In Search of a Vampire Love All One's Own
The Vampire Diaries - Night of the Comet Season 1, Episode 2
Sep 21, 2009
The Vampire Diaries continues to move at the expected clip, offering little surprises or interesting moments. A drug storyline is already in place as the high school kids barely seem to attend classes, let alone stay at home and do work. Like the rest of the network, apparently American high school students have legitimate hang outs and are articulate and, duh, fast when it comes to sex. Without dispelling the fact that there are surely teenagers like that, the majority of high school students experience more awkward, clumsy, and inarticulate moments than those represented on television. Of course, if one wanted accuracy merely tune in to documentaries or some MTV programming, however it would refreshing to see a new CW network show actually recognize and create a relatable high school setting.
Same High School Same Vampires
The vampire lore remains, even in the second episode, mostly standard (more on the pilot episode here). The vampires cannot enter a private establishment or home unless invited in, they are stronger when living on human blood, they are fast, strong, do not age and can hypnotize and convince their victims of certain events. And, of course, they cannot go out in the sun, something these vampire brothers can apparently evade when they're wearing their family ring. A point that will surely be explained.
Luckily for the show it is not competing with True Blood viewers as HBO is subscription only and the show targets an older age group. Rather The Vampire Diaries blatantly seeks to satiate the Twilight obsessed crowd who no one can deny are adamantly spending money and indoctrinating themselves in all things vampire. And as this group also encompasses readers and viewers younger than the high school age group, an element of glamorization of teenage years is emphasized. Fashion, youth and sex appear glossy on screen as Dobrev's Elena appears as put together as a spread in Teen Vogue. This seems even more out of place in the remote Mystic Falls that sports one school and a seriously small city radius.
The Glossy Life of a CW Teenager
And despite the show's best effort to evoke horror and delineate between the brothers, it still appears to be all action and no motive. Wesley's Stefan is so clearly holding back from his instincts due to a past thwarted love, while his brother explores his own power that it still appears that this simple difference is all there is to it. The two brothers are even wardrobed so similarly they appear almost interchangeable and alike, just like their past. So although the show will surely unpack their histories as the season continues, the basic love triangle and thwarted love seems trite and frankly, boring. As old as these creatures are vampire stories continue to harbor their thoughts in the past rather than the future. This is at full work here will both brothers using their past to get in the way of their future. So shouldn't the back story be more meaty? One that might justify a future?
Yet this future merely seems to revolve around sex, love, and historical family drama. Does it even matter that they're vampires? In this show it seems more of a complication rather than a condition. It is not the center of the story, but rather a tangent that will merely effect Mystic Falls and Dobrev's character. One must ask again what new this brings to the vampire canon? Yes the show does not shy way from violence and horror, but what is so original?
Keep tuning in to see if it lasts!
