10 Things We Want to See Before It Ends

Before we know it, Season 5 of The Vampire Diaries will be at an end, and we’ll be dissecting what we loved and hated about the season. In anticipation of that necessary hiatus activity, we’re making a list of the 10 things we want to see happen before TVD Season 5 ends. Don’t let us down, show.
For the Travelers to be explained. Who are the Travelers? What do they want? Why do they have so much doppelganger blood? These are all questions that have been kicking around since early in Season 5, and we’re so sick of them. We want some answers about what this traveling band of witches is up to, and we want them before the season is out.
For the doppelganger prophecy to serve some purpose. While we’re on the subject, can we clear up the deal with this doppelganger prophecy, as well? Right now, it feels like a contrived plot device used to keep the central love triangle interesting (it’s been largely unsuccessful) in this purpose, but we’re really hoping it fulfills some kind of greater purpose within the narrative of the show.
  
For Delena to make a decision. We admit that Delena’s breakup sex phase has been super hot, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t kind of annoyed with how this relationship has played out over the last season. Watching Damon throw away much of his character development was bad enough, but watching these two spiral into codependency and toxicity has been kind of painful. We really hope their relationship comes out of this somehow, but if not, we need some definitive closure either way. Are these two together or not?

For Damon’s character development to feel continuous again. Speaking of Damon’s character development, it would be really great if the show could somehow undo the damage they’ve done to his character this season. We’re not saying make him morally better, per se, but rather make his character motivation and development make sense. We think this can be best addressed not in Damon’s relationship to Elena, but to other characters on the show — like Jeremy, for instance. Watching him become a parental figure to Jer in the beginning of the season and then throw it away as soon as Elena broke his heart felt really unnatural. If there’s anyway these two can come to some kind of realistic understanding (perhaps with a retcon involving Damon’s elaborate plan to save the world by being Enzo’s murder buddy), then that would be great.

For Markos to scare us. It’s been awhile since we genuinely feared for the lives of our heroes, and that has a lot to do with the type of villain we’ve been seeing: more snarky than scary. We hope the Travelers’ leader Markos changes that pattern. He’s certainly off to a good start: introduced onto the show in a blaze of self-immolation and crossing shadowy from the Other Side through Bonnie. Keep up the good work, Markos.

For Bonnie to start kicking butt. As the anchor to the Other Side, Bonnie has to be one of the most powerful characters on this show, right? Though she may no longer have the powers that comes with being a witch or the physical prowess to take on vampires, she does have access to the Other Side and the people who live there, which brings with it an immense amount of knowledge, and everyone knows knowledge is power. Start wielding it, Bon Bon.

For Stefan to find some happiness. We know it’s in this show’s DNA to have Stefan suffer beautifully, but we’re really digging the progress his character has made this season from a complete and total mess to someone at relative peace with the Delena relationship and working towards his own happiness. This is a journey that was introduced in the Season 4 finale when Stefan announced his intention to drive to Portland and start over there. That never happened, but watching him figure out his life despite all of the terrible stuff that has happened to him has been compelling and sympathetic — and an interesting counterpoint to Damon’s struggles.

For some surprising returns. With the imminent disintegration of the Other Side, comes the possibility for some surprising returns from characters long thought dead. TVD is usually at its best when it is exploring the lingering relationships between Mystic Falls’ dearly deceased and its still-kicking residents — like in Season 3’s “Ghost Town” or in the Season 4 finale — and we hope it continues its record.

For more Caroline. We’ve said this before, and we’ll say it again: more Caroline is always a good thing, and we hope the trend we saw in the latest episode of Caroline carrying her own storyline continues. Season 5, Episode 17 was the freshest we’ve seen in a while, and we think the uptick in Caroline screen time had a lot to do with that.
For someone we love to die. Yeah, we’re kind of masochistic, but we can’t help but think TVD would benefit from killing one of its darlings... for real. Or at least from casting some kind of real, permanent consequence on its main characters. Character death is the first thing that comes to mind, but we’re not picky. Feel free to surprise us, TVD.