The Vampire Diaries; Where Is This Going?

We're in the second half of of the sixth season of the CW TV series, The Vampire Diaries, and I'm starting to get a little apprehensive. After the last episode aired on February 19th, I'm starting to see some things that are starting to repeat themselves, and some things that are making me nervous for the show's well-being. It's throwing me for a loop and I'm not sure how much I can handle anymore.

Ever since I first started watching this show, I knew watching a new episode was the equivalent of throwing my heart out onto a busy for everyone to run over as they pleased... I'm only being as dramatic as the show. Seriously, though, we have love, we have lust, we have family betrayal, we have death, vampires, witches, werewolves, doppelgangers, and just about everything that could possibly ever go wrong in a fictional and nonfictional universe. I can almost guarantee that your favourite character is not safe in Mystic Falls.

Honestly, I don't know how many times I've finished an episode saying "I am done with this show, I'm never watching again, I hate it." When Jenna died, when Alaric died, when Jeremy died, when Jeremy died for real, when Damon died. Honestly, so many deaths, so many tears shred I can't even count them all. But, honestly, lately, the deaths don't scare me as much, I have way too much hope that they're going to come back. Of that short list of four I just gave, three of the people who died are currently alive and well.

 Still, I've been caught up in this roller coaster for years now. But, as of the last episode, I have a few complaints. I also have some praises too.
The episode titled "Let Her Go," dealt with a lot of things that  were sort of different for the Vampire Diaries. Sheriff Forbes died a natural death, Jeremy left Mystic Falls because he was moving on with his life, not to follow some strange magical cycle, and in the previous Sheriff Forbes and Damon uncovered that the truth behind Elena's parents crash was actually an accident. These things are so normal, so natural, they were so unexpected for a show that focuses so heavily on the supernatural. I think that including things like this every so often is more than necessary for a show like this, it throws us for a loop. We don't expect it.

That being said, there are some very predictable things, and some things that I'm just not sure about all around. I can't believe that we are going to go through the whole vampires "turning off their humanity" thing AGAIN, I've been here, I've seen this, it upsets me, I don't want to deal with it all over again. I don't care that it's Caroline, I don't care if it'd be any different if Stefan told her his feelings sooner, I don't want to go through this again. I'm sorry for my lack of interest, but I find it hard to believe that I would I'm the only one thinking this. I predicted it would happen as soon as she said she "had to make it through the day," I probably could have predicted it sooner if I thought that revisiting that plot was even a slight possibility. What was NOT predictable was the part where, as Bonnie was finally getting out of the other world prison, that she saw Damon and Stefan's mom. ???? ???????????????????????????????????????????? What??????

I literally do not understand how this can be possible. Of course, I'm excited about the possibilities, but HOW MANY years has it been? How, how, how is this possible, I feel like I should be screaming for answers at this point. Where did this come from? When did they decide this would be acceptable? I'm just so lost, I can hardly form complete sentences over the subject matter. Don't get me wrong, though, I think that they'll be able to pull it off, and I'm excited to see how they're going to deal with it. Especially with it being alongside how on earth we're supposed to deal with Kai, or the fact that everyone is going to be overjoyed that Bonnie is finally back, or the fact that Jeremy is out of Mystic Falls. I guess I'll be eagerly waiting to see what comes next. Unfortunately. As always.

Another Promising Season?

A couple years back, around in 08, vampires were becoming popular once again. For some they thought it was just a quick fad, but for others, they believed it was an idea that never got old. Although the hype about supernatural creatures has died down somewhat, there are still some good films/ TV shows involving them that do a great job of presenting them.

 One show that many people tune into is known as The Vampire Diaries. And yes I have written about this before, but this show has been my favorite for years now. The Vampire Diaries show is based off of the series by L.J. Smith. Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, executive producers of the show, premiered it on September in 2009 on The CW television network. Within that first episode, it received the highest ratings for a television premiere on any network. The amount of viewers live was 4.91 million and it did not stop there. Including DVR viewings, the ratings went up all the way to 5.7 million! And as each episode premiered every week, the ratings continue to stay strong at 4.5 million or higher. Many people were impressed with the first season, saying that it looked very promising and was done very well for a supernatural series.

