My 10 Favorite Episodes of S2 of The Vampire Diaries
So I did this for Season 1 back in December, and I knew I'd want to do it again when S2 ended, so here we go!
My 10 Favorite Episodes of TVD, Season Two.
I made a similar disclaimer last year, and it still stands. Most episodes I could give you reasons for why you should watch them, but I used a process of elimination to come up with this list.
10) 2x03 Bad Moon Rising
[Ironicially, the #10 spot on my S1 list went to the third episode of that season too.] I love this episode because of the Damon/Elena dynamic and the Stefan/Caroline dynamic. At this point, I was already a hardcore D/E shipper, but it was the sparkle and shine that Caroline brought to Stefan here, even though there is nothing romantic going on between them, that made want to see them onscreen together constantly. They are just so shiny together.
At this point in the narrative, we know these characters really well--we know that Damon snarks to avoid real feelings, we know Elena has a backbone and isn't afraid to use it, we know that Stefan sells himself bigger and better than he is, and we know that Caroline is a freak; a lovable freak, but a freak nonetheless, and now she's a vampire freak. So all of this unfolds while we learn some notable notes about the Sun and the Moon Curse, we find out that a werewolf bite mythically is fatal to a vampire, and we learn positively that Tyler's uncle Mason is a werewolf already. It's an information heavy episode, but there are enough exciting things going on to keep our attention--Damon jumps in front of a crossbow arrow to save Elena, Stefan almost gets bitten by wolf!Mason but the dog responds to Tyler's commands, and Caroline almost eats Matt. In the end, Damon tells Elena the truth (he didn't know Jeremy had his magic ring on when he snapped his neck), Tyler learns his uncle is a supernatural monster, and Caroline forces Matt to break up with her in an effort to protect him.
[Bonus Moment: Ric finally realizes that he needs to move on from Isobel because Jenna is AWESOME.]
9) 2x10 The Sacrifice
The title of this episode refers to Elena--she's The Sacrifice, but as the episode unfolds, we find that she's surrounded by a bunch of people willing to also become the sacrifice: Bonnie, who is willing to risk her life to make sure Stefan can go in the tomb, Jeremy who is afraid for Bonnie, goes in on his own to deal with Katherine, Damon goes to Richmond to save Elena and then prepares himself to fight an older tougher vampire he thinks he's already killed, and lastly, Stefan throws himself in the tomb to save Jeremy from Katherine. Didja follow that? Everyone is so selfless on this show, right?
[Bonus Moment: Jeremy tries to kiss Bonnie, and the fool denies him!]
8) 2x12 The Descent
I'm an easy crier, so for me to tear up on any given episode is not particularly special. However, there have been two times I've WEPT watching this show: once in S1 when Bonnie's grandmother died, and during this episode, when Damon gave Rose one last good dream. She's dying of a werewolf bite, there is no cure, and she's asked him to have mercy on her. So Damon doesn't just kill her, which is what she wants, he gives her peaceful final moments filled with the best of her human memories. It is one of the most touching scenes in the series because Damon often seems so incapable of such generosity--not from the standpoint of giving to those he loves, but of being capable of the depth of emotion that is present in these moments with Rose--a woman he is not in love with. The truth is that he can and is capable, because underneath that vampire exterior is the human boy that he has not completely obliterated (and we find out that he misses that boy very much).
There are other things going on (the Matt/Caroline/Tyler dynamic is heating up and is very interesting), but what really matters is what happens to Damon here, and the final three minutes of the episode are some of the most chilling and poignant of the series thus far, and I predict, ever. Ian Somerhalder's performance astounds me.
[Bonus Moment(s): Caroline gets good and kissed by two different boys! Lucky girl!]
