The Vampire Diaries season 7 continues with an episode that focuses on Lily’s connections to both of her families as Stefan and Damon try to bring Julian down. As Lily struggles between her love for her sons and her loyalty to her Heretic children, Julian continues to manipulate Lily’s family members. Meanwhile, Enzo has a run-in with Matt, and Caroline tells Stefan about her magic-induced pregnancy. Take a look back at the most notable moments from episode 8, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me.”
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Valerie Is Helping Stefan and Damon
Stefan and Damon go to Enzo for help with a plan to unlink Lily and Julian. Alas, in order for this plan to work, they need to get the Heretics on their side. But given the way Julian has been charming all of them, it is unlikely that they would turn on him. This is where Valerie comes in. She plans to tell her “family” the truth about what Julian did to her all those years ago. It may be enough to get the Heretics on their side, but Enzo seems to want nothing to do with this plan.
How Does Caroline Feel about the Pregnancy?
Caroline writes a journal entry to Elena in order to work through her thoughts on her unexpected pregnancy. Though, since her explanation to Elena is mostly exposition, we still do not really know how Caroline feels. Instead of having Caroline “talk” to Elena via journal entry, why not have her actually talk to Bonnie about what’s going on? At least then we would have gotten a glimpse of the Bennett witch in this episode. Here’s hoping her absence is explained and she is back in the mid-season finale.
Enzo Makes One Last Play for Lily
Enzo approaches Lily while she is out shopping and asks her to run away with him so she will be safe from Julian. But Lily tells him she can’t just run away from her problems. They share a kiss and Enzo leaves, wishing her luck with Julian.
Nora and Mary Louise Celebrate
It is the couple’s 133rd anniversary and Julian decides to throw them a party to mark the occasion. Julian reveals that this is the reason he was holding all of those people under compulsion — so the girls could have guests/food at their party. I understand that Julian wants the girls on his side, but I have a hard time believing that this is the real reason Julian was keeping all of those people under compulsion. Did he have another plan for them and merely changed tactics? Or has this whole thing been about winning over Lily’s children?
Caroline Tells Stefan the Truth
Caroline stops by to see Stefan so she can tell him the news about her pregnancy. Alas, we do not actually get to see this conversation, only the aftermath in which Stefan is more concerned with getting rid of Julian than talking to Caroline about this shocking change in their lives. To say that Stefan handled it wrong is a bit of an understatement given that he basically runs away from Caroline as soon as the words are out of her mouth. But on a side note, Stefan manages to sum up this whole storyline with one sentence: “I don’t think there are any words.”
Julian Gets Lily to Feed
At the party, Julian confronts Lily about not going all-in with their family because she is still hoping that Stefan and Damon will let her back into their lives. To prove to Julian that she has chosen their family, Lily feeds from one of the party-goers just as Damon walks in.
Damon Rips Into Lily
After deciding to continue with the plan, Damon makes it clear that he does not care if Lily is still linked to Julian when they kill him, and he claims that he is only getting involved for Stefan’s sake. He also says that Lily has been dead to him for years, and if he had a do-over, he would have left her in the prison world. I have a feeling those words will come back to haunt Damon later on.
Mary Louise and Nora Get Engaged
Enzo Is Kidnapped
After a run-in with Matt at the Grill, Enzo is abducted by unknown assailants.
The Heretics Choose Lily
Valerie tells Beau, Nora and Mary Louise the truth about what Julian did to her and Lily backs up her story. Lily tells them that she is leaving Julian but she needs their help. Beau and Nora embrace Valerie, but Mary Louise is hesitant to believe the truth about Julian. She eventually seems to come around, but the others should have picked up on what her hesitation meant.
Stefan and Damon Attack Julian
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Stefan Confides in Lily
Stefan tells Lily about Caroline’s pregnancy and opens up to her about how poorly he handled things. Lily advises Stefan to think about what Caroline is going through — good advice for both Stefan and the writers. (On a related note, can we please have a scene of Caroline discussing how she feels about being impregnated without her consent?) Stefan returns her kindness by letting his mother know that she can start over now and that he forgives her. He advises her not to give up on Damon and says she just needs to give him time. If only she had time…
Mary Louise Frees Julian
It turns out that Mary Louise is not so quick to believe Valerie after all the lies she told the family. So Mary Louise knocks out Damon and Valerie in order to free Julian. I can understand that Valerie might not be the most reliable person, but who would lie about something like that? And why is Mary Louise so quick to believe a man she has not seen in over a century instead of the people who were trapped with her in that prison world for so many years?
Stefan and Caroline Exchange “I Love You’s”
Stefan calls Caroline and apologizes for how he reacted when she told him about her pregnancy. He assures Caroline that he is not going anywhere because he loves her and they will get through this together. Caroline returns his “I love you” and it looks like they are heading into the mid-season finale on good terms. Alas, we know they are not on good terms in the future, so what happens to drive them apart? If they can survive Valerie’s return and Caroline’s magic-induced pregnancy, what could possibly break them up?
Nora Calls Off the Engagement
After learning that Mary Louise betrayed them all and sided with Julian, Nora gives back the engagement ring, saying it represents Julian’s ability to manipulate them all and that she does not want any of it.
Lily Stakes Herself
Lily finds Julian chaining Damon and Valerie up. He tells her that one of them will die and she has to choose which of her children to save. Damon assumes Lily will kill him in order to save her Heretic daughter, but instead, Lily chooses to save them both. She stakes herself in an attempt to destroy Julian. Alas, Julian has already unlinked himself from Lily so her gesture is all for naught. Lily standing up to Julian is a nice moment and I wish we had seen more of this side of her before the end.
Matt is Behind Enzo’s Capture
Matt lets Enzo know that he is the one responsible for his current state, explaining that he found some “new friends” who can help him protect his town from the likes of Enzo. Does this have something to do with the Augustine Society from season 5 or is there some other group interested in Enzo? Will Matt’s deal with these people come back to haunt him? Are the consequences of this deal the reason we have not seen Matt in the flash-forwards?
Lily Says Goodbye
Nora realizes that pieces of the stake are embedded in Lily’s heart and she cannot remove them. Stefan regretfully tells everyone that the only choice now is to say goodbye. Nora, Beau, Stefan and Valerie all have lovely goodbyes with Lily, but Damon is hesitant to say anything at all. Lily uses her final moments to apologize to Damon but all Damon will say in return is that Lily got what was coming to her. These are the last words Lily hears before she dies.
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Damon Hallucinates His Mother
At the beginning of the episode, we saw “Lily” holding Damon hostage in the “three years from now” flash-forward. But how is that possible if Lily died? We can thank the werewolf venom Damon has been poisoned with for this development. Damon hallucinates that the woman holding him hostage is his mother and he apologizes to her. “Lily” then laughs at him because Damon’s mother has been dead for years. When will we learn this woman’s true identity? I hope we get at least some sense of who she is in the mid-season finale.
The Vampire Diaries season 7 airs Thursdays at 8pm on The CW.
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV