An Ode to The Vampire Diaries…

If I were to make a list of all the TV shows I’ve been legitimately obsessed with over the years (like, can’t-sleep, have-to-binge-watch-every-episode obsessed!), there would probably be less than 10 shows on the list. There would be Frasier, of course, because that show is #Life and pretty much takes the top spot. A few choice ’90s picks from my teen years would also make the cut, as would new favorite Dexter. OK, there may be some guilty pleasure shows too — you know, in an effort to balance out the seriousness of one Dexter Morgan. And the more I thought about it this afternoon, the more I realized…TWO of my faves just happen to be about vampires (hi, Buffy!), so I felt this post needed to happen now. The world could not go another day without reading my ode to The Vampire Diaries!

Quick recap for those not in The Vampire Diaries Club: The show follows the lives Damon and Stefan Salvatore, two vampire brothers struggling with their love/hate relationship while fighting for the affections of one Elena Gilbert. Did I mention they’ve been vampires since 1864?

And…plot twist: Elena is a doppelganger for Katherine Pierce, who TURNED both brothers into vampires! Scandalous! Add in some mischief and mayhem from the first family of vampires, some witches and werewolves, a cure for vampirism, a couple trips to alternate universes, seducing sirens and, most recently, a visit by the actual Devil himself…and you’ve got yourself eight seasons of addictive television

Basically, the life of the undead is anything but boring, obviously!

Yes, this CW classic is saying goodbye this week — on Friday, specifically. Yes, I’m in tears and extremely heartbroken over it. And no, that is NOT hyperbole. Not in the slightest. Anyone who’s ever seen this show will know exactly what I’m talking about. I started watching the series when it originally premiered way back in 2009 and ran out of space on my DVR so the show fell by the wayside. Then last summer, I discovered it was on Netflix and proceeded to BINGE LIKE THERE WAS NO TOMORROW! Seriously, I’d watch episodes at a time and even watched the first two seasons over again, despite having seen them the first time around. I became so enrapture and the show quickly stole my heart. Damon and company became a part of me. A permanent part of my heart, even.

I could spend the rest of this post waxing poetic about what this show has meant to me, but instead, here are four final thoughts as the show takes its stab at immortality (see what I did there?)…

*It’s all about Damon: In the battle of the brothers, it will always be Damon for me. I mean, sure, Stefan has that “hero hair” going for him, but the amount of growth Damon has shown is beautiful — yes, I did just use that word to describe it because that’s what it was. Here’s a man who’s incredibly flawed and he’s now on a mission of redemption, to at least try to make some type of amends for his past. That’s admirable, if you ask me.

*Katherine IS a bad-ass: Is she pure evil? Oh, absolutely? Does she care? Heck no. And that right there is part of the reason I like the character so much. She owns who she is and makes zero apologies for any of it. She’s going out in a ring of fire — maybe literally — and she’s going to bring everyone down with her.

*Caroline and Klaus should have ended up together: There seemed to be some debate about this in the fandom, but I liked Caroline with one of the Originals. They were good for each other and to see her marry Stefan? Ehhh, not sure I’m exactly sold on the idea just yet.

*Matt was wayyy underrated: I actually felt sorry for him throughout the series. While his friends were turning into werewolves and vampires all around him and he just…stayed…human. One thing I’ll say, though, is that I *loved* his heart. He was true blue, that Matt Donovan.

Goodbye to The Vampire Diaries! Thank you for the enjoyment you brought to my life and here’s to the last place you’ll always have in my heart! The only thing left now is to make a replica Mystic Falls town so I can come and geek out in person! xoxo