Blu-ray Review: The Vampire Diaries: The Complete First Season

Written by Caballero Oscuro

Seriously? Another vampire show? Aside from being a blatant attempt to cash in on the inexplicable vampire craze of the last few years, The Vampire Diaries seemed like an ill-advised concept from the start, offering precious little originality in its take on what basically boils down to a supernatural love triangle between a woman and two vampire brothers.

Didn’t get your fill of the Twilight books and movies? The many books but shorter seasons of True Blood just aren’t enough to quench your thirst? You don’t get BBC America so you’re shut out of Being Human? You’re too young to have watched Angel? If so, you’re the target demographic.

Me, not so much, which is why I flatly boycotted this show during its first-season TV broadcasts, but based on good reviews from a couple of co-workers who should know better, I forged ahead with a full season marathon thanks to the new Blu-ray box set.

The show’s weak stab at a differentiator is its focus on high-school characters, adding teen drama to the vampire theme. That makes it a good fit amongst its similarly-aged CW neighbors such as Gossip Girl and 90210, but doesn’t add much to the concept. The show also marks the return of Dawson ’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson to a teen-centric series, although he admits in a bonus feature that he consciously molded these characters far from the "wise beyond their years“ Dawson ’s” gang, so as a result there’s not much noticeable trace of his previously distinctive stamp to be found. Instead, we’re left with a group of very pretty, humorless, and not particularly intelligent people grappling with the impact of vampirism on their lives and afterlives.

Regrettably, after watching all 22 season-one episodes I can report that my initial misgiving was spot-on. My wife, normally a genre TV junkie, gave up after about six episodes, finding the proceedings entirely too melodramatic and sappy (not her exact colorful term). These sexy kids mope around their small town pursuing typical high-school activities and occasionally find themselves in some minor supernatural peril, but that peril never boils over into drama compelling enough to warrant continued viewing.

The plot moves quickly, frequently bounces back into the past to add some historical impact to the love triangle, and has no qualms about summarily introducing and dispatching characters, and yet I found myself frequently struggling to care enough to stay awake even within my normal viewing hours. You’d think a show with vampires and witches could produce some fantastic situations brimming with suspense and excitement, but instead we’re mostly left with emo wusses going through the motions of their small-town, high-school lives with brief supernatural interruptions.

Article Author: Cinema Sentries

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