What episode does elena turn off her humanity

Stand By Me is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of The Vampire Diaries and the eighty-first episode of the series overall.

Summary

THE TERRIBLE TRUTH — When Stefan arrives back in Mystic Falls with Elena and Jeremy, Caroline is immediately worried about Elena's state of mind. Stefan reaches out to Dr. Fell and Matt for help. Still on the island, Damon relays somber news to Rebekah, and is surprised at her reaction. Together, Damon and Rebekah learn an unexpected bit of recent history from Vaughn. Everyone is horrified when Bonnie reveals the rest of Shane's plan. Finally, after Damon does his best to help her, Elena comes up with a plan of her own.

Plot

The episode begins with Elena standing with a photo of herself and Jeremy in her hands. She has a blank look in her eyes. She touches the glass and the picture falls to the floor, glass shattering.

Then we see Silas' tomb. Elena finds Jeremy's dead body inside the cave and collapses next to him, checking for a pulse and his ring, seeing the ring is there, she begins to cradle Jeremy's body and whisper everything will be fine. Stefan walks into the cave with a shocked look on his face. Stefan is then shown above the cave talking with Damon about what happened below. Stefan tells him that it must have been Katherine, Damon then realizes that the ring will no longer work on Jeremy as he is a hunter. He tells Stefan to look after Elena while he tries to find the missing Bonnie.

In the Gilbert House, Caroline is trying to scrape Kol's charred remains off the kitchen floor when she notices Elena and Stefan enter the house. She stands up to ask how it went until she stops in her tracks seeing Stefan carrying Jeremy's lifeless body. Her and Stefan share a silent conversation before Elena goes upstairs with Jeremy's body to wait until he wakes.

Damon is still on the island and searching for Bonnie. Rebekah appears and demands to know where the Cure is. Damon reveals Katherine stole it and has taken off somewhere unknown. They share words over Jeremy's death with Rebekah admitting she feels sorry for Elena. She seems reluctant to follow Damon, however does after he tells her Silas is awake. Still on the island, Bonnie wakes up in the woods and is with Shane who tells her he used some of the islands herbs to heal her back wound. She demands to know how he is healed, he tells her Silas healed him. She gets angry when he says Silas has risen and tells him she will not help him bring back the dead, and is left sitting in shock after he tells her she will help, as Jeremy is dead.

At the house, Caroline and Stefan talk about Elena and that she may be in denial over Jeremy. Elena suddenly appears and tells them that Bonnie will be able to do something. Caroline then switches conversation to the cure, wondering Katherine's reasons for stealing it. She then notices a stench from the house; it's Jeremy's body decomposing. Stefan tells her to get Dr. Fell to the house while he gets Matt.

Upon the Island, Rebekah and Damon search for Bonnie and trade taunts over Silas when Damon suddenly grabs her still, an arrow embedded in her back. Rebekah falls to the ground and Damon speeds towards Vaughn who is aiming a crossbow at him. He struggles yet is no match once Damon catches up with him. Bonnie is seen crying with Shane nearby who tells her he will help her get Jeremy back.

Dr. Fell arrives at the Gilbert House to check on Jeremy's body. She carefully tells Elena that his body has gone past the point of Rigor Mortis. Elena grows angry, clearly not listening and attacks Meredith, yelling her to find her Bonnie. Matt suddenly appears, and he sees Jeremy's body. He stands in shock as Elena calmly tells him Jeremy will be fine before hugging him. As they sit down at the dinner table, he tells her he wants to show her something.

On the island, Damon has Vaughn tied up, demanding to know information about Katherine, her whereabouts and how she knew of the cure before Rebekah appears, having dug the arrow out of her back. Rebekah threatens to torture Vaughn and he reveals what he knows about Katherine: she had a werewolf on the inside who fed her information. Shane and Bonnie are walking through the woods and he tells her information of Silas, about the Expression Triangle and how he can bring the dead back. Bonnie turns away and sees Jeremy's bloody body lying upon the ground, calling her name. She tries to "save" him, and looks up to see Shane, and says she will do whatever it takes.

Back in the house, Dr Fell and Stefan share a conversation about death and she tells him they need to remove Jeremy's body. Stefan's phone rings and it's Damon telling him he still hasn't located Bonnie and he can't return home without her. Stefan says the sire bond will be the only way to help Elena because she's starting to loose it. Damon tells him he's on his way. When Damon hangs up, he hears rustling, he turns and sees Bonnie approach from a nearby bush. He hugs her and asks where she's been, to which she responds "I know what to do to bring Jeremy back."

