There are spoilers for this season of Vampire Diaries in this blog post.
Recently I've decided to end my relationship with the TV show The Vampire Diaries. It's been a short but passionate affair. I only discovered The Vampire Diaries (TVD) in October. I had a cold and absolutely no motivation to do anything. The only thing that could keep me entertained was Netflix. So when I discovered TVD I fell in instaLOVE. I watched 2 seasons in record time and caught up with season 3 on Hulu just as a quickly.
However Season 3 has been pretty disastrous for me. We've spent most of it lingering in a place I call "Love Triangle Hell" kinda like the Bermuda triangle--mysterious, soul-sucking, never ending, but with the side effect of making me want to stab my TV.
I'm going to be honest. I can't really stand Stefan. He's self-righteous and boring. When him in Elena are together it's like "YAWN. Is this supposed to be sexy?" They have no chemistry, nothing really in common and it's just dull as dirt. Duller actually, because as a gardener I actually like dirt.
The writer's spent most of this season exploring the Damon option. He's sexy! Exciting! And clearly wins the battle of the faces! But every time Elena/Damon make any progress the writer's are like GOTCHA HAHAHAHA! Example: They kiss then Elena tells Damon she's not sure if she has feelings for him. Excuse me, didn't you just make-out? Maybe I'm missing something, but doesn't that normally mean something? "Gotcha" type storylines to trick your viewers is not good writing. It's not clever, it's not funny and it ends in losing viewers.
This is Damon winning the battle of the faces.
I've never been sure why do I hate Stefan/Elena so much. But thankfully in the season finale Elena explains it to me. She met Stefan first and fell from him from the start. BAM! There it is. Elena/Stefan have a bad case of instaLOVE which is the patented YA way to shove different characters into a relationship that doesn't actually make sense. He saved her life and thus has earned her heart and free access to her lady-parts. I'm sorry but no.
Damon/Elena had time to grow over the course of three season. They're relationship progressed logically. They got to know each other and then liked each other. There was nothing instant about it. And don't try to give me that crap about Stefan being safe. They're both vampires that have killed lots and lots of people. Debating the morality of either Salvatore is a moot point. Stefan is just as guilty as Damon. He's just better at hiding it.
Am I the only one who finds Stefan's refusal to have an intelligent discussion with Elena demeaning? At least Damon tries to reason with her.
Though I clearly have my favorite vampire, when a show becomes this entrenched in a love triangle there is no easy answer. Whether Stefan/Elena or Damon/Elena is endgame somebody is always going to be unhappy. So the writer's are forced to choose between the relationship that's spanned 3 season with no growth, or the relationship that has taken 3 seasons to start.
Aside from the love triangle, Vampire Diaries has gotten stuck in this stupid circular plot and started going downhill. Elena instaLOVES Stefan, but Elena wants to make googley eyes at Damon. The originals are terrifyingly SCARY, oh wait no their just lonely and misunderstood. Look former big-baddie Klaus is drawing pony pictures for Carolyn! And look at this dimples. Surely he can't really be evil. The originals can't be killed! Oh wait, they can--only through this obscure way. Oh wait that doesn't work! Oh wait here's a plan B. Oh wait...there are dreadful side-effects. OH WAIT we can get around that. Oh wait, nevermind.
There is just so much repetitiveness. For example, look at how many times they've killed parental figures. There needs to be another plotline.
- Elena's parents
- Elena's birthparents
- Elena's Aunt Jenna
- Elena's guardian Alaric
- Bonnie's Grandmother
- Bonnie's Mother
- Carolyn's Father
- Tyler's father
- Tyler's Cousin (big brother type)
- More - I had a longer list but forgot where I put it.
At some point in time the Vampire Diaries writers got stuck. They have great actors and characters that we care about, but they can't seem to do anything with them. There's only so long I can watch the same story be recycled over and over again. This show has lost it's plot.
I know I'll probably watch the first episode (maybe even the second and third) of next season because I am really bad at break-ups. I always want to give everyone a second chance. But Vampire Diaries has become a sad shadow of the show it used to be.