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Vampire Diaries Recap: “Coming Home Was a Mistake”

The episode opens with the heartbreaking loss of Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino). We see his coffin in the back of Matt Donovan’s (Zach Roerig) truck, as he brings him home to Mystic Falls. One by one, he calls each of their friends. Another untimely death that it almost makes you wonder who will be left at the end of this series. Tyler’s body is taken to the Salvatore house, and as Matt looks on, he is particularly struck hard by this loss since he has had to return to a world that he had been trying to avoid.

Bob Mahoney/The CW
Bob Mahoney/The CW

Meanwhile as Alaric (Matthew Davis) takes a moment to write in Elena’s journal telling her of the recent events, Seline (Kristen Gutoskie) stops by to offer assistance watching the girls since Caroline (Candice King) informed her about their loss. She asks if Alaric and Tyler were close, and mentions how she also lost her estranged sister. To keep the twins occupied, Seline plans on taking them to a carnival. Not sure if a carnival, psychic twins, and an evil ancient being make the best combination.

At this point, Stefan is beyond frustrated – Tyler deserved more than dying over Sybil and her hold over Damon. He is also defeated because it seems there is nothing he can do to help Damon. In trying to comfort him, Caroline tells him to take this time to mourn the death of their dear friend instead.

When we last left Enzo (Michael Malarkey) and Bonnie (Kat Graham), Enzo had flipped his humanity switch off in order to save Bonnie. Now as they sit in the cabin they once shared, she has been attempting to turn his humanity switch back on. In between his jabs at what has been happening, Enzo eventually persuades Bonnie to set him free. However when she releases him, he makes a run for the door. And oh no, he can’t get out! Did she get her powers back? Nope, instead she utilized a magic relic, called the “Flame of Imprisonment”, from the Armory. This relic keeps everything except for her locked in the room where it burns. A smart and resourceful former witch!

In the dungeons of the Armory, Alaric pays a visit to Sybil (Nathalie Kelley). Using the tuning fork, he continues to interfere with her psychic abilities. He questions her about Georgie (Allison Scagliotti), but she refuses to give any information. Frustrated by Tyler’s death, Alaric decides to continue the torture throughout the day in order to break her. He heads upstairs to intern number two, Dorian (Demetrius Bridges), and assigns him with an experiment. He is to test the tuning fork every hour on the hour, so while the intern thinks he’s conducting some sort of experiment, he is actually torturing the imprisoned Sybil through the intercoms in the prison. Nicely done! Alaric also shares with Dorian that he received a text from Georgie saying she had to leave town, which is uncharacteristic of her. He asks Dorian to see if he can find out more information from her roommate.

At the Mystic Falls cemetery, the group gathers to bury their dear friend. However, Damon interrupts them and starts to provoke them in the only way Damon knows how, spouting incentive cruel words about them and the ones they have lost. In anger, Stefan prepares to fight him, but Damon grabs Matt and forces him to drink his blood. He then threatens to snap his neck, which everyone knows would turn him into a vampire. Damon leaves feeling satisfied that the act of killing Tyler has finally severed his ties with the group and that whatever hope they had in saving him has vanished.

Afterwards, Caroline and Bonnie talk over the phone on the difficulties of getting Enzo to flip his switch back. Bonnie struggles to figure out how to fix him and questions what was it that finally brought Caroline back. Caroline divulges that it was facing her deepest and darkest fear that eventually turned her. Even though Bonnie feels terrible for not being at Tyler’s funeral, she is reassured by Caroline that it’s ok and they’ll give Tyler a proper send off at some point. As Bonnie ends her call with Caroline, Enzo resumes taunting her, but little does he know that her conversation with Caroline has given her an idea.

While Stefan and Caroline debate what to do with Damon, Alaric reminds them that Damon is not Damon since he is under the control of Sybil. Once he realizes what he has done and what Elena will think of him, he might not recover. Stefan concludes that the only way to help Damon and protect others is to knock him out while they try to figure out how to save him.