7) 2x08 Rose
*sigh* This episode, ugh. What can I say? It has one of the most painful moments of the show ever (Elena running down the stairs to Stefan, not Damon), one of the funniest (Damon sucking on a bloodbag like it's a Caprisun), and one of the most romantic (he tells her he loves her, but then makes her forget). It's just an awesome episode. We get introduced to Elijah, the first Original we're privileged to meet. He brings old-world charisma to the screen as well as complete and utter fear. He knocks a guy's head off (literally) without a single thought, compels Elena and prepares to take her somewhere and lock her up, and then he comes back to life--after he's been staked in the heart. We call that BAMF in fandom.
[Bonus Moment: Stefan finally tells Damon he forced him to become a vampire because he loves him. Only he says it in an emotionally repressed man-to-man way that comes off awkward and stilted. But Damon knows what he means, so it's all good.]
6) 2x18 The Last Dance
This episode wrecked me. I got sucked into it, just as the writers wanted me to, and completely believed the misdirection of Bonnie's death. I think most people didn't believe it, but for me, I was truly misled, and I was devastated, both by the thought of Bonnie dying (who has undisputedly won me over this season into not just liking her, but loving her character), and Elena's anguish over the death.
The nice throwback to S1 of this show involves a school dance and some fun character interactions. It's funny to think of how everyone is involved now--everyone knows about the dangers or possible dangers lurking, unlike the last school dance where it was only Damon, Stefan, and Elena who knew the scary reality of evil vampires.
And of course, there is the distinct division in the way Damon does things and the way Stefan does things...another precursor to what Stefan does in the season finale.
[Bonus Moment(s): Matt Davis as AlariKlaus. He's divine.]
5) 2x21 The Sun Also Rises
This episode also wrecked me. I cried through the whole thing, copious tears that could never stop since the heartache never ends, it just transfers from character to character. From Jenna to Elena, from Damon to Stefan, from Alaric to Jeremy to John, from Jeremy to Bonnie, from Elena to Stefan, and then again from Damon to Stefan.
We're always threatened with death on this show (which is why I was so quick to believe Bonnie's death in 2x18), and so even though I was certain death loomed for at least one character in this episode, it didn't take away the poignancy for me. Then, of course there are the final three scenes: Jeremy and Elena, who will move you with their tenderness for each other, Elena and the whole group at the graves of their dearly departed, and Stefan and Damon and the utter devastation that assaults the younger brother at the idea of losing his older brother.
[Bonus Moment: Caroline and Tyler cuddle, and I'm pretty sure he's nekkid the whole time.]
4) 2x07 Masquerade
Best ENSEMBLE episode ever. Everything's clicking in this one from the Ocean's Eleven sting operation vibe to the newly brewing romance between Jeremy and Bonnie to Caroline cementing her complete awesomeness by tricking Katherine, and then saving Tyler from a really difficult conversation with his mother.
And they all look so great in their masks.
The dynamic with the two brothers and Katherine is amazing to watch--their fight scene is completely awesome, and the little dance they do as Damon deals with 145 years' worth of anger and Stefan tries to piece together the mystery that is Katherine Pierce becomes more fascinating at every turn.
[Bonus Moment: Damon's line: Death would've been too kind. The delivery is heartbreaking.]
3) 2x13 Daddy Issues
Is this a gratuitous shot? Perhaps. Is it a gratuitous episode? No. Aside from Elena's no good, very bad daddy coming to town and announcing he's her father when it was a dark, family secret, we learn from him how to kill an Original. I remember being very skeptical of this whole thing, since it's John and he's a bastard, but ultimately he's not lying. He does leave out some addendums, but that's a whole other issue. There's some fun behind-the-scenes stuff that happens as Jenna tries to hook Damon up with her friend Andie Star, and at first he seems hesitant, but being a man in need of a distraction, he quickly changes his mind.
The awesome action sequences involve the Salvatore brothers rescuing Caroline from a werewolf pack. Tyler gets involved, sort of, but his loyalties are torn between the girl who has stood by him through everything and the people who are like him. The drama it creates in their friendship is understandable, but I couldn't help but feel Tyler's confusion. Caroline did lie to him--granted her risking her life for him should have outweighed all that--but this is a guy who just went through a painful werewolf transformation, and he's still adjusting to the mess his life has become. And he found out that his uncle was murdered--and that Caroline knew about it.
