The Vampire Diaries: Season 4 (2012 – 2013)

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

What I liked:

• Klaus being alive and well and with us. Seriously, we are attached to this guy.
• It is amazing when Klaus and Damon “work” together.
• Damon Salvatore. Yes, I am going to say it again. And again. And again. He always knows how to just make everything hilarious (refusing to take things seriously is totally healthy).

• It breaks my heart, but how Damon still considers Alaric his best friend, even though he is gone, and won’t let anyone sit on Alaric’s spot in the bar, and drinks at Alaric’s grave with him. So many feels!
• Klaus and Caroline’s date at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant – I swear, he was like a child. She unleashes a totally different side of him and I love it to bits!

• Damon and Elena finally kicking it together. We have been waiting for this for like… forever!
• Klaus returning for Caroline’s graduation, and his adamant attitude that Caroline might love Tyler now, he intends to be her last love. I want to see this happen. These two drive me freaking wild! Their chemistry is insane!

• The Originals pilot that was inserted in here – it was quite interesting all round.
• Getting to see some more Elijah this season. It has been a while.

What I didn’t like:

• How absolutely freaking annoying Elena became. I mean, I know I complained last season about jerking the guys around, but this incessant whining is super frustrating.
• All the characters are actually whining and bitching this season – Bonnie especially.
• How much more Elena can you squeeze into one show?
• Everyone is screwing each other over, but let bygones be bygones the moment it happens, right? Who needs drama?
• Damon finally getting a chance with Elena, and yet it is so cold, I haven’t seen the absolute passion she had with Stefan yet, and that crushes me.
• Stefan is so self-righteous in this season! I get it must seriously suck when your brother gets your girl, but do you have to be so nasty about how it is only because of the sire bond?
• Speaking of – Elena being sired to Damon was just so freaking uncalled for. It’s like nothing can happen for Damon without some hidden reason, without some other cause, it could never just be because he and Elena are clicking. It also totally undermined their relationship.
• The whole hunter story line had way more potential than was ultimately realised, which was disappointing.
• The cure story line also annoyed me. Endlessly.
• Elena turning off her humanity just got beyond annoying.

Rating:
This season lost a bit of the traction that the last few had built on, and that was pretty sad. Not that it was bad, it was just not as good as the last two. When it started with Elena being turned, I just knew that there were going to be dramatics I had no time for, and I sure as hell wasn’t wrong there. I was a big fan of seeing Alaric come back from time to time, I sure as hell miss the guy. Rebekah was also in full evil swing here, showing you that the whole Mikaelson family is not too healthy upstairs. Kol annoyed me, too (and there is actually potential here for other things), and the inclusion of Professor Creepy (Shane) also didn’t help – I was irritated whenever we had to deal with his character, even when it was to help Bonnie. A regular, functioning Stefan returning was really great though, and I thought that the show handled the tension between the brothers due to Elena really well. I was not impressed with the way that Elena is finally with Damon, and the show manages to make it all wrong, like he is forcing her, or she was compelled to because of a sire bond. Come on, man, is Damon not allowed anything? On the Damon from, of course, I just wanted to have his hair cut, and it was crushing to watch him drinking alone, missing Alaric, and being really lonely after his death, but it was also nice to see him with Elena, even though that came with a ton of guilt. Speaking of feeling bad, there is the Caroline/Klaus/Tyler thing to consider. I mean, I do like Caroline and Tyler together, I always thought it was as real sweet thing, but goodness, when Caroline and Klaus are together, it’s like the universe is in sync. Forever. She is a challenge for him, he finds a good place inside himself, and they just click like few others. I want to see more, even though I know it will crush Tyler, I just don’t care. I am so cold like that. I know Klaus is bad, but we all love him. Come on, we do. The hunter story arc was something that had so much more potential than was used, and that was a real pity. Instead, it was really just meh at the best of times. So flat. Jeremy and Bonnie dying (at different places, of course) was not cool, and the consequences because of both deaths was something else. I was not a fan of Elena becoming even more whiny than ever before when she turned off her humanity, and it was cool to see Damon track after her all the way to try and bring her back. He loves her, man, really. Bonnie dying means Silas got out, which leads to some horrible consequences for Stefan, whom I really just feel sorry for. He cannot seem to catch a break at all. Oh gosh, then, the pinnacle of this whole goddamn season? The fucking cure. Yes. That is how much is pissed me off. What a convoluted and annoying plot. I don’t even really want to get into it, but goodness, could we waste our time any more than we did?! WHY?! Anyway, a decent watch, but not as solid as the last two seasons, too many histrionics all round.