Now that we’ve finished the finale, we of course have to recap everything that happened in Season 3! This week, we’re looking back at the main characters’s highs and lows of the season, all of the great villains, and what some of the side characters were up to. We’re also going to talk about some of our personal faves, like best performances, favor…

After losing all of her blood and hitting her head, Elena starts reminiscing about happier times when her parents and Aunt Jenna were still alive (which unfortunately is also when she was still dating Matt - at least some things have gotten better). While on the mission to dump Klaus's body in the Atlantic, Stefan gets called back to Mystic Falls t…

With Evil-laric on the loose, Klaus is ready to leave town, but he won't go without his doppelgänger. And since no one will invite him into the Gilbert house to get her, he takes matters (and fence posts) into his own hands. When Damon and Stefan finally get him to focus on stopping Alaric instead, Bonnie turns to Abby for a lesson in dark magic. W…

It's time for arguably the best school dance episode: the 20s decade dance. While everyone is prepping for the dance, Esther starts plotting with Evilaric and makes him the ultimate weapon: an indestructible white oak stake. Fortunately, Damon has figured out Alaric isn't taking any of Bonnie's herbs, so he and Meredith are trying to get that under…

Now that they know what happens when you kill an Original, Elena and Damon take a trip to Denver to check in on Jeremy and to see if he can contact Rose on the Other Side to find out which Mikaelson sibling sired their bloodline. As soon as they arrive, Jeremy tries to meet up with a friend, but his friend turns out to be Kol who immediately starts…

After turning the Wickery Bridge sign into 12 white oak stakes, Damon and Stefan enlist the teens into Salvatore Boot Camp to practice taking out one of the Originals. So Matt, Caroline, and Elena are now trained to stake any one of the Mikaelsons on sight, which will also take out Klaus since they're all still linked. But if you know Klaus, you kn…

At the Wickery Bridge Restoration Kick-off, Damon runs into Sage, and despite not seeing her for 100 years, he decides to get her help in figuring out what Rebekah is up to. Sage’s plan of course relies on Rebekah coming over for a “party” and getting in her head once her guard is down. So while they take care of that, Elena has to deal with Alaric…

Even though there's a murder every other day in Mystic Falls, the recent Founder's Council member deaths remind Damon of a similar crime spree 100 years ago. Despite Liz explicitly telling him to stay out of the investigation, Damon tries to figure out what might have happened back in 1912, which reminds him of the mysterious, old vampire, Sage, wh…

After Elena tells everyone in town that Damon spent the night with Rebekah, she learns from Bonnie that Esther is planning a magic ritual to kill the Original siblings later that night. Unable to keep that a secret either, Elena tells Elijah about the ritual and that she wishes there was a way she could help save his life. But just like he tells he…

An episode as iconic as Dangerous Liaisons doesn't require a description but instead an invitation: Please join the Mikaelson Family this episode for dancing, cocktails, & celebration. And don't forget the love triangle, romantasy, & general mayhem. This week: Season 3 Episode 14 | Dangerous Liaisons Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more …

With Sheriff Forbes officially investigating the town serial killer, not only will Damon be consulted first, but she's of course going to tell Alaric and Elena everything she knows, including that the weapon used was from the Gilbert vampire-hunting stash. While those three look into the murders, the Salvatore brothers continue to scheme to kill Kl…

After having recurring dreams about Klaus's coffins, Bonnie realizes her dreams are trying to show her how to kill him. They also lead her to find her estranged mother, Abby. Speaking of awful parents, Bill Forbes returns to town to force Tyler to turn into a wolf to break his sire bond with Klaus. Meanwhile, Damon is focused on proving Alaric's ne…

Caroline is in no mood to celebrate her 18th birthday, so Elena, Bonnie, and Matt try to cheer her up by turning the celebration into the funeral she never got to have. Meanwhile, Damon and Stefan unsurprisingly can't agree on how to deal with Klaus, so Stefan goes rogue and nearly drives Elena off of Wickery Bridge. Elsewhere, Alaric gets closer t…

