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The Vampire Diaries
Season 4, Episode 2

Air date	October 18th, 2012
Written by	José Molina & Julie Plec
Directed by	Rob Hardy
Episode Guide transcript
previous Growing Pains	next The Rager

Memorial is the second episode of the Fourth Season and the sixty-eighth episode in the series.

Summary

A NEW DANGER COMES TO TOWN — Elena tries to cope with the extreme highs and lows that are part of becoming a vampire, and Stefan and Damon almost come to blows while arguing about what is best for her. Damon finally decides to help Elena in his own way and asks her not to tell Stefan. A stranger, Connor Jordan, arrives in town and begins questioning Sheriff Forbes and Carol Lockwood. Connor’s actions quickly convince Stefan that they are dealing with a dangerous vampire hunter. Jeremy and Matt are shocked to see a girl they used to know, April, has returned to town and is enrolling at Mystic Falls High. At a town gathering, Elena comes close to losing control until Caroline steps in to help her. Finally Damon confides his feelings to an unexpected friend.

Plot

SPOILERS AHEAD

Stefan tries to help Elena to learn and follow his diet of drinking animal blood. In the morning, Stefan and Elena wake up together in the woods to hunt. Stefan tells Elena to close her eyes so that Stefan can catch the deer so Elena can feed. During the passionate make out session, Elena begins to feel sick and pushes Stefan away. She runs away using her super speed and vomits up the animal blood she just had consumed.

The vampire hunter is investigating the explosion site. He sees the disconnected gas pipe and the Zippo lighter. Elizabeth Forbes asks Damon if he was responsible for the death of the council. He denies it. They are interrupted by Connor.

Jeremy and Matt meet April Young, the daughter of Pastor Young. She was big friends with all the main characters, but has been in a boarding school since her mother died... another orphan in Mystic Falls.

Stefan is so happy for Elena's first feeding she does not have the heart to tell him she is not holding the blood down, so she goes to Damon for help. He feeds her blood from his vein.

Tyler and Caroline are interrupted just before some Grief Sex. Connor is at the door with questions to Carol Lockwood about the council deaths. When he shakes hands with Tyler, Tyler hand burns, and Connor shoots him immediately. Tyler manages to escape. All this happens before Caroline manages to get downstairs. Tyler goes to the Salvatores for help. Stefan pulls wooden bullets with strange markings on them. Just by touching at them he can tell they would be deadly to any ordinary vampire.

Elena joins Matt in setting up for the memorial service at the church. While they’re distributing programs, she spots April, whom she used to babysit. She goes to comfort the girl she hasn’t seen since her parents’ funeral. When Elena touches April’s arm, however, the sensation of the girl’s pulse makes her run off to the basement bathroom to puke.

Bonnie is skulking in her house when Stefan comes to visit. He hugs her and shows her the bullet. Just by looking at them she can tell they are not "magic". Elena has puked blood all over the bathroom and her pretty pink dress. Connor is knocking outside the door while Damon arrives with a clean dress and an excuse. He refuses to shake hands with Connor claiming he is a Germaphobe. Connor says he is in environmental control. April is on the balcony working on her speech. Connor stabs her on the stomach.

Outside the church, Damon gives Elena a bag of human blood. She gulps greedily but can’t stomach that either. “What’s happening?” she asks. Damon hypothesizes that’s it’s her doppelgänger blood and that she needs to drink from the vein. When the memorial mass starts, the Mayor invites April to speak. When the girl doesn’t approach the podium, Elena is the only one who stands up. As she starts to speak, Elena smells April’s blood and starts to fang out. Stefan takes her away from the podium. All the vampires have smelled blood, but Damon warns them not turn around as they are being watched.

Elena can't control herself as she has not fed. Matt offers his blood to feed her and stabilize her, as much as possible during the funeral. Surprisingly she drinks just a bit and manages to control herself. Seeing that Elena isn't holding herself together Tyler, fully knowing that the hunter will recognize him, takes the stand to speak for Pastor Young. Connor shoots him with a decorated stake. Hell breaks loose. Damon goes after the hunter and Caroline pulls the stake out of Tyler and he is okay. Must have missed the heart. Carol Lockwood calls an ambulance to keep appearances.

