This was not your typical monster of the week episode. This was a heartbreaking episode from probably the cruelest monster we’ve met yet.

Spoilers Below

It was hard to enjoy Josie (Kaylee Bryant) and Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) reuniting with their mom, Jo (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe), you just knew something wasn’t right. For the girls, I almost wish it was just some monster playing tricks on them, but it was so much worse. A monster actually raised their mother from the dead and then possessed her. They got to meet their biological mother and then they had to kill her, and all on their 16th birthday. As Hope knows, being part of a supernatural family isn’t easy and Josie and Lizzie don’t even know the half of their family drama yet. Even with all that, the girls deserved better on their 16th birthday.

On top of that, Josie bonded with her mom only to get buried alive and Raphael (Peyton ‘Alex’ Smith) broke Lizzie’s heart. It was not a fun birthday for either of them.

Julie Plec promised some familiar faces and while this familiar face broke my heart, it led to answering a mystery that we’ve all wondered about, where is Caroline? I didn’t realize the girls still had to merge on their 22nd birthday. It makes total sense that Caroline would be out trying to stop that from happening. She may be missing some important things in her daughters’ lives but if she can give them both life after 22, it will all be worth it. It warms my heart that Caroline is trying to save them.

This episode wasn’t all heartbreak and tears. It was so cute seeing Hope (Danielle Rose Russell) gush over Landon. It’s nice that they are required to see a counselor, and in this case, Hope was told she needs a friend.

Making friends is not the easiest for Hope but she made an effort. First with giving Josie the birthday gift, then helping Rafael, and he helped her in return. She even took his advice and saved Josie with MG (Quincy Fouse) and Penelope (Lulu Antariksa). Normally she would have done it alone, but she finally asked for help.

It was great seeing them band together to save one of their own.  It was nice seeing Hope not isolate herself. Just because she’s a Mikaelson doesn’t mean she has to live her life alone. There are great people at the Salvatore school. I’m glad she’s starting to see that.

I can’t believe the mid-season finale is next week. It feels like we just got started.