I think the show could right this by making Elena unable to completely turn off her emotions for long. Klaus compelled Stefan to turn off his humanity, but Stefan's feelings for Elena allowed him to overcome the command and refuse to hurt Elena. I thought it was interesting that she decided to burn the house down…

I almost forgot how good of an actress she is because of the one note, concerned Elena she often has to play. It's episodes like this one and when she has to play Katherine that I quickly remember.

I'm confused about what counts as a sacrifice. Didn't Kol kill a bunch of vampires to stop Jeremy from doing it, wouldn't those deaths count? Why do they need to kill 12 more people for Silas to be restored?

Just write "gang-related, PCP" for cause of death and let that be the end of it.

Did anyone notice the close-up of Elena's Chuck Taylors burning up with the house? That had to be important, like symbolic of the end of childhood or something.

Thank you, that's really exciting :)

I 'm convinced one of those guys was Shane's TA. Those dreadlocks either scream aboriginal or liberal arts major.

I never really cared much about Jeremy, but his character has gotten a lot better over time. His death didn't have the emotional resonance of Jenna's of Alaric's; it will be more interesting to see how it affects Elena in the coming episodes if it is permanent. That being said, I will fly my tank top at half mast…

Jasmine Guy is a national treasure.

I'm assuming Katherine wants the cure for Klaus so she can be free of him.

That sword was really easy for Caroline to find. I bet Klaus was kicking himself for hiding it in the soap dish.

Or at least Tom and Jean-Ralphio should deliver Pawnee's version of a TED talk. They are ideas men after all.

Merle can only communicate through racist slurs and violence. I'm pretty sure that was a "Glad you're alive" punch and a "Missed you" strangle.

The reality is the writers wanted to keep a popular character around but couldn't come up with a great way to bring him into the group at the beginning. The Klaus they built up in season 2 was endlessly resourceful and probably would have killed everyone a long time ago for less than what they put him through now.…

Definitely the hottest. But probably likely to kick puppies and set the couch on fire.

Klaus revealed last episode that he planned to kill everyone after he destroyed the cure. Before that I wondered about his sudden willingness to forgive and forget. This is the same guy who made a special trip to Bulgaria just to kill all of Katherine's family after she betrayed him, after all.

She's also a nice foil for Elena. She doesn't let her tortured existence drag her down and still manages to have fun.

I started watching this show for the fast-paced plotting and plots twists. All I can hope for is that the show can keep pulling this off reasonably well and that everything will come together at the end of the season. I agree the love triangle too often slows the show down and should not be the focus of the show.

That bugged me too. They just proceeded to have another relationship talk. When will they realize they can't have a relationship together if everyone's dead anyway?

I thought the best line of the night was Rebekah admitting Damon's only reason for being there was his nice behind.