Posted by Carrie Raisler | August 10, 2011, 11:00 (EST) | 133 Comments
Category: TV Series
It’s the summer hiatus – and IT SUCKS. So to help wile away those lonely TVD-less hours as we await Vampire Diaries Season 3, we’ve rounded up a slew of guest bloggers (and huge Vampire Diaries fans) for a series called Ripping Open TVD. Each blogger will be focusing on one particular aspect of what we’ve just experienced in Vampire Diaries Season 2 and adding a hefty dose of Season 3 speculation. Remember: These are guest posts, so these are the opinions of the person writing them, not necessarily Vampire-Diaries.net. Cool? Cool. This week, Carrie Raisler, Vampire Diaries recapper/reviewer extraordinaire at The A.V. Club, takes issue with the “boring” label when it comes to the littlest Salvatore and explains why she thinks this complicated character is about to get even more interesting.
Before I started covering The Vampire Diaries for The A.V. Club last season, I didn’t have much of a gauge on what other people besides myself thought about the show. Sure, I vaguely knew there were Delena and Stelena shippers – as there are in any show featuring a love triangle – but beyond that most of the fandom was a blank slate, which, as a writer, was both a blessing and curse. Once the comments started rolling in on my reviews, however, I got quite a surprise when it comes to one Mr. Stefan Salvatore: a lot of people think he’s boring.
I was bewildered. How did everyone not see the strong and supportive yet slightly warped vamp I did? I do admit, when the show started I was more than skeptical. Having been an almost obsessive fan of Kevin Williamson’s Dawson’s Creek, the Stefan of the early episodes was a bit too close to an undead Dawson Leery for my Pacey-loving taste. But then, something amazing happened. Paul Wesley started to really bring it in his scenes. The writers began to emphasize his dark side a bit more. By the time the Katherine reveal was made in The Turning Point, it was pretty much cemented that Stefan Salvatore is not your run of the mill brooding, sulking vampire. Now, as a card carrying member of the Stefan Salvatore fan club I invented in my mind, I feel it is my duty to explain exactly why he can punch my dance card at a 1800s-themed Mystic Falls party any time.
CONTINUE READING “RIPPING OPEN TVD: STEFAN IS NOT BORING, UNLESS BORING MEANS AWESOME.”
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Posted by Lucia Heroine TV | August 4, 2011, 11:33 (EST) | 16 Comments
Category: TV Series
It’s the summer hiatus – and IT SUCKS. So to help wile away those lonely TVD-less hours as we await Vampire Diaries Season 3, we’ve rounded up a slew of guest bloggers (and huge Vampire Diaries fans) for a series called Ripping Open TVD. Each blogger will be focusing on one particular aspect of what we’ve just experienced in Vampire Diaries Season 2 and adding a hefty dose of Season 3 speculation. Remember: These are guest posts, so these are the opinions of the person writing them, not necessarily Vampire-Diaries.net. Cool? Cool. This week, Lucia of Heroine TV looks back on Season 2′s introduction of Katherine in the flesh and explains why she was such a breath of fresh air in Mystic Falls.
After Katherine’s dramatic entrance in Founder’s Day last year, a lot of Vampire Diaries fans could not wait to see more Katherine. “Hello John. Goodbye, John.” STAB! That was certainly a way to make a lasting impression. Previously we had only seen her in flashbacks, but now our Scarlett O’Vampire was ready to move on to mischief making in the present. Look out, 21st Century! With all the anticipation for her character over the summer months, one might assume that her depiction in Season 2 would be a disappointment. Nothing is ever as good as you hope it to be, right? Hype ruins everything, right? WRONG. In the penultimate episode of Season 2, Damon told Katherine, “Somehow you’re the only one who wins.” He asked, “How’d that happen?” Yeah, how did that happen? With Season 2 complete, many fans are even more fascinated by Katherine than before, and she ended up being one of the biggest reasons for my personal love of the show’s sophomore season. Yes, Katherine has fabulous hair and impenetrable eye makeup that can withstand violence and captivity, but there’s more to it. Katherine has really proved herself to be one of the best villains in recent pop-culture history. She has achieved this through a combination of three elements: she is motivated by self-preservation, always plans ahead, and brings a sense of fun to her scenes.
CONTINUE READING “RIPPING OPEN TVD: KATHERINE HAPPENED.”
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Posted by Ciara & D'Ann | July 28, 2011, 10:56 (EST) | 69 Comments
Category: TV Series
It’s the summer hiatus – and IT SUCKS. So to help wile away those lonely TVD-less hours as we await Vampire Diaries Season 3, we’ve rounded up a slew of guest bloggers (and huge Vampire Diaries fans) for a series called Ripping Open TVD. Each blogger will be focusing on one particular aspect of what we’ve just experienced in Vampire Diaries Season 2 and adding a hefty dose of Season 3 speculation. Remember: These are guest posts, so these are the opinions of the person writing them, not necessarily Vampire-Diaries.net. Cool? Cool. This week, Ciara and D’Ann – Vampire-Diaries.net forum moderators – examine Damon Salvatore’s struggle to overcome his worst enemy: himself.
Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance - Richard von Weizsaecker
When we first meet Damon Salvatore, he is “switched off,” or trying to be. This is his exile; he’s denying his feelings – and yes, even then, he has them – and he’s denying the part of himself that has as much capacity for good as for death and destruction. Early in Season 1, the destructive elements are clearly in control but we soon start to see new sides to him. We catch glimpses of his love for Stefan, we see him broken-hearted by Katherine’s non-appearance in the tomb, and we see his friendship with Elena develop and later become love; strong, fundamentally human emotions experienced by a vampire supposedly incapable of feeling.
At the end of Season 2, Damon has begun to see his past choices for what they were and let go of the bitterness that has shaped so much of his undead life. It’s one small step on the long road to redemption. Damon has suffered setbacks and relapses, but he’s also shown a remarkable amount of growth. He’s gone from the man with a diabolical master plan who cared nothing for those he hurt to a man who is slowly learning what it means to care for other people.
CONTINUE READING “RIPPING OPEN TVD: DAMON SALVATORE – HERO HAIRCUTS & REDEMPTION SONGS.
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Posted by Tiffany Brown | July 13, 2011, 11:53 (EST) | 22 Comments
Category: TV Series
It’s the summer hiatus – and IT SUCKS. So to help wile away those lonely TVD-less hours as we await Vampire Diaries Season 3, we’ve rounded up a slew of guest bloggers (and huge Vampire Diaries fans) for a series called Ripping Open TVD. Each blogger will be focusing on one particular aspect of what we’ve just experienced in Vampire Diaries Season 2 and adding a hefty dose of Season 3 speculation. Remember: These are guest posts, so these are the opinions of the person writing them, not necessarily Vampire-Diaries.net. Cool? Cool. This week, Tiffany Brown breaks down the power struggle between vampires, witches and werewolves, and how those dynamics could shift in the Season 3 age of the “werepire.”
Vampires, werewolves and witches, oh, my! Over the last two seasons, The Vampire Diaries has introduced us to a vampire society, and in Season 2 we got to see how our vampires mix and mingle with other supernatural races. The interactions between the different groups can have a lasting impact on our beloved characters and the town they inhabit. With the introduction of the Originals, we’re really beginning to get a sense of how the otherworldly pecking order works in the TVD world.
CONTINUE READING “RIPPING OPEN TVD: WHO’S ON TOP? – SUPERNATURAL HIERARCHY ON THE VAMPIRE DIARIES.”
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Posted by Shira Rosenblatt | June 29, 2011, 12:27 (EST) | 36 Comments
Category: TV Series
It’s the summer hiatus – and IT SUCKS. So to help wile away those lonely TVD-less hours as we await Vampire Diaries Season 3, we’ve rounded up a slew of guest bloggers (and huge Vampire Diaries fans) for a series called Ripping Open TVD. Each blogger will be focusing on one particular aspect of what we’ve just experienced in Vampire Diaries Season 2 and adding a hefty dose of Season 3 speculation. Remember: These are guest posts, so these are the opinions of the person writing them, not necessarily Vampire-Diaries.net. Cool? Cool. This week, Shira Rosenblatt makes the case for why death is no longer a “game changer” on The Vampire Diaries and why she hopes Season 3 will “reinvigorate” the stakes.
“There are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer.” Eugene Ionesco, Rhinoceros
It is no surprise that death plays a major role on The Vampire Diaries. After all, two of the three main characters technically are dead. As much as we dread the killing of our favorite characters, whether we knew them a long time or fell in love with them at first guest starring sight, it is expected that on a supernatural show where the characters are in neverending life and death situations, we will inevitably say goodbye to some. In Season 1, Vampire Diaries excelled at killing characters at the right times for the right reasons, though I sometimes disagreed with the choice of character. In most cases, the major deaths last season moved the story forward or changed the story in ways that reverberated through to Season 2. When the show used the term “game changer” to describe a death, more often than not, the description was accurate.
SPOILERS! CONTINUE READING “RIPPING OPEN TVD: “DEATH” ON THE VAMPIRE DIARIES.
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Posted by Christina and Cin | June 15, 2011, 14:38 (EST) | 42 Comments
Category: TV Series
It’s the summer hiatus – and IT SUCKS. So to help wile away those lonely TVD-less hours as we await Vampire Diaries Season 3, we’ve rounded up a slew of guest bloggers (and huge Vampire Diaries fans) for a series called Ripping Open TVD. Each blogger will be focusing on one particular aspect of what we’ve just experienced in Vampire Diaries Season 2 and adding a hefty dose of Season 3 speculation. Remember: These are guest posts, so these are the opinions of the person writing them, not necessarily Vampire-Diaries.net. Cool? Cool. This week, Cin & Christina of the Salvatore Boarding House explore the past, present, and possible future of everyone’s favorite heart-snatching bad ass Original: Elijah.
