Finally, The Vampire Diaries is back! Though we were barely able to make it through the hiatus, the wait was definitely worth it. The New Deal, which is now my new all-time favorite episode, was the perfect way to kick off post-hiatus season 3 and bring the show back with a bang.

In the beginning we find Elena out for a jog around the neighborhood, presumably to blow off some steam and de-stress. She soon notices that she’s being followed and though she later comes to the realization that it was just another normal guy out jogging, at first she starts to, well, freak out a bit. I mean who can really blame her? She has every right to be paranoid what with it being the eve of “Klaus-ageddon” and all.

Speaking of Klaus, we get our first post-hiatus glimpse of our favorite villain at the Grill as he interrupts a flirty moment between Damon and Elena. Only he’s not alone, he’s with his hybrid creeper friend Tony, who just so happens to be the guy that was following Elena earlier in the episode (so she wasn’t just being paranoid after all). Klaus reveals that he’s planning to a make a home in Mystic Falls and that he’ll leave Elena and the gang alone as long as he gets what he wants. And right now, he wants his family back. (And we all know that when Klaus wants something, someone usually ends up dead. Not looking too good for the Mystic Falls crew).

After finding out that Jeremy has been failing his classes and got fired from his job at the Grill, Elena and Alaric try to get through to him at a family dinner. Before dinner can even begin Jeremy tries to bail because he has plans with Tyler, but Elena’s not having it. In a rash moment of frustration Jeremy invites Tyler into the house, meaning that the newly-sired hybrid can now come in whenever he’d like. At the almost dinner Tyler reveals just how far his loyalty to Klaus goes by saying that he’d rip his own heart out if Klaus asked him to. Wow, I knew Tyler was all buddy buddy with Klaus now, but that’s taking it a bit too far there man.

In an attempt to threaten Elena into helping him get his family back from Stefan, Klaus compels Jeremy to remove his ring and kill himself by standing in front of a speeding car, driven by Klaus’ henchman Tony. Just in the nick of time, Alaric rushes to Jeremy’s aid and pushes him out of the way, but unfortunately he himself gets hit by the oncoming car. Thankfully, he’s wearing his life saving ring, so all should be well. Three cheers for the ring!

Following the threat on Jeremy’s life Elena and Damon immediately head out to find Stefan and attempt to convince him to return Klaus’ family. I must admit that they look pretty good walking through the woods like a couple of secret agents on a mission. They successfully locate Stefan with the help of Bonnie, and Elena takes first try at talking some sense into him. Let’s just say it doesn’t go well. Stefan basically assures Elena that he no longer cares for her at all, so he therefore doesn’t care about her brother’s life. With a look of disgust Elena slaps him hard across the face and tells him to, “Go to hell.” There’s that Petrova fire!

Back at the Gilbert house, Alaric does come back to life, but he isn’t healed. Due to some serious complications with his ring he begins coughing up blood and collapses on the floor. With perfect timing Tony shows up at the door and offers Elena his blood to heal Alaric if only she’ll invite him in. Just when it seems that she has no other choice, Jeremy comes to the rescue! Knowing that just a shot in the back won’t kill a hybrid, Jeremy puts on a brave face and chops Tony’s head off with a meat cleaver. Let’s not forget here people that though he’s handled everything that life’s thrown at him remarkably well, Jeremy is only 16, still just a kid. What sixteen year old should have to be able to handle everything that he’s been through?

To save Jeremy’s life, Elena makes a deal with Klaus. She’ll trade him his sister, Rebekah, for his word that he won’t harm Jeremy. Elena is truly awesome in this episode. From the way that she stands up to Klaus and holds her own and refuses to be intimidated, to her slapping Stefan. She’s no longer letting anyone push her around. She’s making decisions for herself now, instead of letting other people make them for her, and that’s the Elena I love to see.

Though Klaus un-daggered his sister, after learning from Elena that Rebekah now knows the truth about what Klaus did to their mother, in a touching scene he ends up re-daggering her just as she’s waking up, with the promise that they’ll meet again and a sincere apology. Seeing this human side of Klaus really gets to me. Though it’s hard to accept, it’s evident that underneath all of the evil there really is a living, feeling person in there who cares deeply for his family, even if he might not know how to show it.

