Growing Pains

The Vampire Diaries

Season 4, Episode 1 (67)

Air date

October 11, 2012

Written by

Caroline Dries

Directed by

Chris Grismer

Episode Guide
(Transcript)
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“	The Spirits aren't listening. There's something else I could try. [...] If the witches won't help me save Elena, then maybe I could go to the Other Side and bring her back myself. [...] She's still in transition. Not fully dead, not fully alive. What if her spirit still exists on both sides? [...] I was able to stop your heart to stop Klaus'. I'll do the same thing to myself. Witches have free reign on the Other Side. I will find Elena and I will bring her back with me. [...] I'm stronger now. I found a new source of power.	”
	— Bonnie

Growing Pains is the first episode of the fourth season of The Vampire Diaries and the sixty-seventh episode of the series overall.

Summary[]

ELENA'S WORST NIGHTMARE — Elena awakens on the morning after the accident to find the thing she dreaded most has come true – she died with Damon's blood in her system and now must drink human blood to become a vampire or face death. Stefan promises Elena that he and Bonnie will exhaust every possible way out of the situation, but Damon is furious with his brother for letting Elena die in the first place. Bonnie pays a terrible price for her attempt to change Elena's fate, while Damon takes out his frustration and rage on Matt. In a rare moment of empathy, Rebekah is deeply touched by Stefan and Elena's devotion to one another. Pastor Young and the Town Council members begin rounding up the vampires and their supporters, leading to an unexpected tragedy.

Plot[]

Elena wakes up and finds out that she's in transition. Damon and Stefan take turns explaining to her (and the audience) exactly HOW she is about to turn into a vampire. Damon declares that Elena must drink blood fresh from the vein but Stefan says Bonnie will try to find a way to prevent Elena from becoming a vampire. This is because she has said so many times before that she doesn't want to become a vampire.

Klaus (in Tyler's body) demands that Bonnie restore him to his body. Bonnie convinces him to wait, if she can keep Elena human, Klaus would have his "blood bag" back. Pastor Young is heading the council now, and they are taking some tough measures: they occupy the hospital, put guards around the bloodbank, take the badge out of Sheriff Forbes and arrest Carol Lockwood.

Matt is having survivor's guilt. Caroline mourns Tyler, who she believes is dead. She is captured by Pastor Young. Elena is riding an emotional roller coaster. She has vivid flashbacks about what Damon compelled her to forget. Also, she tries to eat a sandwich, but is unable to do so. Damon tries to stake Rebekah, but Pastor Young and his troops arrive just in time and interrupt him. Luckily he managed to hold on to the White Oak Stake as he avoided capture. Stefan is not so lucky and gets captured with Elena. She is served dinner she cannot eat, while Stefan is put in a cattle cell. Pastor Young explains to Elena that they've known each other since she was a little girl.

When Klaus/Tyler learns that Caroline has been captured, he runs to their transport car and rescues her - leaving behind a bewildered Rebekah, revealing himself to her in the process. Damon, Liz and Meredith try to figure out where Stefan and Elena have been taken. After almost being strangled by a very angry Damon, Matt imagines that maybe they have been taken to Pastor Young's cattle ranch. In the woods, Caroline tries to have some "glad you are not dead" "hot vampire-hybrid" sex, but Klaus/Tyler refuses her advances (not too much) and eventually she figures out it's Klaus in Tyler's body by the way he speaks.

Meanwhile, Elena tries to escape and believing she is also a vampire, she is put in a cell where she can hear, but not see Stefan. Rebekah watches everything from her cell, across from them.

Bonnie asks the spirits for help to save Elena, but is denied. She then stops her own heart, to go to the other side and pull Elena back. Her grandmother's spirit appears to tell her she cannot do that, and pushes her away from Elena, warning her that there will be consequences if she uses dark magic. Elena feels a force pulling her but she can't figure out what is pulling her.

