- Four months have gone by since the Other Side broke down and Bonnie and Damon were lost. Mystic Falls is still a supernatural-free area. Everyone is grieving in their own ways, and some worse than others.
- Four months after the final fight against the Travelers brought down the Other Side, Mystic Falls remains magically protected against supernatural beings. Inside, Matt is the closest thing to a master of the house, unable to get mourning couch potato Jeremy back into the game. At the outskirts, Stefan slaves as an exploited car mechanic, and Alaric teaches at Whitmore. Tyler is blindly hopeful, model student Caroline is shocked to discover that Elena, finally returning to college too, is the mystery vampire who lurks around the edges of Mystic Falls bloodthirsty, in fact a side-effect of the herbal potion witch Luke gives her to communicate with dead Damon, who also feels she must make a clean break and seize life again.—KGF Vissers
- Two kids on a camping trip make out in a tent at night when something runs past outside. The girl goes out to look and finds their lantern out. She turns around in the dark and finds Sheriff Forbes standing there with a flashlight -- she's busting them for underage drinking.
They pack up their stuff and head back to their car -- on the other side of the Traveler's spell surrounding Mystic Falls. At the car, the woman disappears. She's dropped back to the ground with a gaping wound in her neck. The guy looks up into the trees and sees someone with long hair swooping down on him.
Meanwhile, on a new day, Elena explains that four months later she's starting over for her sophomore year and has decided to be a doctor. At the hospital, she nails a doctor's question about a test to run, but is promptly handed a bedpan.
At the crypt, Elena takes out some herbs and dumps them into a bowl. Voice over explains that the hospital job might not be glamorous, but at least they have unlimited access to blood bags.
Alaric is still adjusting to being a vampire, and he's also Elena's college professor.
Back in Mystic Falls, the Grill is rebuilding. No one with powers can get into the town. Matt is a work out freak and doing well, but living with Jeremy, who is hooking up with some random girl every day.
Stefan is in Savannah, Georgia, following up a lead about a witch who can contact the dead. They haven't spoken in months, so she assumes he's consumed by his quest. He's working in a garage.
At Whitmore, Elena calls Caroline to inform her she's picking her up for the football game tomorrow, even though Caroline dropped out of college. Caroline got an apartment on the edge of Mystic Falls. Tyler is now enrolled at Whitmore. Luke sees Elena across the quad and offers her a small envelope (like drug small), but with Tyler next to her, Elena shakes Luke off.
On a picnic with her mom outside town, Ann urges Caroline to spend some time with Elena. Caroline thinks it's weird that Elena hasn't grieved for Damon at all. Ann gets called away on a report of two kids showing up at the hospital with bite wounds. A vampire appears to be lurking the border.
Meanwhile, back at the crypt, Elena finishes mixing up her potion, saying she doesn't want to let go or start over. She finishes up her voice over and we see that she wasn't talking to no one -- she's sitting outside the crypt on a bench next to Damon.
Back at Whitmore, Alaric leads his class on occult studies. Liv giggles when he says the lesson is on resurrection. Tyler comes in late from football practice. Alaric is distracted by Elena sipping on a cup full of blood. He faces the chalkboard and whispers at her to knock it off.
After class, Elena tracks down Luke to ask if the "ancient psychotropic herbs" he's been giving her have side effects. She's been really thirsty lately. Instead, Luke suggests it's time to cool it on the herbs. He got them for her because he felt guilty that his stopping Liv's spell essentially killed Damon. He also made Alaric his daylight bracelet.
In Savannah, Stefan confronts his boss over his shorted paycheck, but lets it drop when Dean challenges him.
Alaric calls to check in on Stefan, who says he's still following his lead.
Caroline meets Alaric in a diner. He's giving her books on magic to research a way to reverse the Traveler's spell over Mystic Falls. She hasn't heard from Stefan since he left town four months ago and is upset about it.
Elena calls Jeremy to try to get him in gear. He's drinking beer and playing video games. He mocks Matt's involvement in a community protection group, saying the town doesn't need it anymore with no magic.
Elena drops by Luke's after he doesn't show with her herbs. He tells her he's cutting her off because she's in denial. She gets angry and starts ransacking his room, then threatens him.
