I wasn't happy to see Elena leave. I feel like something was lacking without her and she was the maiin character.
But I do think they did a decent job with the storyline after she left.
I didn't love Kluas the way everyone else did. I was more of an Elijah fan personally. But I did grow to like Klaus a lot more on the Originals. I agree Rebekah going back and forth was really irritating. I love Clare, utt it sucks she couldn't commit to the show because they did need her, considering the show was about their family. I loved Hayley but she did have annoying moments.
Legacies is awesome. I like it better than the Originals and it has potential to surpass TVD if its later seasons are good. But we'll see. I just love this whole universe.
If I had to rank all the series and seasons:
1. TVD season 1
2. TVD season 3
3. Legacies season 1
4. Legacies season 2
5. TVD season 6
6. TVD season 2
7. Originals Season 2
8. Originals Season 3
9. Originals Season 1
10. TVD Season 4
11. TVD Season 8
12. TVD Season 7
13. Originals Season 5
14. TVD Season 5
15. Originals Season 4
I'd prob rank TVD 1/3 and Legacies S1 as 10's, Legacies season 2 and TVD seasons 6/2 as 9's, Originals 2/3 as 8's, Originals s1 and TVD 4/8/7 as 7's. Then the rest as 6's. But nothing would rank lower than that.
As for the characters:
1. Damon
2. Hope
3. Stefan
4. Lizzie
5. Rafael
6. Elijah
7. Camille
8. Caroline
9. Alaric (mostly in Legacies and early seasons of TVD)
10. Josie
11. Klaus
12. Sophie (they killed her too soon)
13. Davina
14. Katherine (early seasons)
15. Rebekah
16. Kol
17. Dorian
Landon is okay sometimes, same with Jade. I like Sebastian a bit so far. Marcel was okay too and Kai was a fun character but I wouldn't say I liked him. Same with Clarke.
And ships:
1. Damon/Elena
2. Stefan/Caroline
3. Hope/Josie
4. Hope/Rafael
5. Elijah/Hayley
6. Klaus/Camille
7. Klaus/Caroline
8. Matt/Rebekah
9. Matt/Caroline
10. Josie/Penelope
I did like Stefan/Katherine at first but they kind of ruined her character for me. I also sort of ship Lizzie/Sebastian but I need a bit more from him. I could also totally get into Lizzie/Landon but I don't see them going there lol. Josie and Jade have potential too.