The Departed – 3×22 Vampire Diaries Recap – In Which People Die

“Previously on the Vampire Diaries” – Elena [Read last week’s re-cap here if you need to catch up.]

WHERE TO EVEN BEGIN?!  I don’t know about all of you, but I think this episode was beyond fantastic, an epic finale that I still can’t manage to fully process. The acting in this episode was phenomenal, literally everybody was on point. I don’t have a clue how to begin discussion on this rollercoaster finale – I’m still dizzy from all the twists and turns.

I guess let’s try with the opening:

So, we open with the birds chirping and Elena peacefully sleeping in her bed [immediately I’m wondering why there’s no trip to the hospital], until we suddenly get a wake-up call from Elena’s alarm clock rocking out to Pink’s “So What?” which is obviously Flashback Music.

Sure enough, Elena hops on out of bed, dons her cheerleading uniform and heads down to breakfast to chat with everyone’s favorite aunt: Jenna Sommers. We get a cute little exchange between Elena and her Aunt Jenna, and we also finally get to see Elena’s mom! [Oh, these poor little orphans, these Gilberts].

Suddenly, we’re back to present day, in the Mystic Falls hospital – Elena is waking up alone in her hospital room, obviously confused and disoriented. Meanwhile, in the hallway, Meredith Fell has made her guest appearance to heal her – and comfort Jeremy, telling him that he has nothing to worry about because Elena will be fine [apparently bleeding from the ears is no longer a sign of imminent death]. Dr. Fell assures Jeremy that Elena’s just had a rough go of it [how observant, doc]. In the first of many ridiculous lines of this episode, Meredith asks Jeremy, “Is there anyone you want to call?” [sure, rub it in that they have no family left to call – but hey, there’s always the Salvatores].

Of course, Jeremy immediately calls Stefan and Damon – who, naturally, panic that he took her to the hospital what with all of the supernatural world wanting to kill her [along with a lot of the non-supernatural TVD viewers – but I digress]. They tell Jeremy to get her out of the hospital and take her home.

"Our life is one big, proverbial coin toss." -Damon

Stefan and Damon discuss which one of them will go back to Elena and Jeremy to sort out the latest drama. As Stefan points, out, one of them has to take Klaus’ body far from Mystic Falls before Alaric catches up with them. How do they decide which Salvatore gets to rush to Elena’s rescue? Another coin toss, naturally.

Back at Mystic Falls’ Hospital, Meredith walks into her office to find Alaric hanging out waiting on her to show up. His feelings are all hurt because no one called him – Elena’s guardian – to tell him that his charge was hospitalized. Alaric jacks her supply of vampire blood and dumps it out – simultaneously telling her that her medical license is about to be suspended and that the Founder’s Council is [finally] caught up on the real situation here in town.

He also kindly informs her that Sheriff Forbes and Mayor Lockwood have been fired. He then goes down to Elena’s room in hopes of collecting his wayward charge – only to discover she’s vanished; her hospital bed is empty.

Her fast-moving rescue team has done its job – Tyler, Matt, and Caroline have managed to get her safely home. While Tyler and Matt conduct a search of the house, Caroline and Elena have a moment – where Elena gets to enjoy being mothered by Caroline while reflecting on her time before her parents died.

Cue another Flashback, this time to Bonnie, Matt, and Elena casually strolling around Mystic Falls High School [my how things have changed – look at them, going to school back in the day], chatting about clothes and bonfires, typical teenager stuff. We also realize this is the afternoon before the accident, as Matt encourages her to ditch family night in favor of going to the bonfire.

Sweet Matt Donovan tells her he loves her (to which she says nothing) and then heads off [to meet up with his coach; you know, staying in school – you go, Matty]. Bonnie calls her out on her silence – and also tells her to tell him that she doesn’t love him anymore [it would seem that Elena was just as ridiculous with her love life back then as she is now].

Back to the present – Matt is on Elena duty. They chat about the good old days; Elena apologizes for stringing him along and not being honest about it. She realizes that what she’s done is not right, and that she’s doing the same thing to Stefan and Damon. Matt asks her which one she wants to let go; Elena pauses to answer… and in walks Stefan – as if on cue.

