The Ties That Bind was a good episode, because let’s face it, there truly aren’t any bad episodes of TVD, but in my opinion it wasn’t one of the best. Though there were definitely some great moments, overall I just couldn’t seem to get into this episode as much as I usually do. But of course, it is The Vampire Diaries, so that means that even the worst episodes (and I’m not saying that this is a worst episode) are still way ahead of other t.v. shows.

We begin the episode with yet another prophetic Bonnie dream, which leads to her search for her long-lost mother, Abbey. With some help from Damon, Bonnie and Elena have Abbey’s address and set out to find her, sans Damon. Though he did protest Elena’s decision to go without him, he didn’t put up too big of a fight. And after Bonnie’s questioning what’s up with the two of them, with his signature smirk he makes the blunt comment that “we kissed and now it’s weird.” That’s what I love about Damon. He doesn’t beat around the bush or try to make decisions for people. He’s straight forward, not afraid to speak his mind and let’s Elena make her own decisions, trusting her judgement.

At Abbey’s house the girls meet Jamie, her “adoptive” son, who seems to be relatively normal. Elena goes outside to give Bonnie and her mom some privacy to talk and we finally get a glimpse of Bonnie’s family and history. We learn that Bonnie’s mom is the one who spelled Mikael into the tomb in Charlotte, to protect Elena no less, and that she lost her powers and never returned to Mystic Falls because she wanted a chance to start a new life. Can you say selfish much? I’m sorry, but I just don’t like Bonnie’s mom, nor do I trust her.

Outside, Elena runs into Stefan, who showed up at Abbey’s house despite Elena’s lying to him to keep him away. In the midst of their argument Jamie, who’s been compelled by one of Klaus’ minions, shoots Stefan with a wooden bullet and ties up Elena. Then to top it all off, Abbey proceeds to kidnap Bonnie and take her to meet said minion. Sure, she’s only doing it to protect Jamie, who’s been compelled to kill himself if Bonnie won’t give up the location of the coffins, but it still makes me dislike her even more.

Looks like Elena’s training is really paying off. She tricks the compelled Jamie into coming near enough for her to bust out of her restraints and knock him out with a blow to the head from the butt of the very gun he was holding just moments ago. YOU GO GIRL! As Stefan points out, she really has gotten stronger. She isn’t the fragile, helpless girl that she used to be, she’s changed into someone much tougher who’s capable of looking out for herself. Also during their heart to heart, Elena admits to Stefan that she kissed Damon. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Stefan’s reaction because at this point, I had absolutely no idea what his reaction would be. Was he going to freak out and get mad? Was he going to make some detached comment about not caring? The answer is, none of the above. Stefan’s reaction was perfectly written and very well played by Paul Wesley. He simply gets up, and walks away. But the look on his face before he walks off says it all. What’s great about the way Elena handled the situation is that she doesn’t tell him out of guilt, she just tells him because she feels that he deserves to know. I also find it very interesting that she didn’t say, “Damon kissed me.” Instead she says, “I kissed Damon.” Very interesting Ms. Gilbert, very interesting indeed.

After giving him a moment alone, Elena rejoins Stefan at his car. He sincerely admits that he took it too far with the kidnapping and the bridge. I’m really proud of Stefan for admitting that he was wrong and from the looks of it, so is Elena. However, what he says next broke my heart. Elena tells Stefan that she never planned on kissing Damon, and Stefan responds by saying, “you’re better than him,” and with a sad but resigned look on his face he adds,  “you’re better than both of us.” Will Elena end up with Damon? Or will she end up with Stefan after all? Or, will she end up with neither of the Salvatore brothers? Only time will tell. All we can do is strap ourselves in for the ride and watch and see.

As per usual, the best moments happened in the last 5 minutes of the show. Klaus is setting up his recently obtained family’s coffins when out pops…….yep, you guessed it! ELIJAH! (who was un-daggered by Damon.) I’m overjoyed at his return to the show and hope that we’ll be seeing lots of him in the episodes to come. And the best part, was the look on Klaus’ face at his dear brother’s unexpected return. Priceless. 