Now that Stefan has Klaus’s one weakness, his daggered family, he recruits Bonnie to hide the coffins in the haunted witch house. Klaus turns to his usual tactics of stalking, threatening, and murdering to get what he wants. As usual, the Gilbert family is on the receiving end of this and Stefan isn’t willing to help. After witnessing a literal beh…

Stefan, Elena, and Damon scheme to lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls, and there’s no better way than to tell him Mikael is dead. While they wait for Klaus to return, everyone decides to attend homecoming, but the dance is relocated at the last minute to the Lockwood mansion. The teens quickly realize the huge party with a live band was not pulled tog…

Down in the caves, Alaric works on deciphering the runes and figures out that the drawings tell the story of the Originals. Elena decides to go right to the source: Rebekah. After a mean girl power struggle, Rebekah invites Elena over for a fashion show, some snooping, and eventually a bit of storytelling. Through flashbacks, Rebekah tells Elena ho…

It’s the Night of Illumination and the ghosts are back to celebrate. Damon gets a visit from our absolute fave, Mason Lockwood, or so he assumes, even though the ghosts aren’t visible. So he immediately goes to Bonnie to get her to fix the problem, and her first step is to do a spell that reveals “veiled matter.” As the spell is cast, we see it rea…

It’s the first day of senior year for the Mystic Falls teens, which means they finally have to go to class and Rebekah gets a chance to show off crazy stunts at cheerleading practice. While the girls are dealing with an assortment of boyfriend problems, Matt is talking to Vicki on the other side, and Tyler is enjoying his new hybrid lifestyle. It a…

To pretend like everything is normal, Caroline forces everyone to participate in senior prank night, but the night immediately takes a turn when Klaus arrives. Desperate to make a hybrid, Klaus feeds Tyler his blood, snaps his neck, gives Bonnie twenty minutes to figure out how to save him, and compels Stefan to feed on Elena when the clock runs ou…

While looking for the Original witch’s necklace for Klaus, Gloria gets glimpses of Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie getting ready for the Founder’s Cookout. She of course has no idea who the girls are, but unfortunately, the images are enough for her to realize that Stefan is hiding something, so she decides to use some “old school voodoo” (torture) to …

To get in touch with a witch that can help with the hybrid plan, Klaus brings Stefan to Chicago, which also happens to be where Stefan spent most of his ripper days. At the witch’s bar, Gloria’s, Stefan finds a photograph of him and his bestie from the 1920s. Through 20s flashbacks, we see why Klaus wanted Stefan to come along with him in the first…

With Klaus and his partner-in-crime off to the Smoky Mountains to create more hybrids, Elena, Alaric, and Damon go on a road trip to try to bring Stefan home. Meanwhile, in Mystic Falls, Jeremy asks Matt to help him with a seance to contact Vicki. Tyler spends his day looking for Caroline after she snuck out right after their hookup but eventually …

Months have passed since Stefan went off with Klaus, and it’s now Elena’s 18th birthday. That of course means Caroline is going to throw her a party, even though all Elena wants is to know that Stefan is alive. And while Elena has spent all summer trying to figure out how to get Stefan to come home, Caroline and Tyler have become besties, Jeremy is…

Because we love you guys so much and wish we could make you all cohosts, we decided to turn the mic over to you and answer all of your questions about The Vampire Diaries! Your questions covered everything from whether we think Damon and Liz would have been a good ship to what we would change about the ending of the show to what we think of Bonnie’…

As promised, we’re finally devoting an entire episode to the humanity switch. We look at all of the reasons why characters like Stefan, Damon, and Enzo turn their emotions off and how they eventually get them back on. We also realized that so many iconic moments come from a vampire’s no humanity arc, like Damon killing Matt to get Elena to turn it …