In the Armory, Damon visits Sybil since he doesn’t know why he is still under her control. He’s irritated and upset and even though he is forced to do her bidding, he still doesn’t like her. Sybil knows that he is still not completely hers, and even though he tries to convince her otherwise, she doesn’t believe him. Damon can’t understand what she wants, so she explains that she wants all of him. She wants him to cut all emotional ties to his past and devote himself completely to her. He takes his frustration out on the glass separating them, leaving a tiny crack. In the end, she gives him the option to return to Stefan, turn his humanity back on, and try and find some happiness before death takes him to Cade. Sybil is not dumb, she knows he fears Cade and the hell she showed him, and this was her way of making her point.

In Lockwood’s mansion, Matt is going through Tyler’s belongings. Peter, his dad, stops in with a box that was delivered from the Armory. Peter tries to comfort Matt, but it doesn’t work out so well. Matt tells his dad that this is his life and he has become an expert in dealing with loss. He takes a slight dig at Peter, and it is apparent that his dad still feels guilt over leaving his son. Matt is also upset that he has vampire blood in his system, so if he dies while it’s in his system, he becomes a vampire which is the last thing he wants to be. Exasperated by his predicament, he lashes out as his father. Once alone, he reads the letter that arrived with box. Its from Tyler! Matt was only meant to receive it upon his untimely death. In the note, Tyler explains that since he is gone, he now needs Matt’s help in finding someone. Matt then pulls out a picture and drawings of Seline!

Remember when Alaric escaped the vault and ended up in the streets of Mystic Falls using the tunnel? It seems he’s been perplexed by how he was able to walk it in only a few hours, when the distance between the two locations is actually about 35 miles of winding roads and hill country. Alaric also learns from Dorian that Georgie has not taken any of her things so her whereabouts are still unknown. He asks Dorian to file a missing persons report on her, resulting in Dorian questioning what is going on. Sometimes ignorance is really bliss!

Meanwhile at the carnival, Seline uses her siren abilities to get a dead goldfish for the twin girls. They are going to give it a proper burial. Hmm, a dead goldfish, that’s not creepy at all! At the same instance, Stefan has received a text from Damon to meet him at the same town carnival. Stefan chooses to meet him alone even though Caroline offers to go with him.

Upon returning to the cabin, Enzo keeps playing with Bonnie’s emotions and refuses to turn his humanity on. However, thanks to Caroline, Bonnie has a plan. She suddenly begins pouring gasoline around the cabin. Using Enzo’s darkest fears of fire and abandonment, she is determined to prove that she will not leave him no matter the consequence. She would rather burn alive than desert him, and with that, she sets the cabin on fire.

Bob Mahoney/The CW
Bob Mahoney/The CW

At the carnival, Stefan arrives to learn that there is a gas leak so everyone is being evacuated. A gas leak, really? Damon appears asking Stefan for help, which surprises him since earlier he was trying to break their ties. Damon explains that he is trying to stay away from hell and if that means helping Sybil, then that’s what he is going to do. As they argue, Stefan questions what’s the point of being alive if they can’t feel. He points out that he can see Damon’s humanity is trying to break through even though Damon is fighting it. Stefan unsuccessfully fires a shot of vervain at Damon which he catches. Damon then launches at Stefan and right before he delivers a punch, Caroline steps in and shoot three darts in his back, knocking him out. She was right, two vampires are better than one!

When we return to the cabin, it is fully engulfed in flames. Bonnie refuses to leave Enzo, and even though Enzo claims he doesn’t care, it’s definitely starting to get to him. She stubbornly refuses to leave him and finally faints due to the smoke, which finally sparks something in Enzo and he rushes to save her. Bonnie’s plan is working!

Let’s not forget that Seline still has the twin girls and that dead fish from the carnival. Looks like they are going to put it to rest. She tells them about Cade and how he takes the souls of some of the dead and that the bodies of those souls must be always handled with care. She creates an odd symbol on the floor in front of the pyre where the dead fish lays. Seline then tells the girls they can show Cade what they did and she takes their hands. The girls use their siphoning abilities on Seline’s magic and they ignite a fire. It seems the girls are ready for a “surprise”. As the camera pans away, there is evidence of a hand within the flame! Sneaky nanny used the girls to take care of someone’s body and not just the dead fish! Is it Georgie?

