The Vampire Diaries 6×22 “I’m Thinking of You All the While” REVIEW

The Kai-tastrophic Aftermath. Farewell Elena Gilbert. Thanks for all the Memories

This week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries 6×22, “I’m Thinking of You All the While,” marks the season six finale and the episode focuses on saying ‘Goodbye’ to the series’ beloved Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev). Picking up right after Kai (Chris Wood) made his unexpected appearance at Alaric (Matt Davis) and Jo’s (Jodi Lyn O’ Keefe) wedding, we see the devastating aftermath of his actions. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) panics as Elena lays unconscious.  Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Caroline (Candice Accola) come rushing to his side and urge Damon to get Elena to the hospital. They stay behind to help, but Kai snaps their necks before they have a chance. While, a heartbroken Alaric sits devastated mourning not only the life of us beautiful bride, but the lives of his unborn twins. Outside, Liv (Penelope Mitchell) and Tyler (Michael Trevino) lay fatally injured. Insisting that he kill her to re-trigger the werewolf curse and healing him, he reluctantly does.

At the hospital, Damon learns there is nothing medically wrong with Elena, but she still remains unconscious. Caroline and Stefan finally come to and discover Enzo (Michael Malarkey) has rescued them. He warns them of Lily’s (Annie Wersching) reunion with her heretic family. Stefan learns in exchange for her ‘family’s’ return she gave Kai some of her blood. allowing Kai to kill himself to punish the Gemini coven for trapping him in the prison world and turning him into a heretic. Next on Kai’s list is Alaric, but luckily a transitioning Tyler bites him. Kai finally reveals to Damon that he has bound Elena’s life to Bonnie’s (Kat Graham) and as long as Bonnie is alive, Elena will lay unconscious. Pissed, Bonnie confronts Kai, but is no match for his unlimited power and is near death. Damon shows up and just when Kai thinks Damon has left her for dead, he returns and knocks his head off. The entire gang returns to the Salvatores to say their goodbyes to Elena as some of them won’t be alive when she wakes and we see ‘ugly cry’ prompting goodbyes from each of them. This week’s episode was a rough one emotionally, definitely one for the books. Let’s bring back out the tissues and discuss.

Kai-tastrophic Effects 

Not since the arrival of Klaus (Joseph Morgan) in season two has TVD had a ‘big bad’ so charming the audience can’t help, but love to hate or hate to love. Chris Wood is amazing bringing Kai to life on screen. He is deliciously devilish portrayal of sociopath Gemini coven leader again this week. As Kai stands looking over the devastation he’s caused, viewers can see he is quite pleased with himself. He has that sly smirk on his face and his eyes seem totally void of any remorse. All he cares about is getting revenge on the Gemini coven, his coven, the ones who trapped him in the witchy prison for so long. Just before killing himself so the entire Gemini coven dies with him, viewers know he is about to inflict more pain by the crazy look he has in his eyes. It didn’t even phase him that he was killing the rest of his supernatural and biological family.

Of course, Kai doesn’t really kill himself. That would be too easy. Instead he just made himself more powerful by turning himself into a heretic. At the hospital, even suffering from a werewolf bite, he still has nothing, but snarky comments to Damon. When Kai reveals the clever, but dastardly spell he put on Elena, viewers can see that he is so proud of himself. He has a smile on his face and his eyes glow as he rubs it in that he has made it impossible for any witchy work-arounds or they’d both die. Surprisingly, Damon didn’t kill him right then and there. Twisting the knife a little deeper, after Bonnie and Kai’s showdown, Kai makes Damon choose between Elena and Bonnie. The love of his life or his best friend. Kai’s expression exudes pure happiness. Viewers can see he is in his glory. His big smile and the craziness to his eyes show he gets some kind of twisted pleasure making others suffer. Good thing he died doing something he loved. Kai certainly caused enough chaos in his time in Mystic Falls, the 1994 witchy prison world or wherever he was it was definitely time for him to go no matter how good he is at being bad. Chris Wood does a phenomenal job as Kai this week as well as the rest of the season and he’ll surely be missed.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane 

Being the last episode with Nina Dobrev, it’s a perfect fit the episode pays homage to her beloved character, Elena Gilbert. As present day, Elena lay unconscious due to Kai’s devious plan, she’s still able to communicate with her friends through supernatural telepathy. The audience has a nostalgic and bittersweet feeling seeing a recreation of some of the most memorable moments between Elena and each character. A throwback to season one, when Bonnie first reveals to Elena she’s a witch, in her mind Elena takes Caroline and Bonnie to her childhood bedroom. A place where the girls had so many slumber parties and memories together. Viewers cannot help tear up as all three, best friends since forever share one last time altogether. Their expressions are all so sad and melancholy. Each tears up as the realization sets in that when Elena finally wakes up again she will only reunited with one of them and they will never all be together again. Laughing through tears, Elena asks Bonnie to use her magic and float the feathers one last time and bringing on the real waterworks from viewers. The raw emotion during the girls’ last meeting is conveyed so perfectly by Nina Dobrev, Kat Graham and Candice Accola.

