OBS RECAP AND REVIEW: VAMPIRE DIARIES SEASON 2 EPISODE 15 “THE DINNER PARTY” – Original Air Date 2/17/2011
By OBS Staff Member ifellhard
Elena is sitting on the couch at the lakehouse reading one of Johnathon Gilbert’s journals. The scene flashes back to the 1860’s with Johnathon and two others sitting at a table and a shadowy figure approaches the house. The other man goes to investigate a sound outside and Johnathon goes, too. He tells his companion that he can prove that there are no vampires and pulls out the compass. The compass ends up pointing out a vampire. The other man disappears and then falls from a tree. The woman comes out of the house and ends up dead as well. Johnathon sees the vampire and recognizes him as Stefan as he is attacked.
Stefan is out at the dock skipping rocks on the lake and Elena approaches. Stefan takes a call from Damon and learns that Tyler Lockwood ran away from home the night before. Damon says that now that the werewolf problem is over, he can focus on killing Elijah. Elena continues reading the journals.
Jenna and Elijah are walking around some old historical property and talk about the Fell family. Elijah tells her that the area was actually settled about 200 years earlier by some people from Salem. Alaric shows up, introduces himself, and comments on how he is also a history buff. Jenna goes to the car to retrieve something for Elijah and Alaric tells him that Jenna is included on Elena’s list of loved ones.
Bonnie is sitting at the Grill and Jeremy joins her. They talk about the spell done on Luka the night before and Jeremy suggests that they practice together. Luka shows up and asks Bonnie what happened the night before. Bonnie plays dumb and tells him that she brought him coffee and they played pool. He accuses her of lying and Jeremy tells him to back off.
Elena is still reading from the journals when Stefan comes in. She asks if he’s still mad at her and he tells her that he is. She tells him that they have a difference of opinion, to which Stefan says is the “understatement of the century”. They move on from the topic and talk about the journals and what Johnathon Gilbert had to say. Elena hands Stefan a journal and he takes a look at the contents. He explains to her that he and Damon were angry with the Founding Families for what they did to Katherine and wanted revenge. He tells Elena that he wants to to know the truth and to hear it from him. The scene flashes back to a time in the weeks after he and Damon became vampires. Stefan tells Elena that he relished in being a vampire and the scene shows Stefan with several women with bleeding bite marks. His behavior is like Damon’s current behavior and Damon acted like Stefan does now. Damon compels the women to leave and forget what they saw there. He tells Stefan that he must be more careful. Stefan begs Damon not to leave. He feels guilty for what happened to Damon and for his father. Elena comments that he sounds more like Damon and Stefan admits that he was actually worse.
Damon, Andi, and Alaric are at the Grill and they discuss Elijah. Alaric wonders if they should end the conversation because of Andi’s presence and Damon tells him that she’s compelled and it’s not an issue. Elijah and Jenna arrive. Alaric excuses himself, saying he has papers to grade. Andi suggests that they have a dinner party and Damon volunteers to host later that evening.
A pitiful looking Katherine is still rotting in the tomb when someone arrives with a bottle of blood for her. It’s Damon and he also brought her a change of clothes. He tells her that John is back in town. Katherine plays dumb and asks why. Damon tells her that he claims to be there to protect Elena and also told him how to kill an Original. Katherine tells him that she wouldn’t tell him that if it wasn’t true. She’s all for killing Klaus, but not Elijah since he has compelled her to stay stranded in the tomb. Damon asks if even a little dagger with white oak ash will do the job and Katherine pauses and looks at him, giving Damon the confirmation he needs. She tells Damon that if Elijah dies, she’s stuck forever and begs him not to kill Elijah. She tries to bargain with him, telling him that she’ll help when she gets out. Damon declines her offers and tells her that he’s killing Elijah that night.
Stefan continues telling his story to Elena of how his existence revolved around hunting, preying, and killing. She asked how no one caught on and he told her that they were distracted by the war (Civil War). The scene flashes back to Stefan feeding on the wounded soldiers. He sees a cloaked woman heading into the woods and follows her. She turns on him as Stefan prepares to jump. It’s Lexi. They go back to Stefan’s home where bodies are strewn about the house. She proclaims that he’s ” a ripper” and tells him that he’s the bad part of being a vampire. She tells him that he’s going to have to change that. Back to the present, Stefan confesses that talking about Lexi brings back memories that he would prefer to forget (like Damon killing her).
