5 The Vampire Diaries Storylines That Have Aged Horribly

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Even though *The Vampire Diaries* finished airing eight years ago, it’s still a fan favorite, and with good reason. Throughout its eight seasons and 171 episodes on The CW, the show delivered shocking plot twists, complicated love stories, and memorable villains. Some of these characters even went on to star in two successful spin-off series. However, while *The Vampire Diaries* still has a lot to offer and many of its storylines hold up well, some parts haven’t aged gracefully and are now considered problematic.

It’s easy to judge past events with the benefit of hindsight, and looking back at some storylines from *The Vampire Diaries* reveals some issues. Certain relationships don’t hold up well on a rewatch, major characters were often treated poorly, and even some of the show’s biggest moments don’t feel as impactful now. Some parts of this popular 2010s series haven’t aged very well.

5) Bonnie and the Prison World

It’s easy to find problematic storylines involving Bonnie Bennett in *The Vampire Diaries*. While her treatment throughout the series wasn’t ideal, the worst example is likely the prison world plot in season six. This storyline trapped both Bonnie and Damon in a supernatural prison after the afterlife collapsed.

Bonnie successfully rescued Damon, but she was stranded for months and endured a lot of hardship on her own. She became so overwhelmed by the pain that she considered suicide as a way to end it. Although she was eventually saved and returned, the storyline hasn’t held up well over time. It’s frustrating because Bonnie never really got a chance to recover, and her conclusion feels particularly unfulfilling.

4) Elena and Jeremy Kill Kol

The storyline about finding a cure for vampirism hasn’t held up well over time, largely because it didn’t fit with the show’s existing mythology. A particularly problematic part of this was in season four, when Jeremy became a hunter and needed to finish his Hunter’s Mark tattoo. The idea was that completing the tattoo would lead to the cure, but this plot point felt forced and didn’t quite work.

Elena, hoping to become human again, helped kill the original vampire Kol Mikaelson, which unexpectedly wiped out all vampires connected to his lineage. The storyline about finding a cure ultimately felt unresolved and became increasingly complicated. To make matters worse, Jeremy still died. In retrospect, Elena’s actions come across as selfishly causing the extinction of an entire vampire line, and it doesn’t feel right.

3) Damon & Elena’s Sire Bond

Overall, *The Vampire Diaries* struggled with the topic of consent, and this was particularly noticeable in the relationship between Elena and Damon, especially because of the ‘sire bond.’ The show established that this bond between a vampire and the one who turned them is incredibly strong, to the point where it can affect someone’s ability to make their own choices. This became a problem when Elena became a vampire with Damon as her sire, leading to her developing very strong feelings for him.

Their connection develops into a romantic and sexual relationship. However, looking back, the nature of Elena and Damon’s connection feels unsettling. It’s unclear if Elena truly chose Damon freely, or if their bond was influenced by a supernatural compulsion that affected her feelings.

2) Alaric & Caroline’s Relationship

The relationship between Alaric and Caroline was always difficult, and looking back, it hasn’t improved. It’s hard to know where to begin. In Season 7 of The Vampire Diaries, Caroline – who started as a high school student before becoming a vampire – unexpectedly became pregnant with Alaric and Jo’s twin daughters.

Okay, so the show did this really strange thing with Caroline’s pregnancy – it felt kind of shoehorned in because the actress was actually pregnant in real life. But honestly, that wasn’t even the biggest issue. Later, they paired Caroline up *romantically* with Alaric, who had been her high school teacher! It didn’t last, thankfully, but looking back now, the whole student-teacher relationship – and them having kids together, no less – feels really uncomfortable and hasn’t held up well over time. It just doesn’t sit right with me as a viewer.

1) Stefan’s Sacrifice

I remember watching the finale of *The Vampire Diaries* and being blown away – it felt like such a huge, dramatic ending! Everyone really came together to fight the biggest threat to Mystic Falls, and Stefan… well, Stefan gave everything. It was presented as this incredibly selfless, heroic thing, but honestly, looking back now, it doesn’t really feel that way to me. It just feels…sad, and maybe even unnecessary.

Stefan’s sacrifice wasn’t really about saving anyone else; it seemed like he was trying to atone for all his past mistakes, and he’d made plenty. Looking back, it’s clear he was searching for an escape, and this situation presented itself. The fact that he also happened to save the day just adds to the problem, turning a very unhealthy way of dealing with things into something heroic.

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2025-09-26 02:13