The soft ratings for the premiere of the sixth season of The Vampire Diaries is probably a better indication of how far the series has gone off the rails than any of my commentary for those last several episodes.  This premiere had the unfortunate duty of repairing the damage done, and unfortunately, it didn’t quite get there.  It established that Mystic Falls remains a magic/vampire-free zone after the Travelers’ arc, and some new character dynamics are at play, but that’s about it.

 

As one might suspect, Mystic Falls is a much better place without all that supernatural hassle; it’s also rather boring.  So much so that the vampires would probably be better off accepting the situation and moving on.  Of course, that’s the problem.  Elena and Caroline can’t seem to move on, and while Stefan has, we’re still trapped in the cycle of watching him try to deal with how things have changed.

 

This includes Elena using supernatural hallucinogens to fool her brain into thinking Damon is still with her, so we’re stuck with Elena in an even more self-pitying mood than usual.  On the other hand, tripping like mad also makes her super-thirsty, and the protections within Mystic Falls don’t mean squat five feet past the border.  She needs to get a grip and help Alaric (newly vampy himself) settle in as the Giles of Whitmore.  As in, the series needs to find a new status quo before it wallows itself into oblivion.

 

All that said, the new status quo should, by all means, include a Damon that has returned from oddly-domestic Supernatural Purgatory.  Even better if the price of restoration is Bonnie staying there.  But even should Damon return sooner rather than later, the core issue remains the same: The Vampire Diaries suffers from extreme lack of direction.