S07.E22: Gods & Monsters

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Season 7 ends with Bonnie's' friends taking drastic measures to save her, including Stefan who tells Caroline that her and Alaric's twin daughters may be needed to rescue Bonnie. Meanwhile, Enzo keeps Bonnie preoccupied by bringing her back to the cabin.

Season finale!

 

 

[slayer2]

Series finale honestly. That letter was Chekov's gun and blatantly ignoring it makes me wonder if Plec got her degree from Clown College instead of whatever purported program seems to teach hackneyed plots without absolutely no follow through and an insistence on focusing on characters who are no longer on canvas. I am freeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[formerlyfreedom]

Airing in Canada on 5/12 - entering the topic before you have viewed the episode WILL spoil you.

[slayer2]

Ooooh sorry, I just assumed.

[bobbysgurl]

1 hour ago, slayer2 said:

Series finale honestly. That letter was Chekov's gun and blatantly ignoring it makes me wonder if Plec got her degree from Clown College instead of whatever purported program seems to teach hackneyed plots without absolutely no follow through and an insistence on focusing on characters who are no longer on canvas. I am freeeeeeeeeeeeee.

 

I'm not going to bother watching the episode.  I said I would move on if they pulled a fast one.  I'm with you, I'm free, too.  I intend to get as far away from this dreck as possible.

[PinkRibbons]

That's as close to a happy ending this show has ever given a season, in my book. Seriously, so there's a warehouse with a bunch of hanging bodies somewhere? That is like a two on the five-level crisis chart these people deal with every year. The Bad will be flushed out of Damon and Enzo and into a conveniently new actor/actress within the first three episodes of the next season.

I know a lot of people don't like Steroline but I just can't let go of it. I just picture that scene right after Caroline's been turned, and the whole episode is about Caroline trying to figure shit out and Katherine appearing and wreaking havoc, and Damon being insane about killing Caroline while Bonnie is being a judgemental jerk and Elena is being pulled left and right trying to solve things. And suddenly we have this moment between Caroline and Stefan (the only character really removed from Caroline and her storyline at this point) where he just puts everything aside and helps her deal. And I've been on the hook since then.

So with what happened this season I know this is the cheap way out, but...I blame CK's pregnancy. The worst kind of resolution for a will-they won't-they couple that get together is the kind where you don't actually see them together. That's why the X-Files had such a let-down with Mulder and Scully, and though I have no first-hand experience, I understand that this was not a small factor in the original Moonlighting Curse. They had to keep having these contrived ways of keeping them apart, completely splitting their storylines so we barely had lip service to them supporting each other through tough times (Stefan's frikkin' storyline this season involved realizing he'd lost a child! How amazing would it have been to have him be more involved in the pregnancy storyline, if it had to happen? To see the impact it made on him after realizing he could have been a father?) Did the writers think we'd be grossed out by someone making out with an actually pregnant woman? Were they too afraid to let Stefan actually try and find a role in Caroline's New Life so that he didn't feel so shut out of it? Or was that deliberate to make him leaving her easier? I dunno, I got this strange vibe all season of Stefan being like, "Ew, pregnancy, gross, call me when it's over". Something like that. Whatever they were trying to do with him, it just went all pear-shaped.

I feel like, heretics aside, the season started out on a good foot. The Stefan/Damon relationship was especially interesting, even Lily had her moments (although again, why back away from looking harder into the part of her that would torture a younger sibling to punish the older? That bitch was messed up, let's get farther into that!) I can't exactly pinpoint when it went wrong. But it did. I'll be back next season because I'm obsessive about completing things. Show, take a good hard look at what worked and what didn't work this season. LEARN SOMETHING AND GO OUT WITH A BANG.

[Artsda]

I hate that Caroline didn't go home with her kids. They just got manipulated to do magic instead of going home to be with them she stays to instantly take back Stefan. Either she's their mother or she's not, seems like she's chosen Stefan instead of being a parent.

I enjoyed Bonnie and Enzo's fight sequence and glad he's not dead. 

I guess for next season IS will get his bad ass Damon back and it won't be Damon's fault because Stefan said so in the letter and because they're brainwashed. 

Happy Matt's not dead and he's left town, may be he's gone to join up with Tyler and Jeremy. 

[Like A Phoenix]

Caroline: Hey adorable, beloved twins - if something took your mommy away, how would that make you feel?

