After the best season of the series, climbing television show “The Vampire Diaries” stunned its audience once again after completely leaving fans taken aback by the debut of season three that premiered September 15th, 2011. 

Season three of “The Vampire Diaries” once again showcases its main characters “Elena” (Nina Dobrev), “Stefan” (Paul Wesley), “Damon” (Ian Sommerhalder), “Caroline” (Candice Accola-King), and “Bonnie” (Kat Graham). As these characters return, some don’t come back the same as they were at the end of season two. One of the main characters in the series, Stefan, took a turn for the worse. Klaus, the main villain at the end of season two and most of season three, wants Stefan as a loyal companion in return for saving his brother Damon’s life, as they hunt for werewolf packs in the Smoky Mountains. Before Stefan met Elena, he was a bloodthirsty “ripper” of a vampire, which had not been brought out of him in a while. As this inner “ripper” gets brought out of Stefan, his relationships with Damon and Elena begin to fade. This turn of events led to the plot twist fans so desperately rave about. 

Even though Stefan became the blood-thirsty vampire Elena deeply hated, a thing that fans loved and brought more viewers was Damon and Elena’s blooming romance. By Stefan going off with Klaus, it forced Elena and Damon to spend more time looking for him together. As the season progressed, Elena came to terms with that if Stefan decided he did not want to come back, then she did not need him anymore. As she came to this conclusion, she became confused about her feelings for Damon. In episodes ten and nineteen, they even share a few kiss scenes, which fans were absolutely infatuated with. With the reveal of this new romance, it additionally renewed the franchise for a season four, which was never in the picture. 

Along with the new coming romance of Damon and Elena, another striking feature of season three was the crazy last episode of the season. In the episode, Klaus, the original vampire of Damon and Stefan’s vampire line, dies. That meant Damon and Stefan had a chance at death as well. As Damon was in a different town at the time, Matt takes Elena to go see him to make sure he was alright, but at the last minute she decides to go see Stefan, who was who she decided she actually wanted to be with. As her friend Matt is taking her back to Mystic Falls to see Stefan, Klaus’s Original sister, Rebekah, stands in the way of the road, causing Matt’s truck to fall off the bridge into the water. When the truck hits the water, Stefan sees the scene and jumps into the water to save Elena. As he goes to save Elena, she makes him save Matt instead, sacrificing her own life. Hesitant, Stefan saves Matt first. As time went on, there just was not enough time to save Elena, which caused her to die. But, before this all happened, Damon gave Elena some of his vampire blood to heal her wound from the previous episode, which only meant one thing–she was now a vampire. 

After all, season three of “The Vampire Diaries” changed so many things for so many characters–especially Damon, Stefan, and Elena. This season is recommended for ages fourteen and up, including more supernatural features. Personally, this season is my favorite and earns a five-star rating. Anyone who enjoys the fantasy and supernatural aspect would very much enjoy season three of “The Vampire Diaries.” In conclusion, season three of “The Vampire Diaries” was another great way to represent the show, early on. It is well loved by audiences and will live on to be one of the most popular seasons of the series.