The Vampire Diaries “Stand By Me” Recap

Last week, The Vampire Diaries ended with Silas being resurrected and snapping Jeremy’s (Steven R. McQueen) neck after draining all of his blood, so we knew “Stand By Me” was going to be a sad, emotional episode as his friends and family learned what happened. But we were not prepared for just how powerful the episode would be.
It’s truly a shame that award shows do not acknowledge CW shows because Nina Dobrev deserves all of them for her performance as Elena. When the episode began, she was in complete denial. She just assumed that Jeremy’s ring would bring him back and he’d be fine. But as Stefan (Paul Wesley) pointed out to Damon (Ian Somerhalder), Jeremy was a hunter, one of The Five, and that meant he was supernatural and the ring would be useless. The Salvatore brothers were worried about Elena’s fragile state of mind so Damon told Stefan to take her home and he would find Bonnie (Kat Graham).

(L-R): Paul Wesley as Stefan and Ian Somerhalder as Damon — Photo: Bob Mahoney/The CW

Since we saw Bonnie last, she was bleeding on the floor beside Jeremy. It was a little confusing that she was no longer in the tomb. Instead, Shane (David Alpay) found her out in the open and started telling her how great Silas was and how he’d healed him. Bonnie was confused and then Shane told her that Jeremy had died and it was up to her to use expression to bring him back, but first they had to sacrifice 12 more people. Bonnie was not on board, but then Shane used whatever power he has over her to change her mind.

Elena continued to be in denial upon returning to Mystic Falls and had Stefan put Jeremy to bed so she could sit with him and wait. Stefan and Caroline (Candice Accola) decided to call in reinforcements. First Meredith (Torrey DeVitto) came to try and explain to Elena how decomposition worked, but Elena insisted Jeremy would come back and then she got angry and Stefan had to pull her away from Meredith. Matt (Zach Roerig) arrived next and immediately broke down at the sight of his best friend’s dead body.

Back on the island, Rebekah (Claire Holt) caught up with Damon and he told her that Katherine stole the cure, Silas was free and Jeremy was dead. Rebekah felt terrible about Elena losing the only family she had left and once again proved that she is the best character on the show. Damon used her as a shield when Vaughn shot an arrow in their direction and then the two threatened to torture him until he explained that Katherine had found him in Colorado and he’d met a werewolf in New Orleans who filled him in on what was going on. Damon correctly deduced that it was Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) and then he left Rebekah with Vaughn so he could find Bonnie.

Damon and Bonnie were reunited and shared a hug, which was really weird to see. Bonnie told him that she had a plan to save Jeremy and he rightfully looked at her like she was insane. They returned to Mystic Falls and Damon warned Stefan that Bonnie was losing it. Inside the house, Bonnie explained what needed to happen to her friends and Caroline and Matt immediately told her that she could not kill 12 people to help Silas, who lost his magic when he was imprisoned. The potential resurrection was finally explained. Not all the dead would come back; just every supernatural creature ever, who was trapped on the other side.

(L-R): Kat Graham as Bonnie, Nina Dobrev as Elena, Candice Accola as Caroline & Zach Roerig as Matt. Bob Mahoney/The CW

Elena seemed to be staring off into space as her friends argued around her and then she got up when she heard the phone ringing. It was April (Grace Phipps) calling for Jeremy. Elena tried to tell her that he couldn’t come to the phone and then she finally said the words: “I’m sorry, he’s dead.” Stefan and Damon came inside in time to hear that and then Elena noticed the smell that her friends had been talking about earlier. She began to break down, crying and screaming, as she realized that her brother was truly gone. She made Damon bring him downstairs and then she started to pour lighter fluid all over the house, including Jeremy’s body.

Stefan and Caroline were scared and tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted that it was the only cover story that would make sense. Damon caught the match before it could hit the ground and Elena broke down again. Stefan told Damon to help her and Damon knelt down beside her and told her to turn her humanity off. Elena’s eyes were wide with grief and as Damon’s words sank in, she did it and became calm. Stefan and Damon talked on the porch and Stefan said her humanity was all she had left and Damon reminded him that it means nothing without her brother. In the best moment of the episode, the Salvatore brothers put the Elena fight behind them and said they loved each other, without actually needing to say the words.

In the end, Elena burned the house down anyway and it was haunting to watch everything that mattered to her burn, including Jeremy. She left with Stefan and Damon and Matt drove Bonnie home. Shane was waiting for her and encouraging her to still do the spell, which seemed strange because how did he get off the island? That question was quickly answered when Rebekah stumbled upon Shane on the island, his leg still bleeding. It looked like he was dead, but then he grabbed Rebekah and simply said, “Silas.”

This was a bit confusing. Can Silas morph into someone else or was the Shane on Bonnie’s porch just a hallucination? The show is going on a mini-hiatus so we have to wait until March 14 to see what happens next.