[Editor’s note: Starting this week, we’ll be featuring Vampire Diaries recaps by TVTeaser from Night Bites. Make sure to check out last week’s season three premiere episode The Birthday recap and all of his other Vampire Diaries tidbits and info –Nicole]

September 22 – A full moon is set to descend on Mystic Falls and you know what that means. Things are gonna get mighty hairy for our Vampire Diaries favorites. After a bitter Damon gives up on Stefan for killing Andie, Elena turns to Alaric for help in going after Stefan. She gets a lead from Tyleron locations in Tennessee where werewolves would find sanctuary then heads off to the Smokey Mountains with Ric. Preparing for their dangerous mission, Ric gives Elena some wolf’s bane and she hands him her protection ring. What Elena doesn’t know is that Alaric had clued Damon in on their plans and he shows up to keep her out of trouble. Seemingly annoyed by his interference, Elena is begrudgingly comforted by his presence. But is a forest teeming with bloodthirsty werewolves the best place for Damon to be? Klaus and Stefan discover the camp site of Ray’s pack and commence the process of transforming them into hybrids, using the human boyfriend of one of the she-wolves as a blood bank for the famished were-vamps when they come to. Unfortunately, the process doesn’t work out as planned and a convulsing Ray, bleeding out of his eyes, goes rabid, biting Stefan as he escapes. Klaus tells Stefan he won’t save him with his hybrid blood until he brings Ray back. Damon, Elena and Ric encounter Ray first, however, and subdue him. After tying him up in chains they attempt to interrogate him but he begins to transform into a wolf before the full moon even appears! A feral Ray later gets into a scrap with Damon, and Stefan arrives in the nick of time to save his brother by ripping Ray’s heart out. Stefan asks Damon to return Elena to safety. Elena, meanwhile, convinces Alaric that they should be there for each other now that they’ve both lost so much. Alaric agrees to move back in, and he wisely decides to keep the protection ring. Stefan returns to the camp site to find Klaus surrounded by dead hybrids. They had all gone rabid or bled out and Klaus can’t understand how the transformations failed after he had completed every step of breaking the curse that prevented hybrids from walking the Earth. A look of realization flashes across Klaus’s face. Has he figured out that Elena – the doppelganger who needed to die to break the curse – isn’t six feet under? Stefan distracts him, for now, anyway, by convincing him to heal his werewolf bite. Stefan is, after all, his only companion left, Klaus says morbidly. Back in Mystic Falls, Tyler and Jeremy are in for some shocking discoveries. Waking up to find Caroline gone after their steamy night together,Tyler has some awful-tasting coffee while chatting with his mom about his tryst with Caroline. When Tyler leaves, Mrs. Lockwood summons a man named Bill (played by Jack Coleman of “Heroes” fame) to take care of her vampire problem. Tyler tastes some vervane at The Grill and Matt clues him in about the substance’s use for outing vampires. Tyler realizes his mom was testing him and confronts her. She admits she knows that Caroline is a vamp and forbids him to see her because she’s a monster. Tyler decides to show his prejudiced mother that the Lockwoods have a “monster” of their own in the family and chains himself up while she watches his werewolf transformation from the safety of a locked cell. In the morning, an enlightened Mrs. Lockwood promises to make things right with Caroline but finds that “Bill” isn’t keen on releasing Caroline just because she had a change of heart. When Caroline comes to, she’s shocked to learn that her jailer is her own father. Awkward! Jeremy convinces Matt to help him bridge the gateway between the living and the dead by gathering some of Vicky’s possessions to tap into her vibe. Although hesitant at first, Matt agrees to help and Jeremy gets another visit from his (first) dead girlfriend, whom I must say is looking gorgeous. Death certainly becomes her. Vicky’s ghost tells Jeremy that she is able to return from the dead, then abruptly disappears. Appearing in her place is Anna (dead girlfriend #2), who warns Jeremy not to trust Vicky. The plot thickens! When Damon, Elena and Alaric return home, Damon forces Elena to admit she bid a hasty retreat from the woods in Tennessee out of fear for the werewolf threat to Damon’s life. Taking Elena’s face in his hands, Damon vows to make her remember her feelings for him after they succeed in rescuing Stefan. Looks like Miss Elena has a choice to make in the near future. Do you think Damon is making progress in his quest to win her over?

TVTeaser is the author of Night Bites, a fan blog about the mysterious happenings in the sleepy town of Mystic Falls. Follow him on Twitter @TVTeaser.