THE VAMPIRE DIARIES returns to the CW at 8PM EST tonight for a brand new episode! In “Resident Evil,” Stefan and Elena experience unsettling dreams of the life they might have had together; Bonnie has a disturbing encounter with Grams; Enzo searches for a woman he loved decades ago; Bonnie learns that Jeremy is working with Liv; Matt has a terrifying encounter with inhabitants of the Other Side.
On the last episode Markos arrived in Mystic Falls. In order to keep Stefan (Paul Wesley) from being harmed by Sloan (guest star Caitlin McHugh) and the Travelers, Caroline (Candice Accola) and Enzo (guest star Michael Malarkey) agreed to make a trip to Atlanta to find a newly discovered doppleganger. Caroline got a surprised when Enzo opened up to her about his past. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) spent an awkward afternoon at Jeremy’s (Steven R. McQueen) parent-teacher conference, where they heard bad news about his behavior at school. Afterwards, Damon reluctantly told Elena upsetting news about Jeremy’s personal life. Did you watch tonight’s episode? We did and a lot more happened, check out our nifty we recap, here!
On tonight’s episode both Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) are suddenly having unsettling dreams of an alternate version of the life they might have had together. Bonnie (Kat Graham) has a disturbing encounter with Grams (guest star Jasmine Guy), who warns her about frightening changes on the Other Side. Enzo (guest star Michael Malarkey) gives Damon (Ian Somerhalder) unwanted relationship advice, then admits he is searching for a woman he loved decades before while he was held captive by the Augustines. Liv (guest star Penelope Mitchell) enlists Matt (Zach Roerig), Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) and Tyler (Michael Trevino) to help track the Travelers and keep them from taking control of Mystic Falls. Bonnie is hurt and angry when she learns that Jeremy is working with Liv behind her back. Luke (guest star Chris Brochu) shows up at the Salvatore house and explains what he knows about Markos (guest star Raffi Barsoumian) and the Travelers to Damon, Elena and Enzo. Matt has a terrifying encounter with inhabitants of the Other Side. Finally, when Damon finds Markos, he is both relieved and disturbed by what Markos has to tell him.
You’re not going to want to miss any of the action so tune in at 8PM EST to the CW to catch the latest. We’ll be live recapping it for you right here too and in the meantime hit up our comments section and tell us your thoughts on the current season!
Elena smells the flowers at her table while she writes in her journal. She tears out the page and then it blows away in the breeze. Stefan stoops to catch it and offers it back to her. She says it was a bad page from her journal. He tells her she shouldn’t censor her journal and she says he’s not the journal police, but it’s really bad. He says he’s intrigued and gives her the page back. Their fingers touch and they have a moment. They introduce themselves to each other. Elena wakes up in a cold sweat and tells Caroline she had a crazy dream.
Enzo and Damon play pool and chat about his hot sex and parent teacher conference with Elena. Damon says they’re on a break and Enzo tells him she’s going to find another guy. Damon asks him how his search for his long lost love is going and he says since the Travelers were helping but have gone up in flames, it’s at a dead end.
At the grill, Elena drops her keys then thinks back to a date with Stefan where she dropped her keys and he handed them to her. They had seen a movie and he walked her to her door then they kissed. The lights come on and she says it’s her dad and has to go in. Stefan tells her he’s looking forward to their next date and she agrees and goes in.
Elena snaps back to the present and Caroline tells her that her mom is coming and Elena asks how she got to the table. The last thing she remembered she was at the door and Caroline asks if she had another dream. Caroline says that’s weird and then tells Elena that it’s Psych 101 that she’s having dreams about Stefan after breaking it off with Damon.
Stefan calls Caroline and tells her to tell him that he’s not crazy. He says he’s been having daydreams about Elena too and she tells him that he’s not crazy and that something is going on. Bonnie calls Jeremy and gets his voice mail again. She asks him to call her back. A strong wind blows her hair and her Grams is there. She says she heard the Travelers did a number on her last night. She tells Grams she doesn’t look right and Grams says that something isn’t right on the other side. She thinks they tried to overwhelm Bonnie so that someone could get through. Grams says the witches are scared.
Liv meets with Matt, Tyler and Jeremy and she tells them they have to stab themselves to prove they don’t have a traveler in them. Jer and Matt complain so Tyler goes first. He stabs himself then Liv tells Matt to stab himself in the shoulder so it won’t hurt much. He does it. Liv tells them they need to go around stabbing people to see who has a Traveler in them.
