Vampire Diaries Revisited
My current Netflix binge
When the Vampire Diaries TV series first came out on September 10, 2009, I jumped on the bandwagon and started watching it right away, and I was in with episode 1. I’ve always liked vampire stories, and this series was no exception. These stories always have a love story at the center, and the love triangle between Elena Gilbert, and Stefan and Damon Salvatore did not disappoint. Stefan, the heroic, steady, sensitive, and handsome brother comes into Mystic Falls and notices Elena, the sweet and sultry brunette teenage orphan. Immediately he is drawn to her and returns to his family estate in Mystic Falls, a quaint town that contains several pivotal families with secrets and ties to a tainted history.
So, when this series first aired, I got swept up in the drama and the bizarre love triangle of Elena, Stefan, and his wayward, but alluring brother Damon. I tuned in to the CW weekly, or we taped it on our DVR. Who doesn’t want to live vicariously through this ‘young’ bunch of teens: some gorgeous boy and girl next door types like Matt Donovan, Caroline Forbes, and Elena and Jeremy Gilbert, forever young vampire Salvatore brothers, werewolf Tyler Lockwood and witch protégé Bonnie Bennett? Who doesn’t want to get swept up in a supernatural love story?
Then, I started working 2nd shift, and week after week I would miss the air date, while my husband kept watching. I started losing track of the storyline when I watched a recorded episode here and there. Eventually, I just gave it up, and my husband watched the last few seasons of the 8 season series without me. When this show began its first season our son was 2. Now he is 13, and we have this thing called Netflix; I’m sure you’ve heard of it. They have all 8 seasons sitting there just waiting for a binge opportunity.
I always thought, someday, I’ll finish the series. And then my son and I were looking for a new show to watch together. So we started watching Vampire Diaries. At first, I would pop in for an episode here and there, because I had already seen the first several seasons. But, the next thing I knew, I was getting drawn into the story all over again. And I really got sucked into the love story this time. Some people are Stefan fans. They want that fated love to stay intact. After all, these two were destined to each other for centuries, over and over again. Others, like myself, route for the trouble-making, and yet potentially soul mate material, Damon Salvatore. When he looks at Elena with those blue eyes, they pull you in. Could it be because these 2 actors, Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder, dated each other for 3 years during the making of the series? Whatever the reason, don’t you want him to win the girl in the end? If you’re like me you route for the unlikely, the one who would do anything for her, despite his flippant attitude and careless choices.
Now we are moving into unfamiliar territory. I am starting to see parts of the series I have never seen before, and I am riding the turbulent waves of doppelganger drama and plot twists, and roadblocks to love winning out in the end. My son is a Stefan supporter. I’m not going to lie, I like Stefan. I root for Stefan to find happiness, just not with Elena. Maybe Caroline, though. So, no spoilers. I am going in blind as love. My husband said the ending sucked, but I am holding out hope that fate is not the final word. We’ve come too far to turn back now. Love is a choice, and Damon, I choose you, for Elena, of course. So in the words of a fitting song off the Vamp Di soundtrack,
“It’s everything you wanted It’s everything you don’t It’s one door swinging open And one door swinging closed Some prayers find an answer Some prayers never know We’re holding on and letting go.”(Ross Copperman)