The Vampire Diaries continues to be as popular as when it was on air, which is evident from the fan conventions being held in Georgia to date. The cast reunited recently at one such convention, which sent the fandom into a meltdown (via Independent). The show continues to be a beloved part of television history, but even diehard fans have some pet peeves with the supernatural drama.
Many have expressed their complaints on Reddit, about certain elements of the show that were repeated too often, grew tired, or were just pointless and annoying to watch over the course of 8 seasons. These could have been improved or changed for a flawless TVD experience.
Lexi's Limited Appearance
Lexi's death was one that nobody saw coming on TVD, and with good reason. She was a vivacious character, and an important part of Stefan's journey to vampire sobriety. Fans were just starting to warm up to her, before she was suddenly killed off, which annoyed them to no end.
Stefan barely had any friends, so when his best friend who had such vast significance to his story was cut from the show so soon, candee__leigh said "I wish she was a regular." She barely even got to be a side character before being killed.
The Exclusion Of Bonnie
The mistreatment of Bonnie's character is well known in the TVD fandom, and it continues to be a thorn in fans' sides. Despite being the most powerful main character on The Vampire Diaries, Bonnie got doomed love stories till the end, a savior complex that killed her character all the time, and major sidelining through the show.
It was obvious that black characters got background roles or bad storylines throughout the show, and Bonnie suffered through this for 8 seasons. Torgoboi agreed, saying "She pretty much never got good arcs..." which several others agreed on.
The Lack Of Male And Female Friendship
The Vampire Diaries was notorious for focusing too much on romantic relationships, which made it a very one-dimensional show. There was little to no focus on platonic friendships, and if a man and woman were friends, they would have to fall in love.
Caroline and Stefan's plot was a prime example. The two were great as buddies, and they had helped each other through some rough patches. It also set a great example about getting emotional needs met outside of romantic love, but that was not meant to be. CinammonGirl94 felt that even though they had no chemistry, they were pushed into being a couple, because "they can’t just let a male and female character be just friends."
Klaus And Caroline's Relationship
The ultimate ship of The Vampire Diaries, Klaus and Caroline never really got the ending they deserved. Fans hated that their arc on TVD was closed with them sleeping together in the woods, and then carrying on as if nothing happened. They had a delicious slow burn for almost two seasons, which should have culminated in true romance and not a hook-up.
Their relationship was something special, and the quickie was extremely out of character for both Klaus and Caroline. OpinionatedWaffles summed it up well, saying "It completely destroys their relationship and what we hoped for them."
Characters Dying And Returning
Cristinaa14 got sick of the resurrection trend on the show. "Characters cheating death so many times it got ridiculous," was a trope they came to hate on TVD. This was true, as all the main characters were protected by heavy plot armor. The first time Bonnie died, it was a shock, but then it was a given that she would return sooner or later.
The same thing happened with Damon, Stefan, Elena, Jeremy, and most others. It cheapened death in the storylines and made it less impactful. Nobody was actually fazed by dying characters as someone would find a spell to bring them back. The stakes were just too low.
Stefan And Elena Not Switching Liz's Letter
In one of the most upvoted comments, Lpariah bemoaned how ridiculous it was that when Stefan and Elena were dealing with dehumanized Caroline, they chose to lure her with Liz's real letter. They could have easily switched it out with a dummy and burnt that one, so that Liz's last words wouldn't have been lost.
Caroline would have bought it even if it wasn't the real envelope, so it bewildered fans like Bamonite, who said "You don't have to be a genius, it's just common sense!" It was a very silly mistake to make, and one which had irreparable damage.
Damon And Elena's Change
Touted as star-crossed lovers, Damon and Elena brought significant changes to each other's characters when they got together. Elena made Damon a more compassionate and less cruel man, while Damon made her begin to take some risks to feel excitement in her life.
However, instead of becoming cool, complex characters, they only bickered with each other about the relationship, and Damon, who was an intriguing bad boy, was only invested in these quarrels. Torgoboi thought "he lost a lot of his depth" and that Elena could have also done with some alone time to truly make her an independent and well-rounded character.
Matt's Continued Survival
The most fragile of all the characters on the show, Matt, was the one who made it to the end of TVD and beyond. As a human, he lived longer than vampires, wolves, witches, and heretics, which was completely nonsensical.
He even went through some fatal situations, like his heart being stopped, drowning, facing Bonnie as a huntress, Katherine stabbing him, a Traveler attempting to kill him, having his neck snapped multiple times, and much more. The writers never let Matt die, even though his non-supernatural state would make it plausible. He added very little to the plot, so it wouldn't have hurt the show either. Gnipmuffin was annoyed "That Matt somehow survived the series."
Stefan Going Off The Rails
It was interesting to see the good and kind Stefan show his true colors the first time, but when it became a go-to plot device to spice up the show, fans lost interest. Flipping his switch and going Ripper was a great way to show his dichotomy, but it happened three to four times in the show, and it grew old very quickly.
Candee__leigh explained how it felt like a "rinse and repeat of Stefan going off the rails..." There should have been more ways to carry his story forward, instead of the good guy, bad guy routine where Stefan did the worst things while having his humanity off.
Too Many Unnecessary Side Characters
A deleted Reddit user was of the opinion that "the show starts to get worse when it relies on new characters too heavily." Through the show, there were some minor characters introduced who barely had any impact on the plot. Some of these included Aaron Whitmore, April, Megan and a few others, who did nothing to steer the show forward, but were given unnecessary screen time.
This attention could have been devoted to the main characters and their arcs which were more relevant. It created a lull in the pacing of the show, which ended up boring many viewers. These characters could have easily been cut from TVD to make it more exciting.
Source:gamerant.com