Well, I’m going to go out on a limb here. With ‘creatures of the night’ being all the rage nowadays thanks to Stephenie Meyer and her band of wacky, glittery vamps and muscle-toned, shirtless werewolves, the last thing I wanted to see was another teenage angst ridden vampire story. So when I first heard of them, I avoided both the books and the TV series of “The Vampire Diaries” like the plague. I had my fill of the “Twilight” books and movies and figured that I would just be in for more of the same.
Back when the first season was released on Bluray, I was kind of forced to watch them however…. and I am SO glad I did. I was hesitant, as I mentioned, having heard a few things about the series that weren’t too promising. Then, add in the fact that it was overseen by Kevin Williamson… and I expected “Dawson’s Creek” with fangs. And admittedly, the first couple of episodes gave me the impression that it might go that way, but once I got past the third episode… I could see all bets were off.
The series looked great, was very well-written and the characters weren’t as one-dimensional as those from earlier Williamson projects or Meyer’s “Twilight” denizens. These vamps are interesting, and their relationships and actions… sometimes downright shocking.
“The Vampire Diaries” introduces us to Mystic Falls, Virginia and one Elena Gilbert. Elena’s life of late, kept up to date in her diaries, hasn’t been the best. When we first met her, she had already lost both her parents and was on the verge of losing her little brother to drugs as he tried to face the loss in his own way. Elena had regressed from life, her friends and anything positive. Enter Stefan (Paul Wesley), a 150 year old vampire who, as an eternally young 17, returned to Mystic Falls and enrolled in school in order to lead a ‘normal’ life. He had suffered his own losses over the years and was as much introverted as Elena. When the two met, sparks smoldered.
I know that so far this sounds all sappy and soap opera-ey but surprisingly “The Vampire Diaries”, while a dark soap opera at heart, didn’t succumb to a lot of the trappings that made most shows in the genre fail. Once past the point of the first couple of episodes, a lot of the audience induced eye-rolling started to fade. The storyline began to move at a fast pace, especially revolving around the entrance of Stefan’s brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder). While Stefan preferred to feed off of the animals around him, Stefan still wanted human blood and didn’t hesitate to snatch it without warning. Somerhalder’s performance in this series is absolutely mesmerizing. Where he was a rather weak lead in “Lost”, here he continuously steals the show as the ‘evil’ –‘good’ – ‘evil’ – ‘good’ character in the town.
As the series progressed through the first two seasons, we were introduced to several interesting storylines, most notably dealing with the werewolf clans that are prevalent in the area. Much like some of the other books and series we are familiar with, the vamps and wolves do not play well together. We also had the opportunity to meet some of the vampire elders, as well as Elena’s doppelganger (who originally turned Stefan and Damon). This gave Dubrov the chance to play the two very different characters and did a terrific job.
Not to sell anyone short, the entire cast is very strong in this series which only lent itself to the above par writing. Make no mistake, the series was not silly. It was not campy. It wasn’t even necessarily scary. But it was… interesting. And as much as I originally didn’t want to even watch a single episode, I have already been through the second season, was clamoring for more when the third season DVD set was delivered.
The third season brings the elder clans of both the vampires and werewolves more into the forefront, often with devastating results. The question arises, how do you fight or destroy an enemy whose defeat might mean your own death. And where in the past we had to deal quite a bit with Damon’s split personality of good and evil, this time around it was Stefan who began to turn to the dark side. This made for quite a bit of drama, and an even more difficult to deal with love triangle between the series’ leads.
Warner Brother’s DVD release of the third season looks and sounds terrific. The video is nearly flawless and accentuates the cinematography. The colors are vibrant when necessary and cool and creepy at other times. The audio continued to surprise, as it really took over our sound system. The mix of music, ambient sounds and dialogue was perfect and actually shook the walls a few times.
Along with the 22 episodes offered in this set are a handful of special features. Not as many as in seasons past, but still worthwhile nonetheless. One featurette takes a closer look at Stefan’s fall from grace and his hard road back, while another traces the timelines and roots of the vampire clan. Additionally, there is a brief, but funny, Gag Reel.
Ultimately, I’m sure there will be those who won’t give “The Vampire Diaries” a try. I would have been one of them, but am glad I took the plunge.
Episodes:
The Birthday
The Hybrid
The End of the Affair
Disturbing Behavior
The Reckoning
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Ghost World
Ordinary People
Homecoming
The New Deal
Our Town
The Ties That Bind
Bringing Out The Dead
Dangerous Liaisons
All My Children
1912
Break On Through
The Murder of One
Heart of Darkness
Do Not Go Gentle
Before Sunset
The Departed
Starring: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Kat Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Michael Trevino, Matt Davis
Extras: Stefan’s Descent Into Darkness; The Original Vampires – The Beginning; Gag Reel; Unaired Scenes
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 9/11/2012
MPAA Rating: NR
