The Vampire Diaries: Season 7 (2015 – 2016)

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

What I liked:

• KLAUS! While only a momentary appearance (sadly *sniff sniff*), it was so rewarding, so beautiful, and that phone call he had with Caroline? CRUSHED ME. See, still super duper keen on these two, they are destined for each other.
• While I was not a fan of the story jumping from the present to the future, the present to the past was just fine, it explained a lot of how things changed, etc. without boring us to tears setting everything up.
• Bonnie and Enzo. Initially when it happened, I was like what?! But when you see how it comes to be, it is a beautiful thing.
• The soundtrack improving – Manson being used twice in one season? And properly, at that? Score!

This had me squealing in delight, and it was so short lived. However, I will take whatever I can get.

And obviously I was desperately hanging in there to see when Klaus and Caroline would chat. CRUSHED.

What I didn’t like:

• The relationships in this season! I mean, come one! Caroline and Rick? Enzo and Lily? Stefan and Valerie? What the heck is going on?!
• Jumping between the present and the future. It meant that whatever perils were faced in the present meant nothing, because it is evident in the future they are still alive, etc.
• Where the heck is Jeremy while all this is going down? No return for Elena (which I get), but no vampire hunting, no assistance, no outrage over Mystic Falls? Really?
• The whole Heretics taking over Mystic Falls thing. Seriously, that got old, fast.
• Lily Salvatore. Yes, she still irritates the crap out of me, nothing has changed there. Meh.
• Another hunt(ress) story line? Really. I thought we had done the whole thing already, and here we are, hashing it out. Again.

Rating:
How did I get to the place where I am  hopelessly addicted to this show? It should be shameful, but I can’t help it. I freaking love this stuff! I thought it was really ballsy that they left Elena in the coffin this whole season, really rolling with the whole concept of her being in a Sleeping Beauty state. It made things feel like something was missing, but on the other hand gave the show time to explore other characters and relationships, and that I quite enjoyed.

One thing about this season is that it carried a ton of relationships, and plenty of them were terrible pairings. I mean, Caroline and Alaric? Creepy! Valerie and Stefan? Didn’t dig it. What was that crazy pairing of Lily and Enzo? Not cool man. However, then there was Bonnie and Enzo, and while it came out of nowhere, I loved it. They had some really grand chemistry together, and had some moments where I truly swooned.

There were not too many crazy plots in this season, and I think it was pretty well balanced. I was not a fan of skipping from the present to the future, it took all sense of dread away when you knew how things were later on, but I did like it when the show flipped from the present to the past, to fill in some gaps (the whole story with Matt Donovan and Penny was dreadfully sad). I am glad that this season was not dedicated entirely to waking Elena up, as that would have annoyed me. As for the Armory as the next ambiguous bad? Not sold. It was just not a really strong organisation.

Then, let’s get to Klaus and Caroline. When I saw Stefan heading to New Orleans, I damn near jumped up from my couch, and was beyond stoked when he made his appearance. I have missed the guy! Luckily for me, he got to share one crushing phone call with Caroline, which still confirms for me that they are like my favourite ever pairing in this show, and probably most other shows. Everything just works when they are together. Argh!

I was so glad that Alaric was still around, and I was even happy for him still getting his babies, even though the method was crazy. The Julian storyline had a lot more potential than was ultimately realised, and the Phoenix Stone turned out to not be as a big a deal as was expected. Anyway, a pretty decent season, and definitely helped me with my unacceptable withdrawals, but now I gotta wait for more. Plus the next one is apparently the last one 😦 Yes, I know, it is just one of those things. But I have always liked this, even when it got bad.

Season seven, while flawed, is still an enjoyable watch and a breakneck journey to undertake. There were some major changes to get used to here, what with Elena being gone, but it was definitely not a bad thing. The story was not as tight as the last two seasons, and the latest villain is pretty meh, and there was so much going on (but not as cluttered as some earlier seasons), but it is entertaining and well worth the watch.

I know this one took me by surprise, but Bonnie and Enzo have fantastic chemistry, and I am actually quite the fan of them together!