"Lost Girls" -- which is easily the best episode of the series to date -- picks up right where "You're Undead To Me" left off. Elena demands to know what Stefan is. He tells her she already knows, and then helps her through her denial. "Everything you know and every belief you have is about to change. Are you ready for that? [...] I'm a vampire." They go back and forth a million times over the course of the next 24 hours or so; I'll hit the details in the full write-up. What matters is this: he gives her more backstory, and she gives him a day to convince her to keep his secret and, I guess, to stay with him. In the course of Stefan's confession, we are treated to Stefan/Katherine/Elena flashbacks from 1864. Stefan is already courting Katherine, when Damon, a Confederate Soldier, comes home on leave. She leads them both on, and when Stefan makes the mistake of telling her he will love her forever, she sucks his blood, and revels in her plans for an immortal ménage à trois.

Meanwhile, a ravenous Damon (see what I did there?) finishes off Vicki's small town-lifer friends at the cemetery and covers his tracks by burning their remains. He calls Stefan and demands the return of his magic ring, making clear Elena's life is at risk if Stefan refuses. Since Vicki's still alive, Damon takes her back to Mossy Manse, and feeds her some of his blood. Her wounds heal, he puts her under his thrall and they party. Damon's dance left me breathless -- with wonder and laughter -- and yet it also left me wanting to stab my eyes out with a stake, too. How can that be? Anyhow, when he realizes how pathetic Vicki's life is, he snaps her neck and kills her, but because she's fed off of him, she doesn't stay dead. Instead, she begins "transitioning" into a vampire. To complete it, she must feed. Vicki runs to Jeremy, who has no idea what's going on. He calls Matt for help, but he's just as lost. Poor Pudding Pop. When Stefan and Elena return to Gilbert Gables, Stefan immediately knows what's going on and promises he'll help Vicki, but when she's tempted to feed on Jeremy, she takes off.

Stefan tracks Vicki to the woods, where she reveals that her memory of everything is returning. She wants to know what will happen if she refuses to feed. Stefan tells her she'll die. He tries to sell that option, but Vicki is devastated. Just as Stefan is about to explain his vampire vegan-equivalent vittles to her, Logan "Scum" Fell shows up and shoots Stefan. It's a wooden bullet, meant to disable him enough so that Scum can stake him. He finds Stefan, by the way, thanks to the pocket watch which the F'n CoW upgraded into an ACTUAL VAMPIRE COMPASS. For reals. As Scum is poised to stake Stefan, Damon swoops in and saves the day... er... night. He bites Scum (who passes out), then removes the bullet from Stefan, and retrieves his ring. But while the brothers bicker, Vicki can't resist Scum's oozing blood, and her hunger makes her decision for her. Stefan shouts out to stop her, but he's too late. Realizing what she has done, Vicki apologizes and runs off into the night. Damon retrieves the vampire compass. He and Stefan are long gone by the time She's-the-Sheriff and another police officer find Scum, or what's left of him. She orders the officer to find the watch. Nice. That ought to give him a lot of pre-holiday overtime pay.

Back at Gilbert Gables, Stefan lets Elena know that he wasn't in time to stop Vicki from feeding. He promises Elena that he'll show Vicki how to live a non-murderous unlife. They'll have to lie to Matt and Jeremy. Elena is unhappy about this. She will keep Stefan's secret. She doesn't fear him, but she can't be with him. Leaving him on her porch, she returns to her house and dissolves into tears. I'll catch you on the flipside with full coverage, including many mythology moments. In the meanwhile, come on over to the forums, and whatever you do, don't invite strangers into your house.

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