Most millennials spent the better part of their teenage years and early adulthood watching drama unfold on The Vampire Diaries. The show debuted in 2009 at the height of the Twilight craze, and many thought it was going to be just another cheesy teen drama, but this time about werewolves and vampires. And while, yes the show is about those things, it also pleasantly surprised viewers by keeping them engaged for a full eight seasons.
The show followed the story of Elena, a forlorn teenage girl who’d recently lost her parents in a mysterious accident. She soon falls in love with an alluring stranger to town, Stefan Salvatore, who as fans can guess from the title of the show was a vampire. Elena soon enters into a love triangle with Stefan and his equally tempting brother, Damon, who has the same condition as him. But as the seasons unfolded, fans were introduced to other mystical creatures, as well, including witches, werewolves, and hybrids. There was always some evil power threatening the well-being of Mystic Falls and, for some reason, it always fell on Elena and her group of teenage and vampiric friends to save the day.
Just as there were plenty of incredible storylines from the show, there were also some not-so-great ones. Particularly, many fans feel there were plenty of storylines left unresolved even by the eighth season. Keep reading to discover what plots still leave viewers scratching their heads.
What Happened To Damon’s Powers?
In the first season, Damon isn’t afraid to show off his mystical abilities, which included the ability to make fog and crows appear at his command. While this trick couldn’t do much damage, it’s definitely creepy and added to his bad boy allure.
However, aside from the first few episodes of the series, these powers are never mentioned again. Not only does Damon never use them, but no other vampire is given similar magical powers. Clearly, the writers didn’t think the powers through and discovered they were pointless pretty early on.
But instead of wrapping up the storyline or incorporating the powers into a bigger plot, they somehow thought fans would magically forget just as fast as Damon made those crows fly.
The Tattoo To Nowhere
Let’s talk about the hunter’s tattoo, shall we? When the Originals left to begin their spin-off show, the writers introduced a new threat to keep things interesting: The Five.
What became important was that these vampire hunters knew of a cure for vampirism, which the Salvatore brothers wanted to find for Elena (obviously). And it just so happened that the hunters had a tattoo on their bodies that were supposed to act as a map pointing to the location of the cure.
However, what the show never resolved was the fact that it wasn’t really a cure! Rather, the inked map led to the ancient vampire Silas. Once he was released, both the hunters and the curse became irrelevant as they were never mentioned again. Yeah, we’re still waiting to know whether the curse was real or what was up with those tattoos!
The Question Of Immortality
We guess the show writers didn’t care to resolve this question since the Originals left the show almost as quickly as they were introduced to star on the spinoff The Originals. However, many fans are still wondering about the question of their mortality.
When we were first introduced to the Originals, it was explained that they became immortal after their witch mother cast a spell using the White Oak Tree. However, if the tree is destroyed, it was supposed to reverse the spell. So, things don’t make sense when the tree is very much burnt down, yet it had no bearing on the Originals.
We guess getting rid of their immortality would’ve caused a problem for the spin-0ff?
So Age Doesn’t Really Matter?
When we’re first introduced to the Originals and later to Silas, it’s made clear that age matters when it comes to being a vampire. The older the vampire, the more power and strength they have. They have more power, speed, and increased immunity to things like vervain and the sun. Makes sense, right?
What doesn’t make sense is how the younger vampires were able to defeat the older ones in the end. For instance, Stefan’s doppelganger Silas was supposed to be the oldest vampire in the world. Yet he only survives for five episodes, which contradicts the point the show made earlier about the age of a vampire mattering. We’re still waiting for the show writers to clear up the confusion!
How Did Matt Become The Sheriff?
Okay, it’s not like fans were particularly upset when Matt was given the role of sheriff shortly after Caroline’s mother passes. After all, this guy has had a rough go of things, from losing his sister to all his friends becoming vampires. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that his newfound job doesn’t make much sense.
In a small town like Mystic Falls, the Sheriff traditionally would be elected by the people. That or they would hire someone outside the town with the right credentials. But given that Matt barely finished high school let alone college, there’s not much qualifying him for the role (and no, we doubt employers consider supernatural butt-kicking as an employable skill).
Katherine’s Tolerance To Vervaine
Fans could accept the writers’ explanation as to why Katherine was immune to Vervaine - she’d been taking it in small, daily doses for half a century to build up her resistance, which makes sense (what doesn’t make sense is why the other vampires didn’t follow suit after learning her trick).
Anyways, this is the explanation given for why the Salvatore brothers can’t use Vervaine. However, episodes later, it’s as if the show writers completely forgot about it. There are numerous times where Katherine is just as vulnerable to the plant as everybody else, which doesn’t make sense given the previous reasoning.
Did her immunity decrease because she stopped taking it daily? How did she have access to it in the first place when it’s supposed to be so rare? These are questions the show just refused to answer.
How Did They Manage To Graduate?
Between dealing with vampires, werewolves, and other almost-near-apocalypses, the high schoolers in The Vampire Diaries never seemed to have time to attend classes let alone graduate.
We’d often seem them attending town events and parties, despite the city simultaneously being attacked by supernatural creatures. But we barely saw the characters attending classes. Are we just supposed to assume Allaric got everyone extensions?
It was even more unrealistic when Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena all managed to get in and attend college. Given all the other life-threatening stuff they had going on, it’d be more realistic for them to take a gap year to deal with the supernatural drama rather than move straight into a dorm (which was way too nice to be realistic, too!).
Stefan Didn’t Know About The Originals (Despite Dating Rebekah)
This is a major loose end that the show forgot to tie up! Everyone acted surprised and shocked when the Originals popped into town. Evidently, even the Salvatore brothers hadn’t even heard of these super-powerful vampires.
However, many fans have pointed out this is inconsistent with the fact that Stefan supposedly dated Rebekah. Rebekah was used to make Elena jealous by the story creators, but they didn’t account for the fact that the relationship should’ve made Stefan aware of what the Originals were. After all, wouldn’t he be curious why his GF had stronger powers than them?
Even if Rebekah kept her family a secret from him, it’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t have picked up that something was different about her. Sorry, but this plot hole is just too much to swallow.
Not Without An Invitation
It was made pretty clear early on in the show that vampires needed an invitation before being able to step foot in a home. And many times, the show stayed true to this rule of thumb. For instance, after Logan is turned into a vampire, he’s not able to enter his own house even though no one else lives there.
However, the not-without-an-invitation logic is abandoned later on in the series without explanation. In one episode, Damon gets rid of a woman who’s allowing vampires to squat in her house. According to earlier seasons, Damon shouldn’t have been able to enter her house even with her gone, since she never left permission. Nevertheless, Damon has no trouble entering the premises when she’s gone, which leaves us still scratching our heads.
How Could Allaric Become An Original?
Too many weird things have happened to Allaric for any of them to be believable (okay, we guess the whole show is far-fetched). But one of the most confusing things that happened to him was when he became an Original.
It was one thing when the show first made him into a vampire. That we could understand since everyone in Mystic Falls seemingly ends up as a bloodsucker. However, in later seasons, magic somehow makes Allaric into an Original.
This clearly doesn’t make sense since the Originals were supposed to be the oldest, first vampires and their immortality was tied to the White Oak Tree. How can Allaric be an Original if he wants one of the first vampires? And, why did turning him into an Original suddenly make him evil? Nowhere did the show say that being an Original meant you’d be evil (we though time just did that to them!).