This Was the Exact Moment Vampire Diaries Went Downhill (and Never Recovered)
If you could end The Vampire Diaries when it was at its peak, how many seasons would it have?
The Vampire Diaries ran for eight full seasons from September 2009 to March 2017, marking a period of genuine Mystic Falls frenzy. Thousands of fans flocked to Comic Cons, put up posters with their favourite characters on their walls, and repeatedly binge-watched the supernatural show time and time again.
However, more than six years later, even the most devoted fans must concede that not all The Vampire Diaries seasons have aged equally well. Indeed, the quality of the writing appears to have gradually declined from season to season. But when did this downward trajectory begin?
Most viewers agree that the initial three seasons of The CW vampire show were beyond reproach. The narrative of high school student Elena Gilbert encountering the hot and dangerous Salvatores, the vampire brothers, may not have been the most unique, but it worked.
The plot, the dialogue, the performances, and, of course, the chemistry among the love triangle participants made the show highly addictive and irresistible. However, Season 4 squandered it all.
It's undeniable that most fans were drawn to The Vampire Diaries for the romance narrative. The fandom remains staunchly divided between Stelena (Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert) and Delena (Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert) shippers. Even the staunchest Delena fans acknowledge that the transition from Stefan to Damon in Season 4 was anything but smooth.
The revelation that Damon was the first to encounter Elena came out of the blue and sent fans into a frenzy. Naturally, this coincided with Elena's transformation into a vampire in the first episode of Season 4, which sabotaged her character development and made her as exasperating as her on-again-off-again relationship with Damon.
The season also introduced a whole bunch of new information that entirely altered the canon as we knew it. The Cure, a Sire Bond, and the Mikaelson family arc all suggest that the post-Season three plot had not been planned ahead but was a random collection of improvised storylines.
Regrettably, things did not improve after that. The show introduced plot lines only to abandon them shortly after, it featured scenes that led nowhere and contributed little to the plot and was flush with inconsistencies in character arcs and relationships.
For me, The Vampire Diaries peaked in Season 3, and I would have ended it with that season's finale (although, in my version, I would have ended it with Elena's death). Everything that came after that was an uninterrupted downward trajectory, at the end of which the show became a pathetic caricature of its former self.