Saturday, August 15, 2015

Six Seasons And... Anne Talks About 'The Vampire Diaries' [Contributor: Anne]


"Six Seasons And... Anne Talks About The Vampire Diaries"

I have been working very hard to watch all of The Vampire Diaries. I am pleased (and kind of bummed) to say that I have finally watched all 133, 42-minute episodes. This is a big deal for me. As someone who barely ever binge-watches TV, and also can barely ever can stick with a show, I am so happy that I got to finish this one. And I enjoyed it so much. I'm sure that I often talk about The Vampire Diaries as a guilty pleasure, and while it acts that way a lot of the time, it is also a show that is well-acted, beautifully set, intriguing, fun, and often brilliant in how it handles twists, turns, and plot evolution.

Below I've listed my favorite episodes from each season, some thoughts about the seasons themselves, and a summary of things that I especially liked or would have wanted to change. If you are a fan of The Vampire Diaries, please comment on what you have enjoyed as well or what you agree/disagree with! I can't believe I have to wait until October to get my vampire fix and would love the company while we wait.


FAVORITE EPISODES (FROM EACH SEASON):

Season 1
Episode 6 - "Lost Girls"
Episode 7- "Haunted"
Episode 11 - "Bloodlines"
Episode 12 - "Unpleasantville"
Episode 19 - "Miss Mystic Falls"
Episode 22 - "Founder's Day"

I really loved the decade dance and the original flashbacks (not The Originals flashbacks, though those are good too) and I loved Damon/Elena’s road trip because it was when I realized Elena was better than she had any reason to be. I also loved the "Miss Mystic Falls: episode because that dance was so cool, obviously.


Season 2
Episode 1 - "The Return"
Episode 8 - "Rose"
Episode 18 - "The Last Dance"
Episode 19 - "Klaus"
Episode 20 - "The Last Day"
Episode 21 - "The Sun Also Rises"
Episode 22 - "As I Lay Dying"

Season two was such a cool season, and I honestly think the first two seasons of this show are flawless, especially the Klaus reveal (which I did not expect). Also, this is when deaths on the show were still very significant and hard to handle, especially the season finale stuff... if you know what I mean.


Season 3
Episode 1 - "The Birthday"
Episode 3 - "The End of the Affair"
Episode 5 - The Reckoning"
Episode 8 - "Ordinary People"
Episode 11 - "Our Town"
Episode 14 - "Dangerous Liaisons"
Episode 20 - "Do Not Go Gentle"
Episode 22 - "The Departed"

I don't remember this season at all, but I love The Originals and I loved "Our Town," when Caroline has a death day party and then Klaus gives her that beautiful speech. Also, the season finale! All great. I don’t remember loving what ended up happening with Alaric because I really did not understand it that well, but I thought Stefan and Elena’s breakup was beautiful and understandable (as well as Elena and Damon’s first kiss and aftermath).


Season 4
Episode 2 - "The Memorial"
Episode 4 - "The Five"
Episode 5 - "The Killer"
Episode 6 - "We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes"
Episode 9 - "O Come, All Ye Faithful"
Episode 10 - "After School Special"
Episode 12 - "A View to Kill"
Episode 20 - "The Originals"
Episode 23 - "Graduation"

I think I liked this season (and Elena) more than most. I loved the "After School Special," episode I loved Klaus in the Christmas episode, and I thought the Silas stuff was really cool. Shane was pretty dumb, and wasn’t as sinister as I wished he would be. And I loved the ending with Bonnie! And Rebekah/Matt.


Season 5
Episode 1- "I Know What You Did Last Summer"
Episode 8 - "Dead Man on Campus"
Episode 11 - "500 Years of Solitude"
Episode 15 - "Gone Girl"
Episode 16 - "While You Were Sleeping"
Episode 17 - "Rescue Me"

Episodes 11 and 15 are some of my favorites, and I love the other ones I listed too -- they are more fun and relaxed. I liked the Passengers stuff (Matt as Gregor!) and I thought the show really handled the college transition better than a lot of high school shows I can think of. I liked Nadia, but the Augustine vampires were a flop and the travelers will forever be my least favorite thing the show did (although I do like the end of the finale with Damon and Bonnie and the Mystic Falls border). They really would be more safe if they kept that up, but I guess some vampires wanna drink at their local bar so...


