The Vampire Diaries 4X18: American Gothic

Okay, I can admit it. No humanity Elena in this episode was way more entertaining than she has been in previous episodes. She certainly does

Okay, I can admit it. No humanity Elena in this episode was way more entertaining than she has been in previous episodes. She certainly doesn't rival either Damon or Stefan, but it's much better than it has been previously.

So, Elena and Rebekah manage to track Katherine to some small town in Pennsylvania. And, while stalking her outside the post office, Kathrine gets the jump on Elena and grabs her. But, Rebekah shows up and tosses her off, saving Elena. They force Katherine to go to a diner with them and pick her brain about the cure. Turns out, she's planning to give it to Klaus in exchange for leaving her the hell alone.

While going through her phone, looking for ideas on where the cure might be, Elena discovers that Katherine has a meeting with Em later that day. And since Katherine won't spill on who it is, Elena decides to go and pose as Katherine. When she shows up for the meeting, it's Elijah. He immediately asks for the cure, and Elena says it's safe, but not with her. After a kiss, Elijah realizes this is not Katherine, but Elena.

Meanwhile, Damon and Stefan have arrived and are asking about Elena. Katherine claims she want to meet Elijah and is probably dead by now. Stefan calls Elijah and tells him that he's got Katherine and as long as he doesn't hurt Elena, she'll be safe.

Damon and Rebekah force Katherine to take them to the cure. She brings them to her house and opens a safe, but it's empty. She swears it was just there, but Damon doesn't believe her. He decides the cure is in the fish tank with no fish, so he reaches in, but it's full of vervain. While he's in pain, Katherine grabs his head and holds it under the water burning him further. I assume she also grabbed the 'cure' at this time also, because as she tries to escape, Rebekah blocks the door. And Katherine tells her she can either save the cure, or stop her. She tosses the vial in the air and runs out the door as Rebekah chooses to save the cure.

Writing in pain in the ground, Damon tells Rebekah not to take the cure. But she's hell bent on it. She downs the vial just as Stefan arrives and passes out on the couch. A short time later, she awakens. She says she feels great, but when Damon chucks a letter opener at her head, she catches it easily and realizes she's still a vampire.

Katherine had hidden the cure at the house of someone she compelled, so she heads over to get it. Once she has it, she brings it to Elijah and tells him he can do what he likes with it. This is supposed to prove that she really loves him (apparently they are dating, and Elena got into his head about how she doesn't love him and it's all just mind games with Katherine).

Stefan, Damon, and Elena have lunch near the end of the episode. She tells them, yet again, that she will not be taking the cure. They refuse to except this. So Elena kills the waitress. She tells them that she will continue killing innocent people for as long as they try to convince her.

Back in Mystic Falls, Klaus is busy trying to claw his skin off. He's convinced that there is a piece of the white oak stake stuck in his back. Caroline comes over to 'help' him, but Caroline turns out to be Silas (so he can just be anyone, fun). Eventually, he leaves and the real Caroline shows up. She's annoyed that Klaus is interrupting her prom planning, but agrees to help. However, they annoy the crap out of each other, and while Klaus is engaged with the argument, he realizes he's not in pain anymore. Apparently, this was all in his head. And Caroline pulled him out of his head enough to not be bothered by it.

Afterwards, Klaus sort of agrees (maybe, I think) to not go after Tyler anymore. I believe him. But only because Caroline would never forgive him if he killed Tyler, and he desperately wants Caroline to like him.