Considering Damon broke out using a fucking rock and a WOODEN BULLET? Yes, it would be VERY nice if Elena could escape on her own, but then what would the show do to incapacitate her for entire episodes at a time?

No, I have servants to do that for me.

Probably. The real question, though, is if we'll ever forgive him.

My face looked exactly like Nielson's when I read the headline, despite being a youngish, brownish lady.

It's not like she was a vital character anyway, but the potential here is so blatant that I just have to assume they took her out because of Wesley. And ditto on Delena. I can't believe I was so excited about the prospect of them getting together in S3. They're almost as boring as Bonnie and Jeremy.

I hope so, but the way the show has been going lately . . . ugh. Remember when new family members were morally nuanced and had interesting backstories? Where art though, father-uncle John?

Now I want to watch The Congress. Why did I not know this film existed?

SAME.

No, they could have connected it to other characters like Meredith, but they chose not to, probably because she and Paul got divorced. And it's ridiculous that they would need to experiment at all when the characters regularly give vampire blood to cure humans. Its curative properties are pretty obvious. No need to…

It occurred to me that maybe Aaron will inject the syringe into Katherine, as that's the only feasible alternative to the body-jumping thing. But I doubt it. I still miss the days when I couldn't predict what would happen from episode to episode.

With the exception of Jenna and Alaric, all of those were just guest stars, though. I'd hoped that Jeremy's death was permanent, but NOPE. The last permanent death of a character we've known since S1 was . . . Carole Lockwood? I think part of the problem is they haven't introduced a compelling guest character since…

Aww, thanks. I vacillate between taking this show really personally and just being a snarky bitch about it. I'm definitely more snarky than usual today, though I didn't hate the episode as much as a lot of people did.

I do think that Katherine-Damon and Elena-Stefan makes more sense. And given how much sense it makes, we can be certain that it will NEVER HAPPEN. Ugh.

In the next episode, Caroline returns to lock Enzo and Damon up in their cells and hacks out their eyes to help them get over their PTSD.

I guess in theory the Augustines know about the Salvatores, so he'd know a bit about Stefan's history?

If nothing else, they should exhume Amara to get the CURE they were seeking all of last season. Not that any of their plots have consequences any more, but UGH.

Does anyone know enough about locks and wood-tipped exploding bullets to know if Damon's escape technique at the beginning of the show would actually work? It's definitely a smart tactic, but I doubt very much that it would work in the world of non-TVD logic.

So, we don't talk about Nadia much because— let's face it— she's a boring, pointless character. But I'd like to air a few grievances about her anyway, because Carrie and the rest of you have pretty much covered everything that's wrong with the mains.

You're absolutely right that all of Damon's character development has been towards becoming a better person, so it's horrible that they threw all that under the rug. It's a betrayal of the relationship, but worse, it's a betrayal of the audience.

Definitely agree on Elena being more of a fighter as a human. She never hesitated to put herself in danger for the people she loved— this is the girl who stabbed herself in the stomach to dagger Elijah. This is the girl who was never afraid to negotiate with Originals. We need her back.