Julie Plec might have moved on to a whole new vampire show, Vampire Academy, but The Vampire Diaries fans are still discussing where they went wrong on her original vampire show. In 8 seasons, some storylines were bound to be more liked than others.
And if TVD fans have anything, they have strong opinions about which ones weren't so great. Whether it was because it didn't make sense, or because they were boring, these were some of the most hated storylines on the show.
Elena, Jeremy, and Matt Killing Kol
"Elena, Jeremy and Matt killing Kol made no sense at all." said Reddit user No_Cheesecake488 of Kol's death storyline. They go on to say, "That was just awful writing, and I'm pretty sure they only introduced Kol cause wanted to have Elena kill an Original and they didn't wanna kill Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus,"
It truly made no sense how a newbie vampire, newbie hunter, and a human managed to kill a powerful original vampire. However, what made even less sense, according to users of Reddit, was that they just pretty much got away with it with a slap on the wrist, while Klaus should probably have unleashed hell on them all.
Silas And The Travelers' Storyline
"This whole storyline feels like a filler," Reddit user Mokonachan said of the storyline of Silas and the Travelers. The Redditor continued with "I was disappointed with Stefan getting a doppelgänger out of the blue while there was absolutely no build up leading to this." Many fans were very bored with this storyline, despite Silas being an entertaining villain.
It felt like the storyline had little impact on the characters in the long run, and especially the Travelers were villains without a cause really. It was hard to sympathize with them, and many fans actually found the plot confusing to the point where it still doesn't make sense.
Everything To Do With The Cure
One of the most hated and repeated words on the show is the word cure. Fans weren't only fed up with the word, they were fed up with the storyline as well. "I hate the cure storyline. I don't like it when shows create a cop-out for the main characters. And after everything they did to get the cure Elena doesn't even take it," said Reddit user Resident_Suspect_352.
It was only a matter of time when Elena would turn into a vampire, and after the writers did that, they should have stuck with it instead of taking a step back. They should have shown Elena obviously struggling and then adjusting to her new life, instead of dedicating literally three seasons to the on-and-off search for the cure. Many fans think, however, that deciding to take the cure in the end was one of Elena's best decisions.
Lily Salvatore's Entire Storyline
"I hated how they did Momma Salvatore, in my mind if you’re going to bring her back why make her a bitch when dad has already been established as abusive," said Reddit user SwiftGrimes13. As if they hadn't been through enough already, their father was already one of the Salvatores' biggest fears, and then their mom was introduced as an antagonist.
Fighting villains is one thing, but fighting against family because they're actively trying to hurt you is another. For Damon and Stefan to realize just the kind of person their mother is, was painful to watch, and fans disliked that storyline a lot for this reason.
Bonnie Becoming The Huntress
Many fans agree that the last seasons of The Vampire Diaries were increasingly difficult to watch, with many taking particular issue with The Huntress storyline. Reddit user M_ayyX called the storyline "all over the place."
As if Bonnie hadn't been through enough drama for two lifetimes, this felt like such an unnecessary storyline to give her. Plot-wise, Bonnie usually got the short end of the stick, as she rarely got storylines that were worthy of her character.
The Stefan-Damon-Elena Love Triangle
"Stefan and Damon were torn apart because of a love triangle it seems like this go around they should have chosen each other instead of the girl," said Reddit user ecass305. Being upset about the love triangle is one of the things all the fans can agree on.
While the steamy love triangle was the initial drawing point for the show, after a while the constant back-and-forth got annoying and became boring. The storyline was dragged out for too long, and the writers never properly closed one relationship and started another, which frustrated both Delena and Stelena shippers.
No Humanity Storylines
"Sometimes it was fun to watch e.g Rippah Stefan in the 1900’s & I think Nina Dobrev did a great portrayal of it, but I think this was added to make ‘good’ characters do bad things yet still be forgiven as they had no emotions," said Reddit user hdjdjdkenendn of the constant "no humanity" storylines given to the vampire characters. The first time it was interesting to watch the character lose their mind and just do the very worst without their humanity, but after a while it became stale and repetitive, with nothing new being added to the show.
While Elena's switch might have made sense, because of how much she's lost unexpectedly, and she couldn't cope with her loss. In one of Elena's best quotes, she says she'd need a bus to transport all the people she's lost. But after that, it became overkill. Caroline's switch felt forced, almost like it was just her turn to take this storyline. It's also a sign of lazy writing because it's easier to write characters without humanity than it is to write them actually dealing with grief.
Caroline's Pregnancy
Caroline's pregnancy was undoubtedly one of the strangest storylines to take place on The Vampire Diaries. Reddit user cruelsummer97 comments, "I really didn’t like Caroline being pregnant either! Also found it weird with Alaric being in love with her because he was her teacher originally."
Caroline was Elena's best friend, and it was previously shown that Elena, as well being his former student alongside Caroline, was almost like a daughter to Alaric. This meant the relationship between the two was a strange one and hard for viewers to warm to. It was likely just a way to set up the plot for the Legacies spin-off, but, overall, it was handled poorly, which failed to get TVD fans on side.
Anything To Do With Sire Bonds
To this day, side bonds still remain one of the most inconsistent and flawed concepts on The Vampire Diaries. "The sire bonds made no sense. Some people were “controlled” more by the sire bond and some were hardly at all. And they made the Delena and Stelena storyline more dramatic and frustrating than it needed to be," said Reddit user Emz_1307.
They had a lot of plot holes with this concept on the show, as it differed between characters. It seemed Tyler's sire bond to Klaus was different from Elena's to Damon and it never really got resolved in the long run. It got used so often as a dramatic plot device that it became an inside fandom joke.
The Sirens
The Sirens storyline might be one of the most commonly hated on the show. Reddit user TKMLtheStar. certainly doesn't hold back when they say, "Terrible and annoying villains. The Travelers were actually a step-up. This storyline was the lowest point in the series and was more boring than watching paint dry," This was also the time when the show's ratings dropped even lower until it reached a series low in season 8.
Fans overall found the sirens to be boring. They had no real reason for their evil plans and brought absolutely nothing to the storyline. Some even said that it wasn't so much the concept, because they could have been interesting as villains, but more the poor execution of the storylines involving them.