Eight years. Eight years is the longest I’ve ever watched a show and that show is The Vampire Diaries. It was my first show. My baby steps into the grown-up world of television. The first show to make me cry and laugh and make me feel connected to its characters.
Vampire Diaries, you’ve had breathtaking highs and some pretty bad lows. I’m the first to admit the past couple of seasons haven’t matched up to the Elena-Stefan-Damon love triangle that dominated the first immaculate three, but my god, did you go out with an epic bang last night.
“I Was Feeling Epic” was all about Stefan. It is Stefan’s story after all, and we’ve come full circle starting with life and ending with death. I’m glad that Stefan made the decision to save his brother in the end of all things because, if the show has done one thing wonderfully, it’s develop the complex relationship between the brothers throughout the years.
Stefan coming to the realization that he’s done terrible, terrible things and that finding some sort of peace in death was the only way he could start forgiving himself.
Of course, Damon being Damon wasn’t going to let Stefan die. He’s going to protect his little brother, which was why I was absolutely furious when Damon compelled Stefan to leave the tunnels and walk away. If that was how Damon was going to go out, with Katherine and hellfire from Bonnie’s plan to save the town without a Delena reunion, this the episode rating would be a 2 instead of a 10.
Luckily, that didn’t happen. Stefan took vervain, faked it, ran back into the cave, stabbed his brother with the cure, tossed him to safety, said goodbye and burned to bits with Katherine by his side.
Hell destroyed.
This led to a beautiful moment between Stefan and Elena in her dream state where he whispers something in her ear, emotionally says goodbye and bashes through the high school’s doors where Lexi awaits with a buggie ready to drive him to the pearly gates.
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And Stefan is happy, probably the happiest we’ve seen him in a long time proudly announcing that, “I was feeling epic!” as they drive off.
As far as endings go, this was a satisfying one. Bonnie shortly after breaks the link between herself and Elena causing Elena to finally wake up. Caroline and Alaric open up a school appropriately and cheesily called The Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted at the Salvatore House (with the help of a large donation from none other than Klaus (Klaroline!)). After coming face to face with hellfire and defeating it with the help of her ancestors, Bonnie travels with world with the help of Enzo as the little voice in her head reminding her where her passport is.
Matt’s thinking about becoming mayor, he even gets a bench named after him.
And finally, Damon and Elena get their happily ever after. They get married. Elena becomes a doctor, or a nurse, or a veterinarian (a profession that wears scrubs). She chopped off all her hair, and we see her in the grave yard near Stefan’s tomb feeling some serious nostalgia as a crow flies by and startles her – just like way back in season one.
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Then everyone dies, really, but not in a sad way. In the way, humans are supposed to die after living long and fulfilling lives.
We see Elena reuniting with her family, her parents, Uncle John and Aunt Jenna. We end with Damon and Stefan, reunited at last and one final “Hello, Brother” before the very last Salvatore brother hug.
A perfectly fitting and epic ending to an epic show, The Vampire Diaries couldn’t have gone out any better.
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