All 8 The Vampire Diaries Seasons, Ranked Worst To Best

Summary

The Vampire Diaries doesn't decline in quality as it goes on, with some of the best moments appearing in later seasons.
Season 7 sees a shift in focus from Elena to the Salvatore brothers, with the show reinventing itself in her absence.
The final season of The Vampire Diaries is full of nostalgia and character returns, delivering on fan service.

The CW's long-running vampire love triangle TV show The Vampire Diaries boasts many popular characters and engaging storylines focusing on romantic and supernatural intrigue. The show, based on L. J. Smith's fantasy novel series of the same name, was created in the wake of Twilight's massive popularity. However, while Twilight brought vampires back into mainstream pop culture, the Vampire Diaries books were published long before the Twilight books. The series centers in a small Virginia town around a group of teens who become embroiled in the supernatural world.

Unlike many long-running TV shows, The Vampire Diaries doesn't necessarily get worse as it goes on. Some of the series' best moments appear in the later seasons. The show does suffer from the same problem that most fantasy shows do in their final seasons: By that point, the world's lore has been spent, and the writers are coming up with increasingly convoluted storylines to keep the show going. However, even the final season of The Vampire Diaries has its charm.

(Nina-Dobrev-as-Elena-Gilbert)-from-The-Vampire-Diaries-and-(Jensen-Ackles-as-Dean-Winchester)-from-Supernatural

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9 The Vampire Diaries Season 4

Elena Adjusts To Being A Vampire While Everyone Hunts For The Cure And The Story Sets Up Future Villains.

The fourth season of The Vampire Diaries is, in many ways, an in-between-things season. The main characters are on the hunt for a single dose of a cure for vampirism. Elena (Nina Dobrev) adjusts to being a vampire and the relationship drama continues. After a dramatic moment of Elena "choosing" Stefan (Paul Wesley) in the season 3 finale, they break up with little fanfare a few episodes into season 4. The rest of the season is dedicated to a will-they won't-they arc between Elena and Damon (Ian Somerhalder). Essentially, season 4 is Stelena's ending and Delena's beginning.

Season 4 has no truly potent villains of its own and spends most of its time setting up future villains.

But it is slow. Katherine and the Originals are still around, but the Originals are on their way out for their own spinoff. Season 4 has no truly potent villains of its own and spends most of its time setting up future villains. Stefan has some good character development as he asserts what he wants outside any relationship with Elena. Dobrev is terrifyingly stunning in a scene that all Vampire Diaries fans where Elena decides to burn down her childhood home. Season 4 has its moments, but it is ultimately just waiting for future plotlines to begin.

(Kayla-Ewell-as-Vicki-Donovan)-&-(-Bianca-Lawson-as-Emily-Bennett)-&-(-Chris-Wood-as-Kai-Parker)-from-the-vampire-diaries

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8 The Vampire Diaries Season 7

The Salvatores Take Center Stage Without Elena While Heretics Threaten Mystic Falls.

After Dobrev's exit from the series was announced, co-creator Julie Plec announced that the show would continue as long as Wesley and Somerhalder stayed on:

"I finally realized that my destiny on this show, creatively, is tied in to Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley. And I mean that in a really good way. As long as those boys who I now consider my friends want to keep telling the story, then I won't walk away from telling the story" (via EOnline).

The marketing for The Vampire Diaries season 7 reframes the story as being about the Salvatore brothers rather than Elena Gilbert – and maybe that's what it was all along. The show reinvents itself in the absence of the de facto main character. This includes a new narrative structure with flashforward scenes in the first half of the season.

Season 7 introduces the Heretics, who are vampire-witch hybrids. The Heretics Valerie (Elizabeth Blackmore), Nora (Scarlett Byrne), and Mary Louise (Teressa Liane) in particular are worthy additions to the show. The beginning of Bonnie (Kat Graham) and Enzo's (Michael Malarkey) relationship finally ends Enzo's tenure in the frenemy zone, but Caroline's (Candice King) pregnancy and relationship with the main cast's former high school teacher Alaric (Matthew Davis) were both awkward. Overall, season 7 has some good parts, they just don't come together into a great story.

7 The Vampire Diaries Season 8

The Vampire Diaries' Final Season Is Rife With Nostalgia And Character Returns.

best Vampire Diaries villains, return in all their wicked glory. How they and Elena return is not representative of the series' best writing, but they get to be there for the finale.

