Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to conceive…and deceive…

The last episode ended with Isobel showing up at the grill next to Alaric at the bar.  This episode picks up with them talking and Isobel urging him to move on because she wasn’t lost.  She asks him to arrange a meeting between her and Elena.  Alaric tells her, “Screw you, you selfish bitch.” and leaves.  Isobel meets him in the parking lot and threatens to kill the poor unsuspecting townfolk if he doesn’t set up the meeting.

Elena talks to Damon on the phone about the parade float meeting with Caroline and he asks her about Uncle John.  Stefan enters the room as they end their conversation.  He hands the phone to Stefan and tells him that Elena called.

At the school, Alaric hands out the specs for the float and Tyler and Matt are still at odds with one another.  Elena and Stefan enter the room and Alaric goes over to meet them.  Caroline and Bonnie discuss the Miss Mystic float and Caroline wonders where Elena is.  Caroline asks Bonnie about the two of them fighting and talks about how she’s upset with how everyone is fighting.

Damon meets Alaric, Stefan, and Elena at the school and learns that Alaric saw Isobel.

Uncle John arrives at a large home for sale and finds Isobel there, entertaining herself with some people that she compelled.  John wants to talk to her and they discuss their partnership as he notes that he doesn’t accept her “lifestyle”.  They talk about the device.  Isobel tells him that his plan isn’t working and that she’ll take things over.

Damon and Alaric discuss the meeting with Isobel.  Elena says that she wants to see her.  Damon tells her that she doesn’t have to see Isobel if she doesn’t want to and Stefan points out Isobel’s threat of a killing spree.  Elena says that she wants to meet her so that she doesn’t have any regrets.

At the grill, Elena waits alone at a table while Stefan looks on from the bar.  They have a one-sided conversation utilizing his vampire hearing as he listens and nods to her.  Isobel enters the grill and sits at the table with Elena while Stefan stands guard from the bar.  Isobel tells her that she looks just like Katherine and tells her how Katherine found her just after she was turned.  She mentions that Katherine would be fascinated by her.  Elena asks about a necklace and Isobel tells her that Katherine helped her obtain the jewelry so that she can walk in the daylight.  Elena asks who her father is and Isobel refuses to tell her, saying that he was a “teenage waste of space.”  Isobel also tells her that human life means nothing to her.  Isobel asks Elena why she’s not with Damon – or with both brothers like Katherine.

Damon and Alaric wait outside the grill.  A very antsy Damon says that they should be inside and Alaric tells him no.  Damon calls him out for continuing to protect Isobel.  They discuss how there is no humanity in Isobel.  Damon tries to pretend like it’s something that they can just turn off and Alaric notes how Stefan has retained his and how he can see some in Damon, even if he is a “dick”.

Elena asks Isobel why she wanted to meet.  Isobel tells her that she wants what Uncle John wants – Jonathon Gilbert’s invention.  Elena asks how she knows Uncle John.  Isobel tells her that he had a crush on her for years and that she spent time in Mystic Falls when she was younger.  She shares that John was the first person to tell her about vampires.  Elena asks her why she wanted to be a vampire.  Isobel notes that she had a long list of reasons, telling Elena that they are probably the same ones that she has considered.  She mentions that Elena will get old and Stefan won’t.  Stefan overhears this and hangs his head.  Elena tells her that she doesn’t have the device and gets up to leave.  Isobel stops her and tells her to tell Stefan to walk away.  Elena nods to Stefan and he leaves.  Isobel tells her that she wants the invention and knows that Damon has it.   She tells Elena to get it for her or the blood shed will be on her hands.  Isobel leaves.  A shaken and upset Elena sees Bonnie enter.  No words are spoken between them as Stefan comes up behind Elena to comfort her.

Jeremy leaves a voice mail for Anna and he and Aunt Jenna talk about Anna.   Uncle John enters and asks about her, asking when the last time he saw her was.  He offers to give him advice on girls and Aunt Jenna leaves.  Uncle John asks him how well he knows Anna.  Jeremy tells him that he knows her very well.  Uncle John pushes him to talk and offers to help in any way he can because Jeremy’s father would want that.  Jeremy tells him that he’s fine as he leaves the room.

A shirtless Damon is sitting next to the underwear-clad girl being compelled by Isobel.  Isobel enters the room and engages in some banter with Damon.  Damon pretends to be hurt that she didn’t pay him a visit.  Isobel asks him if he brought the device and pulls his hair.  Damon asks her what she’s doing with John.  She tells him that they dated when she was younger and that John was in love with her.  Damon asks what she wants with the device.  She tells him that she is doing what she’s told and they are on the same side and then tells him that Katherine wants John to have the device.   Damon and Isobel make out for a brief moment and then Damon pins her down and threatens her.  He tells her that it’s a bad move to go after Elena and he believes in killing the messenger because it sends a message.  He tells Isobel to tell “that little bitch” (Katherine) to come get the device herself.

At home, Elena answers a knock at the door to find Bonnie there.  Bonnie apologizes for not being there for her and they hug when Elena tells her that she met her birth mother.

At the float site, Matt and Tyler talk.  However, they don’t make up with one another.  Elena and Bonnie are in the school and Bonnie shows her Emily’s spell book, pointing out a picture of the vampire compass.  According to Emily, Jonathon Gilbert never successfully invented anything.  Emily put spells on the inventions – the compass, rings, and the mystery device.  Bonnie notes that Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine, but couldn’t bear to watch people get killed.  Bonnie tells Elena that the invention that Isobel wants is a weapon to kill other vampires.

