The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 7, 2015

Critics -- they are many, and they are loud -- of the "teenage revolution" in vampire literature, cinema, and television often point to Twilight as the spearhead culprit, spreading their burning criticism almost equally between Author Stephenie Meyer's novels and the feature films that followed. That's the obvious place to start, and it's not wrong. Young, fresh faced, clear skinned, finely toned, perfectly manicured, and in Meyer's world, sparkling vampires have replaced the darker, broodier bloodsuckers of years past where Horror was horrific, not a bad hair day or, omg! a pimple. But Meyers didn't invent the genre. It has a fairly long, and indeed rich, history prior, whether one wants to consider the rougher and funnier yet still glamorous worlds of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel or, flipping the page to the written word, Author L. J. Smith's The Vampire Diaries which hit shelves way back in the early 1990s, long before the names Edward and Jacob became synonymous with the grisly transformation of vampirism from dark and scary to peppy and hunky. Smith's books were, and remain, quite the hit. Readers of one site dedicated to such books ranked the series third in the list of best "Vampire Books for Young Adults." The literary series is is certainly not short on content for fans to devour, longer, even than CW's television adaptation that premiered back in 2009. Now six seasons strong with a seventh on the way, The Vampire Diaries -- either on the page or on the screen -- may not be the first name on the tip of the tongue when the conversation invariably switches to one's allegiance to Team Edward or Team Jacob, but it's practically every bit as influential and built on a world and lore that's substantially more detailed and deep than anything Meyer's creation has going for it, if going only by sheer volume of material alone.

It's Vampire Diaries time!

From the packaging: After spending an entire summer heartsick, grieving the loss of both her boyfriend and her best friend to the Other Side, Elena (Nina Dobrev) returns to Whitmore College for her sophomore year determined to move on. But Damon (Ian Somerhalder) refuses to give up and makes his way back to Elena's side, only to realize he'll have to make her fall in love with him all over again. With Bonnie (Kat Graham) trapped in the prison world, Stefan (Paul Wesley) on the outs with Caroline (Candice Accola) and Mystic Falls under an anti-magic spell, convincing Elena to start over will be no easy feat.

The Vampire Diaries thrives on a wide scope and diversity within its bubble. Season six continues in that tradition, offering a full slate of characters and happenings -- relationships, tragedies, uncertainties, dilemmas -- that reach far beyond the immediate. Characters -- including some familiar faces returned for another round -- begin the season in various states of change, unrest, and vacillation following the culminating events from season five and, obviously, deeper back into the program. The season further maintains the series' deep dabbling in elements beyond vampirism that take the show in some peculiar directions that allow for heightened drama but, more important, a more sprawling sense of character connection, separation, and growth throughout the run. Things get pretty wild towards the end, par for the course for the series' blend of sop opera theatrics and bloody violence, and for fans it should prove to be a satisfying, edge-of-seat journey through the latest goings-on in a Mystic Falls that, after this season, promises to never be the same again. As always.

Below is a list of all season six episodes. Summaries are provided courtesy of the insert included in the Blu-ray packaging. Spoilers follow.

Disc One:

• I'll Remember: After a summer spent coping with the loss of Damon in a potentially dangerous way, Elena returns to Whitmore College for her sophomore year.
• Yellow Ledbetter: Caroline is shocked to discover what Stefan has been up to. Damon and Bonnie reluctantly band together to figure out how they're going to get back home.
• Welcome to Paradise: Stefan returns to Mystic Falls looking for Enzo and is caught off guard by the change in Elena. Damon and Bonnie suspect they may not be alone.
• Black Hole Sun: Damon and Bonnie realize the past may provide clues to going home, forcing Damon to relive one of the worst days of his life. Tripp (Colin Ferguson) shares a dark secret with Matt.
• The World Has Turned and Left Me Here: With homecoming around the corner, Elena invites Liam (Marco James) to attend a party at the corn maze. Tyler's werewolf curse is put to the test.
• The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get: Alaric asks Elena to find out why Jo (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) can't be compelled. Damon gets upsetting news and tries to take matters into his own hands.

Disc Two:

• Do You Remember the First Time?: Jo opens up to Alaric about her own tragic past. Tyler and Liv (Penelope Mitchell) grow closer, and Damon stumbles upon a startling clue that renews his hope.
• Fade Into You: As Caroline and Elena prepare to host "Friendsgiving," they receive some hopeful news from Alaric and Stefan. Plus, Kai (Chris Wood) revisits his dark past.
• I Alone: Liv helps Damon and Elena with their plan to get Bonnie back, but things take a turn and she's left with a difficult choice. Enzo's actions cross the line.
• Christmas Through Your Eyes: With the holidays approaching, Bonnie attempts to replicate her favorite holiday traditions while reminiscing about happier times in Mystic Falls.
• Woke Up with a Monster: Kai holds Elena captive while learning to control his newly acquired magic. Stefan travels with Caroline to North Carolina, but he's caught off guard when Enzo shows up.
• Prayer for the Dying: After Caroline's plan to cure her mother takes a devastating turn, Elena, Stefan, and Damon gather at the hospital. The merge plan spirals out of control.

Disc Three:

• The Day I Tried to Live: Elena, Jeremy, and Damon attempt to send Bonnie a message on her birthday, but they make an unsettling discovery. Jeremy contemplates leaving Mystic Falls.
• Stay: On Jeremy's last day in Mystic Falls, Elena puts on a brave face. Stefan and Caroline grow closer as they prepare for sherif Forbes (Marguerite MacIntyre) to live out her final days.
• Let Her Go: Elena grows concerned when she notices a change in Caroline's behavior. Damon revisits painful memories involving his mother, Lily (Annie Wersching).
• The Downward Spiral: After shutting off her humanity, Caroline gives her friends an unexpected ultimatum. Damon's world is rocked when he learns devastating news about his mother.
• A Bird in a Gilded Cage: Damon travels to the 1903 prison world. Enzo and Alaric's attempts to control Caroline go awry. An unexpected gift from Bonnie shakes Damon to his core.
• I Never Could Love Like That: While helping clean up Stefan and Caroline's latest killing spree, Elena discovers Jo is pregnant, while a round of karaoke leaves Tyler and Matt on a bad note.

