‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 6: Where Ian Somerhalder, Candice Accola, cast go next

Tonight, “The Vampire Diaries” concludes its somewhat-polarizing fifth season with an episode that could at least give us some closure on some things. We’ll learn the state for now of the Damon / Elena relationship, just like we will hopefully learn whether or not it is possible for Stefan to come back.

But in addition to all of this, there are a few other things that you should be very excited about right now when it comes to the future … and that is what we want to discuss in this article. In honor of the upcoming sixth season premiering on The CW this fall, we’ve come up with a list of six humble suggestions for how the show could move ahead and really change things up so that all fans are satisfied.

Update: Obviously, the death of Damon in the finale probably changes most of what we wrote here before watching the episode, but you also have to remember that death on this show doesn’t always stick. We’ll have more insight on that when postmortem interviews hit.

1. Leave Elena’s personal life in some sort of stasis – It may be good for the show to demonstrate at some point that there is more to life than love, and this is something that Elena can show off for them.

2. Allow for some more villains to come in from the start – Given that we don’t have Katherine anymore, why not try for a great female villain now to make things different?

3. Make Caroline and Stefan happen – Assuming Stefan lives, we feel like the world is ready for this now. Also, there’s a nice message in here about how sometimes, the very person who is right for you is the same person who has been waiting the whole time.

4. No more Travelers – Seriously. Let’s have these characters all collectively travel somewhere else for a change.

5. Give Matt something bigger to do – We’ve heard that a new love interest is coming, and we could not be any more excited. This guy has to be the show’s most-overlooked character right now by a mile.

6. Establish stakes for an endgame – While next season may not be the end for the show (and most fans would hate it if it was), there will be a time that comes when the cast all collectively decides that they want to move on. It’s better to put those wheels in motion now than wait too long, and then miss out on a great ending.

Where do you think that “The Vampire Diaries” should do next season? Share below, and click here for some more news. We’ll have a review for the final online soon enough.

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Photo: The CW