I think I've said it before, but it deserves repeating. The Vampire Diaries is the most surprising show of this season for me. There are new shows like Glee and Community I went into pretty much knowing they were probably right up my alley, but I was very skeptical of The Vampire Diaries being just another way to cash-in on the vampire craze that book/shows like True Blood and Twilight were riding. Surprisingly, The Vampire Diaries has become one of my favorite new shows of the season, and this episode only helps solidify that fact.

After Anna has Elena kidnapped, she finds herself imprisoned in a motel room with Bonnie. As it turns out, Anna wants to get her mom out of the crypt under the old church, and she needs a witch (Bonnie) to open the seal and Elena's blood to awaken her mom, since she wants to get revenge on Elena's ancestors for imprisoning her there in the first place. After escaping with the help of Stefan, Elena decides the best thing to do is help Damon get into the crypt, save Katherine, get those two out of their hair, and then burn and kill all the other vampires. Of course, nothing goes right, and suddenly things have become a lot more complicated.

Damon

I thought the actual breaking into the crypt would be saved for the season finale, so imagine my shock when they decided to open it up this week. It was a very eerie moment and kept me on the edge of my seat and wondering what would happen next, especially every time the camera quickly caught the decaying body of a chained vampire. There were tons of twists and turns, as Bonnie's grandmother reveals that the seal lets vampires go in and not come out, which she never planned to lower in the first place, so that she could trap evil Damon in there. When Stefan goes to save a screaming Elena, however, Bonnie and her grandmother decide to lower the seal so that they can escape.

There were several big moments in this episode. First up, we've got Anna getting her mom out, and then they reveal to Damon the biggest shocker yet: Katherine was never put into the crypt and she's actually been roaming around the world ever since she was "supposedly" imprisoned. So now we have to wonder if Elena is perhaps in some way Katherine's daughter, and ask why Katherine hasn't sought out Damon and Stefan. Two other big moments include the death of Bonnie's grandmother and the awakening and start of at least one vampire escaping.

This episode was so jam-packed with twists, turns, and game changing moments, I wouldn't have been surprised to learn that this was the season finale. With more episodes to come, however, I can't wait to see how the questions (and vampires) raised in this episode are dealt with for the remainder of this season.

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