The Vampire Diaries, take two
Sep. 30th, 2010 12:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalI was gonna be all "okay, here's the good stuff" with this post, but I seem incapable of simply squeeing about this show, lol. I always end up diverting into comparisons and criticisms, which makes me feel like I need to say, "No, but really, I actually did like it!" I can't help it, you guys. The more I like it, the nitpickier I get :)
Let's start with our main threesome:
Elena - I was not impressed with Nina Dobrev's acting at first, but either she does better with good material or she's improved with practice, because I do see a distinction between when she's playing Elena and when she's playing Katherine. (Though I did find it interesting that they both hug Stefan the exact same way - one arm over, one arm under. Not sure if that's just a Nina Dobrev quirk or if it's meant to signify more in common between Elena and Katherine than just appearance.) Elena will never be my favorite character, but as human-girlfriends-of-vampires go, she's certainly better than the average (see: Bella). I just have a pretty damn high standard (see: Buffy). She's spunky, she never waits in the car, and she's usually level-headed when people (sometimes including herself) are in danger. She's just... kind of bland, I guess. I mean, is there anything interesting about her that doesn't involve her relationships with vampires? Plus, she's the perfect, pretty, popular girl who gets everything she wants and has multiple guys throwing themselves at her feet - is it any wonder neurotic, perfectionist Caroline has a complex, trying to compete with someone for whom approval and affection comes effortlessly when she has to work so hard? (Um, clearly we know who I identify with. But I digress.) Going to the comparison well once again, I feel like I really get Buffy in that respect. I understand her isolation, her walled-up broken heart, her depression, her desperate need to please people. Elena is just not someone I can identify with or sympathize with, really. Shiny, shiny hair, though. You can always count on the CW for that.
Stefan - O hai, Angel 2.0. Right down to the protruding caveman brow. For real, he's like the love child of David Boreanaz and James Van Der Beek, which kind of creeps me out. I suppose it's appropriate though, since they were, once upon a time, the two biggest brooders the WB had to offer. Why must vampires be so angsty? Come on, people, break out of the Anne Rice mold! It must be the no-people diet they all seem to adopt, ruins their sense of humor. Hey, I understand. I was pretty miserable when I had a restricted diet, too. But it would've made an incredibly lame TV show, you see what I'm saying? While we're on the subject, why must vampires always date high school girls, whom they are inexplicably attracted to despite having celebrated their centennials? (I will say this for Angel - at least he never enrolled in high school in order to be close to Buffy. Say what you will about his Lolita complex, but mysterious college guy is definitely a step up.) Stefan's also got the creepy stalker thing covered with the whole "I followed you around for three months before introducing myself." AND he's way more interesting when he goes off the rails. Somebody should make vampire bingo for these shows.
He's not nearly as patronizing, though, which is nice. I don't have many feelings about him and Elena as a couple. I don't dislike them - granted, the back-and-forthing about whether or not they should be together for ten episodes was super-annoying, but as I mentioned in my previous post, they ain't got nothing on Buffy and Angel's decade of pointless relationship angst, so I'll let it go. But even once they get past that, they're just... kinda boring ("I love you more!" "No, I love you more!"), especially in comparison to Damon and Elena's complicated frenemy thing - and once again, I have to wonder why vampire shows ALWAYS make the good vampire a boring broodypants and the bad vampire snarky, sexy, and complex? Speaking of which...
Damon - I have to admit, half the reason I decided to watch this show is because I pegged Ian Somerhalder as belonging on a CW show about thirty seconds into Lost, and I wanted to see how he did. Well, no surprise, Damon is by far and away my favorite character on this show. So much so that I even forgave him for that painfully cheesy "dot dot dot" line early on. I love family stuff, particularly siblings (woes of the only child, I must watch TV to experience such things), so the Salvatore brothers' relationship greatly amuses and intrigues me. In fact, that's really the only time I like Stefan, when he and Damon are being snarky at each other or reluctantly helping each other out. (Much the way Spike livens up Angel, I feel compelled to add.) I also like his buddy-cop thing with Alaric and he's adorable whenever he's doing nice things for Elena. I love how Damon is sort of in that S5 Spike state, where he's still evil enough to not care about most things, but there are a few people who get to him, and he actually does have very deep emotions. There's no telling what he'll choose to care about on any given day, and that combo of unpredictability and love is what makes him fascinating.
