I usually include a short introduction on my reviews, mostly so that I can do a page break on my blog to protect people from spoilers, and I want to also make sure that spoilers don’t pop up on my Twitter feed (since parts of the first sentence are usually included). But I’m at a bit of a loss right now. I honestly do not know what to discuss that won’t give away something huge. So let’s get straight into what happened in the finale.
So the mystery throughout the episode was who Elena would choose. Even in the first ten minutes, they built a bit of mystique around it by being ambiguous about who Jeremy called when Elena was in the hospital (even if that may have been unintentional). If you recall, last week I predicted that she would pick Damon. And throughout the episode, my suspicions only grew stronger. I felt like they were hinting so strongly at Stefan that they would surprise us by having her go with Damon. First Stefan won the coin toss in order to head back to Mystic Falls to protect Elena. Then he gave her the kiss good bye. And Elena even had a talk with Matt where she seemed like she wanted to be convinced to give Damon a shot. There were just so many signs that she was going to choose Stefan that I was convinced we were being set up for a twist. Instead, she did the obvious (which is not the same as bad) thing and picked Stefan. I was pleasantly surprised by her decision. They sustained the suspense throughout the entire hour, and they did a really great job of creating a sensible circumstance for her to have to pick between the two of them.
The episode was also highlighted by a number of flashbacks of Elena’s life before the emergence of vampires. It was a remarkably fresh look at some of these characters, particularly Elena. In the three seasons that we’ve come to know her, could you EVER imagine her jumping out of bed smiling and dancing to a (crappy) Pink song? It was just so unlike the emotionally tortured girl we’ve come to know. It was sweet seeing her innocently interact with Jenna (why haven’t we seen her ghost yet?) and her parents, and it was almost surreal seeing her deal with regular, immature teenage problems. They really did a great job of accentuating how much their lives have changed in just a couple of years. And it really exemplified the themes of the episode and emotions of the characters fantastically.
Probably the best and most significant flashback was the revelation that Damon and Elena actually met before the fateful car crash that took the lives of Elena’s parents. It was a really great scene, and played into the whole theoretical scenario Elena proposed when she picked Stefan, but I had one small issue with it. Essentially, Damon was far too nice and sweet. If you recall the first several episodes of The Vampire Diaries, Damon was a terror! Yes, he was charming and humorous, but he was also vicious and nasty. He killed people for no (or little) reason and tried to make things miserable for Stefan. Damon’s general behavior during that scene – where he was sweet and playful and kind – just didn’t seem to ring true to the character at that time. That complaint aside, it was a great scene.
The big news of the episode, of course, was Elena’s shocking death. Leading up to the moment, I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting much. I thought the episode would end with Elena seemingly dead, and then we’d return next season and find out that she somehow survived. I mean, it’s not as if they’d kill off their star and the central character. What actually happened, however, was far more surprising and significant. As it turns out, Elena legitimately did die. However, Dr. Fell had given her vampire blood while she was in the hospital, and Elena is now becoming a vampire. That completely alters the show, and I’m extremely interested in what’s going to happen next. It’s very, very intriguing that Elena now won’t be the traditional damsel in distress.
I also loved the rather clever ways they allowed each character to find out about Elena’s demise, despite being in different locations. Damon’s was particularly touching, as at the end of his physical battle with Alaric, the vamp hunter collapsed and started to fade away. Damon, with tears in his eyes, grabbed his former friend and allowed him to die in his arms, as he quietly cried “you can’t be dead.” Of course, he was referring to Elena, but it was a fitting visual since Damon is probably the character you would most associate with Alaric. Speaking of Alaric, he played a role in how Jeremy found out as well. Jeremy was in his home and was greeted with Alaric’s ghost, who warmly said good bye to the teenager he was once a guardian for, and assured him that he would always be watching out for him. This scene not only allowed Jeremy to receive the news of his sister’s death, but it also gave Alaric the opportunity to say farewell as a good guy. It was a nice way to say good bye (I also found it sweet that, upon death, Alaric’s first impulse was to say good bye to Jeremy).
In addition to Elena no longer needing to be the girl that must be saved or protected, her becoming a vampire really changes things. For one, the relationship between Stefan and Damon could be strained. I loved how they remained close and supportive of each other in what they thought were their final moments. Stefan seemed legitimately disappointed that Damon wouldn’t have an opportunity to say good bye to Elena, despite the way he feels about her. Yet, I suspect things will get awfully messy between them when Damon finds out how Elena died. One point of their most common philosophical differences is the way they treat Elena. Stefan prefers to respect her wishes and allows her to make her own decisions, even when he doesn’t agree with them. Damon, however, tends to do whatever it takes in order to keep Elena safe, whether she wants it or not. With that in mind, there is no way that Damon would have done what Elena had asked and saved Matt first. If they had done things Damon’s way, Elena would still be human (however Matt would be dead, but that’s neither here nor there). I would not be the least bit surprised if Damon blames Stefan for Elena’s death. Likewise, as a vampire, Elena will now retain the memories that Damon had compelled from her – including their meeting the night of her parents’ death. How will that play into her decision to be with Stefan?
Speaking of repercussions, how will the group (and particularly Caroline) react to Bonnie’s decision to transfer Klaus into Tyler’s body? On the one hand, she essentially killed Tyler. On the other hand, if she hadn’t done that, Tyler would have died anyway. Along with Stefan, Damon, Abbey, and Caroline. Nonetheless, will they see it as the lesser of two evils, or as a grave violation? I have a feeling that, initially anyway, we’ll see the latter occur.
It’s looking to be a very volatile season four, with many of the central characters seemingly ad odds with each other. Will Elena feel passion or anger towards Damon when she discovers that they had a quite pleasant meeting before she knew Stefan, but he made her forget it? Will Stefan blame himself for Elena’s death? Will Matt blame himself for Elena’s death? As an extension to that, how will everybody else respond to the fact that Jeremy and Matt took matters into their own hands, and cost Elena her life? How will Caroline react towards Bonnie’s decision to transfer Klaus into Tyler’s body?
And here’s a final question to ponder: Did Elena ask Dr. Fell to give her the vampire blood, or did Fell make that decision for herself (like she had with Caroline’s dad)?
Finally, a lot of people are now wondering who or what next season’s big bad will be. My prediction? The Founder’s Council. Throughout the finale, Alaric repeatedly mentioned the Council’s assistance in preventing the group from succeeding in pretty much everything. He alerted them that Klaus’ body was in a storage facility. He warned Dr. Fell that they would suspend her of her medical license. They almost drove Tyler and Caroline out of town. The message was clear: When this organization is focused, they can be a very effective and dangerous force. And there were two interesting developments that makes me believe that this could be a reality: With the Mayor and Sheriff booted from the Council, they can be portrayed as an entirely antagonistic group. And with Elena now a vampire, the opposition doesn’t necessarily have to be supernatural. In this particular case, it makes perfect sense for the bad guys to be a group of humans out to get any and all vampires.
We’re certainly shaping up for a very interesting season four.