Once again, the sparkly, shiny moments of the episode involve Caroline and Stefan, while the tension-filled ones involve Damon and Elena--including when Damon threatens to kill her father and Elena protests--half-heartedly.
[Bonus Moment: Damon ripping a werewolf's heart out as the guy leaps down from the roof of a travel trailer. It's all in the reflexes, baby.]
2) 2x22 As I Lay Dying
As far as season finales go, this is one of the best ones, ever, in my opinion. The set-up for the next season is so wonderful it makes a fangirl rejoice to know for sure that the show is not in danger of cancellation.
From the very beginning of this show, the most important relationships have been the ones between our three leads: Elena Gilbert and her Salvatore men. And while her deep love for each of them has grown and transformed over two seasons, their relationship has also been fascinating to watch. These are boys--brothers--who you aren't quite sure just what they know about each other. The various flashbacks have shown them both sleeping with Katherine, and the possibility that they each knew what the other was doing is debatable. I go back and forth--sometimes I think they didn't know, other times I do--and then I think of what they've revealed about these boys--Damon, impulsive and emotional, Stefan, thoughtful and somewhat ruthless, and I can't help but think the psychology between them is far more interesting than anything we'll ever see in the relationships they share with Elena.
And, as if to prove this once and for all, Stefan willingly gives everything up to save his brother. He gives up his "sobriety" for lack of another term, he gives up his life in Mystic Falls, and he gives up the girl he loves, because once upon a time, he didn't do that, and it got his brother killed. One thing can be said for Stefan--he's not making that mistake twice. Not to say he isn't making some other huge-ass mistakes, ones I don't think Damon would want him to make, even to save his life.
But of course, it is this interesting dysfunction within their relationship that allows the other relationships to flourish--and now that Elena has faced that she has feelings for Damon--now that she's accepted his love for her, and kissed him of her own volition--it will be very interesting to see where they go from here.
[Bonus Moment(s): Vicki and Anna are haunting Jeremy???!! So exciting! And Damon and Alaric's bromance heats up.]
1) Tie between 2x20 The Last Day and 2x01 The Return
"The Last Day" has many meanings. Up front, it refers to Elena's last day as a human--because Damon, in a desperate, last ditch effort to preserve her life, force feeds her his blood. Klaus has been clear that tonight's the night of the sacrifice, and so Elena knows--she's going to die, and when she wakes up, if she wants to keep living, she'll have to become a vampire. We finally get her views on this topic as Stefan coaxes her to tell him how she really feels: she doesn't want to be one, and she never has. This is a brutal blow that Stefan takes in stride--his lady love, whom he'd like to be with forever, has no such plans herself. I can't help but think this moment leads directly into what Stefan does in the season finale: choosing Damon over Elena isn't hard because Damon is the person who will be with him forever--as long as Stefan keeps him alive.
And he already knows, Elena's not up for that.
What the phrase the last day also implies to me is it's the last day of subterfuge. Stefan can no longer deny that his brother loves his girlfriend--and he can't even be mad about it. He's angry that Damon took Elena's free agency from her, sure, but Damon taunts him with the idea that what Stefan's really upset about is that he hadn't done it himself. And the truth is, at the heart of him, that is what Stefan wanted. He wanted Elena to choose it, but he wanted it. And he's not going to get it--not willingly.
It's also the last day of Damon pretending he doesn't care about anyone but himself. He goes about saving Caroline and Tyler, takes one for the team by suffering a werewolf nip, and when it comes right down to it, he goes to Klaus to offer himself up. But it's too late for that, and so the last day also means--it's the last day of Jenna's life, a realization that hits the viewer when she gasps back into her body in the final moments of the episode, and Greta delivers the chilling line, "She's in transition."
