Anyone that watched the Vampire Diaries season 3 finale knows that the main characters have some pretty dramatic changes to adjust to in season 4. Rather than be a cause for concern, I think it’s a great opportunity for the show to push forward to even more exciting plot territory. Don’t believe me? Read on to find out why! **Spoilers Ahead**
Elena isn’t so fragile anymore. Damon, Stefan, Caroline, Tyler, Bonnie, Jeremy, and Matt can finally relax and maybe take that beach vacation they have been putting off. Elena is no longer usable as the doppelganger and will be able to put up a reasonable fight if a baddie comes knocking at her door. No more “How do we keep Elena alive this week?” conversations. She is now a part of the undead, and therefore a lot more durable.
Jeremy and Matt are the last remaining humans. There are bound to be a few interesting stories left to tell from the human perspective, especially now that we have so many main characters that we saw during their human days and are now supernatural. I would love to see more of Team Human working together when trouble comes-a-knocking. They can keep an eye out for each other. Especially since it now seems inevitable that the vampires of Mystic Falls are going to be hunted by the Founders Council (by the way, thanks for that Evil Alaric). Hopefully, having a couple of humans on the supernatural side will come in handy.
Elena will now get back the few beautiful memories that Damon compelled her to forget. Remember the scene from “Rose” where Damon tells her he loves her and therefore can’t be selfish with her? How about Elena meeting Damon right before the infamous crash? One of the side effects of being in transition is that she will get those memories back. Will this affect the decision Elena made in the finale? How will Damon react to her getting those memories back?
No more hybrids. I had been getting really tired of hearing Klaus’ standby plan, “I’m going to take Elena and sire myself a new family.” As if taking Elena and leaving Mystic Falls would have been easy. Did he really think that the brothers Salvatore (amongst many others) wouldn’t have done everything in their power to keep him from leaving with her? I’m sure if he would have ever tried to live out this plan that it would have ended in a bloody battle. One of the fringe benefits of Vampire Elena is no more Doppelganger Elena, and thus, no more hybrids.
It will start a whole new kind of drama. Is Vampire Elena going to be like Caroline? Or Damon? Or Ripper Stefan? Or squirrel-eating Stefan? Will the brothers Salvatore still be as drawn to her? Whose blood was used to turn her? How will the Salvatore brothers feel about Vampire Elena? If the blood belonged to one of them, will it upset the balance of Team Salvatore that has been so strong lately?
The Tyler/Caroline/Klaus triangle is heating up. So season 3 brought us a brand new love triangle and a complicated one at that. Caroline has never really given Klaus too much consideration, but with Klaus currently taking up residence in Tyler’s body, how could this affect the triangle? Will Caroline know about Bonnie’s spell work, or will that stay a secret from her? What happens if/when Klaus gets his body back? There are definitely some very interesting twists and turns in store for this triangle…
With so many new avenues for the season 4 plot to take, I can’t help but shiver with anticipation when I think of the incredible possibilities. What do you think? Could the show lose a bit of its identity with Elena’s transformation? Or was it time for her story to take that next dramatic step? Feel free to sound off in the comments below!