The Vampire Diaries 2X1: The Return

Holy hell. I was concerned that because the S1 finale was so good, this episode couldn't help but disappoint at least a little. Boy was I wrong. This was amazing. I really hope that Katherine sticks around awhile (but I hope the actress who is playing her is getting paid extra right now) because things are confusing and messy, and it's making for great TV.

We start pretty much exactly where we left off last episode. Elena finds John and calls 9-1-1. He warns her someone else is in the. house, but Katherine escapes before Elena finds her. She runs up to check on Jeremy to find him unconscious.

Paramedics show up and take John to the hospital. He lived. Elena and Stefan determine Jeremy is not a vampire, and Anna's blood is almost out of him, so if he dies now, he very well may die for real.

Caroline is still in the hospital and it's not looking good. Damon offers to feed her some of his blood to restore her. Elena immediately says no, but Bonnie wants him to do it. The next day she basically fine. However, at the hospital Damon tries to talk to Elena about the kiss, but she's acting like he's crazy. Then Jenna shows up and tells Elena about a conversation that they had, that Elena also has no memory of. Damon puts two and two together and realizes Katherine is back.

Katherine, as Elena, goes back home and finds Stefan at the house, (Who invited Katherine in? Why would anyone think that Elena needed to be invited into her own home?) Unlike Damon, he figure out pretty quickly that this is Katherine and not Elena. They fight, but real Elena and Damon show up and Katherine flees.

Later, at the mayor's wake, Katherine shows up and. attacks Bonnie. Bonnie uses some witch power to get her to stop, and Stefan tells Katherine to leave her alone. The two of them talk and he asks why she's here. She says she came back for him, stabs him in the stomach after he tells her he hates her, and runs of. Elena and Damon show up and Damon tries to be a douche about kissing 'Elena.' Stefan is shutting that shit down though because he knows Katherine is purposefully trying to drive a wedge between them.

After Elena tells Damon that she was surprised he thought she would kiss him back, he's hurt (whether he chooses to admit it or not). He goes home to find Katherine there. They make out for a little while, but then she tells him she never loved him. It was always Stefan.

Damon then shows up at Elena's (a little bit drunk) and tries to convince her that there is something between them (there totally is, but this is not the way to go about bringing it out) by forcing her to kiss him. But tells him she loves Stefan. It will always be Stefan, echoing Katherine's words from earlier. Damon loses his shit, and snaps Jeremy's neck (who just came in to check on Elena). However, we find out that he's wearing John's ring, so he ends up being fine. But that's really gonna put a strain on Elena's and Damon's relationship.

At the very end, Katherine shows up at Caroline's hotel room. Knowing she's got Damon's blood in her, she tells her to tell Stefan and Damon that it's 'game on' and kills her. So, it would seem we're getting vampire Caroline going forward.

Such a good episode. I'm super excited for S2!