Welcome back! We've been on hiatus since November 10th, and I'm trying to put the let back in recaplet, so let's dig right into "The New Deal." You ready? Okay.

I hope you had a better time over the holidays than our poor Mystic Falls misfits, and that you're finding 2012 a bit gentler. Ever since Stefan sabotaged Operation Kill Klaus, Elena has felt like everyone is out to get her, because...yeah they are. And Bonnie's been having these dreams that the abandoned mansion is full of caskets, because yeah it is. Meanwhile Jeremy, who has been fired from the Grill, is failing at school and taking in a little drunken target practice, with sire-bound hybrid Tyler -- using a crossbow nicked from Alaric, no less. Clearly, we cannot turn our back on these kids for a minute, never mind a two-month hiatus.

Stefan and the dead witches who haunt the abandoned mansion (except for when they're in a snit) appeal to Bonnie to help them mystically cloak the caskets of the Originals. Bonnie complies, without consulting with Elena, first. To me, this seems out of character, given Bonnie's conflicted feelings where vampires are concerned. From the mythology angle, it also seems unnecessary to require Bonnie's services, since the witches are apparently capable of casting spells on their own, despite their extreme deadness. Mumble mumble messy mythology grumble. I'll get to that in the full weecap.

Klaus wants those caskets back, and he knows Stefan has them, but he can't find Stefan, so he wages a full-on assault on the Gilberts. He gets Tyler to get Jeremy off vervain and compels Jeremy to stand in the middle of the road and get run down by an SUV, driven by a new hybrid. Alaric rushes to the rescue and takes the hit, himself. He's wearing his protect-o ring, though, so since the car is driven by a hybrid (i.e. a supernatural creature), Alaric is only a little dead.

When Alaric finally wakes, he's not all better, like he usually is when Damon kills him. It seems his ring is on the fritz. Mumble mumble messy mythology grumble. Alaric coughs up blood and passes out, so Elena calls an ambulance, but New Hybrid shows up on the porch of Gilbert Gables, and compels the EMTs to leave without their patient. New Hybrid then tries to manipulate Elena into inviting him in the house, so he can feed Alaric his healing blood, but Jeremy shoots him with the crossbow and then chops off New Hybrid's head -- with a meat cleaver. I start plotting Buffy/Jeremy crossover fan fiction. Let's thank heaven I'm too busy to bring that little fantasy to fruition, and move on. Elena gets Alaric to the hospital where he meets a beautiful doctor, Meredith Fell (which is probably driving the book fans crazy). And although we don't see it happen, and I'm not sure how he managed to squeeze in a visit, Damon apparently goes to the hospital and gives Alaric some blood so he'll get better.

I'm not sure how Damon manages to squeeze in that visit to Alaric, because he spends most of the episode talking to, fighting with, and staking Stefan, over and over. Stefan eventually tells Damon why he double-crossed the Fellowship of the Falls in Operation Kill Klaus. If you'll recall when it all went down two months ago, Klaus told his baby hybrids that should the Fellowship succeed in Operation Kill Klaus, they were to kill Damon, as their final act of obeisance. Since hybrids share a powerful bond with their sire, they would have carried out Klaus's wish, even after his death. So yeah, Stefan saved Klaus to save Damon. He then took the Originals' coffins, to torment Klaus -- what I'll be calling the Coffin Contrivance. Eventually, Stefan and Damon decide to work together (without Elena's involvement or knowledge) on some new plan to kill the unkillable Satan Klaus, whom they decide must be killable after all, they just have to figure out how. Mumble mumble messy mythology grumble.

Since the beautiful Brothers Salvatore do not involve Elena in Club Coffin Contrivance, and Satan Klaus keeps threatening her loved ones, Elena goes rogue (again) and strikes her own deal with the devil. She's gives him the en-daggered Rebekah, in exchange for Jeremy's life. Klaus removes the dagger from Rebekah's corpse. Elena warns him that Rebekah will want to kill her, since she's the one who inserted the dagger. Klaus believes he needs Elena if he's going to persuade Stefan to return the other Originals, so he assures her he can control Rebekah. Somewhere in there, Elena tells Klaus that Stefan no longer cares about her, so she may not be all that helpful in persuading Stefan to do anything, which seems like a profoundly stupid admission to make to the monster who has been menacing you for the past...however long. She also tells Klaus that Rebekah will be gunning for him, too, because before Elena en-daggered her, little sister learned the truth. Mikael the Vampire Vampire Slayer (MtVVS) didn't kill their mother, Klaus did. Once Klaus has Rebekah back at whatever property he's taken over, he decides to re-en-dagger her, just as she starts to show signs of life.

When Damon gets to Gilbert Gables, he finds Elena covered in New Beheaded Hybrid's blood, since she's been scrubbing it off the porch. She tells him about trading Rebekah for Jeremy's life. Damon is horrified, because he knows Becky will want to kill Elena, but Elena brushes off his concerns, more deftly than she washes all that blood off her hands. She then tells him what's been up with Jeremy -- from being compelled, to messing up at the school none of them ever attend, ever, to getting fired from the Grill. Together with Alaric, they visit Jeremy in his room, and Damon compels Jeremy to forget everything, put Mystic Falls out of his mind, and go to Colorado (I think) to stay with family friends, and live like a normal teenager. Wait. What? Just when he's getting all badass? I object. I hope McQueen is just getting some down time for a film or something. Remind me to Google that.

Anyhow, Elena sees Damon out. She's second-guessing her decision to compel Jeremy, as well she should, but Damon tells her that even if the Germ finds out and gets pissed off again, "...estranged is better than dead." Damon then informs Elena that Stefan saved Klaus to save Damon (although he doesn't share the details). Damon admits he kind of hates knowing that, because now he has to feel guilty for wanting what he wants. Elena, who knows she is what Damon wants, takes this in, but doesn't object. Damon starts off down the front steps, but soon stops and turns back to Elena. "No. You know what? If I am going to feel guilty about something, I'm going to feel guilty about this." He takes her head in his hands and kisses her! His hands slide under her shiny, shiny hair. Elena raises one of her hands to Damon's, but doesn't pull it off her neck and she doesn't pull away. She yields to his slow gentle kiss. When he pulls back and looks in her eyes, I'm pretty sure he must see that she while Elena is not going to instigate more kissing, neither would she resist it. He starts to eye-thing at her, stops himself and whispers, "Good night," leaving Elena nearly as breathless as the Damon/Elena 'shippers (and some of us non-shippers, too).

Once again, I've failed at putting the let back in recaplet, but once again, I feel like I've barely skimmed the story. This was a strong return. The only reason I've given the episode a B is because I have a strong distrust of/distaste for the magic aspects of this show's mythology. I'll hit that in the full weecap, which will be up ASAP. In the meantime, please grade the episode up top and join us in the forum, where there are plenty of good reasons to feel guilty.