For me, the reason this episode ties with my other favorite is because until this episode, I had always said, "Oh, I loved this one, it's my second favorite, after "The Return." This was the first time I felt the events, actions of the characters, and emotions evoked rivaled the season opener in a way that would hold up to repeated viewings.
At the beginning of the episode Damon and Stefan are so furious with each other that Damon stakes his brother, narrowly missing ending his existence, but at the end of it (timeline: probably the space of eight hours or so) Stefan calls his older brother in a panic and Damon assures his "baby bro" that he'll "take care of it." Only the height of extreme love and dysfunction makes these exchanges believable, and yet you buy it, tax and all.
[Bonus Moment(s): Everything Caroline and Tyler do and say, because it's so wonderful to have them onscreen together again, being honest and heartfelt with each other.]
"The Return" may always be my favorite episode of the series. That's a hard pronouncement to make when who knows what kind of Damon/Elena goodness awaits in the seasons to come, but it's hard to say anything about the S2 premiere that doesn't involve words like "perfect," "amazing," and "gut-wrenching."
And again, it all comes down to Ian Somerhalder's riveting performance.
I think it's safe to say, if you've read this whole post there's nothing I need to say about this episode that you haven't already heard me say, or thought yourself. I would be remiss not to mention the amazing Nina Dobrev, however. Up until this point, Katherine has been nothing but a footnote--a flashbacky presence of interest, whose power is still felt in present time, but who seemed to be getting less and less prominent. S1 ends with Damon starting to embrace parts of his humanity, and confessing that the Katherine-fueled reasons he came to Mystic Falls have started to change.
But then that confession is made to Katherine, even though he doesn't know it. Her present-day appearance is terrifying, not just because she tries to kill Uncle John, but because we have no idea what she'll do next.
And what does she do? She threatens Bonnie, stabs Stefan, rips Damon's heart out figuratively, and murders Caroline. And she's fabulous while she does every last bit of it.
Also: hello Uncle Mason! And hello Jeremy and Caroline's seasons of awesomeness. Pure genius.
[Bonus Moment: Stefan threatens Uncle John, and is surprisingly hot while doing it.]
My 10 Favorite Episodes of TVD, Season Two.
I made a similar disclaimer last year, and it still stands. Most episodes I could give you reasons for why you should watch them, but I used a process of elimination to come up with this list.
10) 2x03 Bad Moon Rising
[Ironicially, the #10 spot on my S1 list went to the third episode of that season too.] I love this episode because of the Damon/Elena dynamic and the Stefan/Caroline dynamic. At this point, I was already a hardcore D/E shipper, but it was the sparkle and shine that Caroline brought to Stefan here, even though there is nothing romantic going on between them, that made want to see them onscreen together constantly. They are just so shiny together.
At this point in the narrative, we know these characters really well--we know that Damon snarks to avoid real feelings, we know Elena has a backbone and isn't afraid to use it, we know that Stefan sells himself bigger and better than he is, and we know that Caroline is a freak; a lovable freak, but a freak nonetheless, and now she's a vampire freak. So all of this unfolds while we learn some notable notes about the Sun and the Moon Curse, we find out that a werewolf bite mythically is fatal to a vampire, and we learn positively that Tyler's uncle Mason is a werewolf already. It's an information heavy episode, but there are enough exciting things going on to keep our attention--Damon jumps in front of a crossbow arrow to save Elena, Stefan almost gets bitten by wolf!Mason but the dog responds to Tyler's commands, and Caroline almost eats Matt. In the end, Damon tells Elena the truth (he didn't know Jeremy had his magic ring on when he snapped his neck), Tyler learns his uncle is a supernatural monster, and Caroline forces Matt to break up with her in an effort to protect him.
[Bonus Moment: Ric finally realizes that he needs to move on from Isobel because Jenna is AWESOME.]