Disc Four:

• Because: Damon considers what life would be like with Elena if they weren't vampires. Enzo learns the surprising truth about the day he was turned into a vampire.
• I'd Leave My Happy Home For You: Elena asks Bonnie and Joe for advice. With Lily on a downward spiral, Enzo asks Stefan to intervene. Matt takes his frustrations out on Tyler.
• I'll Wed You in the Golden Summertime: It's Alaric and Jo's wedding day. After uncovering major news Damon has been keeping from him, Stefan gives his brother some perspective on a future with Elena.
• I'm Thinking of You All the While: Things take a dramatic turn when an uninvited guest attends the wedding, leaving Elena in terrible jeopardy, and Damon must make the most difficult decision of his life in the emotional and devastating season finale.

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season bites into Blu-ray with a rather impressive 1080p transfer, framed at an HDTV-friendly 1.78:1. Despite an unhealthy level of noise and a predisposition to crush -- nighttime or otherwise dark and deeply shadowy scenes and spots are prone to detail absorbing death blows -- the image is rather striking. Details are well defined and sharp, with clothing textures impressive throughout and faces -- even as they're almost all of the smooth, shiny, blemish-free kind -- as revealing as possible. Colors are fine, if not a bit warm, but the preponderance of darker shots leaves the image lacking in a truly consistent and blindingly bright palette. Brighter outdoors don't exactly sparkle, but natural greens, louder clothing hues, and various support shades enjoy good all-around saturation. Flesh tones push mildly warm, too. The source isn't home to an overt level of macroblocking, aliasing, jagged edges, or other eyesores. This is a good all-around image that suits the show's clear-skinned characters and contrastingly bleak overlay very well.

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season saturates sound systems with a potent and prolific DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that's on the high end of aggressiveness for a TV show. The track is packed with dynamically hefty details, weighty support pieces that send a lot of sound into the listening area but usually with enough clarity, definition, and smart placement to help better define the raw power on display. Music is detailed and evenly spaced, flowing naturally through the stage and enjoying a welcomingly immersive surround posture. Background ambience is alive and full in any number of locations. The track effortlessly draws listeners into classrooms, restaurants, parties, the great outdoors, and other areas where any and every chance to spring a world to life isn't missed. Dialogue chews up most scenes, however, and the spoken word delivers the expectedly lifelike articulation and prioritization found on the best tracks. Fans should be thrilled with this track; it does all it can, and then some, to bring the varied world of The Vampire Diaries to immersive, detailed sonic life.

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season contains extra content spread across all four discs. A voucher for a UV digital copy (expiration date 9/1/18) is included with purchase.

Disc One:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from the episodes "Black Hole Sun" (1:34) and "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" (0:52).

Disc Two:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from the episodes "Do You Remember the First Time?" (2:36), "Fade Into You" (1:13), "Woke Up with a Monster" (1:39), and "Prayer for the Dying" (2:33).

Disc Three:

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director/Executive Producer Julie Plec discusses the episode "Let Her Go."
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from the episodes "Stay" (0:32), "Let Her Go" (6:48), and "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" (1:00).

Disc Four:

• The Vampire Diaries: Best. Reactions. Ever. (1080p, 6:09): From the disc: "The cast of The Vampire Diaries reads the most outrageous Twitter reactions to this season's major events." The cast has a bit of fun excitedly reading various Tweets concerning major events from the show and the fan base's emotional reaction to them.
• The Vampire Diaries: Good Bite and Good Luck (1080p, 13:31): From the disc: "The executive producers and cast of The Vampire Diaries say a final farewell to Nina Dobrev, Steven R. McQueen, Marguerite MacIntyre, and Michael Trevino after six memorable years." A look at the cast members who moved on from the show. The piece offers a fairly detailed look back at them and why they're gone while also sharing some good memories from their run throughout the series.
• Second Bite: Gag Reel (1080p, 4:17): A quick look through some of the funnier takes that didn't make it into the show.
• Come Visit Georgia PSA (1080p, 2:33): A mock Vampire Diaries-themed advertisement for state tourism.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from the episode "I'm Thinking of You All the While" (2:08).
• The Vampire Diaries Comic-Con Panel 2014 (1080p, ): From the disc: "Cast and producers discuss what fans can expect in the upcoming sixth season." TV Guide Magazine's Damian Holbrook shares the stage with Ian Somerhalder, Kat Graham, Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Julie Plec, and Matt Davis who all share some thoughts and answer fan questions. The piece intermixes various clips from the series.

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Six seasons is deep into a show's run to say the least, which means the fans are, at the very least, relatively happy with it, enough to keep watching, and that there's more than a hundred episodes of enjoyment for newcomers to discover and veterans who started back at the beginning to re-explore. Longtime fans should enjoy what this season has to offer. There's plenty happening and quite a few predictable and non-predictable events alike that keep it moving without sacrificing the core integrity. Newcomers should clearly start at the beginning, even as season six proves relatively newcomer friendly, at least insofar as folding over past events into a fairly relatable narrative flow and ensuring that a complex and deeply populated universe is at least somewhat accessible for those who wish to get their first taste this deep into the show's run. The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season does deliver a Blu-ray package worth owning, featuring strong 1080p video, impactful lossless sound, and a decent array of bonus content. Recommended to series fans.