The episode opens with Anna descending the stairs in a house filled with various “people”.  She helps a couple learn how to use the remote control for the TV.  She enters the dining room to find a vampire feeding on Mrs. Gibbons’ wrist.  When they are finished Mrs. Gibbons (who is also sporting a bite mark on her neck) asks Anna if she would like something to eat, offering her wrist to Anna.  Anna politely declines and has a stare-down with the other vampire.

Matt is having breakfast at his house and he calls for his mother.  She doesn’t answer and he knocks on her door.  She greets him in the hallway, pulling on a robe, closing the door behind her.  She tells him that she had a late night and he tells her that he and the neighbors would appreciate it if she didn’t bring the party home.  He tells her of a bartending position at the grill and she tells him that she might be interested.  There’s a knock at the door and Matt tells Caroline to come in.  Matt’s mom walks off without talking to Caroline.

Stefan and Elena are leaned up against the lockers at school talking.  Stefan tells her that Damon still isn’t talking to him and they wonder if he’s still planning to look for Katherine.  They talk about Elena’s birth mother and Elena make a crack about her “vampire birth mother who is related to [her] vampire ancestor who screwed up [Stefan’s] vampire brother.”  Elena goes on to say that she would like just one normal day without any vampires, other than Stefan.  Matt and Caroline arrive at school and Caroline makes a comment about Ms. Donovan’s hatred for her.  They see Elena and Stefan kiss before going off to classes and Matt looks hurt.  Matt leaves to go to class without kissing Caroline, and now Caroline looks hurt.

Back at the farmhouse, Pearl explains to Harper how to use a cell phone.  Anna listens to a voice mail from Jeremy.  Harper asks her if he’s her boyfriend and Pearl quickly answers that he’s not.  Pearl pulls Anna aside and they discuss how she looks.  The vampire who was feeding on Mrs. Gibbons enters the room and Pearl asks him if he’ll look out on things while she’s attending to business.  We learn that his name is Frederick and he’s quite surly about things.  Pearl admonishes him, telling him that he’ll have to cooperate if “this is going to work.”  Frederick smarts back to her.  Harper tells Pearl that he’ll watch over things for her.  Pearl and Anna leave and Harper and Frederick stare one another down.

Back at the school, Elena and Caroline are talking with Stefan looking on.  Caroline suggests that the four of them go on a double date.  Elena questions whether that is a good idea and Stefan chimes in, saying that he thinks that it’s a great idea and Elena agrees.

Back at the Salvatore house, Damon enters and hears sounds.  He finds Pearl and Anna in the house.  Pearl asks Damon if it’s just him and Stefan living there and Anna makes a comment about them killing unwelcome vampires.  Damon grabs Pearl’s throat and then collapses to the floor.  Pearl tells Damon to have a seat and Damon takes a seat on the couch.

At the Gilbert’s house, Jeremy is on his computer in a vampire fan chat room (“The Lair – Vampire Lovers Only”).  He types, “How do you become a vampire?”  He receives several smart-ass replies.  He types, “How do you kill a vampire?” and receives more smart-ass answers.  He then types, “Serious answers only please.”  A member named Bloodybecky replies, “A stake in the heart always works.” Jeremy responds, “You’re a believer?”  Bloodybecky replies, “Aren’t you?”

Pearl tells Damon that “We’ve taken up residence at a farmhouse outside of town”.  He learns that some, but not all of the twenty-five vampires are out of the tomb.  Pearl speculates that some may have left town and that others may still be in the woods.  Damon asks how they got out and Anna tells him that the witch “screwed up that part of her hocus pocus.”  Pearl tells Damon that she understands that the founding families still have their secret council and that he’s a part of it.  Damon denies that he’s a part of it, but Anna tells him that she’s been in Mystic Falls since the comet and she’s up to speed.  Pearl wants to know what the council knows, who is on it, and who has vervain.  Damon asks her what she is trying to achieve.  She tells him that Mystic Falls was the vampires’ home and the townspeople took that from them – the land, their homes,etc.  She tells Damon that it’s time for them to rebuild.  Damon asks her if she’s crazy – that was in 1864.  He tells her, “Wake up, woman! The world has moved on.”  Pearl offers him Katherine for his help. Damon asks how she can know where she is after being locked away for nearly 150 years.  Pearl reminds him that they were best friends and that she knows how Katherine thinks, her patterns.  She will know where to find her.  Damon tells Pearl that he has no desire to see Katherine ever again and refuses to help.  He gets up from the couch to be slammed back down by Pearl who gouges her thumbs into his eyes, squirting blood down his face.  She throws Damon to the floor and threatens him, reminding him that she has 400 years on him and can rip him from limb to limb.  Pearl and Anna leave the house with Damon still on the floor.

Stefan arrives at Elena’s for their date with a bouquet of flowers.  They talk about how he doesn’t have a car and he admits that he has one, but he never drives it.  Elena hints at canceling the date and Stefan asks her why.  She confesses that it seems too surreal and thinks that they aren’t meant to get to have “normal”.  Stefan reassures her, telling her that they don’t always have to be so serious.  Elena asks him if he’s ever been on a double date before.  He tells her that he went on one in 1972 with a couple of Playmates – he had Miss June for his date.