Andi and Jenna set up for the dinner party and Andi asks her what’s going on with the tension between her and Alaric. Jenna tells her that she’s more than in like with him, but she has some doubts because she thinks that he’s hiding something. She shares how John has been planting the seeds of doubt. Andi tells Jenna that she’s so grateful that Damon tells her everything.
Alaric and Damon pour some drinks and Alaric tells Damon that killing Elijah that night is a bad idea. Damon tells him, “There’s no such thing as a bad idea – just poorly executed awesome ones.” Damon lies to Alaric and tells him that the night is just a fact-finding mission and it’s totally harmless. Alaric begs him to not do any sneak attacks and not to do anything to put Jenna at risk. Andi interrupts, saying that Jenna needs help with the wine. Alaric leaves and Damon instructs Andi that she will tell the men to take their after-dinner drinks in the den while the girls have coffee in the kitchen. The doorbell rings and Jenna opens the door to find John waiting there.
Bonnie arrives at the Gilbert house, surprised to find candles lit in a romantic setting. Jeremy backpedals and tells her that it’s not a date. She tells him that she needs to make sure that Elena is cool with them before she gets in too deep. They end up practicing Bonnie’s spells as originally planned.
Damon invites Elijah in for the party. Elijah tells Damon that if he has any less than honorable intentions for the evening, he should reconsider. Damon tells him that he has no such intentions. Elijah tells him that his deal is with Elena and he will kill Damon and everyone else in the house if he tries to cross him.
The dinner gets underway and Jenna tells about the Founding Families not really being the founders after all. Elijah tells them about a faction of settlers that migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690’s to be safe from persecution. Jenna jokes about the “witches” and Andi says that there was no tangible proof of witches in Salem. Elijah tells them that anti-witch hysteria from a nearby settlement resulted in the settlers being rounded up, tied to stakes and burned. Jenna jokes again about not sharing that information with the historical society. Damon asks Elijah why he wants to know the location of the massacres and Elijah responds that it’s just historian’s curiosity.
Elena continues to read as Stefan enters. She comments that Johnathon Gilbert just seemed to get “crazier and crazier”. Elena finds notes that he actually researched the Originals and finds a sketch of a dagger made of ancient white oak. His notes state that witches forged the dagger from the ashes. Elena wonders if it’s true. Stefan tells her that he knows that it does because John gave it to Damon. Elena reads on and notes that it must be brandished by humans because it will bring death to all demons who wield it. Stefan realizes that John is trying to kill Damon as well. Stefan rushes to try to call Damon and doesn’t get an answer. Elena asks what’s going on and he tells her that Stefan is going to kill Elijah that night.
Andi suggests that the men take their drinks in the den and Alaric offers to help the ladies clear the table, asking Jenna if she’s OK. She brusquely tells him that she’s fine. John tells Alaric that he suspects that Jenna’s behavior is his fault since he mentioned Alaric not being completely honest about Isobel. Alaric grabs him and calls him a son of a bitch. John tells him that wants his ring back. Alaric’s phone rings and it’s Stefan calling.
Damon and Elijah are in the study talking about the need of the burial ground. Elijah confesses to needing it and asks Damon if he knows where it is. Damon tells him “maybe”. Eljiah admires Damon’s collection of books. Alaric comes in and tells them that they forgot about dessert. Andi calls Elijah into the dining room and he leaves. Damon and Alaric share a wordless exchange and Alaric writes out Stefan’s message on a piece of paper, showing it to Damon. Jenna tells them that dessert will take a little longer. Andi asks Elijah more questions and asks Alaric to get her notebook from her bag. Damon asks Elijah if he knows that John is Elena’s father/uncle and tells him that Elena hates John and, “there’s no reason to keep him on the endangered species list”. Andi gets up to help Alaric. John asks Elijah how he will kill Klaus. Elijah tells him that he lets them live to keep an eye on Elena and he allows her to live as a courtesy. He tells them if they become a liability he’ll take her away and they’ll never see her again. Andi returns and begins interviewing Elijah. Alaric stakes Elijah with the dagger from behind and places the dagger on the table. He tells Damon to get rid of Elijah before Jenna comes back with dessert.
