You guys!  I have to confess that I am ridiculously tired.  Like, most of my blood got drained and then I hit my head on a table tired.  So I’m going to make this fairly short and sweet, which works out alright actually because I’m sort of reserving final judgment for next week anyway.  But there was still plenty to talk about, so let’s do a quick breakdown, shall we?

How about we start with the man of the hour, Evilaric?  In utterly unsurprising news, Matt Davis was completely badass as this incarnation of Alaric.  He’s just so … GOOD.  And also?  SEXY.  I don’t know what it is, but I always love the bad guy (on TV shows, not in life, thankfully), and he does it SO WELL.

I’m a little split on whether I like the twist of his life being linked to Elena’s.  On the one hand, it’s a pretty cool idea.  On the other hand, do we need ANOTHER person tripping over their own balls trying to keep that bitch alive?  I mean, you see my dilemma, right?

But while Alaric was looking hotter, Klaus was looking a little rougher around the edges.  Gaunt, actually, and with circles around his eyes.  I hope that was on purpose and an intentional makeup choice, because if that’s what he’s really looking like, I’m a little concerned.

The big moment of hotness was DEFINITELY Klaus saving Caroline from Evilaric, and her really LOOKING at him and saying thank you.  There was no snark, no disgust, no pushing him away.  She was just happy to be rescued.  It didn’t stop her from celebrating Klaus’ desiccation, because let’s face it–he totally deserved that.  But everything that happened also didn’t stop Caroline from sharing A Moment™ with him, either.  I love that her feelings are complicated, but of all the vampires on the show, she’s the one who most personifies everything about yourself being amplified.  (Related: how sweet was she to Rebekah about her mom, even as Rebekah was bitching her out for being two minutes late?  And then Rebekah was nice back!  Ho-mance alert!)

I got distracted.  But anyway, Klaus is such a survivalist, really rivaled only by Katherine.  Rather than risk being killed by Alaric, he was willing to drain Elena and deal with his finite supply of doppelganger blood.  That’s pretty fucking serious.  He was just coming a little unraveled, you know?  He wanted to be with his family and choose them, but he couldn’t stand burning a bridge to a backup plan.  And you know who else he was AWESOME with?  Stefan!  Klaus seemed both hopeful and suspicious about Stefan was going to come along with him on his kidnap Elena venture, and was it me, or did Stefan look sad and maybe even a little regretful when they gave Klaus the business?

(Not regretful?  Tyler.  He was OVER it, and how awesome is this gif?)

Oh, SNAP!

All the minor characters were getting play tonight.  Lizbian and Carol got called out, Tyler had a hero moment, Abby was useful for like ten seconds … shit, even Matt got invited to the party!  But mostly, Bonnie and Jeremy got some screen time.  Let’s review.

Jeremy was gonna get his heart stopped magically, by Bonnie, while wearing the ring, and somehow DAMON SALVATORE ended up being the voice of reason, like, “Um, hey … this might turn you into a goddamn motherfucking psychopath, so … maybe we should rethink it?”  And everyone else is all, “NBD, chillax, dude!” and THEY WENT THROUGH WITH IT.  Yeah, I don’t even know.  Maybe stupid ideas are contagious and they’ve all spent too much time with Elena.  I don’t know.  All I know is that Jeremy still doesn’t have his puppy and he and Elena are the worst painters of all time.  I mean, for fuck’s sake, stop painting the same eight inches of window pane and maybe concentrate on the wall behind you with like three different paint colors on it!  Fucking amateurs.

As for Bonnie … I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I found her to be less rage inducing than usual and possibly even … tolerable?!?!  I KNOW.  I’m not sure what it was, exactly–maybe just that I finally, for once in my life, didn’t have to hear her say, “I’m not doing it for you.”  UGH.

And finally, Elena, Stefan, and Damon have to be discussed together.  First of all … Klaus was so right about Elena picking one or the other, and that’s gotta piss you off.  And I was so amused by him trying to have girl talk with her.  But when she was all, “Rot in hell,” it was SO LAME, right?  Hahahahaha!  BURN!  Except so totally not.  I feel like that’s one of those TV insults that writers love but that have no impact at all, like, “I thought you’d be taller.”  Ummmm what?  Where did you get those insults?  At the … toilet store?

That awkward moment where your crush admits that she's a selfish bitch who's also in love with your brother, and also the even MORE awkward moment when you realize that you dressed exactly like said brother for this conversation. Yikes.

But seriously, how awkward was the conversation between Elena, Stefan and Damon on the porch?  Answer: SO AWKWARD.  But maybe also necessary?  And I was just sort of happy that it was out in the open, and it completely paid off with their talk in the car. Man … it’s amazing and awesome how far those two have come and I felt like this just really reiterated how the relationship between the brothers is really at the heart of this show.  They know that they won’t be able to be in each other’s lives when Elena chooses one of them, but they also know that when she’s gone, they’ll still be brothers, and I think that’s an important realization and acknowledgment that happened there.

So, okay.  The reason I’m withholding full judgment until next week is because I feel like the show is having a hard time right now committing to stuff.  So I want to know if Klaus is really going to stay desiccated, or if Elena’s head injury is serious or just some ploy to get me to care.  On the other hand, this IS TVD, and they do know how to do a finale.  So really, I’m optimistic but also … I do think they need to buck up and either kill someone or turn Elena into a vampire.  Otherwise, I’m going to really feel like they’ve lost their edge.  (Except I’d also be really sad.  But it has to happen.)

Okay.  My eyelids are drooping, so I’m just going to wrap this up with a couple of thoughts and then you guys are on duty in the comments!

• “Once more, with feeling!”  OMG, y’all, was that a Buffy shout out?  I know Julie Plec loves that episode of Buffy, so I’m saying YES and I love it.
• How did Bonnie go from curly/pin curled flapper chick to modern smooth haired Bonnie in like three seconds?  Does she have a Superman phone booth in her house?  And if so, why didn’t Jamie use it to get his damn top button undone last week?
• The title line … so perfect, you guys.  Damon was SO speaking for me in this episode.
• I was pretty sure Klaus had already been invited into Elena’s house.  Was I wrong?  Or was he invited in by Jenna, and it’s all somehow void now because she’s dead?  Ugh, that rule is so confusing, but at least they improved on last week’s mega faux pas of not kicking the salt ring and busting out and went for Klaus throwing shit through windows and making homemade bombs.

Alright, y’all!  What did you think?  I know I skipped over a lot, but that just means more for you to talk about!  Did you have any favorite lines or moments?  Things you can’t believe I forgot to talk about?  Best quotes?  And OMG, CAN YOU BELIEVE that next week is the finale?  It always flies by!  So talk to me in the comments, because time is running short!