Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Welcome to our first post about “The Vampire Diaries”! We will be recapping episodes of “The Vampire Diaries” for you for the rest of the season. But before the shows starts again this Thursday after a two week break, we thought it might be wise to quickly summarize the general plot of “The Vampire Diaries” this season thus far! This recap doesn’t follow every specific storyline, but it should give you a general idea of where the story is when the show returns on March 14th.
The fourth season began with our main character, Elena, becoming a vampire! We assumed as much in the season finale, but it was confirmed in the first episode of the series this year. At the end of the last season, Elena and her ex-boyfriend, Matt, were in a car accident and thrown off of a bridge into a river by one of the original vampires, Rebecca. Stefan, one of the Salvatore brothers and Elena’s vampire boyfriend, jumped into the river to save Elena, but she insisted Stefan save Matt instead of herself. Elena’s dead body was brought to the morgue, and there she suddenly woke up from death. We learned that Elena was treated with vampire blood in order to cure a traumatic head injury she received at the end of last season, and thus she became a vampire after she died in the river.
The first episode addresses whether or not Elena will decide to live her life as a vampire or die. In order to stay alive as a vampire, she must drink fresh human blood within 24 hours of her transition. Throughout “The Vampire Diaries”, one of the most admirable qualities of the show has been the portrayal of Elena’s love for her friends and family, and her determination to protect these loved ones. Drinking blood from a human proves to be very difficult for Elena because she is such a selfless person, and her struggle between her humanity and new vampire life is one of the highlights of this season.
Credit: The CW
Obviously, Elena drinks the blood of a human and cements her future as a vampire (or else we wouldn’t have a show ), but she struggles to decide what type of vampire she wants to be. Stefan chooses not to drink from humans directly but rather drinks pints of stored human blood or animal blood. Elena tries to follow his example, but her body rejects these methods. Stefan’s brother, Damon, who happens to be in love with Elena, tries to train Elena how to drink blood directly from humans without killing them, and this proves to be much easier for Elena. Stefan does not like Damon training Elena to fed like Damon, but it is clear Stefan’s method does not work for Elena. Stefan wants to ensure Elena does not kill a human because he knows she will not be able to live with herself if she causes someone to die. Eventually Stefan’s somewhat controlling nature and disapproval of her feeding habits makes Elena more attracted to Damon, whom she can relate to more now that she is a vampire. She and Stefan break up, and she almost instantly moves onto Damon. Elena’s strong attraction to Damon is attributed to the Sire Bond, which makes a vampire strongly connect with the vampire whose blood was in their system when they turned. This bond is not found between all vampires, but Stefan believes it is the only explanation for Elena’s love for Damon. Elena seems to follow and obey anything Damon tells her, but this could be because she truly trusts and loves Damon, which has always been hinted at in previous seasons. Nevertheless, it makes for an interesting love triangle that will no doubt come into play as the season ends.
