I'm going to start this off by warning everyone that I'm strictly going to talk about the relationships on this show and any subsequent plot lines that come up. Yes the plot is unbelievably good in each episode, but I just want to focus on the relationships and my take on it. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I live vicariously through the relationships. With actors like Paul Wesley and Ian Somerholder, who wouldn't?



So, jumping right in, I'm going to start with the season finale. Sooo...ELENA'S NOW A VAMPIRE????? WHAT THE FLYING LIZARDS? Okay, I knew they had to go somewhere new with the show. It's the fourth season and honestly, with Elena having so many near death experiences, it was bound to happen. Damon had been lobbying for it since season two when he finally decided to open up and be more than just the bad guy.

Also, in the finale, I wanted to really yell at the screen. So let me get this straight. While Elena was still with Matt she was feeling a little smothered because he was "safe" and highly "undangerous" and "predictable". But because they're also good friends, she didn't want to just break his heart out of the blue and I can't remember exactly, but I think she did end up breaking up with him at their little high school party. And while she's calling for her parents, here comes Damon strolling out of the woods attracted to her because he thought she was Kathrine.

Okay, they had me so far. Elena's a normal teen unhappy in her relationship and she's just partying with her friends. Damon, at this time, was still all over Kathrine, believing that she was in the tomb ready to be saved and love him for all eternity like he's been loving her. Okay, I'm still with them at this point. But then they totally did a 180 on me.

In the present, Elena is sitting in her window seat (very clever how they matched it to season one where she practically lived on that window seat) and she's talking to Matt about why she picked Stefan. (I'm going to go into mega detail later about that) So in the present, she's describing how with Stefan that the love is real and everything she hoped and wished for. Then she went on to describe being in love with Damon how it was all consuming and passionate and literally on fire.

Then, in the past, Damon realizes that Elena is not Kathrine and so he guesses correctly that she just broke up with Matt because he didn't have that "IT" factor that all women look for, whether they want to admit to it or not. He then tells her that she's looking for a love that's all consuming, passionate, and literally on fire. By that time, my eyes bulged out of their sockets. This trick just regurgitated what he said to her! But then Damon did the dumbest thing ever. He erased her freakin' memory! I get that he didn't want her to know that he was in town, but come on! He totally had dibs on her first! So by the rules, he should have gotten her, not Stefan. Yeah he was hung up on Kathrine, but whatever!

Back in the present, Elena is going on and on about how she loves Stefan and that he came first and now I'm chomping at the bit because now that she's a vampire, she's going to remember EVERYTHING! She's going to remember every time Damon said he loved her, she's going to remember that Damon came first, and it's going to be epic. Of course, if Elena continues in her same dimwitted manner, she's going to mope around confused, complaining to her friends, and then she's going to choose Stefan all over again.

Honestly, Damon cannot catch a break. I really want to march into the writers' room and slap each of them silly and finish it off with a good right hook. Every girl he's went after ended up dead or breaking his heart. He was all over Caroline, even for malicious reasons, but then she turned into a vampire and hated him. Then he went after the little newscaster who Stefan killed. And let's not forget Kathrine who he made it his life's mission to get her out of the tomb, and turned out the bitch was never in the tomb! She'd been free this entire time and when she showed up again, she wanted Stefan too.

Now how messed up do the writers have to be to let something like that happen? So not only did Kathrine play them both back in the 1800s and  chose Stefan over Damon then, she came back and chose Stefan again. And if that wasn't bad enough, the sick minds in the writer's room made Elena Kathrine's doppleganger who chose Stefan over him. That's like getting dumped twice by the same girl for his younger brother. He literally takes beating after beating in this show and then the other characters want to stop and scratch their heads when he does something bad like go on a feeding spree or keep a sex slave. Honestly? Yall didn't see that coming?



So as promised, on to Stefan. I'll admit, I was riding the Stefan train hard in all of the seasons. I genuinely believed that he was perfect for Elena. They just totally fit like two pieces to the same puzzle. Paul Wesley gave his all to his performances as he showed his love and devotion to Elena and how he would protect her with everything in him. I completely believed him.