Adorable beloved twins: Mad! Sad!

Caroline: Well, get used to that feeling, kiddos.

 

I liked maybe half of the episode and was utterly indifferent to the rest of it, but I found it... I don't know... maybe the best description is 'wildly inconsistent'.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

There were some fun moments in this episode. Loved when Stefan figured out Damon's plan and then answered his phone with, "Salvatore Airlines - how may I help you?" It really wasn't a stretch to figure out that going after the twins would be his next move since we figured that out last week or the week before.

What didn't make sense to me was that the last time we saw the Armory, we saw Alex and some other Armory people go into the vault. Then Bonnie went outside (without shutting the vault door) and magically sealed the entire building. That means whatever evil tentacled thing that had been trapped in the vault for the past four years was free to wander around the rest of the Armory (which was confirmed when Damon and Stefan entered the building and the vault door was still open). But no one was at all concerned that as soon as the twins siphoned Bonnie's spell from the building that the scary evil thing would escape from the building and do its evil thing of infecting people and turning them evil? And apparently it didn't immediately seize its first opportunity to escape and was just sitting patiently in the vault waiting for Damon to come in by himself (as opposed to infecting both Damon and Stefan when they were standing right in front of the vault).

I was not a fan of Damon's "trust me and let me go into the vault alone" speech. I don't know why he was so insistent that Stefan had to wait outside the building and then said if he needed help he would let him know. If that's the case, why not let him stay in the hallway outside the vault?

I know that Enzo loves Bonnie but all I could think was that he was being way too nice for someone who was being killed by his girlfriend.

Really dumb: Damon went into the vault thinking that he would probably face something super evil but he didn't bring a single weapon. He had to use a bottle of something alcoholic that he found in the vault to burn the evil guy's body.

Also dumb: Damon was on his way back to the vault entrance thinking that he would just walk out but he shut the vault door on his way in so there's no way he could have left until Enzo showed up. If he had been too late and Bonnie had killed Enzo before he lit that body on fire, how the hell did he think he was going to get out since the door requires an Armory person's hand? And how did Damon and Enzo manage to escape the vault later? If they could get out, why didn't Yvette of the evil thing  use the same way to get out? Enzo claimed that he went into the vault because, unlike Damon, he doesn't leave people behind. But since he is the only Armory person left, did he think he would be able to open the vault door from the inside? He deliberately closed it when he entered so he thought he and Damon could just dessicate together inside the vault? And once Alaric cracked the door code, why didn't Bonnie, Caroline, or Stefan get infected with The Evil?

I'm glad that Matt finally got the hell out of Mystic Falls. Part of me hopes that he is off with Jeremy and Tyler, but knowing that they are still hunting vampires the other part of me hopes that Matt is just off somewhere else having a normal life.

But once again, I had such a hard time hearing the dialogue because the sound mix was terrible. Why do these morons think that the music should be louder than the actors? It didn't help that Penny also mumbled some of her lines. Same thing over the closing montage.

[Jack Sampson]

First, Caroline is horrible.  These kids see her as their mom and she just abandoned them to follow her feels for Stefan - which will last for a few months.  She can wait, she's effectively immortal.  Raise your kids, Stefan will be around in 30-40 years.

Second, couldn't they have used a hand from any of the dead Armory people? 

Third, there's no indication that they spent their time in the Armory researching what's in the vault or cataloging potential weapons.  Bonnie lost her powers, you'd think she'd be researching a way to get them back.

Fourth, we know that there are other members of the Armory organization, why didn't anyone show up to check on them? 

I know I'm looking for reason in one of the least consistent shows in history.

[TigerLynx]

So Damon and Enzo might be possessed by the First Evil, and that will be terrible because they might kill someone, cause all sorts of chaos and destruction?  The writers do realize that Damon and Enzo have never been good vampires right?  They aren't even Stefan "the Ripper made me do it so I have a get out of jail free card" vampires.  I guess it will be horrible if they kill someone they care about while possessed?  Because killing innocent people they don't know is okay.  {face palm}

Oh Caroline, why?  How could you?  Stefan is so not worth it.

