The Vampire Diaries: Before Sunset (Season 3, Episode 21)

Their love is legendary.

Alaric the vampire vampire-hunter doesn’t sleep, he waits. At his desk. At school. Caroline plans to clean up after the dance, but Tyler says he has to help Klaus move. For now, Klaus has given up on Caroline, but he thinks Tyler is still sired to him. Tyler says that this will all be over soon, but I’m not sure how they expect Klaus to get out of their hair without Elena. Miraculously, Rebekah is there, exactly on time. She and Caroline express condolences for Esther’s and Alaric’s deaths. I love Rebekah and their exchange. Alaric tries to kill Rebekah, but Caroline saves her. They stab him, but the stake does not kill him. In the parking lot, Alaric breaks Caroline’s neck and drags her away before he burns into a crisp, as Rebekah watches.

Jeremy and Elena are painting Alaric’s room in order not to think. Stefan shows up and offers support, but Jeremy is confused by his mom’s, er, sister’s romantic choices. He asks if they’re together again. Stefan says no, so Jeremy says that if Stefan is trying to be the good guy again, he should let them have one vampire-free day. I’m glad that at least one person is like, “GTFO vampires, and I am sick of team Stelena, team Delena crap.” Damon shows up with a bloody Bonnie Bennett.

Rebekah updates Klaus and demands that they leave immediately. Klaus says he’ll have to grab Elena first, and Rebekah rightfully calls his hybrids stupid. She tearfully tells him to choose hybrids or his family, vowing that they will look out for one another, but Klaus’s psychosis is too deep. Of course he chooses slaves over his loving sister. She storms out. Chez Salvatore, Damon blames Bonnie for Alaric’s transition, but Bonnie explains she had no choice. She also points out that Damon saved her life, so how mad can he really be? He adds that to his list of stupid acts, such as letting his “friend die with dignity” when he should have killed him. Bonnie says Alaric can’t be immortal, but she doesn’t yet know what the loophole is.

Stefonnie shippers better be all over this.

Alaric calls Elena and threatens to kill Caroline. She is tied to a school desk with pencils stabbed through her hands. Mystic Falls police are the worst. Alaric has lived with two of his students and now he is keeping one captive. I guess the police officers’ lives are just as messed up. Unfortunately for Jeremy, his day is not at all vampire-free. Klaus shows up, and the Salvatores send Jeremy to his room. Klaus is looking for Elena. Damon slams the door on his face. Stefan goes upstairs to find her, but she’s gone. Klaus picks up a newspaper outside and chucks it through the window.

Elena finds Caroline. Alaric says Elena can free Caroline. She starts to pull a pencil out, but Alaric stops her and asks, “How many times do I have to tell you? Stop trusting vampires!” I like evil-Alaric more in this episode. No neighbors have called the police about Klaus. No surprise there. In a hilarious scene, Klaus throws a soccer ball and pieces of white picket fences through their door. He lights a newspaper on fire, and replies to Stefan’s demands to stop with “come outside and make me.” After receiving a phone call, Stefan tells Klaus that Alaric will kill Elena and Caroline if Klaus doesn’t turn himself in. Klaus wonders if this will lead to his certain death. Stefan wishes it wedidre, but he doesn’t want Tyler, himself, or the other vampires he knows to die. Though previously mad at Alaric’s alter ego, Damon says he’ll take those odds. Stefan just wants to figure out a way to put Alaric down.

The three brainstorm on the porch. Klaus suggests Damon distract Alaric while Stefan saves Elena. Damon asks what’s to stop him from getting killed instantly. Klaus responds: “nothing.” He will always love Stefan. Damon asks if Klaus still likes Caroline or if she turned him down one too many times. Damon is really team Klaus/Caroline. Maybe he doesn’t like Klaus constantly trying to take his place with Stefan, who points out that this bickering isn’t doing anything. Bonnie suggests she try the desiccation spell her mother used on Mikael. They’ll still need all hands on deck, including Klaus’s. Klaus points out that the sun will set in eight hours, and if all fails, he will be long gone by then.

The parental figures I actually want to die just won't go away!

Alaric has been gagging Caroline with a cloth dipped in vervain, making every breath feel like “inhaling razor blades.” L He tells Elena he’s doing this to make it easier when she puts Caroline out of her misery. This is what Elena’s been training for: vampire killing. Klaus and Stefan arrive at the school. Klaus says that he will take Elena with him, if she doesn’t die. Stefan says he’ll go with them then. Clearly thrilled, Klaus explains why he is team Stefan/Elena, if he can’t have him, or if it will keep Stefan with him. Stefan says that he and Damon have grown closer. Klaus asks how they’ll feel if Elena chooses Damon over Stefan, who says that they’ve been through worse than Klaus. Poor Klaus is jealous of Stefan’s relationship with Damon, and obviously Damon’s relationship with Stefan.

