Season 3, Episode 8, Ordinary People, The Vampire Diaries, Original Airdate 11/03/11
Alaric, Damon and Elena go back to the cave tunnels from the last episode. The walls are filled with hieroglyphics and Viking script that dates back to even before the New World. Alaric deciphers the script into the names: Niklaus, Rebekah, Elijah and Michael. Do these names sound familiar? Damon is now nicknaming Michael "Daddy Original."
Elena decides she is going to talk to Rebekah to get more information and Alaric takes pictures of the drawings to analyze at home.
Elena meets with Rebekah at school, who won't give her any information but is visibly shaken up when Elena discloses that they know where Michael's body is. Later, Rebekah texts Elena to come over. When she arrives Rebekah has a group of compelled girls wearing possible homecoming dress choices. She makes Elena be her consultant about which dress to wear.
After an impromptu fashion show of possible homecoming dresses and a not so veiled threat of bodily harm to Elena, Rebekah finally starts to give some clues about her past. Her family moved to this country after a plague took out one of their children. They were told of this land by a witch, Ayanna. The catch to living in the new place was that it was inhabited by werewolves.
As long as they stayed in on the nights when the werewolves changed, they were able to live peacefully with them. However, one night Niklaus and his brother Henry decided they wanted to watch the change. Bad idea. Henry was killed by one of the wolves, thus ending the camaraderie between the two groups.
In order to become the superior species, Michael and his wife Esther begged Ayanna to turn the family into vampires. After she refused to do so, Esther did it herself by calling on the sun and the white oak tree, which was a symbol of immortality. Turns out Mommy Dearest was a witch herself, none other than the Original Witch. Michael gave his children wine spiked with blood at dinner one night and then killed them. When they awoke, he made them drink blood to complete their transition into vampires. But the new vampires were met with several obstacles to their new way of life. They were unable to go out in sunlight, people who they once considered friends could forbid them from entering their homes, a certain plant (vervain) could burn them if they touched it and helped non-vampires to resist being compelled. The white oak tree could kill them.
After Klaus made his first human kill as a vampire, his werewolf gene was triggered. Yep, Michael was not Esther's baby daddy. She had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. In order to control Klaus's wolf side Esther put the hybrid curse on him. Michael however, went a little crazy and killed half the village and then came home and killed his wife. He ripped her heart out of her chest in front of Klaus.
Michael left and it was only Rebekah, Klaus and Elijah who remained of the family. They made a pact to "stick together as one, always and forever."
Elena, Alaric and Bonnie crack the hieroglyphic code and Elena realizes that Klaus has been lying to Rebekah all this time. It was he who killed their mother, not Michael. Elena tells Rebekah the truth. She doesn't want to believe her at first, but then she breaks down in despair as Klaus's web of lies becomes visible.
Damon spent the majority of this episode with Stefan. He decided instead of Vampire Rehab Lexie style he was going to let Stefan make his own choice. He releases him from the vampire holding cell and takes him to a bar for some drinks. They have waitresses on the rocks with a whiskey chaser. In regards to Stefan following Klaus's orders, Damon tells him, "You can sit around and be his little bitch, or you can get mad enough and you can do something about it."
At about that point Michael shows up offering to help kill Klaus. Stefan at first refuses to tell Michael where Klaus is. But when Michael plunges his hand into Damon's chest, threatening to rip his heart out, Stefan proves again that blood is thicker, gives in and says that he will lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls. In the parking lot when they leave the bar, both Damon and Stefan accuse each other of having their humanity show. Them's fighting words in the vampire community and they tussle in the parking lot, with Damon pretty much kicking Stefan's ass.
For the Damon and Elena shippers, the hot Delena scene of this episode would have to be when Elena is sparring with Damon practicing her knife-wielding skills. Damon easily stops her, spins her around, pulls her against him and then pretends to bite her neck.
Then at the very end , Damon is laying on her bed when she comes out of the bathroom. After being unable to tug the covers out from under him she gets under the sheets with him still paper weighting the side he is on. She tells him, "I'm not mad ad you for letting [Stefan] out, Damon. I think you're gonna be the one to save him from himself. It won't be because he loves me. It'll be because he loves you."
Jeremy, Tyler, Caroline and Matt did not make appearances in the episode.
I might be sorry if Stefan and Elena get back together at this point.
