Vampire Diaries: Season 8 Premiere Recap: “Hello, Brother”

Before we tackle what happened tonight, let’s go through a quick refresher of where things left off at the end of season 7.

Season 7 Finale Summary:

The season 7 finale had Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Caroline (Candice King) trying to keep their friend Bonnie (Kat Graham) from killing them, thanks to the powers that Rayna (Leslie-Anne Huff) gave Bonnie. Damon (Ian Somerhalder), Enzo (Michael Malarkey), and Matt (Zach Roerig) were all part of the race in finding a solution to that problem.

Alaric (Matt Davis) allowed the gang to use his pint-sized twins to help remove the seal on the Amory. Damon then went into the vault, alone, to destroy the Everlasting just in time to save his friend Enzo, who was at the mercy of Bonnie. Alaric and Caroline have a touching moment, where Alaric admits that Caroline’s heart was always with someone else. In turn, Caroline then has an exchange with Stefan giving viewers hope that these two will finally get back together. Bonnie forgives Damon making everything right with their tumultuous friendship. And yay everyone is safe and happy, right? WRONG.

Just as Damon was finishing his call with Bonnie, he started hearing Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) voice. Bonnie, sensing something was wrong, rushed to get to the Armory with Enzo. Only Enzo is able to enter the Amory and we see him being dragged off. Uh oh… The end of the show skipped slightly ahead and Stefan is writing in Elena’s journal about how they are trying to get Damon and Enzo back. We end with a view of a warehouse filled with dangling bodies that have unfortunately crossed paths with the deadly duo. Definitely NOT a good sign.

And now here we are, season 8 premiere. The final season. Go ahead and take a deep breath…

“Hello, Brother”

The season starts out with a couple driving in the night on a lone road. They crash into a man and when they get out to examine what happened, Damon and Enzo greet them. This encounter gives us an idea of what they have been up to – searching for people who are not so innocent and feeding them to a creature in a pool of blood.

Meanwhile, Stefan and Caroline are finally enjoying being a couple. Caroline is attempting to co-parent with Alaric and doesn’t seem so enthusiastic about the new “hot” nanny, Seline, or her ‘heart-shape cutting’ sandwich ways. She also worries that Alaric isn’t taking care of himself.

In a not-so-happy cabin, Bonnie is left with Enzo’s guitar and the memories of her and Enzo’s time together. She can no longer do magic and is left with a feeling of hopelessness because it has been weeks and months since they have had any real information as to the whereabouts of Enzo and Damon.

Meanwhile, Alaric has taken over the Armory and is now managing the artifacts as well as working with two interns on exploring the vault. How did Damon and Enzo get out? Alaric is definitely in his glory among all the old relics. It’s nice to see him get back to his historical roots! His team has discovered a hidden path that opens into a tunnel.

We return to the warehouse where Enzo voices his frustration into how long they will be at the mercy of this creature. It becomes apparent that they do not have full control over their actions and while Damon has flipped his switch, Enzo has not…yet. Damon, who no longer feels anything, is indifferent and pushes Enzo into the pool of blood since he tires of his ramblings.  Did anyone else notice the book that Damon was reading and chuckle? A little “Fifty Shades of Grey” to pass the time…the creature grabs hold of Enzo and seems to reinforce its hold on him.

Back to the couple from the beginning of the show – it looks like there might finally be a lead and Stefan and Bonnie head out to investigate it further. On their way to the crime scene, Bonnie admits that she is losing hope and Stefan urges her to hold on.

Since Enzo and Damon went missing, Caroline has been attempting to figure out what was said from Enzo’s visit to Virginia St. John in the mental institution based on a video from the security camera. While she explains what she is doing with the video to her twins, it is revealed that Virginia has escaped the institution and that they have had trouble fixing the audio from the video footage.

As we return to the tunnel that Alaric and his interns have uncovered, he explains how he doesn’t care for the danger now that he is a father with responsibilities. As they wind through the darkness, they are led to a door of a room which has practically been left untouched for ages.

Back at the crime scene, Bonnie and Stefan find out that the victim is the young woman. Does she seem familiar? That’s because she’s from the couple in the beginning that was captured, and who Enzo was supposed to have discreetly disposed of. However, the woman was found tied to the front of a car and strangled. Not so discreet, huh Enzo? Bonnie’s close up of the female victim uncovers that the item used to strangle the woman was a guitar string.

