Episode 2.7 – “Masquerade”

Sorry this one is a little late, Halloween weekend is getting away from me.

This is a jam packed episode!  Let’s get right to it.

We start off with Caroline all shaky, recounting a run in with Katherine to Damon.  Stefan shows up looking like Mr. Rogers (really Stefan?  A cardigan and checked shirt?  I know you’re a hundred and fifty, but do you have to dress like it?).  It seems that Caroline was at the Grill, making moon eyes at Matt when Katherine appeared wanting Caroline to deliver the message “I want the moonstone or I will rip this town apart until it rains blood.  Tonight, at the masquerade ball.”  Damon wants to kill her, Caroline wants to give her the moonstone so she’ll leave.  “You’re not gonna kill her,” Stefan says.  “Because I am.” 

Jenna comes home from the hospital thinking she walked into a knife.  Jeremy wants to know what they’re gonna do about Katherine.  Elena doesn’t want to do anything, thinking she’s already won, best to just leave it that way.  Jeremy thinks she’s being naïve and leaves.  Elena invites Matt to hang out with them that night too, but he declines, he’s going to the party.  (don’t forget, Katherine compelled him to go there and provoke Tyler into killing him)

Katherine comes home from a shopping spree, and finds an old witchy friend waiting for her in her room.  Well sort of friends.  The witch Lucy says she’s her buddy but they also come out and say that she doesn’t have a choice but to come when Katherine calls.  So clearly there is a debt owed there.   They get ready for the masquerade together, with Katherine straightening her hair so she can impersonate Elena more effectively.  Lucy guesses that she wants the moonstone so she can break the curse, but Katherine doesn’t say why, she just wants to focus on getting it back. 

Back at the Salvatore mansion, they’re getting the wagons into a circle.  We’ve got everyone there conspiring together except for Elena.  Bonnie brings the grimoire, but asks what’s going on?  Quick shot of Alaric and Damon going over some weapons, and Caroline bringing them supplies and Jeremy shows up, all in the know to say “We’re gonna kill Katherine.”  “I can explain…”  Stefan pipes up when Bonnie seems stricken by the notion and then clarifies with:  “We’re gonna kill Katherine.”  (Oh man I laughed so hard when he said that!)�

Alaric seems muy macho when he’s explaining how the vampire killing weapons work to Damon and Jeremy, and I loved the slightly uneasy look on Damon’s face when he watches just how proficient Alaric is with them.  Bonnie is hesitant to join in on a plan to kill Katherine at the masquerade ball because she’s afraid innocent people will get hurt.  Stefan appeals to her with the idea that Katherine has crossed the line, and needs to be stopped.  They think that there’s an edge in attacking her at the party because Katherine won’t be expecting it.  Bonnie agrees to do a spell to try and trap her, keep her isolated from the other partygoers to keep the risk down.

Alaric’s job is to stay with Jenna and keep Elena from clueing in to the plan.  Damon offers the others the chance to back out now, not wanting anything to be ruined if they chicken out later.  He looks to Caroline in particular.  “Hey she killed me, fair is fair.”  Caroline responds, she in it for the duration.  The last holdout is Bonnie, but in a symbolic moment, she steps forward, formally aligning herself with the “good” vampires.  Game on indeed!

On to the masquerade!  The Lockwoods have spared no expense, and everyone in town’s put in an appearance.  Katherine and Lucy show up and once again Kat’s taken by Matt’s hotness.  But she forces herself to keep to the plan at hand, for Matt to provoke Tyler into killing him.    Right on schedule, Matt starts pouring shots for Tyler and the two drunk girls.  (I guess that one girl got over Jeremy easy enough, cause she’s happy to party with Matt today) 

Bonnie and Jeremy start preparing the room that they’re going to trap Katherine in and they have a little bonding moment.  As they go back downstairs, Bonnie feels something… weird and goes up to Lucy asking if she knows her.  Lucy blows her off, but Bonnie knows something is up. 

Stefan spots Katherine and she forces him to dance with her, or she’ll kill someone. He says he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, but demands that they give her the moonstone on his terms.  Katherine doesn’t exactly look pleased to hear him making any demands, and swiftly kills one of the drunk girls right on the dance floor (I can never remember her name, the one who tried to hit on Matt at the swimming hole and then switched to Tyler), leaving Stefan with the body.

