The Vampire Diaries: The 15 Best Damon & Elena-Centric Episodes

Summary

• Damon and Elena’s love story in
  The Vampire Diaries
  was messy, epic, and full of drama, but they ultimately ended the show together, happy and human.
• Actor Nina Dobrev left the series in season 6, but returned for the season finale to give Damon his happy ending and wrap up their storyline perfectly.
• The Damon and Elena episodes showcased their atypical relationship, with big fights, intense drama, and moments of quiet romance that fans cherished.

After eight seasons of drama, tension, and even a sleeping curse, the best Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) episodes finally ended with their happily ever after in the finale of The Vampire Diaries. Their love was messy and epic — and sometimes a love triangle made it seem impossible — but it was worth seeing them end the show together, happy and human. After meeting early in the series when Damon was only interested in causing trouble, their love story carried the show through to the ending where they finally got the life that Elena always dreamed about.

What is impressive about the Damon and Elena episodes is that actor Nina Dobrev left the series in season 6, but there were so many big moments in the show before her departure. With that said, Dobrev returned as Elena at the end of the season finale to give Damon his happy ending and to wrap up their storylines perfectly. Any Damon and Elena rewatch covers the key beats of their relationship, from the highs through the lows, and it involves plenty of dances, fights, love, and death — along with some of the most memorable Vampire Diaries moments in the entire show.

“The Five”

Season 4, Episode 4

In Vampire Diaries season 4, Elena became a vampire, and it took a while for her to get acclimated to her new role in the world. Initially, Elena wanted to find a way to feed without human blood, but her body wasn’t handling the transition to becoming a vampire well. She needed help.

Damon was there to help Elena adjust to this new role, as well as the urges that came with it. The season 4 episode “The Five” was one of the Damon and Elena episodes that showed how important it was for Damon to help her, as he continued to show his love for her. In this episode, Damon teaches Elena how to feed without killing anyone, and the two share plenty of steamy moments while they attend a party here, proving it was always supposed to be Damon and Elena and never Stefan.

“I Know What You Did Last Summer”

Season 5, Episode 1

This season 5 episode showed Damon and Elena completely in love. They believed they had defeated Silas in season 4, and this premiere episode showed that they enjoyed an entire summer of love, all while Stefan was missing (he was at the bottom of the quarry). “I Know What You Did Last Summer” demonstrated that Damon and Elena could be a couple without Stefan’s presence looming over them.

However, this was also the start of something new as Elena started college and the turmoil began again as she and Caroline worried about people discovering their secret and Jeremy hid the fact that Bonnie was actually dead from them. Despite that, this episode showed Damon and Elena in a light-hearted and happy relationship at the top of the hour – something that was often a rare occurrence in The Vampire Diaries​​​​.

“I’m Thinking Of You All The While”

Season 6, Episode 22

The toughest season for a lot of fans of the series was the sixth, and a big part of that was because this was where Elena left the Vampire Diaries cast. This was the most depressing season when it came to the relationship between Damon and Elena, as that is when Elena said goodbye to the people she loved from her subconscious state. That is the part of the episode that many fans of the couple will remember best.

While linked to Bonnie, Elena was at least able to say her emotional goodbye to Damon. At this moment, they shared a passionate final dance on the road where they originally met, and it all ended with a kiss and Elena admitting she loved Damon before departing. It’s the last scene the two share for quite a while, though Elena was still alive as Dobrev left the series for other projects.

“Original Sin”

Season 5, Episode 3

The best Damon and Elena episodes proved that the two Vampire Diaries characters had one of the most atypical relationships on television. They had huge fights, a lot of drama, and more than enough jealousy thanks to the romantic triangle that existed With Damon’s brother since the start of the show. However, there were also quiet moments and these gave fans a chance to enjoy their relationship. The season 3 episode “Original Sin” gave fans a chance to see what it was like if the two could just have a quiet romance.

While so much of the series was devoted to Elena and her friends fighting to save one another or the world, sometimes, the characters simply needed a breather. They have just that at the start of the episode Of course, it was all ruined when Silas walked in, but, for a while, this showed what Damon and Elena deserved in life.

Following the interruption, the episode also allowed the audience to see Elena and Damon teaming up and working together to track down Stefan – with Katherine along for the ride. The dynamic between the three is fun to watch unfold, so it’s almost worth the interruption.