9) 2x10 The Sacrifice
The title of this episode refers to Elena--she's The Sacrifice, but as the episode unfolds, we find that she's surrounded by a bunch of people willing to also become the sacrifice: Bonnie, who is willing to risk her life to make sure Stefan can go in the tomb, Jeremy who is afraid for Bonnie, goes in on his own to deal with Katherine, Damon goes to Richmond to save Elena and then prepares himself to fight an older tougher vampire he thinks he's already killed, and lastly, Stefan throws himself in the tomb to save Jeremy from Katherine. Didja follow that? Everyone is so selfless on this show, right?
[Bonus Moment: Jeremy tries to kiss Bonnie, and the fool denies him!]
8) 2x12 The Descent
I'm an easy crier, so for me to tear up on any given episode is not particularly special. However, there have been two times I've WEPT watching this show: once in S1 when Bonnie's grandmother died, and during this episode, when Damon gave Rose one last good dream. She's dying of a werewolf bite, there is no cure, and she's asked him to have mercy on her. So Damon doesn't just kill her, which is what she wants, he gives her peaceful final moments filled with the best of her human memories. It is one of the most touching scenes in the series because Damon often seems so incapable of such generosity--not from the standpoint of giving to those he loves, but of being capable of the depth of emotion that is present in these moments with Rose--a woman he is not in love with. The truth is that he can and is capable, because underneath that vampire exterior is the human boy that he has not completely obliterated (and we find out that he misses that boy very much).
There are other things going on (the Matt/Caroline/Tyler dynamic is heating up and is very interesting), but what really matters is what happens to Damon here, and the final three minutes of the episode are some of the most chilling and poignant of the series thus far, and I predict, ever. Ian Somerhalder's performance astounds me.
[Bonus Moment(s): Caroline gets good and kissed by two different boys! Lucky girl!]
7) 2x08 Rose
*sigh* This episode, ugh. What can I say? It has one of the most painful moments of the show ever (Elena running down the stairs to Stefan, not Damon), one of the funniest (Damon sucking on a bloodbag like it's a Caprisun), and one of the most romantic (he tells her he loves her, but then makes her forget). It's just an awesome episode. We get introduced to Elijah, the first Original we're privileged to meet. He brings old-world charisma to the screen as well as complete and utter fear. He knocks a guy's head off (literally) without a single thought, compels Elena and prepares to take her somewhere and lock her up, and then he comes back to life--after he's been staked in the heart. We call that BAMF in fandom.
[Bonus Moment: Stefan finally tells Damon he forced him to become a vampire because he loves him. Only he says it in an emotionally repressed man-to-man way that comes off awkward and stilted. But Damon knows what he means, so it's all good.]
6) 2x18 The Last Dance
This episode wrecked me. I got sucked into it, just as the writers wanted me to, and completely believed the misdirection of Bonnie's death. I think most people didn't believe it, but for me, I was truly misled, and I was devastated, both by the thought of Bonnie dying (who has undisputedly won me over this season into not just liking her, but loving her character), and Elena's anguish over the death.
The nice throwback to S1 of this show involves a school dance and some fun character interactions. It's funny to think of how everyone is involved now--everyone knows about the dangers or possible dangers lurking, unlike the last school dance where it was only Damon, Stefan, and Elena who knew the scary reality of evil vampires.
And of course, there is the distinct division in the way Damon does things and the way Stefan does things...another precursor to what Stefan does in the season finale.
[Bonus Moment(s): Matt Davis as AlariKlaus. He's divine.]
5) 2x21 The Sun Also Rises
This episode also wrecked me. I cried through the whole thing, copious tears that could never stop since the heartache never ends, it just transfers from character to character. From Jenna to Elena, from Damon to Stefan, from Alaric to Jeremy to John, from Jeremy to Bonnie, from Elena to Stefan, and then again from Damon to Stefan.
We're always threatened with death on this show (which is why I was so quick to believe Bonnie's death in 2x18), and so even though I was certain death loomed for at least one character in this episode, it didn't take away the poignancy for me. Then, of course there are the final three scenes: Jeremy and Elena, who will move you with their tenderness for each other, Elena and the whole group at the graves of their dearly departed, and Stefan and Damon and the utter devastation that assaults the younger brother at the idea of losing his older brother.