Bonnie paces the floor waiting for Abby. Damon jokes about Abby’s reliable track record. Look who’s talking. Abby does show up. She is obviously still peeved at Damon. Abby hears the plan, but she says that Bonnie shouldn’t and can’t handle the dark magic needed to “parch a vampire,” as Damon says. (He notes he’s team Bonnie here. I have to admit, I thought Bonnie/Damon shippers were crazy in season one, but I actually like them together more than Damon and Elena.) She said that to stop a vampire heart, you have to stop a human heart. Did Abby kill someone?

Bonnie and Damon join Jeremy at the school. Damon wants Jeremy to take off his ring so he doesn’t become another psycho case if he dies. But, hello? Jeremy wants to keep it on and live. Damon doesn’t want to see Jeremy dead, though. I guess the spell just temporarily stops a human heart. They all swig from a little bottle of Bonnie’s blood, somehow strengthening the spell. Klaus confesses that he is their originating vampire, but is he telling the truth?

Bonnie: saving people who ruined her life since 2009.

Elena asks Alaric why he’s doing this. Do not ask that question ever again, Elena. Yet I forgive her. I also like Alaric’s little speech about how she doesn’t know what’s right or wrong anymore, and that siding with sadistic murderers would not make her parents proud. He tells her to stab Caroline, but she goes for him. He says he thought he taught her better than that. She notes, “You did,” and breaks a glass of vervain on the side of his face. She frees Caroline, but Alaric stops Elena before she can escape. Caroline runs into Klaus, who covers her mouth and whispers that she is safe. I might have liked them together, but their syrupy scenes ruin them for me. Apparently he genuinely cares about her, because he tells her to go home and stay inside. They’ll save Elena. Why does he like her? I choose to believe it’s because she reminds him of his sister, because Klaus has family issues.

Alaric throws Elena around and threatens to kill her, “the worst offender of them all.” But he does not kill her. Stefan and Damon ambush him, and he breaks their spines. Klaus grabs him and tries to rip out his heart. Bonnie starts the spell, as Jeremy just lies there in the woods. I can’t tell if he’s bored or turned on. Alaric breaks the connection by pushing Klaus away. He grabs the stake and tries to stab Klaus. Elena threatens to kill herself. She assumes that because her blood made vampire Alaric, her death will kill Alaric. Esther wanted an unstoppable killing machine, not an eternal one. Elena is hardcore; she starts cutting her own throat, and Alaric yells for her to stop. Klaus kicks him off, snatches Elena, and runs away. Alaric orders the Salvatores to get up and do what they do best: save Elena.

Elena wakes up at Klaus’s house, where a nurse drains her of blood. Klaus plans to kill Alaric by draining her of all her blood. Tyler stumbles onto the scene. Elena asks for help, and for Stefan, the first person she thinks of. This makes sense, in a way; Stefan is the one she’s been in a relationship with longest. She’s close to Damon, but Stefan’s recent actions have probably sent her back down memory lane, and not the recent, bad memory lane. Klaus says Tyler has to get him more bags. Tyler moves to help her, but Klaus physically stops him. Tyler leaves. Dang, this is turning out to be a fine episode. Klaus “comforts” her by saying that as the last drop of blood falls, she’ll simply fall asleep. It will be completely painless. This being Klaus, his words sound more menacing than sympathetic.

RIP. The bottom of the ocean should be pretty peaceful, dark, and quiet, other than a few nibbling fish.

Elena is fading, but she observes that Klaus won’t be able to make a huge army from her remaining blood. He delusionally says that his family will protect him, copying Stefan’s sentiments in claiming that his mother’s attempts on their lives drew them closer together. She says that if he believed his remaining family trusts him, he wouldn’t need to make any hybrids. He tries to turn the tables on her, saying that he’s saving her from the pain of choosing between brothers, because she, instead of him, is the one who tore them apart. I love that we see Klaus’s obsession with the Salvatores’ bond, the connection he wished he had. He gets in her grill and says “between us girls,” which one would you have picked? (I know this isn’t important, but Klaus is totally bisexual. As any vampire who’s 1,000 years old should be. Vampires are sexual beings and fooling around with one sex for that long would get old.) Is he hoping to whisk Stefan away? She chooses Rot in Hell, and he says, “you’re welcome.” Klaus touches her creepily, wishes her “sweet dreams,” and says “it’s been fun” before walking away.

