tomb. He thought about that passionate kiss in the rain between him and Elena. He looked over and saw Bonnie’s teddy bear. It got there because there was a drop of Bonnie’s blood on it. He knew she was alive. That’s the best news Damon had all day. Will she come back too?

What did you think of this episode? Were you shocked to find out Jo is Kai’s sister? Will Damon and Elena ever get it together or do you think Bamon fans might get their wish? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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