Matt has taken Elena to the school's stoner pit, where he shows her a "J & V" sign, for Jeremy and Vicki. He tells her that the only thing that keeps him going sometimes is hope. He says it's okay to have hope. In Mystic Falls, it's okay to not truly believe someone is gone, because sometimes they aren't completely. Elena's phone rings and it's Stefan telling her that Damon has found Bonnie and that there may be something they can do about Jeremy.

Rebekah has Vaughn tied up inside the well upon the island and he taunts her about Silas being free, and that if she doesn't believe him, she can look in her pack. He tells her if she was smart, she'd use the cure to kill Silas. She looks and sees Silas' mask inside the pack. She freaks, drops the mask and flees.

Caroline is talking on her phone, leaving a voice mail to Tyler, but hangs up once Damon's car approaches with Bonnie, they hug and Damon tells Caroline to bring Stefan outside. She says everything is fine and she knows what to do, but Damon repeats himself more forcefully and Caroline realizes something is wrong. Another short flashback shows earlier with Bonnie, Shane told her there is a few things she needs to do in order to bring Jeremy back.

The scene switches to inside and outside the Gilbert house. Bonnie, Matt, Caroline and Elena are seated around the kitchen table and she tells them she needs to complete an expression triangle. Damon tells Stefan outside that Bonnie is out of her mind, Shane has brainwashed her. Bonnie says she knows it sounds crazy to kill 12 people, but it's the only way to draw enough power. Flashbacks to earlier show Shane telling Bonnie about Silas being trapped in the tomb for 2000 years because Bonnie's ancestor; Qetsiyah trapped him there and created the Other Side so once he was released from his tomb, he wouldn't be able to see his love, he'd go to the Other side. Shane tells her that Bonnie is able to destroy the Other Side. Damon is still talking to Stefan about the entire flight home, Bonnie's talking about dropping the veil to this side and the other. He tells Stefan that if she does that, Silas will release every single supernatural being there. Bonnie tells Elena, Matt and Caroline that once the veil is dropped, there is no Other Side, and everyone is just one. Damon tells Stefan every supernatural being will be back with a vengeance. Back in a flashback, Bonnie says she can't do it, and Shane says everyone she loves will return, including Jeremy.

Back inside the Gilbert House, Caroline tells Bonnie they can't bring back every supernatural being. Elena is staring ahead blankly as music builds, Bonnie quietly telling them everything will be fine. Music is cut short when the house phone rings, Elena slowly stands, expression blank as she answers. April asks her if Jeremy is around. Elena stands stiffly as she hesitates for a moment before telling her Jeremy is dead. She hangs up and walks up the stairs to Jeremy's room. She slowly enters and pulls back the blanket from Jeremy's head, gasping. Damon appears and Elena panics over how long Jeremy has been there, and that he is dead, wondering how long he has smelled like he has. She tells him to bring Jeremy's body downstairs. She storms downstairs and demands to know where Bonnie is who she has gone home and she says they have to do this the old-fashioned way. She tells Damon to put Jeremy's body on the couch before she starts rustling through cabinets. She pulls out a bottle of lighter fluid and squirts it over the kitchen cabinets, much to Caroline's disbelief.

Stefan tells her to stop, but Elena continues dousing the house in lighter fluid, the couch, Jeremy's body. She has lost control as she demands to know what they are going to do with the body, and decides they burn the house down. They tell her to stop, but she continues growing louder. She kicks the bourbon and splashes it on Jeremy, taking off his ring and tossing it to Damon. She asks him if he would destroy the Other Side to get Alaric back? She says she wouldn't. As she splashes the rest of the bourbon, she goes to the mantel and lights a match. Stefan tells her to stop. She screams that there is nothing left for her in the house and that she has no family. The match burns down to her fingers and Damon catches it, telling her to calm down. She screams that she can't before she collapses to her knees, pain and grief taking over her features as she begins to break down, begging him to make the pain stop. Damon kneels down and hugs her, telling her to turn it off. She looks at him, her tears stopping and he tells her to turn off her humanity. She sits there with tears on her face and a blank expression.

Later on, Caroline is seen trying to call Tyler again, leaving him a message about Jeremy's death and begs him to call her before she hangs up and goes to bed.

Matt drops Bonnie off at home and she says she can bring Jeremy back. She walks into her house and Shane is there. She tells him that those that died at the Young Farm were human, not supernatural. Shane says they were a necessary sacrifice, and that they are the beginning and they can do it together.