Other Thoughts:

– Tyler really must love Caroline to be willing to go through all of that pain to get his freedom back. I still can’t stand Caroline’s dad, I know he’s trying to help and all, but I just don’t like the guy.

– Though Meredith’s reasoning for stealing Damon’s blood is understandable, admirable even, I’m still suspicious of her.

– Speaking of Meredith, I think Alaric is being way too open with her. Dude, you’ve known the girl for like 5 minutes, wait a while before you start divulging all of the family secrets!

– Welp, Klaus has his family back, save the mysterious un-openable coffin. WHO’S IN THERE?!

– Way to go Damon for bringing back Elijah!!!

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.

One word. Holy Originals! Okay, maybe two, but who’s really counting? In this episode we’re treated to some intense flashbacks that finally shed some light on the much-speculated past of the Original family, and we come to find out that the title of this episode, Ordinary People, is very well suited.

First off though I’d like to say, before we delve into the depths of Original history, where in the world is Katherine?! We do eventually see Mikael in this episode, but we never hear a word about Katherine’s whereabouts or if she’s even alive after her little run-in with Mikael. So what’s going on with Kat?! I’m dying to know what happened to her! I just pray that she’s alright and that we haven’t seen the last of her doppleganger hijinks and sassy remarks yet.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, on to the main focus of this episode, the Originals. Let’s start with sorting all of our newly gained Original family information that we learned through Alaric’s decoding of the cave wall and Elena’s persuading of Rebekah. (I would like to give props to Elena for how well she held her own with the centuries old vamp. Rather than being intimidated by her, Elena held firm and somehow persuaded Rebekah to give her the information she needed. You go girl!) Anyway, here’s what we learned about the Originals:

• As many fans guessed, Mikael is in fact the father of the Original family. Or “Papa Original” as Damon would say. And he’s dominated by his pride.

• The Original witch who turned the Original family into vampires and placed the hybrid curse on Klaus is actually the mother of the Original family, Esther.

• After loosing a child to illness, the family moved from Europe to the Mystic Falls area when they heard of the health of its inhabitants from their witch friend, Ayana.

• However, those inhabitants happened to be werewolves, but the Original family lived in peace with them for over 20 years as their family grew, until the day one of the werewolves killed Henrick, a child of the Original family.

• After the death of Henrick, Mikael wanted to become stronger than the wolves so that his family would be safe from them, but Ayana refused to help him because it was against the balance of nature.

• So here’s where the “Original” witch comes in. In order to protect her family, Esther turns them into vampires by calling on the sun for life and the ancient white oak tree for immortality, but she herself cannot be both a witch and a vampire so she does not turn.

• As with any unnatural spell, there are consequences. The vervain that grew at the foot of the ancient white oak tree now burns them, along with the sun, they must be invited into homes, and the worst consequence of all, the uncontrollable bloodlust.

• The family knows the white oak tree can be used to kill them, so they burn it.

• After Klaus becomes a vampire and makes his first kill, his werewolf side is triggered. Mikael then knows that Klaus is not actually his son and that Esther had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. This is when Esther places the hybrid curse on Klaus and turns her back on him.

• In his anger Mikael massacres half of the village and according to what Klaus told Rebekah, he kills Esther.

• But we later find out that according to the cave walls, Klaus is actually the one who killed Esther and that he’s been lying to Rebekah for all of this time.

Whew! That’s enough to make your head spin! Though we now know most of the story of the Originals, we still don’t know about the other 2 Original siblings, or how the doppleganger fits into the story. But I believe we’ve got plenty of new info to ponder and speculate over for now.

Damon & Elena: I absolutely loved them in this episode. The scene in Alaric’s apartment where Damon’s helping Elena “train” is adorable. Their relationship really has grown in leaps and bounds from last season to this season. They’re close enough now for Damon to playfully fake bite Elena, now that’s saying something. And their scene in Elena’s bed together is to die for. They have such a unique bond that allows them to be 100% sincere and real around each other, and that’s one of the things that I love about them.

