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 The Vampire Diaries

 

(July 13th, 2009. Editor)               Nina Dobrev, Steven R. McQueen, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder star in the dark and gloomy one hour drama The Vampire Dairies, airing Thursday this fall on The CW Network.

Four months after the tragic car accident that killed their parents, 17-year-old Elena Gilbert (Dobrev) and her 15-year-old brother, Jeremy (McQueen) are still trying to cope with their grief and move on with their lives. Elena has always been the star student who is beautiful, popular and involved with school and friends, but now she finds herself struggling to hide her sadness from the world. As the school year begins, Elena and her friends are fascinated by a handsome and mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore (Wesley). Stefan and Elena are immediately drawn to one another, and Elena has no way of knowing that Stefan is a centuries-old vampire, struggling to live peacefully among humans, while his brother Damon (Somerhalder) is the embodiment of vampire violence and brutality. Now these two vampire brothers, one good, one evil, are at war for Elena’s soul and for the souls of her friends, family and all the residents of the small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. 

This one may have a plot that is based on the series of books by the same name, and written by L. J. Smith, but it takes much of its style from the recent feature film success "Twilight". The look of this project is dark and creepy. The pace of the dialogue is slow and deliberate in order to build the suspense. The music is used to enhance the dialogue and create excitement where none really exists. All of the standard tricks of a horror film are there. The circumstances are different enough that this effort can be called original, but there are also enough similarities that it doesn't take long to realize where the inspiration for this series came from.

Because this effort is cut together like a big screen horror thriller, the editors try to add the usual drama. The music signals a sudden end to every scene as the scene the screen turns to black after a long look at an artistic image. I am all for a drama that builds in a little production value, but when it is used a vehicle to forward the story, it creates too many "Red Herring" moments without a big payback. In a horror film, the writers can establish the plot and the characters and then rip them all to shreds inside of 2 hours. By taking that premise to the small screen and spreading it over a number of episodes, the big payoff never comes.

The conflict between the two brothers, both vampires and therefore immortal and almost indestructible, creates lots of chances to bust up the scenery. The pilot episode does not explain why Damon has promised to deliver an eternity of pain on Stefan. But he seems to be living up to his end of the deal.

Compared to the usual teen drama, this one is swinging for the fences. In addition to all of the usual drama associated with any group of teens, this one can kick it up a notch with all of the deep and dark vampire stuff. The acting is strong, the writing is strong, the production has a great look and feel. But all of these things may not spell success. If their audience does not "Suspend Their Disbelief" and buy into this one, it will quickly disappear from the CW lineup. Vampires are pretty sexy right now, so I'm giving this one a chance. Check it out this fall.

 

 

Editor

 

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