Needless to say, that conversation is dropped for the moment, while the three of them get ready for dinner. Wise Matt Donovan suggests leaving town, getting the heck out of Dodge, but Elena refuses because (as we all know) she’s an idiot who makes stupid decisions. Stefan sides with Elena because he refuses to take away her free will. Matt questions his judgment, at which point Stefan responds with: “Nothing wrong with free will, Matt – you don’t realize that til you lose it.”

"Hello again."

This is about to become yet another conversation interrupted because… in walks Elijah!

Moving on, we have Jeremy dropping by the Mystic Grill to pick up dinner for the gang back at the Gilbert residence. Who should pop up to chat? None other than Mr. Alaric Saltzman, himself, with a couple of beers [giving alcohol to a minor, Mr. Saltzman? And you call yourself their guardian...].

Alaric asks Jeremy to tell him the location of Klaus’ body – using Jeremy’s worry for Elena’s safety as his leverage. Alaric promises in exchange that, after he kills all of the vampires, he will let Bonnie desiccate him so that Elena can live out the rest of her life.

Meanwhile, back at the Gilbert residence, Elijah proposes a plan: for the gang to help the Originals get the stake away from Ric, give them Klaus’ body back, and the entire family will go on the run until Elena’s life is over. [Don’t you just love the way Daniel Gillies has Elijah pronounce “Elena”? I do.]

The group seems to be considering the plan, until we get a voice from nowhere – it turns out Damon is on speakerphone. [Why did I find that completely hysterical?] Of course, as this plan has a whole lot of danger for Elena, Damon is not at all down for the plan. His exact words? “No, no, no, no! Did I mention no?” Stefan is not okay with the plan either, but in typical Stefan fashion, he’s willing to let her make the choice herself.

Elena considers it, and asks Elijah why he even wants Klaus’ body back (because he basically promised to leave him in the coffin until Elena’s grandchildren died – to teach him a lesson), to which Elijah responds that he wants him back because he’s his brother – so she agrees to Elijah’s plan.

The gang concocts a plan, and Jeremy calls Alaric [who’s just chillin' in Mystic Grill – guess you don’t have many options in that town] to tell him where the coffin is.

“If you stay, you’re going to end up dead – you don’t have a choice.”

Meanwhile, Tyler and Caroline go to see their moms at the Lockwood Mansion, who tell them they have to skip town. They promise to get them school records [as if these kids are worried about school], and tell them that they can’t protect them anymore [yeah, because you two were doing such a bang-up job before Vampire Alaric took over].

Caroline and Tyler debate leaving town. Caroline doesn’t want to – but Tyler convinces her. He offers to pack for her, but Caroline says she only needs him – and maybe a curling iron. They make plans to meet up in two hours at the cell.

Out at the Storage Unit, Bonnie and Damon are working some magic [by that I mean a spell] so that Alaric can’t find Klaus. Bonnie talks to Klaus and basically tells him she won’t let him die [again with the apparently selective vampire hearing – Damon is clueless]. Bonnie leaves and Damon gets blindsided by Alaric [Bonnie – what have you done?!]. Alaric snaps his neck or breaks his spine – not sure which but does it matter really? He’s down for the count.

Once again back to the Gilbert residence, Stefan promises Elena he’ll do his best to make sure no one dies [always know those statements are doomed on this show]. Elena acts like she’s going to tell him her decision, and changes her mind. Stefan starts to walk away, then comes back and kisses her.

Stefan: “That’s just in case there is no later.”

Matt brings Elena some tea. “Over-honeyed” tea, that is. [Personally, I think he put something in it. I don’t buy into the “over-honeyed” ploy, but we all know how naïve Elena Gilbert can be.] So, while Elena sips on her roofied “over-honeyed” tea, she and Matt have another triangle conversation. Matt is determined to get to the bottom of the dilemma [maybe he’s as tired of her stringing the Salvatores along as we are – or maybe he’s just hoping she’ll open her eyes and realize she wants her some Matt Donovan instead].

We get another Flashback, this time to the bonfire she skipped family night for, where Elena and Matt got into a fight. He’s all about their future together – getting married, having babies, going to college [not necessarily in that order] – and she doesn’t want anything to do with it. Mommy Gilbert gives Elena some sound advice: drop Matt, let him go.

Bex shows up at the Storage Unit and can’t find Damon. She’s wandering the corridors, Alaric stalking her from afar [I don't really understand why he didn't just stake her right then - I mean, besides the fact that the writers didn't want her killed off, obviously]. Damon rescues her, and they try to make off with the coffin. However, Alaric busts them, pops open the coffin and stabs Klaus. Klaus goes up in flames while Rebekah and Damon watch [have to admit I did not see that one coming. Of all the Originals, I thought he was the safest bet]. 