Dumping the body in the trunk, Stefan is pretty rattled by the act of violence, but Damon seems to take it in stride, having expected a little collateral damage.  Stefan wants to call it off but Damon wont’ allow it.  “This woman ruined our lives, she destroyed us.  Tonight it ends.”  Stefan nods, he’s back in the game. 

Back at the Gilbert place, Elena’s handing out pizza and is disturbed to hear that Jeremy went to the masquerade ball.  She demands to know what’s going on from Alaric.  He says he doesn’t know what to tell her, but five seconds later he’s caving, telling her that Stefan asked him to keep an eye on her in case Katherine shows up while he’s at the party.  She’s instantly even more suspicious.  “Just let this one go, Elena.” He says.  Does he not know her at all?  Of course she’s gonna go down there!    Elena says she’s gonna go to bed, but sneaks out the front door instead.

Bonnie and Jeremy are sitting around waiting for their next part in the plan and he is quizzing her on what kind of spells he knows.  I loved it when he asked her to dance and she immediately said “No!” like that was the craziest thing she’s ever heard.  The text comes from Damon then, they’re ready.

Lucy is upset that Katherine didn’t tell her that there’s another witch involved, and a Bennet witch at that.  Interesting that she was able to recognized Bonnie right off the bat, isn’t it?  Katherine tells her it doesn’t change anything, she’s still got to do her that favor or she’ll lose her friendship.  Jeremy interrupts them, telling Katherine to meet Stefan and Damon at the lake by the edge of the woods.  Katherine seems amused that he’s their messenger boy, but Jeremy says he’s not afraid of her.  (ooh that almost sounds like a challenge Jeremy, don’t taunt her, haven’t you learned anything by now?  That ring didn’t protect John for very long…)  Katherine thinks of this very same thing, asking him with a sweet smile if they were able to sew John’s fingers back on?

Elena shows up, demanding to know what’s going on, pulling Jeremy into some bushes.  Jeremy is sounding kinda Grr, telling Elena that it’s not just about her anymore, Katherine needs to be stopped.  Bonnie is right by his side, telling Elena that they know what they’re doing. 

Katherine doesn’t go off to meet Stefan and Damon by the lake, instead she goes to what she perceives as the weakest link in the chain, Caroline, demanding to know what they’re up to.  Caroline gives a fabulous performance, at first saying she doesn’t know what’s going on, but then revealing that they’re trying to kill Katherine and that Bonnie has the moonstone.  After a bit more violence, she leads Katherine to the room that they’ve prepared, crowing with happiness, “I did it!  I really didn’t think that I’d be able to fool you but I did it!”  Katherine rushes at her, but she’s trapped in the room (just like the tomb spell) with Stefan and Damon who are armed to the teeth. 

Damon shoots Katherine in the back, but just as she goes down, Elena is struck in the same spot and blood starts spreading all over her back!  This is what Katherine brought Lucy to the party for, every bit of damage that they do to Katherine, Elena feels too.  Brilliant!  Only the boys don’t know that, so they proceed to whale on Katherine in a fantastic three way melee, thrashing the room in the process. 

Bonnie knows she has to stop the other witch, that she’s somehow involved with why Elena is suddenly sporting wounds all over her body.  She sends Jeremy to warn Damon and Stefan, and they stop just in time before Damon stakes her through the heart.  Bonnie does a spell to try and take away some of Elena’s pain before going off to find Lucy.  Jeremy tries to give Elena his ring, but she won’t take it, wanting him to be safe. 

Stefan wants to know why Katherine needs a werewolf, but she won’t say why she wants to break the curse.  They’re trapped in the room until Bonnie lets them out.  Stefan continues to ask questions, speculating that Katherine faked her own death because she was hiding from someone.   Instead of answering, Katherine changes the subject, telling Stefan that she watched him at a Bon Jovi concert years ago with Lexi.  She’s been checking up on him over the years. (Oh Damon’s face when he hears this!)

Bonnie confronts Lucy, wanting to know why she’s helping Katherine.  Lucy doesn’t answer anything, just says that it’ll all end if they hand over the moonstone.  Bonnie won’t let her leave until she stops the spell that links Elena to Katherine.  Lucy says she has no choice, Katherine saved her life and now she owes her.  As soon as Bonnie touches her, Lucy can tell that Bonnie has the moonstone on her.  “You can trust me, give it to me.  It’s okay.”  Lucy says.

