Months have passed since Stefan went off with Klaus, and it’s now Elena’s 18th birthday. That of course means Caroline is going to throw her a party, even though all Elena wants is to know that Stefan is alive. And while Elena has spent all summer trying to figure out how to get Stefan to come home, Caroline and Tyler have become besties, Jeremy is still seeing the ghosts of girlfriends past, and Damon has been secretly tracking Stefan and Klaus’s trail of bodies. He finally gets a good lead when he and Alaric go to Tennessee where Stefan and Klaus are looking for a werewolf. Luckily, Damon makes it back from the trip to Tennessee just in time to give Elena back her necklace as her birthday gift. But while everyone in Mystic Falls enjoys the party, Stefan kills our fave, Andie Starr, in front of Damon, and Elena finds all of Damon’s research on Stefan. Unfortunately, Damon has to tell her to not get her hopes up because all of the bodies he’s been tracking were left by Stefan, not Klaus. Happy birthday, Elena - your boyfriend is a serial killer. That’s almost enough for Elena to give up all hope, but just as she’s about to go to bed, she gets a call from Stefan (queue A Drop in the Ocean), granting her wish that to know he’s alive.This week: Season 3 Episode 1 The Birthday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.