Damon has been in the basement for three days; Stefan explains this when Damon asks how long he's been in there. Stefan says that he is taking Damon to their family's crypt and explains that Damon's skin will desiccate in a week, and he will become a living corpse, unable to hurt anyone. He explains that Damon won't need his ring anymore.
Elena wakes up and tries to write in her journal but can't decide what to write. She goes to the bathroom and finds Vicki brushing her teeth. A confused Elena goes downstairs and asks Jenna if she is aware that Vicki is in the house. Jenna seems fine with it. Jenna sees her ex-boyfriend Logan on the news, and she and Elena discuss Stefan's absence, and Elena mocks the message Stefan sent her, mimicking it.
Caroline talks to Tiki via the phone about which outfit to wear and sees a shadow. She freaks out and ends her conversation with Tiki. Damon's compulsion has begun to work. Stefan looks at his brother from the cell door, and Damon tells him that the lies will catch up to him, as long as he keeps lying to himself about what he is. At the school, Elena learns the car wash's rules from Caroline, before Caroline "scolds" and "judges" their clothing choices. A man arrives with his car, hoping it will get washed, and Tiki comments that it is a "POS". Bonnie, angered with Tiki's attitude, makes the hose run and Tiki gets wet in the process.
Jenna watches Logan as he reports from the car wash. Elena offers to have Stefan's ring put in her bag, but he declines. Elena informs Caroline that they've run out of towels. Caroline goes to get more towels but sees a vision of Damon in the hallway. Elena, running the cash table, serves the man who confronted Stefan at the Grill, and he reveals that he stayed at the Salvatore Boarding House and met Stefan in June 1953, after Stefan's uncle Joseph was killed by an "animal" in the woods. Elena is deeply disturbed by the conversation, and questions Stefan on whether there are other Salvatore's in Mystic Falls. He lies and says that everyone has just drifted away but mentions Zach.
According to Stefan, three days have passed since the events of Family Ties.
During a PaleyFest interview, the original scripting of Elena's confrontation had to be rewritten due to its similarities to a scene in the first Twilight novel.
This episode started four days after the end of Family Ties.
Stefan: "During the Dark Ages, when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgment."
Damon: "You know what will happen if I don't feed on blood."
Stefan: "You'll grow weaker and weaker, and eventually you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate and you'll mummify, a living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. Ever."
Damon: "So, what, you're just going to keep me in the basement forever?"
Elena: "Not since he left that very vague message three days ago. (She mimics Stefan's voice) 'Hi, um, Elena, I, um, I have something I have to do, I'll, uh, explain in a few days.'"
Stefan: (to Zach) "I came here to live a life. It's about time I get back to that. And Elena, if she's still speaking to me."
Zach: (about lying to Elena) "You came back here because you wanted to live as normal a life as you could. You knew this was going to be part of it."
Caroline: "It's like there's holes in my memory lately, it's just...weird."
Caroline: "The Sexy Suds Car Wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who can pull off a bikini."
Logan: (to Sheriff Forbes about tracking the vampires) "Well someone who comes out only at night should eventually become obvious."
Jenna: (to Logan) "You have an hour. Make it count."
Jeremy: "Don't answer a question with another question."
Stefan: "Jeremy told me that chicken Parmesan is one of your favorites, and I happen to be a good cook. Italian roots demand it."
Stefan: "I figure if you're going to dump me, you should at least know who you're dumping."
Stefan: "So, let's start with Katherine. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever met. She had this perfect olive skin. And she had this laugh-- it was ridiculous. Her laugh made you laugh. And she was fun, she knew how to have a good time. But, Katherine was also very impatient, and entitled, and selfish, and impulsive. Enter Damon. He claims that he was with her first. I don't know. I do know I did some things that I'm not proud of, and my biggest regret is not being able to make it right before she died. I miss her, but I'm no longer crippled by her loss."
"When a heart Breaks" – S.O. Stereo
