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Previously: Elena took the cure to become human, Caroline isn’t ready to be with Stefan, Kai came back from the Prison World and stabbed Jo in the middle of her nuptials. Oh, and a chandelier fell (ish) on Elena.
It’s the Season Finale, you guys! And now we know that Elena didn’t leave or die but instead will live in a state of suspended animation until Bonnie dies. She’s the Sleeping Beauty of Mystic Falls. Let’s break it down:
The aftermath of Kai’s magical hijacking of Jo and Alaric’s wedding proves to be very bloody and very deadly. Poor Jo didn’t survive and Alaric is clutching her, helplessly. Damon can’t get Elena to heal with his blood and takes her to the hospital. Kai’s plan was to have as high a body count as possible and he accomplishes this by KILLING HIMSELF so that he can kill his entire coven. I mean, if you’re going to go out it may as well be in a BLAZE OF CRAZY GLORY, am I right? Tyler has been impaled with glass next to Liv who is now dying because of Kai’s kamikaze-murder spree. She offers herself up to Tyler – it’s a full moon and if he kills her he’ll trigger his werewolf curse BUT he’ll also live. LITERALLY ANYONE deserves better than this; to be brought back to the show just to die so that Tyler freaking Lockwood can live. NOPE.
Bonnie is with Matt and they call Damon to let him know that Kai is out; he drained Bonnie of her blood but oddly she’s still alive. Damon knows it’s witch-y nonsense since the doctors can find nothing wrong with Elena but she still won’t wake up.
Caroline and Stefan (having their necks snapped by Kai) have been rescued/recruited by Enzo in order to try and corral Lily. Stefan is so done with her at this point, y’all. She refuses to believe that Kai went back on his promise to bring her family over. Stefan presses her for what she gave him in return and GUESS WHAT Y’ALL – it was her BLOOD.
…which means Kai isn’t REALLY dead, he’s in TRANSITION. Who better to feed on than his dying father to help aid in this transition? Kai has earned his place among the Holy Triumvirate of Villains (the others being Katherine and Klaus, OBVIOUSLY).
Tyler is in the woods, frantically calling Matt to let him know he’s all about that Werewolf Life again, and to warn their vampire compadres that he’s on the prowl. Part of me was VERY CONCERNED that Matt was just going to throw vampires in Tyler’s line of fire but it would seem that a Very Red Wedding is enough to stay his anger at the supernaturals…for now.
Alaric has to put his murdered almost-bride/mother of his unborn children in the back of his car. He covers her face gently and I really don’t know how he’s going to find the strength to keep going at this point. Apparently neither does he as he reaches for a gun in his glove compartment. Kai comes strolling toward him, full of maniacal glee, clearly enjoying that none of Alaric’s fired shots are doing a damn thing to him. HOWEVER, Tyler Lockwood finally proves useful and ATTACKS Kai, biting him in the neck. Shortest vampire life…ever?
Bonnie has discovered a video camera that Kai left for her. She and Matt watch the video of him telling her exactly what he’s done: tied her life to Elena’s. Something about finding a rock in his prison world full of Bennett Witchy Magical Blood. Elena will sleep indefinitely for the rest of Bonnie’s life. Kai is also telling Damon this in the hospital, hoping he’ll give him the cure for a werewolf bite. (This show really has to stop teasing me with Klaus appearances. They are long overdue for a crossover episode.) Damon now has to choose between killing Bonnie to bring Elena back now or give Bonnie a long life and wait for Elena. Matt tells Bonnie to get the hell out of Dodge, there’s no WAY that Damon is going to let her live. OH YE OF LITTLE FAITH, MATT DONOVAN.
Caroline and Stefan are at Elena’s bedside, and Caroline is checking to make sure that Stefan will be ok “losing” Elena for sixty years or so. THIS SCENE. I just wanted to crawl inside it and hug Stefan so hard that it would be slightly inappropriate. He tells Caroline how he can see now that loving Elena and losing her to Damon only made him realize how much he needed his brother back in his life, that he was able to see Damon the way that she did. Y’all know how much I love the Brother Stuff on this show and yes, thank you, I do need a Kleenex.
