The Downward Spiral

The Downward Spiral is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of The Vampire Diaries and the one hundred and twenty-seventh episode of the series overall.
==Summary==
IAN SOMERHALDER MAKES HIS DIRECTORIAL DEBUT. — After shutting off her humanity following the death of her mother, Caroline gives her friends an unexpected ultimatum. Not knowing how to handle the new Caroline, Stefan's attempt to intervene sets off a dangerous chain of events, leaving him and Elena in a race against the clock. Meanwhile, after seeking answers from Kai about the prison world, Damon's world is turned upside when he learns some devastating news about his mother Lily. Elsewhere, Enzo finds himself becoming increasingly intrigued by Sarah, and Bonnie begins to struggle with the effects of being back in the real world.
==Plot==
At the bar, Caroline bumps into Liam. They talk about her mother's funeral and since she had turned her humanity off she makes out with him and bites him.
Elena visits her dorm and discovers that Caroline took her clothes. Bonnie arrives and they hug. She reveals to Elena that she hasn't called Jeremy yet because she wants to give him a chance of having a normal life for a while. Caroline arrives and asks the two to give her a year with her emotions turned off, without the grief and in return she won't kill anyone, to which they reluctantly agree.
Meanwhile, Damon dug out his mother's coffin from the family crypt and discovers that it's empty. Kai tells him that he can help him get to the 1903 prison world, but he will only help him if he helps him apologize to Bonnie.
Sarah is at the bar taking photos of Enzo. He notices the sound of the camera and confronts her. She asks him about him saving Matt with his blood and he reveals to her that he's a vampire. Caroline invites him and Liam to a party. Bonnie, Elena and Stefan also go to keep an eye on Caroline.
Over the phone, Damon asks Bonnie to talk with Kai, which she refuses. Kai reveals bits of information about Damon's mother to tease him so they both later go to the party to talk with her in person. During his apology, she remembers the things he'd done to her in the prison world and gets mad at Damon for forcing her to talk to him. To prove a point, by using magic she inflicts all the wounds she had endured in prison world on Damon. Bonnie calls Jeremy and tells him that she will need a little time to work some things out. Later, Kai finally reveals that Damon's mother is a vampire and a ripper locked in a prison world by the Gemini Coven in 1903.
Meanwhile, at the party, Stefan interrogates Liam and concludes that Caroline has been compelling him. He goes to her and admits his feelings for her hoping that it will make her turn her emotions on, but with no luck. To retaliate she kidnaps Sarah and compels Liam to perform a surgery on her by removing her organs. Stefan and Elena go to Caroline attempting to reason with her. Caroline asks Stefan to turn his humanity off and she's spare Sarah. Liam tells them over the phone that they're at Whitmore Hospital so Elena runs off to stop the surgery. She manages to find them and stops Liam, but Stefan decides to give in to Caroline's demands. before turning off his emotions, he asks Elena to help him bring himself back later.
==Cast==
===Main Cast===
*Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert
*Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore
*Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore
*Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert (voice only)
*Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett
*Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes
*Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan (credit only)
*Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood (credit only)
*Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman (credit only)
*Michael Malarkey as Enzo
===Recurring Cast===
*Tristin Mays as Sarah Nelson
*Marco James as Liam Davis
*Chris Wood as Kai Parker
===Co-Starring===
*Lane Miller as Bartender
*Jeremy C. Turner as Seth
==Trivia==
*Antagonist: Caroline Forbes.
*Damon digs up his mother's coffin to prove that she is dead but he finds it empty.
*Elena arrives just in time to Whitmore Medical Center in order to save Sarah's life before Liam (compelled by Caroline) could cut out her heart. She heals Sarah with her blood and is forced to break Liam's hands to keep him from trying to complete Caroline's orders.
*Stefan turns off his humanity after Caroline threatens to kill Sarah, his great grand-niece, if he doesn't do so. Her reasoning for forcing him to turn off her humanity is because she knows Stefan is her emotional trigger and doesn't want him to be used to turn her humanity back on.
*Lillian Salvatore is discovered to not only be "alive," but that she is both a vampire and a ripper, which is why she was trapped in a Prison World in 1903. According to Kai, she slaughtered and killed over 3,000 people after she was turned. The Gemini Coven found her and trapped her in the Prison World as a punishment for her crimes.
*Enzo, thanks to Caroline's help, realizes that Sarah has been compelled by Stefan to not be at all impressed or intrigued by the existence of vampires, as he hoped it meant that she would never be drawn to them or want to become one herself.
*Kai confirms that there are only two prison worlds created by the Gemini Coven: his own in 1994 and Lily's in 1903.
==Body Count==
==Continuity==
*Enzo and Sarah were last seen in Stay.
*Liam was last seen in Fade Into You.
*Jolene is indirectly mentioned. She was last seen in American Gothic.
==Locations==
*McKinley, Virginia
**Whitmore College
***Elena and Caroline's Dorm Room
***Scull Bar 
***Coffee house
**Whitmore Hospital
**Warehouse
*Mystic Falls, Virginia
**Forbes House
**Mystic Falls Cemetery
**Salvatore Boarding House
==Behind the Scenes==
*This episode had about 1.30 million viewers in the USA.
*This episode marks Ian Somerhalder's directorial debut in The Vampire Diaries.
**He is the second cast member to direct an episode of TVD, the first being Paul Wesley in Season Five's Resident Evil and Season Six's Woke Up With a Monster.
**According to Ericka Winchester, a PA on the series, this episode started filming January 22, 2015.
*There is a three week hiatus between this episode and the previous episode, Let Her Go.
*Caroline's hairstyle was inspired by Britney Spears in her "Slave For You" music video.https://twitter.com/CandiceAccola/status/576179351596593152
*Hashtag during the airing is #DirectorSomerhalder
==Cultural References==
*"The Downward Spiral" is a song by , released March 8, 1994 on their album of the .
**This term describes a depressive state where the person experiencing the downward spiral is getting more and more depressed, perhaps due to causes unknown. It is called a downward spiral because there is no way to stop it, it's just going to get worse and worse... until the person crashes and hits rock bottom.
*Enzo mentions (who wrote ), Bram Stoker's and the .
==Quotes==
Extended Promo
:Stefan (to Elena): "Caroline is going to snap." 
:Elena: (to Stefan) "She's not actually hurting anyone. No students are missing." 
:Damon: (to Bonnie) "Uh oh. Caroline fly off the rails? If so, I called it." 
:Elena: (to Caroline) "What did you do to Liam?" 
:Caroline: "I ate him." 
:Caroline: (to Elena) "I flipped my humanity switch, Elena." 
:Bonnie: "It's weird. It's like she's Caroline, but not." 
==Multimedia==
===Soundtrack===
===Videos===
The Vampire Diaries 6x16 Extended Promo - The Downward Spiral HD
The Vampire Diaries - Rehash The Downward Spiral
===Pictures===
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==References==
==See also==
Category:The Vampire Diaries Episode Guide
Category:The Vampire Diaries Season Six