‘Vampire Diaries’ raises the stakes for final season
I’VE watched every single episode of every season of The Vampire Diaries. That’s indicative of how well-written and well-cast this series is. There’s always a formidable villain, who brings doom, gloom and death, each season.
If the first two episodes are anything to go by, The Siren (Nathalie Kelley from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and UnREAL TV series), is going to keep things evil and tense.
This season picks up with Stefan working tirelessly with Bonnie and Caroline to find Damon and Enzo, who have been stripped of their humanity by The Siren, who was set free from the vault at the end of season seven.
The only way to track them down is to find places reporting an unusually high body count.
As the cat and mouse chase intensifies, Damon and Enzo work to feed The Siren.
She keeps her soldiers close, compliant and ruthless.
Meanwhile, Bonnie is missing Enzo. Caroline’s blissful life as a mother to Alaric’s two kids and Stefan’s fiancé don’t help Bonnie’s dejected state either.
Alaric has a hot nanny and student keeping him on his toes. There’s unmistakable chemistry with the nanny, but will he pluck up the courage to ask her out?
In the meantime, exploring the vault and its supernatural secrets is keeping him preoccupied.
For the eighth and final season, creator Julie Plec has raised the stakes. She brings Nina Dobrev (Elena Gilbert) and Michael Trevino (Tyler Lockwood) back as she offers some closure for the closeknit friends of Mystic Falls.
As always, she enjoys stringing viewers along as they are reeled into her imaginative world inhabited by vampires, werewolfvampire hybrids, witches, warlocks and demons.
She effortlessly marries the past with the present, offering context to her multilayered narrative. One of her finest story arcs included the Originals with Klaus Mikaelson and his family. It proved so successful that it culminated in a spinoff show.
The Salvatore brothers’ journey has been laden with loss, betrayal, love, grief, anger and regret. So Plec gives them closure this season, hence Elena’s return.
In an interview with Popsugar.com, Plec revealed: “Nina made me a promise when she left that she would come back to be part of the goodbye. It would have been a real tragedy if we couldn’t bring that story back around full-circle.”
As for the new faces, she noted: “We’re putting Kristen Gutoskie (Containment) into the role of Seline, the new nanny. She’s someone that Caroline is still trying to figure out. We’ve got Demetrius Bridges, who was Xander in Containment, playing Dorian, who is one of Alaric’s new interns.
“It’s always great having fresh faces as they help augment the intrigue in the storyline. And if a few feuds form along the way, even better.”
Don’t be fooled by that sweet nanny façade, Seline has her own agenda in play. Souls will be sacrificed and blood will be shed. I’m sure everyone will get what they deserve.
The Vampire Diaries 8 airs on Vuzu Amp (DStv channel 103), on Thursdays at 9.30pm.