'The Vampire Diaries' Season Finale Review - "Graduation"

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The Vampire Diaries has had a rocky season, but in the end it actually managed to pull off a finale better than any they’ve done in years.

 Try not to faint but this is probably my favorite finale twist since season one.  That twist being that Silas’ real face is Paul Wesley, which apparently means that his doppelganger (at least one of them, I’m sure like Elena and Katherine there were some before him) is Stefan.  I figured it would be a familiar face, but I wasn’t counting on it being Stefan since I figured this might have been their chance to bring back Matt Davis. Oh but this is so much better.  I hope that Paul will get to let his baddie flag fly once and for all next season now that Stefan has been sunk inside a safe, or as I like to call it, he got “Angel’d.”

It’s worth asking however, if Silas and Stefan were the best pair to swap out?  As the episode progressed it seemed like Katherine was going to kill Elena and take her place.  Now that, my friends, would have blown the back of my head right off.  Instead Katherine gets the cure forced upon her which, I won’t hate Elena for because it was very clear that Katherine was about to murder her so we can easily call this self-defense.  I’m curious how important the newly-cured Katherine is going to be next season or if she’s going to run off again.  Also, I’m a bit unclear on if you could take the cure and then turn around and be made a vampire again at some point after.  So for all I know Katherine will be back to blood-sucking sooner rather than later next season.

At the very least the dreaded triangle (at least in its original form) appears to be over, especially with one corner of it now underwater.  Luckily for Elena, it wasn’t the corner she ended up choosing. In this episode Elena fully admitted her love for Damon, completely without any more tricks such as the sire bond--nope it was all her.  Inspite of the fact that Damon was prepared to force the cure on Elena all while claiming that a human fate for himself would be a nightmare.  For now, let’s hope that the triangle really is dead unless newly human Katherine and Silas make it into a square as soon as season five begins.  For the love of god, don’t make it into a square Plec...

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It’s really coming up roses for Elena as she’ll soon find out that her brother is among the living again.  Yes, our BAMF witch’s spell ended up working and Jeremy was indeed brought back, but Bonnie herself is still very dead as a consequence.  My favorite thing with Bonnie tonight, which is the shining moment that shows why I prefer her over Elena any day of the week, was her conversation with Kol.  She admits that she wants the veil brought down as well so that she doesn’t want to have to say goodbye to her friends and family, she wants to go to college, and live.  Yet, she doesn’t side with him, she makes the hard choice to sacrifice those wishes in order to trap him and later bring the veil back up in one of the most selfless acts the show has ever seen.  It’ll be interesting to see if Jeremy can keep the truth of Bonnie’s fate from Caroline and Elena as requested.

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The most amusing part of the episode had to be that someone finally accepted the vampire “I can show you the world” offer!  That person being Matt who is now going to be a road trip buddy with Rebekah.  I’m not sure when the next season is going to pick up, but I’m assuming it’ll be after the summer rather than in the immediate aftermath.  So Matt could either show back up at Mystic Falls, OR he could jump shows and hang out with Rebekah in New Orleans.  Perhaps it could be a bit of both and he’ll actually be the character that ends up crossing over onto both shows.

Speaking of New Orleans, Klaus makes an appearance back on the flagship show in the nick of time to save Damon’s ass from a werewolf bite. More importantly to him, Klaus shows up with a graduation gift to Caroline.  His gift is that he’s not going to chase Tyler anymore--not that he really was anyway.  In a move that had shippers swooning he called Tyler her first love, and that he remains determined to be her last love, as long as that might take.  Patience is a virtue that Klaus sometimes has.  I’m sure that people are bummed that she’s not yet going to make the jump with him to The Originals, but I can still see her cameoing in specific episodes and possibly even joining him there in season two if the show makes it for that long.  However, I ask the writers one thing... don’t make Tyler fucking run off during spring sweeps for the 5th season in a row for a new reason now, that’s really getting old.

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Thanks to everyone who read any of my reviews of The Vampire Diaries during the season!  It’s been a rough ride, but in the end a fun one.  So what did you think of the finale?  Will you be tuning in for season five and/or The Originals?