Later, in a car with Damon, he wonders if she's not also visiting Bonnie because he knows Bonnie would agree with Luke that she needs to move on.
At a tailgate before the game, Alaric runs into Tyler, who is drinking. Alaric gently questions the wisdom of him drinking given his anger issues and the risk of retriggering his werewolf curse. When Alaric notices Tyler checking out Liv, he tells Tyler that Liv isn't into him.
In a Savannah bedroom with the woman he was meeting earlier, Ivy. They've been hooking up for two months but she's annoyed she doesn't know anything about him.
Back at the tailgate, Alaric runs into Jo, the doctor from the hospital. He tries to talk to her but is awkward. He calls Elena, but she's not answering.
On the road with Damon, she pulls over when she sees a girl parked on the side of the road. Elena gets out to offer directions, but instead chomps down on her neck. Damon tells Elena to go easy, saying she nearly killed the last one and the one before that, and the one before that. Elena says she's still hungry and continues.
Then Caroline shows up and freaks out. The girl takes the opportunity to run. Elena tries to follow her, but gets stopped by the Mystic Falls barrier. Caroline realizes Elena is the "Border Lurker." Elena tells Caroline about the herbs, saying she tried grieving Damon but it didn't work.
Caroline tells Elena she needs a better way to deal. She goes to call her mom.
In Mystic Falls, Matt sees the girl stumbling into town and rushes to her. When she says a woman bit her, Matt coaches her to say a dog bit her. Sheriff Forbes pulls up. Tripp, the coordinator of Matt's volunteer community group, wants more information but Sheriff Forbes says she'll handle it.
Elena calls Stefan until he answers. She wants hope that Damon will be back. Stefan says he hasn't gotten anywhere yet. Elena says she can't handle the idea of forever without Damon. Stefan admits he stopped looking for answers and said good-bye. He urges her to do the same.
At the tailgate, Tyler is still drinking. Caroline calls her and tells him about Elena's Damon herb hallucinations. Tyler says he'll deal with Luke.
Back in Mystic Falls, Matt brings the attacked girl Sara to the border, saying he's trying to protect her. He meets Caroline.
Back at the tailgate, Tyler finds Luke looking for Elena, worried about her. Drunk Tyler goes on the offensive, choking Tyler until Alaric steps in to stop him.
Back at the crypt, Elena chugs another potion and when Damon shows up she tells him he's not even real, just her subconscious tricking her. She says seeing him is making her hurt people. He tells her to move on if she needs to. Elena thanks him for saving Stefan and Alaric and giving her a love full of passion and adventure. She tells him good-bye. She kisses him and expects him to be gone, but he's still there.
Then he starts asking her how long until she goes running back to Luke, telling her she's going to feel a lifetime of agony and grief. She trashes the crypt and collapses crying. But Damon is still there.
Back in the dorm, Liv confronts Tyler over attacking Luke. She says Elena is emotionally blackmailing him. Tyler defends her grief, but then apologizes to her. She tells him to apologize to Luke. He stops her and explains that four months ago he could make anyone do anything and now all that's left is rage and he's trying to deal with it. She brushes off his honesty, even after he calls her on brushing him off.
Caroline leaves Stefan a voice mail, saying everyone's drifting apart. She thinks Tyler is hiding from his werewolf gene at Whitmore. Matt and Jeremy never leave Mystic Falls anymore.
Late at night, Jeremy stumbles into the woods drinking, visiting the shrine to everyone.
Caroline wraps up her voice mail to Stefan, saying that the group needs to be together now more than ever and saying she's not going to stop calling him. He sees the message and crushes his phone.
In her dorm room, Elena asks Alaric how he's handling coming back to life and being a vampire. He tells her he hates everything about being a vampire. She tells him she did too, until she found the idea of eternal love with Damon, but now she's lost it. She needs Alaric to do something for her. Because he was created by the original vampire spell, which means he can compel other vampires. She wants him to compel her to forget that she ever loved him.
Meanwhile, somewhere, Damon cheerily makes blueberry pancakes, with whipped cream fangs -- for Bonnie. Just like he does every day. They sit down to share breakfast in a cozy house, over their morning newspaper.
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