Rebekah runs, Alaric chases after her. Damon calls Stefan to tell him that, basically, they’re all about to die. Stefan passes on the message, Jeremy informs him that Matt has taken Elena and ran out of town, so neither Damon nor Stefan get to say goodbye [hah! Like her decision would be made for her that easily]. Jeremy calls Matt to tell him that Klaus is dead. Matt makes Elena choose whether she wants him to take her back to Stefan or out to Damon.

"He's gone, Elijah. There was nothing I could do to stop it."

She chooses Stefan, but calls Damon to tell him. She tells him that she never stopped loving Stefan, that maybe if she had met him first instead of Damon things might be different [was anyone else kind of surprised about that decision - because I kind of didn't see that coming, and even though I really couldn't care less who she ends up with, I still couldn't help but feel sad for Damon]. Eventually, they get off the phone, Damon sees Alaric, who is mad at Damon for helping Rebekah get away from him. Alaric knocks him out.

In the meantime, Caroline goes to meet up with Tyler at the cell, bringing the news that death is coming for them all. Tyler starts to turn, for some weird reason [maybe that's how hybrids die when the creator of their bloodline dies]. Caroline doesn’t feel anything, so Tyler tells her it’s probably because Klaus lied about siring them. He makes her leave him. Caroline calls Elena to tell her and Matt that Tyler’s dying. Matt has a breakdown because of the way their lives have turned out [I'm surprised he's kept his cool this long. Poor Matty, I just want to hug him - the lone human].

We flash over to a poignant scene in the woods between Elijah and Rebekah, who can’t figure out why Tyler was the only one who died. They confirm that Klaus was the one who originated the Mystic Fall gang’s bloodline. Rebekah, ever the impulsive one, goes off and makes Matt drive him and Elena off the Wickery Bridge so Elena, and thus Alaric, will die.

Bonnie goes into the cell, calling for Tyler. They talk, and we learn that Klaus is in Tyler’s body, that Bonnie helped him get there so that her mom and friends wouldn’t die [quite possibly one of the biggest plot twists I think I've ever not had even an inkling of]. Bonnie tells him that she’s tired of everyone pushing her around and using her, so she’s not following the spirits anymore, but just doing what she wants to do [pretty sure we all saw that one coming, but still: you go, girl!].

Back at the Storage Unit, Alaric is beating Damon senseless. Damon ends up passing out and flashes back to that night before Elena and her parents went over Wickery Bridge. We learn that Damon actually, technically, met Elena first. They have a conversation about the type of love Elena is looking for (Damon says “consuming” love with adventure and danger), but he compelled her to forget [I don't really know that this scenario was in character for who Damon was back then, but it was interesting to see, anyway].

[My heart has literally shattered into a million pieces over these last few scenes - starting with this one.] Damon comes to, and decides that he’s finally going to fight back, presumably for Elena. In the middle of their tussle, Alaric begins to die [because, of course, Elena is drowning back at the Wickery Bridge]. Damon panics because he realizes that if Alaric’s dying, then so is Elena. [Meanwhile, I'm panicking because as I'm not prepared to say goodbye to Alaric yet, and he's dying. Didn't really care that much about Elena - we all knew she wouldn't actually be dead.]

Finally, we are taken to the hospital, where Stefan is sitting with Elena’s body. Damon comes running in and is stopped my Dr. Fell, who informs him that she gave her vampire blood to heal her injury the night before [essentially stating that she's going to become a vampire]. The camera pans back to Elena, lying there, at which point her eyes snap open, and then the credits roll  [Twilight: Breaking Dawn style, or was that just me?].

So, in conclusion, we are left with a ton of cliffhangers:

Will Elena complete her transition to vampire?

Is Alaric sticking around in ghost form, or was that his last goodbye?

Will Tyler ever return, or is Michael Trevino going to be playing Klaus from now on?

Caroline’s essentially skipped town by herself, no word on where she’s heading, or how long she’ll be gone.

What’s going to become of Bonnie now that she’s not playing nice with her magic?

Is Matt Donovan even alive after all of that?

Recap done by Brittany @ItEntertainsMe