OK, game point, travelers. The villains of this season's latter half have been pretty boring, and also ineffectual, and I haven't really seen them as any kind of threat — until this week. They take one of our own! Way to really gear up for next week's season finale, Vampire Diaries [1]. Of course, the final moment isn't the only moment, and I have plenty to say about everything else, so let's just get to the good, the bad, and the bloody of this season's penultimate episode!

The Good

• YOU GUYS, STEFAN IS DEAD. This is not good, but it's all I can think about. Julian, who is trapped inside Tyler's body, pulls out Stefan's heart. He turns gray! He appears to Bonnie to cross over! This is real this time. Our only hope is that Bonnie actually does figure out a way to bring the dead back. But maybe just Stefan.
• Anyway, let's rewind. Stefan and Elena had been kidnapped by Markos and drained of their blood by Markos, when Julian's wife, Maria, frees them. I love that she lets them suffer for a while on their own as they scrounge for food and try to walk to civilization, making up games and getting delirious. Oh, and Elena's rare use of her sexuality is also awesome.
• Damon kills it for most of this episode, and not just with his one-liners; he kidnaps the bodies of the travelers to get back at Markos, and as he plans, Markos shows up to have a quip-off. Nice snark, Markos. We really didn't think you had it in you.
• So not only is their entire race (are vampires a race? You know what I mean) under threat if the traveler spell works, but now witches Luke and Liv want to kill Stefan and Elena too, to make the doppelgänger blood useless. (Did that scene with Liv stopping the car not remind you of Rebekah in the season three finale?) And we're happy for the traveler magic for once, because it makes Liv and Luke totally fail at their murder attempt.
• But that traveler spell! It's actually such a great scene, as everyone starts to die they way they originally died (Elena starts to drown, Damon and Stefan feel gunshots). Tyler loses his fangs, Damon's daylight ring stops working — it's crazy to see everyone suddenly useless.
• I may be tired of the Damon-and-Elena back and forth, but when she sees him, kisses him, and repeats his line from last week ("I had a really crappy day, and I needed it"), I melted a little.

The Bad

• It is very bad that Stefan is dead! What the hell? Not Stefan! I may or may not have been screaming "Put it back in!" at the TV, moments after Tyler/Julian pulls out his heart. Speaking of, with no magic, would he still be strong enough to pull out a heart? Either way, that is not cool.
• Ugh, Ghost Enzo, it's time for you to shuffle off with no possibility to return. I admit that I was a little glad he's been around so that Bonnie can be in the whole bring-the-dead back mentality, but still. Here's to hoping that Bonnie can bring people back, but oh no! It only works for one person, and that person is Stefan.

The Bloody

• Big ew to those buckets of blood that Stefan and Elena are just bleeding out into. And double ew for when Markos cuts Elena's arm for fun.

So, did you scream at the TV too?