The Rager

The Rager is the third episode of the fourth season of The Vampire Diaries and the sixty-ninth episode of the series overall.
==Summary==
BORN TO BE WILD — Connor continues his search to uncover the secrets of Mystic Falls and tries to convince Jeremy to work with him. With Meredith's help, Damon and Klaus question Connor, but the confrontation takes a lethal turn. Trying to keep her new life as normal as possible, Elena is determined to continue her senior year at Mystic Falls High with support from Matt and Caroline. Rebekah's arrival at school makes it difficult for Elena to control her anger, but she learns that confronting Rebekah can be extremely dangerous. Later, Rebekah realizes how alone she is, and reaches out to April. Stefan takes Elena on a thrilling motorcycle ride in an effort to show her that life can still be fun. Tyler gets a surprise visit from Hayley, a werewolf who helped him through the ordeal of breaking his sire-bond to Klaus. Concerned about Elena, as well as his own emotions, Stefan turns to a sympathetic Caroline for advice.
==Plot==
Tyler is seen sleeping in the hospital with a deputy guarding his door. Connor takes down the deputy, overpowers Tyler, injects him with a paralyzing agent and proceeds to extract what Damon later describe as "Werewolf Venom".
Next morning Stefan is prepping a vintage motorcycle. He is determined to take Elena out to have some fun. Damon mocks him saying "those who can't do it, teach it". He declares that, following their agreement, he will leave town because Elena chose Stefan - after he has killed the vampire hunter. Stefan declares that the bargain is void because Elena became a vampire, and now will have to go through the whole process of choosing one of them - again. He is totally fine with Damon hanging around to help with the transition. He is only mad because they shared blood.
Elena and Matt are meeting in their old make-out place for Elena to feed on him. She feels guilty that he has became her walking blood bank, but he says he wants to help. He knows he owes her his life. He questions her on her wisdom on going to school, but she says it would be more suspicious if she didn't. Besides, she does not want to bail on her Senior Year. They learn there is a curfew for kids all ages, because of the attack on Tyler. Matt says the town is freaked, and Elena quips "If only they knew the truth..."
When Tyler arrives home with Carol, Klaus is waiting for them. He can't make any more hybrids, and somebody is trying to kill one of them, so he brings three hybrids to body-guard Tyler. Although he is angry at Tyler and the group for stopping his heart, he decided to bring more hybrids to the range of the Hunter to protect him.
It's the first time Elena is back in Alaric's classroom since he died and she is all sentimental and teary eyed.(The blackboard reads "Civil War", the topic they were discussing when Stefan first walks into the scene with all that first hand knowledge in the Pilot).
That changes in a heartbeat when Rebekah enters the room with invitation for a curfew party in her new house. She invites Elena to "bury the hatchet ", but the look in Elena's face says that she would like to "bury the hatchet" in Rebekah's back, despite Rebekah helping Stefan kill the guard so Elena could turn into a vampire back in Growing Pains. Elena provokes her by asking why she would leave the one person in the world (referring to Klaus) that actually likes her. Rebekah retorts that Stefan used to like her, but it is obvious that Elena's remark hurt her. Stefan joins the provocation asking her if she has nowhere else to go. She replies that history is her favorite subject, but oops, she killed the history teacher. Elena takes the bait and throws a pencil at Rebekah, but she is faster, catches the pencil and throws it back, hurting Elena.
While Stefan is trying to teach her some anger management techniques, they see Connor approach Jeremy. Stefan tells Elena to go clean herself, and he will see what it's about. In the bathroom, Elena throws away a her cardigan with blood on it, and starts to clean herself. Heather, one of Elena's classmates, walks in with a bloody neck. She has been sent by Rebekah, who walks in after her, and provokes Elena with Heather's blood. Rebekah now knows there is a Vampire Hunter in town.
