Stefan:  Mystic Falls.  I was born here.  This is my home.

Damon:  And mine.

Elena:  And mine.

Stefan:  For centuries, supernatural creatures have lived among us.

Caroline:  There are vampires, werewolves, dopplegangers . . .

Bonnie:  and witches.

Klaus:  And even hybrids.

Bonnie:  There are those who protect them . ..

[Alaric:  The Sheriff has a vampire for a daughter.  And our lovely mayor, a son who is half vampire, half werewolf.]

Tyler:  And those who want them dead.

Elena:  They’re our friends.

Stefan:  Our enemies.

Elena:  The ones we love.

Stefan:  And the ones we’ve lost.

[Matt!  Look out! *tires squeal* *truck crashes off bridge*]

Elena:  And then there’s me.

[Stefan rescues Matt]

Elena:  I’m human . . . at least I was.

[Elena gasps to life on morgue slab]

And with the hair standing up on my arms, that is how season 4 begins, my friends.

I’m serious.  Even now that I’ve seen it at least 10 times, the back of my neck still prickles and the airs on my arm stand at attention!!  Man, I love this stuff.

Anyway, the screen goes to black after Elena awakes on the table, and then we’re blinded by a bright, white light and the sound of birds.  The sweet sounds and light of morning are quickly replaced by a lawn mower, a church bell, over-loud sirens, a chainsaw, and other sounds that would make my daughter stick her fingers in her ears.  These are the sounds that wake a transitioning Elena.  Stefan’s is the first face she sees.  (And if you’ve watched the “Alive” teaser clip as many times as I have, you can skip to Damon’s last line.  (They cut his funniest ironic zinger from the tease!)

“Stefan?”

“Hey, I’m right here.  You’ve been in and out for hours.”

“What happened?”

“You were in an accident.”

“Oh my God.  Matt?  Is he – ”

Damon answers, “Alive?  Ask Stefan.  The hero.” {to say that he says that sarcastically is the understatement of the millenium}

“He’s fine,” Stefan sighs.

“Thank you,” Elena says with obvious relief.  “I thought that I – how did you -”

“Save you?”  Damon again.  “He didn’t.”

“When Jeremy brought you to the hospital before all this happened, your injuries were worse than anyone knew. . . Meredith Fell made a choice, she used Damon’s blood to heal you -”

” – And when Rebekah ran Matt’s truck off the road you had vampire blood in your system, Elena.”  {the way Damon almost spits the word ‘vampire’ is hard to describe, but it’s fierce}

“Oh my God.  Does – does that mean that I – Am I dead?!?  No.  No.  No.  That wasn’t supposed to happen.” {the knowledge of what that means sinks in and the horror on Elena’s face is striking.}

“Maybe it doesn’t have to.  I talked to Bonnie, she said she’s stronger than ever, there might be something she can do to help you -”

“No, the only thing that’s going to help is for you to is feed and complete the transition,” Damon, always the pragmatist!

“We have all day before she has to feed, Damon, that’s a day to exhaust every way out of this!”

“There is no way out of it!  We all know the drill.  You feed, or you die.  There is no door number 3.”

“I was ready to die!”  {Really?  You live in Mystic Falls, babe.  Ain’t nothing that easy.}  “I was supposed to die, I don’t wanna be – I can’t be a vampire!  If there’s something that Bonnie can do, we have to try!”

“We will.  We will try everything.”  {Sometimes, I think Stefan is a wee bit delusional.}

Damon, again, with his biting comments, “Your choice Elena, as always.”

Damon leaves the room, and we see Elena start the beginning of a panic attack.  Stefan is broody and concerned (when is he not?).  The we get the The Vampire Diaries logo.  Then we’re treated to a little back and forth between the brothers.  Stefan is all hopeful (and broody) and feeling guilty, and Damon is all angry that Matt got to live, and Elena doesn’t.  It’s kind cute the way they want the same thing, but look at the situation completely differently.  I love the way that plays out.  And I love this:

“Bravo, brother.”  Damon’s sarcasm knows no boundaries.  Some will hate him for the way he seems to ride Stefan about his always letting Elena make the choices, but I think it’s just his way of dealing with his anger.  He doesn’t want this for Elena any more than she does.  But, I’m a Damonite, we all know this already.

Elena is up in her room, and the light’s too bright, the sounds are too loud, and she’s getting a little punchy and twitchy.  She’s rubbing her jaw and checking her teeth in the mirror when Jeremy appears in her doorway.  (How he manages to sneak up on her when she can hear the filament in the light bulb next to her, I’m not entirely sure, but ok.)

Jeremy tries to sympathize by telling Elena how bad Vicki’s transition was, and sets up the whole memories-coming-back thing and as much as Elena tries to act like nothing’s bothering her, she gets snippy with him.  Jeremy explains a little bit of what Bonnie is going to do.

