Season 7 of the Vampire Diaries premiered last night, and to be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I invite my fellow TVD fanatics to read on for my ramblings about the episode but be warned—SPOILERS AHEAD!
Before I could even process that I was watching the new season of TVD, I was immediately confused as the show opened with a scene “three years from now” featuring a hectic Stefan trying to wake Damon from inside a coffin. Why are we already flashing so far forward? I still don’t even understand what happened since Lily Salvatore returned, Alaric’s wedding was ruined, Jo and the entire Gemini coven died, and then Kai linked Bonnie to Elena, dooming her to sleep until Bonnie’s death. NOW THERE’S EVEN MORE TO BE CONFUSED ABOUT.
Instead of explaining what has happened, the show backtracks to three years before that mysterious scene. Lily Salvatore, Damon and Stefan’s mother, has brought together a new “family” of Heretics, aka witch-vampires who are already killing the people of Mystic Falls. This mix of new characters and storylines almost makes TVD seem like a whole new show.
Then we’ve got that whole “thing” between Stefan and Caroline. The two had the most awkward “let’s just be friends” conversation I have ever seen, all while sitting on the park bench that was dedicated in honor of Caroline’s dead mother.
Meanwhile, across the globe in Europe, we see Alaric and Damon are each mourning the loss of their loved one—alcohol in hand, of course.
But then we find out Alaric is planning to bring back his dead wife. He’s keeping her body frozen until he can… I don’t even know how he thinks he can bring her back, but what I’m really wondering is how the hell haven’t his friends noticed that Jo was never buried!?!?
Of course, Damon and Bonnie are both struggling with the loss of Elena and the dynamic relationship between the two is tested yet again. Damon saves Bonnie from near-death… but he briefly hesitated to do so, which resulted in an understandably upset Bonnie. The two fight about if he just wants her dead to get Elena back and Damon eventually exclaims that when he looks at Bonnie, all he sees is “not Elena.” Cue mixed feelings because I totally love Bonnie and I don’t want her to just die, but what even is this show without Delena? I’m sure Damon feels the same.
Thankfully, despite their fight, Bonnie and Damon make-up later in the episode when Damon announces Bonnie is his best friend, and the two agree they need each other to cope without Elena. Given their history, I’m sensing this friendship might possibly get complicated by some feelings down the line, but I’m really hoping the writers decide against that…
Anyway, Bonnie and Damon aren’t the only two to make-up as we soon see that all that “just friends” talk between Stefan and Caroline was total B.S. Cue the Steroline kiss that we all knew was coming.
What I didn’t predict was the evacuation of Mystic Falls. Stefan and his friends literally cleared out the townspeople to “save” them from the Heretics… and in doing so, Stefan even gave the iconic Salvatore house to his mother and her crazy family. Why the whole town had to be evacuated or why he gave their flippin’ house to his psycho mother, I’m not entirely sure but it seemed a lil’ overdramatic.
To add to my confusion, the end of the episode flashes forward again to the scene three years from now, showing Stefan and Damon hiding from a mysterious woman shooting arrows their way. Who is she? Why is she trying to kill Stefan? Is she also after Damon? Where’s everyone else? Why are we flashing forward to THREE YEARS FROM NOW IF THE SEASON JUST STARTED!?!?! And then the episode ends with this flash-forward cliffhanger, leaving us all with far more questions than answers.
Ultimately, the series premiere left me uncertain of what to expect for the rest of the season. No doubt, the Salvatore brothers are as good-looking as ever, but the main character of the entire series IS MISSING. Well not really missing, but I mean, ELENA’S NOT EVEN IN THE SHOW ANYMORE AND I’M STILL UPSET ABOUT IT (way to go Nina, thanks a lot). Without Elena’s physical presence, the show just feels a little off even though there were more than a few times when characters referenced her. Elena’s storyline is now static, she’s “asleep” and that’s it, she can’t interact with other characters. I mean seriously, RIP DELENA.
Obviously we can’t expect there to be any Delena scenes anymore, but I just can’t see how the show’s storyline is going to transition around the “loss” of Elena when her character is still such a central focus of the entire show’s plot. Granted this was only one episode, but at this point I think it would have been better if they’d have just killed her character off rather than putting her to sleep until Bonnie dies. Harsh, I know. Regardless, I’m definitely too invested in this show to back out now.
Stay strong my fellow TVD fans, and let’s brace ourselves for whatever this season has in store.