For the first time in my history, I can see how someone could love two people at once. While I adored Paul Wesley, I was absolutely crazy about Damon. I mean, come on, nothing is more sexier than a bad boy with a heart. Nothing! So imagine my little surprise in season four when Klaus came a knockin' and turned Stefan into the famous Ripper that everyone kept hinting around. I mean, Stefan as the bad guy? How freakin' hot was that?

He lost all of his humanity and got into that "fuck it" state of mind. It was unabashedly hot and it was nice to see Paul Wesley stretch his acting muscles and get out of playing the good guy for a while. What I didn't like was how he handled his new personality post-Klaus' hold on him. He turned into a real jackass towards Damon who was actually trying to help and to Elena who still loved him no matter how much he pushed her away.

I get it, he lost his humanity and he felt like he didn't deserve her after biting her and making her all sad and hopeless because he wasn't there to catch her when she fell. I get all of that but if you have someone willing to stick by you even after EVERYTHING you've done, why wouldn't you see the blessing in disguise? Obviously, Elena didn't care that he lost his humanity. She was  willing to work with him in bringing it back and getting him back to the same person (or close to it) that he used to be. And then he did the most horrible thing. He bargained with Klaus over her life by kidnapping her and driving extra fast towards the bridge that her parents died on. That was hitting below the belt and highly uncalled for. Something like that, I don't know if I could forgive him if I were in her place. Secretly, I think he did that on purpose. He wanted her to believe that he was mean and heartless so that she would finally move on.

Of course, that backfired right? She's stuck on him like white on rice with a glass of milk on a paper plate in the middle of a snowstorm. She loves him and she's sticking with him no matter what he does. That's where my patience runs thin. Because honestly, girls can't be that stupid. She knows that he's no good for her but she sticks by him just because her heart wants him. Well guess what, the heart is a muscle. It doesn't have feelings. Elena could very well force herself away from Stefan if she really tried. Yes, it's going to hurt. It's going to be painful. Getting over someone is never easy but if it was her happiness over her heart, she should choose happiness. And she'll never be happy if she keeps forgiving Stefan his transgressions all in the name of love.



And how cute is Klaus when he's around Caroline? At first I was like hold up, Klaus and Caroline?? Seriously?? I always thought her and Tyler didn't quite fit right together and now that there's that possible match up, it just completely made sense. He drew her the sweetest picture and danced with her at his family's coming out party. And as much as she doesn't want to admit it, she knows she'd get at that if he wasn't so bent on killing them all and creating hybrids. He keeps tempting her like the serpent in the garden and she knows she wants to give in but Tyler keeps getting in the way. I don't know, it's like he's too aggressive for her or something. I don't know.

But Klaus and Caroline? Forever together throughout the centuries, him drawing her pictures and her keeping him in line. Now that is a match made in heaven if I ever seen one. Man, to have him look at me the way he looks at her, I would literally die. Back to the finale, who saw that coming? Honestly? When Bonnie was there looking over his frozen body, I thought for sure that she was going to do some weird magic stuff so that his body couldn't be pierced or something like that. But he became trapped in Tyler's body. Like how screwed up and awesome is that? I bet he's not going to tell Caroline and he's going to be all over that for as long as he can milk it. Because let's face it, he's not going to want to be in Tyler's body forever, even if he gets to be around Caroline.



And Rick? I can't believe they got rid of him. When TV wants to get rid of a character, they really do it in style. I will be sad to see Rick gone. I liked seeing the dark side of him too. And I can't believe he got made into an uber hunter sent to kill Klaus. It was just awful. And Damon came to the rescue and tried to fend him off, getting beat up in the process. And still Elena chose Stefan?? Seriously?? She must be smoking that crack.

Well, I don't really care too much for Bonnie. She can be with whoever she pleases. And  I would like to see a better love interest for Jeremy. All of his girlfriends have a tendency to show up dead! And Matt deserves someone too. I know they tried to make something brew between him and Rebecca but I couldn't see it. He needs someone new also. Fresh blood and faces next season will do the show some justice. So please, please, please, please, please writers, can you PLEASE give Damon some happiness too? It wouldn't be fair for Stelena to be all hearts and giggles and he's back to his getting wasted and not giving a care stage. It's really starting to break my heart!

All done! Here's to hoping and expecting a very good season this fall. I can't wait to see what happens next!