All Vampired Out

Tapping into the vampiric pop culture zeitgeist of the past few years, the CW unveiled it's latest new series in hopes of capitalizing on the trend. And, although The Vampire Diaries was better than expected (what with the bar being shockingly low and all), its debut arrived to this party pretty late and I think I might be a little vamped out... Apparently I'm the only one though, because the pilot premiered to record ratings for the CW. It was infinitely better than Melrose Place, however, so it's nice to see it trounce such inferior network compatriots (Melrose premiered to fairly disappointing ratings--particularly for a series premiere. Heh--take that, Ashlee Simpson. And no, I don't know exactly where the hostility comes from, but it's there... oooh, is it there.)

I began watching the pilot with a sizable helping of blasé toward the surfeit of vampire-based media that's currently on the market, but it turned out better than expected. Sure, the first three quarters of the pilot were rife with all the angsty teen stereotypes you'd expect and all the brooding vampire clichés that have proven so pervasive to the genre, but then Ian Somerhalder showed up. What I was ready and willing to write off as just another hackneyed, so-so pilot suddenly got a hell of a lot more interesting. I wouldn't say he turned the pilot to gold or anything (there's only so much alchemy one actor can perform), but he did manage to catch my attention and was just enough to commit me to a few more episodes.

In much the same vein (no pun intended) as Twilight, The Vampire Diaries follows a melancholic teenage girl as she falls for the mysterious vampire in town. The books that inspired The Vampire Diaries actually came out well before Twilight (or True Blood, for that matter) so to call it derivative wouldn't be exactly accurate, but it's an unavoidable notion. To The Vampire Diaries' credit, I could tell is was better than Twilight within minutes, although that's not saying much. (AND, with the CW holding the cards instead of Stephanie Meyer, these crazy kids might just get some sexy time before, you know... they get married at the age of 18... Ugh.) (Quick sidenote on Twilight: I got together with some friends to mock the movie as a team and while I wasn't surprised at its craptacularity, I was a bit surprised at just how BORING it was. I mean, the books were poorly conceived and even more poorly written, but they at least held my attention for more than five minutes at a time. Maybe it was Kristen Stewart's soporific acting, maybe it was the poor casting choices all around, maybe it was Stephanie Meyer's self-indulgent (and beyond tacky) cameo, maybe it was everything, but I barely made it through that turkey awake. And I am not the kind of person who falls asleep during movies. (Annie has already cornered the market in that regard, so who am I to steal her thunder?)) Back to the point, The Vampire Diaries appears to be better than Twilight in every incarnation, so it's a shame that the TV series was developed after the fact. Although, it probably wouldn't have been developed in the first place if Twilight hadn't proliferated, so The Vampire Diaries owes it a debt and a grudge all at once. So, in deference to The Vampire Diaries, I'll try to keep the comparisons to a minimum from here on out, but it ain't gonna be easy...

The show centers around Elena, a small town girl who has lost both of her parents and now lives with her little brother and aunt (whom Elena very informatively calls "Aunt" every time she talks to her--thanks, Exposition Fairy!). Trying to get her life back on track, she finds herself alienated from her friends and family and is instantly drawn to the new guy in town, a vampire named... what was his name? Holy hell, I remember that the last name was "Salvatore," (because that's important) but the first name is totally gone... Umm... Stephan! It was Stephan. (I pretend it just came to me, but no, I had to check IMDb.) Like I said, things don't get interesting till Ian Somerhalder's character Damon shows up, so I was only mostly paying attention until then. Anyway, the structural conceit of the show (which I assume was born of the novels) is that Elena and Stephan both poor their hearts into their diaries and wax poetic (cheesy teen poetic) about life and death and whatever. While it made for a fairly straightforward structure to the episode, I've grown sick of voice overs. They can be awesome and rather necessary to a series, but lately, ever show on the block has some would-be philosophizer narrating a bunch of crap that the audience is currently watching on screen. It takes all the subtlety out of a performance and generally assumes the audience is too stupid to pick up on things. It wasn't unbearable in The Vampire Diaries, and I acknowledge that it's the basis for the show, but I have to assume it worked better in the books than it does on screen.

