And in May 2015, they got their answer in one of the shows strongest hours.
EW spoke with executive producer Caroline Dries and choreographer Mimi Karsh about how exactly they created Elenas farewell.
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Credit: The CW
How do you craft a proper goodbye for your main character in only 44 minutes?
So they knew why she was leaving, but they still needed the how.
This was not a 2-hour episode, but they had to check that they do every relationship justice.
Particularly, for executive producer Caroline Dries, the biggest struggle came in crafting Elena and Stefans goodbye.
Its sort of like a puzzle.
For Tyler, Elena freed him from his literal chains to go be a werewolf once again.
And then there was Matt, who took her to Wickery Bridge.
As for Jeremy, his goodbye was originally longer than what aired.
That scene was actually longer but we had to cut here and there, Dries said.
It was her success story.
They had one of their most beautiful relationship moments while they were walking up that waterfall, Dries said.
Julie and I were talking with the writers, and I think a bolt of lightning hit Julie.
But then the show actually had to craft the dance, for which they turned to choreographer Mimi Karsh.
They had a pretty clear idea of what they wanted, Karsh said.
They wanted it to be like a dream sequence, romantic and beautiful.
As Caroline worded it, they wanted it to be likeBeauty and the Beast.
Its a little ode to that first meeting.
Because of this trust that you have with your partner, [you] completely let go.
It had to be a lot about connection and trust.
However, when the writers first came to Karsh, they didnt want any lifts in the dance.
They wanted it to be kind of subtle, Karsh said.
I tried to give them that with a little bit extra hoping that they would like it.
I threw in a few lifts just to see if they would keep it.
[Nina] was such a natural that it excused it for being choreographed, Dries said.
Karsh estimated that she had 15 minutes total to learn the dance.
Thankfully, due to rain during shooting, they also had time between takes to perfect things.
The first take that we did, everybody behind the camera was in tears, Karsh said.
It was such a beautiful moment.
It also didnt hurt that the dance was the last thing Dobrev filmed on the show.
And then it was over.
Elenas send-off was complete in a way thatVampire Diariesfans will never forget.
As for the episode, it too left fans with a sense of peace.