The Vampire Diaries writers absolutely amaze me. Each week’s episode is somehow thrilling in its own way. This week’s episode, Smells Like Teen Spirit, wasn’t necessarily action-packed and full of crazy suspense, but it was charming and entertaining and completely perfect.

The thing that stands out the most to me in this episode is Elena’s strength and determination. She refuses to play the role of the victim and vows to find a way to protect and stand up for herself. In order to accomplish this she enlists the help of her live-in History teacher/vampire hunter/parent figure Alaric. After waking up at the crack of dawn, the pair venture into the woods for some heavy vampire defense skills training. It’s soon discovered that Elena is “not strong enough” to wield the stake launcher that is powered by the force of a punch. But instead of taking the easy road and giving up, she’s determined to improve by whatever means necessary. Now this is the Elena I love to see, and by the end of the episode, she proves just how strong she really is.

Seeing Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie back at school for their first day of senior year was both sentimental and exciting. Exciting because it’s the start of a new year and as Elena says, “a new life.” I’m really, really, REALLY looking forward to seeing what this “new life” brings for our lovable heroine, hopefully something better than what she’s had the past few months. But, it’s also sad and sentimental to see our trio back at school for their senior year because it highlights how much things have changed for them in such a short time. Just one year ago, they were nothing more than average high school teenagers with average high school problems. Now, one of them’s a witch who’s boyfriend is seeing the ghosts of his dead girlfriends, one’s a vampire who’s boyfriend has been turned into an unpredictable hybrid, and of course one is a cursed doppleganger who’s boyfriend has been forced off the deep end and no longer loves her (or at least doesn’t feel his love for her for the time being). But the girls are tougher than they appear and despite their deplorable circumstances, they choose to put on a brave front and face the new year with a smile.

Also highlighting the differences between the beginning of last year and this year, Elena and Stefan bump into each other in the school hallway, but instead being greeted with Elena’s surprised pleasure, this time Stefan is greeted with her extreme distaste for his new self. I really appreciate all of the subtle little references to the first episode that the writers snuck into this episode. It makes for quite a contrast and really shows how different all of their lives and relationships with each other are now.

Speaking of Stefan and Elena, their meeting on the track is quite entertaining. While Elena’s trying to get some simple exercise Stefan pops up and proceeds to run alongside her. Their relationship is at such a, for lack of a better word, weird place right now. It’s almost as if he’s flirting with her, but not in a sweet “I love you” kind of way, more like in a “hey, I’m a conceited jerk now” kind of way. It must be difficult for Elena because she knows that deep down he really does love her, but she also knows that “her” Stefan isn’t there anymore. Also, I can’t help but wonder if Stefan’s casual comment, “Think I’m annoying now? Wait until Homecoming!” is foreshadowing to something major going down on Homecoming night. I wonder what he’s planning? Or if he’s planning anything? Oh, and did anyone else laugh out loud at Stefan’s intense reaction to that guy accidentally bumping into Elena, or was it just me? Because I thought that that part was hilarious!

In order to improve her vampire defense skills and beef up, Elena takes Alaric’s advice and starts pumping iron. As she’s working up a good sweat Damon arrives and teases her with a perfectly timed and long-awaited “Buffy” reference. Then he grabs her and shows her “the way to a vampire’s heart” and wow, just wow. I’m speechless. Their chemistry here is red hot and undeniable. I wonder when they’re going to give in and kiss already?!

Now, onto the eventful bonfire that occurs that evening to ring in the new school year. Elena meets Stefan and the seemingly ever-present Rebekah by the beer keg and downs a whole cupful in .2 seconds. Very un-Elena like, but fun to watch nonetheless! And her reply to Stefan’s comment about her being a lightweight is priceless, “You think I’m going to let a blood addict tell me how to drink?” And with that, she flashes a Katherine-esque smirk and walks off. Elena is a little firecracker in this week’s episode and I have to say, it’s a refreshing change. I’m all for this new, strong version of Elena, bring it on!

