I take back everything I complained about last week on The Vampire Diaries. I wondered where Klaus was leading Stefan, why Tyler and Caroline had lost their sweetness, and what was the deal with her father reappearing. Well, I don’t have to ask anymore because the show proved once again it has everything under control.

“The End of the Affair” was one of the better episodes the show has ever had. I’m particularly fond of flashback episodes anyway, but this one gave new meaning to cramming in a lot of backstory while making it entertaining. Who saw any of this coming? I sure didn’t. Wow.

Stefan: I remember you. We were friends.
Klaus: We are friends.

This show is amazing because while you might think you know what’s going to happen, they always manage to find a way to prove you wrong. Unlike other shows that create storylines out of thin air just for the shock value, this one manages to take information you already know and surprise you.

We know Stefan traveled and did some horrible things during his dark period. We also know Klaus as an original can compel other vampires. Did we ever stop to think Klaus could have known and compelled Stefan during that time?

Klaus: When she wakes up tell her to meet us at Gloria’s bar then volunteer your carotid artery and let her feed until you die.

This week, Klaus takes Stefan back to Chicago to relive the 1920s and Stefan’s Ripper days. (“Let’s just say he’s not there to meet Oprah.”) We find out Klaus and Stefan have met before, a long time ago. Actually, they were the best of brothers, even closer than with his own blood brother Damon. Together, Stefan, Klaus, and Klaus’ sister Rebekah (Pretty Little Liar‘s Claire Holt) did unspeakable things. It all really gives you a new perception of which brother was actually worse, Stefan or Damon?

So why doesn’t Stefan remember any of this? He was compelled by Klaus to forget everything, including Rebekah being in love with Stefan. (She in turn got a dagger to her chest, courtesy of her brother, for refusing to leave him.) All because Klaus was on the run from someone even worse than him. I love how this show repeatedly sets up a character as the big-bad before introducing someone even badder.

Elena: Come with me, Stefan, please.
Stefan: And what do you expect if I do? Huh? It’s never going to be the same, Elena.
Elena: I know that.
Stefan: I don’t think you do. I’ve left bodies scattered from Florida to Tennessee. Innocent people. Humans.
Elena: Lexi found you like this before. In the twenties, and…And she saved you.
Stefan: And you know what I did after that? I spent 30 years trying to pull myself together. To a vampire, that’s nothing. To you? That’s half your life.
Elena: I can’t give up on you, Stefan.
Stefan: Yes, you can. It’s done. That part of my life is done. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to be with you. I just want you to go.

This episode also rocked in the emotional heartstrings department. Once again, Damon agreed to help Elena and take her to Stefan. This time it actually works and the estranged lovers come face to face in a closet with Klaus standing right outside. There’s no time to actually say anything, but their looks and expressions are enough. Pure, delicious, tension.

It isn’t until near the end of the episode that they’re able to talk openly. (And Damon’s willing to be a pincushion just to do it.) It’s clearly not the reunion Elena had hoped to happen. She’s not able to convince him to go back with her, and he shuts her down completely. (Yes, I cried again.) I’m not entirely convinced he means any of it. I think he’s just trying to save her and get Elena to give up on him. We’ll have to see if it works this time.

Liz: Honey, your dad… All our families, we have beliefs that have been passed on through generations. And we were taught never to stray from them.
Caroline: You did.
Liz: You taught me to look at things in a different way.
Caroline: I just thought that he was the one who got me.
Liz: He did. He will again.
Caroline: Hey, mom? Thanks for believing in me.

Meanwhile, no one has noticed Caroline is missing yet? It still feels a little bit like Papa Forbes came out of nowhere, but at least I’m liking where they’re going with it now. Having Caroline’s gay father think he can cure her vampirism is horribly ironic. (“Why are you trying to fix me?” “So I don’t need to kill you.”) I don’t understand. Blood for Caroline is just like food to anyone else, of course it controls her. How can he believe she can go without it?

After all the problems Carolina had with her mother, it’s actually Mama Forbes and Tyler who end up saving her. Caroline crying to her mother was heartbreaking. But crying to Tyler was devastating. (“He hates me. My dad hates me.”) At that point, I cried, too. (I swear I’m not usually a crier. This show just does something to my tear ducts.)

Damon: Are you trailing them?
Katherine: A hybrid who wants me dead and his sidekick who’s off the rails? I couldn’t be further away.
Damon: Which means you know exactly where they are.
Katherine: All I know is that Klaus pitched a fit once his hybrids didn’t work. Now he’s looking for some answers.

So where does everyone go from here? Stefan remembers everything Klaus took away. Will he now voluntarily choose to go along with him? What will happen in his relationship with Rebekah? Klaus needs Rebekah’s old necklace to complete his plans. (Yes, the one Stefan gave to Elena back in the third episode of the series.) Will Stefan give it to him at the risk of leading them all back to a still living Elena? And how will Katherine figure into all this now that’s she’s trailing them in Chicago? (Besides continuing to be a HBIC.)

Notes and Quotes:

I can’t believe Klaus didn’t sense Elena again when she was in the closet. There must be more going on than we’ve been lead to believe.

When is Bonnie coming back?

Damon: There used to be an all-girls high school around the corner but it shut down for attendance issues. Weird.

Damon: Stefan was a cocky Ripper douche, but I could avoid him and still indulge in a few Daisy Buchanans of my own.

Stefan: If we were such great friends, then why do I only know you as the hybrid dick who sacrificed my girlfriend on an altar of fire?

Damon: I had an hour to realize what a bad idea it was to leave you here alone, process it, and move on.