At last we reach the first full moon since Tyler triggered the Lockwood werewolf curse. After seeing Mason’s video of hours upon hours of agonizing pain as he turned, Tyler tries reaching out to Mason. Of course Mason is long gone and Tyler is left to face it alone, only having Caroline by his side. She stands by him even when faced with agony and death. Still, he ultimately has to do it himself. It turns out he’s not the only werewolf in town anymore. Someone comes looking for Mason and reports that he never returned to Florida as expected. Damon manages to make enemies with her (surprise, surprise) as the full moon approaches.
Tyler’s material was really interesting, building up the tension as he is completely terrified but has to prepare for the inevitable. During the full moon as we see Tyler’s struggle we nearly feel the excruciating pain he is going through with him. There are moments where we can really see the beast inside unleashing, leaving all of Tyler’s conscious mindset far behind. Caroline’s feelings for him are stronger than ever; risking her own life just so she can be there for him.
Surprisingly enough, there are much bigger things going on besides the transformation. Stefan is stuck in the tomb with Katherine who of course uses this opportunity to get rid of her boredom and have some fun with Stefan. This means toying with his mind and flaunting herself until he gives in to his desires. She tells him that Damon has exactly what he wants, Elena to himself and Stefan locked away from her, helpless to do anything. Damon is surprisingly on good behavior, at least when it comes to Elena anyway. He even works with the Damon hating witch, Bonnie, to help trap Elena when she is desperate to go on a suicide mission. She might not even have to leave her house though; danger has a way of finding her.
There’s an interesting development regarding the vampire and werewolf rivalry. This is the one night of the month that the werewolves actually have the advantage against the vampires. This fear even gets Damon to forget his pride and sit at home, knowing if he gets bitten he will reach true death. It’s questioned whether they really know as much as they thought they did about the werewolf mythology. They soon find out first hand, but it turns out even then there are still lingering questions.
Elena is given a bit of hope against her loved ones and her seemingly doomed fates. There is no easy way out of something this big and their safety comes at a price. This helps give some hope with still having enough conflict and possibilities for another sinister plot to unveil itself, which is sure to happen it’s just the question of who’s going to turn the tables first.