The new Elena comes out to play again when tricking Stefan in the bleachers after the bonfire. She halfway pretends to be (and halfway actually is) drunk, and puts on quite the show. Nina’s acting here is right on parr and she absolutely nails it. Elena drunkenly teases ripper Stefan about how he’s supposed to be the life of the party, and climbs up onto the edge of the bleachers and acts as if she’s going to fall. After a few fake outs, she actually lets go and purposely lets herself fall, knowing that Stefan would be there to catch her. And he was. The two share a meaningful (or almost meaningful, you can never really tell with the new ripper Stefan) look, and for a split second you can almost see the old, head over heels in love with Elena, Stefan shining through.

Unfortunately their sweet moment is put to an abrupt end when Alaric fulfills his end of the plan to capture Stefan, by shooting him with vervain darts, effectively knocking him out. However, their plan is foiled by a car fire caused by Vicki and in the end Elena chooses to save Stefan from the fire, when she could have just left him there and been done with it (but come on, we know she’d never do that, who would?).

Later on at the Salvatore mansion, we get another taste of the tantalizing chemistry between Elena and Damon. Damon shows his sweeter side and gently applies some medicine to Elena’s cut face, and in this moment it’s blatantly obvious that there is something between the two of them. It may be something that neither one of them is truly ready to deal with yet, but it’s definitely there. And it’s only going to grow.

In the ever intense last 5 minutes of the show, we get to see the strong, powerful Elena hold her own in a difficult situation with Stefan. I really do feel for her though, Stefan is sending some pretty mixed messages. First he tells her that he’ll “always protect her” and as she’s about to leave he calls her back to ask her why she bothered to save him from the car fire. It seems like the sweet, old Stefan is poking his head out again. But after Elena explains that she still has hope for him finding his humanity, and tells him that she’s not going to give up on him, the new, jerky version of Stefan pops right back into place and coldly tells her that her unfailing hope makes her “pathetic.” Instead of breaking down in front of him, like she very reasonably could have, Elena summons her newly found strength and stabs Stefan in the stomach with the stake launcher that she was earlier incapable of using, and leaves him with a quote that sums up her new look on life: “No Stefan, it makes me strong.”

Other thoughts on Smells Like Teen Spirit:

– Katherine BETTER be okay! Despite the speculation going on, I refuse to believe that the writers would have our  favorite badass-vamp go out like that. Honestly, the show just wouldn’t be the same without her. And what in the world is up with Mikael? A vampire who eats other vampires? What?!

– I hate to admit this, but…….I love Rebekah! Or perhaps I should say I love to hate her? Either way, she’s pretty awesome. I think the casting of her character was impeccable.

– Tyler’s whole being “sired” situation is pretty crazy. I’m interested to see how this all plays out and find out how deep his loyalty to Klaus really goes. One thing’s for sure though, I hope we don’t see the return of the pre-Caroline, cocky version of Tyler. He’s come such a long way and I’d hate to see him fall back into his old behavior.

– Wow, so Anna is really back now! And Mason Lockwood! Uh-oh for Damon. But if they’re back, I wonder who else is?

– The tearful goodbye between Matt and Vicki was heartbreaking, even though I’ve never particularly cared for the character of Vicki. I’m proud of Matt for doing the right thing and letting her go, and at least he got to say goodbye and get the closure he was looking for.

Smells Like Teen Spirit was definitely one of my favorite episodes of this season so far, and Elena’s quote at the end of the episode really says it all. While it’s great to see her holding her own with the big boys and kicking butt, Elena’s strength truly lies in her humanity, and her unfailing dedication and love for those she cares about. But of course, it’s always good to see some of that Petrova fire.