“The New Deal”

Season 3, Episode 10

For much of the first three seasons, Damon battled his bloodlust and his love for Elena. He was always seen as a loose canon by other characters, but he frequently held himself back when Elena and his brother asked him to. They were the two people in the world that he cared the most about, so even when he appeared to be on his worst behavior, he was often being the bad guy so that neither of them had to. Here, he finally decides to act on his own feelings despite his love for his brother.

That makes “The New Deal” one of the more important Damon and Elena episodes when it comes to their love story. In this episode, Damon has to battle himself when he weighs his love for his brother with his growing love for Elena. After Stefan halts the plan to kill Klaus and saves his brother, Damon decides to make his move for Elena. He said he would feel guilty about it, but he kissed Elena, and it was time for their relationship to kick into high gear.

“Bloodlines”

Season 1, Episode 11

This is the turning point for the two, marking the first time Elena starts to like Damon’s personality.

Damon and Elena don’t get off to the best start. Stefan warns his new girlfriend of his brother from the day they first meet, and Elena is (rightfully) horrified by the way Damon treats Caroline while he has her compelled in the early episodes of the series. She seemingly wants nothing to do with Damon, avoiding him as much as she can unless she has to interact with him for Stefan’s or Caroline’s sake.

However, this all changes in “Bloodlines.” After saving Elena from a car wreck, Damon takes Elena along on a road trip to Georgia, where they bond in a bar and first start to get to know each other for real. It allows the two of them to see one another beyond the filter of Stefan. It’s very much a friendship at this point, but this is the turning point for the two, marking the first time Elena starts to like Damon’s personality.

“The Departed”

Season 3, Episode 22

Except for one flashback scene, Damon and Elena spend the entirety of “The Departed” apart. Rushed out of town by Matt, Elena is finally forced to choose between Damon and Stefan. She ultimately chooses the latter but is forced off Wickery Bridge and killed before they reunite. It doesn’t sound like a recipe for a Delena episode, but the setup makes it critical.

Elena notes that she may have made a different choice if she’d met Damon first, only for a flashback to reveal that they did and Damon compelled her to forget. That flashback proves to be crucial because it’s the first of many moments that Elena has actually been compelled to forget that slowly begin to come back to her when she transitions to become a vampire. For fans eagerly waiting for the pair to unite, this was the first real sign they might be endgame.

“The Birthday”

Season 3, Episode 1

Season 3 opens with Damon and Elena amid their summer-long search for Stefan after he leaves town with Klaus. This doesn’t sound like a recipe for romantic development, but this intense period alone together has changed them. Their bond is tighter, and Damon is suddenly one of the people Elena trusts most. Damon also spends the episode actively protecting Elena from the knowledge that Stefan has become a Ripper under Klaus’ instruction. His own love for Elena sees him wanting to preserve the image Elena has of Stefan, even if he would rather she be with him.

This episode is full of strong scenes, like when Damon returns Elena’s necklace as a birthday gift. But it’s the retrospective meaning that makes it such a pivotal episode. Later, in season 6, Elena reveals that this was the moment she realized she loved Damon, adding a new layer of tension to the rest of the episodes before they eventually get together.

“As I Lay Dying”

Season 2, Episode 22

It’s more of a goodbye kiss than anything else, but the episode confirms that, despite her protests, she does have romantic feelings for her boyfriend’s brother.

Damon and Elena’s tentative friendship seems to come to an end when Damon, drunk and upset by Elena’s rejection, snapped her brother’s neck. This is usually a point of no return, but Jeremy is wearing his Gilbert ring and comes back to life – and, slowly, the two repair their friendship. By the time the season 2 finale rolls around, Elena cares for Damon just as much — if not more — than she did before.

This episode features Damon dying from a werewolf bite. While he initially tries to take his own life to speed up the process, Stefan stops him. As Damon begins hallucinating while out searching for a cure, however, the only person he wants to seek out is Elena. Even while hallucinating and not completely understanding what’s happening, he’s able to stop himself from killing her when he believes she’s Katherine under the influence of the bite and allows her to take him home.

With him seemingly dying of a werewolf bite, Damon admits he cares for Elena, and she kisses him for the first time. It’s more of a goodbye kiss than anything else, but the episode confirms that, despite her protests, she does have romantic feelings for her boyfriend’s brother.

“Heart Of Darkness”

Season 3, Episode 19

The tension between Damon and Elena is palpable throughout most of the third season. With Stefan out of the picture for the most part, Elena struggles to fight her growing attraction to Damon — before finally giving in during “Heart of Darkness.” While on a road trip to find Jeremy and contact Rose on the Other Side, Elena learns what Damon did for Rose in her final days. Overwhelmed, she initiates their first make-out session in the middle of a motel hallway. This culminated years of tension, making this one of the show’s most anticipated episodes.

