The Vampire Diaries has only been on hiatus for a few weeks , but we ’re already having backdown symptom from the Mystic Falls crack pipe . No other show on television quite manages to pull off the miracles that TVD carry out regularly .
Sure , The Vampire Diaries effect - feeds us melted cheese by the gallon , as if we were some rare breed of unsatiable Malva sylvestris - lamia . ( Cheese - pires ? )
But at the same time , TVD is n’t just our crack because of all the centre - candy . It ’s our crack because there are some basic storytelling thing that this show does well than any other that we ’ve seen . It ’s not even close .
Sometimes , when ascertain other , non - TVD shows , we want to bind down their producers and draw them to determine this show , just so they can see how Kevin Williamson , Julie Plec and their mob of psychotic genius do it . Here are 10 object lesson we ’d really fuck to see the balance of television learn from our lamia addiction .
admonition : Major spoiler for The Vampire Diaries , through the remnant of season two .
10 ) A love triangle does n’t have to be flavourless .
This one sound like a no - brainer — but sadly , it ’s not . When Vampire Diaries first come out , everybody dismissed it as gloam : the TV Series . But something funny happened — the fundamental honey trilateral , between Stefan , Damon and Elena , became a plenty more interesting and spikier than your common “ girlfriend torn between two shirtless boy ” story . Like , Damon ’s love for Elena is kind of psychotic . Elena has been constitute huge stride towards seizing control over her own aliveness away from both Salvatore brothers . And Muppet Angel Stefan keeps managing to show more sides to his personality than just “ lovable estimable guy wire ” — and that ’s before the harebrained time of year - cease twisting .
9 ) Sometimes when an ancient vaticination or curse vocalise totally preposterous … it is .
The Vampire Diaries earned a huge dose of “ benefit of the dubiousness ” for this one . We drop most of season two hearing about the entirely ludicrous - sounding “ Sun and Moon Curse , ” which bound vampires to the Dominicus and werewolf to the Moon , and which could be broken by an elaborate sacrifice thingy . And we were fain to swallow it , ridiculous ancient texts and all , because it ’s no more idiotic than a million other plot equipment we ’ve charter on board over the years . But then the show whisked the ancient text out from under us , and the whole matter turned out to be a fake .
- Our heroes can dissent — violently — and nobody ever has to be prove right .
Elena was at betting odds with one or both of the Salvatore brother , over how to handle the ancient vampire Klaus , for most of the time of year . Who was right-hand ? It ’s still debatable . They were probably all incorrect , to motley degrees . ( The obvious solution to the Klaus dilemma , for what it ’s deserving ? Once you ’ve stabbed Elijah with the ash dagger , decapitate Elijah and feed his oral sex into a wood chipper , then bury the pieces in a million spots . After that , it ’s probably safe to reuse the obelisk on Klaus . ) likewise , is Sheriff Forbes wrong about her girl being a monster ? Well , maybe — except that we ’ve seen Caroline kill innocent people . I ’ve seldom check a show model dilemmas , and then never recite us what the correct answer was , the mode this show does .
7 ) Even when the audience has totally forgotten about a plot of ground from 1000 plot of ground twists ago , the show should n’t
Seriously . If there was ever a show that could afford to get by with sweeping material under the rug , it would be Vampire Diaries — because so many storyline are wreak up and then tossed aside in every episode , it feel like water under the bridge after a while . But that only mean it was surprising and gratifying when the show remembered about Matt ’s babe Vicki . Caroline spends several episode make for up the cheek to tell Matt that lamia are real , and she is one — and then Matt ’s only reaction is to clear his dead sister was telling the verity . And once you remember how atrocious the whole Vicki saga , back in time of year one , was , then Matt ’s revulsion and anger makes total sense .
6 ) It ’s fun to watch people who do the wrong affair for the right reasons interact with people who do the right thing for the wrong reason .
Some of season two ’s most thrilling moments ask the malefic vamp Katharine speak to Damon . Or Elijah hang up out with Stefan . Almost nobody has consummate motives on this show latterly , and it ’s fun to see people on either side of the ruthlessly good / benevolently evil ancestry interacting and check for themselves just how easy it is to hybridize over .
5 ) Just because people nobly sacrifice themselves does n’t mean it ’s blend in to do any good .
In fact , it seems to be a pattern — self - sacrifice never really fulfill the goal you hope it will , on this show . It ’s likeeverybody tried to tell Augie Ben Doggie : “ Do n’t be a martyr . ” ordinarily , when someone is prepared to give his / her life for someone else on television , it ’s not altogether in vain . But the only self - ritual killing that I can opine of that ’s actually pan off out lately is Stefan becoming Klaus ’ wingman to save Damon — which really does work . Although , tell that to the girl Stefan murders along the room .
4 ) An vicious lineament who turns right does n’t have to become toothless .
It ’s usually a two - stair process . A formerly badass baddie open up on evil , and shortly afterwards he / she ( usually he ) is ferment cuddly and even a routine fluffy . mild , like a towel clean from the drier with extra textile - softener . But although the formerly evil Damon has n’t murdered anybody super late , he ’s still a total prick , in all the proficient ways . He ’s still uncoerced to turn Elena into a lamia against her will , and despite his remorse in the season stopping point , he ’s still fundamentally totally self - revolve about and driving .
3 ) The supporting mold is there to be killed off .
What ’s the point of stimulate a sprawling support cast , if they all outlast ? They just advert around , causing bunch aspect and clutter up things up . And having their supporting - casty belief and affair . If it was n’t for the fact that we just watched season one of Game of Thrones , I ’d say that few shows are as uncoerced as TVD to off people right and left . Even some of our favorite characters — inadequate Aunt Jenna ! — are cannon cannon fodder when the show need to put an exclamation point on a time . ( Although how the hell is Alaric still alive ? ) This show ’s body count , and its willingness to permit people stay dead , is inspirational .
2 ) There is no swop - off between shocking plot twist , and character exploitation .
I wish I could get this tattooed on multitude ’s foreheads . A good surprising gimmick is one that come out of the development of the characters — like Stefan turning psychotic person in the time of year finale , or Matt ’s aforementioned response to find out the truth about Caroline . I feel like a lot of display are uncoerced to throw everything we sleep together about a character out the window , to appropriate him / her to do something shocking during Sweeps or the season finale . But weird character lurches have almost no free weight if we do n’t conceive in them . The amazing affair about Vampire Diaries is the direction it ’s managed to keep surprising us over and over , without feeling inconsistent . Which bring us to —
1 ) Pacing , Pacing , Pacing .
This is really the master matter that is gobsmacking about Vampire Diaries . I ’ve lost count of how many times I ’ve seen this show take an idea that could have sustained a rooms of episodes , and run it out wholly within half an episode . Without feel hie , at all . And really , that ’s what allows this show to get by with being so cheesy — it never drags out a special office past its expiration date . If anything , having a lightning - firm step allow this show to put its fictitious character into more impossible , torturous situations , because we do n’t get bogged down in them . It ’s an incredible high - wire number , that hold everything we conceive we know about television — and prevent up this pedal - to - the - alloy pace for 22 episodes a year .
I feel like there ’s sorting of an unspoken apprehension on television : standalone episodes move tight , but electric discharge move tardily . An arc on television plays out over an entire time of year , with a fistful of “ turning dot ” episode . Even shew that have no standalone episodes often seem to unspool their arcs at a reasonably leisurely stride , with just one or two major event per episode .
The Vampire Diaries laughs at your slow perambulation of plot developing . Vampires may live forever , but on this show , their storylines are mayfly . And we ’re all the more distracted and haunted , as a resultant role .
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