The season began with a party – and it ended with a smash. It feels like only yesterday we were fretting about what Klaus was doing with our beautiful Stefan and how Damon and Elena were ever going to save him from being a Rippah for the rest of his life. Now we’re faced with a whole round of new questions, and none of them have easy answers.
Vampire Diaries’ Julie Plec Answers TV After Dark’s Season Finale Burning Questions
If we could describe the Season 3 Finale in one word, it’d be “breath-taking”. The episode had me gasping, crying, clutching my chest in horror, laughing, screaming and wailing. I finished the episode and sat in stunned silence for a few moments, before crying out “WHAT THE HECK!” (except maybe a little more expletive than that). There were so many moments in this episode that I LOVED, and some I simply haven’t come to terms with yet. I adored the return of Elijah, the final bromance scene with Ric and Damon, the kiss between Stefan and Elena, Damon’s dialogue, Caroline and Tyler’s vow to run away together and Matt and Jeremy’s duo power. I still haven’t recovered from Klaus’ staking, nor the fact that Elena is a VAMPIRE. Whether you saw any of this coming or not, it was still a shock.
I’ve collated together my Top 7 Most Shocking Moments from the Season 3 Finale, and tossed in a whole bunch of questions that have been swirling around my brain since Thursday night. Take a look and let me know your thoughts!
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The choice. |
I could sense the collective intake of breath across the globe as we watched and waited for Elena to make her choice between the brothers. While telling Damon OVER THE PHONE that she’d picked Stefan wasn’t exactly the nicest thing ever, what are you going to do when you think your two men only have an hour to live? At least she had the decency to call – but I digress. I was particularly moved by the kiss between Stefan and Elena earlier in the episode, and not just because Stefan finally manned up enough to go after what he wants – we had waited a year for it, and their love had remained despite ripper-dom and all the other supernatural battles they had raging around them. When thinking about it now, it makes sense that she would have chosen Stefan because (in my mind) he is perfect for her. Maybe the safer choice, but when you’ve got a love like that you should fight for it – and fight for it they have. I also think that her relationship with Damon wasn’t developed enough for her to have chosen him – there hasn’t been any spectacular moments (hold up, before you hit me!) where it dramatically altered the way she viewed Damon. Of course, now that Elena’s a vampire this could alter everything. Nevertheless, the choice had to come into this list. It was as heartfelt and tragic as I pictured in my mind, and I wasn’t disappointed.
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The flashback to Elena and Damon’s first meeting. |
I still can’t quite get my head wrapped around this meeting! What I loved was that it threw a whole barrel of questions into the mix – what does this mean for Elena’s choice? What else has Damon compelled Elena to do or tell him? He compelled Elena to have everything she wants – but does she REALLY want Stefan or did Damon inadvertently compel her to want that? Now Elena will remember the night that Damon told her he loved her (the first time – or so we think!) and that he told her he didn’t deserve her. What could this mean for Elena’s transition? Will she lean on Damon for support, or still stick with Stefan? The only thing I found a little odd (and I noticed I’m not alone) was how kind Damon was to Elena that night on the road. But we must remember, Damon was around Mystic Falls for a while before he decided people had to know he was there. He had plenty of time to scope the scene and decide how he was going to act when he revealed himself. Also, does anyone know whether that was the night featured in the Pilot, where Damon swooped in and killed that couple? Anyway, I loved this flashback. It was shocking and moving (as Damon decided he didn’t want to die today and fought back with Ric) and it had the desired effect on the SE/DE triangle, especially after Elena had just chosen Stefan. What a moment!
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Matt taking the bull by its horns and drugging/kidnapping/forcing Elena to choose. |
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Bonnie goes to the dark side. |
I think after Bonnie used her witchy ju-ju to freeze-dry Klaus in ‘Before Sunset’, and Abby warned her to stay away from dark magic, we kind of figured this was bound to happen. But so soon? I surely wasn’t expecting it. I was hyper-aware of the fact that after Damon left Bonnie alone with Klaus’ body, and then she disappeared for most of the episode, that something wasn’t quite right. Presto, she’d tapped into the black stuff and rescued her friends – but at what cost? Tyler is being possessed by Klaus (I’m getting to this!) and Bonnie was somehow okay with sacrificing Tyler’s body in order to protect Klaus’ soul? Her blasé attitude hinted at something more – and when she said she was done with being pushed around, I have no doubt in my mind she meant it. Her witchy sisters had attributed to pushing her over the edge, and it seems like this encounter with Klaus was the last straw. Bring on your evil side Bonnie babe.