[Oracle42]

13 hours ago, PinkRibbons said:

I know a lot of people don't like Steroline but I just can't let go of it. I just picture that scene right after Caroline's been turned, and the whole episode is about Caroline trying to figure shit out and Katherine appearing and wreaking havoc, and Damon being insane about killing Caroline while Bonnie is being a judgemental jerk and Elena is being pulled left and right trying to solve things. And suddenly we have this moment between Caroline and Stefan (the only character really removed from Caroline and her storyline at this point) where he just puts everything aside and helps her deal. And I've been on the hook since then.

 

I loved that moment  - but everything about it and their later interactions reminded me of the relationship that Stefan had with Lexi. I liked that he was able (and willing) to do for Caroline what Lexi had done for him. The thing is, Caroline has generated real romantic/sexual chemistry with all of her other love interests (Matt, Tyler, Klaus - even a little with Enzo who is a black hole where chemistry goes to die) so the lack of it with Stefan is especially noticeable.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clip:

[grandemocha]

I KNEW these damn hack writers would do the cop out excuse of the twin little girls being siphoner witches so Caroline supposedly can't be around them anymore so there's her free pass to abandon her children for a man who will never put her first as long as his brother is alive. What a terrible mother. So the girls all of a sudden are a threat to Caroline because they can siphon yet it somehow never occurred in the past three years? Uh huh. Whatever Plec and Dries. 

Look what you did show, you made me feel bad for Alaric. Also, was that him dead in the warehouse at the end? If so, seriously Caroline can go to hell for abandoning two children who are now (maybe) orphans. I've started to dislike Stefan. 

Were we (as audience members) supposed to be shocked by the ending or something? Enzo and Damon have always murdered innocent people whenever they wanted, what makes this evil possession or whatever different? The larger body count? Literally no one will care, and nothing will amount from it. There are no consequences, so it doesn't shock. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Man, that warehouse must stink.

Are they collecting bodies just for fun or is there some grander purpose? Like did the First Evil tell them that they need to drain the blood from 1000 bodies onto the same spot so that they can free him or corporealize him or give him more power?

Edited May 14, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Primetimer]

And more not-quite-burning questions about the Season 7 finale!

View the full article

[2Old2BAFangirl]

Well, that was the finale.  Meh.

Nothing was unpredictable or surprising, IMO. Maybe Matty finally leaving Mystic Falls was unpredictable but that's it, IMO.

Damon falling for the Elena "help me" voice bugged me.  It appeared he was going to be able to leave the evil vault unscathed and then got sucked in by the Elena voice - so much crap.  I would much rather have had him infected once the Everlasting was dead than him fall for the bullshit Elena fake out.  Even the husband commented that Damon isn't that stupid!

It seemed like Stefan was being a smug douche most of the episode to me.  I get it, he's pissy, but the douchiness was over the top, IMO.  I'm glad they got a decent Defan moment so we could see the Stefan I like again.

Oh well.  I'm happy there's more Damon and Vampire Diaries coming in the fall.  I love this show, just hate the stupid of it all.

[PinkRibbons]

I don't think Caroline abandoned the twins per se. I got the impression that it was more like she and Alaric would be splitting up and that he would have primary custody. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been seeing the kids every week even while they were trying to track down Damon and Enzo. She's still their Mom, she just isn't the parent that can be there for them every moment.

[2Old2BAFangirl]

1 hour ago, doram said:

I don't think he "fell". I think he was entranced, Sleeping Beauty style. (pun intended). 

I think you're right.  It's what I told my husband when he was complaining about them making Damon stupid.  I just didn't like it much.

I did, however, like your Sleeping Beauty pun!! :)

[GaT]

Wow, I thought it was over so I came here to read the comments & then realized the show was still on. It was a pretty boring finale, & are they really doing the same old "vampire kills many people because of some outside influence" plot again? How many times have we seen this already?

5 hours ago, 2Old2BAFangirl said:

Oh well.  I'm happy there's more Damon and Vampire Diaries coming in the fall.  I love this show, just hate the stupid of it all.

Has it been renewed?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3 hours ago, GaT said:

Has it been renewed?

The CW renewed TVD for S8 (along with ten other shows) back in March

[ByTor]

When Damon said "Don't tell me what I can't do" I had flashbacks to John Locke on Lost, and then I remembered IS was on Lost, I wonder if that line was on purpose.

[DigitalCount]

47 minutes ago, ByTor said:

When Damon said "Don't tell me what I can't do" I had flashbacks to John Locke on Lost, and then I remembered IS was on Lost, I wonder if that line was on purpose.

