The Rippah Diaries

After Elena tells everyone in town that Damon spent the night with Rebekah, she learns from Bonnie that Esther is planning a magic ritual to kill the Original siblings later that night. Unable to keep that a secret either, Elena tells Elijah about the ritual and that she wishes there was a way she could help save his life. But just like he tells her, be careful what you wish for: to help save his life, he traps her in the caves and sends Rebekah to keep her there and wait for the signal to kill her if Stefan and Damon don't find a way to stop Esther's spell. In a surprise to no one, the Salvatore Brothers go rogue and instead try to take down the Originals themselves. When that plan inevitably fails, they have to make a coin flip decision on who has to cut off Bonnie and Abby's magic.This week: Season 3 Episode 15 | All My Children

An episode as iconic as Dangerous Liaisons doesn't require a description but instead an invitation: Please join the Mikaelson Family this episode for dancing, cocktails, & celebration. And don't forget the love triangle, romantasy, & general mayhem.This week: Season 3 Episode 14 | Dangerous Liaisons

With Sheriff Forbes officially investigating the town serial killer, not only will Damon be consulted first, but she's of course going to tell Alaric and Elena everything she knows, including that the weapon used was from the Gilbert vampire-hunting stash. While those three look into the murders, the Salvatore brothers continue to scheme to kill Klaus, but they each have different ideas on how to get it done. So while Stefan turns to Bonnie and Abby, Damon asks one of our faves, Elijah, for help. Damon and Elijah end up setting up a dinner party where they can all talk it out, but things don't go too well since neither Klaus nor Stefan are big negotiators. Just when it seems all hope is lost, Elijah pulls a real wild card move and kicks off one of the Rippah Girls' fav arcs. This week: Season 3 Episode 13 | Bringing Out the Dead

After having recurring dreams about Klaus's coffins, Bonnie realizes her dreams are trying to show her how to kill him. They also lead her to find her estranged mother, Abby. Speaking of awful parents, Bill Forbes returns to town to force Tyler to turn into a wolf to break his sire bond with Klaus. Meanwhile, Damon is focused on proving Alaric's new friend, Dr. Meredith Fell, is a psycho killer. Finally, Klaus makes a big move to get the coffins back that even Crazy Stefan can't stop, but Damon leaves him a little surprise that brings the return of a familiar face.This week: Season 3 Episode 12 | The Ties That Bind

Caroline is in no mood to celebrate her 18th birthday, so Elena, Bonnie, and Matt try to cheer her up by turning the celebration into the funeral she never got to have. Meanwhile, Damon and Stefan unsurprisingly can't agree on how to deal with Klaus, so Stefan goes rogue and nearly drives Elena off of Wickery Bridge. Elsewhere, Alaric gets closer to Dr. Meredith Fell at the Founders' Council meeting.This week: Season 3 Episode 11 | Our Town

Now that Stefan has Klaus’s one weakness, his daggered family, he recruits Bonnie to hide the coffins in the haunted witch house. Klaus turns to his usual tactics of stalking, threatening, and murdering to get what he wants. As usual, the Gilbert family is on the receiving end of this and Stefan isn’t willing to help. After witnessing a literal beheading on the front porch, Elena and Alaric become more concerned than ever about Jeremy. Finally, Tyler gets a much needed reality check that maybe doing everything his hybrid overlord says isn’t as safe as he thought.This week: Season 3 Episode 10 | The New Deal

Stefan, Elena, and Damon scheme to lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls, and there’s no better way than to tell him Mikael is dead. While they wait for Klaus to return, everyone decides to attend homecoming, but the dance is relocated at the last minute to the Lockwood mansion. The teens quickly realize the huge party with a live band was not pulled together by Tyler, it’s a wake for Mikael thrown by Klaus. Damon and Mikael decide to make their move against Klaus at the wake, which nearly works, but Stefan swoops in at the last moment to save Klaus. Stefan earns his freedom from Klaus then skips town with Katherine. On their way out of town, flashbacks reveal that Damon was going to die with Klaus, and Stefan only saved him to save Damon. In retaliation, Stefan reveals to Klaus that he stole his coffins full of siblings.This week: Season 3 Episode 9 | Homecoming

Down in the caves, Alaric works on deciphering the runes and figures out that the drawings tell the story of the Originals. Elena decides to go right to the source: Rebekah. After a mean girl power struggle, Rebekah invites Elena over for a fashion show, some snooping, and eventually a bit of storytelling. Through flashbacks, Rebekah tells Elena how their parents turned her, Klaus, Elijah, and their other siblings into vampires to protect them from the werewolves. Meanwhile, Damon checks in on Stefan in the Forbes torture cellar and decides to go rogue and break Stefan out to remind him what freedom is like. While the brothers day drink and feed on bartenders, Rebekah finishes the story of the Originals by telling Elena that Mikael killed Esther after finding out that Klaus was not his biological son. Once story time is over, Elena returns to the caves and figures out who actually killed Esther. Elena immediately goes back and tells Rebekah that it was really Klaus who killed her mother. At the bar, Mikael crashes the brothers’ bonding time to get their help in finding Klaus. After he threatens Damon’s life, Stefan eventually tells Mikael that he can lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls. So with Mikael as their weapon and Rebekah now turned against her brother, it’s time to set up a plan to take down Klaus.This week: Season 3 Episode 8 | Ordinary People

It’s the Night of Illumination and the ghosts are back to celebrate. Damon gets a visit from our absolute fave, Mason Lockwood, or so he assumes, even though the ghosts aren’t visible. So he immediately goes to Bonnie to get her to fix the problem, and her first step is to do a spell that reveals “veiled matter.” As the spell is cast, we see it really was Mason torturing Damon, Grams is there helping Bonnie, Elena can now see Anna making out with Jeremy, and Lexi is back putting Stefan in his place. Now that everyone can see the ghosts, they all get to work since there’s no telling how long this will last. So, Damon and Mason go to the Lockwood cellar to look for a weapon to kill Klaus while Lexi and Elena start Stefan’s ripper detox. Meanwhile, Grams, Bonnie, and Caroline try to find the Original Witch’s necklace to destroy it and send the ghosts away, even though Elena wants the ghosts to stay now that Lexi is helping Stefan. Unfortunately, the tomb vampires also came back and are killing Founding Family members in the town square, so the search for the necklace is now URGENT. Eventually, Anna reveals that she stole it because she didn’t want to be alone. So now that they have the necklace, Bonnie and Grams send everyone back, but not before an emotional family reunion between Anna and Pearl, a pep talk to save Stefan, and the possible key to understanding the Originals.This week: Season 3 Episode 7 | Ghost World