She says her Coven has been tracking the Travelers but they usually don’t stop in one place for long. She says they are taking over Mystic Falls by jumping into people so they have control over the whole town. We see three Travelers take over people in town including Sheriff Liz!
Enzo wins the game and Damon tells him if he keeps saying Elena’s name, he’ll never forget her. Elena tries to call him. Caroline asks Matt if he’s seen her mom and he hasn’t – she asks him to call if he does. Damon doesn’t take the call but then Enzo takes Caroline’s call. She tells him to tell Damon that there is something going on with Damon and Stefan.
He puts it on speaker and she says now that there is only one pair of doppelgangers left, they are having visions of each other and he asks what kind. Enzo says sex dreams but she insists they are romance dreams. Caroline says that the Travelers committed mass suicide and now these visions. Damon says to find a witch and get her over there.
Bonnie comes to see Jeremy and he acts awkward but then she asks him for help with the other side. Liv comes in and Bonnie isn’t happy to see her there. She asks what’s going on and Jeremy says he can’t but she has to trust him. He opens the door and hustles her out. She’s not thrilled with him. He doesn’t want to keep secrets but Liv says that she’s not letting anyone else in.
Matt comes to Liz’s office and sees a mess. He calls Liv and says he needs the Traveler knife. The Traveler in Liz hears this, doesn’t like it and then stabs him in the neck. Matt appears in front of Bonnie and tells her he’s dead then tells her to tell Jer that the sheriff has been taken over. He touches her and goes to the other side. He sits up and asks a guy sitting there if he can see him. The guy shakes his head yes and when Matt asks if he’s a witch he shakes his head no. But then there’s another guy there who tells Matt it’s great to be seen.
He reminds him that he’s Kol – an Original killed by Jeremy. He asks why he can see him and Kol tells him that someone tore their way out and now the other side is messed up. Matt realizes he may be able to see Vicky and wonders where she is.
Elena and Caroline come to Damon’s and Enzo greets them. Elena and Damon share an awkward high and Caroline and Enzo excuse themselves to get a drink. Elena admires the new pool table and she says she’s been running to release the tension. Caroline thinks they should help them but Enzo thinks it’s funny to listen to them try not to rip their clothes off each other. Elena asks if they can just be friends and Enzo calls him a poor bastard.
Enzo doesn’t think Elena should give him hope because that’s tragic and Caroline asks if he’s talking about Maggie and he tells her the Travelers didn’t tell her where she is. Caroline asks if she’d be old and he says 70 but says he wants to thank her, not date her. Damon asks about her sex dreams about his brother and Elena is floored by the awkward moment but says it’s just random snippets of her and Stefan in an alternate reality. Damon asks if fantasy Stefan and Elena are really happy and she shrugs. Damon reminds her the prophecy says they are supposed to be together.
There’s a loud banging at the door and he goes to answer. Damon slams the door in the guys face and he says he’s Luke, Liv’s twin. Elena asks where Liv is and he says busy so they ask him in.
Tyler approaches fake Liz and she asks if he’s staying out of trouble. He says “you know me” and she tells him hybrids are not above the law and tells him to back off the day drinking at the grill since he’s underaged. He tells her that his mom says hi and she says to send her her best. Tyler stabs her with the Traveler knife and tells Liz that she’s safe now. But then he looks up and sees someone behind him that startles him.
Luke tells them they can’t stop Elena’s vision and says that Marcos, the dead leader of the Travelers is back and causing problems. Luke says the visions are trying to draw Stefan and Elena together and she affirms and says they need their blood for a rite. Enzo says they need more clues and tells Caroline to break out the popcorn because Elena’s little sex romp isn’t over yet.
Elena walks out to find Damon on the porch and he says he’s just listening to the universe laugh at him. He tells her they were doomed from the beginning. Elena says that the visions will stop once they find Marcos and he asks her – what then, we’re friends? – and says, can’t wait. She tells him she knows they’re in a weird place but says the universe doesn’t control anything and this is not real.
Then she gets another vision. Stefan is cooking dinner for her on their anniversary. She asks where the opener is and opens a drawer as he tells her not to. There is a ring box there and she tells him yes. He tells her she didn’t open it and she says she didn’t need to. She kisses him happily. He tells her he loves her and she says she does too. She knocks the mail onto the floor and the address says they’re living together. She snaps back and drops her glass. Enzo is there and asks if it’s good. She says she knows where Marcos is – the address on the envelope.
