The Vampire Diaries: The Hybrid (Season 3, Episode 2)

We are not hybrids. Or are we?

Damon looks sultry as he burns the papers he used to track Stefan. A news reporter questions whether the death of Andie, Damon’s dearly departed girlfriend, was suicide or accident. Damon tells Elena that it was death by her boyfriend Stefan. She tells a concerned Damon that Stefan called her last night, even though he didn’t say anything. This convinces her that Stefan’s not as lost as Damon thinks. In a sense, they’re both right. Clearly Stefan at this point is regretful and sorrowful. Yet the fact that he is able to do these monstrous things means that he is as good as gone.

Did anyone else laugh out loud when a groggy Alaric yelled that Damon stop? Who else would be so adamant about seeing his best friend in the early morning? Elena, apparently. Alaric dons a shirt, which he leaves open, in front of his history student. She convinces him to tell her what she knows about Stefan. Alaric doesn’t think this is safe, but Elena says that Stefan wouldn’t give up on her, and she is not the type of person to give up. As foolhardy as she is, I have to admit that her chutzpah makes me a little more okay with her borderline denial. Alaric, like the friendly witch Bonnie, is easily convinced to help.

Meanwhile, Stefan carries dead werewolf Ray up a mountain. This must have been a fun scene to shoot (or not). Klaus tries to hit on Stefan by asking him if he needs a break, but Stefan is having none of this “chit-chat.” Klaus wants him to lighten up. They finally reach a pack of werewolf campers who ask who Stefan is. You have to love Klaus’s narcissism: he says that the important question is who he, Klaus, is. They discern that he is the hybrid. Klaus thinks it’s fantastic that they’ve heard of him.

Carol Lockwood poisons her son Tyler’s morning coffee with vervain to see if he’s become a vampire. She greets him by swigging a morning glass of alcohol and comparing his girlfriend Caroline to a prostitute. [My friend thought that Carol was just as angry about Caroline not being super rich as she was about her being a vampire.] Before heading out, Tyler drinks, unaware that he is proving his non-vampireness, and notes that Caroline is not a prostitute. Carol the [bad word] phones a mysterious man about her vampire problem.

Two shirtless scenes in the first seven minutes: Jeremy approaches Matt whilst between t-shirts. He tells Matt that he is still seeing Vicki, Matt’s sister. Matt claims that last night was a blur – which is, in all likelihood, true, considering he was high most of the night. Jeremy wants Matt’s help. Matt is clearly uncomfortable with the supernatural aspect of contacting his dead sister, and pained and the thought of coming to terms with her death. He soon agrees to help. These past two episodes have made me realize what a great actor Zach Roerig is.

I love to see them all working together. Tyler gives Elena werewolf insight and states that Caroline reminds Tyler he’s the one who bit Damon whose near death caused Stefan’s sacrifice. Tyler clearly feels guilty, though it wasn’t his fault, and Caroline obviously is gung-ho about saving Stefan. Tyler wonders where Caroline’s run off to. Elena gets Alaric to joining her on a trip through the Tennessee Mountains. Their exchange is cute, but how on earth is she going to find Stefan and Klaus? Also, how hysterical is it that she wants to go that very night, on a full moon, even though she could just wait one night for the danger to be lessened?

Taking a relaxing dip.

Ray wakes up, and Stefan snaps into wingman mode. Klaus spots a human in the wolf-pack. Stefan says that if Ray doesn’t drink the human’s blood, he will, but he won’t be able to stop. Ray drinks. Klaus begins to turn another wolf into a vampire. Strangely, no one is running. That would be quite a sight: Klaus and Stefan zipping around, trying to keep werewolves in one place. On another note, once they turn into wolves tonight, they will be a danger to Stefan, but then the immortal Klaus can save him with his blood.

I really like the music in this episode. Tyler’s missing Caroline at the Grill. Matt is vaguely bitchy about Caroline and Tyler’s friendship, but then he tentatively offers to help Tyler in his transition that night. Tyler discovers that the vervained coffee at the Grill tastes just like the coffee his mom gave him that morning. Being a werewolf, he is able to taste it. Elsewhere, stupid mystery man (who reminds me of uncle John – he grew on me, but UGH, not another one) visits a stricken Carol. She doesn’t want to kill Caroline, whom she’s known since birth, but this Bill fellow says the magic, bigoted words, “She’s a vampire.” End of story. Technically, I know all vampires are natural born killers. But Caroline can control herself better than most.

Alaric and Elena bond and check out their weaponry. (Is it weird that Elena’s boyfriend is more than a century older than this father figure?) I again laugh out loud when Damon appears and tosses Elena into a lake. Alaric wisely sold her out. Alaric watches Damon and Elena stand close. Damon, understandably, is none too keen on getting bitten by a werewolf, unless it means reenacting the “dead bed kissy thing.” He points out that Elena’s plan is ridiculous and that Damon isn’t giving up on Stefan, he’s being realistic. Hello, Klaus is indestructible. There are a bunch of werewolves around. Stefan is on the edge. How many obstacles are we facing here?