Yeah, he wasn't just on Lost, he was John's disciple. It had to be intentional.

[miss-vanilla]

I really wish I could write a hugely positive post but I guess all I can manage is that it was ok, and I suppose in a season that has been largely below average I guess ok is an upgrade.

The best parts of the episode yet again involved Enzo, Damon and Bonnie, even if they didn't all share screen time together as a trio they still shone individually and collectively. Enzo encouraging Bonnie to chase him was just damn hot, and their scenes in the cabin were also very emotional and believable to point I was genuinely worried for Enzo for a while there. The Damon and Enzo scenes were great, full of snappy dialogue and charm..they just bring it every time.

Unfortunately I just didn't feel the Defan scenes, probably because I still have a terrible hangover from all the crap leading up to these moments. I didn't like the speech inside the Armory much but I disliked the outside scene more. I blame it all on the writing for Stefan, which has been utterly dreadful this season and not only with regards to Defan, but for Steroline too.

Actually, when I look back on what went wrong with this season, many things track back to how Stefan was written and portrayed this season. His lack of self awareness, empathy and ability to forgive has been a running theme coupled with his propensity to judge, condemn and blindly seek revenge has proven not to be a good combination for him and massive reason as to why many of the larger plot arcs haven't landed. 

In order for Defan in particular to work, the writers need to let go of this good brother verses bad brother thing they keep desperately clinging too. I like that the brothers are different, but the way scenes are weighted between them just makes it seem like Stefan's POV or way of doing things is the RIGHT way and Damon's is the WRONG way.  Stefan is constantly allowed to monologue at Damon about how awful, terrible, selfish, scared Damon is while Damon is just silenced. When Damon is allowed to respond, it is mainly to absolve or confirm Stefan's POV just like the conversation outside of the vault. That conversation was all about Damon agreeing that Damon effs up Stefan's life constantly because Stefan has to constantly save Damon from himself which in turn screws his life up. It was about Damon giving Stefan a bona fide excuse to keep his hands clean, supported by the nonsensical narrative that led to this point, just so Steroline could have their reunion scene with Stefan's hero hair firmly in place.......because remember Stefan respects choices, and he now respects Damon's.

I want to believe that all this stuff with Defan will have Stefan come to the realisation that if you truly love someone, respecting their decisions does have limits especially when it involves life or death. His instincts drove him to vervain Caroline in the last episode, but it seems all that went out of the window once Caroline got a bit pissy with him about it and he reverted back to his factory settings. Damon's methods and decisions are questionable, and sometimes deeply unethical, but he does commit to them and usually he is right. Caroline and Alaric both ended up agreeing that using the twins power was the right decision, because sometimes things have to be done if loved ones are to survive. Put it this way, if my life were on the line, I know which brother I would want fighting for my survival.

I don't know, I get that they want Stefan to be this huge romantic lead figure, with morals and values, but he just comes across as a pontificating, hypocritical, selfish, ungrateful jerk most of the time, because the writers forget the history of his character. They need to pick a road and stick with it instead of trying to have their cake and eat it with this guy, because it is ruining the character. Damon comes across as more empathetic and moral because he generally sticks to what he believes, he sticks to his own code and is happy to live and die by it. For me that is more heroic and engaging than a character that flip flops and whose morality is fluid depending on what the plot calls for.

Moving on, I loved the DE montage stuff, because I'm a DE fan and I found it quite believable that Damon would lose all sense and reason when heard Elena calling out for him. This girl is who he lives and breathes for, so of course if there was a semblance of a possibility that she was there he would fall for that. Elena is his achilles heel, and he wouldn't forgive himself if he didn't at least make sure that it wasn't "real" Elena begging for help. Enzo coming to rescue Damon was awesome and exactly what I hoped would Stefan would do but no matter because Denzo will do nicely thank you.

I know this situation has been done before kinda, but i'm hoping for a different spin on it next season and if written well, it could prove to be really good. It obviously isn't the same as a flipping the humanity switch, because for one Damon looked more chillingly evil than i've ever seen him. No humanity Damon was a hedonistic, sexual, fun loving predator with a side of evil, but this guy looks pure evil. Bring it on! 

