As always, an awful lot happened in "The Ties That Bind." So let's get right to it!
Dream Time
We open with yet another Bonnie-dream. This time, Bonnie is in a graveyard filled with a bunch of Bennett tombstones. And one big, shiny coffin. Before Bonnie can open the coffin, Klaus shows up and attacks.

Cut to darkness, illuminated by Bonnie's smartphone (those flashlight apps are useful!). When witchy words do nothing, Bonnie resorts to screaming and banging. Someone opens the coffins and... It is, as we will find out after some more exposition, Bonnie's mother.

Secrets and Lies
Bonnie talks about her dream to Elena, who is somewhat distracted by the presence of the four coffins. An angry Stefan shows up at this point to remind Bonnie of the whole keeping-a-secret thing. Also, he shows up to trade insults with Elena, who is surprisingly not over the kidnapping/almost-dying thing.

Later at the Gilberts', Bonnie has finally figured out that the dream-lady is her mother, Abby, who abandoned the family when Bonnie was a toddler. Because she was in the dream, Abby must be important for getting the sealed coffin open. So Elena and Bonnie sift through the records of all of the Abby Bennetts in America (Note: There would be way more Abby Bennetts than that. It's not an uncommon name, after all. Also, people who disappear tend to change their names. I'm just saying...).

All of the searching is pointless anyway, since Damon shows up with the correct Abby Bennett, conveniently living just one state away. As Elena and Bonnie head out, Damon lets it slip that he and Elena kissed. Bonnie is intrigued but holds all questions until the girls are in the car. Her interrogations are unfortunately cut short by repeated cell phone calls from Stefan, wanting a progress report. Elena lies, saying that she and Bonnie are just going to the lake house.

This lie would have been more effective if Stefan hadn't already found the Abby Bennett info at the Gilberts'. But it was a nice try.

Daddy Issues
A dejected-looking Caroline comes home to find Tyler in her living room. Understandably, Caroline is not pleased about this. She isn't any happier to see that Tyler has brought along her sadistic, torture-inclined daddy, Bill Forbes. Bill is there to help Tyler break his sire-bond to Klaus. This will, in turn, help Tyler be a better boyfriend.

Because this is Bill Forbes, his idea of "help" involves chaining Tyler in a cave and insisting upon torture. Fortunately, Bill knows all about hybrids (odd, since they didn't exist until recently) and informs Tyler that he has to perform a werewolf transformation in order to break the bond.

Tyler begins to do so, but the ensuing screams of agony lead both him and Caroline to have second thoughts. So Daddy sends Caroline away. And proceeds to taunt Tyler with an ax.
This activity is helpful in inspiring further werewolf-ing, but it also points out a flaw in Bill's clever plan: Tyler can break his chains. Fully wolfed out, Tyler does so.

This is bad for Bill.

Meanwhile...
In a couple of seemingly unrelated but pivotal scenes, we see the following:

Meredith and Alaric prove themselves to be the worst doctor and teacher, respectively, ever as they flirt over daytime drinks. Damon arrives as Meredith heads to work (!!!). The vampire informs Alaric that the new girl could be a psycho killer of ex-boyfriends. This might be an improvement for Alaric, considering the fate of most of his own exes.

At the Salvatore mansion, Klaus drinks booze and listens to loud music until Stefan returns. Via a series of escalating threats, we learn that, while the hybrids have left town, Stefan does not intend to return the coffins. Klaus quite rightly points out the unfairness of this. But badass Stefan doesn't need to be fair.

Klaus has a chat with his blond hybrid lackey, who is carrying out orders outside of town. Blondie knocks on the door of a red house. That door is answered by... Abby Bennett. That Klaus! Always thinking ahead!

Family Reunion!
Blondie clears out quickly, allowing Elena and Bonnie to arrive at the red house. They are met by Jamie, Abby's semi-adopted son, who offers the girls a wide variety of juices until Abby gets home. It's all very awkward.

It turns out that Abby Bennett was once BFFs with Elena's mother. This friendship inspired Abby to take action when a vampire -- Mikael, as we learn -- showed up in Mystic Falls, looking for the doppelganger. (Wait! The parents knew about the whole doppelganger thing? How?!)

Abby was able to lure Mikael away and confine him to his coffin, but the effort sapped her power. Bonnie is unimpressed. As the awkwardness increases by leaps and bounds, Elena goes for a walk to an old barn.