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Stefan rescued Matt, rather than Elena. |
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Klaus’ death / Tyler possessed by Klaus. |
At some stage we knew it was going to happen – we knew that Klaus had to be killed. Still, nothing, absolutely NOTHING prepared me for the horror that enveloped my entire being when Alaric stabbed Klaus in the coffin. I spent the better part of the rest of the episode curled in a ball, holding myself and waiting and wishing. Of course, praise the heavens and the writers, Klaus wasn’t done with us yet. He’d clambered his way into Tyler by way of Bonnie dark magic, and he’d already started wreaking havoc with Caroline’s heart! (I know, did anyone else pick up that Klaus was the one who kissed Caroline in that final scene with her? Holy CRAP he’s going to cause some mayhem being Tyler!) As for Klaus’ body – we still don’t know if Joseph Morgan has been retained as Klaus’ host, but by the looks of things it’s promising. Plus, I can’t envision that as Morgan’s last moments on the show. No way on earth. If that happened, I’ll demand to be thrown into the Atlantic myself. However, it does present the interesting question – if Morgan was gone and Klaus was hip-hopping between bodies, who could play him? Could ANYONE be a better Klaus than Morgan? It’s doubtful, but you never know. Anyway, these turn of events hint at a kind-of pact between Bonnie and Klaus. What could this mean for the show? And is Bonnie going to TELL Caroline that Klaus is possessing her boyfriend? Crazy craziness. Mind-blowing. Excellent twist.
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Elena wakes up a VAMPIRE! |
Well, one in transition. Nevertheless, this was a shocker like no other. My brain had an implosion. No joke. I mean, I wanted Elena to become a vampire, I just didn’t think it would happen NOW, of all times. I thought maybe in another two seasons, by choice? But this was something else entirely. Despite an eerie similarity to the end of Breaking Dawn, where Bella opens her eyes as a new vampire, the final scene was gasp-worthy. This opens up a world of possibilities, for both Elena and Stefan and Damon. Will Elena be like Katherine, will she be like Stefan, will she be like Damon? Who will she turn to for help? Could Katherine swoop back in and taunt her, or stranger yet, help her? Now when we look at the love triangle, we know that Elena chose Stefan and basically freed Damon of her. So what will Damon’s reaction be now that she’s a vampire? Do those two have a whole history we don’t know about, as (like I mentioned earlier) Damon might have made her forget certain memories of him? Elena is going to KNOW how much of her life was influenced by compulsion. How will she react to that? And what about Jeremy? He just lost his sister- she DIED. Can she be turned back? Will Bonnie delve into her dark magic and save her? Or will Elena LIKE being a vampire and decide to remain one? And never mind Elena, how is this going to be embraced by the FANS? Basically anything can happen now. This has tossed a spanner in the works and I have no doubt in my mind that there will be mess after mess because of it. Bring on the chaos, I cannot WAIT.
Remind me again TVD fans how we’re supposed to wait until September to find out??
What was your Number One Shocking Moment from the Season Finale? Take the poll and tell us!
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7. I wasn’t shocked by the choice, because it’s not permanent. They never will be, or it’s END OF SHOW. It’s about the journey. 6. I truly believe the flashback was the very same night of May 23, 2009, shown in the Pilot. It was the same setup, with Damon laying in the road from some unsuspecting motorist. And he truly had not seen Elena before that time, otherwise why would he have called her Katherine? Loved how he dropped right back into Season 1 badass mode for the flashback. 5. Matt has proven, even more so in the finale, that he’s the kindest, most generous and caring ex that ever lived. Yeah, he’s still carrying a torch, but his actions were awesome! 4. I personally believe Bonnie has acquired a HUGE amount of power, dark and otherwise, of late. I think that’s why the nosebleeds stopped, and why she was able to pull off the Tyler-Klaus takeover long distance. She didn’t even need to be touching them. Not even Esther could take over Rebekah’s body without touching her! I think Bon’s gonna be one bad witch to deal with next season! 3. I wasn’t surprised Stefan rescued Matt instead of Elena. She’s been all about everybody else for 3 years, and Stefan always respects her choices. I think more than Stefan having a hand in her turning will be the fact that Meredith used Damon’s blood to do it. That means BOTH brothers are directly or indirectly responsible. And I don’t think Stefan will like it one little bit! 2. I was expecting Klaus to get staked at some point (I’m still not convinced there isn’t some witchy ju-ju involved–Ric pulled out the stake and slammed that coffin shut mighty quick), but I didn’t see the Tyler takeover coming–even though he was the perfect candidate. Tyler fessed up that he had broken the sire-bond and could turn at will, making him that much more powerful and already a hybrid! I personally think we’ll see Klaus in his Original form again. 1. Elena’s not a vampire, yet. She’s only in transition. Bonnie could be powerful enough now to do something about it. Matt could volunteer to be donor (Jeremy would just be too creepy). She probably will turn, but we don’t know yet. And what’s to say she wouldn’t go the same way that Caroline did…not really much change at all once she gets it under control? Besides, what purpose under heaven would The Originals have in staying around Mystic Falls if there’s no more Doppelganger? I don’t want to give away a reason I think they might (since my own recap hasn’t published yet), but there might be something they still want. Great questions and thoughts, as always! I, too, had a MULTITUDE of questions after my brain calmed down!