[Argenta]

On 14/05/2016 at 3:09 AM, PinkRibbons said:

I don't think Caroline abandoned the twins per se. I got the impression that it was more like she and Alaric would be splitting up and that he would have primary custody. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been seeing the kids every week even while they were trying to track down Damon and Enzo. She's still their Mom, she just isn't the parent that can be there for them every moment.

That still amounts to choosing Stefan over the twins, though, surely? And given that Stefan`s a self-sufficient adult and the girls are very young and dependent, that didn`t feel like the right thing to do to me...though I acknowledge that staying in a shell of a relationship of convenience with Alaric isn`t a great option either.

Overall though I actually really enjoyed this episode, even while I agree that the final shot of evil Denzo wasn`t as shocking as it was meant to be since, as others have already noted, they`ve both already murdered countless innocents during their lives without needing to be possessed or whatever. 

I still don`t buy Bonnie and Enzo, and TBH I don`t like either of them much. 

I find the Salvatore brothers` relationship the most interesting one on the show currently, so I was happy to see their hug and reconciliation.

 

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Argenta said:

That still amounts to choosing Stefan over the twins, though, surely? And given that Stefan`s a self-sufficient adult and the girls are very young and dependent, that didn`t feel like the right thing to do to me...though I acknowledge that staying in a shell of a relationship of convenience with Alaric isn`t a great option either.

More like it amounts to Caroline choosing to be happy. I don't think she should be expected to stay with Alaric and live with him raising their kids if she doesn't love him. People split up all the time and a parent moves out, it doesn't mean they're abandoning their children, they just split custody and I imagine that's what Alaric and Caroline will end up doing.

[atomationage]

The only episode that I liked this year was the one with Damon in Groundhog Day, Civil War.  I don't know if I could stand to watch another series.  I like the actors, but the plots are completely ridiculous.  Bad stuff happens over and over again, and they solve it, and come up with a cliffhanger or meathookhanger at the end.  In this episode, I thought Enzo was doing the end of the third season of Being Human UK, and that he was going to die for real. 

[grandemocha]

Quote

People split up all the time and a parent moves out, it doesn't mean they're abandoning their children, they just split custody and I imagine that's what Alaric and Caroline will end up doing.

Not that it really matters since I suspect we won't see the twins on screen again and Caroline won't mention them except for the occasional phone call, but how would they split custody when Alaric lives in Dallas, TX and Caroline is in Mystic Falls, West Virginia (It's 17.5 hours to drive)? It's not like they could or should bring the three year old twin witches to MF since they'd be in danger constantly...so what are the chances that the show is going to bother with the occasional scenes of Caroline in Dallas seeing the kids who know her as their mother?

To me, Caroline never had to be in a half-hearted relationship with Alaric to see the babies. She could have easily stayed as Aunt Caroline, someone who loves the hell out of the children but isn't their mother. What was the harm in not telling the kids in an appropriate way that their mom died before they were born but Caroline is family and loves them too. Bam! That takes away the lackluster "Caroline and Alaric are together but she doesn't really love him even though he likes the idea of a relationship" and could have allowed Alaric to meet another human woman that he could eventually love. The way things ended just make Caroline look a little bad IMO. 

[Bort]

I agree that they should have kept Caroline's role as a relative and not their mother, but what's done is done on that front. But Caroline could possibly be staying in Dallas. She has a job at that tv station. 

[Artsda]

9 hours ago, kariyaki said:

More like it amounts to Caroline choosing to be happy. I don't think she should be expected to stay with Alaric and live with him raising their kids if she doesn't love him. People split up all the time and a parent moves out, it doesn't mean they're abandoning their children, they just split custody and I imagine that's what Alaric and Caroline will end up doing.

How well is she going to be a parent when the danger of Stefan/Damon is always around them? Has there been a day ever that Stefan wasn't in a drama situation over Damon? Stefan will always put his brother first even if it means himself being in danger, Caroline should know that by now and put her own kids first.

What was really bad was her using them for their magic using "mom" feelings about how they'd feel if they never saw her again. Then proceeds to let them go home and she stays to make out and choose Stefan instead of being a mom. It made her look like a terrible mother, if that was how they were going to have her be they never should have wrote her as their mother. 

Edited May 15, 2016 by Artsda

[Jack Sampson]

28 minutes ago, doram said:

I have a serious problem with the way the whole Calaric thing was handled. Heck, with the way Caroline's pregnancy was handled. The show sweeps past the consent issues of her being implanted without her knowledge...