Elena is dying because she has not fed. She confesses to Stefan she was on the bridge because she chose him. Rebekah is touched by their devotion to each other, and helps Stefan to kill one of the soldiers so that Elena could feed on his blood and complete the transition.

Damon recruits Matt to show him to where Elena is being held and to act as bait to draw the Pastor out. It works, but Damon is shot. He wakes up just in time to take the two men out. Vamped out, Elena superspeeds just in time to stop Damon from killing Matt for being alive. Again. Pastor Young watches everything from his window without interfering.

Rebekah confronts Klaus for not saving her, and they fight. Rebekah destroys the remaining bags with Elena's blood (that Klaus plans on using to make more hybrids) and Klaus breaks Rebekah's neck out of anger, telling her she is no longer his sister and means nothing to him.

Stefan and Elena have a touching moment on the roof of the Salvatore Boarding house. As the sun rises, he gives Elena her daylight ring. Pastor Young gathers all the council members in his house, with all the town's supply of vervain, pulls the gas line out, makes a speech about a "Greater Evil" and lights a zippo. The council is killed in the ensuing explosion.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert
Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore
Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore
Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert
Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett
Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan
Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes
Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood/Klaus Mikaelson
Joseph Morgan as Klaus Mikaelson

Special Guest Star[]

Jasmine Guy as Sheila Bennett

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

Susan Walters as Mrs. Lockwood
Neko Parham as Council Member

Trivia[]

Antagonist: Pastor Young, Sheriff's Deputies, and Atticus Shane (indirectly)
While in transition, all Elena could think about was blood, thus when she tried eating a sandwich, she said it tasted terrible and caused her to vomit.
While Bonnie didn't technically lose her powers, the fact that the Spirits led her to believe that her Grams' spirit is caused pain whenever she uses magic as a punishment for Bonnie using Dark Magic causes her to be too afraid to use it.

Body Count[]

Pastor Young and eleven other Council members - Explosion; killed by himself
Deputy Adams - Head trauma; killed by Stefan
Two Sheriff's Deputies - Broken neck and impalement; killed by Damon

Continuity[]

Meredith, Carol, Elizabeth, and Rebekah were last seen in The Departed.
Sheila was last seen in Ghost World.
Alaric and Elijah were mentioned. They were last seen in The Departed.
Finn was mentioned. He was last seen in The Murder of One.
Kol was mentioned. He was last seen in Heart of Darkness.

Locations[]

Mystic Falls, Virginia

Behind the Scenes[]

This is the first season premiere to feature every main character since Pilot.
Following Matt Davis' departure from the cast in Season Three, this is the first season to feature just nine series regulars.
This is the first season premiere to feature Meredith Fell, Sheila Bennett and Rebekah, the third to feature Carol, the second to feature Klaus and Liz, and the fourth to feature Elena, Stefan, Damon, Jeremy, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler and Caroline.
This is the first season premiere to not be written by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec.
This is the first season premiere and episode overall (excluding Pilot) to not have a "Previously On..." voice over. Instead, the first 15 episodes of this season have a special recap segment.
This episode had about 3.18 million views in the USA.
Hashtag during the airing is #WelcomeBackTVD

Cultural References[]

Death Becomes Her is a 1992 dark comedy with Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis. It's a play in words and it can mean both "she became death" as well as "death looks good on her," (like clothing).
Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, Long Island, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992.
The quirky dialogue between Elena, Stefan with Damon's snarky remarks was a very elegant Exposition that recapped the events that led to this all. Could it be that through all his Bitter Sarcasm, Damon is the Only Sane One?
Well, this whole episode was a great Introdump, but there was lot of information to recap.
Pastor Young is introduced very much like Remember This New Guy? He remembers Elena wanted to be a writer, knew her parents, and was part of the Council, although we had never seen him before.
Like many times before, Bonnie suffers from Psychic Nosebleed when she overexerts herself.
Very creepy when Klaus threatens to Rip The Living Heart out of Tyler.