“Have you talked to Bonnie?”  {Elena asks, in part to distract herself from that pesky lightbulb}

“Yeah, she said that when I was shot, she made some plea to the witch spirits to bring me back and they listened.”

“Yeah, but the consequences were were horrible -”

“What could be more horrible than you turning into a vampire?  I need my sister, not another one of them.”  {Didn’t know you didn’t like the vampires you’ve been palling around with for three season, Jer, just what is going on there??)

Elena slips so easily back in to the role of big sister here and assures him that everything is going to be alright.  He walks away and then that pesky lightbulb starts humming again.  Elena promptly removes the lampshade and smashes the lightbulb in her hand.

With not a moment for her to relish in her almost-vampire strength, we’re switched to the coffin holding the dessicated corpse of Klaus.  He’s ashy and grey, but not completely destroyed.  Chains are still in place, but this time the eyes don’t open. Bonnie and Tyler/Klaus are deep in “discussion:”

“The deal we made with Tyler was that you’d leave his body and jump into someone else the first chance you got.”

“Yes, when I assumed I’d be a pile of ash.  But apparently fate and oxygen intervened and here I am. {think he means his corpse} Put me back.”

“I can’t right now.”

“Your history teacher outed Tyler and Caroline to the Council.  They’re on a warpath and this body is vulnerable.”

“I have to help Elena before she has to feed -”

“Elena’s dead and no longer my concern.”

“You’re forgetting who just saved your life.”

At this point Tyler/Klaus grabs Bonnie by the throat and, threatens her, “You forget I can rip your tongue out!  Now.  Put.  Me.  Back.”

“If I can keep Elena human, you’ll still have an endless blood supply to make your *gasp* hybrids.  Isn’t that what you really want?”

They have a brief stare-down, and then Tyler/Klaus shoves her away from him, conceding this round.

“Same rules apply, no one knows.  No one.”

*cue ominous music*

“Do you understand me, Bonnie?”

And then we’re at the hospital.  Dr Meredith Fell and Pastor Young (Michael Reilly Burke) exchange pleasantries, and then he lets her know the real reason he’s there, as his “soldiers” fan out behind him.  The new Council has appointed him to “protect the town” and makes some snide remark about the blood supply dwindling and about how she might need to find a new job.  He makes a snide remark about some members of the founding families having “conflicting interests.”  Meredith looks shell-shocked at his back as he walks away.

Meanwhile, Matt is getting dressed in his hospital room and talking to Caroline.  Matt blames himself for the situation Elena is in, and Caroline tries to tell him it isn’t.  Matt nearly yells the word ‘vampire’ and Caroline admits she should be “half way to Florida by now.”  Matt asks her why she hasn’t left yet, and she explains how lost she’s feeling after Tyler’s “death.”  She breaks down and he hugs her.  Caroline hears the “soldiers’” radio crackle and in a flash she’s gone, just as a “soldier” barges into Matt’s room.

Flash to Mayor, Lockwood who is being handcuffed by the “soldiers” and being told by Pastor Young that she’s no longer the Mayor as she’s carted off to be questioned about the whereabouts of her son.  Sheriff Forbes is cornered outside her cruiser, and Pastor Young says that the “soldiers” behind him are taking her badge.  He tells her that she’s “not fit to protect us anymore.”  She warns him that he “has no idea what he’s up against.”

Caroline is stuffing a blood bag into a large bag thrown over her shoulder at her house.  It looks like she’s making her move to run after all.  Her cellphone rings, it’s her Mom.  She tries to tell her Mom she’s on the road “a lot of boring highways” and turns to close the front door, when she’s shot full of Vervain.  Liz is still on the phone, and hears it go down.

That takes us to the first commercial break.  Wow.  So much for a “more character orientated” season, eh?  A LOT happened in those first few minutes!

*wipes brow* *cracks knuckles*

And, we’re back!  In the Gilbert kitchen, Stefan has prepared Elena a sandwich.  She tries to choke it down, but admits that it’s making her want to vomit.  All she can think about is blood.  Stefan starts with the “I should have saved you first” stuff again (is it just me, or is this getting tired already?) and Elena tries to make him see that Matt being dead would be worse for her.  I don’t think he sees it that way.  His earlier faith in Bonnie’s abilities seems to be wavering.  She makes some comment about “crossing that bridge when we come to it” and the irony of it gets her giggling.  Then she’s uncontrollably giggling.  Then she’s sobbing.  Vampire emotions SUCK (pun intended).

Stefan hugs her, and then says, “Listen to me.  No matter what happens, I’m here for you.  I can help you.”

*cue the awwwws*

Elena steps into the light from the window in the kitchen, and winces.  Stefan sends her upstairs.  When she crosses the threshold to her room, we see Damon sitting there.  Elena greats him, and then realizes she sees herself there, too.  Hello, COMPELLED AWAY MEMORY.  She’s remembering when Damon returned her Vervain necklace what seems like forever ago.  He wiped her memory of the moment, and we soon find out why.  (If you aren’t a Damon fan – scroll down past the indents.)