In a math room, Connor explains to Jeremy that only vampire hunters or potential hunters can see the ink. It's their "hunter's mark". Stefan is overhearing, and signals Jeremy that he is around. Connor proposes a deal. If Jeremy brings him a vampire, Connor will train him to do what he does. He suggests Jeremy should start with his "friend with a bandage on his neck". Out in the woods, Damon finds Connor's trailer. He does not need an invitation, but the place is booby-trapped. He gets two harpoons connected by strings to a device - could be a bomb. Damon looks surprised and annoyed.
thumb|250px|Damon Stuck
Back at school, Elena is feeling murderous. Caroline congratulates her on a valiant first day effort and Stefan invites her to skip class and go with him have some fun. It seems that students will still graduate even if they don't actually watch classes. Elena's idea of fun is to go to Rebekah's party to show she is not intimidated.
Stefan seems to know exactly what Elena needs to do to deal with all that murderous anger. Too bad he cannot do it himself. Caroline tells him he is good at this, and should write a self-help book for vampires. Tyler is under house arrest. A pretty werewolf named Hayley shows up. She helped Tyler break the sire bond by chaining him down. She is impressed by the fact he is loaded and mock hurt that he left the pack, left no forwarding address, never called. He claims it's because he wanted to protect the pack - Klaus was still turning all werewolves into hybrids (he wanted to keep the cursed with awesome just to himself.) She demands a fancy rich guy's couch and plops herself on a couch.
Inside Connor's trailer, Damon is still anchored to the bombs. Meredith shows up to help him, and asks why he did not call his brother. Damon says he is proud and stubborn and that she is already there. He finds Pastor Young's letters about war, sacrifice and a greater evil coming to Mystic Falls. Meredith tells Damon that he is a good brother, because he is there strung up to a bomb while Stefan plays vampire with the girl who broke his heart, and he is doing a good job of acting like it does not suck. Although she did not remove the barbs from the arrow, nor cut it in any way, Damon now can safely remove it.
Back at school, Rebekah invites Matt to the party, and kind of tries to justify/apologize in a very awkward way. Matt just ignores her and walks away. Connor confronts Matt about his wounds, and threatens to cut his throat if he does not reveal who is feeding on him. Matt lies and says Rebekah is the only vampire he knows in town. Elena is rummaging through Damon's drawers looking for "bourbon", but he guesses that she is looking for the White Oak Stake, calls her on it, while calmly undressing in front of her. As she gets visibly agitated, he reveals that he has been talking with Jeremy. As he unbuttons his pants, she leaves in a huff.
Connor is sitting outside his trailer, showing his dexterity by carving delicate symbols in wooden stakes with a very big knife, totally oblivious that his traps were sprung and the bloody marks on the table. Jeremy arrives, tells that there is a doctor in the hospital that uses vampire blood in surgery, so she must have a deal with one. Connor gets very angry. He says that when a town takes one vampire, word gets around, they feed, they turn, and soon you have a full infestation. It's so bad one of them is throwing a party - but he has that covered. All vampires who drink at the party will be dead by night. They can go straight to the hospital.
Caroline wants to spend time with Tyler, but is turned down because the house is full of hybrids. Klaus introduces himself to Hayley. He figures that Tyler might have had a brief affair with Hayley and gets angry at Tyler for cheating on Caroline.
Elena tries to connect with April, who does not believe the accident that killed her father was an accident. Rebekah interferes, steals Elena's ring and throws it in the garbage disposal unit. Elena manages to get it back before she burns badly. Stefan calms Elena down and stops her from killing Rebekah and they leave; but not before Elena drinks from werewolf venom-spiked beer. Rebekah is visibly annoyed that Elena is nonchalant.
thumb|250px|Stefan talking Elena out of Killing Rebekah
Jeremy and Meredith lead Connor to a trap. Before killing him, Damon asks about this "greater evil". Klaus is specially ticked, because he feels he is as evil as it gets. Connor says that if he is killed, another slayer will take his place. He decides to detonate the bombs, killing himself and the two vampires at the same time. But not before Damon clues Klaus about the disappearing tattoos. Klaus says that Connor is "one of the five", but Connor seems to have no clue what it means.