That's where she finds Stefan.

Doctor, Doctor...
Damon shows up at the hospital, expressly for the purpose of meeting and irritating Dr. Meredith Fell. They end up in a private room to discuss the murder of the medical examiner and whether Meredith is a psychopath (which would suck for Alaric).

Meredith is also a bit curious about the whole Alaric-not-dying thing from a couple of episodes ago. Damon tries to blow it off, but it doesn't matter. That's because Meredith -- who evidently believes in coming prepared -- sticks a syringe in Damon's neck to knock him out.

Why? To steal Damon's blood. Why? Wait for it...

The immediate result of Meredith's actions is that Damon warns off Alaric (who is lifting weights!). Alaric is not so pleased.

Compulsion. It's a B*tch.
The heart-to-heart between Bonnie and Abby finally takes a positive turn when Abby offers to help Bonnie with some herbs. Bonnie is all herbs-whatever, but you can tell that she's kind of touched.

The tender moment is then interrupted by Abby abruptly chloroforming her daughter. These Vampire Diaries people are seriously well-prepared tonight!

It's not just Abby who has been compelled by Blondie the Hybrid. Elena and Stefan's constant quarreling is quickly interrupted by Jamie. The poor, innocent lad has been compelled to shoot Stefan (with wooden buckshot) and detain Elena. Abby takes this opportunity to shove her unconscious daughter in a car and drive off.

The Bennetts eventually meet up with Blondie, who wants to know where the coffins are. Abby convinces Bonnie to share that info but also hands her a phone with a message to warn the friends back in Mystic Falls about what's about to happen.

Back at the farm, Jamie's compulsion turns out to be ineffective. He isn't supposed to hurt Elena, a fact she uses to break free of her bonds and knock poor Jamie unconscious.

Revelations
Stefan's agony can only be relieved by the removal of the woodchips in his body, and fortunately Elena isn't so angry with him that she refuses to do the deed. Her stoicism while rummaging through her former lover's body prompts Stefan to notice that she has changed. And his tone indicates some appreciation of this change.

Elena, however, totally kills the mood for him by confessing her kiss with Damon. Stefan's reaction is... nothing. He just gets up and walks away. Somehow, it's still touching.

Damon, meanwhile, visits the Witch House, where no coffins are visible. That's because Klaus is there to retrieve his family. The ghost-witches object with big candle flames and mystical pain, but Klaus prevails with threats against their descendents.

But the witches (and Damon) get the last laugh. The sealed coffin isn't there. It turns out that Bonnie's warning gave Damon a chance to re-hide that one coffin. And Klaus' threats can do nothing, considering the leverage Damon has. Oh well!

There's excitement at the hospital as well, where Alaric arrives just in time to see Bill Forbes get wheeled in on a stretcher. He would have died too, except that Meredith has vampire blood. It seems that the good Dr. Fell has been using the stuff for medicinal purposes.

Bill, of course, recovers quickly, ready and willing for more teen torture. And there will be more. Tyler has to transform a lot if he ever wants to date Caroline again.

Alaric, relieved that Meredith isn't totally psycho, takes the lady home so she can admire (or covet?) his ring and make out. The latter activity is, alas, interrupted by the return of Elena. The situation is pretty awkward, even with Elena's assurances that Alaric is family now and can do what he wants.

Speaking of family, Bonnie is pretty much ready to give up on hers. But then Abby reveals that her powers didn't just disappear after the Mikael incident. Instead, they slipped away after Abby abandoned her daughter. The two Bennetts may just be able to get them back!

Brotherly Love
Stefan returns home. Considering his reaction to Damon, it's safe to say that Stefan has not yet processed the whole kiss thing. A massive Salvatore fight might have ensued, but for Damon's surprise trinket of the night -- an Original dagger.

Apparently, it's an Original dagger that Klaus doesn't know about. Klaus and Blondie are at the Hybrid House, arranging for coffin storage, when Blondie is surprised by an unexpected ripping out of his heart. Who could possibly do such a thing?

That would be Elijah. Hello Elijah!


Will Abby be helpful to Bonnie? What's in that sealed coffin? Did you expect to see Elijah so soon? Let us know what you think in the comments section!

(Image courtesy of The CW)