In the office, Caroline talks to Stefan who is trying to find out if there are any other strange incidents in the area of the crime scene. Caroline mentions that there is some odd reports stemming from a nearby slaughterhouse, so Stefan sets out to investigate. As she continues to try and analyze the video, she receives a call from the nanny. In the midst of the conversation, the nanny fears someone has broken into the house. That someone ends up being Virginia, who had been MIA since her break out. Virginia slices the nanny’s throat and heads out to search for the kids. Caroline rushes home and makes it just in time to save her twins who had been playing hide and seek. She knocks out Virginia and she saves the nanny.

Back in the tunnel, Alaric and the interns contemplate how the contents of the room have been preserved, he gently fends off a sweet advance from his young intern. Who could blame her, geeky Alaric is definitely attractive! Their time in the room is cut short with a call from Caroline.

As the clues start to add up for both Bonnie and Stefan, they are sure that this kill is related to Damon and Enzo. Stefan finds the warehouse and is finally face-to-face with Damon. As he carefully attempts to figure out what was in the vault and what they have been up to, Stefan realizes that his brother has yet again flipped his switch and urges him to turn it back on, to which Damon replies he has seen the “fire and brimstone hell” and there is no hope. Damon then cryptically says, “It doesn’t want you yet”. Hmmm, so does that mean at some point “it” will go after Stefan too?

Back at home, Caroline attempts to get information out of Virginia, who is tied up. However, this doesn’t go quite as planned. Virginia seems to bite her tongue off after declaring “It has come for them.” Is it just me, or does it seem like we are going to see a tad more gore than usual this season?

By now, Bonnie has found the warehouse and finds Damon and Stefan in conversation. During the exchange, Stefan drives a stake through Damon, but in a flash, Damon has Bonnie and Enzo appears with a punch straight into Stefan’s face. Both Damon and Enzo reiterate that Stefan and Bonnie must leave and stop their quest to save them or they will be forced to hurt them. Defeated, Bonnie and Stefan leave.

At home, Caroline with Alaric’s help is cleaning up Virginia’s dead body.  She failed to get any further information from her since she apparently kept bleeding to death. As she and Alaric discuss the close call their twins had to being victims, Alaric confesses that he wants to move back to the house and that Caroline should move in with Stefan.

As Bonnie and Stefan drive back to Bonnie’s cabin, Bonnie has renewed hope. Bonnie remembers a conversation where Enzo read her a story about sirens. As she recalls the story, she is convinced that Enzo is leaving clues for them. It is now Bonnie who encourages Stefan to remain hopeful that they will save her love and his brother. Stefan remains riddled with guilt from Damon’s departing words, “My life is over, my life has been over for a century and half, Stefan. Since you took it from me.” He fears Damon will never forgive him.

Bonnie later has more flashbacks of Enzo’s story about sirens. All the pieces from the story seem to have been part of the clues he has been leaving her.

We then find ourselves in an art gallery with Damon and Enzo hunting their next victim. During the banter, Damon questions how it is that Stefan and Bonnie discovered them since Enzo was instructed to properly clean up after their kills. He warns Enzo, that “it” can get into their heads and discover what they love most. He suggests flipping the switch to protect those he loves.

Stefan returns to writing what has transpired in the journal to Elena, as they all have taken turns writing to her throughout the episode. He wonders if he can save Damon and hopes that there is still a shred of humanity left in him. And sure enough it looks like there just might be a tiny chance as we next see Damon dreaming of the first time he met Elena. He says to her “Elena, I need you…I don’t know how much longer I can fight.” Phew…perhaps we haven’t lost him completely! Stefan vows to keep fighting and laments that “hope hurts.” Caroline comes home during this moment and tells Stefan that if he is willing, she is ready to move in. Love these two together!

Now that Bonnie is convinced the clues mean something, she calls Alaric to use his historical knowledge to try and figure out what that could be. It leads to a conversation about sirens and their lore – they tempt their victims with mind control and are ‘messengers of the devil’.  Well that doesn’t sound the least bit ominous, does it?

And just before the episode ends, the big bad is finally revealed. After feeding the creature their next ‘not-so-innocent’ victim, a naked woman slowly emerges from the pool of blood filling both Enzo and Damon’s heads with singing. Looks like the siren has risen and is no longer just a lore. I, for one, can not wait to see how they wrap up this last season!