 

Seasons two and three, continue to follow the success of season one’s ratings. However once season 4 approached and ratings dropped from 3-4 million to 2-3 million. And it continued to drop as season 5 came along. Many people lost interest in the show in season five because of too many storylines. As well as the fact that after season four, the Originals’ characters were no longer on the show. The characters were put into a spinoff show called The Originals. Many viewers were upset about this, however then started to watch The Originals. Although the show has lost viewers, it still is rated as one of the most viewed television series on The CW’s network, and right under it is The Originals. So obviously people are still interested in the show, however how much longer until the show comes to an end?

I know watching it myself I did see a change in the series once the Originals left. I found myself getting bored, and seeing the writers just scratching for any material they could use to get audiences back into it, as much as they were when season one premiered. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the show, but it still is definitely not the same. Before season five, the biggest threat in the show was the Originals.  In the storyline they were the biggest and baddest creatures out there. However, I now realize that towards the end of season four it just seemed like they were looking for something worse, mainly because they knew the Originals were heading off into a new direction.  This is when they introduced Silas. Silas was now seen as the most terrifying creature. And for a while I was confused because I thought the Originals were the first vampires to ever exist on earth, but then somehow the writers made it seem like Silas was. They began to mix plot lines and it was confusing me as a viewer. Now after so much time has past since that point in the series, I now understand that Silas was originally a witch, belonging to the Travelers. However, after many events he eventually became immortal and trapped. So technically he is the longest living vampire.

 But still it was plot changes like these that confused me and turned me off from the show.

In season five, everyone was wondering what was Silas going to do. And we all found out that he was Stefan’s doppelganger. His character only lasted for seven episodes in season five. And the worst part of it was that this big bad character they made was being this malicious for love. When I found out that was the reason why Silas was such an asshole, it made me upset. No one that is fighting for love would ever act so cruelly. I feel like the writers needed a new villain to replace Klaus, which obviously they did, however they did not do it the right way. The plot did not make sense with the character, and maybe I’m wrong and someone probably disagrees with me on this, but I truly believe it did not match up. And finally when he died I was relieved. His character was just annoying and there were no redeeming qualities about him, or any reasons that justified his cruel actions.

After Silas died, there was what I’m going to call a ‘dry period’ in the show. The show brought up a new enemy that was human. Of all things to fear, they picked a stupid HUMAN scientist. Really? Come on. This show that I had loved went from a show about supernatural beings and how they can still fall in love or feel hurt, to science trying to dissect supernatural beings and make their lives a living hell. This just made me mad, it was boring, and it was like the writers simply did not know what to write for months. And then somehow they morphed that plotline to connect with the witch travelers. Season five started off with about 2.6 million viewers, and ended in 1.6 million viewers. And to top that off they killed off their best character! Damon Salvatore, the impulsive, selfish, sarcastic, charismatic guy that everyone loved, was killed off.

I remember going on their Facebook page and seeing millions of comments saying, “He is the only reason I have continued to watch this show,” or “If you don’t bring him back I’m going to stop watching this show altogether”. And I mean I don’t blame these people, he was and is my favorite too.

 But not only that he really had a huge impact on the show. He was the underdog, the person people could relate to because he was realistic. He was selfish and took what he wanted. He loved to drink alcohol all the time. He rather save the girl he’s in love with from dying, than her best friend. And even while he faced death, he always had some sarcastic comment ready to go.  Everyone was mad that they picked him. So being that he was my favorite character I did research to see if he was contracted for the next season, and low and behold he was.

Season six premiered October 2^nd, 2014. And so far it has NOT been a disappointment. Surprise, surprise, Damon is actually still alive…Just not on earth. And the show has stopped the plotline with the human scientist evil doctor and is back to focusing on super naturals. I don’t know if there will be a season seven as of right now, however, season six looks very promising to me. It reminds me of the early TVD and although there are still many plot lines, they are not nearly as confusing as they once were in season five.  It’s hard to say if the show will continue or not because well look at season five, it was one of the worst, but it still got signed for a sixth season. Clearly people still really care about this show and the evolving characters,  so hopefully the writers continue this good streak and help finish the stories of the characters in the right way.