The Vampire Diaries season 4 finale review: When will my reflection show who I am inside?

Well I certainly did not see that coming.

That was… interesting. I especially appreciate that this finale wasn’t annoyingly tame as the season two and three finales were. Let’s talk about it because it’s the last moment of the episode: Stefan is Silas’ doppelgänger. Okay. It certainly would have been more surprising had Silas never shown up as Stefan, as I think he has stated that he hasn’t let anyone see his real face. Even when Silas showed up as Elena, which I believe he hasn’t before, I was sort of okay with Silas being the original doppelgänger (even though we know that Tatia is) because perhaps it made sense with the entire “balance” monologue. But I don’t know what to think about Stefan being Silas’ doppelgänger. I mean, I certainly did not anticipate it. And I know that it gives Paul Wesley a ton of fun stuff to do next season and I’m sure he’s happy about that, since it seems he’s been clamoring for it for a while now. But that’s about it.

Katherine getting the Cure: I believe that was called, not by me however. I had always thought that they would give it to Damon only because of how much outcry the character had against taking the Cure. So I suppose I laud the fact that it wasn’t predictable. In fact, in the moment, I thought that Katherine was going to kill Elena and then pose as her next season. I seriously thought they’d kill Elena off (haha, not so). Instead, that’s kind-of what happened with Silas and Stefan. So let’s just inflate my ego and say that I semi-called that one. When Elena handed it to Stefan and told him that he should be the one to take it, I was actually quite surprised. For some reason, I hadn’t thought about Stefan taking the cure at all, and yet it makes a ton of sense. Let’s be honest, none of these people are particularly good at being vampires, except maybe Caroline (only with respect of not killing people, and even then…). But Stefan is probably the worst at it. When the guy goes off, he beheads entire cities. Nowhere in my mind did I think of that and how perfect it fit. I suppose Katherine taking it is a fun parallel from last season’s finale, but I fail to see the sudden hatred for Elena, just like Elena’s for Katherine.

Bonnie’s death: Well, according to Julie Plec, Katerina Graham (who plays Bonnie) is sticking around as a series regular next season. This could mean that it’s only because Jeremy can see her since, in case you forgot, he possesses that ability. Or perhaps the show is going to try to bring her back from the other side. Who knows? However, I appreciate what the story brought for the character’s emotional story during this episode. And it’s nice to see everyone looking ahead into the future and never turning back to see what a wreck Mystic Falls is.

Caroline and Klaus: It’s no surprise that Caroline was reduced to the whole “no! memories! we shall be teenagers!” thing she gets a lot. The most I get from her call to Klaus and his declaring that he be her final love is that the writers are setting up Caroline to move to New Orleans whenever it’s convenient for them to do so, which maybe means whenever The Vampire Diaries expiration date is — perhaps just a couple more seasons — and definitely not before they explore Caroline and Stefan/Silas.

Matt and Rebekah: I don’t care what you say, I like this. I guess they’ll have to explain Rebekah leaving next season?

Jeremy’s alive: I forgot that Bonnie technically died in the middle of the spell she was doing to bring him back, so I was furious for 0.02 seconds that instead of bringing herself back to life, Bonnie decided to bring Jeremy back. And then I remembered and I was like “oh right.”

Elena’s romantic choice: I would be completely okay with this if I were sure that this was the last we’d hear about this, but I’m mostly sure and afraid that it’s not. Just keep her with Damon, show, please.

I have to be honest, I kind of really want to see how the Silas/Stefan stuff will go. A part of me knows that Silas played the Who Am I? game a lot this season and I shouldn’t be that intrigued, but I also just want to see Paul Wesley be bad again. But regardless, I think I’ve gotten to a point with this series where how I’m thinking about it has gotten personally unhealthy. All I ever do is question all of the choices. This episode, all I kept asking the television screen is why Bonnie cares about these people now that she’s dead, and laughing that Silas still isn’t dead, and what do you mean Stefan is a doppelgänger how in the world did that happen, and why is Katherine so pissed off at Elena I don’t even know, and you love Damon until the next finale, and so on. With that respect, I think that it honestly may be time to part ways. Critiques of the series deserve better than my bitter responses to every plot point. I wonder if I can ever go back to just being enthralled by the breakneck pace of this series and forget the rest. Even if sometimes I didn’t agree with the decisions made, I want to thank the cast and crew for working week after week to produce this fun and thrilling series.

And of course, I want to thank you guys for reading week after week what some stranger on the Internet thought about it. I can’t say for sure that I’m out, because just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in, but I certainly don’t enjoy being the curmudgeon TVD blogger (ha!). Regardless, thank you. I love y’all! And if I’m completely done, I’m sure someone around here would be willing to cover TVD, so you can still discuss it.