Elena is out on the deck at the lake house and Stefan tells her that they need to talk. Elena asks what good it will do if he and Damon are going to lie to her. Stefan tells her that they want to make sure that she lives a long and healthy life. She asks if there was any truth in their trip through his past that night or if he was just distracting her. He tells her that he was telling her about a time when he thought all was lost and that’s what he thinks she’s doing. He tells her that Lexi wouldn’t let him give up and he won’t let Elena do that either. The scene flashes back to Stefan and Lexi walking among the woulded. She talks about the men dead and dying around them and asks Stefan how he feels. He tells her that he feels nothing and she encourages him to feel it. She tells him to let it all back in, noting how vampire emotions are more intense than human. She tells him that when “[he] can hurt, [he] can love.” Back in the present, Stefan shares how Lexi showed him another way and he started to fight for his own survival. He tells Elena that’s what he wants her to do. He kisses her and leaves her outside.
Damon and Alaric dump Elijah in the basement of the Salvatore house. Alaric tells Damon that he took the shot because he had an opening, not because he planned to do it with Jenna in the house. He tells Damon that there won’t be anymore lying and Damon nods in agreement with him.
Elena continues reading and Stefan comes downstairs to join her. He tells her that Elijah is dead and that Alaric did it. Elena shares from the journal about how the Originals believed in truth and honor and that it was forbidden for a vampire to kill another vampire and the dagger would take both lives. Continuing, she explains that as long as the dagger stays in place, the original will stay dead. Stefan freaks out and goes for his phone.
Damon rushes to the cellar to find Elijah gone.
Dr. Martin opens the door to find Elijah there. Elijah tells him to find Elena now.
Bonnie and Jeremy practice her witchcraft as she takes the flames from the candles and the fireplace, holding the flame in her hands. They talk about channeling and Jeremy offers to let her channel him. As they get started, they are interrupted by Dr. Martin barging in. He asks Bonnie what Luka told her. She admits that he told her about Dr. Martin’s daughter and Klaus and says that she wants them to work together. Dr. Martin does a spell on Bonnie and tells her that it’s for her own good, threatening Bonnie if any harm comes to Luka. After he leaves, Jeremy rushes to Bonnie’s side and asks what happened. She tells him that Dr. Martin took her powers.
Elijah shows up at the lake house, throwing rocks at the door. Elijah tells Elena and Stefan that he will wait them out since he can’t come in. Elena appears in the doorway and Elijah tells her that their deal is off. Elena tells him that she’ll renegotiate and he tells her that there’s nothing left to negotiate with. Elena pulls out a dagger and informs him that she’d” like to see him lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after the doppelganger bleeds to death.” Elijah tells her that Stefan won’t let her die. She concedes that he won’t – he’ll feed her his blood and then she’ll kill herself just like Katherine did. Elijah calls her bluff and she plunges the dagger into her stomach. Elijah begs her to let him heal her and she goes through the doorway toward him, collapsing as Elijah is staked. Stefan rushes out and Damon appears in the doorway. Damon comments, “A little tip…don’t pull the dagger out.”
Alaric goes into the kitchen and asks where John is. She makes a snarky comment about him maybe being where the rest of the party ran off to. Alaric apologizes to her and she asks what happened to Isobel. He tells her that John should have never brought Isobel up and he’s trying to stir up trouble. Jenna tells him that she thinks John is right about him not being honest. Crying, she leaves him in the kitchen. John enters and Alaric gives the ring to him. He tells John, “After what you did to Damon, you’ll need it more than me.”
Stefan, Elena, & Damon dump Elijah’s body and Damon recovers the moonstone. Elena agrees to fight, but they can’t keep anything from her any longer. She makes them agree to do things her way.
Damon and Stefan talk about Elena’s change of attitude and Stefan tells him that he told her the story of Lexi. He asks Damon if he remembers her. The scene flashes back to Damon getting ready to leave the house in Mystic Falls and Lexi asking if he’s going somewhere. Lexi tells him that he doesn’t have his hate under control and it will get the best of him. Damon tells Lexi to help Stefan before leaving.
Back in the present, Damon arrives home and hears someone in the shower. Thinking that it’s Andi, he heads in and is surprised to find a naked Katherine in his shower. She asks him for a robe. He asks how she got out and she tells him that she knew that if she begged him not to kill Elijah, he’d do it. She tells him that an original can compel a vampire, but the compulsion wears off when the vampire dies. She tells Damon that she stayed and is going to help.
Honestly, I was surprised that Damon didn’t realize that the compulsion spell would be broken when Elijah died. However, that does go right to the essence of his think-first-ask-questions-later personality (especially when he’s blinded by his hatred of Katherine).
Do you think that Alaric will be able to set things right with Jenna?
Why do you think that Elijah was so interested in finding the site of the witch massacres? Do you think that they are important to reversing the curse of the sun and the moon?
I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with Katherine now that she’s out of the tomb.
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