‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 5: Has the year of Paul Wesley arrived?

When the dust settles and when the fangs are put away, “The Vampire Diaries” is a show that is by and large one about a love triangle, and about three characters who are learning to coexist and find themselves … even though two of them have had more of a century to do so. It’s also a series that runs in a cyclical pattern. We feel like season 1 was really the year of Elena, season 2 was the year of Damon, and then season 3 was about Stefan. Then, we went back to the beginning for season 4, and once again had a year where Nina Dobrev would have quite a bit to work with.

So if you were following the pattern, this would make season 5 the year of Damon again … right? Not exactly. Instead, the data that we have at the moment suggests that we’re looking again at a year of Stefan, and there are three reasons why Paul Wesley should have a smile plastered onto his face right now.

1. Uncertainty – It’s always more fun when viewers don’t know what is going to happen with your character, and in the wake of Elena choosing Damon (for now), we have that with him. He had an opportunity to get away from Mystic Falls before Silas took that away … and now, Stefan’s journey is a battle for survival.

2. Multiple characters – Come on, who wouldn’t love this? Wesley openly has said that he enjoyed the ripper part of his personality from the show’s third season, and playing Stefan’s doppelganger is the closest that he has to that. It’s too bad that he has to keep his physical appearance almost identical, since otherwise Stefan Silas could put a streak in his hair a la Britta on “Community” to show that he’s been through a lot.

3. More opportunities – It may sound weird and selfish, but it’s not meant to be. Why? Joseph Morgan and the rest of the Original family have their own show now to frolic around in, so it’s easy to rejoice in getting to see more of Paul in action this coming season without feeling bad about the people we’ve lost.

Do you think we’re getting set to see the year of Stefan on “The Vampire Diaries” season 5, or someone else? We want to hear some of your thoughts below! Also, you can read some more news pertaining to Ian Somerhalder’s real-life adventures (and having to deal with grabby fans) over here.

Photo: The CW