The Pros and Cons of... The Vampire Diaries

Well, this took longer than usual. When you have kids, some of the more violent stuff has to be put away for a bit. This kind of happened with The Vampire Diaries. I guess Andy wasn’t the only one who doesn’t like Rippers! So, where do I start with this show especially since I watched its spinoffs first? I guess the beginning’s a good point.

The Vampire Diaries was a supernatural soap opera that aired on the CW from 2009 to 2017. Twilight was in its hey-day at this point, so the CW decided to throw their hat in by adapting this young adult series. When it was airing, I only watched one episode, and that was because either Supernatural or some other show came on beforehand. It really wasn’t until last year where we had an inkling of watching the show in full. Besides, we had to see how it all began. We took a break around the third season because of Andy.  We didn’t get back on the Mystic Falls train until this year. We just finished the show recently.

So, the show takes place in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. It mainly revolves around a young girl named Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) as she falls for a handsome, generous 160-year-old vampire by the name of Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). Of course, things start to go down into the depths of Hell as Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), Stefan’s older brother, comes into town. Not only does Damon notice something familiar about Elena, he also has a massive bone to pick with Stefan. Eventually, we find out why Damon hates Stefan as well as why Elena has a stark resemblance to Katerina Patrova, another woman Stefan and Damon loved back in 1866. Of course, a lot of other stuff happens like death, more vampires, witches, werewolves, Klaus mother-loving Mikaelson, doppelgangers, prison worlds, vampire-like witches, bad writing, broken necks, and the Devil… kinda.

PROS

1. Good main characters

While I can’t call the show perfect, one thing that always brought me back were the characters. You do get a good set of ones here to root for and hate at the same time. This may come as a shock, but Elena was… okay. Unlike another popular main girl in a vampire series, Elena was a fine, fleshed out character. I’ve heard some say this or that about her, but Nina Dobrev did justice with Elena. I also must comment on her two friends who play major roles on the show: Caroline Forbes (Candice King), and Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham). Both were good and kinda overtook Elena in the likability scale. Caroline wasn’t my favorite at first, but she really grew on me as the show went on. The same can be said for Bonnie, who put up with a lot here (literally and figuratively).

Our vampire duo in Stefan and Damon carried the show for me till its end. Both Wesley and Somerhalder played their roles awesomely during the show’s highs and lows. We got to see both characters at the best and worst moments. Really, just about every main character on the show goes through an evil arc. Other main characters I liked were Alaric (Matt Davis), a vampire hunter, Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), Elena’s younger brother, and Matt (Zach Roerig), the only normie in the group. If you’re asking where Tyler Lockwood is… keep asking. I thought Michael Trevino was good in his role, but I couldn’t give two craps about his character. 

2. Pretty good side characters and villains

The town of Mystic Falls housed quite a few good side characters as well. Some of these would sometimes last a couple of episodes or last throughout the series. Sheriff Forbes (Marguerite MacIntyre) was one I always liked on the show. One actress I was really surprised to see here was Jasmine Guy who played Bonnie’s grandmother. In fact, I saw quite a few black folks from 90’s-2000’s sitcoms here, and that was cool. Other side characters that were good or interesting were Anna Zhu (Malese Jow), Lexi (Arielle Kebbel), Mason Lockwood (Taylor Kinney), Jo Laughlin (Jodi O’Keefe)  and Enzo (Michael Malarkey) who gets more play in the latter half of the show. Of course, The Mikaelsons (mainly Klaus, Elijah, and Rebecca) have the distinction of being side pieces and the main course in villains. 

Damon: How do you pull of being such a charismatic villain?
Klaus: Well, I've read many books and have traveled the world a thousand times over.
Damon: That's... dull? 
Klaus: (sighs) This is why I like your brother better.

Then, we get to the villains who were mostly good. To be honest, when we started to watch the show properly, I was yearning for some Niklaus! Unfortunately, you must wait a season for Mikaelson drama because we get a group of vampires led by Katerina Patrova (Nina Dobrev in a dual role) for the first season. Also, Damon has his back and forth with villainy. Afterwards, we get the usually quarrelsome Mikaelsons doing their thing. After them, the villains for each season tend to either be good or pretty bad. The ones I did like were Kai Parker (Chris Wood), Silas (Uh… just watch the show), and Cade (Wole Parks).