Switching Salvatores? In this week’s episode, Disturbing Behavior, Elena gets one step closer to admitting that she has feelings for Damon, our favorite trio of best friends is reunited, and we get a highly unexpected dose of doppleganger hijinks.

While Stefan’s living the high life with his new BFF Klaus and his equally-Original sister Rebekah in Chicago, Elena’s at home trying to “pretend that she didn’t spend all summer looking for someone who didn’t want to be found.” She and Damon are in the kitchen cooking chili for yet another Lockwood party when we get to see a little fun, flirtatious banter between the two. If anyone can bring out Elena’s fun side, it’s Damon, and I don’t think she’s laughed all summer so, hey writers? Can we get some more of that please? It’s great to see Elena relax and smile, even if she is still “in denial” about Stefan.

Thankfully Elena has her two best friends to lean on again now that Bonnie’s back. The trio is reunited with smiles and hugs all around, but right when everything seems to be great, Elena’s necklace, which we now know is Rebekah’s necklace, mysteriously burns her. Turns out that Klaus’s witch Gloria is trying to locate it. Oh boy, this can’t end well.

Back in Chicago, Gloria decides to torture Stefan with some old-school voodoo in order to get the information she needs about the necklace. Gah, poor Stefan! It’s so horrible to see him being tortured, but I have to say that I love the heartbreaking montage of his and Elena’s relationship that’s shown here. Even though Stefan is “bad” now he refuses to give up information about Elena, even when he’s being burned with vervain, showing how much he still loves her despite his new lifestyle.

“Well this is creepy.” Katherine to the rescue! Our favorite bad-ass vamp pulls one of her famous appearing-out-of-nowhere acts and kills Gloria, effectively saving Stefan from “hail to the high voodoo priestess.” Go Katherine! While they’re cleaning up the evidence, Katherine attempts to worm her way into Stefan’s diabolical plan concerning Klaus and their banter here is absolutely priceless, I love how their relationship has progressed.

On a more serious note, Damon and Elena have a pretty big fight towards the close of the episode. After attacking Caroline’s dad and fighting Caroline, Damon is not in the mood to be chided by Elena. She wants him to stop acting like a monster, which is definitely understandable, but Damon makes a great point. He’s not Stefan and Elena should stop trying to change him. And I must admit, it was nice to see Damon’s bad side again! After all, he is supposed to be the “bad” brother.

Caroline rocks in this episode! She’s so blunt and straightforward, and she finally gets Elena to admit that she’s attracted to Damon. She doesn’t come right out and say it, but the meaning is pretty clear. Elena feels guilty for being attracted to Damon, and she doesn’t want to let herself admit it because what does that say about her? In the words of Caroline, it says that she’s human. I think this episode was a turning point for Elena and Damon. She finally realized that she needs to stop trying change him, so maybe things will progress between the two of them. But this is The Vampire Diaries, the show that changes in an instant, so who knows?

And in a turn of events that took me completely off guard, the doppleganger hijinks are back! Katherine pretends to be Elena in order to get Elena’s necklace, the one that everyone seems to be so desperately searching for, back from Bonnie. With the necklace in hand, Katherine shows up at the Salvatore mansion looking for a partner in crime and convinces the cooped-up Damon to take a little road trip with her. Hmmm, I bet this will be interesting. I wonder what her plan is?

Other thoughts on Disturbing Behavior:

• I’m happy to see that Bonnie’s back, but I wonder how she’s going to feel about her boyfriend seeing the ghosts of his dead ex-girlfriends?
• Alaric sure was acting all big and bad this episode. From getting up in Damon’s face to demanding a position on the council. I wonder what’s up with him?
• Tyler and Caroline really are sweet together, I hope everything works out for them!
• Speaking of Caroline, she kicked some serious butt this episode! I loved watching her beat the crap out of Damon!
• Well it’s nice to know that apparently it IS possible for humans to build up their tolerance to compulsion and eventually become immune to it, like Caroline’s father. Start practicing Elena!
• Stefan and Klaus are back in Mystic Falls!! I have a feeling that next week’s episode is going to be very, very interesting.

