Jumping on the bandwagon, the CW’s Vampire Diaries attempts a story we’re all used to seeing by now – super old vamp falls in love with young girl and drama ensues. It combines the Ann Rice and Stephenie Meyer versions of vampires along with the cookie-cutter lineup of most current CW evening dramas (One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, 90210) and completes it with fast-paced plotlines and faster deaths. Stefan and Damon are vampire brothers who are starting a new life in Mystic Falls, Virginia, a town with lots of troubling secrets and family ties dating back centuries. With Mystic Falls steeped in history and the show revolving around various pieces of jewelry and the powers they contain, what ancient truths will be discovered this season?
The brothers meet Elena (Nina Dobrev – Degrassi: The Next Generation), a high school student who happens to be a doppelganger of Stefan’s long dead love and the woman who turned them both, Katherine. Stefan, of course, falls for her immediately, with Damon close behind (apparently, Damon had also been in love with Katherine). Thus begins the clichéd love triangle storyline that still manages to be compelling and difficult to choose a side to support. The show’s producers did a great job with casting – even the more minor characters like Elena’s friends Caroline and Bonnie and brother Jeremy have their own independent stories that are revealed to us throughout the season and the actors who portray them do so with a surprising amount of grace. There are no Mary Sue characters here!
To be honest, Damon (the very sexy Ian Somerhalder – Lost) is the life – no pun intended – of this teenage melodrama. The sweet, martyr-type qualities of Boone are gone and replaced with a manipulative, angry, dangerously charming vamp. Damon chooses to use the traditional method of vampire feeding – human blood. He is quite powerful, kills for pleasure and employs the perks of his kind (telepathy, glamouring, speed, strength) liberally. He ends up using vapid Caroline for blood, sex and help when needed – she’s easy to control. His indifferent cruelty is what keeps this show from falling completely into the Twilight category.
Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley – 24, Army Wives) is cut from a different cloth than his brother. Stefan drinks animal blood to survive, tends to avoid manipulating weaker humans and is shockingly awkward despite being around for 146 years. He often stammers his words and is about as smooth as sandpaper. One of his first conversation with beautiful Elena goes something like this:
Elena: Nice ring.
Stefan: Oh, uh…it’s a family ring, kinda stuck with it. It’s weird, huh?
However, Stefan gets better throughout the season – or perhaps the actor just becomes more comfortable in his role. Regardless, expect to like him more mid-season.
Special Features
Vampire Diaries: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray comes as a four disc collection in a standard recycle case with the following extras:
1. Into Mystic Falls: Bringing Vampire Lore and the High School Experience From Page to Screen (HD) – for fans of the show, this 25 minute long documentary is well worth the time. It covers the pilot episode, special effects and a behind-the-scenes look at the beautiful cast, plus more
2. When Vampires Don’t Suck!: The Popularity of Vampires and the Fans Who Love Them (HD) – this is a fairly long featurette talking about the explosion of vampire lore and why it’s become such a popular topic these days. Pretty interesting, if you’re that into the reasons behind pop culture phenomenons.
3. BI: A New Breed of Vampires – Casting the Series
4. Unaired Scenes (SD) – Nine deleted scenes and it was probably right to leave them on the cutting room floor.
5. The Vampire Diaries: Vampires 101 – The Rules of the Vampire
6. Creators/Director Pilot Commentary
7. The Vampire Diaries: A Darker Truth Webisodes – A featurette containing four webisodes. Fans of this show may appreciate this feature.
8. Second Bite: Gag Reel
9. Downloadable Audiobook of the Bestselling Novel The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L.J. Smith – This is something I was not expecting. Fans of the series can download the 390+ minute audiobook, which is pretty bad ass, if I do say so myself!
Overall
All in all, Vampire Diaries: Season One was a pleasant surprise for this reviewer. What I assumed would be a season long sad interpretation of Twilight became a well thought out story with several interesting background arcs. Vampire Diaries has several storylines and new actors, but unlike primetime shows like Heroes, is able to keep up with them. Go pick it up today!
ComicsOnline gives Vampire Diaries: Season One 3 out of 5 wooden stakes to the heart
Want to check it out for yourself? Buy it on Blu-ray or DVD today!
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