Matt runs around the other side calling for his sister and comes to a cemetery. Then he hears her calling his name. She walks out of the tree line and he’s happy to see her. They embrace and she tells him something is wrong. She tells him to go to his body and go back. The place starts to shudder and he tells her to take his hand. They run through the woods but then they trip. He tries to grab hold of her but she is torn from his hands as she tells him she loves him but she’s already dead. She flies up and away and he cries.
Damon and Enzo go to the address Elena gave them. They go into the house and are surprised they can enter. Enzo wonders if this is where they had crazy vision sex. Damon threatens him and a man says – not in my house – and Damon asks if it’s Marcos. Marcos asks why they are there and Damon asks what he wants and why the visions. Marcos says he’s why they are having visions and Enzo says they just met “the universe.”
Damon asks what the hell is going on and Marcos says the doppelganger legend has been misinterpreted. He says he cast a spell 1500 years ago that promised true love to get them together so he could have their blood. He tells Damon to come for a walk with him and Enzo says no until Marcos tells him to stay if he wants to find Maggie.
They walk down the street and Marcos talks about the original immortality spell that created the witches and scattered the Travelers. Damon yawns. He says the witches put a curse on them so they can’t gather as a tribe without disaster striking. Marcos says they need the doppelgangers blood but they don’t mean to do harm and he says he’ll stop the visions as a measure of good faith. Townspeople gather around and start chanting and Marcos says the only way they can gather is in other people’s bodies. He asks how many there are but it looks like the whole town.
Elena has another vision of she and Elena sharing domestic bliss. She pours him coffee and tells him that Jeremy is bringing a girl home and so is Damon. Their kids come in and she tells him that their daughter bit their son and she tells him not to encourage it. They kiss and the Traveler’s chanting intensifies. Elena comes out of the vision. She’s standing in the empty kitchen where she was with Stefan a moment before. She looks around.
Marcos tells Damon – it’s done. Elena is back at the Salvatore’s in tears but Stefan is there too. He tells her it’s ended. They both look rather sad at the prospect of losing their happily ever after visions. She and Stefan sit by the fire. He says the visions showed them what they wanted to see. They weren’t vampires, her parents were alive, they had kids. She says it was a life they never could have had and they agree it was amazing.
But Stefan says the real life they had together was amazing and says they fell in love on their own and had ups and downs and fought. Elena says she died and he says they changed and grew then grew apart but that’s real life. She says he couldn’t cook and he says she could so he knows it was a fantasy. She laughs. Stefan tells her that he will always love her and she says the same. She leans on his shoulder. She asks if she and Damon will ever be able to talk like friends and he says you can be friends with someone or in love with them but you can’t be both.
Matt sits on a tombstone when Kol approaches and tells him that his sister was already dead. Matt asks where she went and asks if she moved on and found peace. Matt says it didn’t look like that and Kol says he doesn’t know and doesn’t want to find out. He tells him to go back to his body and shout what’s happening from the rooftops. Kol tells him he’s not the only one over here and that if this keeps up, everything is going to fall apart. Kol begs him to go back and find a way to stop it.
Jeremy and Bonnie sit in the sheriff’s office with Matt’s body and he laughs and tells her she’s the only one the sheriff hasn’t tried to kill. Bonnie gets angry and tells him she trusts him but doesn’t like him lying and hiding things from her. Matt gasps back to life. Matt says he remembers what happened on the other side and Bonnie says that never happened. He tells them about Vickie disappearing and asks Bonnie what’s going on.
Damon finds Elena alone by the fire in his room and he says they need roles defined. He says if he can’t drive her home, she can’t ambush him in his bedroom. She thanks him for stopping the visions and he says he’s sorry for tearing her away from paradise. He says he doesn’t want to hear it but she tells him he has to. She says it was her and Stefan married and human.
She says it wasn’t real. She tells Damon what they have is messy and real and he says they are bad for each other. She says she needs him in his life and he tells her he can’t be her friend. He says it’s too hard to look at her and hear her voice. He says he doesn’t want to be her friend and she says – if that’s what you want. He says it is. She agrees and then walks out.
Caroline tells Tyler that she gave her mom her blood but she’s still out. Tyler says to give it time and says he won’t let them tear apart the town. He tells Marcos that they’re in and that Caroline is oblivious. The person in Tyler’s body says that this body is quite an upgrade and Marcos tells him not to get used to it since he won’t have it long. Tyler gives him the only remaining Traveler knife and Marcos puts it I the fire and chants a spell over it.
The End!