Now that Elena is a vampire, it’s not a good idea to get on her bad side. Honestly, it’s not a good idea to be anywhere around her when anyone is on her bad side. More than one Vampire Diaries character finds that out in “The Rager.” What are the results? Find out in this recap.
The Precarious Life of a Hunter
Tyler looks awfully sweet when he’s asleep.
But looks can be deceiving. You know what else is deceiving? Connor the Hunter. Having taken out the useless deputy at the door, Connor enters Tyler’s room, supposedly to finish his assassination work.
Or not… Somehow, Connor has figured out that Tyler is also a werewolf. How he has figured this out, considering that hybrids didn’t even exist more than a year ago, is a question we’re going to ignore for now. Because that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Connor extracts a whole bunch of werewolf venom from Tyler and calmly takes his leave.
This doesn’t mean that Connor is done harassing the teenagers of Mystic Falls. Oh no. The hunter is all over the high school the next day, trying to recruit Jeremy (since only potential hunters can see those tattoos), threatening Matt to learn his vampire girlfriend’s identity (Matt names Rebekah, even though it was Elena who took a sip), spiking the beer heading to Rebekah’s party…
Mean, Undead Girls
As if Connor were not enough trouble at school, both Elena and Rebekah have returned as well. They don’t exactly like each other these days. It’s obvious why Elena is angry, but Rebekah? Other than the girl’s natural bitchiness, I assume that Rebekah is still annoyed about that time Elena stabbed her in the back before the big dance.
Well, Rebekah certainly gets her revenge this time — she stabs Elena with a pencil, disses dead Alaric and even smears blood on Elena’s face in the bathroom.
This makes Elena mad. Really mad. We’re talking murderous levels of vampire rage. Even concerned Stefan and perky Caroline can talk Elena down only a little. This could be bad. Really bad.
Tyler, Klaus and the New Girl
Meanwhile over at the Lockwood mansion, Tyler has some new bodyguards. It seems that Klaus heard about Connor’s attacks and wants to keep one of his only remaining hybrids alive. So poor Tyler is stuck on house arrest.
His incarceration is helped only slightly by the arrival of Hayley (The Secret Circle‘s Phoebe Tonkin), a werewolf chick who had helped Tyler break that sire bond with Klaus. Apparently, Tyler never bothered to tell Hayley that he was rich. And Tyler definitely hasn’t mentioned Hayley’s existence to Caroline.
These little white lies amuse Klaus greatly.
Hunting the Hunter
While everyone else is living out variations on the standard teenage soap opera, Damon is busy tracking down Connor. He’s not very good at it though. With a tip from Jeremy, Damon does find the hunter’s trailer but immediately trips an alarm. He ends up shot with an arrow attached to a bomb.
Meredith Fell turns out to be the only person who won’t insult Damon’s pride in this situation, so he calls her to free him from the arrow-bomb. She does so, also mentioning that he should bury the hatchet with Stefan and Elena.
Oh, and Damon reads the Pastor Young letter. Apparently, there’s an even greater evil coming to Mystic Falls. That should be fun.
Elena Does a Keg Stand
Rebekah is now living on her own and throws a raging party to prove it. Surprisingly, just about everyone attends. Even Elena.
Elena probably should have given this one a miss. She is only a couple of seconds into a chat with April Young when Rebekah shows up for more vicious taunting — this time involving the theft of Elena’s daylight ring and stealing the girl’s beer.
The Vampire Diaries‘ newest vampire is not OK with this. In fact, Elena kind of wants to kill Rebekah. A lot. It takes a serious pep talk from Stefan before Elena agrees to go motorcycle-riding instead of white-oak staking.
But at least Elena manages to fit in a rather exhibitionistic keg stand before she goes. Because that will show Rebekah! Or something.
Beer Is Bad
Elena maybe should have skipped the keg stand. Remember how Connor spiked the beer with werewolf venom? The results aren’t good. Rebekah feels the effects first, getting all veiny and then feeling like crap. She even goes so far as to hallucinate Matt, who explains that the Original doesn’t deserve love.
Rebekah rips out the hallucination’s heart for this bit of truth.
It’s just as confusing for Elena. She and Stefan are happily in the process of getting it on, vampire-style, when Elena suddenly starts seeing Damon. That kills the mood a bit.
The Vampires Win… Kind Of
But Elena is going to have to put up with hallucinations for a little while (not much of a hardship when the visions look like Damon), because Klaus — the only cure — is off catching Connor. He and Damon ambush the hunter at the hospital, attaching the man to a bomb.
A great deal of taunting follows from all sides. In the midst of this witty repartee, Klaus is rather intrigued to learn about Connor’s invisible tattoos — they seem to mark the hunter as one of The Five. No clue what that means, although I’m sure we’ll all learn next week in the episode that is conveniently called “The Five.”
Anyway, Connor chooses death after awhile, blowing himself to little bits. This makes Damon and Carol Lockwood happy. Meredith Fell, however, is a bit irritated about the explosion being in the hospital. She won’t even go drinking with Damon!
The Shifting Sands of TVD Relationships
Elena’s hallucinations tell her she’s more like Damon than like Stefan, now that she’s a vampire, before Klaus finally shows up to help. Why is he helping? It seems that something the Original learned from Connor has made Elena useful again. Hmmmm…
Rebekah doesn’t get a Klaus visit, but she’s an Original too and will probably be fine. For the moment though, she looks like crap. This doesn’t bother April, who has stayed late at the party to clean up. April and Rebekah bond over their mutual lack of familial love. Awwww…
Elena having gone home all cured, Stefan chats with Caroline about how hard his girlfriend’s transition is on him. He has finally noticed that Elena needs to have some fun. And Stefan just doesn’t do fun. Caroline tries to make Stefan feel better, but it’s hard to say if it helps. Ohhhh…
A Couple of Big Uh-Ohs
This being The Vampire Diaries, of course the episode has to end with a twist or two.
The first comes back at the Gilbert house. Matt has come over to be Elena’s late-night snack, but the girl’s rage spurs her into a drinking frenzy certain to end in death. Fortunately, Damon shows up to save both Elena and Matt. The blood-snack goes home and Damon assures Elena that he will help her figure out this whole vampire thing.
Off at Connor’s trailer, we see that the man is not, in fact, blown to little bits. He is very intact. Turns out that Klaus saved him because Connor is one of The Five. The hunter doesn’t actually know what that means, but Klaus does. And Klaus is very interested in keeping Connor alive now.
This will totally end badly.
How fun was rage-filled Elena? What’s up with The Five? Is Stefan really going to drop Elena because he can’t have fun? Tell us your thoughts and theories below!
(Images courtesy of The CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Laurel grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Bellevue WA. She then went on to live in places like Boston, Tucson, Houston, Wales, Tanzania, Prince Edward Island and New York City before heading back to Seattle. Ever since early childhood, when she became addicted to The Muppet Show, Laurel has watched far too much TV. Current favorites include Chuck, Modern Family, Supernatural, Mad Men and Community. Laurel received a BA in Astrophysics (yes, that is possible) from Colgate University and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History of Science from Columbia University before she realized that television is much better than studying.
