Why Last Night’s The Vampire Diaries Was One of the Best Episodes of This Season..

Last night’s episode of The Vampire Diaries said goodbye to two characters that have been fixtures on the series since its first season, as Jeremy left Mystic Falls to head to “art school,” and Sheriff Liz Forbes finally passed away after her battle with cancer. It was an emotional, tear-inducing hour of television that I thought was one of the best episodes that The Vampire Diaries has given us in this very up-and-down sixth season, which is why I was so surprised to read so many negative reactions to the episode last night, whether they be comments on reviews or posts on Twitter. Some people even went as far as to claim that this was one of the worst episodes The Vampire Diaries has ever done, which, in my opinion, is complete nonsense; did these people saying that not watch any of Season 5 last year?

Of course, “Stay” had its issues—many episodes of The Vampire Diaries have had their problems since the show’s third season, the last time the series was truly great. Enzo and Matt’s storyline is a complete waste of time; why does Enzo return to Mystic Falls to continue to carry out his convoluted plan but not even bother to say hello to his supposed best friend, Damon, and why doesn’t Matt just speak up to say something to Stefan about what’s going on? And yes, it’s a tad bit ridiculous that Jeremy would up and leave so quickly after knowing that Bonnie is getting closer and closer to finding her way home (and when she does, Steven R. McQueen better show up as a guest star for at least an episode), but none of these issues took away from the emotional crux of the hour: the show’s farewell to Liz Forbes.

Yet some fans even seemed to have a problem with how The Vampire Diaries say goodbye to our favorite sheriff, citing how Caroline barely got to have any time with her mom in this episode and that Liz was spending her final moments with Damon, a person who, when The Vampire Diaries first started, used and abused Caroline for his own personal pleasure. It wasn’t right, according to many commenters, that Caroline spent so much of the episode getting closer and closer with Stefan (the two of them finally kissed), while almost everyone else got one last memorable scene with her mom.


I fully understand these complaints and get why people were frustrated with how Liz’s death was handled; however, I think they may be missing a large part of what “Stay” was trying to show us, and it all goes back to what Stefan said to Caroline: “It doesn’t matter because life isn’t about your final moments. It’s about the moments that led up to them.” And it’s because of that quote, and the way the way that Liz died, that I loved this episode so much, because it felt real and honest. People don’t always get those final, movie-like moments with their loved ones as they go into the light; it’s typically a lot more random and chaotic than that, which is what The Vampire Diaries showed by having Liz lose consciousness after having just asked Damon for a drink. There was no tearful goodbye or long, overly done speech—it just happened, and what we and the characters should hold onto are our favorite moments with Liz over the course of the past six seasons, not just the scenes from last night’s episode.

And where was Caroline during all this? Why was she not with her mother? Contrary to what some people, who believe The Vampire Diaries writers are just shoving “Steroline” down our throats, say, Caroline was not just hanging around, flirting with Stefan; she was trying to set up a perfect place for her mother to spend her last days, a home that would allow for Liz to be happy and at peace. That’s completely fitting with Caroline’s character; as Stefan pointed out during the episode, she always needs to feel in control of everything (even death) and her meticulous organizing and placing of the items that she thought her mom would most enjoy before she died (I particularly loved the way she worried about the last book her mom would read) is completely in-character with the Caroline Forbes we know and love. If you don’t believe that, then I’m not sure we’re watching the same show.

But really, what made this episode a standout for more were the performances, specifically from Candice Accola, who showed yet again that she is The Vampire Diaries‘ undisputed MVP. She was asked to display a whole host of emotions throughout the hour, from the excitement of a possible relationship to Stefan to the sad understanding that she could never properly prepare for her mother’s death to the unimaginable pain of losing a parent you didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to. It was incredible work from an actress who has proven time and time again how talented she is, and it helped transform a very good episode into something even better.