Welcome to my Hell Week post, part 2 – The Originals and The Vampire Diaries. Once again, these finales did not disappoint when it came to bringing drama, evil and angst.

The Originals – Ashes to Ashes

Going into the finale, it was obvious that Klaus was willing to do anything to protect his daughter, Hope. Of course, if he got to exact a little revenge on those whom he felt had wronged him, then all the better. After all, his siblings worked together to dagger him while Hayley and Jackson escaped with Hope. In order to prove to Dahlia that he had allied himself with her, he shoved Papa Tunde’s magical blade into Elijah’s chest, fed off Cami, killed Gia and helped Dahlia place a curse on Hayley and Jackson’s pack. This is where the finale picks up.

Without going into a play by play of the episode, I’ll hit the highlights. Dahlia links herself to Klaus, who immediately daggers himself in an effort to keep Dahlia down while the others look for a way to kill her. Davina uses her position and powers as the regent of the nine covens to resurrect Kol. Unfortunately for her, thanks to some Mikaelson manipulation, Esther is resurrected in Kol’s place. With Esther’s blood, the siblings have the final ingredient needed to kill Dahlia. Elijah says he is now finished with Klaus because Klaus chose to enact his own plan to dispose of Dahlia instead of working together. After a confrontation between the siblings and Auntie Dahlia, in which the Mikaelsons appear to inhale particles of the white oak stake, Dahlia is killed with Esther’s help as Klaus shoves the dagger through Esther’s body and into Dahlia.

A few thoughts about the finale and season 3:

Of course Dahlia was going to die. The actress who plays her has been cast in Julie Plec’s new show, Cordon, oops, I mean Containment. (Don’t get me started on Julie Plec!)

Davina is one angry witch after her one and only chance to bring back Kol was used to resurrect Esther. I think the Mikaelsons will soon learn that you don’t piss off the most powerful witch in the Quarter.

Elijah is not allowed to be happy. Considering how much I adore that badass, heart ripping, Original vampire, I find that very sad. His loyalty to his family, while admirable, will ultimately be his downfall, at least in his personal life. It’s that loyalty and probably residual love for Hayley, that has brought him back to the compound at the end of the finale to watch over Hope. I wish he had been able to stay away longer, if only to prove a point to Klaus.

Speaking of Klaus, all of the Klaroline shippers really should just give up now. The writers and producers of The Originals have been dangling the possibility of a Cami/Klaus relationship in front of viewers since the backdoor pilot during The Vampire Diaries season four. It looks like things could be heating up in TO season three.

The final scene of the finale proved one thing to me – Klaus tells Hope some creepy bedtime stories. He claims to be ready to hand New Orleans over to Marcel. I have my doubts. I have no doubt that he will do anything possible to keep Hayley away from Hope. I guess we’ll see what season three holds for us.

The Vampire Diaries – I’m Thinking of You All the While

Confession – I have had a hard time writing this post. I’m still recovering from the TVD finale. Yes, I do mean recovering. Picture ugly sobbing – now multiply it by one million. That’s close to how the finale affected me. Parts of the finale were beautiful. Parts were just downright brutal, even knowing ahead of time the end result – Elena would be gone.

I’m afraid that if I really try to recap this episode I will end up with a complete script instead. SO much happened in the finale, so much! Going into it, I had expressed concern to a friend about how the writers would manage to squeeze everything into a one hour episode. Promo pic after promo pic was released showing just how much they were going to cover. Unfortunately, in order to do it, some scenes were, sadly, cut short. Of course, that’s just my opinion.

OK, folks, buckle your seats belts. I’m going to try to buzz through the episode as quickly as I can, because I have a lot to say about it afterward.

