Vampire Diaries Season 4: Will Elena Ever Revert to Her Old Self?
A couple of game-changing things went on before The Vampire Diaries went on hiatus, not least of which was Elena finally flipping the switch and going full-on vamp. Now we’ve seen the fallout from that decision, and know that an Elena without feelings isn’t one you’d want around puppies and children. She’s really taken to this whole ‘evil undead monster’ shtick, and has even given Damon a run for his money in selfish and reckless behaviour.
But is this the end of old, whiny, moral Elena – the girl who would do anything for her friends but who couldn’t make a decision to save her life? I have to admit, it’s lovely to have a break from that girl, who was increasingly sucking the fun out of the show with her various crippling traumas, and have her replaced with this fun-loving carefree teenager we’re enjoying now. My hat comes off for Nina Dobrev, who has now made me believe in three completely separate characters, often at the same time.
But isn’t that part of the problem? We already have an evil Elena – Katherine. With the original object of the Salvatores’ affections hanging around in the background threatening a return, is there enough room for both girls to do their thing? It was always a joy to see Dobrev sweep around the place in her leather simply because Katherine was so vastly opposed to what Elena represented. Now that they’re on equal footing, if not quite the same person, how can we expect the two to react to each other?
This extends right down to their love lives, since Damon and Stefan’s attraction to Elena seemed to at least partially be about how different the two girls were. They loved Katherine but hated her repeated betrayals and evil nature so – particularly for Stefan – Elena was a second chance for them to create the perfect woman. She was put on a pedestal and, when she was turned into a vampire, Stefan was desperate to ‘save her’. He didn’t want an undead Elena, and so made her into a problem for him to fix.
Thus was born the ‘hunt for the cure’ storyline,