Though the two had kissed before this, the important part of this episode is that Elena chooses to kiss Damon, and continued to kiss him, without the threat of death looming over them. Most of Elena’s actions toward Damon in the past had been born out of a fear of losing him, or as a way to say goodbye in the event that he didn’t make it through. This is Damon and Elena actively choosing one another, if only for a few minutes, instead of anyone else.

“Miss Mystic Falls”

Season 1, Episode 19

Elena and Damon are just becoming real friends when Stefan goes off the rails in season 1. His timing isn’t great since when he does, it’s the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, and his pursuit of bloodlust leaves Elena alone and at risk of humiliation in front of the entire crowd since Stefan promised to escort her. Thankfully, Damon steps in and takes Stefan’s spot for the dance.

It’s a first in many ways: Damon’s first real romantic gesture, the first obvious display of his and Elena’s powerful chemistry, and, as Elena reveals to Alaric in season 6, the first time she finds Damon attractive. More than anything, this episode highlights the difference between him and Stefan. Though Damon doesn’t know exactly what’s going on with his brother at this point, he does know that he can’t allow Elena to be humiliated or for a promise to her to be broken.

“Do You Remember The First Time?”

Season 6, Episode 7

By the time season 6 rolls around, Elena has had plenty of experience with death as several friends and family members have been killed, but Elena refuses to process Damon’s loss. Instead, she asks Alaric to remove all memories of their relationship – only for Damon to return to Mystic Falls, alive and well, after escaping Kai’s prison world.

Desperate to remind her of what they’ve lost, Damon tries to help Elena remember key moments from their time together. It’s heart-wrenching to watch — especially considering how long it took them to get together the first time — but also delivers one of their most romantic scenes, when he thinks back to the time he promised her forever and kissed her in the rain.

It’s bittersweet because the audience enjoys the trip down memory lane and so much effort is placed on getting Elena to remember her love for Damon, but the two don’t get back together by the end of the hour.

“Rose”

Season 2, Episode 8

Even though Damon’s emotions for Elena were clear long before “Rose,” this is the first episode where they are completely laid out on the table. When Elena is kidnapped by Rose and Trevor, Damon joins Stefan to rescue her — and Stefan makes it very clear that he knows his brother is in love with his girlfriend. Damon doesn’t deny it.

In fact, Damon and Stefan agree to put aside any of their brotherly squabbles for the foreseeable future to work together to keep Elena safe. They decide that her safety and their love for her are more important than anything else.

Damon later says those three little words to Elena for the first time before erasing the memory of his revelation. It’s the first truly selfless thing Damon does in the show, and it’s a turning point for the way he treats Elena moving forward. This is where Damon truly starts to grow.

“Graduation”

Season 4, Episode 23

Damon and Elena’s relationship only gets more tumultuous once it’s officially romantic. After the revelation of the sire bond and then Jeremy’s death, it seems like there’s no chance they’ll ever get to be together for real. So many obstacles are continually placed in their way that it seems inevitable that it will end in tragedy. Even in this episode, Damon ends up shot with a bullet that is laced with werewolf venom and believes he’ll die without Klaus there to cure him. He spends the episode battling a ghostly vampire hunter with Elena angry with him.

But then there’s the end of “Graduation”. With the sire bond now broken, Elena confirms that her love for Damon is true and chooses him over Stefan without any outside influences. It’s one of the most satisfying Delena episodes, marking the end of The Vampire Diaries love triangle trope once and for all, and it’s the beginning of their official relationship.

“My Brother’s Keeper”

Season 4, Episode 7

The clock starts ticking on Stefan and Elena’s relationship the moment she becomes a vampire. It finally comes to an end in season 4’s “We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes”, with Damon and Elena kicking things into gear in the subsequent episode, “My Brother’s Keeper.” Considering Elena cites Damon as the main reason for her breakup, the entire 40 minutes are filled with delicious tension for the audience to enjoy.

When Elena moves into the Salvatore House as Jeremy’s vampire hunter instincts take over, Stefan decides he needs to leave to give himself space from her. Finally, the timing is right for Damon and Elena to get together as they spend the night together after a dance by the fireplace. Even with the revelation of the sire bond between them, it’s a massive moment to see both give in to their emotions after repressing them for so long on Vampire Diaries.