Boy, those Original vamps sure opened up a can of worms, didn’t they? Last summer, all we could think or speculate about was what kind of havoc Katherine was going to rain down upon the once-sleepy town of Mystic Falls. But now? The introduction of the Original vampires has us running mental marathons as we head into Season 3, and no Original has captured our attention more than Elijah. The faint smile. The precise pronunciation. The deftness with which he extracts vital organs. Not to mention the part, DEAR LORD, THE PART! We never stood a chance. He had us at, “Hello, there.”
We could wax poetic for hours about what Elijah does that makes him such a great character, or why he is the true dark horse in The Vampire Diaries race – that minor character that unexpectedly captures more attention than even the writers bargained for. Elijah is the vampire that other vamps (like Damon) want to be and the fans want to see. He’s powerful, menacing, and he can speak volumes with a single weighted glance. But there’s also a hint of depth and complexity just begging to be revealed. So when he kept getting stabbed in Season 2, we believed it was a test. Like Old Testament Job, we’re being tested and have to rely on not much more than blind faith that he will be back to us all very soon. (Please, show, STOP THE MADNESS.)
SPOILERS! CONTINUE READING “RIPPING OPEN TVD: THE ELIJAH ADVENTURE.”
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Posted by Dayna Barter | June 8, 2011, 10:01 (EST) | 34 Comments
Category: TV Series
It’s the summer hiatus – and IT SUCKS. So to help wile away those lonely TVD-less hours as we await Vampire Diaries Season 3, we’ve rounded up a slew of guest bloggers (and huge Vampire Diaries fans) for a series called Ripping Open TVD. Each blogger will be focusing on one particular aspect of what we’ve just experienced in Vampire Diaries Season 2 and adding a hefty dose of Season 3 speculation. Remember: These are guest posts, so these are the opinions of the person writing them, not necessarily Vampire-Diaries.net. Cool? Cool. This week, Dayna Barter takes a look at the impending Year of the Originals and what that means for our core cast of Mystic Falls citizens.
Coming off of the second season finale, there is a lot of mystery surrounding The Vampire Diaries’ Original recipe. First we taste-tested the original Original Recipe, Elijah: Smooth, savory, and satisfying, with an old-fashioned appeal. Then came the Extra-Kreepy – er, Krispy – Klaus: Bolder, noisier, and spicier, with an added kick. With the stellar performances turned in by Daniel Gillies and Joseph Morgan in these roles, the fandom has fast developed a taste for these powerful, ancient vampires, so much so that Season 3 of The Vampire Diaries has been touted as “The Year of the Originals” by executive producers Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson. With the four-month hiatus yawning before us, we have a whole summer to speculate like mad as to what the rest of the family will bring to the table.
So what exactly will the “Year of the Originals” entail?
SPOILERS! CONTINUE READING “RIPPING OPEN TVD: ORIGINAL RECIPE.”
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Posted by Abby | June 1, 2011, 11:05 (EST) | 32 Comments
Category: TV Series
It’s the summer hiatus – and IT SUCKS. So to help wile away those lonely TVD-less hours as we await Vampire Diaries Season 3, we’ve rounded up a slew of guest bloggers (and huge Vampire Diaries fans) for a series called Ripping Open TVD. Each blogger will be focusing on one particular aspect of what we’ve just experienced in Vampire Diaries Season 2 and adding a hefty dose of Season 3 speculation. Remember: These are guest posts, so these are the opinions of the person writing them, not necessarily Vampire-Diaries.net. Cool? Cool. First up, Salvatore Boarding House staffer Abby Graham dissects the new hybrid in town and makes the case for Ultimate Villainy in Mystic Falls.
“He’s real! And he doesn’t give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you’re not afraid of Klaus then you’re an idiot.” - Rose, “Katerina”
Klaus. We first heard his name at the very end of Rose (EP208), and since that time our friends in Mystic Falls have been concerned with little else. His shadow has been looming over half of Season 2, yet the writers waited until the very last minute before showing us his true face. I’ve always been a big fan of villain characters and what they bring to stories, but Klaus is shaping up to be one of my favorite bad guys of all time. Today we’re going to take a deeper look at this year’s biggest bad, and give a little thought to what might be in store for everyone next season. This discussion will only cover Klaus as he is presented in the show, but lucky for us, on-screen Klaus gives us plenty to talk about. The fact and fiction of Klaus can be a little confusing, so I’m starting things off by going over what we already know.
SPOILERS! CONTINUE READING “RIPPING OPEN TVD: KLAUS – DECONSTRUCTING THE DESTRUCTIVE.”
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