Put aside your shipper preferences for a hot second and tell me that was not a damn fine way to wake up! In "We'll Always Have Bourbon Street," we were treated to another erotic Damon and Elena scene, successfully picking up where we left off at the end of last week.

Unfortunately, that includes having a sexy scene completely marred with Caroline Forbes intensity and whining. Jeez, if Elena's ex boyfriend is telling you to calm down about it, then take a damn breather girl! You are clearly flirting with Klaus and somewhat attracted to him, so let's not get into a hypocritical best friend judgment situation until we know all the facts.

Thanks to Tyler's hard bodied wisdom and Nandi the New Orleans witch, True Blood's Adina Porter, we are now enlightened on what it means for one vampire to be sired to another.

Oh hey Lex! Gosh I wish she was still on this show instead of 90210. Anyway, what exactly did we find out?

The bond affects how you act, not how you feel. | permalink

There you have it from straight from Tyler, abs of steel, Lockwood. If our favorite teenage hybrid's explanation wasn't convincing enough, Nandi down in New Orleans had plenty to say as well. A vampire only bonds to her sire when she has feelings before she turns. He or she had to have genuine human feelings, plain and simple. The vampire transition only heightens those emotions. There you have it, clear as day. Elena has love for Damon. But didn't we already know that? She's always had feelings for both Salvatores because they each offer something different.

Rose's ghost explained it best on that car ride back from the motel with Jeremy. The real problem here is that Elena is doing everything Damon says. However, Damon isn't saying "love me." Surely there is a way he can release her without shunning her. If Elena always had these desires of her own free will then what's the problem? I might be thinking too simply considering Mystic Falls is a complicated little place, but can't Damon just order her to make her own decisions? You know, pull a True Blood and say "As your maker, I release you?" 

I realize these are two different shows, but vampire folklore tends to be in the same vein, no pun intended. I realize a lot of people are still going to think Elena is brainwashed and blah blah blah, but they spelled it out pretty clearly tonight. I always liked Stefan. Truly I don't ship one brother over the other. The one thing I will say is that this is the first episode in I don't even know how many that Elena seemed to actually smile.

She was happy, she was carefree, she was dancing, and she was laughing. Damon has pretty much been the only one who hasn't been trying to change her back. She didn't ask to become a vampire so everyone's gotta lay off trying to make her feel like crap! Especially when she rescued your behind tonight Miss Forbes! 

The friend I'm worried about at this point is Bonnie. Professor Creepy has her practicing expression and thanks to the wise witch Nandi, that means dipping into magic so dark it exists entirely on another plane. If Val, the original witch Damon worked with, only needed 12 humans for her sacrifice, then why does Shane need 12 hybrids? Obviously he is trying to do something much stronger here.

And speaking of this whole sire thing, how exactly are these hybrids free after Tyler's whole Alpha speech tonight? They all got on bended knee after! If you're not a slave to one leader, you're a slave to another it seems. 

I'm interested to see if Damon is able to relocate his selfless side again. We saw him do it with Lexie and Stefan in 1942 when he accepted his loneliness and didn't go with Stefan to Egypt, knowing it would only cause Stefan more temptation for his Ripper side. He also used it to actually set Charlotte free after all these years when it was clear that the sire bond had never been broken. Damn, that Madeline Zima does an awesome job at playing Fatal Attraction type bitches. Watch Californication if you have yet to be acquainted with her with the wonderful Miss Zima.

Despite the fact that we were missing a few characters this week, this episode did offer a lot of answers.

So were you all satisfied with Tyler and Nandi's explanation of the vampire sire bond? Do you think Damon will set Elena free? What are you anticipating for the Vampire Diaries mid-season finale? Hit the comments!