When Bonnie wakes up outside of the cabin, she realizes that Enzo saved her and is back to normal. However, due to the magic candle, he is unable to get out. He tells her that her love is enough and it’s his time and he has accepted it. The cabin starts to fall apart and he drops to the floor. Risking everything, Bonnie runs in and puts out the flame with her hand. He rescues her and they are finally back together. Aren’t you relieved to see Bonnie has her Enzo back?

In the family crypt, Stefan secures Damon with chains in a coffin. It was a last resort, but something that was needed to keep everyone safe. While back at the Lockwood house, Matt is sifting through Tyler’s documents. Tyler was helping Virginia St. John locate the siren who escaped the vault from her great grandfather in 1883. According to Tyler’s wishes, he wants Matt to take over his mission of hunting down the sirens, however, Matt doesn’t think he’s the right person. Peter assures him that he is because he is brave, fearless, and resilient. He encourages Matt that he is right for this task.

In the Armory, Sybil’s hourly torture of the tuning fork is disrupted by a call from the cops. Georgie listed Dorian as her emergency contact. The cop insists Dorian join them and so he rushes out, leaving the tuning fork unattended. Sybil takes advantage of this break by placing her hand on the area where Damon had cracked the glass in his earlier fit. Using her siren abilities, she breaks the entire window. As the Armory’s alarm sound, she walks out and takes the tuning fork with her! Can she still be kept in line without the tuning fork?

Since the earlier funeral for Tyler got sidelined due to Damon’s uninvited appearance, the group plans a second attempt to bid a final farewell to their fallen friend. This time Bonnie is able to attend with Enzo. They each give a touching speech to honor Tyler. Stefan expresses the importance of appreciating all the moments they have with each other. They must honor both Tyler and Elena by continuing to make moments where they “remember to live”. And with that, he turns on the light to the carnival. The group spend the night enjoying each others company. Alaric takes to Elena’s journal to tell her how much he misses her and with everything they have been through, she would have been particularly proud of how they made the best of it that night.

Bob Mahoney/The CW
Bob Mahoney/The CW

As the night winds down, Stefan and Caroline recall the last time she was at the carnival, when she didn’t know how she was going live as a vampire. She reminds Stefan that it was he who told her “the only way to get through it, is to tell yourself that you are strong enough, everyday”. She reiterates that encouragement back to Stefan and lets him know she will keep reminding him for as long as he needs.

While the rest of the group enjoy the carnival, Alaric takes a moment to check in with Seline and the girls. He thanks her for helping and staying late. It’s torture seeing him constantly thank her when we all know she is pure evil! Let’s hope they find out the truth soon!

Sybil, meanwhile, locates Damon and frees him. He claims he is officially done feeling since feelings make him weak. With a smile, Sybil knows has succeeded and now has Damon under her complete control. They apparently have more work to do and she promises Damon will enjoy all of it. Is anyone else a little confused as to what Sybil is up to since she doesn’t seem to be on the same page as Seline?

Bob Mahoney/The CW
Bob Mahoney/The CW

Towards the end of the evening, Caroline and Matt finally have a minute together. She confesses she is happy to have him back even under these circumstances. He apologizes that he hasn’t been around and inquires about the girls. Caroline excitedly shows pictures and he catches a glimpse of their nanny, Seline. Matt instantly recognizes her as the siren that was released from the vault and tells Caroline she needs to quickly get to her girls. By the time Caroline and Alaric get home, the girls are gone. On the table they find a drawing of Cade, Seline, and the girls – almost like a family picture. Finally the truth is out! It’ll be a race to save them and we all know Caroline is fierce when it comes to her family!

Next Episode “Detoured on Some Random Backwoods Path to Hell” Preview:

Caroline is out for blood for anyone who gets in between her and her little girls. Finally, the mysterious Cade makes an appearance!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTF59CynyXo[/embedyt]

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