The Murder of One

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The Vampire Diaries

Season 3, Episode 18 ()

Air date

March 29, 2012

Written by

Caroline Dries

Directed by

J. Miller Tobin

Episode Guide
(Transcript)
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The Murder of One is the eighteenth episode of the third season of The Vampire Diaries and the sixty-second episode of the series.

Summary

SAVIOR OF THE CURSED AND THE DAMNED — Damon and Stefan focus on a new project that will bring them closer to destroying Klaus, and they quickly bring Elena, Caroline and Template:Matt in on the plan. After Klaus threatens someone close to Template:Bonnie, she has no choice but to work on the spell he needs. Meanwhile, Klaus and Rebekah find the perfect motivator to convince Finn to cooperate with them, but Rebekah is more interested in her own brutal plan to take revenge on Damon. Stefan’s emotional turmoil leads him to a dangerous confrontation with Klaus and, later, to a heartbreaking moment with Elena.

Plot

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Cast

Main Cast

Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert
Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore
Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore
Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert
Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett
Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan
Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes
Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood (credit only)
Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman
Joseph Morgan as Niklaus Mikaelson

Recurring Cast

Co-Starring

Linds Edwards as Troy

Trivia

Antagonist: Niklaus Mikaelson and Rebekah Mikaelson.
Bonnie is forced by Klaus to undo Esther's linking spell, but not the sire line spell, as this wasn't known to exist until Finn was killed by Matt, causing Sage and Troy to die shortly afterward.
Finn and Sage appear in this episode.
Caroline makes a comment to Alaric about Rebekah, referencing Buffy The Vampire Slayer. This is the second Buffy reference on the series.
This is the first and only episode in which Caspar Zafer is billed as a Guest Star.
It is revealed if an Original is destroyed, their entire bloodline of vampires will die a short time after.
- Since the revelation in this episode that if an Original is destroyed so is their entire bloodline, it means that if Mikael in his time as an Original vampire created any other vampires from his blood, they died when Klaus killed him in the episode Homecoming.
Although he was mentioned three times, Kol doesn't appear in this episode.
This is the first time Elena is questioned about being in love with Damon.
This is the first episode Finn appears without Kol.
This episode marks Matt's first kill, as he kills Finn.
- Sage also dies in this episode, along with the rest of Finn's bloodline, due to the bloodline rule.

Body Count

Finn - staked, killed by Matt.
Sage - due to Finn's death.
Troy - due to Finn's death.
Various Vampires - due to Finn's death.

Continuity

Bill Forbes was mentioned by Alaric and Caroline. He was last seen in Bringing Out the Dead.
Finn was last seen in All My Children.
Matt was last seen in 1912.
Damon and Rebekah's tryst was mentioned by Caroline and Rebekah herself. It was first seen in Dangerous Liaisons.
Klaus was in contact with Kol by phone where it was shown that Kol was keeping an eye on Jeremy in Denver. Kol left Mystic Falls in All My Children.
Rebekah mentioned Sage's sneaky attempt (twice) to Klaus and Damon. It was first seen in Break On Through.
Abby Bennett Wilson was mentioned by Klaus, Bonnie and Elena. She was last seen in Break On Through.
Finn mentions how he was willing to sacrifice himself for his mother's plan to kill his siblings all over again. His first attempt to sacrifice himself was seen in All My Children.
Alaric mentions the moonstone and the events that happened in the Season Two episode Know Thy Enemy to Damon.
Esther was mentioned in this episode. She was last seen in All My Children.

Cultural References

"A Murder of One" is a song from the band Counting Crows. The name of the band came from a line from this song. A group of crows is called a "murder", so a murder of one is a group of only one crow.
- According to this tweet from Julie Plec, Caroline Dries wanted to name it "Kill 'Em All" after an album by Metallica.
"Kinky (sex)" refer to sexual practice that goes beyond what is considered conventional as a mean of heightening the intimacy between partners. In this case Damon could be referring to Bondage, the practice of bonding one of the partners for sexual or aesthetic pleasure.
"Mile High City" is the nickname of Denver, Colorado, because it's elevation is exactly 1 mile above sea level.
Caroline asks Alaric if he had a run with "Buffy the vampire". This is a reference to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," a campy and popular series that ran from 1997-2003. Buffy was a vampire in the episode "Nightmares."
"Tequila", the traditional Mexican beverage made of Blue Agave, was first produced in the 16th century, so Finn could not possibly have tasted it because he was daggered for 900 years.
"All ten rounds" is the length of a regular boxing match.
Klaus speech to Stefan, "I gave your life purpose", is similar in tone to that of Jareth's speech to Sarah in the film Labyrinth, in which he states, "I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me."