I believe it was the night her parents died or at least several months before the motorists incident. Her parents were coming to pick her up from the party and the fight with Matt. It wasn’t the night that he killed those two motorists because that was months after her parents had died. In the pilot episode, Zach confronts Stefan about the motorists and that is when stefan realizes there is another vampire in town. does anyone remember what happened the night that elena’s parents died? where they were going, where they were coming from?
The night Damon met her was a few months before the events of the ‘pilot’. It was just before her parents picked her up and the accident on WIckery Bridge where she met Stefan for the first time
Elena had blown of family night, the night of the accident, and gone to a party with Matt instead. Her and Matt had a fight and she felt guilty about not staying at home so she rang them to pick her up. They were on the way back to the Gilbert house when the accident happened.
I think that was just Damon’s go to move, as he’s done it a few times throughout the timeline of the show. (we learnt that Katherine taught him it 1864 in a flashback).
The night Damon & Elena met *was* the night her parents died in the accident (May). The motorist in the pilot were killed around Sept, when school starts. A picture of them were flashed on the TV screen when Elena was getting ready for school.
The parents were going to pick Elena up from the Bonfire Matt took her to. She and Matt argued so she wanted to go home so she called her parents so they could pick her up.
As to why the car swerved off the bridge, I’m not sure.
Klaus death was most shocking. hands down. even though he is back i still cant get over that shock and horror. i was left absolutely numb after screaming and shouting. couldnt even concentrate on anything after that. that agonizing anguish Rebekah went through was my reaction as well. i thought after last weeks torture they wont do anything to Klaus and Mr Morgan will b back but alas!! *terrified to even think about it*
I think, of the top 10 shocking moments, mine was that Stefan saved Matt over Elena. Why didn’t he try to save both? I mean, I cannot say that pulling two bodies out of the water is an easy thing, but why didn’t he break her belt so she could follow them to the surface or something? Stefan could’ve done that at least. Am I the only one who things so?
The rest, I kinda speculated so I wasn’t too shocked. More like, pleasantly surprised to have been somewhat correct.
Can we just clear something up please Jayne? Yes the flashback was the same night as her parents died [she says this at the very end of their conversation], and no it’s not the same night as Damon swooping in and killing the couple. That was several months later, because we see it in the background the morning of the first day at school!!! Surprised you hadn’t figured that out… all your questions in that item seem odd because you hadn’t figured that out. :-)
And again with Matty…. yes after a whole season he finally has some gusto!! A mircale if every I saw one… but really, he chose that time to be gutsy? And btw, he’s not the only one to ask her the question… Caroline asks her that question too… in fact she’s the one really early on in the season who gets frustrated with Elena for NOT admitting how she feels about Damon… which is course is the whole problem. She IS in love with Damon, she just won’t admit to it because Stefan is the safer more predictable option [and therefore boring]. Don’t get me wrong, I love Paul Wesley, but Stefan and Elena WILL NOT last, so Stelena fans get over the excitement and get ready for another supposed heartbreak. Except it won’t be, because she’ll actually just be getting around to making the right choice. PS: Sorry I’m on a rant tonight… :-)
There is so much to be said about Bonnie. Talk about a girl who blames everyone else but herself. But given everything that’s happened, and what Klaus has made her do, and done to her and her friends… I can’t understand her making the choice she did. But she did and there will be consequences of which I’ve no doubt she’ll blame on Damon [because that’s what she does even though it’s been her actions as much as anyone else’s that have resulted in pain in her life, Caroline becoming a vampire was TOTALLY her fault – she forced Damon to give her vamp blood and therefore made her vulnerable to Katherine… though somehow she still blames Damon for it. She does this A LOT!! And frankly I’m sick of it. She is going to come undone going darkside and she won’t be able to blame anyone but herself. Now THAT’S a scene I’ll be looking forward to PS: Bonnie rant now over…