There is no way to equate the two, otherwise you are trying to rewrite what happened.   Rebekah, Matt and Jeremy are all responsible for the events that led to Elena’s death, but it was Stefan’s fault for not saving Elena, who was still very much alive when he swam away and left her trapped in the submerged vehicle.   It would have made more sense and would have been more acceptable had it been Rebekah that actually killed Elena only to later find out Elena had vampire blood in her system.   Unfortunately, the writer’s pen put Stefan completely responsible for Elena’s human death and nothing will change it now…absolutely nothing….. and I have been pouting about it all summer. That aside, I am looking forward to Season 4 and the new stories it will be bring. 

Since Elena was fully conscience after the truck hit the water, Stefan had a choice: undo Elena’s seatbelt so she could save herself & he himself save Matt or listen to the gesturing Elena and save Matt only. That’s the way it went down. The accident didn’t kill Elena, Elena refused to get out of the truck…and Stefan obeyed her wishes. That’s not unfair and certainly not untrue. Elena refused to continue fighting for her life, and Stefan let her. I do not believe that Stefan intentionally killed Elena, but what I said was the choices Stefan & Elena made is what ultimately killed her. That is very fair and certainly very true.

I agree that Rebekah shares a part of the blame for causing the accident, however, if your going to go that route, Matt should have hit her because he knew she was a 1000 year old vampire who would have surely healed. It was an idiotic chain of events that led to Elena’s death, beginning with Matt & Jeremy’s plan to get her out of the Gilbert house to begin with.

At the end of it all, Elena had a choice, she could of at least let Stefan undo her seatbelt so she could save herself while he was helping Matt. That’s not what happened. Elena chose to stay in the truck and Stefan chose to obey Elena’s wishes by saving Matt first. That’s the way it was written, and that’s a very fair assessment of the turn of the events in the season finale. It is also very fair to say that Stefan & Elena’s choices is what ultimatley killed Elena, because that’s exactly what happened.

An interesting detail you pointed out about the photo but I probably wouldn’t read too much into it. We could also say why is Elena turned towards Damon while he back is closer to Stefan? Or why is Stefan dressed in a white shirt (symbolizing good) yet his face is half shadowed? All of us have analyzed past promo photos and in the end the positioning of people hasn’t really meant much.

Not that Elijah isn’t a hot guy but I can’t get past seeing him as a brother or uncle figure to Elena. Thinking of them together kind of creeps me out. LOL. I’m up for some “heart snatching” though.

Maybe Tyler’s “friend” will be more than that. We could have a hug season of “let’s rotate our partners”. :)

The will to live was missing from Elena’s psyche for whatever reason.  Her dad was a doctor, perhaps he should have referred to a good psychiatrist. Who knows.  And at this point the damage is most certainly done.

I am hoping that Stefan has a handle on his addiction and is now able to drink human without going “uncontrollably” into ripper mode.  I do want to see the Ripper in full ripper mode but without the guilty and with control.  Of all of the vampires, I think Stefan is the deadliest. It would really be nice to see just how deadly he can be when it comes to defending his very existence. That is part of what I am looking for in the coming season. 

I want to see wonderful fight scenes with vampires jumping through the air and using all of their vamp power to defeat enemies that dare to come to Mystic Falls.

I want to see a real epic love story. One that will last throughout the centuries.  I think that love story is Caroline and Klaus.  Their love story has been building for over a season and it just gets better.  And because of the time invested in the show already, I don’t want to start over with a new set of characters that will take another season or two to show their epic love.  We already have Caroline & Klaus, Bonnie & Jeremy and possibly Rebekah and Damon. 

 Technically Rebekah did not kill Elena because Elena did not die on impact. 
Elena was still alive, conscious and coherent while trapped in the submerged vehicle when Stefan arrived on the scene. At Elena’s request Stefan saved Matt first, which is what resulted in Elena’s death.   I cannot accept that a vampire could not have saved both Matt and Elena.  After all, Stefan did rip the door off and did it against the water pressure, but yet I am to believe he suddenly could not save two people. Give me a break!  A vampire is blessed with speed, strength and agility and could have raised the vehicle out of the water. 

There is no consistency here at all, nor is it symbolic.  Elena and Stefan were lovers, which means he absolutely should have saved her first, especially if there was only a choice to save one.  Stefan thought he had saved Katherine, and did not know Elena when the accident with the parents took place.  He had to get over the shock of looking into what he thought was Katherine’s face, who was a person that he loved and who he thought had perished in the church fire in 1864.  By the time he returned to save the parents, they had already drowned.  There is no comparison between the two accidents.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree. 

Maybe, when Elena wakes up as as vampire, she will hate Stefan and love Damon. And Damon doesn’t want her because she chose Stefan. Now that there is no reason to kill Klaus, all the vampires unite against witches. Stefan is still the same, but gets darker and Damon will be first season Damon and Vampelena turns too much Kat-like, and he wants only sex with her. Stefan & Bex, Klaus & Caroline, and finally hot vampire sex Delena. Bonnie will have hard time, betraying her friends. It is about the love triangle, and there has not been really Elena being with Damon, few kisses, that it. It is not Twilight. Goodie vamps and eternal love Stelena…boring! Uncle Elijah for Kat, if Kat appears. But it will be hard for Nina doing two feisty vamps. Originals was season 3. Now hope there is something that we cannot expect. Thre are still so many questions without answer. I’m so exited.

 Yep!  The disagreement is regarding Rebekah.  ;)

I think that Rebekah should be held responsible for driving Elena and Matt off the bridge, especially when Elijah realises what she has done. The writers have already said that Rebekah will be pretty hated by everyone, but Elijah should also confront her. Its about time that the Originals faced up to what they did to the Petrova bloodline, was it Esther or Mikael’s idea to use Tatia,s blood? My guess is on Mikael. Oh and an appearance by Tatia please, preferably as an avenging ghost or angel.