I did an entire recap of how far we've come with this show.
Here's an excerpt. If you like what you read, then check out the whole post.
"Elena without humanity has endless possibilities. This, I think, is the major turning point in the show we have been waiting for. Enough with the epic journeys, and the deceiving and the killing. I want to see how a person evolves into a vampire and how a vampire evolves into a being that out-lives her kin.
Read the rest of this recap
here