Ordinarily, I am not a fan of love triangles, but I would totally go with a threesome if the show actually went there, lol. Namely because Damon makes everybody more fun. :) My favorite moments have been when the three of them all team up, or when Elena and Damon were taking care of Stefan. I also discovered a brand new kink - when we found out that Damon turned Elena's mother without realizing the connection, I was like OMG THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE ANGST-MAKING SCENARIO. I want to play with that idea of hurting someone you love without meaning to by killing someone they love. I just wish he'd stop killing all the cool people. (Vicki! Lexi! Gina Torres! Noooooo!)
As for the rest of this (really huge) cast - seriously, there are too many characters. Thank goodness for the high body count, otherwise this show would be overrun with minor characters. Of the teenagers, I love Bonnie (who, I'm calling it now, is a Dark Willow waiting to happen), Matt (OMG he's like Matt Saracen 2.0. ADORABLE), and Caroline, who actually annoyed me in the beginning, but hey, so did Buffy, so Caroline's in good company. If anyone had asked me to thin the herd a little, she and Douchey McDouchebag Tyler would've been the first to go. (Tyler is still on my list.) But I like that she has layers (kiddie pool be damned), and like I said, I definitely identify with her neurotic insecurity and the way she always feels second-best to Elena. Also, Caroline/Matt? SO CUTE OMG. I am kind of meh on Jeremy. He vacillates between being interesting and being painfully annoying. As much as I liked Vicki, I really hated all the male posturing in the Jeremy/Vicki/Tyler triangle. His relationship with Anna was somewhat interesting, but he's apparently the Xander of this show, because every girl he dates dies.
The grown-ups... oy, way too many of them. Alaric is cool, Jenna is the worst guardian ever (and barely looks older than the kids she's taking care of), and everyone else is just a blur. Well, Grams and "Uncle" John were mostly notable for being played by people I love from other things. Actually this whole show is a "hey, it's that guy/girl" fest:
Zach Roerig (Matt) - Tyra's rodeo boyfriend on Friday Night Lights
Matthew Davis (Alaric) - Josh the reporter on Damages
David Anders (John) - Adam on Heroes and the son of the terrorist on 24 (and Sark on Alias, but I didn't really watch that), and can I just say how bizarre it is to hear him talking without a British accent? I know it's his real voice, but it's weird.
Jasmine Guy (Grams) - Roxy on Dead Like Me
Bianca Lawson (Emily) - Kendra on BtVS
Mia Kirshner (Isobel) - Mandy on 24, where she was equally psychotic, lol.
James Remar (Daddy Salvatore) - Harry on Dexter (does he always play deceased father figures? lol)
Arielle Kebbel (Lexi) - Dean's wife on Gilmore Girls, and she just turned up on Life Unexpected, and I was all, "Damn, she looks familiar!"
Gina Torres (Bree) - Jasmine on Angel, Zoe on Firefly, and now Dr. Rand on Huge
Heh, so it occurs to me that I've talked a whole lot here, and didn't address any of the mythology or, y'know, plot. OR SEASON TWO. I'm thinking a third post may be in order. Gah.
Let's start with our main threesome:
Elena - I was not impressed with Nina Dobrev's acting at first, but either she does better with good material or she's improved with practice, because I do see a distinction between when she's playing Elena and when she's playing Katherine. (Though I did find it interesting that they both hug Stefan the exact same way - one arm over, one arm under. Not sure if that's just a Nina Dobrev quirk or if it's meant to signify more in common between Elena and Katherine than just appearance.) Elena will never be my favorite character, but as human-girlfriends-of-vampires go, she's certainly better than the average (see: Bella). I just have a pretty damn high standard (see: Buffy). She's spunky, she never waits in the car, and she's usually level-headed when people (sometimes including herself) are in danger. She's just... kind of bland, I guess. I mean, is there anything interesting about her that doesn't involve her relationships with vampires? Plus, she's the perfect, pretty, popular girl who gets everything she wants and has multiple guys throwing themselves at her feet - is it any wonder neurotic, perfectionist Caroline has a complex, trying to compete with someone for whom approval and affection comes effortlessly when she has to work so hard? (Um, clearly we know who I identify with. But I digress.) Going to the comparison well once again, I feel like I really get Buffy in that respect. I understand her isolation, her walled-up broken heart, her depression, her desperate need to please people. Elena is just not someone I can identify with or sympathize with, really. Shiny, shiny hair, though. You can always count on the CW for that.
