‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 6, episode 3, “Welcome to Paradise,” aired tonight, and a confession, a few truths, and some lost time make for a great episode.

And we thought last week’s episode had some juicy moments. “Welcome to Paradise” trumped Caroline’s impassioned yelling with a couple of truly heartfelt moments. We’re still recovering. Check out our recap while we regroup.

In a Damon-less world

Stefan, a little perturbed after Enzo murdered his girlfriend and wrecked the quiet life he had set up for himself, makes arrangements with his boss (compulsion comes in awfully handy for those kind of moments, doesn’t it?) to give him time off to find Enzo and get even.

Caroline is packing up after spending the night with Elena at Whitmore, and is unsettled by the whole situation because Elena just doesn’t seem like herself. She calls Matt who shrugs it off as Elena just being happy rather than lovesick or grieving for once. He hangs up and chats with Tripp, who is hosing down the transport van he used to sacrifice a bunch of vampires.

Back in 1994

Damon and Bonnie are doing a little grocery shopping. Bonnie thinks she can figure out a way to start doing magic again. Damon doesn’t believe there is anyone else in their little hamlet, that exact moment a small coin-operated carousel begins turning and playing a little song on the store’s porch. Proof that someone else is there? Oh yeah, aisle 7.

Bonnie is holding on to all the hope she can find, while Damon is trying his best to thwart every word of her happy-go-lucky, ‘we will get out of this’ attitude. While they bicker, Bonnie sees Damon’s car. Damon suddenly seems VERY happy to have his precious car back. They can catch a glimpse of their disappearing friend, and run off to find him/her.

Moments after getting his hope back, Damon finds reasons to explain away all the bizarre happenings, and Bonnie calls him on it. She tells him to give her his ring if he’s done hoping. His constant negativity is keeping her from hoping there’s a way out of this.

Damon goes back into the store to pick out a bottle of bourbon, and happens upon Ky, a stranger, happily munching on a bag of pork rinds. Ky has been following them around, and Damon is ready for answers. He does a little threatening, and then Ky spills the beans. He wants to kill Damon. Damon sips from the bourbon bottle and begins choking on vervain.

Ky looks to stab Damon through the heart, but does a little miscalculating and assumes Bonnie has no witchy powers. As if she just needed the perfect motivation, Bonnie’s powers return at that exact moment and she lights up the place. Suddenly overpowered, Ky surrenders, only to be knocked out.

Damon has Ky strapped down to the chair in the Salvatore mansion. The newest member of the 1994 gang spills that he was never going to kill Damon, but that he was just trying to motivate Bonnie to discover her magic. It worked, and her magic is back, and since it’s the only way for them to get out of the past, now they can all have that hope Bonnie was preaching about earlier.

Swimming hole party

Stefan shows up at Whitmore, and he and Elena have a little catch up session in an empty classroom. She tells him all about her time volunteering at the hospital (and that her burgundy shirt disguises all bodily fluids.. ew.), and then she begins pestering him about his new life. She invites him to the swimming hole party, and he is ready to pass until she mentions that Enzo will be there, and he changes his mind. Elena, Stefan, and her new friend Liam arrive to the party, and Elena kicks it off with a little dive off the rope swing. She surfaces to Jeremy making out with “dog bite girl,” and Elena shows concern. Jeremy reassures her that the girl doesn’t remember anything and runs off to find her.

After a failed friends meeting in the woods, Elena drags Liam away from the party to go back to Whitmore. He kisses her instead, prompting her to give some thought as to what exactly just happened.

Enzo is trudging through the woods with some ice for Caroline when Stefan attacks him. Enzo tells Stefan that he doesn’t want to kill him, but tosses the knife Stefan had just chucked at his head and kills Matt’s friend from earlier, who was on a mission to kill Stefan. Stefan picks up the hunter’s gun and begins threatening Enzo. Caroline arrives on the scene and steps between the two. Stefan insists that she ask Enzo why he’s so pissed.

While Tyler and Matt are trading barbs about Tyler’s feelings for Liv, Enzo arrives on the scene toting Matt’s now dead friend’s body. Matt is torn up about it, but Enzo informs him of the vampire-hunter thing.

Caroline lays it all on the line for Stefan, and begs him to tell her that he cares about her in any way. When he doesn’t respond, she breaks down in tears as Elena steps out of the shadows to comfort her friend.

Back at the party, Jeremy realizes that compulsion is magic and doesn’t transfer across the border. This means that Sara knows what Elena is, and has been playing Jeremy this whole time.

Tyler and Liv have a moment. There’s clearly something building there.

Jeremy returns to the Salvatore mansion and Sara is gone. Caroline shows up, suitcase in hand to stay with Elena far away from the vampire hunters, and Caroline discovers a shirt of Bonnie’s hiding in Elena’s dresser. They both admit to missing their friend. After Caroline lists the things she misses from their old life, Elena asks her if she had feelings for Stefan. *insert long pause here* Caroline finally admits that she thinks she did, but is clearly putting those sentiments in the past.

Enzo walks into that little diner they’ve been frequenting, and has a seat at the bar just a few seats down from Tripp. He stabs Enzo with a syringe of vervain, but due to Enzo’s tolerance, things don’t look good for Tripp. Just as Enzo is about to snap his neck, Stefan walks in with the stake gun and puts two in Enzo’s chest. Tripp is thankful for the help from another founding family member, and Stefan tells him to make sure however he plans to dispatch Enzo, make it painful.