vampire diaries
A still from episode 5 of "The Vampire Diaries" -- "Monster's Ball." CW

Happy Halloween! Episode five of “The Vampire Diaries” fifth season aired on Thursday at 8 p.m. (for some, later for others), and the Mystic Falls gang was dressed to impress.

Check out a breakdown of the Halloween drama that went down in “Monster’s Ball”:

Dr. Maxfield Gets Sketchier

Remember when sketchy Dr. Wes Maxfield snapped Jesse’s neck after finding out that he had vampire blood in his system? Well “Vampire Diaries” viewers got a little peak at why he killed his lab assistant – to study him!

Labeling him as patient number 62547, he’s been torturing Jesse by not feeding him for three days since he turned. Documenting Jesse’s reactions and levels of hunger, Maxfield calls him the “perfect candidate” … but the “perfect candidate” for what?

Meet Aaron

Elena’s still torn up about Bonnie, but learning about her death has now set her back on the path of investigating Megan’s murder. Walking through campus, Elena discovers a fellow student mourning Megan at her memorial. While the mysterious student doesn’t reveal his name, he does tell Elena that he knew Megan growing up and doesn’t believe that she committed suicide either.

Damon’s Secret Plan

Damon’s always hatching a plan, and the latest involves Bonnie. Wanting to get the Bennett witch back, Damon goes to Silas to offer a trade. Since Silas wants to die, he wants to use the balance of killing a supernatural to bring Bonnie back. The only problem? Silas doesn’t do anything for free. In return, Silas requests that Damon help him kill Stefan so he can use his mind control again. But before Team Stefan fans freak, it’s not exactly what you think. Stefan doesn’t actually have to die, he just has to be unconscious so that the ties between him and Silas are severed.

Nadia’s Secret

Silas is none too pleased that Nadia won’t hand over Katherine. But the mysterious Nadia finally reveals why she has such an interest in the vampire-turned-human.

The traveler/vampire tells Katherine that she’s been tailing her for 500 years and had herself turned into a vampire to hunt her down and “even the playing field.” But why does she want to “even the playing field”? Nadia claims that Katherine killed her mother in Paris in 1645 when she told Klaus’ minions that her mother was really Katherine.

PSYCH!

Katherine drives a stake close to Nadia’s heart, just grazing it so that she causes the traveler enough pain that she can’t remove it. It turns out that Nadia was lying, and Katherine figured it out. So, what’s Nadia’s true story?

Her mother was truly killed, but in a little cottage in England in 1492. “You stuck her head in a noose and pushed her off a chair and snapped her neck,” the traveler tells her. “My name is Nadia Petrova. You are my mother.”

Tessa’s On A Mission

Tessa is still plotting away at Silas, and the latest part of her plan involves a mystical anchor that binds the spell of “the other side.” Silas wants to drop the anchor so he can be with his one true love, but Tessa wants to hold onto it so that Silas suffers forever.

Even though Tessa is the one who created the mystical anchor, she currently doesn’t know where it is, thanks to the travelers, who are constantly moving it. In order to find it, she needs a magical talisman to help her do a locator spell. And that magical talisman just happens to be at the Whitmore Historical Ball.

Historical Ball Drama

What’s a dance party without drama? Elena learns the name of Megan’s mysterious mourner – Aaron. The student believes that he’s cursed because everyone around him dies. Elena’s drawn to him over their common ground of death, but what she doesn’t realize is that Aaron’s the son of Dr. Maxfield.

Desperate to get Bonnie back, Damon tricks Stefan and snaps his neck – allowing Silas some time to find out what Tessa is up to.

Tessa shows up to find her talisman and instead gets wooed by Silas, impersonating Stefan. Since he can now read her mind, he learns about the talisman. He's about to figure out where the anchor is, but Silas’ mind-reading comes to a painful halt when Stefan awakes and snaps Damon’s neck in return.

Elena manages to get a dance with Maxfield and asks why he’s covering up Megan’s murder. Maxfield initially says that a mountain lion attacked her at a frat party, but then says that he thinks a vampire tracked her down. The kicker? He tells Elena that they’re done talking about it because they’re never going to see each other again. The reason? Maxfield tells her that people at the school are watching her and her friends and warns her to pack up her things, drop out and move back to Mystic Falls.

Tyler’s been acting suspiciously all night, and the reason is that he plans on leaving again … even though Caroline thinks he’s back for good. Still bent over the fact that Klaus killed his mom and got away with it, Tyler tells Caroline that he wants to go after Klaus and destroy his life. Caroline warns him that if he leaves that it’s over, and while Tyler looks absolutely torn up about it, he chooses Klaus over Caroline.

Tessa figures out that Silas is impersonating Stefan and twists his heart in his chest, rendering him “dead” without blood.

Katherine And Nadia

Katherine pulls the stake out of Nadia, and when her daughter wakes the two share a heart-warming moment. Katherine asks where she was in 1498, but Nadia tells her that she doesn’t know because she was eight years old at the time.

It turns out that Katherine had escaped and found her way back to Bulgaria. She had searched every village and cottage for her daughter but couldn’t find her.

“You went back,” Nadia asks.

“Yes, Nadia,” Katherine tells her. “I went back for you … It’s nice to meet you.”

Damon’s Plan Put Into Action

Silas may be out cold (and gray), but Damon still plans on resurrecting Bonnie. Calling Katherine over to the house, the walking cure believes that she’s in the clear with Silas being out for the count. Seeming hopeful about having a potential relationship with her daughter, Damon turns the tables on her and reveals that he’s going to feed her to Silas to cure him. Katherine begs for her life, telling Damon that she doesn’t want to die. But Damon could not care less. “Goodbye, Katherine,” he says while forcing her onto Silas. Elena looks on shocked but doesn’t do anything to stop him.

But the two get a real shocker when Silas drains her dry … but she ends up still alive.

What did you think of episode 5 of “The Vampire Diaries”? Let us know your thoughts on “Monster’s Ball” in the comments section.