In The Hybrid, we get a taste of the new “normal” for our favorite residents of Mystic Falls. Elena is desperately chasing after Stefan, Damon is trying to protect her, and poor Alaric is just along for the ride.

The episode opens with Elena attempting to convince Damon that Stefan is worth saving. She still clings to the hope of him coming back, but after seeing what he’s seen of the new Stefan, Damon argues that he is too far gone to save. This is one of the things that I love about Elena, her heart. She loves Stefan so much that despite how difficult or dangerous it may be, she will never give up on saving him.

With Damon obviously not on board for project, “Save St. Stefan,” Elena turns to Alaric and surprisingly, Tyler. It’s nice to see Tyler doing a friendly favor for Elena, we hardly ever get to see the two of them interact, but as Tyler points out, he does kind of owe her one. Alaric on the other hand is won over by Elena’s Katherine-like persuasive skills, she effectively turns his own words against him and convinces him to help her. Speaking of Katherine, I really missed her this episode, I hope we get a chance to see what she’s been up to! With the assistance of Tyler’s werewolf knowledge, Elena and Alaric are off to the Smokey Mountains in hope of finding Stefan, but there’s only one problem. The mountains are full of werewolves and it just happens to be a full moon. Elena knows this, yet she’s still eager to go if it means she might find Stefan. Wow, she’s willing to hike through a forest full of werewolves for him, now that is true love!

Okay is it just me, or is anyone else loving the relationship between Elena and Alaric in this episode? They are quite entertaining with their 30 minute argument about Alaric taking the super ring or not and his comment about the “stubborn, relentless baby Gilberts” one day needing the ring cracks me up! I have to wonder though, will there ever be any baby Gilberts? Will Elena eventually end up a vampire, despite her current distaste for the idea? Only time can tell. As Elena and Alaric take a quick break in hiking, seemingly out of nowhere Elena goes flying, and I mean flying, into the nearby river. Alaric aims to defend Elena, but we soon find out that the perpetrator is non other than Damon. Apparently Alaric filled him in on their location and of course, he came to the rescue. Elena is being her usual stubborn self and refuses to get out of the river until Damon agrees to help with her mission of finding Stefan. Damon marches right up to her, not even caring that he’s getting soaked, and they begin arguing back and forth like two little kids. It turns out to be an argument that will set the stage for the rest of the episode. Elena argues that she is not going to give up, especially when she is so close to finding Stefan. In Damon’s mind it is way too dangerous for Elena to be up on a mountain crawling with werewolves on a full moon, and he wants Klaus to continue believing that Elena is dead. He also reminds Elena that if they stay on the mountain, they might have to relive another “death bed kissy thing.” I love how casually he brings that up! However he soon gives in to the pleading look on Elena’s face (how could be possibly say no?) and they continue the journey through the mountains, with the addition of Damon.

Their trek through the woods seems to be going well. Damon and Elena are arguing like an old married couple and it’s pretty endearing. All of the sudden a foaming-at-the-mouth, newly hybrid Ray appears and attacks Damon. Ric and Elena immediately come to his rescue and man, you’ve gotta love those wolfsbane grenades. I have to admit, the three of them make a pretty good team. They tie Ray up to a tree using all of the chains and vervain-soaked ropes around, but he soon does something very unexpected, he beginss his transformation into a werewolf. The trio is caught completely off guard considering that it is still daylight and after a quick second of deliberation, Elena decides that they need to get off of that mountain, NOW.

As they are speeding through the woods Elena trips and has a very close call with a werewolf right in her face. Yeah, I would completely flip out if I looked up to see the fangs of a werewolf staring back at me. Damon lures the werewolf away so that Ric and Elena can make it safely back to the car, but Elena is hesitant about leaving Damon behind. Ric convinces her that he’ll be fine, and they dash to safety. Damon gets into an awesome, supernatural-paced fight with werewolf Ray and believe it or not, it’s Stefan that saves him. It’s interesting that even in his darkest place, Stefan still won’t let his brother die. And it’s that act of humanity that will ultimately change Damon’s mind about saving his brother.

