In The Dinner Party Damon takes John’s advice on how to kill an original. That original being Elijah in this case. He even confirms it with Katherine who pleads Damon not to do it as she will be stuck in the tomb forever with the vampire who compelled her dead. Damon got all the information he wanted though and continues with his plan to kill Elijah. He invites him to dinner at Elena’s house and the plan is set in to action.
Of course, Elena knows nothing about this. Everyone has gone behind her back in hopes of saving her. Stefan distracts her by diving in to his past. He recollects when he was first turned; revealing the monster he was. It’s still funny seeing the roles reversed anytime the show goes in to the past. Stefan is the bloodthirsty ruthless, emotionless monster and Damon is the sensitive one.
Stefan’s best friend, Lexi, who he tried to kill the first night they met, is the reason for Stefan seeing the light and changing his ways. Damon is the one pleading with her to help him. I hope at some point we get to see more of Damon’s story; how he turned from the morally conscience vampire to the monster that consumed him. I’m sure Katherine is the biggest reasoning behind it, having loved so deeply and then harshly betrayed. I would still love to see that part of him to further understand the complex creature he has become.
While venturing in to the past Elena finds a book of Jonathan Gilbert’s, something from his later research. It’s about the originals. She finds out about how to kill an original. This brought us to the same weapon as in the books, although it centered more on Klaus there. In the show they’re trying to get passed Elijah before they can even wrap their minds around what they’re going to do about Klaus. It turns out John told Damon the truth, just not the whole truth. Elijah might be able to be killed, but Damon will be killed in the process too by crossing an original. If anyone crosses Elijah and doesn’t succeed, the deal is off and everyone Elena loves will be dead in the bat of an eye.
The whole point of Elena’s deal with Elijah was to save those she cares for, even if she had to sacrifice herself. Part of the point of Stefan’s story was to convince her that even though it seems there is no choice but to give up on saving her life she shouldn’t. Lexi saved him and he is trying to show Elena that she needs to still fight for her life. Overall, the Elena of the books is a much stronger character. I have said before that she has shown some strength that reminded me of that Elena. This week’s episode took another step in that direction. She’s not afraid to sacrifice herself, but at the same time she is not completely giving up without a fight either.