3. Good storytelling mostly

The storytelling and plots were good for the most part. I thought the first three seasons were solid in storytelling and world building. We got a nice introduction to how things work with the supernatural beings in this world. We also got quite a bit of good character development with the mains. I also must credit the show for having some good flashbacks. You gotta remember that most of these characters are centuries old. I’d say that almost everyone has some good development. Even Tyler, who I wasn’t a fan of, got good moments when he was brought under the thrall of Klaus. 

Of course, I gotta mention the multiple relationships and dalliances these characters had with one another and others. There’s a reason why young girls made this show last for 8 years. The triangle of Stefen/Elena/Damon kept us going for years, but I will say that it has an endpoint. There were other good ships on the show and not too many bad ones. Now, I will say that the writing could suffer in this area, but I’ll get to that later.

4. Nice Action, effects, and cinematography

Finally, a lot of the cinematography was good especially in the early seasons. The action scenes were good throughout most of the show. You’re mainly getting quick cuts, but you also could tell what was going on and you even got some nice blows in there. The effects regarding the magic were quite good. It’s obviously TV-level effects, but they can be effective at times. The werewolf transformations were grueling for CW television. Of course, with shows like these, you’re gonna get quite a lot of blood and missing limbs, and luckily, the show ruled there as well.

CONS

1. The Writing 

While I liked the show, there were times when it would be too much to take with the writing. There were some things done with Elena that I didn’t gel with much. There’s a reason her likability goes down for me as the show goes on. Also, a character would suddenly do this out-of-character moment or just do something stupid/evil for little reason. This happens more often than it should. There’s a reason I always thought “Damon is an Idiot” to myself. He was probably the notorious one for me. Just sit down somewhere, man!

Uh... Damon, you might have to add yourself to that "Idiot" list too.

You’d also get some repeating storylines. Remember when I said that everyone has an evil arc? Well, it just doesn't happen once with some characters. Heck, even one “evil” arc for some of them made them look bad. Stefan and Damon flip-flop so much to the point where even their likability takes a hit with me. Even the ladies go through this and while it can be cool at times, it also gets pretty stupid too.

All three of the main girls got it bad, but Bonnie got it the worst with bad writing.

2. Too much melodrama

I know that this is a vampire romance show, but the melodrama could be rough to sit through. You got folks dying left and right at times. Most of them are connected to the main characters, so you see them going through hell afterwards. Elena got it pretty bad with a lot of people dying around her. The same goes for a few characters as well. Bonnie, Matt, and Alaric were pretty tortured along with Elena. It also didn’t help that every so often a cool and interesting character would come along only to meet their fate at the hands of some villain. 

You also get a lot of relationship drama. It’s a romance show, so you gotta roll with it. Even then, there were times where it could even be a little too much for me. I think it mostly had to do with the writing. The writers want to spice up the drama to the limits, and sometimes it works. Other times, you wonder if you’re wasting your time. I get that they had to go through some suffering, but… DANG. Just let some folk be happy for goodness sake!

3. Lackluster seasons (mainly Season 7 ugh)

The show goes down the gutter as it progresses. In my opinion, Seasons 1-3 were the strongest for the show. Season 4’s good, but it did feel like a transitional phase between the strong seasons and the weak. After Season 4, things get bad. Season 5 is so all over the place with its multiple villains and storylines. Season 6 has good moments but gets hampered by some lackluster decisions. The writing really gets bad in this season for me especially when concerning Stefan and a new love.

"Hey, it's the Heretics! I hate those guys!!!"

Season 7 is where they just didn’t go to Hell (figuratively), they went even deeper. Not only do we get hampered with a confusing, choppy storyline, but we also get the worst villains in the series. I’m not sure what they wanted to do with the Heretics, but they really hurt that season for me. Season 8 does try to make things better, but there’s only so much they could do. At least they get to fight the Devil that season… or whatever Cade was.

…………………………………………………….

In the end, The Vampire Diaries was a good but flawed show. While I didn’t give the latter seasons a good word, I say check it out. The early seasons are solid, and even when things get bad with the later seasons, there’s still fun to be had. Well, I can’t say that I’m done with the Vampire Diaries series yet. I must end this run with a favorites list, and it’s one that may surprise you. Anyway, I’m outta here. Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.