Up to now, Stefan has been a relatively boring character on The Vampire Diaries.  He's the White Knight, the relentless do-gooder who saves the day and gets the girl every week.  But now, Stefan is turning to the dark side, which is the best thing that could've happened to him.

In this episode of The Vampire Diaries, old wounds were opened.  For Jeremy and Matt it came in the form of the discovery of Vicki's body, which will open a can of worms Damon, Stefan and Elena hoped would remain closed.  The bombshell also offered the chance to understand Jeremy's true motivations for wanting to turn into a vampire (to be with Vicki, not Anna) and it saw the reappearance of the Lockwoods.

The major story, however, dealt with Miss Pearl's vampire gang kidnapping Stefan and torturing him.  The dramatic rescue by Damon, Elena and Alaric culminated with a weakened Stefan being forced to drink Elena's blood to regain his strength and fight back.

Fans of the vampire genre were surely reminded of the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3 with the dramatic moment where Buffy ordered Angel to "Drink me."  It's as intimate a moment as there can be between a human and a vampire, but the effect was not as positive for Stefan and Elena.

Instead, Stefan's return to drinking human blood turned him into a bit of a monster, growling and snarling as he repeatedly staked Frederick.  Despite claims of being fine, the show ended with Stefan indulging in Damon's human blood supply, caught by his brother like a fat kid on a diet with chocolate on his face.

The darker side of Stefan offers The Vampire Diaries the chance to move the characters and relationships in a new direction.  Fans who want Damon and Elena to get together should be in luck since the bad brother was so intent on protecting her while Stefan is drinking human blood by the pint.

TV characters are always more interesting when they're complicated.  Damon can care deeply about protecting Elena in one seen and then snap a woman's neck in the next.  Now Stefan has the chance to get a little dirty and explore his dark side, which should result in some very explosive drama.


(Image courtesy of the CW)