At the end of season two things had shifted. Stefan, in order to save his brother Damon drank a whole lot of human blood. When off human blood Stefan is a kind albeit brooding vampire. On the blood he's a ripper. He also became Klaus' puppet. Elena, who thought Damon was dying, kissed him. And he finally (although not for the first time) told her he loved her. Then Katherine walked in with the cure, thanks to Stefan's sacrifice, and things got a little awkward.
We started season three with Elena's 18th birthday. Stefan is gone, Elena is heartbroken, and Damon's there to pick up the pieces. Season three dedicates a lot of time bringing Elena and Damon closer, much to the joy of delena shippers. We get to learn about a friendship Stefan and Klaus enjoyed during the 1920s. We also learn a lot about the originals, their intentions, and the reason why killing them is not such a good idea.
This season felt as though there were more characters than usual, perhaps too many. Tyler was dealing with his hybrid issues and love for Caroline. Thanks to her father he was able to find a way to be around her without being under Klaus' control. Bonnie had to deal with her break up from Jeremy (cos he cheated on her with a ghost...), she then met her mother who left her as a child, and also a new potential love interest. We met a whole bunch of originals including their mother who, realising the monsters she'd created, decided to find a way to kill them all. There was an episode (arguably the worst in the series) that had dead characters return in the form of ghosts. We met Sage, an old friend of Damon's and a lover of one of the originals. It is through her that we find out that if you kill an original you kill the line of Vampires they created. Unfortunately for our favourites they were sired by Klaus. Therefore the two season long epic battle of killing him sort of lost its charm. We also got to meet Meredith, a doctor and new love interest for Alaric. Yes there were plenty of characters in this season.
We lost some too. Most notably the beloved Alaric. Turns out our sweet Alaric had a darker vampire killing alter ego. He killed Caroline's father along with many more. When he himself was turned into a vampire he made the noble choice of letting himself die. Unfortunately the witches wouldn't allow it and they used Bonnie to feed him human blood. For the last few episodes Alaric became a deadly vampire hunter (played magnificently by Matt Davis) . His life was also linked to Elena. As long as she stayed alive there was no way to kill him.
The main storyline was of course Elena's decision between Damon and Stefan. Once Stefan returned from Klaus' grasp and got back to being the kind albeit brooding vampire we love, he was back in the running for Elena's heart. By this point however she and Damon had gotten close. I found that this aspect of the plot dragged out a little too much for my liking. I'd hoped to see a relationship form between Elena and Damon, but it was obvious that she'd eventually pick Stefan even though Damon, according to Elena, consumed her. Up until the finale I had almost stopped caring about her choice altogether.
But then there was the finale. I had seen the promo, and having read the novels, when I saw Elena and Matt crash into the river I knew exactly what that meant. Her days as a human were numbered. This series has hardly had any similarities to the novels but I'm glad they chose to play homage by having this be the way she turned. Having collapsed the previous episode Elena ended up in hospital with a brain hemorrhage. Meredith gave her vampire blood to save her life. Elena's drowning therefore was not the end, just the beginning. It also spelled the end of Alaric. By definition of the word Elena is now dead and so their tie is broken.
Just before they crashed Elena told Damon that she had finally made a decision, to turn back and go to Stefan. She had to let Damon go. He asked her if it could have been different. She said that Stefan had saved her that day in the river, he had in many ways brought her back to life. She added however that if perhaps she'd met him first it would have been different. We then see a scene of Damon lying on the road, it's the night of that first crash and Elena has had a fight with Matt. Her parents are on their way to pick her up. She and Damon have a brief conversation, she's questioning the whole concept of love. Damon tells her that she should have a love that consumes her. He then compels her to forget the conversation because he doesn't want anyone to know he's in town. We now know that she did meet Damon first. Stefan would see her moments later when he saves her from the river, but it was Damon who crossed her path first.
With Elena turning she will have to make the choice of whether or not she completes the transformation. Knowing her character this will take some soul searching When she does (because of course she will) she will then remember everything that happened to her that she was compelled to forget. This means that she'll remember that first time Damon told he loved her but that his brother deserved her. She'll also remember that she met him first. Who knows what it means for them but it's nice to know that the Damon and Elena card is not off the table.
Season three was the weakest of the three but still managed to bring in unique perspective, shocking revelations and hope for an exciting fourth season. The truth is that a weak season for this series is still a strong season for most. I hope that season four is more intimate. There were too many characters in this season, too many plots all over the place. I think it would be nice to go back to the characters we came to know and love in season one: Elena, Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline and Tyler. I look forward to seeing Elena's transition into a vampire, it will be interesting to see whose feeding habits she takes on, Damon's or Stefan's. Then there's the case of Klaus now being in Tyler's body. What does this mean for Tyler? Will Klaus get a new body and will Tyler return? We'll have to wait till September to find out.
I don't know about you but I'll be counting down the days.
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