Season 6
Episode 1 - "I'll Remember"
Episode 5 - "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here"
Episode 8 - "Fade Into You"
Episode 13 - "The Day I Tried to Live"
Episode 14 - "Stay"
Episode 15 - "Let Her Go"
Episode 16 - "The Downward Spiral"
Episode 19 - "Because"
Episode 21 - "I'll Wed You In the Golden Summertime"

This was probably the calmest season despite having one of the best villains in Kai. I loved this season, I loved prison worlds, I loved Damon and Bonnie and how Bonnie became one of the best characters from her experience. And I thought the Gemini stuff was pretty cool. I don’t think I loved Lily Salvatore that much (jury is still out -- though I loved Damon’s anger towards her) and I wish the humanity-less Caroline/Stefan was handled better. Not only were they not able to be that fun, but I was very annoyed at Caroline blaming herself for her behavior, which Stefan instigated (she would have otherwise been fine). It’s like she forgot she chose to turn off her humanity and then try to pursue a rational year of grief-lessness! Not to mention it was weird to have so many people trying to push Stefan towards her and to have all of this happen in the context of Liz’s death, which made me happy at Caroline’s ultimate decision to put it off.

THE SEASONS IN ORDER (FROM BEST TO WORST): 2, 1, 6, 4, 3, 5 (though I loved them all)

FAVORITE EPISODE: "500 Days of Solitude"

BEST SCENES: My memory totally fails me, but one of my favorites was Katherine’s goodbye to everyone. Others include Klaus’s speech to Caroline (and his talk with her by the lake and their little romp in the woods), Matt as Gregor, the three doppelgangers near each other for the one ceremony, Elena using the Bunsen burner to get Kai, the ghost worlds, Bonnie standing up for herself in season six, the After School Special, when Damon and Alaric were taunting Stefan with Mr. Cuddles, when Stefan got trapped in a safe, when Katherine first revealed herself to John, when Caroline and Stefan were drinking margaritas, when Bonnie died, when Jeremy died, when Elena died, when Stefan died, when Bonnie and Damon died, when Elena forced Katherine to take the cure, and honestly a million more.

FAVORITE COUPLES: Katherine and Stefan, Stefan and Elena (for their time), Damon and Bonnie, Klaus and Caroline, Rebekah and Stefan, Stefan and Caroline (but only sometimes), Caroline and Tyler (but only at the beginning), Matt and Rebekah

FAVORITE PEOPLE: Rebekah, Klaus, Caroline, Kai, Stefan, Lexi, Andie, Vicki, MATT, Mrs. Lockwood, Katherine.

LEAST FAVORITE COUPLES: I don’t dislike any of them, but I never bought into Damon and Elena as much as they wanted me to, and I thought Stefan and Caroline was kind of poorly done and hope they fix that. Oh! Liv and Tyler. Who cares?!

PEOPLE NOTES: Bonnie was awesome but only in season six. I always loved Caroline, but can’t believe no one cares about how she was treated by Damon. Elena was surprisingly great, then just okay (seasons 4-5), then only bearable in season 6 -- I think the show will be better without the Salvatore brothers arguing about what they think is best for her. Enzo is awesome but has stupid stories most of the time. The Originals are mostly great, but Kol and Finn rightly suck. Matt is so cute. Jeremy got so good-looking, but was mostly useless. Luke was weirdly cute but I get why he had to go. Jesse should not have died. Tyler began very useful and then just jumped in and out of the universe, leaving Caroline unfairly lagging; they had great chemistry but it almost totally was eclipsed by stupid drama once they hooked up.

BIGGEST MISTAKES: The travelers (!), Tripp, Sarah Salvatore, Lily Salvatore, Enzo/Sarah, the Augustine doctors/WES and connecting Elena’s dad GRAYSON to them, killing Jesse (smh), Sage, Charlotte, naming an episode "50 Shades of Grayson," I mean come on, making Bonnie always the cure-all solution to problems that aren’t her concern. Oh, and MARKOS, who I literally never understood at all.

IF I WERE TRYING TO CONVINCE SOMEONE TO WATCH THIS SHOW, I would say give it five episodes to prove itself. The first episode was not great, but by episode five, I was surprised by how hooked I was. I loved the small town feel of what happened (”This is my home” was/is a big deal in the show, and in the first season the Council, the Founding Families, the high school, the Grill and various cliques made it feel cozy) and I loved a lot of the mythology, especially when it came to the limitations of vampires/hybrids/Originals/werewolves.

WHAT DO I WANT FROM SEASON 7?: HUMOR. I’m curious to see how they handle Elena’s absence, given that she was a huge anchor to Whitmore. I also liked that a lot of season six wasn’t devoted to some big thing to look for (like the cure or the moonstone) because while that formula mostly works, it’s also a formula that can get old. It’s a little troubling that the title of the premiere is related to Damon wanting Bonnie to just die so he can be with Elena, but hopefully he’ll get over it soon (according to everyone else). I’m also worried about Alaric, who kind of at this point has no reason to live... no offense.

What are you all looking forward to? What are your favorite moments from The Vampire Diaries' six seasons? Let us know in the comments.

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