The Vampire Diaries: The Sacrifice (Season 2, Episode 10)

We begin when the Gilberts of too much information strike again. Elena awakes and ventures into the hallway to find her pantless aunt Jenna beaming and her shirtless history teacher Alaric attempting to eat ice cream. Though he apologizes for being naked, let me point out what we've all noticed: Alaric is distinctly NOT naked. Oh, and Jonas the warlock sneaks around Elena's room gathering her hair, probably to make a spell.

The brothers Salvatore visit the Petrova Katerina, and it takes both of them to remove the door that Caroline moved without effort. Katherine gives no information, but prompts Damon to say he'd rather poke out his eyes than join her. She protests: "they're such pretty eyes." (Damon fans: "There is no truer statement.")

When they return to Elena to tell her about their visit, the two of them sound like they're confessing to their mom. Elena is miffed: "Sounds like you guys have it all planned out." Damon replies, with typical wit: "Yep. We're awesomeee." Stefan and Damon discuss a plan to prevent Klaus from breaking the curse that involves Elena's blood. She retorts, "Is that before or after he kills everyone I care about, including the two of you?" Elena and Damon share a longer than necessary look. Stefan doesn't understand why she seems okay with dying, because he would never try to kill himself.


At school, warlock Luka (son of Jonas) and witch Bonnie "channel their strength together" right on the playground! He shares his power with her, they experience magical orgasms, and no one notices their expressions of ecstasy as leaves fly all over the place. This scene is both sexy and ominous. It's nice to see Bonnie bonding with someone, but why is Luka trying to get Bonnie on his side? Jeremy interrupts, smooth as usual, with, "What's with that weather, man?" and, "Guy's weird, eh?" referring to Luka.

Elena meets the second "naked" [a.k.a. not naked but thinks he/she is] person of the morning. She wants Rose to help her find information about her potential sacrifice, and she doesn't want the Salvatores to know what they're doing. Elena wants to save those she loves. But isn't what the boys are doing saving both Elena and everyone she loves? Aren't there others involved in the sacrifice? Whatever the case, the lit fireplace makes the scene between Elena and Rose look rather romantic.

Matt is back at school, and he is distraught. He apologizes to werewolf Tyler for picking a fight with him and inadvertently causing the death of a young woman. When Matt looks at Caroline, he appears on the verge of tears. He doesn't realize that he was compelled by the evil vampire Katherine and that he is lucky to be alive! Anyway, Caroline continues to support Tyler through this difficult time, revealing herself to be a regular do-gooder like Stefan. Who knew. (I am distracted by the song playing in the background. Is it a bad cover of Garbage's I'm Only Happy When It Rains or just bad audio?)


The band (minus Elena) brainstorm. Jeremy butts in and Damon snarks, "Why are you even here?" Bonnie thinks that she can create something to hurt Katherine. First, she must have an object that belonged to her. Damon looks at Stefan. Stefan's expression is awkward. He has been carrying around Katherine's picture for more than a century, with no explanation. Bonnie burns the photograph as the boys look on, and from that creates an anti-Katherine powder.

Now that Elena is wearing a leather jacket, she is badass. She and Rose visit the dead Slater. If he were a few years older, he could have bounced back from that staking, just like Elijah. Elena growls when Rose opens the curtains. (Does she think she's a vampire now?) They discover Alice, a goth girl who was dating Slater in hopes of being turned into a vampire. Elena promises that Rose will turn her into a vamp if she helps them break into Slater's computer. Rose privately refuses to do this, but Elena points out that Alice doesn't have to know this. Rose smiles thinking, "I like this &*^%." Elena finds a contact for Klaus.

Tyler says he understands that Caroline can't have a relationship with Matt because she has to lie to him. First of all, this is planting the seeds for their relationship. Second, Caroline is lying to Tyler about vampires (she hasn't told him about Stefan and Damon) and the truth about his werewolf uncle Mason's demise. While checking out the werewolf dungeon, they discover that Mason kept a diary and a DVD.


Jeremy lets Bonnie know that he saw her nose bleed during her last spell. He claims that she can't perform the spell to momentarily release the vampire barrier in order for Stefan and Damon to grab the essential moonstone from Katherine. She puts her finger on his lips. Oops! Because he doesn't want her to die of a witch overdose, Jeremy takes some of the anti-Katherine powder, goes down to the tomb, shoots her with a stake, and blows powder onto her. Unfortunately, she has hidden the stone deep in the tomb. Tension builds until Jeremy finds it, just in time to toss it out the door and get chomped on by Katherine!

Elder vampire Elijah and Jonas perform a spell to locate Elena. Little does Elijah know that Elena plans to surrender herself to the original vampire Klaus. Rose summons Damon when she hears of Elena's desire. Damon shows up and refuses to let Elena do this. Elena feels as though her (ex?) boyfriend and his brother always risk her lives and make decisions for her. Damon will hear none of this. They struggle and argue in a way that makes it look as though they are going to have sex, but they do not (yet).

Bonnie and Stefan stumble upon the mess Jeremy is in. He's a human juice box! Katherine points out that because of his resuscitation ring she can suck him dry over and over again. Bonnie tries to lower the vampire barrier so Stefan can rescue him. Because she is still connected to Luka from the morning's revelries (and from possessing his dog-tags), she can draw on his power. We see him at home writhing in pain. The spell is too much for both of them. Bonnie falls down unconscious. Ever the martyr, Stefan rushes in and tosses Jeremy out. Bonnie and Jeremy snuggle [in fear]. Katherine's expression at getting the one guy she wants stuck with her is quite adorable. Stefan's is that of horror.


Tyler watches a video of his uncle turning into a werewolf. Or at least he tries to watch, but the recording is more than eight hours pain. [Note: that mysterious substance Mason drank earlier was wolfbane in an attempt to weaken himself.] Tyler is terrified at the thought of going through agony for an entire night. He shouldn't be such a baby. Some women have to go through the same thing. Tyler is suspicious of and confused by Caroline's help because they've never been that close and because Tyler's not a naturally helpful guy. She expresses empathy and admits that she killed someone when she first turned. Tyler doesn't even ask who! Then Matt shows up, ready to take Caroline back. He backs away when he sees Tyler. I would love for Caroline and Matt to work out, but he's been so hot and cold with her, he just needs to leave for good.

Klaus's mignons arrive to pick up Elena. So does Elijah, Klaus's cooler mignon. Rose flees in a blur of light. Elijah interrogates the flunkies and rips out their hearts. (He's good at removing body parts.) Then he leaves. Damon is doubly stumped because he thought Elijah was both dead and on Klaus's side. Elijah then tells Jonas that the Salvatores will protect Elena, and they want her to be safe. Jonas seems slightly puzzled. He assumes her safety is temporary, but Elijah may be indicating otherwise.

Bonnie is upset that Jeremy almost died and endangered Stefan. She is also concerned by his crush on her. He says he knows she likes him, but she just says they "can't." Stefan tells Damon to protect Elena (Damon and Elena share another steamy anger fest) and keep her away from the tomb. Katherine says that's the biggest mistake he ever made.

As I wait for the next episode, I have to bring up the subject of vampire speed. It's so bizarre. You could do everything in a second: laundry, dishes, going to work. Weird.