Posted by Vee | March 14, 2010, 22:11 (EST) | 11 Comments
Category: TV Series

PaleyFest last weekend was fun times, and considering I made it to L.A. despite being sick as all get out, you’ll forgive me for taking the past week to recuperate and throw together some thoughts.

First off, it was nothing short of a pleasure (finally!) meeting Niyah (@CW_VampDiaries), Craig (@KryptonSite), and Carina (@cadlymack), and great seeing Jen (@NinaDobrevFan) again. And of course my travel partners-in-crime, Connie (@conallen) and Lucia (@Heroine_TV), who weathered my sick, pathetic butt and made me laugh so much. This fandom has a core made of awesome, wonderfully witty, hard-working folks, and the above are all class acts. You guys made my trip, so thank you. (The rest of you – follow all of the above on Twitter!)

If you’re looking for a thorough PaleyFest panel recap, I point you no further than Lucia/Heroine TV’s excellent breakdown. She touches on everything worth noting during the actual panel, and I can’t disagree with (most of) her personal observations either. (By the way, I’m the arm she grabbed in the last moments of the episode screening, heh, but more on that in a minute.)

A sincere and completely humble thank you to Julie and Kev (and Ian!) for the love they extended to Vampire-Diaries.net from the stage. It was completely unexpected and really meant a lot (even though I wanted to die a million thousand gazillion deaths when the orange thing came up, but kudos to Julie for treating it with total humor and grace, and oh, to have been on a fly on the wall when she explained it to Ian). I was especially surprised/amused when Kev talked about the questions he used to write and ask us in the early days of filming. (For the record, the question about what Elena’s dad did for a living was indeed one of them and, yeah, that was pretty much our response – complete with typing motions.)

The panel itself was full of cool tidbits and lots of laughs, courtesy of every single person on the panel. It was obvious that no one on stage was taking the success of this show for granted; they seem to really appreciate that they have an audience at all, let alone a fandom that made their love abundantly clear that night. And the rapport between Ian, Nina, and Paul was especially fun to watch. (I still can’t believe that the boys abandoned Nina at the airport on her birthday. I hope she denied them cake.) I realized during the panel that regardless of what happens with The Vampire Diaries in the future, I know I’ll be following their careers into the next chapter. (And that goes for the cast members not in attendance, too.) And they’ve earned that by keeping me glued to my TV every Thursday night. I remember telling Nina at Comic Con to enjoy what was coming because I knew in my gut the show was going to be huge. I hope she’s enjoying it. I hope everyone is enjoying it. They absolutely deserve it.

If I had to choose a highlight of the entire evening? Sitting in a room full of Vampire Diaries fans, watching A Few Good Men. When you run a site like this, it’s easy to get locked into the online space and, since we’ve been doing this from the start, you fall into a routine when a new episode airs: Post the news that floods Thursdays, hang on Twitter ’til the episode airs, watch the episode, get back online to post more info, oversee comments and forum posts, etc. I usually watch the show alone, in my dark living room. But last Saturday night I had the opportunity to not only sit in a row with friends I’ve made because of this show (one of whom was sitting next to me in San Diego last July as we watched the pilot), I was in a theater full of fans who actually applauded and whooped when Nina’s “Previously on The Vampire Diaries” came over the speakers. The contrast between this night and the pilot screening at Comic Con was staggering. And this is why all of my attempts to blog about the panel itself were a bust - was a bit emotional about the whole thing.

So rather than rehash what’s already been well-documented, here’s my thoughts on what you have to look forward to when Vampire Diaries returns with its 15th episode on March 25th.

If you’re expecting this episode to deal with the immediate emotional aftermath of Fool Me Once, you can start squashing those expectations right now. We’re full speed ahead in dealing with other plot threads, namely the issue of Isobel and the arrival of Matt and Vicki’s mom, Kelly Donovan. Just when you think there may be time to catch a breath, this show shoves you right back down into the passenger seat. This ep is chock full of “OMFG” moments, and that’s on top of some interesting, niggly, possible-foreshadowing character moments. And big props to writer Brian Young for some stinging dialogue.

Lucia’s arm-grabbing mentioned above? Here’s all I’m going to say about it: The L.A. production office was half a step away from finding me on their doorstep Monday morning with my PowerPoint presentation entitled, “Why this is WRONG, SO VERY VERY WRONG.” And you all would have been in for three straight weeks of Vee-wailing. And that is why I shall henceforth refer to this episode as: Panic Attack. The end.

1. Matt & Caroline.
The show’s (current) most unlikely couple continues to be ridiculously adorable in a non-saccharine way, what with Caroline’s lack of filter and Matt’s constant bemusement. I thought I’d hate this pairing but instead find myself rooting for them, even though I know Mystic Falls likes to puts its romantic entanglements through the wringer. (Perhaps “gauntlet” would be a more appropriate term?) The Caroline of this episode hearkens back to the Caroline of the pilot and it’s more than a little heartbreaking to watch, and that’s all thanks to…

2. Kelly.
If Melinda Clarke did a Sci-Fi original movie entitled Cyborg Spiders of Misty Mountain and Their Gargoyle Cousins of the North Pole, I would watch it. That’s how much class she brings to the party, and that’s what makes her turn as Matt’s slightly trashy mom so much fun. From the second Kelly Donovan appears onscreen, you think of Vicki. It’s all there, particularly with the blatant manipulation of Matt. (How on earth did this guy end up so good in this family? Maybe he’s adopted, too.) She’s going to wreak some havoc, and if I get to see that look on Mrs. Lockwood’s face again, I won’t be sorry.

3. Damon reaches new levels of bastard-dom.
This is a slippery slope into major spoiler territory, so I’ll keep it brief: Have you ever heard an entire theater of people hiss air through their teeth/say “DAAAAAMN” all at the same time? Damon does something so cruel and flinch-worthy this episode, you want to act as a human shield. And that’s just the first thing he does.

4. The name’s Gilbert. Elena Gilbert.
You know when Stefan pulls his eyebrows together and says “There’s something you should know” or “You’ll have to trust me” and Elena looks like she wants to punch him in the arm really, really hard? Well, girlfriend isn’t having any of it this episode. She takes initiative and finds her own answers instead of relying on Stefan’s misguided attempts to protect her from things she has every right to know. Stefan, to his credit, has the good sense not to scold her on how he can’t protect her if she blah, blah, blah. As for the answers she finds? Well, that’s a whole other rabbit hole.

5. Alaric.
My original comment on this was a simple “That is all” but Red sent a snarky “I think you’ve gone into way too much detail with Alaric. You’re really letting your love for him get the better of you” my way, so I’ll try to be a bit more descriptive. It’s no secret that I love this character, and I wouldn’t adore him as much as I do if it wasn’t for Matt Davis. Setting aside the total early-80s Harrison Ford thing he has going on (think Indy and Han Solo – and if you don’t know who I’m talking about, please back away from me right now), he sealed the deal with Alaric’s nervous energy when confronting Logan in The Turning Point. Then of course he followed up with that killer vervain bluff with Damon in Unpleasantville and the Van Helsing action with Stefan in Children of the Damned. This episode highlights how Alaric is exactly what Stefan says he is: In over his head. He’s a bundle of vulnerability and fury and desperation and watching him fumble his way through these circumstances is compelling, to say the least. Oh, and how much do I love any scene involving him and a Salvatore? Lots.

Less than two weeks to go, kids! And then it’s eight straight weeks of uninterrupted episodes until the season finale on May 13th. Be there.

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