This article may contain spoilers.

Not wasting one second of this lush and bursting at the seams episode, the show opened just where it left off the week before, with Elenas (Nina Dobrev) harsh demand, What are you? ringing in our ears.

Stefan (Paul Wesley) tried to delay the inevitable by obliquely saying, You know -- or you wouldnt be here. But Elena would not be deflected by such a flimsy response and Stefan was forced to elaborate and, with a hint of anguish in his voice, he explained, Everything you know and every belief that you have is about to change. Are you ready for that? and with one final look at her determined face, he finally quietly said, Im a vampire. With that final admission, Elenas world tilted irrevocably forever. Just like with the death of her parents just a few months before, life had thrown a curveball that she never saw coming. But acquiescing to Stefans urgent plea to just give me one day so that he could explain and answer her questions, we finally got to see a few pivotal pieces from the Stefan, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Katherine saga.

With Stefan occupied trying to diminish the horror of the new world Elena had just discovered, Damon was recuperating from his traumatic near-death experience. After he had fed on all the townies he could get his hands on, he tried to cover his tracks by burning the bodies. Thus, imagine his surprise when he found Vicki (Kayla Ewell) still alive. Feeling compassion or some other unfathomable emotion, he decided to rescue her and took her back to the Salvatore home. But, without his protective ring, he was unable to stand sunlight and was confined to the house with her. With an exasperated side-comment oh, dont get blood on the couch, please! remark, Damon finally capitulated and said, Im so going to regret this, and fed Vicki some of his own blood -- which quickly healed her wounds. Alas, that just revived Vicki into a hyper drug-high state and she bounced around the house with Vampire-infused energy. But like with any drug, whatever goes up, must come down. Within a few hours, Vicki was a blubbering mess of insecurity and self-pity, and Damon finally driven to his breaking point, said, I think I know what can help you -- death! and promptly snapped her neck. But even death could not conquer the powerful healing effects of the vampire-blood pumping throughout Vickis body. It just reawakened her yet again and unleashed Vicki on the unsuspecting town of Mystic Falls.

As the parable says, "be careful what you wish for, it just may come true." In this case, Stefan wanted to tell Elena about who he really was, Elena wanted to find out what Stefan was hiding, Damon wanted to be the good guy, and Vicki wanted to be special -- and they all got what they wanted. But it was not what they truly wanted at all.

By telling Elena who he was and how he became a vampire, Stefan only succeeded in pushing Elena further away. For Elena ultimately made her decision and told Stefan, "I gave you today, just like you asked. But I can't be with you, Stefan. I'm sorry, but I just can't." The horror of Stefan's life and the danger he had brought into her life was more than Elena could bear.

As for Elena, in her case ignorance was bliss. She had been much happier thinking of Stefan as simply a mysterious teenage boy with a troubled brother, than finding out he was a 145 year old vampire. That was more reality than she truly wanted to face or deal with. It was the last kind of secret she expected and it took away her blissful innocence about the world around her. Having barely survived the harsh reality of her parent's death, unveiling a reality where vampires exist was perhaps more than her fragile state of mind could handle.

Then, as for Damon, he wanted to see himself as the hero in the story, and not the villain. In saving Vicki's life and giving her the choice to continuing living in misery or to embrace a new future as more than she was, he thought he had given her a gift. But as Elena reminded him, "Did you thank Katherine?" How can one ever be truly grateful for being turned into a creature of the night? For it was not a gift at all. It was a curse. And it did not make him a hero -- despite his misguided intentions.

And Vicki, she is now even more lost, confused and troubled than before. Prior to her conversion, she was merely a girl with problems -- problems that could have been fixed. But once she made the choice to drink human blood, she did become special. She is now a vampire. But she will soon find it is more problematic than her prior drug-addiction problems. Being something that is not even human will not make her feel special. It will only make her feel like more of the monster than the one she saw in the mirror before.

Like Stefan and Damon, Vicki will not be thankful for being made an outcast, something to be reviled, hunted and feared. She will not be thankful to be something that Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) will not be able to love -- and that is all she ever truly wanted. That is all they all want -- to be loved and accepted.

No, these were not the things that they all truly wanted. Their wishes came true -- just never in the way they expected.

What Worked

The flashbacks to the time of Katherines reign were glorious. It was seductive and dazzling and we fully appreciated how both Stefan and Damon where charmed and entranced by such a woman. It also helped us see how innocent they both were and why they both yearn to be more than they are.

What Didn't Work

While understandable that this was a complex enough episode without needing to add to it, it would have been nice to see a bit more of Bonnie (Katerina Graham) and Caroline (Candice Accola). Their absence was felt keenly and hopefully they will be more prevalent in upcoming episodes.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

Lost Girlswas written by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, and directed by Marcos Siega. The Vampire Diariesstars Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Candice Accola, Katerina Graham, Kayla Ewell, Michael Trevino, Zach Roerig and Sara Canning. 'The Vampire Diaries' airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.