"I'm a monster and I deserve to die." At least that's what Connor's (Todd Williams) dead spirit wants Elena (Nina Dobrev) to think in this week's 'Vampire Diaries' episode entitled, 'We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes.' After killing her first human, who just happened to be a member of "The Five," Elena is feeling guilty, and big time.
Just hours after killing Connor, Elena begins to hallucinate, an unfortunate side effect of killing a hunter that she and her friends didn't know about. She sees his spirit, hears him, even fights her. During a particularly frightful night, Elena heads down to the kitchen to make some tea, when Connor's haunting spirit appears.
Despite telling herself that he's just a ghost, Elena gets into a fight with Connor. As she calls for her ghost-seeing little brother, Connor puts Elena into a headlock. She manages to escape and plunges a knife into his neck, only to realize that she's stabbed her brother Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) instead. Thankfully, Jer is wearing the Gilbert family ring, which saves him once again.
The next morning, Elena nervously waits for Jeremy to wake up as Damon (Ian Somerhalder) tries to calm her down. "What am I going to say to him," Elena asks Damon. He replies, "How about thanks for not ditching the family ring even after it drove 'Ric crazy?"
Sensing that she'll need someone to connect with her emotionally, Damon suggests she call her boyfriend Stefan (Paul Wesley). But Elena won't have it. "He's been lying to me and hiding things from me. He compelled Jeremy to forget God knows what," she says. Unfortunately for her, Damon already called Stefan and he walks in two seconds later. Not wanting to talk to him, Elena heads upstairs to shower off her brother's blood from her hands.
Over at Lockwood Mansion, Tyler (Michael Trevino) and shewolf friend Hayley (Phoebe) spend the night remembering their hybrid friend Dean in an all-night booze fest. Tyler heads to bed and is replaced by Original Hybrid Klaus (Joseph Morgan). The next morning, Tyler's girlfriend Caroline comes knocking with a bunch of Tyler's old things ready for a breakup. At least that's what she and Hayley want Klaus to think.
After Klaus and his gang of hybrids head out, Caroline and Hayley smile to each other. Their plan works and even manages to trick Tyler. The vamp and shewolf in Tyler's life want Klaus to think that Caroline and Tyler are no longer together to distract him from knowing the truth-that Tyler and Hayley are working together to unsire Klaus' hybrids.
Back at the Gilberts, Jer wakes up and decides to head straight to school. Big sis Elena tries to wash away the memory of stabbing her brother, but instead is haunted by a bloody hallucination. Downstairs, Damon cleans up the floor of the kitchen of Jer's blood and Stefan is forced to talk to Klaus about Connor's death and Elena's hallucinations.
Klaus explains that Elena is feeling the after effects of killing one of The Five. Connor's spirit is bound to haunt his killer until she commits suicide. Klaus tells Stefan that he'll look over Elena until her hallucinations stop, but Stefan is not okay with it. However, inside Elena is trying to get away from Connor and runs right out the door and into Klaus' arms, who quickly takes her to a secluded chamber.
Jeremy, still trying to figure out what has happened to him, asks Matt (Zach Roerig) if he can see his hunter's mark. They're interrupted by April (Grace Phipps), who's looking for Original vampire Rebekah, and Professor Shane (David Alpay), who's holding an occult exhibit at Mystic Falls High. April tells Jer and Matt that the mysterious professor looks "so familiar" and later figures out that she knows him through her dad.
Back at Klaus' home, the Original Hybrid tells Elena that he's locking her up to keep her from committing suicide. Although she say's she would "never do that," Elena is soon visited by Connor's spirit, who continues to torture her guilty side. The deceased hunter tells her it's her fault her parents are dead and adds, "You're a monster, and you deserve to die." When his prodding doesn't work, Connor appears as Katherine (Nina Dobrev), who pushes Elena's buttons regarding Stefan and their love.
In the meantime, Damon and Bonnie (Kat Graham) work together to get some information from Shane on the hunter's mark and the curse that comes from killing one of The Five. Shane tells the two that whoever kills one of The Five is cursed to "walk the earth in torment" until a new hunter takes his place. Luckily for them, they have Jeremy, who is destined to take over for Connor.
In order for their plan to work, the group must work to get Elena out of Klaus' captivity. To do so, Caroline distracts Klaus while Tyler's newly unsired hybrid brother Chris helps Stefan sneak into Elena's room. After some convincing, Chris agrees to help and manages to get Stefan into the room. However, Elena's hallucinations make her think that Stefan is Connor and she stabs him in the gut and runs away.
Unknowingly, Elena runs straight to Wickery Bridge, where he parents died and where she was forced to become a vampire. Connor continues to assault her along with fake Katherine, until he transforms himself into her mother. Mrs. Gilbert seems to get through to Elena. "This bridge is where your life should have ended not once but twice," she tells her daughter. "You know exactly what to do."
Entranced, Elena takes off her daywalker ring, drops it into the river below and says, "I'm a monster and I deserve to die." She gets a moment of clarity when she thinks of her brother, but mom's spirit won't let her rethink her decision. "Jeremy is better off without you. You'll be a ghost who helps him not a monster who hurts him."
Damon shows up moments after and tries to get Elena to reconsider her suicidal plans. Back at the Lockwood Mansion, with the help of Klaus and Caroline, Jeremy kills Chris and becomes a brand new member of The Five. Just like that, the curse is broken, but it may be too late for Elena, whose skin starts to sizzle under the morning sun. Damon, however, has other plans and dives into the water with her to save her from burning to death.
Later, Elena wakes up tucked in bed with her daywalker ring safely on her finger. Damon, sits close by, and cheekily tells her, "You know what they say about teenage suicide. Don't do it." Elena then tells Damon that her mind is clear and she feels like that past day has been one horrible dream. She thanks him for saving his life. Damon, balks, and tells her why Stefan has been lying to her-there might be a cure for vampirism.
Elena later talks to Stefan, who breaks up with her saying that things between them have changed. She agrees and admits that her feelings for Damon have also changed, they've intensified. Speaking of intensified feelings, Caroline heads to Lockwood Mansion to check up on a visible drunk and upset Tyler, who has lost another hybrid/wolf brother. Blaming her for his death, Tyler asks her what she did to convince Klaus to help them out. "I agreed to go on a date with him," she says, which sets Tyler off and makes him throw a glass cup with whiskey at the wall.
Over at Mystic Grill, Matt finds Damon drinking and lets him know about some things he's dug up about the fire at the Young farm. With the help of the Sheriff, Matt finds out that Pastor Young called Professor Shane up to the day he died. In the meantime, Bonnie spends some time with Shane at Whitmore College, where he makes a startling remark, "When your new hunter, and I know you have one, completes his mark, then you're going to want to come to me because I'm the only one who can help."
The next episode of 'The Vampire Diaries,' entitled "My Brother's Keeper," airs on November 29 at 8 p.m. on the CW.
WATCH THE PROMO FOR "MY BROTHER'S KEEPER"