Jeremy tells Elena that he’s worried about Anna, telling her that they are more than just friends.  He also calls Elena out for lying and tells her that he knows what Anna is and that he knows that Elena knows, too.  Elena tells him that she doesn’t know anything about where Anna is and an angry Jeremy leaves.   When Elena turns around, she finds Isobel standing there.  Elena tells her that she doesn’t want her in her life.  Isobel points out all of Elena’s family and friends and what they mean to her.  She points out her own friends that she has with her – Frank, who makes a float trailer fall on Matt.  Isobel does this to prove to Elena how easy she can hurt her and then threatens to kill Jeremy, telling her that she underestimates how much Damon cares for her.

Tyler and Caroline tend to Matt and decide that Tyler will drive him to the hospital.

Isobel arrives home and finds John waiting.  Isobel shows him her new hostage, Jeremy.  John and Isobel argue as he tells her that she can’t hurt a kid, citing that she can’t be that far gone.  He urges her to let Jeremy go.  She gives an order in a foreign language and a female vampire knocks John in the head with a candlestick and there’s a fight.  Isobel takes John’s ring and leaves the room.

Bonnie is in a classroom with Elena and Stefan.  She asks where the device is and Stefan tells her that Damon has it.  Elena says that she’ll talk to Damon.  Stefan points out that Damon won’t let her have it if it’s harmful to vampires.   Elena asks, “What if it’s not?”

Stefan, Elena, Bonnie, and Damon are gathered and Damon refuses to hand over the device.  Elena urges him to hear her out.  Bonnie says that she can remove the spell and tells him that she’s been practicing her craft.  She proves her improvements by pulling his favorite book from the shelves with telekinesis.  Elena says that they will do this her way.  Damon says that he can’t trust Bonnie, but Elena tells him that he can trust her.  Damon hands the device to Elena.

Uncle John is on the floor and he and Jeremy talk.  John tells him that Isobel is after a weapon invented by Jonathon Gilbert to harm other vampires.  He tells him about a group of vampires from a long time ago who want revenge on the town.  John tells him that they have to destroy all of the vampires while Jeremy points out that there are some good ones.  John tells him that there’s no such thing and talks briefly about the family history.

Bonnie performs the spell to remove Emily’s spell on the device and gives it to Elena.

Elena meets Isobel outside the courthouse at night.  When Isobel asks where the device is, Elena asks where Jeremy is.  Isobel points out that it’s not a negotiation and asks Elena if she thinks that she came alone as two vampires emerge from the shadows.  Elena matches her as Damon and Stefan emerge from the shadows.  Elena calls home and verifies that Jeremy is OK.  Isobel tells Elena that she has no redeeming qualities left in her and tells Elena that Damon is in love with her.  Elena gives Isobel the device and thanks her for being “such a monumental disappointment” because it keeps the memory of her real mother intact.  Isobel says goodbye and tells her that she is doomed as long as she has a Salvatore on each arm.  She tells Elena that Katherine was smart and got out and then tells her that she’s not Katherine.  Isobel leaves and Stefan goes to hug Elena.  Elena looks at Damon, who looks like someone stole his puppy.  Stefan catches a glance at him before he leaves.

Jeremy leaves another voice mail for Anna.  Elena enters the room and tries to talk to him.  Jeremy tells her that he read her journal and knows everything.  They talk about the night that Vickie died and he tells her to get out, closing the door on her as she leaves.

Alaric goes back to the school and finds Isobel there.  He asks her what she wants and she tells him that she’s leaving and is there to say goodbye.  He confronts her about whether the woman that he married is really gone and takes off his ring.  He tells her to kill him or compel him because he doesn’t believe that she doesn’t care about him.  She tells him that she wanted and needed this and will forever regret her mistake.  She then compels him and alters his memory, telling him that she loved him and she hurts when she thinks about what she gave up.  She tells him that his heart is free from her and it will be easier this way. She says goodbye, puts the ring back on his finger, and leaves.

A tearful Anna shows up in Jeremy’s room as he’s heading to bed.  She tells him that someone killed her mother and she has nowhere to go.  He holds her as she cries.

Stefan and Damon talk about what Isobel revealed to Elena.  Stefan expresses his concern about how Elena could be hurt because she considers Damon a friend.  Stefan then goes on to tell Damon that history will not repeat itself where Elena is concerned.  Damon insists that they are friends and then goes on to tell Stefan that Isobel and John dated when she was 15 and then she showed up at John’s brother’s office to give birth.  Stefan asks if he thinks that John is Elena’s father and Damon tells Stefan he will be there for Elena when Stefan drops that bombshell.

John’s cell rings and it’s Isobel telling him that he’ll find the device and his ring on his doorstep and tells him not to screw things up.  He tells her that he will not fail.  She tells him that Katherine wants all of the tomb vampires dead and she wants to add two more to the list – Stefan and Damon.  She goes on to tell John that she doesn’t want “this life” for Elena, reminding him, “She’s our daughter, John.”

Caroline and Bonnie are talking about the rift that is between Bonnie and Elena.  Bonnie tells Caroline that she did something really bad and that she pretended to do something that Elena wanted her to do.

Do you think that we’ve seen the last of Isobel? How much do you think that Alaric will remember about her visit to Mystic Falls?  I wonder how much of his memory she altered.

Will Elena find out that John is her father before the end of this season?

Does anyone else see a showdown in the future between Jeremy and Uncle John?

What did you think about Bonnie’s revelation?

What else would you like to discuss from this week’s episode?   Join us in the forum and share your thoughts!