[Bonus Moment: Caroline and Tyler cuddle, and I'm pretty sure he's nekkid the whole time.]
4) 2x07 Masquerade
Best ENSEMBLE episode ever. Everything's clicking in this one from the Ocean's Eleven sting operation vibe to the newly brewing romance between Jeremy and Bonnie to Caroline cementing her complete awesomeness by tricking Katherine, and then saving Tyler from a really difficult conversation with his mother.
And they all look so great in their masks.
The dynamic with the two brothers and Katherine is amazing to watch--their fight scene is completely awesome, and the little dance they do as Damon deals with 145 years' worth of anger and Stefan tries to piece together the mystery that is Katherine Pierce becomes more fascinating at every turn.
[Bonus Moment: Damon's line: Death would've been too kind. The delivery is heartbreaking.]
3) 2x13 Daddy Issues
Is this a gratuitous shot? Perhaps. Is it a gratuitous episode? No. Aside from Elena's no good, very bad daddy coming to town and announcing he's her father when it was a dark, family secret, we learn from him how to kill an Original. I remember being very skeptical of this whole thing, since it's John and he's a bastard, but ultimately he's not lying. He does leave out some addendums, but that's a whole other issue. There's some fun behind-the-scenes stuff that happens as Jenna tries to hook Damon up with her friend Andie Star, and at first he seems hesitant, but being a man in need of a distraction, he quickly changes his mind.
The awesome action sequences involve the Salvatore brothers rescuing Caroline from a werewolf pack. Tyler gets involved, sort of, but his loyalties are torn between the girl who has stood by him through everything and the people who are like him. The drama it creates in their friendship is understandable, but I couldn't help but feel Tyler's confusion. Caroline did lie to him--granted her risking her life for him should have outweighed all that--but this is a guy who just went through a painful werewolf transformation, and he's still adjusting to the mess his life has become. And he found out that his uncle was murdered--and that Caroline knew about it.
Once again, the sparkly, shiny moments of the episode involve Caroline and Stefan, while the tension-filled ones involve Damon and Elena--including when Damon threatens to kill her father and Elena protests--half-heartedly.
[Bonus Moment: Damon ripping a werewolf's heart out as the guy leaps down from the roof of a travel trailer. It's all in the reflexes, baby.]
2) 2x22 As I Lay Dying
As far as season finales go, this is one of the best ones, ever, in my opinion. The set-up for the next season is so wonderful it makes a fangirl rejoice to know for sure that the show is not in danger of cancellation.
From the very beginning of this show, the most important relationships have been the ones between our three leads: Elena Gilbert and her Salvatore men. And while her deep love for each of them has grown and transformed over two seasons, their relationship has also been fascinating to watch. These are boys--brothers--who you aren't quite sure just what they know about each other. The various flashbacks have shown them both sleeping with Katherine, and the possibility that they each knew what the other was doing is debatable. I go back and forth--sometimes I think they didn't know, other times I do--and then I think of what they've revealed about these boys--Damon, impulsive and emotional, Stefan, thoughtful and somewhat ruthless, and I can't help but think the psychology between them is far more interesting than anything we'll ever see in the relationships they share with Elena.
And, as if to prove this once and for all, Stefan willingly gives everything up to save his brother. He gives up his "sobriety" for lack of another term, he gives up his life in Mystic Falls, and he gives up the girl he loves, because once upon a time, he didn't do that, and it got his brother killed. One thing can be said for Stefan--he's not making that mistake twice. Not to say he isn't making some other huge-ass mistakes, ones I don't think Damon would want him to make, even to save his life.
But of course, it is this interesting dysfunction within their relationship that allows the other relationships to flourish--and now that Elena has faced that she has feelings for Damon--now that she's accepted his love for her, and kissed him of her own volition--it will be very interesting to see where they go from here.