Damon chases and confronts Connor in the parking lot. Connor is stronger than he looks and is able to hold his own and is about to stake Damon when Stefan announces his presence. Connor gets in his truck and runs. None of the vampires present superspeeds after him.

Stefan punches Damon for sharing blood with Elena. Elena runs up the balcony to help April. The minute she sees her friend sitting in a pool of blood, however, her fangs pop out and she goes in for the kill. Fortunately, just before Elena attacks her, Caroline uses this opportunity to teach her some self control. She tells Elena to compel April to forget that a guy stabbed her and her babysitter tried to kill her at her dad’s funeral. Jeremy and Matt are in the Mystic Grill, so is Connor, who notices the bite on Matt's neck. Jeremy on the other hand sees some tattoos nobody else has seen.

Connor reveals Pastor Young's suicide letter, talking about a Greater evil that demands sacrifices. Stefan confronts Elena about lying to him and sharing blood with Damon. Stefan calls Elena, Caroline, Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy and Matt to have a little gathering where they remember all the people each of them lost including; Alaric, Jenna, Zach, Lexi, Bill Forbes, Mayor Lockwood, Vicki, Grayson, Miranda and Grams.

Damon refuses to take part and instead he heads to the graveyard to Alaric’s grave, makes a speech about how he misses his friend and leaves the bottle of alcohol on the grave. Alaric’s ghost misses him too.

Cast

Trivia

Antagonist: Connor Jordan.
This is the last episode of The Transition Chapter.
- This is the shortest chapter to date; spanning two episodes.
First appearance of April Young and Connor Jordan.
Bonnie invites Stefan into her home for the first time.
This is the first time that Mystic Falls Church is shown.
Elena's first compulsion as a vampire occurred in this episode.
Thanks to the explosion, Mayor Lockwood and Sheriff Forbes have resumed power in Mystic Falls. But the sheriff thinks there may have been more to the explosion that meets the eye and questioned Damon to find out if he had anything to do with the council being blown up.^[1]
Elena exchanges blood with Damon - in the books, vampires cannot have normal sex, but exchanging blood gives them sexual pleasure.
This episode shows firsthand how more resilient hybrids are against wood than vampires, as the bullets Connor used would have killed most vampires.
Elena's first human feed, warm blood from the vein, in the books is also Matt.
All the deaths prompt the group to take a look back at all of those who have died, leading to a touching impromptu memorial and a nice surprise ending. ^[2]
This episode had 2.910 million viewers in the USA.

Cultural References

Achilles Heel : a weak spot on an otherwise impenetrable defense. This is usually a deadly weakness that can lead to downfall. It refers to the mythical hero Achilles, who was invulnerable all over, except by his heel, where his mother held while performing the magic. He survived many battles but died being shot with an arrow to the heel.
Bambi - animated Disney movie about a baby deer growing up in the woods after the death of his mother. It is often used as synonim of baby deer.
"Bunny diet " - how Damon calls Stefan's diet of wild animal's blood.
Bloodlust - the craving for blood typical of vampires, overwhelming in recently turning vampires.
"Rip the proverbial band-aid " - it refers to the fact that if you rip the band aid quickly, you have a sharp pain, but then it's gone. If try to slowly pull it out, you just make the pain last longer.
After feeding on a deer, Elena interrupts her make-out with Stefan to puke blood - very similar to the scene between Sookie and Alcide's on the episode Let's Boot and Rally of True Blood.
Busybody - somebody who meddles into affairs of others.
Sky Lanterns are a Chinese invention, but in Thailand releasing a lantern is symbolic of problems and worries floating away. Because they have open flame and paper in their construction, they are a fire hazzard and are banned in many countries.
Pay it forward - the concept of asking the beneficiary of a good deed to repay it to others instead of the original benefactor. Although the concept is/was already on a Greek play published in 317 AD, it was popularized by the 2000 movie starring Haley Joel Osmend.