Damon:  “I just have to say something.”

Elena:  “Why do you have to say it with my necklace?”  (He started to hand it back and then snatched it away)

“Because, what I’m about to say is . . . probably the most selfless I’ve ever said in my life.”

“Damon, don’t go there.”

“I just have to say it once.  You just need to hear it.  I love you, Elena.  And it’s because I love you that . . . I can’t be selfish with you and why you can’t know this.  I don’t deserve you.  But my brother does.”

He kisses her on the forehead, and then continues, “God, I wish you didn’t have to forget this.”  There are tears welling up in his eyes as his pupils dilate and he wipes her memory, but he’s still talking, “But you do,” and the tears spill over.

Elena’s puzzled by the memory, and then looks down at her chest where the locket once hung.

Rebekah is going through some of Klaus’s drawings back at their house, visibly upset.  She clears the desk in a sweep of her arms, sobbing.  Damon sneaks up behind her.

“You should know better than to sneak up on a lady,” she says.

“Good advice.  Have you seen one?”

God, have I mentioned I love this man?  Anyway, she makes some snide remarks about Elena (not sure whether Rebekah knows Elena is a vampire, or thinks she’s dead at this point) and fires a zinger off about whether or not Matt has “automobile insurance.”  Needless to say, Damon reacts badly and tries to stake her with Alaric’s magic stake.  They tussle.  (It’s so hot when these two fight…)  Wood bullets come flying through the windows, and Damon ducks out of the frame.  Rebekah gets hit a few more times and ends up with an arrow sticking out of her chest, her face gets all grey and vein-y and she collapses.

Back to Elena.  She’s looking at a picture of her, her mom, and her Dad.  She hears a noise from downstairs (we hear it, too, along with a lot of clicking) and bolts down the stairs, calling for Stefan.  He tells her not to move, and we see he is surrounded by “soldiers” – guns all pointed at his chest.  You guessed, Pastor Young again.  *cue dramatic music and scene change*

Tyler/Klaus is sitting on what I think is his coffin, his cellphone ringing.  He pulls Tyler’s phone from his pocket, we see the screen says “Mom.”  He grumbles “incessant woman” (and sounds very much like Klaus-without the accent, of course) and answers.  Carol explains what has happened, tells him not to tell her where he is, and lets slip that Caroline has been captured.

Then we see a Sheriff’s car, sirens going, leading a black van down a road.  Rebekah comes to, and Caroline explains that they’re tied with Vervain ropes and what’s happened.  Just as Rebekah is getting cocky about her status, the van shudders, glass goes everywhere, and the girls are thrown backward.  Clearly the van has flipped (and I was right about who the blondes were when we got the teaser picture of this!!).

Yeah, that < picture.  Tyler/Klaus rips the back door off the van, rescues a very shocked and confused Caroline, but leaves Rebekah.  His parting shot to his sister?

“Keep ‘em busy, little sister.”

Does he not know that pissing her off can cause disaster?  Isn’t her being angry what got us all here in the first place?

*ahem*

As I was saying . . . Rebekah has her own little freak out over Klaus being alive and struggles feebly against the Vervain ropes.

Damon is putting the Gilbert living room back together and Liz shows up.  He explains that Elena and Stefan and Rebekah are probably all in the same place, and Meredith appears from the other room.  We learn through Meredith that everyone present knows Caroline is safe, but not where she is.  And . . . Matt comes in.  To say Damon reacts badly is, once again, an understatement.  Damon throws Matt against the wall by his throat.

“In what world are you the one that gets to live?”

Matt’s face begins to change color as Liz and Meredith talk Damon out of killing him.  He drops Matt, gasping, to the floor.

Elena’s feeling around in her mouth again, and Pastor Young is putting a kettle on to boil.  We don’t know where they are, but we get the impression that Young thinks Elena is still human despite her twitchyness.  He explains that her parents were the ones that came up with the emergency plan.  But Elena isn’t really listening.  The clock is ticking, the flame on the stove is flickering, the light is bothering her eyes.  She asks about Stefan, and the Pastor tells her he’s “where he can’t hurt you.”  Naturally, Elena objects to this.  He asks if she’s hungry – and now of course she is, but not for what he’s offering – and begins to cook.  He explains that he’s going to use Stefan as bait for Damon, and Rebekah to lure the rest of the Originals back.  He wants her to give him the white oak stake so they can kill everyone.  All she can hear is the meat cooking, his heart beating, the clock ticking.  The kettle starts to whistle, and she runs for the door.  Stumbling down the steps and out into the light, she’s suddenly disorientated.  Pastor Young yells, “Get her” to someone and Elena is cold-cocked and the world fades to black.

Second commercial break!!

In Part Two, Caroline discovers that Tyler isn’t quite himself in an interesting way!!