All the werewolves are “dead,” and the human is barely alive. Klaus says that he is building an army. They will be winners (I can’t help but think of Charlie Sheen). Stefan doesn’t really know what this is about, but he asks if he was kidnapped just so Klaus could see his attitude change. Poor Ray’s transition is not going well, considering he’s bleeding from his eyes. Ray takes off. Stefan makes fun of Klaus who tells him to lose the attitude and find Ray. Ray bites Stefan, and Stefan asks Klaus to give him blood to heal him. Klaus says he’ll heal him after he finds Ray. Stefan seems surprised. Meanwhile, Stefan has heard and even seen from afar our trio of heroes. One of the several aspects of this scene that pops out: SEXUAL TENSION. Klaus grabs Stefan’s arm and they’re all oh no, I don’t believe you’re like this, obey me, blah blah.

Tyler is badass and reveals to his mom that he knows about vampires. A nervous Carol says she knows Caroline’s a vampire, a monster. Tyler says, “You don’t know about me, do you?” Somehow, this short scene is very powerful. Tyler is kind of becoming my hero. He throws his mom into a cage and chains himself up so she can watch him turn into a werewolf.

Ray stumbles upon and attacks a p.o.’d Damon. Ray in turn gets wolfbaned and shot. Alaric guesses that he is a hybrid. This is not Ray’s day! The three stooges tie him up with vervained ropes. Ray starts to turn, and they all realize they’re screwed. Damon lingers, either feeling compassion, or wanting to get more information out of Ray. They all end up running. Damon saves Elena from Ray in wolf form by calling, “Here, doggie, doggie!” and zooming away. Elena wants to save Damon now, and Alaric’s all, stop with the saving! Just get out of here!

Unlike many people in this town, I actually experience fear and grief.

Back in Mystic Falls, Matt and Jeremy start to go through Vicki’s items, but this is too hard for Matt. He asks Jeremy to leave. It’s hard to take all this angst, show. Matt changes his mind and visits Jeremy, saying that Jeremy got Vicki more than almost anyone. The two mourn over the fact that they don’t remember their last moments with her, since our heroes erased their memories. The ghost of Vicki appears and tells Jeremy that she can come back. Then the ghost of Anna breaks a window and tells Jeremy not to trust Vicki! Matt’s eyes are as round as saucers. By the way, where is Bonnie in all this? I assume her storyline will be important later.

Return to the woods: Ray, now in human form, attacks Damon until Stefan kills Ray. Once again the brothers come face to face. Damon says to stop with the late night phone calls, and Stefan lies about calling Elena. In another poignant scene, Stefan tells Damon to stop Elena from looking for him because he’s never coming back. Damon nods, but he also now realizes that Elena was right – Stefan isn’t completely gone.

Alaric is amazing – there is a lot of wonderful bonding in this episode. Elena’s raring to go, while Alaric says he’ll be keeping the humans safe while the vampires fight the hybrid zombie mountain men. Alaric correctly points out that Elena is a sucker for a lost cause, and she tells him that he is not a lost cause. But he, Jeremy, and Elena are all lost. That’s why they’re perfect for each other. I’m so glad they’re taking time for these emotional moments here.

I’m actually almost crying. Damon shows up and pushes Elena towards the car. Obviously they’re supposed to be sharing a deep bond since she says she wants to appreciate that he’s alive before calling him a caveman. Then Stefan watches them leave. So. Sad. Elena thinks she sees him for a minute, but then he’s gone.

Klaus’s zombies awaken. He says that he is the only alpha there, but he appears to be annoyed. Off-screen, they apparently die or go rabid. This episode is so intense. A drunken Klaus cries over the fact that all his “comrades” died. He screams at a terrified Stefan. Klaus has done everything right – including killing the doppelganger. So – Elena’s life is apparently a big hitch in Klaus’s plan? Stefan expects, even hopes, that Klaus will let him die. Instead, Klaus drips his blood into a beer can which he gives to his only friend. (To be honest, I was hoping he’d feed Stefan his blood, but we can’t have everything.)

Again, this episode is killing me. Elena meets a sober (in both senses of the word) Damon in her room. Damon says that Stefan is still there, but he is not okay: “He’s an insufferable martyr who needs his ass kicked. But he can be saved.” He also makes Elena say that she worries about him before telling her that he wants her to remember what she felt with him when Stefan wasn’t there. Er, wasn’t this part a bit heavy handed on the “Damon makes Elena feel something” part? I mean, she will remember feeling horrible that Stefan was gone as much as she’ll remember how much Damon helped. I don’t know.

Carol Lockwood has spent the whole night watching her son’s transition. She is tearful and ready to call off the vampire watch. Bill is not so compliant. We see Caroline chained up yet again. Bill walks up to her, and Caroline says, “… Daddy?” Holy.

Such a naughty girl. Or boy. Or both.