Pixie Cut - really short haircut for women. Popularized in the 1950's by Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina .
Grief Sex - It is said that only four things can counteract grief: sex, substance abuse, travel and hurting other people.
Germaphobe - Any person who is obsessed with cleanliness and bacteria. Many have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Environmental Cleanup - removal of contaminants from the environment, usually to protect human health.

Continuity

A couple of days has passed since the events of Growing Pains. Damon mentions this when he tells Stefan, Elena has been adjusting to being a vampire for days now.
Alaric was last seen in The Departed. This is his second appearance as a ghost. Damon's insistence that the seat next to him is taken is a homage to his drinking buddy. Maybe Alaric the Ghost WAS sitting on the seat....
Jamie was mentioned by Bonnie. He was last seen in Do Not Go Gentle.
Zach Salvatore was mentioned by Stefan. He was killed by Damon in Season 1's You're Undead to Me.
Lexi was mentioned by Stefan. She was last seen in Ghost World.
Vicki was mentioned by Matt and Jeremy. She was last seen in Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Bill Forbes and Richard Lockwood were both mentioned by Caroline. Bill was last seen in Bringing Out the Dead. Richard was last seen in Founder's Day.
Jenna was mentioned by Jeremy and Elena. She was last seen in The Departed via flashback.
Anna was mentioned by Jeremy. She was last seen in Ghost World.
Sheila Bennett was mentioned by Bonnie. She was last seen in Growing Pains.
It is not certain whether Elena mentions about her birth parents or adoptive parents. Grayson and Miranda Gilbert were last seen in The Departed. John Gilbert was last seen in The Sun Also Rises, and Isobel Flemming was last seen in Know Thy Enemy.

Behind The Scenes

This episode marks the first appearances of April Young and Connor Jordan.
A scene with guns was deleted. ^[3]
According to Carina MacKenzie, “Memorial" is one of the 5 best "Vampire Diaries" episodes ever.^[4]
The song "Firework" by Cameron E. was featured.[5]
This is the first episode of the series to not feature any of the originals since Ghost World.
Scenes featuring Rebekah may have been cut from the episode, because Claire Holt is still credited as guest starring even though she was not in the episode.

Quotes

Elena (to Damon): "Maybe I'm better off dead."

Stefan (to Damon): "She's strong, if we can help her she can survive."

Damon: "What brings you to Mystic Falls?"

Connor: "I'm part of the cleanup."

Damon: "You're a vampire, Elena. Be a vampire."

Stefan: "Everything is heightened. Sight, smell, taste, touch."

Damon: "Making a big mistake."

Stefan: "No I'm not. If I can get Elena used to animal blood right out the gates..."

Damon: "You're reaching."

Stefan: "Maybe she would be able to by pass all the things that we went through."

Damon: "Delusional."

Stefan: "Maybe she actually has a shot at this."

Damon: "Wrong, you're just wrong, Stefan."

Stefan: "She won't be able to handle it when she hurts someone, Damon. Her compassion is her Achilles heel, and everything is magnified right now."

Damon: "You better hope that she's not a fan of Bambi."

Elena: "Did you set up the explosion that killed the Town Council?"

Damon: "Am I wearing my . . . I blew up the Council T-shirt?"

Damon: (To Alaric's headstone) "You know what they are? Children. Like lighting a candle's going to make everything OK, or even saying a prayer. Or pretending Elena's not going to end up just like the rest of us murdering vampires. Stupid, delusional, exasperating little children. And I know what you're going to say: 'It makes them feel better, Damon.' So what? For how long? A minute, a day? What difference does it make? Because in the end, when you lose somebody, every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing you have left is hole in your life where that somebody that you cared about used to be. And a rock with a birthday carved into it that I'm pretty sure is wrong. So thanks, friend. Thanks for leaving me here to babysit. Because I should be long gone by now. I didn't get the girl, remember? I'm just stuck here fighting my brother and taking care of the kids. You owe me big."

Alaric: "I miss you too, buddy."