Multiple times through the course of the episode Damon has been sweet and comforting to Elena, and we see it again in the kitchen of the Gilbert house. Elena has just finished cleaning up the blood from the porch and it’s easy to see that she’s not far from her breaking point. She knows it isn’t fair for Jeremy to have to live the way that he is and with a deep sense of conviction she tells Damon that, “It isn’t right,” and that they have to fix it. Damon promises her that they will, and shortly after, he makes good on that promise.

In one of the most moving, heart-wrenching scenes of this season so far, Elena has Damon compel Jeremy to go live with family friends in Denver so that he can have a chance at a normal life. I can’t even begin to come close to capturing the power of this scene in words. Alaric adds that Damon should tell Jeremy to “leave Mystic Falls behind and never think twice about it.” At the mention of that line, I burst into tears. Damon looks to Elena for approval, and she gives him a tearful, but strong nod. That one nod said so much for Elena. In that moment she gave up the only part of her family that she had left, but she’s determined to protect Jeremy no matter her personal cost, and she draws strength from knowing that he’ll go on to have a better life. To me this scene has a sense of finality about it. Perhaps Jeremy will be back sometime in the distant future, but I feel that he is really going to be gone for a long time. Then again, we all know how unpredictable this show is. He might have just been pretending to be compelled and he might be back within a week or two ready for battle.

The episode comes to a close with arguably the most important Elena/Damon moment to date. Elena walks Damon out to the porch to say goodnight and admits that she doesn’t know what she’d do if Damon wasn’t there. He tells her that Stefan “screwed them over” for a good reason, to save Damon’s life. Now Elena’s even more confused and is questioning if there is hope for Stefan after all? Damon confesses that he’s an idiot for believing that he wouldn’t have to feel guilty for wanting his brother’s girl and turns to leave. Just as it seems that we’re going to have another almost-but-not-quite-amazing Delena moment, Damon turns back around and says, “If I’m going to feel guilty about something, I’m going to feel guilty about this.” And BAM! Damon kisses her, really kisses her, and she kisses him back. FINALLY!! The first completely real, Damon/Elena kiss. This wasn’t a mistaken identity doppleganger kiss, this wasn’t an “I’m drunk, why doesn’t anyone love me?” kiss, this wasn’t an “I’m sorry you’re dying” kiss, this was a real kiss, for both of them. Is that a chorus of angels singing “Hallelujah” that I hear? I mean, we’ve only been waiting for this moment for 3 seasons now. And it finally happened. And it was absolute perfection.

The New Deal brought it all. Heartbreaking family moments, laugh out loud moments, and of course, The Kiss. This episode lured both tears and cheers from me in a record breaking 2 minutes. I’ll admit that I squealed like a little school girl when Damon and Elena kissed. I may have even jumped up and down a bit. Or a lot. Well, that’s it folks! The Vampire Diaries is back in full force and I couldn’t be any happier with the first episode of the post-hiatus season.

Other Thoughts:

• Is it just me, or does Damon look even more gorgeous than usual in this episode?
• The song choice for the last few minutes of this episode was AMAZING. Ross Copperman’s “Holding On And Letting Go” fit the mood perfectly.
• I find it a little odd that no one noticed the murder and decapitation of Tony going on right on the Gilbert’s front porch. But hey, it’s Mystic Falls.
• I like the Bonnie/Stefan working partnership that’s forming in this episode, but  I wonder how much she’ll tell Elena? Also, I wonder who’s in that coffin that won’t open?
• Speaking of secret-from-Elena partnerships, Stefan and Damon now have one as well. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how that one plays out.
• I’m curious to find out why Alaric’s ring didn’t work? Are there only a certain amount of times it will work?
• How excited are you that we finally get to see the character of Meredith brought to life? I know I’m very excited! I can’t wait to see how the show portrays her and how her relationship with Alaric and the other characters develop.