You have a problem with consent on a show where people are frequently compelled to injure or kill themselves and others?  Hell, Caroline tried to compel someone to die of fright! 

[Bort]

37 minutes ago, doram said:

I have a serious problem with the way the whole Calaric thing was handled. Heck, with the way Caroline's pregnancy was handled. The show sweeps past the consent issues of her being implanted without her knowledge

I don't see how the show was going to tackle consent issues over Caroline being impregnated. Who was there left for her to be mad at? The entire witch coven responsible had all died horribly.

[phoenix780]

So are we done with the armory now? Or will that be the new base? I guess I assumed that Alaric would take it over after the conversation last week about how he missed the supernatural stuff but there wasn't really mention of him participating in the search for Damon and Enzo.

I'm also assuming the twins will come back old and angry at some point next year. Teaching them to associate their power with anger wasn't smart, imho.

I know the show was renewed but did they announce whether it's a full season? Given how many shows the network has I can't imagine everything gets a full 22. And after this finale I hope they go shorter, and hopefully tighten it up a bit.

[Cattitude]

Never been a Stefan fan and I agree this season he has been a terrible person(to quote Elena). He has always been judgemental but this season his lack of sympathy with Alaric and the children make him look extra douche not to mention his constant badgering Damon for being the root of ALL his problems when it was truly his ripper gene that was his biggest enemy. Damon has practically pleaded with him for YEARS to stop saving him and that was all on Stefan to keep doing reckless things to help Damon heck Damon does reckless things to help Stefan but doesn't blame him. It makes no sense that Stefan who has never had an issue with Alaric would be so selfish about Caroline. I mean dude walked away when he was marked and LET Caroline become the girls mother and be a family with Alaric who is human. Seems reasonable that he could stay gone a little longer at least until the girls are grown 10-15 yrs. Not so much for Caroline to stay with Alaric but as someone else said danger follows Stefan as much as Damon and without him Caroline was able to have a fairly event free life. I do think Caroline would have been douche to stay with Alaric in any kind of romantic way knowing she doesn't love him. He does deserve to move on and find a human to love, but the girls also deserve the woman they see has their mother to be in their lives for a few more years without constant danger, even if she just lived next door.
I mean Damon was torn to shreds for choosing to be coffined beside Elena rather than be present with his "family" yet it is supposed to "romantic" for Caroline and Stefan to choose each other over some 3 y/o children? um NOT!

I have always loved Enzo despite the poor writing for him. Poor MM is a good actor as his scenes late this season have shown and he has been wasted for 2+ seasons. I have never had great love for Bonnie but I like her and Enzo. Their love in these short few weeks is 10X better with more chemistry than 2 seasons of Steroline. I particularly loved that he went in to "save" Damon seeming to know quite well what would happen since he compelled the remaining sister and knew more what "the evil" was than anyone else. I am actually looking forward to wild Enzo and Damon next season. But poor Bonnie seriously they didn't just say Bonnie has no one? I would think her and Caroline are still best friends. Bonnie has the worst luck with men though.

As a Delena fan loved the montage and it was totally believable that "the evil" would use his love for Elena to hypnotize him just has the Armory lady was determined to save her sister and expected her to be alive.

I did like the call back to diaries with the letter writing to Elena at the end and also call back to when everyone was searching for ripper Stefan with the mapping and looking for clues.

I hope for better writing next season. Plec has it in her I know b/c she writes TO and the writing is so much better on that show.

[Coxfires]

Well, that was a bit anti-climatic and all over the place, just like this whole season. The Enzo/Bonnie scene was probably my favorite part, which makes me regret that we were only granted one episode to see their relationship evolve. There was far too many time lost on the pseudo Caroline/Stefan/Alaric situation, and I agree with the posters that underlined that it would have been much better to not put Caroline in the "Mom" shoes, but rather keep her as a co-parent with no feelings from Alaric whatsoever. Her choosing Stefan in the end doesn't put her in a good light now with regards to the twins.

It might also be good for next season to focus on one threat, unlike this year where the baddies were multiplying and diluting, with an inconsistent mythology. Since it seems next season will have Damon/Enzo and whatever infects them be the Big Bad, at least they now have time to write a consistent season around it.

