'The Vampire Diaries' 'After School Special' recap: Painful truths, Shane's plan

"The Vampire Diaries" season 4 returned on Thursday, Jan. 17, with episode 10, "After School Special." Rebekah trapped a group in the school library while Damon and Matt worked on training Jeremy at the lake house.

Rebekah's twisted Breakfast Club. During an assembly at the school as "The Vampire Diaries" began its first 2013 episode, Tyler left as Liz spoke of Carol, calling her death "an accident," the official cover-up. After she thought she saw Rebekah, Elena also left, but instead of finding the Original, she found April, who told her she knew she was a vampire. Then Rebekah broke her neck (It may not have been necessary, but "it was fun"), and when Elena came to in the library, Rebekah refused to let her leave. Rebekah then called in Stefan, who was drinking his sorrows, and he and Caroline searched the school, only for Rebekah to find them first. She wanted the cure.

With the group compelled, Rebekah took the time to get honest answers, first about the cure and then about the love triangle. She learned about Stefan and Elena's breakup, the sire bond, and Elena sleeping with Damon. But she wasn't the only one who learned something; thanks to the compulsion, Elena revealed that she slept with Damon because she was in love with him, not because of the bond. Caroline turned the conversation back to the cure, and once Rebekah learned about Shane, Kol fetched him from his office after Bonnie left after Shane gave her a graduation gift, a pendant Qetsiyah wore for strength.

Compulsion didn't work on Shane, so Rebekah left him with Kol to physically compel him for answers. She returned to the others for a game of Truth or Dare, or "Break Stefan's Heart." She dared Elena to tell him the truth about Damon, and she said that being with him made her happy. With Stefan, she felt like a problem that needed to be fixed and she thought she made him sad. She still loved him, but she wasn't in love with him. When Stefan said it hurt, Rebekah replied, "Welcome to the last 900 years of my life." And then Tyler showed up after Rebekah had called him down to the festivities, and she compelled him to turn.

Bonnie found April and began a protection spell for Shane as Kol began holding his head underwater to get answers. And then Shane revealed that he just wanted to free Silas. When Kol put his head back underwater, April began coughing up water. Kol argued that Silas would kill them all, but Shane had already put the plan into motion, and once he raised Silas, he would bring back the dead. Kol stabbed him in the stomach, and April began bleeding. Meanwhile, Tyler tried to fight the change, but he couldn't. Stefan, Elena, and Caroline ran, and Elena and Stefan were able to barricade Tyler out.

Once the Originals left, Shane sat up and pulled the pole out of himself. Elena and Stefan found Bonnie and April, and Bonnie explained the protection spell linked them. Stefan gave April his blood and told Bonnie to get her out, warning her about Tyler. Elena tried to get him to talk, but he asked, "How many more ways are there for you to rip my heart out?" She told him she didn't want to hurt him, but their conversation was cut short when Rebekah joined them. Fortunately, they didn't have to worry about Tyler though, as he had changed back when Caroline found him at his mother's memorial. He thought it was his fault and he should've saved her, and Caroline held him as he grieved. Meanwhile, Rebekah offered Elena a solution to her problems: she could compel Stefan to forget every memory he had of her and every bit of love he had for her. Stefan told her to do it, but Rebekah just laughed. She wouldn't because his eternity of pain would be her revenge. They were free to go, and Stefan refused to stop when Elena followed him out.

"The little hunter that could." Jeremy's training wasn't going how Damon or Klaus wanted, though for different reasons. Damon, who was spending time listening to Elena's voicemails, knew Jeremy wasn't ready, while Klaus wasn't pleased that they weren't growing Jeremy's mark. He needed the cure soon with his hybrid shortage. In a moment that perhaps Tyler needed more, Damon shot Klaus: "That's for Carol Lockwood." Later, Klaus revealed he knew Damon wasn't going to take innocent lives and took care of that. The pizza delivery girl stopped by, citing car trouble, and could only enter once Jeremy invited her in. When she attacked Matt, Jeremy had no choice but to stake her, and his tattoo grew.

Bonnie's father comes to town. Bonnie's father, Rudy, was the new Mayor, a job that others had turned down. Even though he knew Bonnie had "gifts," that didn't stop him from wanting to protect his daughter.

This week's ending… Bonnie found Shane with questions. He called her the "key to everything" and said he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Elena called Damon to let him know Stefan knew and said she realized something about them: It may be the sire bond, but she loved him. He told her he'd get the cure for her (though he may have to do some not-nice things) and to get in her car and come to him. Meanwhile, Stefan and Rebekah formed a new partnership. She planned to force the cure on Klaus and make him mortal. She also learned Shane was alive, and in turn, revealed Shane's plan and what he had done. Stefan put the pieces together and got to expression. They'd "manage" Shane once they had the cure themselves. Meanwhile, April went to Liz and Rudy with what she knew about what Shane did. She wanted the town to start telling the truth. And finally, Klaus presented a bar full of new vampires transitioning for Jeremy to kill. Damon had realized Klaus' way was better.

"The Vampire Diaries" season 4 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on the CW. What did you think of "After School Special"?

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