[Bonus Moment(s): Vicki and Anna are haunting Jeremy???!! So exciting! And Damon and Alaric's bromance heats up.]
1) Tie between 2x20 The Last Day and 2x01 The Return
"The Last Day" has many meanings. Up front, it refers to Elena's last day as a human--because Damon, in a desperate, last ditch effort to preserve her life, force feeds her his blood. Klaus has been clear that tonight's the night of the sacrifice, and so Elena knows--she's going to die, and when she wakes up, if she wants to keep living, she'll have to become a vampire. We finally get her views on this topic as Stefan coaxes her to tell him how she really feels: she doesn't want to be one, and she never has. This is a brutal blow that Stefan takes in stride--his lady love, whom he'd like to be with forever, has no such plans herself. I can't help but think this moment leads directly into what Stefan does in the season finale: choosing Damon over Elena isn't hard because Damon is the person who will be with him forever--as long as Stefan keeps him alive.
And he already knows, Elena's not up for that.
What the phrase the last day also implies to me is it's the last day of subterfuge. Stefan can no longer deny that his brother loves his girlfriend--and he can't even be mad about it. He's angry that Damon took Elena's free agency from her, sure, but Damon taunts him with the idea that what Stefan's really upset about is that he hadn't done it himself. And the truth is, at the heart of him, that is what Stefan wanted. He wanted Elena to choose it, but he wanted it. And he's not going to get it--not willingly.
It's also the last day of Damon pretending he doesn't care about anyone but himself. He goes about saving Caroline and Tyler, takes one for the team by suffering a werewolf nip, and when it comes right down to it, he goes to Klaus to offer himself up. But it's too late for that, and so the last day also means--it's the last day of Jenna's life, a realization that hits the viewer when she gasps back into her body in the final moments of the episode, and Greta delivers the chilling line, "She's in transition."
For me, the reason this episode ties with my other favorite is because until this episode, I had always said, "Oh, I loved this one, it's my second favorite, after "The Return." This was the first time I felt the events, actions of the characters, and emotions evoked rivaled the season opener in a way that would hold up to repeated viewings.
At the beginning of the episode Damon and Stefan are so furious with each other that Damon stakes his brother, narrowly missing ending his existence, but at the end of it (timeline: probably the space of eight hours or so) Stefan calls his older brother in a panic and Damon assures his "baby bro" that he'll "take care of it." Only the height of extreme love and dysfunction makes these exchanges believable, and yet you buy it, tax and all.
[Bonus Moment(s): Everything Caroline and Tyler do and say, because it's so wonderful to have them onscreen together again, being honest and heartfelt with each other.]
"The Return" may always be my favorite episode of the series. That's a hard pronouncement to make when who knows what kind of Damon/Elena goodness awaits in the seasons to come, but it's hard to say anything about the S2 premiere that doesn't involve words like "perfect," "amazing," and "gut-wrenching."
And again, it all comes down to Ian Somerhalder's riveting performance.
I think it's safe to say, if you've read this whole post there's nothing I need to say about this episode that you haven't already heard me say, or thought yourself. I would be remiss not to mention the amazing Nina Dobrev, however. Up until this point, Katherine has been nothing but a footnote--a flashbacky presence of interest, whose power is still felt in present time, but who seemed to be getting less and less prominent. S1 ends with Damon starting to embrace parts of his humanity, and confessing that the Katherine-fueled reasons he came to Mystic Falls have started to change.
But then that confession is made to Katherine, even though he doesn't know it. Her present-day appearance is terrifying, not just because she tries to kill Uncle John, but because we have no idea what she'll do next.
And what does she do? She threatens Bonnie, stabs Stefan, rips Damon's heart out figuratively, and murders Caroline. And she's fabulous while she does every last bit of it.
Also: hello Uncle Mason! And hello Jeremy and Caroline's seasons of awesomeness. Pure genius.
[Bonus Moment: Stefan threatens Uncle John, and is surprisingly hot while doing it.]