After It Airs (TVD 9/15)

The Vampire Diaries
Season 3 Episode 1 - The Birthday

Summary (courtesy of The CW Network):
On the morning of Elena's 18th birthday, Caroline is busy planning a party, but Elena is focused on searching for any clues that might help her discover where Stefan is. Damon is also searching for Stefan, while trying to protect Elena and keep her from doing anything that would draw Klaus' attention. Meanwhile, Klaus and Stefan are busy trailing a werewolf named Ray Sutton (guest star David Gallagher, "Super 8"). Now working at the Mystic Grill along with Matt , Jeremy is struggling to understand why he keeps seeing the ghosts of Vicki (guest star Kayla Ewell) and Anna (guest star Malese Jow) since he was brought back to life by Bonnie's magic. Meanwhile, Alaric does his best to watch over Elena and Jeremy, while dealing with his grief over Jenna's death. Finally, Caroline and Tyler face a new and unexpected challenge. John Behring directed the episode written by Kevin Williamson & Julie Plec.

Episode MVP: Paul Wesley = Mr. Fabulous. All his scenes as the Ripper were superb, but I definitely loved his last scene of the episode. As I'm sure you all did.

Favorite Episode Recaps: 
I loved the play-by-play and I like her added opinions (mostly because I agree with most of them)
'The Vampire Diaries' Season 3 premiere recap: Lessons in letting go - From Inside the Box - Zap2it

I absolutely love the picture recaps. They are hilarious!
'The Vampire Diaries' Track the Ripper (PHOTORECAP) - TV.com

Episode Music (songs listed in order of appearance):
Ingrid Michaelson - "Are We There Yet?"
Two Door Cinema Club - “What You Know”
The Civil Wars - “Barton Hollow”
Trent Dabbs - “Means To An End”
Andrew Belle - “Make It Without You”
Martin Solveig and Dragonette - “Hello”
Mona - “Shooting The Moon”
The Kicks - “Hawk Eyes”
Walk The Moon -“Anna Sun”
Location Location - “Starpusher”
Cobra Starship - “You Make Me Feel”
Ron Pope - “A Drop In The Ocean”  - my favorite song, and it plays during all the big happenings of the episode!! Perfection.

Episode Promo Trailer: