"Last Standing Man"

Vampire Diaries Season 6 Spoilers: Matt Donovan Is the "Last Man Standing" in Mystic Falls

In the Season 5 finale of The Vampire Diaries, Matt Donovan wondered if Mystic Falls would be a better place without its destructive supernatural element. With the Traveler spell still in effect come Season 6, Matt will have a chance to find out. Will he choose to help his vampire friends break the magic-free bubble encasing the town, or will he opt to keep vampires out of Mystic Falls forever?

It sounds like token human Matt will (finally) get a meaty storyline in Season 6, and much of it will have to do with his relationship to newly announced villain (or not-villain?) Tripp, played byEureka’s Colin Ferguson. Executive producer Julie Plec told Zap2it: "Matt Donovan's never really had a real father figure on the show and we've had this basic idea of really wanting a man in Mystic Falls that Matt can look up to. Now that all the supernatural creatures are stuck outside of Mystic Falls, who are these people that are still living there? This man is running the community protection services, and he's just trying to teach these young, 18-, 19-, 20-year old guys how they can make something of themselves. It's nice to see Matt having somebody he can bond with and connect to as he's kind of the last man standing in a weird way in Mystic Falls."

Um, yes please to this emotionally-nuanced storyline. Matt has always been one of the most sympathetic and morally good characters on this show. We’re excited to see TVD play with that role, making us question which side of this supernatural v. human battle is the right one. Though Tripp has been billed as Season 6’s villain, Julie said we should wait before casting judgment on the militia man: "Tripp's status as a villain or not a villain is not conclusive at this time," Julie revealed. “Tripp's history is a bit of a mystery but whether he's a villain or not is not something that is clear. For Matt, I think it's more about, 'How important is this town to me? How important is this idea of the town being a safe haven for humans to me? And what happens if or when the magic comes back and the supernaturals are allowed back in? Even though they're my friends, what will they bring with them?' Down the road, he'll have a little bit of a conflict internally in how to deal with that."

Yep, Season 6 is shaping up to be a hell of a season.