Where we left off: They'd lured Klaus back to Mystic Falls by telling him Mikael had been staked. The plan was for Klaus to be distracted by the sight of Mikael stabbing and killing Elena — whose blood Klaus needs to make more hybrids — and Damon to stake Klaus. Damon was about to deliver the fatal blow when Stefan stopped him. At least Elena survived — Damon had gotten Katherine to play her. Believing Stefan betrayed them, Damon told Elena that Stefan's humanity really is gone. If that's the case, Elena said, they'd let him go.

Where they're headed: ''Damon is pissed off,'' Executive Producer Julie Plec says. ''When we come back, he's got a row of bottles lined up along the Mystic Grill bar and is having what he calls 'brunch in a bottle.' He doesn't understand why the plan went wrong. He's mad at Stefan, he's mad at the world, and the one person that can keep him focused and keep him from imploding is Elena. So they continue to find trust and support in each other.'' Tip: Delena fans won't want to miss tonight's episode. ''We're starting to see her willingness to let go of that stronghold she had on the belief that Stefan would come back to be the guy that he used to be. The consequences of her willingness to let that go will play out for the rest of the season,'' Plec says, ''because as we've seen as an audience, he's still there. They just don't know it yet.''