The first stop on Katherine’s diabolical plan to win over Stefan’s affections is metaphorically ripping Damon’s heart out and leaving him with his jaw on the floor. Later on when Elena undoubtedly returns from wherever she may be currently be, she’ll be coming back to a different brand of Damon. Not only is The Vampire Diaries taking it back to the original love triangle (of sorts), but we’re also going to see Damon return to his more devastating roots – and this time with help.
The evolution of Damon over the course of this show has now come full circle. When we first met him, he was ripping people’s throats out on no more than a whim and the first tinge of a hunger pang. If his actions post being crushed by Katherine are any indication of what we can expect in the near future (which they are), we are in for a lot more of that Damon and a lot less of the elevated version of him that has dominated The Vampire Diaries over the last few seasons.
Recently, it was revealed that Damon and his latest partner in crime, Enzo (Michael Malarkey), were subjects (err, victims ) of the Augustine Vampire research program, which was conveniently located at the same university that Elena and her friends began attending this past fall. After a few more coincidences, the gang stumbled across the professor heading the research and the only surviving member of the family who has both actively participated in, and funded, the program since its inception.
Although the entire situation wreaked of predictable moments, Damon killing the final member of the Whitmore lineage under duress may later on be the catalyst for the real Elena ending up with Stefan. In hindsight, Damon will most likely come to regret this moment of profound emotional weakness, but in the meantime, losing Elena has consumed him to the point where he may as well have switched his humanity setting to ‘off.’
Even after this setback, Damon is still a character that fans can root for, and this is something that he and Katherine have in common. Even though they have settled on alternate sides, you want them to be better versions of themselves. Ultimately, they’re no worse than most of the other characters on the show – point-in-case Stefan ‘The Ripper’ – they just have a tendency to be more honest about it. The Vampire Diaries is full of mass murderers and psychopaths, and rarely do fans hold that against them.
Do you think Damon will be able to get it together in order to be the guy that deserves Elena? How many episodes will it take before someone wises up to Katherine still being around? Do you prefer Elena over Katherine, or vice versa? Let us know all your theories on The Vampire Diaries in the comment section below!