Elena is a supernatural coma, thanks to Kai who has linked her life to Bonnie’s. Elena sleeps until Bonnie dies. Kai turns himself into a vampire, killing the rest of the Gemini coven in the process. Tyler activates his werewolf curse (again) when, at Liv’s insistence, he kills her rather than both of them dying. Poor Gemini witch, she was doomed anyway. Tyler bites Kai, which should be fatal, but no, it’s not. Instead, Kai siphons the magic from the bite and uses it against Bonnie. Damon finds Bonnie near death and has a choice – let her die, freeing Elena from Kai’s spell or heal her, making the choice Elena would want him to make. After years of trying to be the better man for Elena, we all know which choice Damon made. Bonnie lives. Kai, however, does not. He made the mistake of messing with Elena and for that Damon beheads him. Fitting end for him, don’t you think? Mama Salvatore’s ‘family’ has returned from the 1903 prison world, and apparently Enzo is now an honorary member. Stefan and Caroline discuss a possible future together.

Woven through all of this are Elena’s goodbyes to her friends and family. As each of them enters her mind, she is able to leave them with her last thoughts, requests, words. Her final goodbye is with Damon, who meets her on the road where they first met. After a last dance and kiss, Elena’s coffin is left in the Salvatore crypt, which is spelled shut to protect her from any vampire who might want to suck the Cure from her.

The final scene, which takes place after a time jump, shows a very different Mystic Falls, seemingly almost abandoned and in shambles. Law enforcement officer Matt Donovan appears to be patrolling the town, while Damon is keeping watching from the clock tower.

I tried to keep that short. I know. I failed, but like I said a LOT happened. Now for what I was thinking while I watched and since it ended (in no particular order).

Elena tells Damon she knew he would save his best friend. When did Bonnie become his best friend? Are they friends now? Yes, I believe so. Living in a prison world together for four months will bond two people. However, Bonnie has spent years believing that Damon was the worst thing that could happen to Elena. Best friend? No way. Alaric holds that title.

After Damon heals Bonnie, he carries her away. What? Damon only carries Elena. Bonnie should have been able to walk on her power. These two items strongly point to a different relationship for Damon and Bonnie in season seven. I can only hope that the writers respect who Damon is, who he has become and don’t force this into a romantic relationship. In the past, I have mentioned viewer deal breakers. A Damon/Bonnie hookup up would absolutely be one for me.

Jeremy came back to say goodbye to his sister, which was great. But, why didn’t he seem more upset. He will likely never see her, his only remaining family member, again. Also, why did his goodbye get so little time? They deserved more. They certainly deserved more time than Tyler got.

On the subject of families, Lily Salvatore clearly has no love for Stefan and Damon. Worst mother on the planet. She would rather have her witchpire (vampwitch?) family around her than try to build a relationship with her sons. My question – how did Enzo become part of that family? Is it simply because she was the one who turned him? Is it because there seems to be something more (EW!) brewing between those two?

Speaking of Tyler, why activate his curse again? If the werewolf bite was the nail in the coffin for Kai, fine, it makes sense. But, Kai (rightfully) died at Damon’s hand. I just don’t see the point.

This might be my biggest problem with the finale, other than Elena is now Sleeping Beauty and Damon will be waiting fifty, sixty, seventy years for her to wake up. Obviously, it is possible to ‘talk’ to her. The finale was chock full of those scenes. Why would they choose to put Elena in a coffin(!) in the crypt? Damon could keep her safe in the boarding house and ‘visit’ her every day. In my opinion, there is no way Damon closes the lid of the coffin, has Bonnie spell the crypt shut and just walks away. I just don’t see it. Besides, putting her in a coffin, that’s a little too Klaus-like for me.

Questions for season seven:

Who is destroying Mystic Falls? I think it is Mama S and her family of Heretics. I’ve seen theories that it’s Damon. I hope not. My other theory is that it is the fallout of a war between the Salvatores – the brothers against Mama and her other family.

How far in the future did this flash forward propel us?

Will we see Damon and Alaric comforting each other over their losses? I certainly hope so. The Damon/Ric friendship was barely acknowledged in season six. I hope that changes in season seven.

Will Damon and Bonnie forge a stronger friendship? Or will she just be a reminder of what he has lost? I want the latter, but I’m afraid it will be the former.

Any thoughts or theories? Please, share them!