Stefan - O hai, Angel 2.0. Right down to the protruding caveman brow. For real, he's like the love child of David Boreanaz and James Van Der Beek, which kind of creeps me out. I suppose it's appropriate though, since they were, once upon a time, the two biggest brooders the WB had to offer. Why must vampires be so angsty? Come on, people, break out of the Anne Rice mold! It must be the no-people diet they all seem to adopt, ruins their sense of humor. Hey, I understand. I was pretty miserable when I had a restricted diet, too. But it would've made an incredibly lame TV show, you see what I'm saying? While we're on the subject, why must vampires always date high school girls, whom they are inexplicably attracted to despite having celebrated their centennials? (I will say this for Angel - at least he never enrolled in high school in order to be close to Buffy. Say what you will about his Lolita complex, but mysterious college guy is definitely a step up.) Stefan's also got the creepy stalker thing covered with the whole "I followed you around for three months before introducing myself." AND he's way more interesting when he goes off the rails. Somebody should make vampire bingo for these shows.
He's not nearly as patronizing, though, which is nice. I don't have many feelings about him and Elena as a couple. I don't dislike them - granted, the back-and-forthing about whether or not they should be together for ten episodes was super-annoying, but as I mentioned in my previous post, they ain't got nothing on Buffy and Angel's decade of pointless relationship angst, so I'll let it go. But even once they get past that, they're just... kinda boring ("I love you more!" "No, I love you more!"), especially in comparison to Damon and Elena's complicated frenemy thing - and once again, I have to wonder why vampire shows ALWAYS make the good vampire a boring broodypants and the bad vampire snarky, sexy, and complex? Speaking of which...
Damon - I have to admit, half the reason I decided to watch this show is because I pegged Ian Somerhalder as belonging on a CW show about thirty seconds into Lost, and I wanted to see how he did. Well, no surprise, Damon is by far and away my favorite character on this show. So much so that I even forgave him for that painfully cheesy "dot dot dot" line early on. I love family stuff, particularly siblings (woes of the only child, I must watch TV to experience such things), so the Salvatore brothers' relationship greatly amuses and intrigues me. In fact, that's really the only time I like Stefan, when he and Damon are being snarky at each other or reluctantly helping each other out. (Much the way Spike livens up Angel, I feel compelled to add.) I also like his buddy-cop thing with Alaric and he's adorable whenever he's doing nice things for Elena. I love how Damon is sort of in that S5 Spike state, where he's still evil enough to not care about most things, but there are a few people who get to him, and he actually does have very deep emotions. There's no telling what he'll choose to care about on any given day, and that combo of unpredictability and love is what makes him fascinating.
Ordinarily, I am not a fan of love triangles, but I would totally go with a threesome if the show actually went there, lol. Namely because Damon makes everybody more fun. :) My favorite moments have been when the three of them all team up, or when Elena and Damon were taking care of Stefan. I also discovered a brand new kink - when we found out that Damon turned Elena's mother without realizing the connection, I was like OMG THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE ANGST-MAKING SCENARIO. I want to play with that idea of hurting someone you love without meaning to by killing someone they love. I just wish he'd stop killing all the cool people. (Vicki! Lexi! Gina Torres! Noooooo!)
As for the rest of this (really huge) cast - seriously, there are too many characters. Thank goodness for the high body count, otherwise this show would be overrun with minor characters. Of the teenagers, I love Bonnie (who, I'm calling it now, is a Dark Willow waiting to happen), Matt (OMG he's like Matt Saracen 2.0. ADORABLE), and Caroline, who actually annoyed me in the beginning, but hey, so did Buffy, so Caroline's in good company. If anyone had asked me to thin the herd a little, she and Douchey McDouchebag Tyler would've been the first to go. (Tyler is still on my list.) But I like that she has layers (kiddie pool be damned), and like I said, I definitely identify with her neurotic insecurity and the way she always feels second-best to Elena. Also, Caroline/Matt? SO CUTE OMG. I am kind of meh on Jeremy. He vacillates between being interesting and being painfully annoying. As much as I liked Vicki, I really hated all the male posturing in the Jeremy/Vicki/Tyler triangle. His relationship with Anna was somewhat interesting, but he's apparently the Xander of this show, because every girl he dates dies.