Tyler sneaks in and starts to free a struggling Elena, but Klaus shows up again. In another great scene, Klaus says “so much for the sire bond.” Tyler says he’s no longer Klaus’s little bitch because he broke his bones 100 times for the girl he loved. Klaus thinks that’s impossible, but Tyler says that real love might be stronger than fake loyalty. Klaus says he gave him a gift, but Tyler says, I’m not your toy—you don’t want me, you just like the attention, yes it’s all false love and affection (courtesy La Roux). Tyler runs to Elena, and Klaus knocks them over. Elena hits her head and possibly her neck. Stefan and Damon swoop in. Stefan and Klaus share an intense moment (of course) as Stefan tries to grab Klaus’s heart, in an attempt to stop Klaus’s heart instead of Alaric’s. So how will they handle Alaric?

Bonnie has a witchgasm and Jeremy passes out. Klaus tearfully looks into Stefan’s eyes as Tyler holds Klaus and Damon takes care of Elena. Stefan looks hopeful that this will work—but also sad. Klaus turns to Tyler. Both of his ex-boyfriends/slaves are trying to take him down. Klaus looks pleadingly into Stefan’s eyes as he desiccates. I guess this means Klaus can be resuscitated later. Dying at Stefan’s hands, with Klaus’s angsty feelings of betrayal, is exactly the way I wanted him to go. Would you believe I don’t read fanficiton? The spell is complete. Bonnie or the ring manages to revive Jeremy.

Bonnie is horrible. A vampire bit her. How could she?

Klaus falls to the ground. Stefan’s voice sounds like it’s going to break when he says “we should get her home before the sun sets.” The others are freaked and shaken, wary of Klaus’s body and ready to get out of there, but Stefan needs a moment. Tragedy! Stefan and Damon escort Elena to her house. And, thank goodness, she outright says that she knows it’s selfish to string them along. I don’t think she’s selfish, just confused. She says that, after losing so many people, she doesn’t want to choose one and lose the other. Damon looks to Stefan for some words, but all Stefan can manage is “it’s been a long day.” Damon’s voice is husky as he says that they’ll call her from the road, when they’re done dumping Klaus’s body in the Atlantic. She tells the both of them to be careful.

Elena walks into the kitchen to find a “victory party,” aw! Though Alaric’s still out there, they have been trying to get rid of Klaus for more than a season. Matt is sad he couldn’t take another original down, since he’s as stealthy as a ninja. Tyler points out he would be in the hospital (at best). Caroline states that Elena will have to choose between Salvatores eventually. She really doesn’t. They could be in a polygamous relationship, she could choose someone else, or she could choose to be single. But Elena agrees. She thanks Tyler, who says his change of heart has been a long time coming. He and Caroline are wonderful together. Elena doesn’t approve of Jeremy drinking, even though she drinks and she’s almost his age. She’ll make one exception. Tyler momentarily terrifies everyone by asking, “Do you hear that? That’s the sound of a Klaus free life.” They toast to their family. I am a sucker for scenes like this.

I can’t say I don’t find it amusing that Alaric calls together the vampire council and exposes the sheriff and mayor for having supernatural children and being crap at their jobs. He surprises everyone by revealing that he is also a vampire. Why can’t every episode of TVD be like this? This is amazing, people are actually having conversations. Damon has the rest of the gang’s “we won” attitude, and he makes Stefan say it out loud “with feeling.” Stefan admits that they are a good team, and Damon says that he is in a good mood with Klaus dead and his brother halfway sane again. Stefan brings up Elena’s choice. Damon says that she’ll probably make a list of pros and cons and then dump them both. If she chooses, she chooses. Stefan says he’ll leave town if she chooses Damon. Damon clearly thinks he’ll lose, but he says he’ll do the same, and then they can be brothers again after she dies. They agree that all this over one girl is a bit much, but indeed they both think she is a special girl. Not that special, guys… c’est l’amour.

Elena tells Jeremy that their parents and Alaric were right. All vampires should die. But if she has to be the bad guy for wanting her friends and their family to live, so be it. Jeremy says that Alaric doesn’t actually want any of this, and he might end up killing Elena to commit suicide. Jeremy won’t let that happen. He walks out, and she continues to paint the room-of-dead-guardians, which they both hate. Her head and neck start to hurt, her nose bleeds, and she falls down to the floor.

Vampires, everywhere.