However, the storylines involving the sirens and the devil are widely criticized. Additionally, Tyler (Michael Trevino), a series regular up until season 6, deserved a better send off. There is also a new storyline about Matt Donovan's (Zach Roerig) family's role in the town's history, but it doesn't make sense to wait until the last season to do this. Yet the final season of The Vampire Diaries delivers on fan service that is genuinely enjoyable.

Vampire Diaries characters Damon and Elena next to the Mystic Falls sign

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6 The Vampire Diaries Season 5

Katherine's Storyline Overshadows The Bland Villains And Damon And Elena's Relationship.

The result of season 4's long build-up to the season 5 villains is disappointing. Stefan's doppelgänger Silas is no Katherine Pierce. The season's other antagonistic force is a group of witches known as the Travelers, who are vague and do not include many forceful individual characters. Elena and Damon are officially together, but their relationship is constantly disrupted by Damon's violent behavior. Such as when Elena finds out that Damon went on a secret revenge mission and killed several people just as they were beginning the "summer of their lives."

However, Katherine's storyline redeems season 5. After Elena forcibly gives Katherine the cure in the season 4 finale ending, Katherine is miserably adjusting to being human. But her world is shaken when a mysterious woman arrives in Mystic Falls, who reveals herself to be Katherine's long-lost daughter. Katherine also begins aging rapidly after the cure is taken from her body. It turns out that Dobrev can portray Katherine's vulnerability and wickedness side-by-side. Katherine delivers herself into enemy hands to see her dying daughter, then turns around for one last sassy goodbye to each of the main characters.

5 The Vampire Diaries Season 3

The Stefan-Elena-Damon Love Triangle Is At Its height, While The Full Original Family Appears.

Stefan is a Ripper once again and is traveling across the country, while Elena is back in Mystic Falls bonding with Damon. When Stefan inevitably returns, the promised love triangle of The Vampire Diaries is at its full strength. This can be annoying for people who are not fans of love triangles, but the actors pull it off. Meanwhile, Caroline and Klaus' (Joseph Morgan) very intriguing dynamic also begins to take shape.

Furthermore, the rest of the Original family – Esther, Mikael, Finn, Kol, and Rebekah – are revealed, and the season takes time to explore their complex relationships. Another satisfyingly twisty storyline involves Alaric – now Elena and Jeremy's (Steven R. McQueen) guardian after their Aunt Jenna's (Sara Canning) death – facing the consequences of having been resurrected so many times. The characters slowly discover that Alaric is in fact responsible for the latest string of murders in Mystic Falls, which he has no memory of committing.

Jeremy, Elena, and Klaus in The Vampire Diaries.

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4 The Vampire Diaries Season 1

Mystic Falls' World-Building And Damon's Character Are Both Developed Over The Course Of A Season.

The Vampire Diaries season 1 is the most Twilight-esque of the show, regarding Stefan and Elena's cloying romance. However, the progressive world-building is perfect. Each episode, more details about the history of Mystic Falls and the present-day activities of the Founders' Council are revealed. Part of this lore includes the looming legend of Katherine Pierce, who does not officially appear in the present timeline until the season 1 finale.

Additionally, Damon's slow character development is satisfying to watch. When Damon is first introduced as a straightforward villain, a relationship between him and Elena seems impossible. However, he progressively becomes an ally who viciously defends Stefan and Elena. Viewers start to wonder when Damon and Elena have some electric moments, such as when Damon steps in as Elena's escort for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Katherine finally showing up and Elena's birth mother, Isobel, (Mia Kirshner) saying that Damon is in love with Elena are both satisfying payoffs.

3 The Vampire Diaries Season 6

Kai Parker Is The Main Villain, While Elena & Damon, Stefan & Caroline, And Bonnie All Have Milestones.

In The Vampire Diaries season 6, the notorious Kai Parker is introduced as a charismatic and unapologetically evil villain alongside the Gemini Coven. The coven brings with it several more fan-favorite characters, including Alaric's love interest and Kai's twin sister Jo (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe), as well as some interesting mythology. Season 6 is also the culmination of Elena and Damon's relationship, depicting them reaffirming their commitment to each other before Elena leaves the show. Damon and Bonnie, after several seasons of adversity, become close friends.