Stefan and Elena's passionate moment is stopped when the venom starts to affect Elena. She begins to hallucinate and sees "Damon", who tells her she may be more like him as a vampire. Stefan quickly calls Klaus. While he is generally indifferent to her dying, he heals her with his blood. Rebekah has also been poisoned and is not feeling so well. Matt shows up and tells her in details why her life is horrible: she puts it on herself. She rips his heart out in a daze, but it is only a hallucination. Rebekah and April bond when April stays behind to help clean up.
Carol Lockwood is glad that Connor is dead, although she does not approve of Damon's methods. Meredith is mad at Damon for exploding the hospital and will not go out for celebratory drinks. She asks Damon to make up with his brother and Elena. Stefan calls on Caroline for help with Elena, which she agrees to. Elena, meanwhile, begins feeding on Matt longer than usual due to the events of the day leaving her angry and thirsty for blood. When she starts to get aggressive, Damon comes in and compels Matt to forget what Elena was doing. He decides to teach Elena the right way of being a vampire...his way.
==Cast==
===Main Cast===
*Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert
*Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore
*Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore
*Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert
*Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett (credit only)
*Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan
*Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes
*Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood
*Joseph Morgan as Niklaus Mikaelson
===Recurring Cast===
*Claire Holt as Rebekah Mikaelson
*Todd Williams as Connor Jordan
*Grace Phipps as April Young
*Torrey DeVitto as Meredith Fell
===Guest Cast===
*Phoebe Tonkin as Hayley Marshall
===Co-Starring===
*Susan Walters as Carol Lockwood
*Nicci Faires as Heather
==Trivia==
*Antagonist: Connor Jordan and Rebekah Mikaelson.
*Rebekah moves out of Klaus' mansion.
*Elena is the fifth main character to be infected with werewolf venom after Damon, Katherine, Stefan and Caroline. While Rebekah is also infected, the venom only weakens her temporarily because she is an Original and cannot be killed by anything other than white oak wood.
**It was implied that Rebekah has never sustained a bite from a werewolf before, as she was unfamiliar to the hallucinogenic effects of werewolf venom after drinking the beer that Connor spiked with it. 
*Elena almost kills Matt while feeding, just as Caroline almost killed him in Bad Moon Rising, but Damon stops her before she drains him of blood.
*Damon tells a scared Elena that he'll teach her how to control her vampire hunger by feeding on humans without killing them.
==Body Count==
==Continuity==
*Klaus, Rebekah and Meredith were last seen in Growing Pains.
*Alaric was mentioned. He was last seen in Memorial.
==Locations==
*Mystic Falls, Virginia
**Mystic Falls Hospital
**Salvatore Boarding House
**The Woods
***Connor's Trailer
**Mystic Falls High School
**Lockwood Mansion
**Rebekah's House
**Gilbert House
==Behind the Scenes==
*Brian Young delivered a draft of 4.03. In José Molina´s words, the episode has "More sex and blood than you can shake a white oak stake at!" 
*According to Julie Plec, Elena's just a roller coaster of anger, and hostility, and compassion, and sadness. Watching Rebekah push her buttons to the extreme had driven Elena to a pretty dark place."" - "EW"
*Zach Roerig makes his 50th appearance as Matt Donovan in this episode. The other actors who appear in 50 episodes or more are: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Candice Accola, Steven R. McQueen and Katerina Graham.
*This episode had about 2.87 million viewers in the USA, which was 0.04 million less than the previous episode.
*Hashtag during the airing is #Klamon
==Cultural References==
*The Urban Dictionary defines Rager as a student party where lots of alcohol is consumed.
* - a system of techniques to control the triggers and effects of an angered emotional state.
