Klaus kicks off his stint in Alaric’s body by picking out something to wear. He’s not impressed with Alaric’s wardrobe, though. He gets Katherine to confirm that the Salvatores have the dagger and white oak ash. She tells him the dagger is still in Elijah, and he’s still in the basement of Vamp Villa. Klaus will be keeping the dagger where it is so Elijah the “buzzkill” won’t get in his way. Katherine reminds him that Alaric is on the outs with Jenna, though at this point, I doubt Klaus has any intentions of going near her.
He asks if there’s anything else he should know, and she says that’s it (but is clearly lying). She asks him to just kill her already, since she’s not of any more use to him. Klaus doesn’t agree, since there could be some things the gang is keeping from her. He compels her to reveal that Bonnie was looking for a way to kill an Original without a dagger. Katherine isn’t sure if she has her powers or not.
She again asks Klaus to kill her, but he says that would be an act of kindness. He spent 500 years looking for her – her death will last at least half that long. He gives her a knife and compels her to stab herself in the leg over and over while he’s gone. He’s going to go check in on Elena. He tells Katherine not to look so sad – “the fun is just beginning.”
Elena and Bonnie are at Vamp Villa, where Elena is signing the deed to the house so she can control who comes in. Out on the porch, Damon asks Stefan if he really thinks Bonnie can take on Klaus. Stefan believes she’s channeled enough power from the dead witches to kill him. Elijah was obviously planning to go that route, so he must believe it’ll work. Now they just need to find Klaus. Well, they’ll also have to find a way to find Klaus, since Bonnie can’t do a locator spell without something that belongs to him. Damon wonders if Klaus killed Katherine. Stefan says he probably did. Damon tries not to be sad, saying that she had it coming.
The deed signed, Elena invites Stefan into what is now her house. She lets Damon twist a little while, making him promise that he’ll obey her before she invites him in. No more lies, no secret agendas – Elena gets to call the shots. Damon agrees, so she lets him in. Then she and Bonnie get ready to go to school. The Salvatores note that the whole point of turning Vamp Villa into a safe house was for Elena to stay there. She reminds them that they don’t even know where Klaus is. She doesn’t want to feel like a prisoner. Plus, Bonnie can be her bodyguard. Stefan says he’ll come, too.
Matt stops by Fort Forbes to tell Liz he’s struggling with how to act around Caroline, since she thinks he has no idea about the supernatural. She wants him to take her to a school dance that night. Liz tells him to go so he can act like everything’s normal. Matt doesn’t think he can fool Caroline into thinking he doesn’t know anything. Liz begs him to at least buy her some time to figure out how to handle the fact that her daughter is a vampire. Plus, the Salvatores are also vampires, the Gilberts are co-conspirators, and Tyler’s a werewolf. Liz doesn’t know who she can trust in Mystic Falls. Matt just needs to play dumb for a while.
At school, Elena tries to get Stefan on board with going to the ’60s decade dance. He’s not interested. Bonnie is, and Elena smirks at her boyfriend for being so un-fun. Klaus arrives, unsure what he’s supposed to teach Alaric’s history class. A girl named Dana reminds him that they’ve been covering the ’60s because of the dance. Klaus gets distracted when he sees Elena, who doesn’t notice that “Alaric” isn’t himself. He tells the class that the ’60s kind of sucked, except for the Beatles. All he remembers happening are the “Cuban missile thing” and the moon landing. He also lists Watergate, which Elena reminds him was in the ’70s. She calls him Ric, then corrects herself by calling him Mr. Saltzman.
Caroline meets up with Matt, who does a great job acting like everything’s normal. Jeremy asks Bonnie if she’s told Elena that she’ll have to use all her newfound power to defeat Klaus. He wants Elena to know that Bonnie probably can’t carry this off. Bonnie thinks she can, and she reminds him that he promised not to tell anyone about the risk.
