Despite the obnoxiously long title of tonight’s episode of The Vampire Diaries, there was very little to complain about. The show needed some new blood to bring it back to its former glory after the departure of the Originals (which it looks to have found), but it looks like there may also be some new writers aboard. I can’t recall a single episode previous to this that had so many good one-liners and witty dialogue. Even before the opening credits rolled, there were already more quips worthy of being quoted than any episode of TVD maybe ever. If this season was about starting fresh, than the writers are doing a might fine job accomplishing that task.
When the curtains closed on season five, the giant question mark hanging in the air was, “what happened to Bonnie (Kat Graham) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder)?” Fans didn’t have to wait very long once season six started rolling to get an answer to that mystery, but they did have to wait a bit longer to find out if Bamon (you have to love those social media nicknames) would make it out of their repetitive stay in 1994. When they came across the only other resident of this supernaturally vacant version of Mystic Falls a couple episodes back, all of a sudden a sense of hope emerged within the storyline. This happened just in time for Elena (Nina Dobrev) to give up on any chance of ever seeing Damon again.
Instead of stretching this out for most of the season, like I had expected, the writers mercifully cut fans a break. Not that everyone wasn’t loving watching Damon cook breakfast and Bonnie play her crossword puzzles, I’m sure, but monotony rarely makes for very good television. The only downside to cutting this story arc off before it became unbearable was that fans may be saying goodbye to Bonnie for good. In exchange for her sacrifice, Damon got a free pass out of the land of the dead-adjacent. There’s still the whole pesky Elena moving on plot twist that the writers now have to contend with, but overall, it seems like a small price to pay for a really very well-executed turn of events.
If Bonnie really is gone, it actually seems like an acceptable loss at this point. I mean, Alaric (Matt Davis) did get to come back to life. And, Damon will eventually be reunited with the love of his life, whether or not she acquiesces to having her memories returned. Plus, there’s always Stefan (Paul Wesley) to consider. Damon returning almost guaranteed that he wouldn’t go off the rails. Which is probably a good thing considering his long lost niece (?) just showed up in Mystic Falls and doesn’t seem like the type to leave without getting all the answers surrounding her mysterious birth circumstances.