After a long and ultimately frustrating season, The Vampire Diaries wrapped things up with a bittersweet episode that left viewers with equal amounts of closure and uncertainty. For as much as the latter half of season six was overshadowed by the announcement that star Nina Dobrev would be leaving the show, her exit, despite inducing a fair share of tears, wasn’t nearly as defining an event as the moment called for. Instead of closing the door on this chapter of the series completely, the writers once again conveniently created a loophole that left it ajar, much like their extended use of the “other side,” which allowed them to keep characters available for future storylines season after season.
The irony of Damon (Ian Somerhalder) being on the precipice of having it all, and then having it taken from him, won’t be lost on fans. In fact, it mirrors exactly what they’ve seen since Elena (Dobrev) first admitted she had feelings for him. Their entire relationship has been an endless series of ‘what ifs.’ Fans have rooted for the star-crossed lovers to finally get a real chance, but it doesn’t seem like that was ever in the cards for these two characters. With Elena semi-permanently out of the picture, Damon’s future is in a sense more uncertain than when he disappeared into the mist at the close of last season.
Although the pacing of this episode was slow going, there was enough happening in “I’m Thinking of You All the While” to make it all a little hard to wrap your head around. Even with Elena’s current state of suspended consciousness being a bit on the indecisive side, the writers didn’t spare fans when it came to delivering a hefty body count along with an overwhelming amount of blood. They also cemented the farewell theme that was the foundation of this episode by adding a few more familiar faces to the list.