Finally, season 6 says farewell to Caroline's mother, Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes (Marguerite MacIntyre). Liz's death is given the emotional weight it deserves, including a touching funeral scene and Caroline subsequently deciding to turn off her emotions. Few fantasy shows can have a season as strong as this so late in the series. Yet The Vampire Diaries season 6 is a crowd pleaser because of its fantastic new characters and relationships, as well as how it brings long-running storylines to a close.

Split image of Jeremy in the Gilbert House, Elena with a Rose, Klaus looking at someone, and Bonnie sitting down in The Vampire Diaries.

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2 The Vampire Diaries Season 2

Katherine Leaves Chaos In Her Wake, Caroline's Character Development Is Great, And The Originals Debut

The Vampire Diaries season 2 is almost universally regarded as the show's best season. Elena and Stefan are still together but Damon's feelings for her are out in the open, causing a tense dynamic between the three of them. Katherine has finally arrived in Mystic Falls and is as wicked and destructive as promised. Shortly after arriving, Katherine turns Caroline into a vampire, sending Elena's previously ignorant friend down a new path. Caroline's character development is through the roof this season as she becomes an independent and strong fighter.

Season 2 most notably introduces the Originals. Elijah (Daniel Gillies) appears as a foreboding and mysterious figure midway through the season. His brother Klaus is teased throughout the season, similar to how Katherine was in season 1. Additionally, this season includes the "Sun and Moon Curse" storyline of a curse allegedly binding vampires to the sun and werewolves to the moon.

It turns out both groups have been played when the curse is brilliantly revealed to be fake – Klaus and Elijah fabricated it so all vampires and werewolves would be on the lookout for the moonstone and the doppelgänger needed to break the curse keeping Klaus' werewolf side dormant. The introduction of iconic characters, the development of old favorites, and a clever overall storyline all make season 2 the best season of The Vampire Diaries.

1 Where Do Seasons Of The Originals & Legacies Rank?

The Originals Follows The Original Vampire Family While Legacies Examines The Next Generation

The Vampire Diaries might have been the show that started the entire franchise, but that actually doesn’t mean all of its series are the best. Arguably, The Originals is the better series overall. In large part, that’s because The Originals sticks to the main idea of the show being about the familial connections between its main characters. The middle seasons of The Originals are the best as that's when the show really hit its stride and was able to delve deeper into storylines.

Even though The Originals features plenty of its own melodrama, it isn’t as close to a teen soap opera as The Vampire Diaries or spin-off Legacies are. That’s because the vast majority of the characters are older and have lived, essentially, multiple lifetimes, compared to the characters in the other shows. It allows for the writers to tell more complex stories and delve into more of the psychological implications of the actions of the characters.

Of course, on the flip side, Legacies really leans into the teen soap aspects of the franchise. That’s because it’s focused on the generation of characters that follow The Vampire Diaries. The series is more fun than The Vampire Diaries as it plays with different genres, even including a musical episode, and really gets to stretch the lore of the universe. While it’s not as good as The Originals, it definitely is better than some of the worst episodes of The Vampire Diaries.

Ranking In The Franchise	Series	Season
17	The Vampire Diaries	Season 4
16	Legacies	Season 3
15	Legacies	Season 2
14	The Vampire Diaries	Season 7
13	Legacies	Season 4
12	The Vampire Diaries	Season 8
11	Legacies	Season 1
10	The Vampire Diaries	Season 5
9	The Vampire Diaries	Season 3
8	The Vampire Diaries	Season 1
7	The Originals	Season 1
6	The Originals	Season 5
5	The Vampire Diaries	Season 6
4	The Vampire Diaries	Season 2
3	The Originals	Season 4
2	The Originals	Season 2
1	The Originals	Season 3

What Legacies lacks is really the same stakes as the other two shows. For the most part, the series keeps its main cast intact and finds ways around their deaths. Instead, it repeatedly kills off recurring characters and guest stars. The other two shows had much higher stakes, willing to sacrifice main characters for the greater good in storylines, or just to keep the audience invested in what was happening next.

All three series help to paint a complete picture of The Vampire Diaries universe, so even the worst seasons of the franchise have standout episodes and characters that contribute to the story and a fan’s enjoyment of the show.