Elena joins them and asks Jeremy if he’s okay staying at Gilbert Gables alone with John. He’s not thrilled with the arrangement, but Jenna’s still keeping her distance. After he leaves, Bonnie pretends he’s acting weird because she’s making him dress up for the dance. Dana finds them and tells Elena that a hot guy just asked her to ask Elena if she’s going to the dance. He wants to meet her there. His name is Klaus. When the girls ask if he’s in the room right now, Dana says she’s not sure. Bonnie realizes that she’s been compelled to deliver this message. Dana continues that Klaus wants Elena to save him the last dance.
At Vamp Villa after school, Damon figures this is a good opportunity to find Klaus. Stefan points out that they don’t know what he looks like – he could be anyone. That means school isn’t as safe as Elena thought it would be. Klaus arrives (no invitation needed, apparently) and Damon asks to be put on the list of chaperones for the dance, since Klaus has made a move.
Elena asks what their plan is. Bonnie says she’s powered up and can kill Klaus. He chuckles, reminding her that Klaus is “the biggest, baddest vampire around.” Damon starts to agree, but before he can even finish his sentence, Bonnie magically sends him flying across the room. “Well, I was impressed,” Stefan says. Bonnie announces that no matter who comes at her, Original or not, she can kill them. Elena’s satisfied, and Klaus is concerned.
He goes back to Alaric’s for another change of clothes, and to tell Katherine she was right about Bonnie being powered up. He and Maddox, who’s also there, will have to take her out. While looking for something to wear to the dance, Klaus finds a bunch of Alaric’s weapons. Between those and the clothes, Klaus doesn’t care much for the body he’s inhabiting, but he does like Alaric’s taste in bourbon.
Maddox doesn’t think he’ll be able to get close enough to Bonnie to kill her; if she has that much power, she’ll see him coming. But in Alaric’s body, Klaus is vulnerable, and she could actually finish him off. Maddox tells him that Bonnie won’t be able to handle the amount of power she channeled. Klaus just needs to make her use it. Maddox can do a spell to protect Klaus, and he can just keep provoking Bonnie until she uses up all her power and kills herself.
Caroline is going to the dance as Jackie O, and Matt as her JFK. Liz keeps up her charade of cluelessness, pretending she’s just sending her normal daughter off to a normal school dance. Over at Vamp Villa, Elena looks through old Salvatore clothes for something to wear. She’s not as excited about the dance as she was before, since she’s starting to get that Klaus is a real threat. Stefan promises that after tonight, he won’t be a threat anymore.
Klaus gets to the dance before the gang, and he shows off some moves that…wait, no. What’s the opposite of showing off? Put those away, Klaus. He chats with Dana and her date, Chad. Klaus offers Chad and his friends a chance to earn some extra credit. Bonnie and Jeremy arrive next, and he offers her his Gilbert ring for extra protection. She tells him it only works for humans, not supernatural beings, including witches. She notes that just because a bunch of witches said she could die doesn’t mean she will. Jeremy reminds her that he doesn’t have great luck with girlfriends. Bonnie feels empowered, and she promises that she’s strong enough to defeat Klaus.
Damon walks by (probably wanting to break up their little intimate moment, just to be annoying), and he heads inside as Stefan and Elena meet up with Bonnie and Jeremy. They’re ready to take on Klaus. Inside, Dana announces that there’s a song dedication from Klaus to Elena. It’s the song “Dedicated to the One I Love.” Damon calls it a cheap shot, an attempt to bait the gang. Elena doesn’t see anyone there she doesn’t know, so Stefan wonders if Klaus is messing with them and just making them think he’s there.
Damon encourages everyone to act like they normally would at a dance. That gives Bonnie an excuse to make Jeremy dance with her. Damon spots “Alaric” and tells him he’s not impressed with Klaus’ attempts at intimidation. Klaus keeps an eye on Bonnie as she dances with Jeremy.
