Plan B (The Vampire Diaries)

Plot

The episode opens with Elena and Stefan waking up together, as do Katherine and Mason. Elena and Stefan discuss how to continue hiding from Katherine, and she keeps feeding Stefan her blood. Katherine tries to get Mason to reveal where he hid the moonstone, but he says it is safe and he will give it to her later that night. Jeremy visits Damon, offering to help, and tells him what he learned from Tyler about werewolves and that Mason is looking for a moonstone.

Alaric arrives with information from Isobel's research indicating moonstones can seal a curse, and they wonder if Mason wants to reverse the werewolf curse. At preparations for the Masquerade Ball, Elena updates Bonnie on Katherine and Caroline's fake fights with Stefan. Mason is surprised to see Stefan alive and asks about Sheriff Forbes; Stefan says Liz is fine. Mason bumps into Bonnie, who has a vision of him and "Elena"; Stefan realizes she saw Katherine, not Elena.

Stefan and Damon learn of the connection between Mason and Katherine and decide to find out what she is using him for. Jeremy offers to take the moonstone from Tyler, but Tyler has already given it to Mason. Stefan and Damon ask Bonnie to help kidnap Mason to learn Katherine's plan and the moonstone's location; she eventually agrees. Caroline is in the basement with her mother, explaining her new life.

Liz says she will never hurt Caroline, but Caroline compels her to forget everything and believe she has been sick with the flu.

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Plan B" was watched by 3.62 million viewers, an increase of 0.15 from the previous episode. The episode received positive reviews. Matt Richenthal of TV Fanatic rated it 4.8/5, calling it dark, shocking, and exciting, and noting that Damon's humanity appeared after he realized Mason was being manipulated by Katherine. Diana Steenbergen from IGN rated it 8.5/10, praising Candice Accola's portrayal of Caroline and calling her storyline one of the most compelling on the show.

Josie Kafka of Doux Reviews rated it 3.9/4, thanking the writers for their work and describing the episode as causing her to hoot with merriment and gasp at the ending. Alyse Wax from Fearnet gave a good review, calling the episode good and brutal, and noting the intense torture on network television. Reagan from The TV Chick gave a B+ rate, calling it another great episode with much information and touching moments, though scoring it lower because Mason was killed off early.