Vampire Diaries: Why Matt Left A Whistle At Bonnie’s Funeral

Here’s the significance of why Matt Donovan brought a whistle to Bonnie Bennett’s funeral on The Vampire Diaries. Even though Stefan Salvatore killed Bonnie’s true love Enzo St. John, during The Vampire Diaries season 8, Bonnie got a happy ending of sorts when she was finally able to leave Mystic Falls and fulfill her dream of traveling the world, Bonnie’s only selfish act throughout the entire series. Time and again, Bonnie set her happiness aside to help her friends, and, unfortunately, one of her heroic acts led to her untimely demise.

During season 4’s penultimate episode, “The Walking Dead,” Bonnie lowered the veil to the Other Side to defeat Silas and used dark magic to reunite Elena Gilbert with her brother Jeremy. Despite her grandmother’s warning that Bonnie upsetting the balance of nature would have dire consequences, Bonnie couldn’t be dissuaded, and she died bringing Jeremy – who died trying to secure the Vampire Diaries‘ cure for vampirism – back to life. Bonnie tried to keep her death a secret from her friends, and Graham told The Hollywood Reporter why Bonnie didn’t want Elena and company to find out the bad news. “If she does tell anyone about it, it makes it real, which I think she was always trying to avoid.” During season 5, episode 4, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” Jeremy revealed the truth, and Bonnie’s friends gathered together at the cemetery to pay tribute to their friend.

Everyone in attendance contributed an item in remembrance of Bonnie. Caroline had cheerleader pom-poms, and Damon brought Bonnie’s grimoire. Nina Dobrev’s offering as Elena was a handful of feathers: a nod to season 1, episode 8 when Bonnie revealed her powers to her best friend. Matt brought a whistle, and audiences may have forgotten the significance behind his choice. In season 3, episode 5, “The Reckoning,” Matt and Bonnie reminisced about the previous summer when they both worked as lifeguards at the pool. Matt recalled his biggest problems were Elena breaking up with him and that he “sucked at CPR.” Later in the episode, Matt drowned himself to talk to his dead sister Vicki Donovan, relying on Bonnie to bring him back.

Following The Vampire Diaries series finale, series co-creator Julie Plec told TVLine that she had had “quietly shipped” Matt and Bonnie since “The Reckoning” and explained how “Monnie” almost happened. “The two people who have fought so hard to save the town and these people should get that. I thought it would be nice if they had each other. There was a pitch on the table where they had kids and a white picket fence and everything was dandy,” Plec said. It turns out there was more meaning behind that whistle than fans realized. It’s difficult to imagine viewers being on board with a Matt-Bonnie coupling since their on-screen chemistry always felt restricted to the friend zone. Fans were more interested in seeing Damon and Bonnie date and have a relationship as they did in L.J. Smith’s original book series.

While Roerig’s character appeared on season 1 of The Vampire Diaries spinoff Legacies, Graham’s Bonnie has not. She has been referenced on several occasions, being called “Aunt Bonnie” by Caroline Forbes-Salvatore’s daughters Lizzie and Josie. Although Bonnie’s specific whereabouts are unknown, Plec laid out Bonnie’s future for TVLine in 2017. The writers decided instead of Bonnie settling down with her childhood friend (and mayor of Mystic Falls),” … everybody else thought it was sexier that — with Enzo being her ultimate soulmate — that she could just go on and take dozens of lovers and enjoy the world until it was time to move on.” That feels like a well-deserved reward for The Vampire Diaries‘ heroic witch.

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