‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 6 premiere review: Elena tries to let Damon go

The premiere of “The Vampire Diaries” tonight contained many surprises, but shocking you was not exactly the priority. Instead, the writers seemed more interested in showcasing the state of trauma and despair that their leading lady in Elena Gilbert was going through after losing the love of her life.

It was not easy for Damon to go, but Elena’s larger challenge here was really her refusal to say goodbye. She opted to take drugs in an effort to actually see him, and to continue to guilt Luke into giving them to her. Then, she would go on a tear and start nearly killing people just so that she could get what she wanted in that moment. Strangely, she managed to do all this while still being fairly on the rails at Whitmore, majoring in pre-med and doing what she can to study under Dr. Jo, who Alaric is already taking a shine to.

Speaking of Alaric, he immediately found a way to get himself in almost every single characters’ lives again, and be that father figure that they need. He especially helped Caroline, who tried at first to grieve by just getting away from school and spending time with her mother.

The only people still in Mystic Falls were Jeremy (who has taken up video games) and Matt, who has joined some bizarre community militia led by Tripp, who looks like he is going to be a major problem if any when everyone comes back.

Stefan was the furthest away, mostly because he decided to take off to Georgia and try to start a new life for himself after trying to find Damon at first, and then smashing his phone so that nobody can contact him.

Overall, this was a solid start to “The Vampire Diaries” season 6. We understand that there are some out there who wanted more of Damon and Bonnie tonight (save for their little funny moment with pancakes at the end), but it was probably right to take a little bit of time away from these characters. This actually put us in the shoes more of the people who were going through hard times.

The big cliffhanger here was Elena asking Alaric to compel her love of Damon away, and we really hope that doesn’t happen. After all, that will take away the drama of almost everything. Grade: B+.

What did you think of tonight’s “Vampire Diaries” premiere, and about how Elena was starting to completely unravel? Share now in the comments, and head over here to see what is coming up next on the series. You can also sign up if you want to bite into some further TV news right now via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: The CW