RECAP: ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Offs An Original – But Who?

Last week on The Vampire Diaries, Elena (Nina Dobrev) vowed Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) would kill Kol (Nathaniel Buzolic), Rebekah and Klaus’ rampaging brother. The question is: did they succeed?

In “A View to Kill,” Stefan awakens from his one-night stand with Rebekah (Claire Holt) and finds Klaus (Joseph Morgan) at the door, who reminds them that Kol needs to be taken care of. Kol, if you remember, is after Jeremy in an attempt to stop the group from locating the vampire cure.

While “babysitting” Jeremy and Matt (Zach Roerig), Elena tells Bonnie about her plan to kill Kol. Bonnie (Kat Graham) thinks it’s impossible, but she’ll try to help regardless. After Bonnie hangs up with Elena, Kol assaults her and she incapacitates him with her newfound powers. Elena calls up Stefan, who has been ordered by Klaus to convince Rebekah to hand over the ancient dagger which will kill an Original. Elena posits killing Rebekah first, so she won’t come looking for revenge once Kol is dead.

Elena attempts to bait Kol by asking for a truce. Kol demands that he be invited into their house. After much deliberation, Jeremy allows the Original to enter and flees in search of Bonnie. Bonnie is under house arrest sentenced by her father, and newly-returned mother Abby (Persia White), who became a vampire last season. They want to keep her safe because they think her magic is out of control. When Jeremy comes looking for Bonnie, he instantly falls into vampire hunter mode and tries to stake Abby. Bonnie stops him, and he leaves without her. Elena isn’t having much luck with Kol either – Kol grows bored and leaves, but not before Elena asks what the big deal is about Silas. “Some things are better left buried,” he grumbles and saunters out.

Meanwhile, burgeoning lovers Stefan and Rebekah break into their high school and have their own 80s-themed dance party. While trying to reenact the hallway-slide scene from The Breakfast Club, Rebekah hands over her dagger and confesses her desire to be human again. Now that Stefan has the upper-hand, will he stake Rebekah?

Jeremy comes home empty-handed and pow-wows with Elena on Plan B. There is a knock at the door. Kol has returned simply to tell them Elena’s request for a truce has been denied…and to kill them. Elena slams the door on him, but he kicks it down. As Kol stalks the house, he calls Klaus, who is babysitting imprisoned Damon, and tells him he’s going to kill him after he murders Jeremy and Elena. Klaus is enraged that his brother discovered their plans and leaves to confront him.

In a fight scene which echoes the violent video games Jeremy played earlier, Elena and Jeremy try to stake and shoot Kol. He drives a part of the stair railing through Elena’s stomach, which doesn’t kill her, but hurts like hell. Kol drags Jeremy downstairs, where he prepares to chop the hunter’s arms off with a meat cleaver. Elena inches her body off the stake and stops the amputation. Elena holds Kol down while Jeremy douses him with vervain-laced water, pumped into the town’s supply by Bonnie’s father as a precautionary measure. Jeremy then stakes Kol with the dagger Kol had in in his jacket. Kol dramatically bursts into flames and collapses. Klaus arrives just in time to see his brother burn. Though they had a love-hate relationship, Klaus despairs over Kol’s death. He rages against Jeremy and Elena, promising them he’ll burn their house down and kill them. Before he can do any of this, however, Bonnie appears as a superwitch and traps Klaus in the Gilbert house as Elena and Jeremy escape.

Back at the Salvatore house, Damon is freed from Kol’s compulsion and reunites with Elena. Expecting an epic love-fest? Their few brief moments together are yet again tarnished by Stefan’s arrival. Stefan admits to the group that he didn’t kill Rebekah. Damon says it’s because he slept with her. Before the brothers can start a fistfight, Jeremy screams and rips off his shirt Hulk-style to reveal the completed map of the cure on his chest. Success!

Now that they have the map, will they find Silas? Will the apocalypse Kol predicted come true? Check out the group’s journey “Into the Wild” in next week’s preview: