Beyond the screen: Vampire Diaries

under control

Liz cuts to the chase and tells Damon he's not going to like what she has to say: John Gilbert's claims checked out, and that the blood bank robberies and missing people are true; they may have another vampire problem. Jeremy interrupts their conversation to ask about the investigation into Vicki's death. She bluntly tells him that it was an overdose, but he still doesn't understand why someone would bury her body. Damon is noticeably uncomfortable, and Liz admits that while the investigation is still ongoing, there's nothing more to tell him. Jeremy concedes and moves on.

Stefan approaches Elena on the dance floor and asks her to dance with her "alcoholic vampire boyfriend". He spins her, and she accidentally bumps into a man, who tells her to watch it. Elena apologizes for being clumsy, but the guy tells her to get off the dance floor. Elena's jaw drops, but Stefan grabs his arm and compels him to apologize. The man apologizes reluctantly, and Stefan repeats to apologize like he means it, which he does. Elena tells him it's fine, and Stefan tells him to walk away. Stefan asks if Elena is okay, and she nods.

At the bar, Elena joins Damon. Elena asks him if he's noticed what his brother has been up to. Damon says that he's been too preoccupied with Elena's brother's behavior. Elena just blinks, and Damon informs her that Jeremy has been asking questions about Vicki's death. Elena points out that Jeremy knows it was an overdose, and Damon fills her in on his confusion as to why someone would bury her. "Who would do that? Oh wait, I know! Me! I mean, I could compel him, but he's wearing vervain." Elena states that she does not want him to be compelled again.

Damon begins to leave, before zooming back, snapping John's neck, and throwing the body off the balcony.

Back inside, Elena confronts Jeremy about his conversation with Sheriff Forbes. Jeremy thinks that it's a cover-up, but Elena reminds him that the coroner's office confirmed it. Elena's face gives her away when Jeremy asks her if she believes them, and when she finally tells him to just drop it, he can tell that she's hiding something. She denies it, and he looks at her suspiciously before leaving.

Kelly and Tyler are drunk and talking outside. They look at each other, and Tyler confesses that he's all alone too. They smile.

Elena sees Kelly and Tyler making out. Matt rushes up to them and grabs Tyler to ask him what the hell he's doing. Matt yells "MOM!" as Tyler tells him to calm down. Matt punches him in the face, and they begin to fight, pushing Kelly down on the ground in the process. Alaric catches Tyler and asks him what's going on. Elena screams at Matt and Tyler to stop it, as Tyler is brutally hurting Matt. The Mayor arrives and tells Alaric he will take care of it from here. He asks Tyler if he's hurt, and tells him to get cleaned up. Mayor Lockwood tries to deflect the attention back to the party as Elena tries to clean up Matt's face.

Stefan is still drinking when Damon comes back inside and asks if Stefan wants bad news or really bad news. Stefan replies that he doesn't want any news, so Damon rephrases, "Do you want to hear how the Council is back in vampire-mode, or how I just killed Uncle John Gilbert?" Stefan is shocked, but Damon just retorts "Great party!" as he walks away.

The Mayor thanks everyone for coming and announces that he's invited John Gilbert to ring the official charter bell. Damon is shocked when John joins him up front and rings the bell. Damon joins Alaric and tells him to look at John's right hand. Alaric says the ring looks just like his, and Damon points out that it would be a coincidence if he hadn't just come back to life five minutes ago. When asked, Alaric informs Damon that he got the ring from his wife, Isobel. Damon exposits, "Who gave birth to Elena, under the medical care of the esteemed Dr. Grayson Gilbert, John's brother!" They look at John, and Alaric asks if he thought John knew Isobel. Damon responds that he thinks John knows a lot of things.

Stefan is trying to pull himself together in the parking lot. As he goes to leave, he runs into the man that he compelled earlier, who pushes him and apologizes. He pushes Stefan again, and snarks that he just can't stop saying "I'm sorry." Stefan tries to get him to leave, but the guy keeps pushing, so Stefan puts on his game face, grabs his fist with his hand and squeezes and scares him away.

Meanwhile, back home at the Gilberts', Jeremy sneaks into Elena's room and looks for her diary. He finally finds it behind a painting and starts to read her entries about the strange animal attacks, Damon turning Vicki, Vicki almost killing Jeremy and Elena, and Damon compelling Jeremy to forget everything,but he had vervain so he remembered everything.

Kelly apologizes and promises to do better, but Matt isn't hearing it; he tells her to be out by morning.

Alaric asks how he got the ring, and John answers that he inherited one, and his brother Grayson had the other. The ring John is wearing was Grayson's, and the one Alaric is wearing was his that he gave to Isobel, although had he know she'd given it away, he would have kept it.

It is then that John reveals that he sent Isobel to Damon when she wanted to become a vampire, and then asks who he thought did it; Katherine Pierce? When Damon asks him how he knows Katherine, John snarks, "How do I know anything, Damon?" He ignores Damon's question of what he wants, and tells them it's been a pleasure as he walks away.

Before bed, Jenna and Elena groan as they think of the next month of Founder's Day events. Elena checks on Jeremy, who is not very talkative towards her, and she assumes it's because of their fight. When she goes to her room, she finds Stefan sitting on her bed. He apologizes for running off earlier, and tells Elena he isn't okay when she asks. She tells him to talk to her, and he explains that he's tried so hard to keep it together tonight, and it was working until he saw Matt's mom bleeding.
Elena tells him she needs him to talk to him, and promises that he'll get through it, and that she'll help him. Stefan declines out of fear of what he could do to her, but she assures him that she isn't afraid. He tells her that he loves her, and she echoes the sentiment.

Back at the Salvatore Boarding House, Damon is sitting on the couch in front of the fire with a glass of blood. He begins to tell him their problems with John, but once he sees Stefan's face, he stops and tells him he doesn't look well. He observes that it's different this time, that the need is too strong—not surprised that it would be after so many decades. He leaves his glass of blood on the table and bids his brother goodnight. Stefan eyes the glass; after a moment, he lunges for it and gulps it down.