*" " - American expression meaning "to make peace". Probably an allusion to putting down the to end hostilities between natives and colonists. In times of peace, weapons should be buried (cached).
*Caroline tells Stefan he should write a self-help book for vampires and go on , an ABC talk show created by Barbara Walters. The original format has four women discussing everyday subjects and jointly interviewing famous people.
* is a 1963 Ray Bradbury novel about a traveling circus whose sinister owner has a tattoo for each person he has bound in service (similar to Connor's tattoo, that grows with each killing.)
*Elena riding Stefan's bike with arms outstretched reminded us of Rose and Jack in the 1997 film standing on the prow of the ship shouting, "I am the king of the world!!!"
*"The Rager" is also the title of the 19th episode from the second season of the TV show The O.C.
*This episode was a perfect example of Unspoken Plan Guarantee , meaning that a plan's likelihood to succeed is inversely proportional to how much the audience know about it. Since we knew nothing of Damon's plan to snare Connor it worked like clockwork.
*Another great example of Torture Always Works - despite the fact that the vampire that was feeding on Matt could have just as well compelled him to forget everything about it, Connor was sure he was going to get a truthful answer when he put his knife on Matt's neck. Lucky for Matt he had an scapegoat vampire waiting in the wings (Rebekah).
*A classic rule of writing is that one should show, not tell how they are feeling. Elena's constantly repeating that she hates Rebekah and has never felt such rage is a sad example of "that makes me so angry ": stating the emotions because she cannot show it thought actions or expressions. Unless it's actually "so this is what anger feels like? " the trope used when a character who is so nice (or without emotions) and has never felt angry before.
*The security guards from Star Trek , the original series, wore Red Shirts. Since many of them were nameless and never survive the away mission, this became the trope namer. Every time that some nameless character is introduced, and we expect them to die soon, they are called "Red Shirts."
*The sequence where Matt appears and tells Rebekah exactly what she needed to hear, but then he was not there, is a great example of it was "all just a dream !"
*It seems that neither Tyler/Caroline nor Stefan/Elena "can't get no satisfaction ": their make out sessions have been interrupted by serious "moment killers ."
*Although Damon warns him not to boast, it seems that Jeremy is taking a level in Badass. He left behind the days of geeky pothead and looks able to hold his own on a fight, or at least take part on a evil plan to take out the hunter who wants to kill all his friends.
==Quotes==
:Elena: (to Stefan in response to Rebekah walking into class) "Ugh... And just like that, I'm no longer feeling sentimental."
----
:Rebekah: "You're welcome to join, Elena, if you'd like to bury the hatchet."
:Elena: "It's a pretty enormous hatchet."
:Rebekah: "Well, I'm feeling generous of spirit."
----
:Elena: "So you left the only person on earth that actually likes you?"
:Rebekah: "Well, your boyfriend liked me once. Actually, a lot more than once."
----
:Rebekah: (to Stefan and Elena) "Well, history is my favorite class. Actually, where is Mr. Saltzman? Oh, that's right. (She lowers her voice to a whisper) I killed him."
----
:Elena: (to Stefan about Rebekah) "I hate her. I didn't think I was capable of hate, but I hate her... and I hate that I hate her!"
----
:Rebekah: (to Elena) "See you in gym! I think it's dodgeball day."
----
:Hayley: (to Tyler) "Hey, Lockwolf!"
----
:Rebekah: (to Elena) "You come into my house, throw around false accusations, and then you have the nerve to drink my beer?"
----
:Stefan: (to Elena) "See, rage is a really powerful feeling. But guilt? Take it from me-- it'll destroy you."
----
:Klaus: (to Tyler) "I don't know anything, but I put together a pretty convincing picture. Why don't you tell me where my imagination deviates from reality? You went off to the Appalachians to break my sire bond. There, you met a pack of werewolves, begged them for help. Among them was a girl. She was gorgeous, with the same animal instincts as you. Emotions ran high, inhibitions ran low... then, in a moment of weakness, the thick sexual tension became something much more real... and Caroline has no idea."
