The news that Nina Dobrev is leaving The Vampire Diaries at the end of its present sixth season blew a small hole in the internet on Monday evening, raising questions about the show. The aging drama is no longer the CW's highest-rated series, but it's still a consistent performer for the network, has experienced a creative rebirth in Season 6, and has already been transformed for Season 7.
Initial fan reaction to Dobrev's imminent exit was separated, with some folks rejoicing as if Elena was the terrific witch of Mystic Falls and Dorothy had just thrown water on her. Others accused executive producer Julie Plec, which has developed something of a mutual refrain whenever something doesn't go their way. And still others promised to leave watching the series completely. A few people are persuaded that The Vampire Diaries will work the same body-swapping method used by its spin-off The Originals to preserve the character of Rebekah around after Claire Holt declared she was abandoning the series, letting new actors to adopt the established role, Doctor Who-style.
Dobrev has kept the character of Elena, as well as the three other characters who use in common with her face. Appointing another actress to take her place would be offensive to both the actress and to The Vampire Diaries' longtime supporters. But the show's current reestablishment of the cure narrative in "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" delivers a possible way out, as the writers could heal Elena's vampirism and murder her or cure her vampirism and force her away from Mystic Falls. The first alternative seems more possible, since Elena's only "family" is in Mystic Falls and she's not going to join Jeremy in his vampire-hunting actions. But the point is, there's really no reason for the series to have brought back one of its most-hated past storylines unless it's going to come into play for Elena later on.
The actress, who plays Elena Gilbert (as well as a variety of other characters) on the CW drama, broke the news on Monday to her slew of Instagram followers in a drawn-out message that looked back on her time on the hit show.
I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime. I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger. I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there's still so much more to come before the season finale in May.
Regardless of all of the departures the series has been dealing with over the last few months, The Vampire Diaries is still a pretty big performer for the CW. With that in mind, it's should be no astonishment that the CW has already improved the drama for the 2015-2016 TV season. Imagine it to look very altered without Nina Dobrev, but perhaps, her exit will let others to step up and prosper.
