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Well guys, what can I say? After this episode, I simply had too many thoughts — and tears — to keep from recapping, and Dalene was nice enough to let me step in. There’s a lot that I love about this episode, from the nostalgia, to that phone call, and every dramatic realization in between. For me, this episode felt very reminiscent of earlier seasons; in the style, the return of Klaus, and the reappearance of Tyler’s werewolf transition. It also had one of my favorite opening lines in

In the flash-forward, Caroline walks into a bar in New Orleans, holding the hands of her daughters as she explains to her tiny children, “All right girls, you know what this is? It’s a bar.” The only thing that would’ve made this moment better would’ve been Klaus showing up saying, “You have babies … in a bar.” But instead, Caroline is greeted with the news that “nobody’s seen or heard from that man in three years.” As fans of

know, that could very well mean that the prophecy came true and Klaus is either dead and the sire line unlinking spell worked or Klaus is desiccated somewhere. Either way, I have chills.

Back in present-day, Stefan is on his way to New Orleans — Valerie is guiding him to the magical safe house that was established in

second season to protect everyone from Dahlia. But when Stefan makes a pit stop to get a phone charger, he learns exactly what it means to be a target of Rayna Cruz. Fun fact: It means you have to be a hummingbird. (You stop moving, you die. Get it?) Needless to say, Rayna shows up and chases Stefan off.

Elsewhere, Bonnie is at Damon’s side as he tries to find a way to save his brother. It seems Bonnie promised Caroline that she’d make sure Damon didn’t make things even worse for his baby bro. Arriving at The Armory, Bonnie and Damon are greeted by Enzo, who explains that The Armory is home to a society of supernatural artifact collectors who’ve taken great care to keep themselves out of the history books. And because Rayna Cruz is “one of the supernatural wonders of the world,” they’ve recruited Enzo to find her … in exchange for information about his family. The plan is simple: Get Stefan to The Armory, and when Rayna follows, they’ll lock her up. Bonnie and Damon are in.

Taking a page out of Stefan’s playbook, Ric also decides it’s time to hit the road. But this time, he’s leaving Mystic Falls for good. (And not saying goodbye to anyone? What happened to Ric and Damon’s friendship?) Seeing his baby girls for the first time made him realize that he’s got to get out of town for them. He’s moving to Dallas today … and Caroline’s going with him. After all, there’s no better road-tripping partner, and thanks to her vampire healing powers, she’s all good to check out.

In New Orleans, Stefan arrives at the safe house/bar when Klaus slides him a shot, a callback to their time together in Chicago in the 1920’s. Klaus then gives us this wonderfully meta line about the crossover: “Stefan Salvatore in the Crescent City. This ought to be good … or entertainingly bad.” Also, I’d like to give props to the music supervisor for choosing a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” for this scene.

Catching up with Klaus, Stefan claims he chose a location that’s invulnerable to magic because he doesn’t want Damon to be able to find him. After all, “I figure you of all people can relate to family drama.” How many of you have missed that Klaus smirk? (I hope none of you because you should really be watching

Knowing Stefan and Caroline better than he knows himself, Klaus quickly mentions the “mining fires” that prompted a townwide evacuation in Mystic Falls. Commenting on how noble it was of Stefan to save the humans, Klaus also calls out the fact that Stefan did it ”in such uncharacteristically sweeping dramatic fashion.” When Stefan mentions that he had help, Klaus quickly says, “How is Caroline?” Not gonna lie, my heart skipped a beat. 

Well, speaking to how Caroline is doing in this exact moment, she’s currently stuck in a “bell jar of baby noises” on the road with Alaric while Matt and Valerie work together to try to track down Stefan. As for Valerie’s “siblings,” we catch up with Mary Louise and Nora at a gas station just long enough to get some witty banter about death by salt and a brief moment of reconnection before The Armory shows up and captures them both.

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