Episode 'The Vampire Diaries' Season 2, Episode 20 - 'The Last Day' Recap

The full moon is upon Mystic Falls and that means it’s curse-breaking time!

Elijah reveals the 500-year-old mystical resurrection elixir that he original procured to ensure Katherine would live through Klaus’s sacrifice ritual and Damon gets the line of the episode snarking, “THAT’s your plan – a magical witch potion with no expiration date?”

Ethical undead gentleman that he is, Elijah is up front about the fact that there is a chance the elixir won’t work and Elena will just die.

Elena asserts again that she is willing to take the risk and while Stefan is clearly torn up about it, he continues to be an excellent feminist boyfriend and respects her decision and autonomy.

Damon? Not so much.  He corners Elena in the study and declares that he can’t lose her.  Elena’s face softens, and we think we’re in for another tender love triangle moment when Damon vamps out, tears open his wrist and FORCE FEEDS ELENA HIS BLOOD, thus ensuring she will become a vampire once Klaus kills her during the ritual tonight.

It is really upsetting to watch, because of the obvious sexual assault component and loss of free will for Elena, and the fact that it is such a huge screw up on Damon’s part.  He loves Elena but he just can’t get it right.

Meanwhile, Caroline’s mom and boyfriend continue to plot against her and it seems like mom is gearing up to murder her own daughter.  That’s some bad parenting right there.  Luckily Matt is starting to embrace the complexity of vampire Caroline.  Like yeah, she’s a bloodthirsty evil demon of the night but she is also obviously retaining her essential humanity.  She is still herself.  This plotline makes me so very nervous y’all.

Tyler is back in town, lured of course by Klaus, and he and Caroline get witch-napped and imprisoned.  Looks like Klaus has his werewolf and vampire sacrifices in hand.

But! Damon comes to rescue (with Matt!) attempting to account for his earlier wrongdoing and disrupt the ritual in order to give Elena time to get the vamp blood out of her system.

Things go awry as usual and it seems the ritual is still a go.

Elena and Stefan have a tearful goodbye and she heads to her sacrifice and eminent vamphood with dignity.  Caroline, Matt and a wolfed-out Tyler escape Klaus’s clutches and are safe for now.  But Klaus’s Plan B puts Tyler’s wolf-mentor Jules in the sacrificial seat and it looks like a newly turned Aunt Jenna will be filling in for Caroline.  Before we can even fully process vampire Jenna, Damon reveals that he has been (fatally?) werewolf bitten.  Well played show, well played.

Next week it’s all ritual all the time.  See you then!