Elena spots Caroline and Matt, and Stefan offers to tell Caroline what the gang is up to, since she hasn’t been part of their planning sessions. He spins Elena as he leaves the dance floor, and Damon takes over. As they dance, he reminds her that they came out ahead at the last decade dance, so she shouldn’t worry about this one. Elena’s impressed with his moves and is actually enjoying herself.
Stefan cuts in on Matt and Caroline so he can tell Caroline that Klaus is there. Damon then cuts in on Bonnie and Jeremy, and she asks if he heard them talking about how she plans to risk her life to kill Klaus. Damon has guessed that Bonnie’s chances of dying are actually worse than she’s let on. She’s willing to give up her life to protect Elena. Damon approves and promises he won’t tell Elena. He asks if there’s any way to increase Bonnie’s odds of surviving. “Careful, Damon. I might start to think you actually care,” she says. “We wouldn’t want that,” he replies.
Elena and Jeremy spot the two of them dancing, and she wonders what they’re up to. She asks Jeremy if there’s something going on with him. He says he’s fine and leaves. Stefan goes after him, not wanting anyone in the gang to be alone when Klaus is lurking around. Jeremy reveals that if Bonnie fights Klaus, all the energy she’s channeled will kill her. She doesn’t want Elena to know because Elena will try to stop her, which will put the target back on her.
Back on the dance floor, Damon is enjoying letting loose. Elena pulls Bonnie aside for a talk while Stefan confronts Damon for not telling anyone about Bonnie’s suicide mission. They’re not supposed to keep secrets from Elena anymore. Elena tells Bonnie she won’t let her die to save Elena; they’ll find another way to defeat Klaus. Bonnie says she has the ability to save Elena, and if she doesn’t use it and something happens to Elena, Bonnie won’t get over it. She asks if Elena would sacrifice herself for Bonnie if the situation were reversed. The answer is yes, even without Elena saying it, and that’s why Bonnie feels she has to do this. Elena objects again.
Chad and a few other guys find Jeremy in a hallway and earn their extra credit from Klaus by beating up him. When Stefan and Damon show up to save him, the guys shoot stakes at them. Stefan realizes the guys are compelled and this is a distraction. He sends Damon to find Elena and Bonnie while he deals with the guys. Too late – “Alaric” is now telling Bonnie and Elena that Klaus has grabbed Jeremy, and he’s leading them away from the dance.
He takes the girls through the empty halls until Elena realizes that something’s not right. Klaus says he just needed to get away from the dance. The ’60s is a horrible theme. The ’20s were much better. Elena thinks Alaric has been compelled to do Klaus’ bidding. He tells her he’s not Alaric, and she realizes he’s really Klaus. He tells her he’s not going to hurt her. He has someone else on his hit list.
Bonnie magically throws Klaus against a wall, but that doesn’t accomplish much, thanks to Maddox’s protection spell. Bonnie’s willing to toss him around as much as necessary, but Klaus tells her that if she kills Alaric, he’ll just find a new body to inhabit – maybe Jeremy’s. The girls take off running, eventually meeting up with Damon and telling him what they’re dealing with. Damon sends Elena to find Stefan, then asks Bonnie if she’s ready to take on Klaus. She tells him that he knows she has her powers, and he can jump into another body, so she’s no longer at an advantage. Damon replies that Klaus isn’t going to win tonight. He asks if she’s still willing to do whatever it takes to kill him.
Caroline’s curious about what the rest of the gang is up to, but Elena can’t tell her since Matt’s with her. Bonnie goes looking for Klaus, who’s waiting for her in the cafeteria. He’s armed with a knife, but she easily disarms him by magically breaking his hand. As soon as he’s fixed it (I guess thanks to the protection spell), Bonnie hits him with another injury. He asks if she would really kill her favorite history teacher. She tells him Alaric would be okay with it. He’d also want Klaus to suffer first. Bonnie’s already showing some signs of weakening, like a nosebleed, and Klaus taunts her, asking if that’s all she has. “Let’s find out,” she replies.
