The Vampire Diaries review – 4×23: ‘Graduation’

If there’s one thing that The Vampire Diaries does well, it’s season finales. And the episode to close out the fourth season is no exception: a dead witch, my beloved Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) brought back to life, a dead doppleganger, and a twist ending we never could have seen coming!

Let’s bitch it out…

Since I don’t even know where to start on the Stefan (Paul Wesley) / Silas debacle, I’m going to talk about Bonnie (Kat Graham) first to collect my thoughts.

I guess it had to happen sometime. Bonnie had to get a spell right at some point on this show and at least the writers decided to save it for one that really matters. She makes this reviewer beyond happy and brings my boy Jeremy back to life, only to fade off into the night. It’s ironic that her final spell is the one that works after all the failed attempts we’ve had to sit through. But I won’t speak ill of the dead. Instead, I will just praise her for finally coming through. I think Jeremy is just as surprised as we are but let’s all just take the win here and move on.

Having the ghosts back for this episode is really enjoyable and makes me nostalgic for the good ol’ days on this show. Back to a time when things were normal – Elena (Nina Dobrev) was with Stefan, she was still human, and Alaric (Matt Davis) was still alive… sigh. I’ve basically just laid out the two things that I have a problem with in this episode. Firstly, I was so happy to have Alaric back to continue his bromance with Damon (Ian Somerhalder), as well as see the family back together again. I enjoyed every second but it was bittersweet because I knew that he’d be gone at the end of the episode. It’s at moments like this that I have to remind myself of a Dr. Suess quote: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. So I will take these words of wisdom to heart and just enjoy the moments Alaric and I share together, and keep the memories close now that he’s gone again. It’s like the writers enjoy toying with my emotions and bringing him back over and over, only to rip him from me again.

Second thing I have a problem with: Delena. I have always been, and will always be, a Stelena fan. Elena is the one; the great love of Stefan’s life and somehow now she’s just in love with his brother? I could deal with it before when it could be explained away with the sire bond. But now there’s none of that. She has her emotions back, we know there’s no sire bond, and she still picks Damon. I know, I know, she has this rationale about feeling alive, or whatever, but I’m still not buying it. Before, I had the sire bond as an excuse. Now, I’ve got this whole Silas/Stefan randomness to blame it on. The writers knew where they were going with the Stefan storyline and it made more sense for him to be leaving town after being ditched yet again by Elena. So now no one is looking for him because they think he’s gone to lick his wounds, and the only way to accomplish that is to have Elena be with Damon. There. I explained it away. It’s okay, Elena still has many lifetimes to change her mind.

Okay – I’m ready to address the final cliffhanger. I’m going to do my best with this, and start by saying : WTF?! Seriously? How does that even make any sense?? Silas is two thousand years old and Stefan is only 145 (give or take) but somehow he’s the loophole? How come he’s been around 145 years and never heard that he’s a doppleganger before? Elena knew she was one before her eighteenth birthday, so how did Stefan go through life without finding out? How does that even make any sense?!?! I just don’t get this. All I get out of it is that Stefan is sinking to the bottom of the quarry in a bank safe, while the oldest creature in time is appearing as him? If someone could give me their thoughts on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Other Observations:

• How amazing is that smile between Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Caroline (Candice Accola) when he shows up to save the day? Don’t even get me started on their moment when he tells her he intends on being her last love. Wow. Melt my heart, why don’t you? How she’s not going to New Orleans for the spinoff is beyond me (FYI: I read an interview with Accola indicating she would be in Mystic Falls when the new season starts up again, not in New Orleans, though there will likely be crossovers)
• I love that Matt (Zach Roerig) is taking Rebekah (Claire Holt) up on her offer to see the world. He needs to get out of Mystic Falls for awhile and start living his life, instead of being around all these monsters who try to kill him all the time. Maybe they will land in New Orleans, but honestly I got excited thinking of the Matt/Jeremy bromance that awaits now that Jeremy is alive again. So I’m torn on where Matt should end up (Rebekah is headed to New Orleans for the spin-off)
• What a waste of the cure! Seriously? We chased this thing over an entire season to see it go to waste on Katherine??? Firstly, I’m disappointed Katherine is dead (or will be shortly since she’s human now and has a lot of enemies). She’s a great character and it will be weird not having her sarcastic, witty and bold self around anymore. Secondly, when everyone was chasing this thing, everyone and their dog wanted it. Now, in this episode, you can’t give the damn thing away. Nobody wants it! I feel like this is a clever cop-out because they didn’t want any of their characters to stop being vampires, but the cure had to be put aside or else it would keep coming up. It still makes me mad that we wasted all this time watching everyone fight over it for such a silly conclusion
• Does anyone else feel awkward watching Damon and Elena love scenes now, knowing that Nina and Ian split up in real life? Uncomfortable

So what did you think of the season finale? Do you feel satisfied with the answers we got? Are you just as confused as I am about the Stefan/Silas situation? Are you a Delena fan and hate how I always have an excuse for why their love can’t be real? What do you expect to see next season? Sound off below!

The Vampire Diaries will return in the fall with its fifth season on The CW, joined by its companion series The Originals featuring Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah and that stupid werewolf chick Klaus knocked up