Kai is back at the wedding, looking for more victims. Bonnie has arrived to try and kill him except that you know how Kai can siphon magic? Turns out he can siphon the magic from the werewolf venom and he manages to HEAL HIMSELF. DAMMIT, SHOW. WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD WITH THE TWISTS AND THE TURNS. He slams her against the wall and sits by, waiting for her collapsed lung to kill her. Damon arrives and wins the entire episode by fooling Kai into thinking that he would LET HIS BON-BON DIE and instead rips off Kai’s head. YASSSS! He heals Bonnie, scoops her up and carries her out of the wreckage. SWOON.
Throughout the episode we were given glimpses of Elena’s mind as she says her goodbyes to everyone:
Now the gang is gathered at Chez Salvatore, and we see them each enter her mind. Even Jeremy shows up to say goodbye, and he’s the only one Elena breaks down in front of; she needs to be strong for everyone else but chooses to lean on her kid brother. These scenes are a beautiful tribute to Elena and what she’s meant to everyone as well as what they have meant to her. She asks Bonnie to make feathers float one more time, she tells Matt how good and decent he is, she thanks Stefan for literally and figuratively saving her life, she tells Tyler to embrace who he is and to go find what makes him happy, she tells Alaric not to give up hope, and she tells Damon what he means to her as they have one last dance in the middle of the street where they first met.
Lily and Enzo – remember them? Well he returns the next morning to find her still waiting for her family. Kai’s death has uncloaked a hidden container and yep, they’re in there. Still hidden in shadow not fully cast but I imagine they’ll be quite a big part of season seven.
Damon and Stefan inter Elena in their family crypt which will be spelled by Bonnie in order to keep Elena’s body safe from all vampires who would be interested in her Cure-flooded blood.
Stefan goes to Caroline’s house to tell her that he’ll wait for her as long as she needs him to. He reads her his own list, a list of all of the ways that Caroline has become important to him. She’s surprised and a bit overwhelmed but I sense a flicker of hope for these two:
Just HOW well is Damon going to take this 60-70 year estrangement from his beloved? Well, his final scene (which I believe is a time jump ahead judging by Deputy Matt Donovan cruising in the sheriff’s SUV) has him standing in front of the clock tower’s face so your guess is as good as mine. And what’s up with all of the flowers in the crypt decaying? What manner of sorcery is this? I guess we’ll have to wait until the fall!
Thoughts:
- “Sorry to be indecorous…” I really hope that we get more of fun, lovable Enzo next season and not stalker-y, vengeful Enzo.
- “You made a deal with a sociopath and now a lot of people are dead.” Stefan needs to get Lily on an episode of Iyanla: Fix My Life.
- “You either come with me right now or you’re out of my life.” Oh Stefan. Did you really think that would work? I’m so sad for you right now, bud.
- “You knew me better than anyone. You always have.” The Elena/Stefan goodbye moments were THE BEST.
- “I don’t think that Elena necessarily came into my life to be my soulmate…we loved each other but she was also the only person I ever met that believed that my brother was worth loving…she reminded me that I still believe that about him too…I think in the end I needed him more than I needed her.” More Kleenex, please.
- “We’ll both get everything we want, we just can’t have it at the same time.” Elena’s goodbye to Bonnie, acknowledging EVERYTHING Bonnie ever did for her or gave up in order to save her? Perfect.
- “I made a list too…of all the way that loving you has changed my life.” So is Klaus going to return to rock the Steroline Ship?
So how do you feel about Elena dying-not-dying? While it might save us from having to watch several episodes of Damon going completely off the rails, Nina Dobrev is definitely gone soooo…what could be in store for Sleeping Elena? And is poor Jo even going to get a funeral?
About the Contributor:
Amanda Reid is an East Coast girl living in California who will never stop missing a true autumn. She’s a bookseller who specializes in kid and teen lit, and she bakes a damn fine pie.
