Vampire Diaries: The New Deal
For all the torture The Vampire Diaries writers put us through with all their mind blowing build ups right before leaving us hanging with random 2-3 month breaks, sometimes they give us exactly what we want. For all of the teasing about the pay off that never seems to happen at last we get an ending so satisfying that I’m not sure any words can truly express for the pure shock and bliss that it put millions of fans in all over the world. Thinking of this past season of True Blood this has been a phenomenal year for vampire shows, going the extra mile and giving the bad vampires a win over their moralistic but deceiving vampire counterparts. It’s the year of evil-natured vamps, I really couldn’t ask for much more than that.
It is instances like this week’s episode that I am so thankful that The Vampire Diaries uses the books more as a base inspiration rather than a direct adaptation source. I am really not sure which I like better. It is rare enough that the adaptation can even compare to the books, but the two are honestly pretty different. I do like the huge overwhelming world-shattering epidemics, larger than life villains, and original version of the fierce, loyal, and unrelenting characters in the book. Still, the show has all of this, just in ways unique to the books.
True Blood takes the main plot and works it in to each season, adding at least two other world ending catastrophes per season. Fans of the book don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. There are plenty of surprises along their way and separate story lines that anything can happen with. Still, overall they stick to the basic plot. The Vampire Diaries just follows the original premise of the series overall and most of the more striking characters. This way you never know what’s going to happen. The stakes are that much higher. The show quickly proved that the characters can’t survive anything and everything with the sheer amount of featured characters that have been killed off. The tension is that much higher and even better sometimes something can sneak up on you, catch you off guard, and completing blow you away as it did in the much anticipated return of Vampire Diaries.
In the TV series, there are definitely different versions of some of the characters. Bonnie is the only one that truly suffers, but then I’m absolutely in love with Caroline (especially once she went undead), whereas there is nothing to like about her in the books. At first, I wasn’t sure about Jeremy’s character, since in the books he was an 8 year-old younger sister of Elena’s rather than a troubled teenager. He has become one of the most compelling characters. So much of his material is what draws me in more than anything else.
I loved Anna who wasn’t in the books; some of their material together was so gripping and genuine, an igniting combination. Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t be seeing as much of either of them for awhile. Especially in this episode he endures so much and pushes him to a darker place, yet a very needed one to have any hopes of being a survivor. Now Klaus is after him to show Elena a lesson about refusing to help him find Stefan and Klaus’ dead family members. Jeremy is fierce and clearly loses a huge part of his humanity, simply because he’s doing what he has to.
Stefan has stolen all of Klaus casket-ridden family members; his one weakness. Stefan realizes all that he has done now. It’s clear that Klaus has broken him down and piece by piece ruined everything he was and everything in his life. Stefan certainly hasn’t gotten any humanity or moralistic tendencies back. He is simply out for revenge at all costs, even if it means trying to kill the unkillable. As impossible as it seems to be whenever they try to kill him or most of their enemies for that matter, Stefan actually does manage to be one step ahead with the perfect diabolical plan. Any care or concern he had for Elena or her loved ones is clearly long gone, breaking that past connection further.
Elena is all on her own, desperate to protect her brother from this life of danger, death, and destruction she has thrown him in to. As her last living family member left she can’t see Jeremy go through it any longer. She can’t stand the thought of anyone else she cares about dying. Klaus doesn’t plan on stopping killing off her loved ones until he gets what he wants. Elena comes up with something else to make a deal with him, Rebekah, who will quickly go on a murderous rampage when she awakens aimed at Elena. Klaus needs Elena so he won’t let that happen just yet, but just anticipating the rage fueling this original vampire who has been deceived and hurt time and time again for centuries is mindboggling. It should make for some very tension-building and thrilling material.
There was a chance before that Klaus might have left them alone for the most part, at least for the time being since he clearly had future plans for Elena, but now that hope is long gone. He will do anything and everything he can to find and get back at Stefan, anything less than slow and painstaking torture and revenge would be too sympathetic than he even has the capacity for, not to mention the blood lust and rage he needs and wants to take out on Stefan. It’s kind of a given that at some point for Elena and the Salvatores to go on living Klaus has to be stopped at some point. I absolutely love his character though and would be devastated to see him go.
There are some very intense moments with Damon and Klaus, the hate and fierocity jumping off the screen. Of course I am on Team Elena and Damon, but I am still a bit torn, just because Klaus is such an overwhelming enticing character. I just pray they don’t kill him. He had a different, but very large part in the books so let’s hope they keep him around for awhile. Of course, The Vampire Diaries is never short on villains, diabolical plans, or colossal earth-shattering events that the characters are constantly fighting against. I have faith that the show would have so many directions to go and would still be as good, but he is quickly becoming one of my favorite vampire characters ever and I would love to hold on to every wicked treasured moment with him I can.
Review by Kelsey Z.
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