The Vampire Diaries Review: “500 Years Of Solitude” (Season 5, Episode 11)

The Vampire Diaries celebrated its 100th episode last night with 500 Years of Solitude and really knocked it out of the park – until the last five minutes when the show made the most predictable move possible. This episode was an opportunity to send Katherine (Nina Dobrev) out on a high note, close this chapter in The Vampire Diaries history, and move forward with a clean slate. Instead, the writers chose in typical melodrama fashion to suck this storyline dry, and then some.

Whether you’re a fan that loathed Katherine or one of the few that loved her, both would have been appeased with the way she looked to be going out. The trifecta – Damon (Ian Somerhalder), Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Elena (also Dobrev) – made their peace with it, and frankly, so had I. She’s been living on borrowed time for long enough, and after a third doppelgänger entered the picture this season, I was over the entire lot of them.

We were so close to finally seeing what a show without the characters constantly looking over their shoulders for the inevitable wrench that Katherine has a knack for throwing into situations would be like, and maybe more importantly, one step closer to answering the burning question of who would fill her designer shoes when she was gone. After a brief and beautiful moment (most of which I spent holding my breath), any hope you may have been harboring for a clean break turned into a nightmare of Katherine-sized proportions.

The one saving grace to all of this is Bonnie (Kat Graham) and her new job as the anchor. Katherine being a multifaceted supernatural type – former vampire,  doppelgänger – would have to pass through Bonnie on her way to the after life, or other side. Obviously, when they come to find that a) Katherine is “dead,” b) Elena (Also Dobrev) is missing in action, and c) Katherine never gave Bonnie one last excruciatingly painful memory of her, someone is going to start asking questions. The only problem is that now they are on the clock. It’s only a matter of time before Nadia (Olga Fonda) makes the traveler spell permanent (or attempts to), and when she does, Elena is done.

Considering that Elena is the main character of The Vampire Diaries and the entire show basically revolves around her, it’s a pretty safe bet that she’s going to come out of this on top – but the anxiety is going to keep fans on the edge of their seats for at least a one more episodes.

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