Elena and Ric have a touching moment in the car while waiting for Damon to return. They come to an understanding that they are the only family that each other has left, along with Jeremy. I’m really happy to see them bonding, they could definitely use some family in their lives. Damon emerges from the woods and as they are about to leave Stefan is watching them from the shadows. Elena looks in his direction and does a double take as if she’s seen him, but when she looks back again, he’s gone. Ugh! It kills me how extremely close she gets to him, without even being able to see him for herself. Why, oh why couldn’t he have stayed there for a split second longer?

Back in Mystic Falls after her hectic day, Elena is walking out of her bathroom into her bedroom and guess who’s standing by the window? Damon. Hmm, where have we seen this before? Damon admits that Stefan actually can be saved, and he tells Elena that he’ll help her find him. After some intense urging from Damon, Elena makes some admissions of her own. She admits that the reason she decided to leave the mountain so quickly was because she was worried about Damon’s safety. As Damon strokes her hair lovingly he says that the reason he badgered her into admitting the truth was because he wanted her to remember how she is feeling in that moment, even after he returns Stefan back to her. Awww! This moment really tugged at my heart. Damon can be so sweet and tender at times, but only towards Elena. The two of them have such strong chemistry, something is bound to happen between them at some point. As Damon is leaving Ric is walking up the stairs with suitcase in hand. I’ve been hoping that he’d step up and be there for Elena and Jeremy and by the end of this episode, it looks like he’s doing just that. YAY! He asks Elena if she “knows what she’s doing there,” referring to her situation with Damon, and I love her confused, honest reply: “No, I don’t.”

Other thoughts on the The Hybrid:

• It was fascinating to get a rare glimpse of Klaus’ vulnerable side when his plan to turn Ray’s pack into hybrids failed miserably. He complains that the hybrid transformations should have worked and he says that he “did everything he was told to do.” Told? By who? And I have a sneaking suspicion that the hybrid transformations didn’t work because the doppleganger didn’t actually die, as in, stay dead. If that’s true, then that puts Elena in major danger again, so let’s just hope that isn’t the reason. Klaus decides that it’s time for he and Stefan to leave, and I have a feeling that they will be going much farther from home this time.

• I’m really beginning to enjoy the Matt and Jeremy bromance. Neither of them seem to have many friends, so I think it’s great for the two of them to spend some time together and have some manly bonding time. Of course, in Mystic Falls manly bonding time has to include some dead sibling contacting. I’m not sure how I feel about the whole “ghosts” of Vicki and Anna thing yet. That has the potential to be a really awesome story line, but I’m just not 100% sold on it yet.

• Tyler’s mom got a long overdue wakeup call in this episode. Her judgement of all vampires as bad and her willingness to harm Caroline, someone she’s known for years, didn’t sit too well with me. I’m glad that instead of just telling his mom that he was a werewolf, Tyler actually showed her what that meant, so she would understand that just because Caroline is a “monster” it doesn’t mean that she’s evil. And hey, at least Tyler doesn’t have to keep hiding his secret from his mom anymore, everything is out in the open in now.

• Poor Caroline, O-M-G! I can’t believe that it was her Dad that Carol Lockwood was talking to! And I can’t believe that it is her Dad that has her all chained up! I hope he doesn’t hurt her, but I have a creepy feeling that he’s going to try to change her back into a human somehow? Is that even possible?

Wow, what an episode! Elena proved her love for Stefan by braving a mountain full of werewolves, but she also proved how much she cares about Damon by quickly deciding to leave in order to keep him safe. With Damon’s decision that Stefan can still be saved, something tells me that our trio will be back out searching for him sometime very soon. All in all, a great episode. The Vampire Diaries Season 3 is off to a fantastic start, and I’m sure it will only get better from here.