The Case for "The Vampire Diaries"

"Where is Mason?"
"He's right beside me. Although, his heart's across the room."

When I first heard about "The Vampire Diaries," I was resistant. I'd read some L.J. Smith books as a teenager, and loved them in that way that only dramatic teenagers can, but I hadn't read the series this show is based on, and it sounded like Twilight TV. I decided to check out the pilot anyway, and while there were a few moments of surprising fun, I still wasn't convinced. 

Months later, I started hearing about how great this little CW vampire show was, and I decided to give it another shot. Episode 2 was a little better than the pilot, and the next few episodes were a little better than that. As I continued through season 1, I felt myself getting more and more involved, and before I knew it I was totally drawn in. By the time season 2 rolled around I was an addict. 

When I tried to explain to my brother and sister over the holidays exactly why this show is worth watching, I was told I sounded like a 15-year-old girl. Maybe I do. But the fact remains, this is one of the most overlooked shows on television right now. Far from being Twilight TV, the characters are compelling, the stories move at breakneck speed, and week after week I find myself getting excited as I get ready to watch a new episode.

So why is this show so good? There are a few reasons that are especially key. 

1. It's way more "Buffy" than "Twilight." 

Some of the vampires are good. Kinda. A lot of them are killing machines who value human life much less than their own pleasure. The Angel of the show, Stefan, is mostly a good guy, but when he is bad, he is very, very bad. And it is awesome. His brother Damon (the Spike of the show, for sure) has a penchant for ripping peoples' hearts directly out of their chests, literally. They both love Elena, who is no Buffy by any means, but over the course of the show has shown that she is a lot stronger and more compelling than any Bella. And while Stefan mostly drinks animal blood, he would definitely never sparkle in the sun. 

2. The characters are great.

It took a little time for me to warm up to this cast. Ian Somerhalder was pretty immediately a standout as Damon, the snarky and often violent "bad" brother, but the rest of the cast seemed to be pretty standard CW fare, pretty people with wooden personalities. Now it's obvious that couldn't be further from the truth. Elena is an imperfect heroine and occasionally annoyingly good, but she has had some excellent badass moments, and her lookalike ancestor, evil vampire Katherine, shows off a pretty impressive acting range from actress Nina Dobrev. Despite looking exactly the same, Elena and Katherine are very different, and Nina does an excellent job of showing those differences, even when Katherine is trying to impersonate Elena. And Stefan, far from being just a pansy romantic lead, has also shown that he can be a total badass when Elena or anyone he loves is threatened. 

In addition to the leads, the supporting cast contains Caroline, who has gone from annoying dumb blonde friend to a fan favorite over the course of these two seasons; Bonnie, whose witchy powers have grown and blossomed until she is a verified BAMF; and Tyler, who also started out as a caricature of a high school bully but has become so much more (especially when it's a full moon). And that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

3. The stories move like lightning. 

There is never a dull moment on this show. In one episode, you might have someone's fingers getting chopped off, one major character snapping another major character's neck, someone getting turned into a vampire, unexpected bad guys showing up, important new characters being introduced, other important characters leaving and, of course, some very steamy makeouts. (Note: This is an actual episode.) One recent episode featured no less than half a dozen hearts getting ripped out. Several plotlines will be resolved and several more introduced over the course of 40 minutes. This is not really a show you can just jump into, but even if you've been paying attention, the pace can sometimes be dizzying. No dragging out of stories here. It's refreshing. 

4. It's hot. 

Yup.

I could say more (a lot more, probably), but if you're not convinced by all that, this is probably not the show for you. I won't go so far as to say this is the next "Buffy," which I still think is one of the most brilliant and influential shows ever, but at moments, it is damn good. For anyone who likes horror, gore, romance, thrills, drama or just plain enjoyable entertainment, this is a great choice. Don't let the "teen vampire show on the CW" stigma fool you. "Vampire Diaries" rocks.