The grown-ups... oy, way too many of them. Alaric is cool, Jenna is the worst guardian ever (and barely looks older than the kids she's taking care of), and everyone else is just a blur. Well, Grams and "Uncle" John were mostly notable for being played by people I love from other things. Actually this whole show is a "hey, it's that guy/girl" fest:
Zach Roerig (Matt) - Tyra's rodeo boyfriend on Friday Night Lights
Matthew Davis (Alaric) - Josh the reporter on Damages
David Anders (John) - Adam on Heroes and the son of the terrorist on 24 (and Sark on Alias, but I didn't really watch that), and can I just say how bizarre it is to hear him talking without a British accent? I know it's his real voice, but it's weird.
Jasmine Guy (Grams) - Roxy on Dead Like Me
Bianca Lawson (Emily) - Kendra on BtVS
Mia Kirshner (Isobel) - Mandy on 24, where she was equally psychotic, lol.
James Remar (Daddy Salvatore) - Harry on Dexter (does he always play deceased father figures? lol)
Arielle Kebbel (Lexi) - Dean's wife on Gilmore Girls, and she just turned up on Life Unexpected, and I was all, "Damn, she looks familiar!"
Gina Torres (Bree) - Jasmine on Angel, Zoe on Firefly, and now Dr. Rand on Huge
Heh, so it occurs to me that I've talked a whole lot here, and didn't address any of the mythology or, y'know, plot. OR SEASON TWO. I'm thinking a third post may be in order. Gah.
no subject
Date: Sep. 30th, 2010 06:11 pm (UTC)Heh. I blame Spike and Angel for that perception. Aren't they the ones who said people keep falling for that schtick? Because the truth is, the majority of Rice's vampire novels center on Lestat... who was not the least bit angsty. It was only Louis and Armand who were angsty and, frankly, Lestat mocked the hell out of both of them.
no subject
Date: Sep. 30th, 2010 06:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sep. 30th, 2010 09:20 pm (UTC)Exactly! I've looked over posts I've made about shows, and then thought, "Wow, that sounds so negative. But I really liked it!" But I do nitpick. If I'm nitpicking, it shows I'm actually thinking about the show and am invested, and it's not just an hour of entertainment that's out of my head as soon as it's passed.
I like Stefan and Elena as a couple all right, once we got past the "can I should I can I" be with you stuff.
And I really like the dynamic Elena and Damon have now. Even though Damon is my favorite, I don't want him hooked up with Elena just because of that. I like that he likes her, but I also like that she's clearly happy in the relationship she has now.
Damon and Stefan working together (especially in the earlier eps, when they were mostly antagonizing each other) is awesome. And Damon and Alaric are epic frenemies.
Jenna is the only one in the whole cast who has no clue about vampires, LOL.
I'm also enjoying Damon's antics with the Council. I am eagerly awaiting whenever the sheriff finds out he's a vampire.
no subject
Date: Oct. 1st, 2010 01:00 am (UTC)No, it's not just that. I think I prefer them together because they're the most interesting together. Stefan and Elena are cute, but they're a little too typical teen drama for me. Damon brings a lot more complexity and internal conflict to the relationship. (I've also developed a sudden affection for Stefan/Caroline in the last couple episodes, but I feel like Caroline would never go for Elena's ex twice.)
I'm also enjoying Damon's antics with the Council.
Haha, yeah, that cracks me up.
no subject
Date: Oct. 1st, 2010 12:48 am (UTC)There is so much win in that post I don't know where to start.
I've missed reading your posts...
Damon is the *only* reason I'm kinda watching TVD...
<3
DragonflyLady
no subject
Date: Oct. 1st, 2010 01:01 am (UTC)I've missed reading your posts...
I've been here the whole time! :) Posting just about every day.
no subject
Date: Oct. 1st, 2010 02:04 pm (UTC)(Quick googling for guest cast of Life Unexpected)
So how did I not notice that?
no subject
Date: Oct. 1st, 2010 03:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Oct. 2nd, 2010 03:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Oct. 2nd, 2010 03:54 am (UTC)