Pearl and Anna approach Jenna on the street outside of a building that Jenna is showing them as rental property.  Jenna talks about how it’s been in her brother-in-law’s family for years and it once housed an apothecary shop.  Anna notices Jeremy walking down the street, but he doesn’t notice her.  Anna, Pearl, and Jenna go into the building.  As Jenna closes the door, we see Dr. Grayson Gilbert, M.D. on the door.

At the grill, Matt’s mom is sitting at the bar when Damon sits down, wearing sunglasses.  Ms. Donovan makes a crack about them and Damon tells her that “[his] eyes are a little sensitive”.  Ms. Donovan starts working her pickup mojo on Damon and Jenna comes into the bar, spying Ms. Donovan – Kelly.  They tell Damon that Kelly used to babysit Jenna and then they later partied together when Jenna was older.  They invite Jenna for a drink and she refuses because of all of her responsibilities, but Kelly and Damon talk her into it.

Back at the Farmhouse, the surly Frederick is sitting with a female vampire and he complains about staying in the farmhouse.  She tells him that it’s “better than a tomb.”  Harper tells him to quit complaining and they have a confrontation and scuffle that is broken up by the super-strong Pearl.  Pearl tells him that there’s no fighting and reminds him of the rules.  Frederick tells her that he’s tired of the rules and wants out of the house.  Pearl reminds him of their need to keep a low profile.  Frederick comments on how he wishes that he could run into the Salvatore brothers because they are the reason they were caught in the first place.

At the grill, Matt, Caroline, Elena, and Stefan are on their double date.  They make small talk about Matt’s job and his mother.  Elena tells everyone how Kelly and her mother were best friends growing up and that’s how Elena and Matt first met.  In fact, they shared a crib when they were babies.  Caroline lets out a sigh and Matt looks toward the bar and spots his mother, Jenna, and Damon tossing back shots.  Damon sees them and raises his shot glass to them.  Matt shakes his head.

Frederick and the female vampire, Beth Anne, are leaving the farmhouse.  Harper asks them where they are going and Frederick tells him that they are heading to town for a bit.  Harper reminds them of Pearl’s rule about leaving, but they leave anyway.

The doorbell rings at the Gilbert’s house and Jeremy opens the door to find Anna standing there.  He’s surprised to see her because he thought that she left town.  Anna tells him that there was  a change of plans and walks into the house.

Kelly, Jenna, and Damon are still drinking at the grill and Damon talks about how his “reason for existence abandoned him”.  He suggests to Kelly and Jenna that they get hammered and they down some more shots.  Matt, Caroline, Elena, and Stefan are playing pool and see what is going on at the bar.  Caroline comments, “At least they’re having fun,”  to which Elena points out, “They’re drunk.”  Matt recalls when Elena’s parents busted them drunk at the grill after homecoming.  A very uncomfortable and bothered Caroline excuses herself to the restroom and tells Elena to follow her.  Kelly and Jenna spot the kids across the grill.

Jeremy asks Anna why she’s back.  She tells him that her mother has a business opportunity – a chance to open a store – that’s been her dream.  She also tells him that she thinks that she’ll be going back to high school and is tired of homeschooling.  Jeremy tells her that he wishes that she was there now because he has another paper and he’d like to do another one on the vampires of Mystic Falls.  Anna nervously asks him if he really wants to do that.  He tells her that he wants to go deeper, wondering that there may be such a thing – perhaps they are just misunderstood.  Anna asks him if he’s kidding.  Jeremy asks her if she thinks that it could be a possibility.  Anna tells him that she made it all up to impress him.

Stefan and Matt are shooting pool. Matt asks him if there’s anything that he’s not good at and Stefan tells him that he’s no good at double dating.  Elena and Caroline are in the bathroom and Caroline asks Elena what she’s doing with the walk down memory lane, telling her that she’s supposed to be showing Matt how much she cares about Stefan.  Elena tells her that she was trying to make conversation and Caroline tells her to “try less.”  Elena and Caroline head back to the bar and Frederick stops Elena, calling her Katherine.  Elena tells him that he has the wrong person and Caroline calls for her to come on, calling her by her name.  Frederick tells her, “My mistake.”  Elena and Caroline rejoin the boys at the pool table and Elena sends a text to Stefan that reads, “That man over there just called me Katherine.”  Stefan looks and Frederick is gone.

As Elena and Stefan drive back to the boarding house, they discuss the man in the bar.  Elena tells him that they can deal with it the next day because she wants a normal night.  Stefan concedes.  Matt and Caroline pull up and they all go into the house.  Caroline comments, “I feel like I’ve been here before.”  Elena suggests that they watch a movie and Matt notices and amires Stefan’s model car collection.

Damon, Kelly, & Jenna are still at the bar and things start to heat up between Damon and Kelly.  Jenna takes that as her cue to leave and she takes off.

