Vampire Diaries was a staple in my teenage life. What can I say? I loved fantasy TV. I enjoyed deciding which of the Salvator brothers was hotter (Team Damon here!), and I could relate to the angst many of the characters exuded. I didn’t like Elena Gilbert because everything revolved around her, which was super annoying. Recently, I rewatched the show with my frontal lobe fully developed, and I realized my perspective on The Vampire Diaries had changed a lot.
First of all, Team Damon vs Team Stefan was fun, but we can all wrap it up now because if we are keeping it real, they were both paedophile-leaning creeps. As to the angst of the inhabitants of Mystic Falls, they all need serious therapy. And for Mystic Falls’ sweetheart, Elena, this time around, I considered her with much kinder eyes because she was only a child when two very hot, dysfunctional brothers intensified the chaos in her life.
However, one thing remains timeless about this vampire series: it will make you feel—because why did several scenes still rip my heart out, throw it on the ground, and stomp on it all over again?
Honestly, this is your sign to go back and watch that movie or book you once loved as a teen.
The Salvatore Brothers Were Really Weird
Damon and Stefan, grown-ass immortal beings being in love with Elena, a teenager, might have seemed cute to me as a 15-year-old, but rewatching it in my 20s makes me realize that the Salvator Brothers were creeps (and this has nothing to do with them being vampires). Seriously, as 100-year-old+ men, why are you frequenting gatherings with high school kids? Stefan even enrolled at the high school in Mystic Falls. Yes, they may look young and still very attractive. Still, in age-gap relationships, the primary point of consideration isn’t how young the older partner may look but how much lived experience the older partner has against the younger one. A whooping 100+ years versus a naïve 17 years? The power imbalance at play was mind-boggling.
Aside from the love triangle involving Elena (who, again, was only a teenager when they met), Stefan, and Damon, Damon also pursued Caroline (who was also a teen at the time). If these grandpa dysfunctional brothers were so badass, why weren’t they hanging out with older vampires who were as powerful as them? And why were they constantly preying on young sorority girls? Every time, Damon and Stefan had to be seen at a high school dance. Ahn ahn.
Bonnie Deserved Better
Bonnie Bennett is the real hero of Mystic Falls. All she did was be an unproblematic, talented witch who constantly put her friends before herself and saved them from the problems they instigated, and all she wanted in return was happiness. Yet, she was the most unfortunate character in Vampire Diaries. Bonnie didn’t deserve to lose her grandma while trying to help Damon (season 1), she didn’t deserve to die while bringing Jeremy back from the veil (season 4)—the same man that cheated on her with the ghost of Anna, his past girlfriend (Season 3) and she DEFINITELY didn’t deserve all the pain she went through when Qetsiyah made her an anchor between the other side and the real world.
What pained me the most was when we all thought that Bonnie Bennett’s series of unfortunate events had come to an end with her meeting and falling in love with Enzo, just for Stefan to murder him soon after. Maybe if this powerful witch had hung out with more black people, none of this would have happened.
The Show was a Whirlwind
From love stories and origin stories to sire bonds and witches lore, the day you sit down to analyze it all, you will realize the Vampire Diaries is a complex watch. If you were able to finish all the seasons of this series, there’s nothing in this life that you cannot achieve. Seriously though, I understand that it’s a fictional show with supernatural beings, but why couldn’t some characters just stay dead? And if the writers wanted to resurrect them, why didn’t they offer more plausible storylines?
Personally, I couldn’t keep up with the doppelgängers storyline.
Also, remember when a cure for humanity was found? But the directions for its use just kept changing, wo, I had to give up.
In the first episode, the scene where Elena sat in the graveyard, Damon could manipulate the weather around her and control crows, but this was never mentioned again.
In Season 6, Elena Gilbert’s life was linked to Bonnie. Hence, she had to sleep forever in order to keep Bonnie alive. Two seasons later, in the finale, somehow—maybe during a commercial break— Bonnie managed to break this spell that they had all collectively given up on, allowing her and Elena to be alive and conscious at the same time.
In this rewatch, I shook my head at the ridiculous plot holes happening in Mystic Falls.
All the Characters Needed Therapy
One thing is painfully obvious in the Vampire Diaries: every character has mental health struggles. The amount of deaths the young characters witnessed was insane. Plus, they were always being terrorized by some supernatural entity. Let’s get into all the magic-induced trauma:
Matt’s sister, as well as his girlfriend, were turned and killed. He falls in love with not one but TWO vampires, and one of them, Elena, dies and turns, and he has to live with the guilt that she prioritized his life over her own. All this and more happened without him having any support system.
Elena witnessed the deaths of her parents, her brother, her aunt, Bonnie, Damon, and even her doppelganger Katherine Pierce, among other events. Katherine, the multifaceted villain of the show, had a traumatic life—from having Klaus slaughter her family and spending 500 years running from him to giving up her baby, Nadia.
The Friendships Trumped the Romantic Relationships
Vampire Dairies is renowned for its love triangles and passionate romance, but it also had some of the strongest and warmest friendships. Looking back at it and rewatching the series, these platonic relationships are arguably better than many of the romantic relationships in the show—marked by manipulation.
For example, Elena made the ultimate sacrifice when she asked Stefan to save Matt when their car drove off a bridge. Elena’s death turned her into a vampire and changed her life forever. Their friendship, to a very large extent, endured healthily until the season’s finale.
Alaric Saltzman and Damon’s friendship—an enemy-to-friends trope— blossomed beautifully. They would often fight foes side-by-side. But through all the drama, they found quiet moments to confide in each other.
Then there was Stefan and Lexi’s friendship. Lexi technically saved him first when he was a bloodthirsty and out-of-control ripper.
Additionally, while Bonnie’s friendship with Elena is marked by endless sacrifices from Bonnie, Elena proves herself to Bonnie when she goes into a coffin so that Bonnie can live peacefully.
Essentially, the friendships in Vampire Diaries made for better examples of what true love could look like.