In a refreshing turn after suffering through Twilight's ridiculous mythology, the rules applied to vampires and their behavior in The Vampire Diaries is largely traditional. While Stephanie Meyer threw the entire book out the window when creating her sparkly universe, here we have the same modern context, but all the old rules still apply. These vampires must be invited into a residence before entering (one of the best and most interesting restrictions), they can fly, they're followed around by crows/ravens, they totally butcher people (even reformed Stephan slips up now and again), and they can't go out in the sun (at least not without their magical rings in tow). Okay, that last bit sounds lame, but I come from the school of Buffy and Angel, so I just assume their rings are akin to the Gem of Amarra and am willing to let it go. It was much less tacky than it sounds, I promise. In less conventional fare, they also seem to control the fog (apparently there was a half-price sale on smoke machines or something) and have Jedi mind tricks. With all the traditional aspects in place, I was willing to be forgiving for taking liberties elsewhere. The reason that this is important is that it gives weight and gravity to character decisions and actions. In the Twilight universe, vampires are basically indestructible. As with Superman, that makes for fairly boring confrontations and inconsequential decisions. I much prefer limits and restrictions on abilities and behaviors. It makes the writers try a whole lot harder and makes the characters a lot more interesting when they have to work around their own limitations. In that sense, kudos, show.

Anyway, the show ambled along in typical teenage fashion for the better part of the pilot. The actors were alright and they did a pretty good job, but no one really stood out (for good reasons or bad--except for Somerhalder). The pilot was based pretty directly on the books (or so I've heard) and follows a fairly well-thought-out, though predictable storyline. The actress playing Elena does a decent enough job, but the vulnerable ingénue gig is seriously overdone these days, so she got on my nerves a bit by association. She didn't seem totally useless or completely ditzy though, so I think the writers could make something out of her. Stephan is equally middle-of-the-road, but I must say his Cro-Magnon brow brought back some Angelic memories for me. The supporting cast supports suitably, and the acting for the most part was competent, if not all that engaging. They were likable, however, and I could see where there might grow on me over time. The directing didn't strike me as anything terribly innovative, but the production value is solid and the setting and effects held up against the industry standard at the moment. With that kind of "meh" flying around, I was fairly ready to call it a day, but then Ian Somerhalder (who played Boone Carlyle on Lost) showed up and I was happily forced to pay attention.

Not that it comes as any great surprise that he made for the best part of the pilot, but he somehow managed to bring something fresh to an old routine. Aside from being decidedly easy to look at, he bucked the trend of mopey, brooding, humorless vampires and instead imbued the role with impish zeal and mirth. In a manner that smacked of Spike (circa Buffy season 2), Somerhalder's character Damon was lively and menacing in a delightful "I'm going to screw with your head just because I can" kind of way. He seems to take quite a lot of pleasure in pestering Stephan (who is apparently his little brother--nice) and shows up with little more agenda than to have fun raising hell. It was a nice change of pace and is the primary reason I'll be giving the show a few more weeks to really suck me in (again, pun-avoidance just isn't easy when it comes to this subject matter, so bear with me). I don't know what all he has planned, but he piqued my interest just enough to want to find out.

Clearly The Vampire Diaries isn't going to be a dramatic tour de force and it certainly can't hold a candle to forerunners like Buffy and Angel, but the pilot was watchable, if not all that original. I could see where this show could find its way into "guilty pleasure" territory and in spite of my jaded feelings toward vampires at the moment, this seems to be a pretty guilty romp that has some commitment potential (although the pilot in and of itself did little to sell me on more than an episode to episode trial run). I don't think it'll ever break into the top tier or anything, but with Somerhalder on board, I'm invested enough to give it a shot.

Pilot Grade:
without Somerhalder? D
with Somerhalder? C-