The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season

It's sophomore year at Whitmore College for Elena (Nina Dobrev), but there's no slump in her continuing slide from mortality to undead-ness and back again. The spell cast by last season's mysterious Travelers has sealed the border to Mystic Falls against vampires, providing a haven, of sorts, for the mortals who live there. But it also means outrage and heartbreak to some on opposing sides of The Vampire Diaries' various cliques. And then there are the souls who are locked on the “other side,” such as Elena's tortured love object, Damon (Ian Somerhalder). If this paltry attempt at outlining the broad strokes of this series sounds like gibberish, try making sense of the more detailed doings within this soapy saga of millennial bloodsuckers. For anyone not intimately familiar with the story so far, the mix of teen angst, supernatural silliness, and a large cast of pretty young things cursed with bloodlust—or just plain old lust—will be a blur. It's hard to keep track of the relationships and the back-and-forth of potions, spells, and vampire/non-vampire rules without a scorecard. The biggest news here is a season finale departure for one of the show's major stars, which may signal that the whole sexy young vampire thing is growing a little long in the fang. Compiling all 22 episodes from the 2014-15 sixth season, extras include an audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a Comic-Con 2014 panel discussion, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. A strong optional purchase. (T. Fry)