The Vampire Diaries Episode (4x03) - "The Rager" Recap

Previously on The Vampire Diaries...

• Stefan's bunny diet drove Elena to bulimia. 
• Damon and Elena shared bodily fluids.
• New hunter arrived with a bang, and reminded us that even memorial services are deadly.
• Matt and Elena shared bodily fluids. 
• Stefan realized everyone is making it with his girlfriend but him. 
• Tyler proved why he's captain of the football team.
• We were reminded that Damon had murdered 1/3 of the people we've loved and lost since season 1.
• Jeremy sees ghost tattoos. 
• Damon saving seats for Invisible Alaric wasn't so crazy after all. 

Tyler looks so good lying in the hospital bed. He's got a very healthy glow. Then Connor shows up. It appears he's there to kill Tyler, but he really just wants some of Ty's werewolf venom. OMG, a big ass needle in the gums! Connor leaves, and heads to his meth lab. Or maybe he's just high for chemistry.

"Those who can't do, teach."

Damon woke up on the wrong side of the bed. When he catches Stefan prepping a motorcycle with plans to take Elena on a ride, Damon informs his baby bro that he's going to hunt Connor, and then leave town. Stefan doesn't seem to want that, and calls Damon dramatic.

At school, Elena and Matt meet at their old make-out spot for her morning feeding. Why doesn't she feed off Jeremy? Don't they still live together? I don't get it. Even though she's still hungry, Elena stops because she's afraid of hurting Matt. I love when the show uses stuff from the books.

"So you left the only person in town that actually likes you?"

The first day of school. Stefan and Elena attend history, but there's no Alaric to teach them. Rebekah arrives to invite the entire class over to her new house for an After Curfew party. She and Elena get into it, which ends with Elena receiving a pencil stake almost in her heart. While she is cleaning up in the bathroom, Bex sends in a fellow classmate that she's bitten to entice Elena. Knowing Connor is in the building, Bex smears blood all over Elena's face. Mean Girls smackdown! Score 2 for Rebekah. Afterwards, Elena vents about Bex to Stefan and Caroline. Stef offers a ditch day so she can blow off steam. I guess that motorcycle will come in handy after all.

"You're playing hunter, strapped to a bomb, while your brother plays vampire with the girl who broke your heart."

Source: Iansomer

Damon found Connor all on his own, and gets staked for the effort. Too bad the stakes are also tied to bombs. Oops! Out of all the people Damon could have called, he called Meredith. I love their cute banter.

Connor has Jeremy in a classroom. He wants to train Jeremy to be a hunter. Seems tat marks hunters, and only potential hunters can see them. Jer's homework: find, and bring Connor a vamp.

Tyler has returned from the hospital, and is greeted by Klaus and his hybrids. Ty's mom called Klaus to warn him about the new hunter. Tyler's friend Hayley shows up. One of her pack friends is one of Klaus' hybrids. She's the one who helped Tyler break his sire bond to Klaus. Um....

Bex apologizes to matt. Denied! I have to hand it to her for being big enough to do that. She must have read Emily Post's rule about apologizing to people after you nearly murder them.

"You staying for the show, or..."

Source: Lumos Maxima

Damon catches Elena searching for the White Oak stake to kill Rebekah. She claims to be searching for bourbon  but Damon isn't fooled. He knows her so well. He begins to undress after inspecting his wounds, and catches her staring. Enjoying the attention, he basically threatens to continue whether she says or not. It's her choice how much she sees. 

Jeremy outs Meredith to Connor. This is so obviously a trap. The fact Connor falls for it makes his stock drop in my opinion. 

"I don't give a damn about some dodgey middle-aged council."

Source: And It's Raining

Elena and Stefan hit up Bex's party as per their ditch day plan. While surveying the layout of Rebekah's new digs, Elena spots April. They two talk, but are interrupted by Rebekah who wants to continue sparring with Elena. The Original strikes point #3 when she throws Elena's daylight ring in the garbage disposal. Elena braves the big, bad sun to retrieve it, and is so angry she grabs the stake, but Stefan catches her. After some sage advice, Elena relents,and the pair decide to go for their ride out to the Gilbert cabin. But not before Elena up stages Bex at her own party with a keg stand. 