“This isn’t your fault. Hey, we’ll both get everything that we want. We just can’t have it at the same time. Bonnie Bennett, you have spent your entire life making sacrifices for me now it’s my turn to do it for you. I just have one more favor to ask.” – Elena.

Seeing her best friend and first love one last time, Elena shows Matt (Zach Roerig) a moment they shared at Wickery Bridge. Viewers can see Elena trying to put on a brave face. She smiles as she tries to hold back tears. Then tells him that throughout their crazy lives he has been a constant and hopes he becomes a cop. The audience can see in this sad moment between the two. Elena’s eyes are sad, but she smiles as she tells Matt to try to find the humor in the situation because she’s not ready to say goodbye and she likes their odds of seeing one another again someday. Then seeing Alaric, Elena takes them to the spot in the woods where he first taught her to defend herself from vampires. Viewers sense Alaric is distraught by the look of complete devastation on his face. With a furrowed brow and sad eyes, he punches with great intensity, but Elena comforts him and assure him that things will be alright, eventually

“You’re gonna think the pain will never end, but it will, but first you have to let it all in. You can’t fight it. It’s bigger than you. You have to let yourself drown in it but then eventually you’ll start to swim, and every single breath that you fight for will make you stronger.” – Elena.

Arriving just in time, Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) shows up and viewers are reminded of one of the last brother/sister Gilbert bonding moments just before he left for ‘art school.’ A sweet moment between the two, Jeremy wants his sister, who has always looked out for him, to know he spent his life happy, doing exactly what he wanted to do. His expression is sincere and his eyes show viewers he’s sad, but trying to be strong for his sister. Then saying goodbye to Tyler, they’re in the Lookwood cellar that he chained himself up for his first werewolf transformation, fitting because he is facing his first full moon since re-triggering the curse. Elena warns him to leave town. Tyler and viewers see she is serious because her expression is unwavering when she tells him. During her goodbye to Stefan, the audience is reminded of the time Elena confessed to him she never wanted to be a vampire. Viewers feel the heartbreak they are feeling in this moment. Both have kind, caring eyes and somber expressions illustrating how much the two really do care for one another. The friendship between them is genuine and the audience feels how much they mean to each other. As Elena expresses how grateful she is to have met him, tears well in Stefan’s eyes and when he cries we all cry. Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev both are amazing in this moment and convey the emotion of the moment impeccably.

“Thank you for bumping into me that day in the hallway. I never thought I would ever be happy again. Then I met you. You changed everything for me. You quite literally saved my life. I love you so much. Which is why I can’t wait to find out what new life you’ve chosen for yourself in 60 years or 70 years or whenever I see you again.” – Elena.

“Be the better man, Damon.”

Elena has been telling Damon for years to be the better man. This week the audience witnesses how far Damon Salvatore has evolved over the years. Ian Somerhalder is great this week in his portrayal of Damon in this episode. Labeled as selfish, the only people he cared for seemed only to be Elena and his brother. He’d stop at nothing to get what he wanted unless it hurt Elena or his brother. Faced with the love of his life spelled asleep until Bonnie’s death, Damon disappoints and surprises the audience within a matter of seconds. As Bonnie lay dying from Kai’s retaliation, Damon is so convincing that even Bonnie believes he had left her for dead. Kissing her so gently on the forehead, viewers see the sadness in his eyes and hear the struggle he’s feeling in his voice as he tells her goodbye. Super-charged, heretic, Kai even believes Damon left, but he’s sorely mistaken as Damon re-appears and beheads Kai and the audience can’t help but squee now that Kai’s reign of terror has come to an end. (Sorry Chris Wood) He has an expression of urgency on his face as he rushes over to Bonnie. The sense of relief Damon feels once he discovers he isn’t too late is written across his face and viewers let out a sigh of relief along with him. In addition to his friend dying, Damon knew that Elena would never forgive him if he let Bonnie die, so she’d wake up. Over the years somewhere along the way Elena has taught him to put others before himself

“I  knew the love of my life would stand by his best friend even if it meant you had to live without me for a while.” – Elena.

Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder both do a great job in the beautiful goodbye scene between Damon and Elena. Standing in the middle of road where they first met, the sadness of the moment is heartbreaking for the pair as well as for viewers. Their facial expressions are kind and loving, but there is a sadness in each of their eyes as they both try to stay strong for the other. As Damon admits to her he doesn’t know how he is going to go the next 60 or so years without her, viewers can hear the sorrow in his voice and feel the loss he’s experiencing. Elena’s passion for Damon is evident as she puts her arms around this neck, looks him lovingly in the eyes and proclaims her love to him one last time. They then share one last passionate dance right there in the middle of the road bringing their relationship to beautiful, yet tragic end (for now).

FINAL VERDICT:

The season six finale of The Vampire Diaries, like finales of seasons past takes viewers on a roller-coaster ride of emotions, but this episode is especially heartbreaking since it marks the last episode for two beloved characters viewers have known since the series debut. Executive producers, Julie Plec and Caroline Dries penned an episode that is bittersweet and nostalgic. The theme and storyline of season six is maintained while giving the proper send off to Elena, the female lead of the series. The ‘sleeping beauty’ spell is a unique way to have Elena no longer be a focus on the upcoming seventh season, while leaving the door open for a possible return. Despite Elena rendered unconscious from Kai’s spell, it is clever that each character is able to say goodbye to her through the same mystical telepathy used between Caroline and her mom. Paying homage to some of the most memorable moments Elena has had over the years, Plec and Dries bring out the ‘ugly girl cry’ from the audience. Not only is each goodbye scene a recreation of a previous moment, they take the emotion to a new level with the heartfelt and poignant dialog. Coupled with the great delivery from the entire cast episode director, Chris Grismer, captures the raw emotion of each scene by focusing on the characters’ expression at just the right time. As Elena, Caroline and Bonnie sit in Elena’s childhood bedroom and as Bonnie floats the feathers again, Grismer pans out to show the entire room so we can see all three girls as well as the feathers floating around them. Then in the road as Elena and Damon say goodbye, both Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev are fantastic. Grismer captures the true emotion of the scene alternating close up shots of their expressions. Then as they share their final dance, a tribute to the Mystic Falls dance they shared in season, Grismer shows all different angles of them dancing and makes sure to hit home the reference of their first dance by focusing on the couple’s hands as they barely touch. He even shows the dance from above taking viewers on a dance along with them. Bringing the goodbye full circle from Elena and Damon first meeting in the middle of the road, music supervisor, Chris Mollere, pairs the dance with “Hunger” by Ross Copperman, the same artist they danced to during the Miss Mystic Falls pageant.

While the episode’s theme is Elena’s farewell, Plec and Dries also weave in a few unexpected twist to give the audience a shock or two in between all the tears. It was no surprise Tyler would re-trigger the werewolf curse. Viewers suspected it was bound to happen, but no one could have predicted it would be his ex-girlfriend, Liv, that would be the one who’d die at his hands. Both Penelope Mitchell and Michael Trevino do a great job in their final scene together. The emotional struggle each is facing is illustrated to viewers by the utilization of camera angles by Grismer. The fire-side scene with Stefan and Caroline is done perfectly as well. With sincere and heartfelt dialog from Dries and Plec, Candice Accola and Paul Wesley deliver amazingly. Coupled with Grimer’s work behind the camera, focusing on their facial expressions and then panning out at the perfect time to show the glow from the fire adds a romantic ambiance to the viewing experience. It wouldn’t be a proper TVD finale without a cliffhanger. While the audience is teased with the arrival of the heretics, the writers mix in something new this season. Adding a flash-forward, viewers are left with a desolate Mystic Falls with Sheriff Donovan on patrol and Damon looking out over the town with a look reminiscent of season one to ponder all summer,

Questions, Comments, Concerns:

• It hurts to see Alaric is so much pain and suffering. Can he ever keep a girlfriend? And the babies too? Too sad.
• Three season guest stars dying in one episode? Jo, Liv and Kai, Wow Think that’s a new TVD record. And Elena and Tyler on top of that? Damn, they sure cleaned house.this finale.
• Stefan telling Elena meeting her was meant to be because she made him closer with Damon. Oh the #Defan feels!
• How adorable is Stefan waiting for Caroline? Awwwe.
• Loved the Boonie – Kai showdown and definitely let out a gasp when Damon beheaded him, Going to kinda miss Kai though. #Sorrynotsorry
• Awesome, that Elena’s exit is left open-ended and there is a possibility for her return, but unfortunately only possible if Bonnie dies.
• Not going to lie. Kinda excited to see the dark Damon from season one returning!
• Thank you Jesus! Finally! Matt Donovan in a uniform. Hot damn!