Stefan and Elena meet up with Damon, who tells them that Bonnie’s doing what she has to do. They need to let her. Bonnie’s powers are heating up, and when Stefan and Elena get to the cafeteria and try to stop her, she slams the door closed and locks them out. There’s wind blowing and sparks flying all over the room, and Klaus is weakening, but so is Bonnie. Elena watches helplessly as a surge of energy takes Bonnie down. Klaus flees as Elena and Stefan run to Bonnie and determine that she’s dead.
Damon tells Stefan to get Elena out of there. He’ll deal with Bonnie’s body so Liz doesn’t found out about yet another mysterious death in town. Elena refuses to leave her best friend, but Damon orders Stefan to take her away. They’ll also have to find Jeremy and tell him what happened. Damon closes Bonnie’s eyes, almost like he actually cares about her, then puts her in his trunk. Jeremy finds him by his car and asks where everyone is.
Stefan takes Elena to Vamp Villa and tries to comfort her. She blames herself for Bonnie’s death, though he tells her Klaus is responsible. When Damon arrives, Elena asks what he did with Bonnie’s body. Damon tells Stefan to calm her down, then says it to her himself, always a good move on a guy’s part. Elena guesses that Damon knew Bonnie would die if she took on Klaus, and he let it happen. When he confirms this, she slaps him, but he’s not done. He tells her to prepare herself for what he’s going to say.
As Jeremy finds Bonnie’s body at Hex House, Damon tells Elena that Bonnie had to die. She wasn’t prepared to take on Klaus in Alaric’s body, and he wasn’t going to stop fighting her. The only way the gang could get back their advantage was to make Klaus believe Bonnie was dead. At Hex House, Bonnie wakes up totally fine. Damon explains to Elena that she cast a spell to fool Klaus. She’s alive.
Stefan follows Damon out of the room to chastise him for not filling Stefan in on the plan. Damon points out that he probably would have told Elena. Stefan’s upset that Damon made Elena believe she’d lost her best friend. Damon argues that Stefan wouldn’t have been able to let the plan play out. Damon doesn’t mind being the bad guy or making the tough decisions while Stefan worries about “collateral damage.” Damon will even let Elena hate him for what he chooses to do. But at least she’ll be alive to hate him.
Jeremy has some product-placed Internet hotspot thing that he and Bonnie can use while they’re camping out at Hex House. He plans to stick with her while she’s in hiding. She asks him to apologize to Elena for her, but Jeremy’s already setting up a Skype session for them to talk. Elena is thrilled to see for herself that Bonnie’s okay, and she promises that she’s not mad about Bonnie and Damon making her think Bonnie was dead.
Later, Elena tells Damon that she understands why he did what he did, but she won’t let Bonnie die for her for real. Damon points out that Klaus will most likely come after Elena soon, now that he thinks the one person who could stop him is dead. Elena tells him they’ll find another way to defeat him. Damon hopes they can, but he’s obviously still planning to use Bonnie as a secret weapon. Elena apologizes for hitting him, and he forgives her. Then he tells her that if it comes down to Elena or Bonnie dying, he’ll choose Bonnie to die in a second. “I will always choose you,” he says.
After saying good night, Elena goes to the basement. She pulls the dagger out of Elijah’s chest, then sits and waits for him to wake up.
Etc.: Matt Davis (Alaric) is really good at playing evil.
The biggest tell that Elena isn’t completely on board with her own plan to let Klaus sacrifice her is that she’s still going to school. Why bother if she thinks she’s going to die? It’s not like Jenna’s going to make her go.
I can’t decide if Dana calls Alaric/Klaus hot (twice!) because a) she thinks Alaric is hot, b) he compelled her to because he thinks he’s hot, or c) he compelled her to because he thinks ALARIC is hot.
Klaus doesn’t have to be invited into Vamp Villa while in Alaric’s body, so there’s a loophole for any vampire with the ability to temporarily inhabit a human body.
An Eternity of Misery 