Stefan shows Matt his car in the garage and Matt all but drools over it.  Stefan tells him that it doesn’t run.  Matt talks about how he rebuilt Elena’s dad’s Camaro several times.  Caroline says that she doesn’t like sport cars because they’re too hard to make out in and Matt says, “It wasn’t that bad.”  Caroline hightails it out of the garage and Elena goes after her.  Matt apologizes to Stefan and tells him that he’s glad that Elena is happy with him.

Jenna stumbles out of the grill, breaking her heel on her way out.  Frederick asks her if she needs help and breaks off her other heel for her.  She thanks him and Frederick asks if she was with Damon Salvatore.  She tells him yes and that Damon is still inside if he wants to see him.  Frederick asks about where he lives and she tells him that he lives in the boarding house near Wickery Bridge.  They flirt and he tries unsuccessfully to compel her.  He asks about her scent and she tells him that it was a gift and gets into a cab.  Frederick looks to Beth Anne and says, “vervain.”

Caroline and Elena talk and Caroline tells her how she’s upset because she’s always being her backup and that Elena is always everyone’s first choice.  Matt and Stefan pull up in Stefan’s car, which Matt fixed.  Stefan offers the car to Matt and Caroline for a spin.

Jeremy and Anna are in the kitchen making sandwiches.  While Anna is looking for the bread, Jeremy slices his hand (on purpose) with the knife.  He asks Anna for a towel and she freaks.  He tells her, “It’s just blood.”  Anna ends up changing and drinks the blood from his hand.  Jenna comes home and Jeremy nervously greets her by the stairs.  Anna is gone when he returns to the kitchen, but he has a very satisfied look on his face.

Matt and Caroline are talking in the car and he asks her if he passed her test.  He reminds her that everything with Elena is in the past and the past won’t go away – it’s just memories.  He tells Caroline that he was on the date because he wanted to be with her.  They kiss and make up.  Caroline’s leg hits the gear shift and she comments, “sports cars.”

In the boarding house, Kelly and Damon pour more drinks and start kissing.  They get hot and heavy and are interrupted when Matt and Caroline walk in on them.  Stefan and Elena follow and Matt takes his mom home.  Elena offers to take Caroline home.  Damon just pours another drink.

Anna goes home and Pearl asks her where she’s been for the last three hours.  Anna tells her that she just needed some air.  Pearl pushes and Anna tells her that she’s sorry and they hug.

Elena and Stefan say goodnight and Stefan tells her that he’s worried about her going home alone.  She tells him that she can’t live every minute worried about something coming after her.  She promises to call him when she gets home safely and they kiss.  Elena and Caroline leave and Stefan goes into the house while Frederick watches from the lawn.  Damon tells Stefan to “save the lecture” right before Frederick comes crashing through the window.  They fight and then Beth Anne joins in.  Stefan stakes Beth Anne.  Frederick sees her body and flees.  Stefan tells Damon that he remembers them from 1864 and that they were in the tomb.  Damon tells Stefan, “Yeah….about that.”

Matt and his mom get home and Matt tells her about how he was trying to have a fun night and forget about his crap life to find her acting like a kid. He reminds her that he’s the kid.

Elena is brushing her teeth in the bathroom and Jeremy comes in to do the same.  Elena asks him about his night.  He tells her, “Same ol’, same ol’…and you?”  Elena replies, “Yeah.” They continue brushing in silence.

Frederick returns to the farmhouse and Pearl meets him at the door, asking where Beth Anne is.  He tells her that she won’t be back and that she was right – they shouldn’t have left.  In the kitchen, Pearl pours him a glass of blood, walks over to him, and sticks him with a wooden spoon.  She throws the glass of blood on him and puts the spoon in the sink. She goes to the table and pours herself a glass of blood.

Elena calls Stefan to tell him that she’s home safely and they talk about their night.  Damon is in the background dealing with Beth Anne’s corpse.

Jeremy goes into his room and finds Anna there.  She tells him, “I could have killed you.”  He tells her, “But you didn’t.”  She asks him how he knows.  He tells her about Vickie’s animal attack and how she started acting crazy afterward.  He mentions the articles and then recalls when Anna’s face changed when they kissed.  Anna swears him to silence and Jeremy tells her that no one would believe him anyway.  She tells him, “You’d be surprised.”  He asks her why she didn’t kill him.  She asks why he risked it.  Jeremy says that maybe it was because of Vickie and because he wants Anna to turn him.

So….what did you think about this episode?

I didn’t think that it was as juicy as last week’s episode with all of the Isobel bombshells, but it was still pretty good with Jeremy piecing things together and telling Anna that he wants her to change him.

I wonder what is going to happen when Damon tells Stefan about his meeting with Pearl.  I can’t imagine that Stefan will take that news very well. Seeing how Bonnie is still gone, grieving over her grandmother, we can’t count on a witch at this point to help fight the vampires.

I’m extremely curious as to how the vampires plan to take back Mystic Falls in an era of instant information without drawing any attention to themselves.

I still wonder where the Matt and Caroline storyline is going.  Is this to stir up more drama/conflict between Elena and Caroline?  Perhaps Caroline will become Elena’s nemesis in the future, more similar to the relationship in the books?

Do you think that Damon will cave to Pearl’s demand so that he can find Katherine?

Join us in the forum and let us know what you think!