Five Emotional Moments from The Vampire Diaries Season 3 Finale “The Departed” 

Warning: If you haven’t watched, please don’t read. Spoilers from the S3 finale abound.

Another exciting season of The Vampire Diaries has come to an end. “The Departed” wasn’t perfect but it was way high on the emotion factor. There was a lot to cover in this one-hour episode. I wish it could have been two-hours instead because — as usual — the supporting characters weren’t as utilized as much as I wanted them to be.

Having said that, the heartbreaking and emotional moments were abundant:

1) The downfall of Evilaric. When Elena drowned, that was the end of the invulnerable vampire slayer. Ric dying in Damon’s arms meant Damon realizing the woman he loves died. Stefan was with Elena’s body feeling so much pain. But it was when Ric appeared to Jeremy as a ghost after Elena “died,” I pretty much lost it. I truly thought Alaric would have lasted into next season. Maybe we’ll see Ghost Alaric instead? A girl can dream. I do like the fact that Jeremy can still see ghosts.

2) The Tyler-Caroline goodbye scene in the cave was so sad. I kind of wish they would have gotten their chance to run away and be together without any obstacles. At least for a little while. Their happiness should have lasted a little longer. I didn’t see the Tyler-Klaus body switch happening, however. I actually hope that next season, we’ll get Joseph Morgan back as Klaus. Somehow, someway, this needs to happen. I don’t really want to have to do without him for too terribly long.

3) Depending on your perspective, Elena choosing a brother was either a moment of pure enjoyment and rejoice or a moment of pure heartbreak. I like both couples. That Stefan/Elena kiss near the beginning of the episode was great. They share a comfortable connection that’s easy and wonderful. Yet, my heart broke when Elena chose him over his brother, Damon. I couldn’t help it. Some tears may have made an appearance. I guess I just wanted to see this couple get their moment in the sun, even though Stefan and Elena may be the end game here.

4) Bonnie cooking up her magic to save her friends and her mom (well, most of them) was heartbreaking as well. She’s turned a corner. She’s sick of not being in control and she doesn’t want to lose anyone else in her life. What sets her apart from everyone else is she can actually do something about that. She resorts to saving Klaus and pulling the switcheroo with Tyler. I’m curious to see if Bonnie continues this dark path in Season 4. And Julie Plec: Can you please do more with Bonnie in Season 4? Pretty please?

5) Damon met Elena first. The show dropped a bit of a game changer on us (well more than one, of course. I mean, Elena a vampire? I know it happened it in the books but I wasn’t sure the show was actually going to go there. Did anyone else get a Breaking Dawn-vibe from the ending?). During the Damon/Elena phone call, she let the older Salvatore down. She told him she loved Stefan. And went on to speculate that maybe if she had met him first…After Ric beat the hell out of Damon, the vampire was just laying there and suddenly we got a flashback of him lying in the middle of some road. It was the same road Elena was walking on — she happened to be talking to Bonnie on the phone. This all was going down before her parents died so she was still dating Matt. Damon and Elena proceeded to have a conversation about what she wanted out of life. Damon speculated how she didn’t want the safety, stability and predictability of what Matt had to offer; that she really wanted an all-consuming love and maybe even some danger. At the end of the conversation, he compelled her to forget because he didn’t want anyone to know he was in town yet.

Since I’m a Damon/Elena fan, I loved that this happened but I’m going to have to say that this is probably going to be a controversial moment for TVD fans. Stefan saved Elena from drowning and she admitted to Matt how significant that event was. Through Stefan, she learned to live again. I think that’s something that stays with you but knowing she did have an earlier connection with Damon could change everything. Who knows. I guess we’ll find out more when The Vampire Diaries returns this fall on the CW.

And one more thing. Matt better be OK. And, if he is fine, I hope he gets an actual storyline next season.