Vampire Diaries – “Miss Mystic Falls” 1.19

At the Founder's Day Gala, Elena and Caroline compete for the title of "Miss Mystic Falls" against other girls from town. Elena is happy to have Bonnie back in town, but Bonnie still has issues to work through. John Gilbert attempts to intimidate Damon. Damon discovers that Stefan is hiding a dangerous secret that could impact everyone in town.

Damon discovered Stefan’s deceit about drinking blood very easily, and realized the threat it posed to their cover. So he told Elena, knowing she would help him get his brother under control. He perfectly covered his motives with Jon, saying he’d only been agreeable to the blackmailed assistance because he thought they could help him find Katherine, which Jon bought hook, line, and sinker. And he manipulated Anna and Pearl into giving him exactly what he wanted: the artifact from Jonathan Gilbert, senior, which Pearl gave him as an apology for what her coven did to Stefan.

I guess I was wrong on Anna giving Jeremy hell as a woman scorned. They made up when he confronted her about the plan to use Gilbert blood to open the tomb, which meant they had both been using each other and either they had both really developed warmer feelings or neither had. But they both did, so now they’re friends again, possibly on the road to being more again, and totally sweet together.

Damon became Elena’s escort at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant like he’d been the one all along. There were some intense looks between Elena and Damon during that dance. After the pageant was over he was right onto his brother and, while not in time to stop Stefan from attacking a girl, was there in time to stop him from killing her and to cover up Stefan’s involvement with the sheriff. And then he came up with the enforced detox padded-cell for his brother.

One of my favorite angles for this episode was the notion of consequences. Bonnie came back and wouldn’t talk to Elena, and finally admitted that she blames Damon and Stefan for her grandmother’s death and that, rather than making Elena choose, she is choosing. This (losing Bonnie) is really the first real consequence to Elena, other than a sense of guilt, for her relationships with Stefan and Damon. Stefan’s addiction is both the consequence of a sum of actions—his lifelong adherence to feeding on animals, his kidnapping, Elena’s love for him and need to save him—and the genitor of other consequences, specifically his nearly killing a human girl, surely the most horrific of actions for him.
Should be interesting to see what shakes down from the Jon Gilbert situation, Stefan’s rehab, Bonnie’s new ability to control vampire minds for at least a little bit, and the new alliance between Damon and Pearl…