For every character there is to love on The Vampire Diaries, there are a few to hate. While the list mostly includes annoying villains, useless supernaturals, and guest stars there are two characters in the main cast that are well known for annoying the fan base. You already know we’re talking about Matt Donovan and Elena Gilbert. But is Matt hated…

Before we get into Season 3 in a few weeks, we of course have to recap Season 2! This week, we’re looking back at the main characters, the villains, and all of the great Season 2 side characters. We’re also going to talk about all of the highs of the season, like best performances, favorite songs, best three episode run, and favorite Delena and Ste…

Put on your PJs, grab your Brothers Bond Bourbon or your Fresh Vine Wine, and get ready to slumber it with the Rippah Girls! This week, we're having a girls night and playing TVD Trivia hosted by Producer Shea. With 90 questions created by Shea and 10 listener-submitted questions, we'll see who really knows The Vampire Diaries the best. You can eve…

It’s officially been one year of The Rippah Diaries, or at least it will be on April 20th. Close enough for us. This week, we’re talking about the past year of the pod, what inspired us to get started, and some of our opinions that have changed with this rewatch of Season One and Two. We’re also going to turn the mic over to you guys and read some …

With the werewolf bite getting worse, Damon is ready to give up, but of course, Stefan can’t help but try to save him. The spirits in the old witch house reveal that Klaus will have the cure, so Stefan goes to strike a bargain while Alaric watches a sickly Damon. All goes well until Sheriff Forbes shows up with absolutely no plan and lets Damon out…

Now that Jenna has woken up, Elena explains to her that she’s in transition and Jenna realizes that she’s the vampire Klaus plans to sacrifice with the doppelgänger. With the addition of Jules as the werewolf, Klaus has all three goddesses needed to begin the ritual. With the sacrifice underway, Bonnie and Jeremy spend most of the night looking for…

It’s finally the full moon, which means Klaus is planning to break the sun and moon curse tonight. Elena and Stefan are willing to go along with the sacrifice and hope that Elijah’s magical elixir will bring Elena back to life, but Damon is not on board with that plan. In classic Damon fashion, he lashes out and feeds Elena his blood, almost guaran…

Elena and the newly undaggered Elijah spend the day together so Elena can prove she’s trustworthy and so Elijah can tell her about the last time Klaus tried to break the sun and moon curse in the 1400s. Through flashbacks, Elijah tells the story of how he and Klaus met Katherine, and he makes three huge reveals about Klaus and the curse. We also se…

It’s time for another decade dance: the 60s. Klaus continues to possess Alaric’s body, and with help from Katherine, he is ready to act as our favorite history teacher and taunt Elena. As always, Elena tries to pretend everything is normal, which of course means she and Bonnie and Stefan are finally going to school. Klaus, teaching history as Alari…

After stopping by the Gilbert house to ruin Jenna and Alaric’s relationship, Isobel convinces John that she’s trying to help Elena. John is blinded by love and believes her, but Elena and Stefan are skeptical. Rightfully so, because Isobel immediately meets up with Katherine to tell her that she made a deal with Klaus to save Katherine’s life in ex…

Now that Katherine has manipulated her way out of the tomb, she’s sticking around the Salvatore house to flirt with Stefan and Damon and antagonize Elena. And with Elijah now out of the picture, Stefan decides Team Save Elena should try to get Luka and Dr. Martin on their side, so he and Bonnie meet with the Martins at the Grill to plead their case…

As Elena reads the Gilbert journals, she finds out about Stefan’s revenge on the founding families in 1864. Now that the truth is out, Stefan tells Elena about his ripper era and how Lexi brought him out of it. Meanwhile, Damon is desperate to get a chance to "talk" with Elijah—we all know what that really means. Andie gives Damon the perfect oppor…

In a rare cute Stelena episode, Stefan and Elena decide to avoid Uncle John and go spend the day at the Gilbert family lake house. While Stelena have their romantic getaway, everyone back in Mystic Falls is scheming. First we have Caroline, Bonnie, and Jeremy plotting to get information from Luka about the sacrifice by putting him in a witchy tranc…

