'Vampire Diaries': 'There Goes the Neighborhood'

Here goes the Vampire expert again:

With another great episode this week, episode 16 "There Goes the Neighborhood" is serving as a set up for what I assume, will be the story of the next set of episodes. Maybe for the rest of the month.

Taking a break from Elena's vampire mother storyline and Damon's grief, the triplet instead decided to try and lead a normal day. No vampires, no magic, just normal. This is the only question I have for Stefan and Elena....when are they gonna learn that their relationship is never going to be normal?

Setting up a double date with Matt and Caroline, Elena and Stefan try for a night of normalcy...but it turns out to be anything but. Meanwhile, Damon is confronted by Pearl and Anna and given a proposition: help them take over Mystic Falls, or else. With all the 1864 vampires now escaped from the tomb, most have joined Pearl in her plan. Demanding Damon to assist, he refuses, even when Pearl offers to help him find Katherine. However, after learning that Katherine was never trapped in the tomb, and could care less about Damon's obsessive love for her, he no longer wants any thing to do with her. At least, that is what he has led us, both the characters and the audience to believe. Somehow, I don't think that is going to be the case...

After almost literally getting his "ass" handed to him by Pearl, a vampire 400 years his senior, yet again Damon was being Damon, deciding to drown is sorrows in alcohol. And with only one place to do that, Damon, Jenna and Kelly start their own drinking party in the middle of Elena, Stefan, Caroline and Matt's double date. However, they are the not the only ones that are crashing the party. Two vampires from Pearl's brood disobey her wishes and travel into the Mystic Falls night.

But still...this is not the only story brewing in Mystic Falls. Researching his beliefs, Jeremy sets a trap for Anna, and finally learns the truth: Vampires exist.

On the double date, while things continue to sink between Caroline and Elena, Matt and Stefan find some common ground. Matt finally is able to tell Stefan that he approves of him being with Elena. I also have a feeling Matt is going to find out all about vampires by the end of the season. I'm feeling that with this change in his and Stefan's relationship. However, when Elena is mistaken as Katherine by one of the escaped vampires, Stefan is quick to end the date at the Mystic Grill to get her to safety. As the two couples arrive back at the boardinghouse, their party is crashed once again, by Damon and Kelly. Poor Matt, is all I have to say. After a date that went well between Matt and Stefan, and not so much between Elena and Caroline, the young man continues to be disappointed by his mother.

In a very impressive scene with his mother, Matt sets down the ground rules of what has become his house, not hers. "Do know what I was doing tonight, mom? I was having fun. Trying to forget about the crap that I deal with everyday and just enjoy a night with my friends. And then, there you are, wasted at the bar, where I work by the way to pay the bills that you don't pay. And then you're off acting like a freaking kid, hooking up with a guy half your age. I'm the kid, mom. You're supposed to be responsible for me." Wow. Zach Roerig is quite the little actor. Just another great example of the ELITE writing and directing on this series.

But the real doozies of the episode...came in the last few minutes...as we always expect. After Stefan and Damon are left alone at the boardinghouse, they are attacked by two of the rogue 1864 vampires. Stefan is stabbed, and surprisingly, Damon doesn't hesitate to jump in and fight beside him. Finally, after all this business with Katherine has been put to rest, Damon is trumped by how right Stefan was about her: that their love for her was never real. Perhaps his pain over the betrayal of Katherine is the one thing that will bring them closer? It certainly seems like that's the effect it's having. It was a moment of triumph for them, fighting for each other. They are gonna have quite a fight coming up.

Once the 1864 rogue vampire returns with the news of the death of one of their friends, killed by Stefan, Pearl allows him to keep his life. She only stabs him with the blunt end of a cooking spoon! LOL

But the BIG ONE tonight...the REAL DOOZY that has already put twitter in an uproar...Jeremy wants Anna to turn him into a vampire...DUN DUN DUN...

NEXT WEEK in Episode 17 "Let the Right One In" Pearl's vampires begin to take their revenge against the Salvatore brothers. Taking Stefan hostage, they plan endless amounts of torture, to show both him and Damon, the madness that they all suffered trapped in a tomb for 145 years. Will Damon be able to save him in time?

PREDICTIONS:

As I have already said, with Katherine's betrayal, a change has occurred between Damon and Stefan. For the first time, they have an understanding. And although they have worked together before, a true partnership has been struck. Damon not only jumps into to help his brother in a fight to just help protect him, but even asks him for help: "Can you help me with this?" as they moved the body of the vamp that Stefan killed. It may be a small and simple gesture, but one none the less. When has Damon EVER asked Stefan for help when it didn't benefit him?

With a story like next week, this partnership between them will only begin to grow. Damon goes to save Stefan, but what he be willing to do to protect his life? I guess we'll find out...