On the island, Rebekah is walking around with a flashlight in the dark. She gasps when she trips over something and looks down. She sees Shane, seemingly dead. She goes to walk around, but screams when he grabs her leg. Shane gasps one word; Silas. Upon a street in Mystic Falls as Matt is driving home, he pulls up and beings to break down over Jeremy's death.

The scene cuts to the beginning of the episode. Elena standing over a broken photo frame. On the porch, Stefan and Damon are talking to each other. Stefan says turning off Elena's humanity was a mistake. Damon objects and tells her she wouldn't survive losing her brother. Stefan tells him that he knows things have been rough between them, and Damon says he knows, silently telling each other they care before they walk back inside to see Elena grabbing another match. They tell her there is another way, that if she wants to come home again after this is over, she won't be able to. She says she won't and drops the match. The three walk outside the house as flames are seen roaring inside, burning away Elena's life. We see Jeremy's body burning upon the couch and the last shot is Elena's journal being set alight.

Cast

Trivia

• Antagonists: Silas and Galen Vaughn.
• Although she is a new vampire, Elena switches her humanity off for the first time ever in order to block out her overwhelming grief and loss over her brother's death.
• Silas, posing as Shane, admits that they were lying, and that Silas couldn't bring back everyone who died in the sacrifices to create the Expression Triangle. Silas' plan involved bringing back all of the spirits of the deceased on the Other Side by lowering the Veil permanently between the living world and the supernatural purgatory. However, since humans do not go to the Other Side, Pastor Young and the other eleven members of the Town Council would not be resurrected.

Continuity

• Matt was last seen in A View to a Kill.
• Vicki is mentioned. She was last seen in Haunted.
• Kol was mentioned.
• Hayley was mentioned. She was last seen in O Come, All Ye Faithful.
• April is heard on the phone with Elena. She was last seen in After School Special.
• Katherine was mentioned. She was last seen in Down the Rabbit Hole.
• Sheriff Forbes was mentioned. She was last seen in Catch Me If You Can.
• Klaus and Tyler were both mentioned. They were last seen in Down the Rabbit Hole.

Locations

• Mystic Falls, Virginia
  • Gilbert House
  • Mystic Falls High School
    • The Stoner Pit
  • Forbes House
  • Bennett House
• Nova Scotia, Canada
  • The Island
    • Island Campsite
    • Tomb of Silas

Behind the Scenes

• This episode had about 2.91 million viewers in the USA, which was 0.60 million more than the previous episode.
• Plec mentioned that the episode is an homage to "The Body" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is named Stand By Me because a novella on which it is based on is called "The Body".[1]
• Hashtag during the airing is #TeamGilbert

Cultural References

• This episode has the same title as the 1986 movie starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell about a group of boys' journey to find a dead body after the passing of a close friend.
• "Stand by Me" is also a song originally performed by Ben E. King and written by King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller. There have been over 400 recorded versions of the song.
• Scaredy Cat is the name of a 1948 Merry Melodies cartoon featuring Porky Pig and Sylvester the Cat.
• Lividity - the settling of blood in the lower part of the body that causes a purple discoloration of the skin. It starts about twenty minutes after death and peak at about six hours. Because Jeremy was drained of blood, Meredith says he presented no lividity.
• Rigor mortis - the stiffening of muscles that occur after death. In humans, it begins about three hours after death, and peaks after twelve hours.
  • A little known fact is that rigor mortis dissipates after 48–60 hours. So, what Meredith says makes no sense—if Jeremy is "past rigor mortis," it means that his muscles are becoming flexible again, mainly due to decomposition; they cannot be tightened past the point of rigor mortis.
• Caroline goes into overdrive thinking about the funeral for Jeremy. Casseroles are a traditional food to bring to a grieving family as it is assumed they will either be too busy with funeral preparations, or too grief-stricken to prepare food.
• The Xbox in the living room— featured prominently in past episodes where Jeremy played it with his friends— burned with the Gilbert House and Jeremy's original body.

Quotes

Multimedia

Soundtrack

Pictures

Stand by Me - Elena, Damon, and Stefan

February sweeps poster

"Humanity was the only thing she hadn't lost."

References

1. ↑ 'The Vampire Diaries' Creators Break Down Season 4 | EW’s BINGE | Entertainment Weekly

See also

What episode does Elena break down and turn off her humanity?

What episode does Elena turn her humanity back on?

Who turns Elena's humanity off?

When did Elena shut her humanity off?