And it would also be nice for the writers to know what they really want the audience to think about Damon, because they really lost me this year. They have him do awful things in the name of "love-that-is-fear" and have everyone and their mother blame him for the whole world's issues tell him he is the worst friend/son/brother ever but when he is not there he is still a piece of crap, but they still want us to root for him, because...? I wasn't satisfied by either of the talks he and Stefan had this episode (and with Bonnie), I felt that there was really no pay-off nor real analysis of the character in these moments.

Poor Bonnie was once again crapped over, losing her magic, her best friend and her boyfriend at the same time, couldn't they have her catch a break and a win for once? She better have a killer storyline for KG's exit next year.

As for Damon being the Big Bad, I can see the good things (Damon as pure evil is generally fun to watch, and at least we will have a definite threat), but it also means that no character development is to be expected, since "it is not him". And I suspect what will bring him back will be "the Power of Elena Gilbert"- and, really, I got so fed up of hearing about her even when she wasn't there- so nothing new here. and since it will also be IS' exit (and probably the end of the series), I'm all ready for the big happy Delena ever afetr which, meh.

[Fallacy]

When will we know for sure if next season is the last? It really, really needs to be the last, and I hope it's a short season too. I know now it will be Delena, Steroline, and Bonnie and Enzo (Benzo?)

[PinkRibbons]

I can see Ian reinventing himself Boreanaz-style, I think he can probably still find work in TV; he just needs a fresh idea (and role that doesn't require the audience to believe he isn't aging). I think Paul, though he could probably also find more acting work, has built up a pretty nice portfolio on TVD as a director. I definitely believe the CW would be willing to retain him as a director on any of their shows, and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up completely turning his career into directing.

[Chewy101]

I was initially excited to see an Elena-free season. But as it turns out, she was mentioned, and revolved around, too many episodes for me to stomach. I gave up halfway because of all the time jumping and gobbledegook retcon. I have now caught up (I guess, still can't piece it all together), but I saw the finale, and I am sad to see Matt leave. Not that any of them cared when he did. He slipped out alone without even a send-off. He has been so at odds with this show for so long, I get why the guy is leaving. But I did always like him, and I'm sad to see nice guys don't finish first, but it's good when they have enough self worth to leave town and start over. It would have been better if he was more cherished for being their moral compass. It was ok when Liz did what she believed but still could not connect- she wasn't a peer. Poor Matt trying to fill her shoes.....Nothing lonelier. At least they didn't kill him off. No one really dies on this show.... There is that. They die at least four times.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Chewy101

[Chewy101]

On 5/20/2016 at 10:53 PM, PinkRibbons said:

I can see Ian reinventing himself Boreanaz-style, I think he can probably still find work in TV; he just needs a fresh idea (and role that doesn't require the audience to believe he isn't aging).

I laughed at this, because I actually think Ian is uncannily pretty year after year and looks like he ISN'T aging. But I was a huge Angel fan.... And the last two seasons I struggled with how Boreanaz gained weight and got sloppy and no longer looked immortal. I wondered if it was fault, or if life was just happening. Then came Bones, and he seemed to have lost fifteen years. I think he just let himself ago during Angel. I agree, it can be tricky trying to outsmart the years, but it also doesn't help when they quit trying for a season. I think Ian  could pull off another two years, easy, if it was just about his looks. But can he outlive this wretched writing? Part of me hopes he outgrows that, or that things get better.

I was a very reluctant Vampire Diaries fan at first. And then, I was actually sucked in with the character involvement and surprising storylines and very good acting. They still have good actors, can still have great characters..... Can they save the storylines??

[Chewy101]

On 5/20/2016 at 9:21 PM, doram said:

and honestly, I don't see those guys going anywhere because there's literally nowhere for them to go after this

I feel like I have seen some range that they could achieve in challenging  others in auditions, but no promises that they will land another role. FWIW, I was a Lost fan, and when Ian got killed off from that, and I heard that he was playing a vampire, I laughed. He ended up surprising me. I do like being pleasantly surprised. 

[threnjen]

Paul Wesley is currently playing one of the leads in the Off-Broadway play "Cal in Camo", and getting good reviews doing so. Maybe he is aiming to move into more theater work.

[Argenta]

The main cast all seem like perfectly competent actors to me, and I don't understand why anyone would conclude that they won't get more work post-Vampire Diaries. I think they'll have no problem at all.