Bob Mahoney/The CWNice try, death! Do you think you can just show up in Mystic Falls and take out a couple of our favorite characters? Get that weak mess out of here!
Of course, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) cheating the Grim Reaper is not without consequences. One will have to deal with seeing things, and the other with (gasp!) feeling things.
Let's recap the crap out of tonight's finale of The Vampire Diaries, broken down by character so we don't miss a (nearly dead) heartbeat…
Damon: We didn't really think our favorite pair of eyebrows would die from the werewolf bite, but we were awfully worried when we found out the cure for said bite was blood from Klaus (Joseph Morgan). You know, the same guy they just tried to kill who is now half vampire and half wolf: a crazy strong and powerful hybrid. Wolfpire! Anyway, Damon spent the majority of the episode drinking, sweating or sweating whilst drinking. Oh, and hallucinating that Elena (Nina Dobrev) was Katherine and trying to kill him with sunlight. Mo' bites, mo' problems, am I right? Never fear, Stefan is here to save the day!
Stefan: Brothers know best, so Stefan (Paul Wesley) selflessly went looking for Klaus to get the cure for his brother. And Klaus was more than happy to hand over his blood simply out of the goodness of his heart. Except not. In exchange for his healing blood, Klaus wanted Stefan to start drinking human blood again and go on a decade-long binge of vampire shenanigans. What that entails is beyond me, but I bet it has something to do with killing humans. And maybe catching a show on Broadway. Stefan decides it's worth it to save his brother, so he slams down the human blood offered, and even kills an innocent girl Klaus brings before him. I don't know much, but I know that last shot of Stefan's bloodthirsty face will give me nightmares tonight.
Elena: I said in a previous Spoiler Chat that things were going to go down between Damon and Elena in two ways: Something you were probably expecting and something that maybe you were not expecting. I knew that Elena would forgive Damon before he died, because c'mon, it's Elena. But I really did not see her going in for the kiss. I thought Damon would be the one to kiss her. The kiss! Oh, the kiss! Remember when that happened, guys? Sure, she thought he was dying and it wasn't exactly the most passionate lip-lock, but still. Lips touched. It counts. In fact, that whole scene with Elena holding Damon as he lay dying (episode title! I get it now), was super adorable. And I cannot wait to see how those two handle all those exchanged feelings next season.
Katherine: And guess who saw the whole sweet exchange between Elena and Damon? Katherine. And she had tons of catty things to say to Elena about her feelings for each brother. But she did have one helpful thing to say: "It's OK to love them both. I did." And I think Katherine showed a lot of growth by bringing the cure to Damon instead of taking off with it, which is something I would not have put past her. Then she took off. To tell Stefan everything? Now that's more Katherine-like.
Klaus: And the award for biggest douche-brother goes to Klaus, who decided instead of showing Elijah (Daniel Gillies) to his family members, he'd just kill him. Is he really dead? Well, we did get a lovely parting sight of Elijah in a coffin being carted away. But something tells me we'll be seeing him again. And it's not just my overwhelming desire to see more scenes with Elena and Elijah together. Season three was dubbed "the season of the Originals" by executive producer Julie Plec, and Klaus can't be the only Original waltzing around.
Jeremy: Yo, you got straight up shot in the chest! But thanks to Bonnie's (Kat Graham) witchy charm, he's up…and he's OK! She called upon the powers of Emily to help her out because "she loved him." Awww. But seriously, poor Jeremy. See what happens when you demand to be part of the danger? Not only did you die (again!), but now the consequence of your resurrection is seeing dead people. Both Vicki (Kayla Ewell) and Anna (Malese Jow) shockingly popped up to say hello, and by say hello we mean stand there ominously while Jeremy tried to come to grips with what he was seeing. Both dead girlfriends in one house? That can't lead anywhere good. But just think of what this new power could lead to, TVD fans! Who else do you think Jeremy will be seeing?
Elijah: I don't believe he's actually dead. Next.
Bonnie: She saved two lives this episode by figuring out that Klaus was the key to save Damon and by bringing Jeremy back to life. Four for you, Bonnie! You go, B! She did have to suffer through some nasty nosebleeds and thinking her hot boyfriend was dead for a little bit, but all in all, Bonnie got off easy this episode. In TVD terms, at least.
Caroline and Sheriff Forbes: I grouped these two together because their storylines were one and the same: acceptance. Caroline (Candice Accola) finally told her mother how she felt: "I don't want you to be afraid of me either. I'm still your little girl. It's me." And in return, her mother hugged her and perhaps even accepted the fact that her daughter was a vampire. Something tells me they both have a long way to go before harmonious living, but at least this was a step in the right direction.
Alaric: Crashing at the Gilbert residence? If that's not the beginning of Elena and Jeremy getting a new legal guardian, I don't know what is. Daddy Alaric in the house!
Wow. That was a lot to take in. So everyone take a deep breath and head down to the comments to let loose your frustration, anger, happiness, or whatever emotion you might be feeling right now. Maybe a combination of all three?