I held back from watching season 7 till it hit DVD because I just couldn't see how the show could carry on without Elena. Well after watching season 7 finally I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It's not as good as the earlier seasons but it was much better than 5 and 6.
shareIKR
shareI was so tired of Elena that it was actually time to get rid of her. Her character ruined season 4 and 5.
Nevertheless, S7 had a major flaw: too many villains. I lost count of them but every 5 episodes the big bad was dying to leave path to a new one.
It had some good parts but unfortunately the sum of the parts did not make for a good season. Overall, it was a bust for me.
Never argue with stupid people,they will drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
I don't know how this thread turned into a rant about Nina lol but anyways I agree with you. it had some really good parts with a lot of crap as well mainly being the boring romance between Stefan ans Caroline. I'm sorry Caroline fans but she doesn't work as a min lead I much preferred her as a secondary character.
shareTotally. I missed Nina in 7 for sure, but NOT "The Delena Diaries." I'm not a bitter Stelena-shipper, but I did absolutely adore them. While I still loved the thrill of the Delena build-up, along with their friendship, I HATED what the Caroline Dries years did with Elena. They made her over into a completely different person, and a flat, shallow one at that. Those feelings kicked in for me at the end of 4 and built from there.
Other than the dreams caused by Markos, you wouldn't have known the sweet magic of Stelena ever existed. And for his part, Stefan really lost his light. By the time Steroline rolled around, he was just some side-guy. One of a group. Not the shining, mysterious and exciting star, capable of igniting a super nova-like love. While I'll never ship Steroline #KLAROLINEdrink (!) it's not like Elena and him made sense after late 4. And she didn't/doesn't deserve him after all the utter snubbery. It was just weird how Dries portrayed him as not really remembering that love anymore either by 6. They rewrote his entire story with Elena so that everyone would accept him with Caroline. Ummmm....Not happening, guys. Sure, we've all "accepted" it by this point, but that only for lack of options. As for Caroline's character, most would agree it was a hell of a lot more exciting seeing her with the guys that weren't someone in her immediate circle's beforehand.
I'm still trying to understand how Elena changed.
shareShe didn't, not fundamentally but for large periods of time they wrote her agency-less and this did damage her credibility by forcing the viewers to disregard her POV because she wasn't the "real" Elena. 3 seasons in a row they had her under some sort of supernatural spell in addition to her humanity off period. The Sire bond, the doppelganger spell, the body swap, the memory wipe. It was way too much. In S6, she was sidelined as a character because Nina was leaving and they had to try to write better stories for Caroline to replace her as the female lead...hence all the Caroline centric storylines.
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Never argue with stupid people,they will drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
Couldn't have said it better. Totally agree with everything you stated there. All of those "not the REAL Elena" spells and swaps and whatnots left me feeling like I was basically watching NINA. -which was mainly done to make things easier for her, beginning with killing off Katherine. JP was doing everything in her power to hold onto their lead girl. Including making her just part of the ensemble, as seen in 6.
shareTotally agree. It was really insulting to the viewers and to Elena fans.
shareI agree. The latter half of the show really destroyed everything that was enjoyable about Elena. It's gotten to a point where I really couldn't care less what happens to her in the end. She could live or die and it wouldn't bother me one bit. It's sad considering how much I used to love her. Unfortunately, I feel like all of the characters have lost that spark that made them so enjoyable to watch in season 1.
shareYup, Yes and Absolutely. And to be honest, I feel Nina got *incredibly* lucky, leaving the way she did and not doing TOO much obvious detriment to the career she was aiming for. Her performances in the earlier seasons were MUCH stronger for me. Even though she was green, she did an impressive job of exhibiting her range. Each character she played was also the most distinct back then.
Walking off your show is always an enormous risk and by the time she did, the extent of her acting chops was less apparent. She came across more like a television actress, which was exactly what she was trying Not to be. Who knows, perhaps it Has hurt her. But if Flatliners does well and her performance is solid, she'll likely start getting heavier roles. Also, she puts so much of her action skills abilities on her social media and she ingratiated herself to everyone on the XXX set, so I expect to start seeing her up for such blockbuster franchises. She's certainly built up her connections across Hollywood.
Unless you're starring a solid ratings blockbuster from Shondaland, the last thing any smart young actor or actress would want to do is tie themselves to a show that was already past its twilight years like Vampire Diaries obviously was. Paul Wesley seems to be branching into direction. Kat Graham had her side projects. Ian Somerhalder wasn't going anywhere, but that's probably because this show's, with all due respect, as good as it's ever going to get career-wise for him. So those three would probably have stuck onto the show as long as necessary. As Nina was serious about going into movies, it was good she left when she did before she became permanently typecast and unmarketable. I feel she made the right play but obviously, time will tell.
shareHonestly I don't see her making it in Hollywood. She aspires to be the next Jennifer Lawrence but I don't see it happening.
Which would be worse - to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?
Amen to your second paragraph. The way they basically deleted the Stelena storyline still makes me bitter and will always make me look back at TVD in a negative light.
Stefan used to be one of my favorite characters, not just on the show but of all time, and after 4, he completely "lost his light" as you said. He seems to repeat the same 3 storylines over and over again: brother drama, Steroline drama (which btw Paul's eyes are literally always dead during a Steroline scene, and being a ripper drama. He's as wooden as a broom and it does not help sell Steroline). I blame Paul as he hated being the "good guy" on the show, so JP kept adding in the humanity switch/Ripper/Silas storylines ad naus. and it really took momentum away from the real Stefan.
Caroline too used to be a favorite, and every since her mother died...my god, has she become the worst.
I utterly hate how they try to make Steroline as "meant to be" since the pilot when Caroline was a totally different (backstabbing) person back then? And Stefan had absolutely NO interest in her, at all. Also, Caroline used to be the #1 rooter of Stelena so having her go from that to pining away from Stefan is just nauseating. They've ruined the beautiful PLATONIC friendship that used to be.
A rose is just a rose.