Klaus returns to the Lockwoods to check in on Tyler, and finds Hayley in the den. The two make introductions while Tyler attempts to keep Caroline from coming inside. Klaus overhears with his superhearing,and puts 2+2 together. After Caroline leaves, Klaus calls Ty out for cheating on her with Hayley when his was spending time in Tennessee. Tyler worries that Klaus will rat on him to Caroline, but Klaus is going to let the events play out on their own. For now, anyway. As the guys talk, Damon calls to invite Tyler on his Kill Connor mission. I love how Damon is actually trying to work with others, and not just going solo. Since Klaus answers, he decides to take Damon up on his offer. 

Cute Stelena on bike. Cute Stelena becomes hot Stelena once they get to the lake house. Then... Elena gets all veiny. Seems Connor has injected her with werewolf venom. Did I miss something? When did he do that? When we last saw Rebekah she was also going through the veins, and hallucinations. I wonder if he slipped it into the beer. 

Damon and Klaus lure Connor into the hospital supply room with the help of Meredith and Jeremy. They use the same arrow/bomb Damon got caught in at Connor's trailer to ensnare the hunter. Before Connor decide to blow himself up for the greater good, (what is it with these folks?), Klaus determined the hunter's tats, and weird symbols make him one of the "Five."Are they supernatural assassins, like on BTVS?

"Picking up trash is a lot more fun then sitting alone at home thinking about the family you no longer have."

Source: Delena Whore

Rebekah wakes to find April cleaning up her house after the party, and realizes the two girls have a lot in common. Finding a kindred spirit, Bex offers to help April solve her dad's murder. Stefan blows up Klaus' phone to ask for his help saving Elena. Now that Klaus knows who Connor is, he believes Elena is worth saving again. Then he goes to Connor's (who he secretly saved) to tell the hunter about his heritage. Stefan confesses to Caroline that he's finding it hard helping Elena without slipping back into Ripperhood. She offers to be a shoulder for him to lean on whenever he needs it. 

Elena returns home to find Matt in her kitchen apologizing for nearly killing her. Only Rebekah was supposed to get hurt. He's also there to offer up her dinner. The newbie is so out of control that she decides to keep feeding past the time she normally stops, and basically attacks her ex. Luckily, Damon arrives in time to stop her. Compelling the quarterback to leave, Damon also offers to be Elena's mentor so she can learn to feed properly. Elena agrees. 

Thoughts...

This season just keeps getting better, and better. So far, Vampire Elena is just as annoying as Human Elena, but I loved her bitchiness this week. I also loved seeing alliances beginning to form. Stefan reached out to Caroline in a move we haven't seen since season 2. I'm so glad this is finally happening. They would make the best of friends. I love Phoebe Tonkin, so I'm glad she's become a member of the TVD family. I'm also interested to see how her little soap opera with Tyler, Caroline, and Klaus will pan out. Jeremy is still searching for a purpose. I kind of hope he can still hook up with Connor. That had promise. As for Damon: that boy is lost in a way, but he's trying to be found.

Damon only has 3 people in his life that mean anything to him. Alaric has died. Stefan and him are on the outs. Elena rejected him. He's angry. On the outside looking in, he decides to team up with the other Scoobies to carry out his plan. Meredith saved him from a bomb, but won't have a drink with him once Damon blows up the storage room. Klaus was his wingman on Kill Connor, but ditched him. Jeremy is trying to hard, and too underage. In the end, Damon decided to take Meredith's advice about reconnecting with Stefan and Elena to heart, and decided to truly help Elena, instead of offering snarky commentary whenever she messes up. 

Next week, Damon and Elena crash Bonnie's college visit in order for Elena to practice being a real vampire. Things get bloody when they decide to attend a fraternity Halloween party. Tune in next Thursday for episode 2x04, "The Five."