All of the worst characters come out to play in this episode. Uncle John returns and immediately stirs the pot with Jenna and tries to parent Elena. Meanwhile, Tyler confronts Caroline about lying to him about how many vampires there are and who killed Mason. Trying to do damage control, Caroline sends Stefan to talk to Tyler to help him cool off. …

With Rose’s werewolf bite getting worse every minute, Damon asks Elena to play nurse while he tries to get a cure from Jules. Despite Elena's do-gooder efforts Rose hallucinates, attacks her, and escapes to cause chaos at one of the town’s many events. Just to lighten things up for a minute, both Matt and Tyler kiss Caroline, setting up a classic l…

It’s finally the first full moon since Tyler became a werewolf, and he is desperate to find Mason to help him through the transition. Thankfully, Caroline steps in and comforts Tyler through the whole experience. Unfortunately, the voicemail Tyler left for Mason is overheard by our least favorite side character, Jules. When Jules gets to town and s…

Desperate to save Elena, the Salvatore brothers plan to get the moonstone from Katherine with the help of Bonnie and Jeremy—not really a dream team. Elena wants nothing to do with their terrible plan, so she convinces Rose to take her to Slater’s apartment to find out more about Klaus. At the apartment, they find a very dead Slater and Slater’s vam…

After Rose tells Elena that Klaus is coming for her, Elena goes to the tomb to give Katherine blood in exchange for the truth about the sun and moon curse. Through flashbacks to 1490, Katherine tells Elena about the child who was taken away from her, how she ruined Trevor and Rose’s lives, and how she turned into a vampire. Damon and Rose also try …

After being kidnapped for the second time, Elena is brought to an old, abandoned mansion where she meets her kidnappers, Trevor and Rose. Trevor immediately tries to feed on Elena, and Rose slaps Elena so hard she does a 360 spin, so things don't look good for her. Luckily, Jeremy and Stefan figure out Elena is missing and Bonnie does a locator spe…

Katherine sends a message to the Salvatore brothers: hand over the moonstone tonight at the masquerade ball, or she will rip apart the town until it rains blood. But Katherine predicts that Stefan and Damon won’t hand the moonstone over without a fight, so she brings her very own Bennett witch for backup and keeps a few tricks up her sleeve. Kather…

You know Masquerade is that episode when there’s a whole episode about the set up for the masquerade party. Everyone in the show is involved in party prep, including Stefan and Mason. Mason is shocked to see that Stefan survived the last episode, but Stefan is even more shocked when Bonnie bumps into Mason and has a vision of him kissing “Elena.” S…

A new day in Mystic Falls means a new event, and today’s event is the Historical Society Volunteer Picnic, which is the perfect opportunity for everyone to be in the same place to cause drama. This means Elena and Stefan can put on their best performances in their fake fight and Mason can prove to Sheriff Forbes that Stefan and Damon are vampires. …

For a minute, this episode makes you think it's opening with a Steferine 1864 memory, but we quickly find out it's Stefan's Delena nightmare created by Katherine getting in Stefan's head. Despite the rude awakening, Stefan lets Katherine hang around the Salvatore House long enough for Stefan to vervain her and lock her in the basement. Across town,…

It’s time for another Delena roadtrip episode! This time, Damon, Elena, and their third wheel, Alaric go to Duke to look through Isobel’s research and see if Isobel has any information about werewolves. Poor Alaric, the vibes on the trip are so horrid since Elena obviously hasn’t forgiven Damon for killing Jeremy like a day ago. Thankfully, the tri…

After being killed by Katherine, Caroline wakes up in transition and is immediately great at being a vampire in classic Caroline fashion. She completes the transition in record time, compels a nurse, and puts on a smokey eye so you know she’s really in her vamp era. While Caroline figures out how to get out of the hospital, Elena and Bonnie get the…