----
:Klaus: (to Connor) "There's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?"
----
:Klaus: (to Connor) "Nice try, but I'm faster than your average vampire."
----
:Klaus: "I should've killed you for the little stunt you and your friends pulled. Stopping my heart, leaving me in a coffin to rot."
:Tyler: "Yeah, well, you used my body as an escape hatch, then kissed my girlfriend, so maybe we're even."
:Klaus: "Not even close. But, you hybrids are a dying breed. I can't make more of you, and I won't have anyone taking liberties with the ones I have left. Consider them your new bodyguards."
----
:Damon: "Good day for a mid-life crisis. 164 years? I'd say you're due."
:Stefan: "Elena's transition into a vampire has been a little depressing. I want to help her have some fun."
:Damon: "Oh. Those who can't do, teach."
:Stefan: "Well, I see that we're still fighting. Got it. Where are you going?"
:Damon: "That hunter jacked Tyler Lockwood of his werewolf venom last night, so he's basically got vampire poison in a bottle. And I'm going to find him. And I'm going to eat him."
:Stefan: "I'll go with you."
:Damon: "I don't want your help. I just want to kill this guy and get the hell out of here. Isn't that the deal? Whoever Elena doesn't choose, leaves?"
:Stefan: "That was before she turned."
:Damon: "And I stayed to help. If I take you punching me as the first clue, I'm not wanted here anymore."
:Stefan: "Listen, you blood-shared with my girlfriend, and I punched you in the face. You deserved it. Why don't you stop being dramatic?"
:Damon: "No, brother, dramatic would be leaving before I kill this hunter."
----
:Connor: "Tell me which of your high school friends is a bloodsucker."
:Matt: "Rebekah. Rebekah Mikaelson."
:Connor: "Thank you. When you wake up, she'll be long gone."
----
:Rebekah: "Hey Matt." (Matt does not reply.)
:Rebekah: "So I'm having a little party, you should ditch last period and come." (Matt continues to ignore her and swap books out of his locker.)
:Rebekah: "Look, I know you're still angry I ran you off the bridge, but you have to understand. Alaric killed my brother, he was trying to kill me, I had to do something to stop him. I never wanted to hurt you."
----
:Klaus: "I see my reputation precedes me. Nothing to bad I hope?"
:Hayley: "A little bad. Mostly repulsive."
----
:Meredith: "Why are you being so cryptic?"
:Damon: "Close the door."
:Meredith: "Tell me that is not a bomb."
:Damon: "Okay, it's a kitten. It's an adorable exploding kitten."
:Meredith: "Why didn't you call your brother?"
:Damon: "Because I'm proud, and stubborn, and... Oh look! You're already here! Come on, you're not going to get hurt. All I need you to do is be doctorly, cut out the arrow. I'd do it myself but if I move... (He touches the wires) Poof!"
:Meredith: (panicked) "Okay." (She picks up a hunter's knife and starts to work on the arrow)
:Damon: "So, how well do you know Pastor Young?"
:Meredith: "He was a patient of mine. Always a nice guy."
:Damon: "Nice crazy guy. He wrote a letter about sacrifice and war brewing in Mystic Falls.
:Meredith: "What does it mean, "A greater evil is coming?" Don't we have great evil already?"
:Damon: "You'd think!"
----
:Stefan: "You came."
:Klaus: " I did. And for future reference, one voicemail is just as effective as nine."
----
:Damon: (to Connor about Klaus) Maybe you can cue me in on this greater evil? (He points to Klaus) Because I fought this guy, and there's nothing more evil than that.
:Klaus: Yeah, truth be told, I'm as evil as it gets.
:
==Multimedia==
===Soundtrack===
===Pictures===
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==References==
==See also==
Category:The Vampire Diaries Episode Guide
Category:The Vampire Diaries Season Four