Matt starts to screw with Tyler, spilling alcohol all over Tyler’s father’s office and breaking a picture of his dad.  Just as they start to scuffle, Caroline shows up and shoves Matt out of the way.  After she knocks Matt out, the other drunk girl Sarah picks up a letter opener and plunges it into Tyler’s shoulder.  He shoves her away in retaliation and she hits her head on the desk and dies.  As Tyler yells in pain and frustration, his eyes start to change. 

Lucy shows up with the moonstone, the spell on the room has been lifted.  She holds the moonstone up, clarifying that once she hands it over, her debt to Katherine is canceled.  As soon as we hear Katherine say “done”, I expected Lucy to drop her support, maybe allowing the brothers to attack her.  What I didn’t expect, was for Katherine to fall to the ground, making gasping and choking noises of pain.  Turns out it’s not good at all to get a witch ticked off at you.  “You should have told me another witch was involved.  She’s a Bennett witch…”  Lucy apologizes for her involvement, and leaves with Katherine twitching on the ground. 

Last ten minutes of the show:

Tyler and Caroline tell his mother that Sarah fell and hit her head, and it was an accident.  Tyler’s mom goes off to call the authorities and Sarah’s parents and Tyler and Caroline have a bonding moment where he wonders what she is, and how she seems to know what’s going on with him.

Bonnie chases after Lucy, wanting to know how she had known she could trust her and give her the moonstone.  Lucy reveals they are cousins, and that’s why she felt like she knew her.  While Lucy wants to stay out of the vampire affairs, but thinks Bonnie should stay in the middle of things because “she’s one of the good ones.”  Jeremy shows up to offer Bonnie a ride home and she accepts after questioning when he got his driver’s license.  “I’m not a kid anymore.”  He replies. 

Stefan finds Elena and they have a “ding dong the witch is dead” moment, but instead of hearts and flowers, Elena doesn’t go running into his arms.  Instead she wants to “wake up and feel that the people she loves are safe.”  Whatever that means.  Um, aren’t they safe now that Katherine is dead?

Only she’s NOT dead.  In a serious WTF moment, we see Katherine wake up in the tomb, moonstone lying beside her in the dirt.  She’s trapped inside by the same spell that kept the other vampires in.  Damon tells her that death would have been too kind.  Katherine tries to tell him that Elena’s in danger, but won’t say from who.  Damon doesn’t believe her, sealing her into the tomb even more with a huge stone.  He lets out a pent up breath as he walks away from her. 

Elena is walking away from the party all alone, telling Jeremy that she’s gonna be fine driving herself home.  This one is WTF moment #2 for me.  Why in the hell would Bonnie and Jeremy just leave her there, especially in her wounded condition?  Maybe they thought she’d be with Stefan, who knows.  But right on cue, secret attacker in a mask shows up to grab her.
Random thoughts I had:

Ok seriously, why does Katherine want to break the curse so badly?  I get what it’ll do for werewolves, but she can already walk around in the daylight, why does she need to break the curse?  Is there something in it that makes her think she could become human again?  Though I’m not sure why that would appeal to her at this point. 

I LOVED how everyone worked together to put their plan into effect.  Everyone played their parts beautifully except for Alaric.  How sucky was he at keeping Elena out of it?  I mean I know it was a plot device, but still!

If Katherine’s so in love with Stefan, how come she gets all weak in the knees every time Matt’s around?

Anybody else notice how much Jeremy and Bonnie were thrown together in this ep?  I thought his character tonight was in interesting mixture of a more mature Jeremy, (stepping up and getting involved to stop Katherine) and then a reminder that he is just a younger teen (asking Bonnie if she knows any spells to do his homework).  I’m liking that they’re fleshing him out more, making him more than a whiny, depressed kid. 

So I haven’t read the books, but I’m guessing that Katherine is on the run from her maker.  Anybody out there know more about this?

Anybody else notice the chemistry between Caroline and Tyler?  I wonder if that’s gonna go anywhere.

I’m thinking the masked kidnapper at the end is the vampire that made Katherine.  I have nothing to base this on, just a feeling I have.  Any other guesses?

So let’s hear it, what did you guys think of this episode?