Tropes

Another great example of Secret Plan Guarantee. Our heroes make a very detailed Zany Scheme that gets messed when Damon gets captured. It's the simple, unspoken plan, made on the spot that works in the end.

Behind the Scenes

This episode had about 2.44 million viewers in the USA.

Quotes

Damon: (to Stefan and Alaric about Elena) "Walking down the stairs, opening front door...and she's gone!"

Alaric: (to Damon) "I have a homicidal alter ego. Unlike some people in this room, I would like to take responsibility for the people I've killed!"

Damon: "If you wanted to turn yourself in, you wouldn't say it loud."

Damon: (to Alaric about Stefan) "His morals get very questionable when he has revenge on the brain."

Finn: (to Klaus about Esther) "Gone to find another way to end our abominable lives and when she does, I will sacrifice myself all over again."

Finn: "I have no wish to help you. Only to see you dead!"

Klaus: "Let me rephrase. You will come back with me, or I will put you back in that coffin in which you rotted for nine hundred years!"

Finn: (to Rebekah about Klaus) "You're siding with him!? Rebekah, he stored us in boxes!"

Rebekah: (to Finn) "At least he's not trying to make us extinct."

Rebekah: (yo Klaus about Finn and Sage) "What do you know? True love prevails!"

Rebekah: (to Klaus) "I have some unfinished business with Damon Salvatore. Ask Sage what he did to me, then you'll understand why retribution is in order."

Alaric: (to Damon) "I mean, did you learn nothing from the moonstone and the soap dish?"

Sage: (to Finn) "I took care of myself, but I never stopped loving you, Finn. I don't want you to die."

Damon: (to Rebekah) "I gotta admit, even for me, it's a little kinky."

Klaus: (to Rebekah about Damon) "If you're trying to bleed him of vervain, don't you think it would be easier to hang him upside down?"

Caroline: (to Alaric about Rebekah) "I hear you had a run-in with Buffy the Vampire."

Alaric: (to Caroline about him accidentally killing her father) "Caroline...I am so sorry. I don't even know what else I could say."

Caroline: (to Alaric) "I'm going to take a page from the Elena Gilbert handbook...and choose to believe that you can be saved."

Elena: (to Stefan about Damon) "What he would want and what we should do are two different things."

Bonnie: (to Klaus) "Well, it does bother me. You bother me!"

Sage: (to Finn) "You've never had tequila before? That's embarrassing. Seriously I'm embarrassed for you."

Finn: (to Sage) "Ah! I am truly awed by the evolution of mankind."

Sage: (to Finn) "My passions overtake my morals on a daily basis. It's called living life to the fullest."

Rebekah: (to Klaus about Damon) "Nik, he is my plaything, not yours!"

Rebekah: (to Klaus) "The Salvatores may fight like dogs, but in the end, they would die for each other, at least they know what family means, you destroyed ours."

Klaus: (to Rebekah) "I wanted a family, they just didn't want me."

Damon: "We found some more white oak."

Elena: "White oak? You have a weapon that can kill Klaus?"

Stefan: "Nope, we all have a weapon."

Finn: "What happens to one, happens to all."

Klaus: "Wouldn't be the first time."

Stefan: "Klaus does not get to survive this."

Caroline: "Elena Gilbert, savior of the cursed and the damned."

Damon: "It's a long story. Wait for the movie."

Stefan: "I'm not gonna miss because you can't whittle."

Finn: (to Klaus) "Bother someone else with your hollow charms."

Elena: "I never stopped loving you."