The Vampire Diaries -- The Journey Continues; The Originals

It's no secret, I started watching The Vampire Diaries (TVD) awhile ago and I have caught up with everything! I was just watching The Originals at the time of just thinking about blogging about the show, and it then occurs to me -- I have to blog about this vampire franchise. 

Let me be up front about one thing, and I know I am not alone in this -- TVD is the not best thing ever on TV but there's enough juice to keep me watching. It is a guilty pleasure. It doesn't get any more epic, but it does get more intrigued with the stories and character connections. Other CW shows such as Supernatural, Smallville and Arrow have some heavy dialogues and acting that make you go 'wow that was epic', but TVD is a bit inconsistent in in this area. TVD has to compete with a few current vampire shows. I didn't like Twilight at all, I watched True Blood's season one, but it didn't grab me at all. I still watch Being Human (US) and I like it a lot! But I think TVD does have a solid fanbase that keeps it going. There is something about it that keeps you coming back.

TVD started off very slow and predictable for me. The whole Elena discovering Stefan was a vampire thing was way too Twilight. I was so over the cheerleaders, high school football and proms thing already. Neither of the Salvatore Brothers are intriguing enough for me to love them like other fangirls. I have only seen Ian Somerhalder in Lost and Paul Wesley in 24, their performance are convincing enough as vampires who have their own darkness and personality. I know the show tries to differentiate Demon and Stefan in the writing department and construct of the characters, it works but I can't help myself and think "I've seen better." The whole 'brother vs brother who's gonna get the girl' story line has been interesting enough. Afterall, it is the core of the show. Deep down, you KNOW Elena will go with Demon, right?

The one thing that works for me from the get-go is Nina Dobrev's performance as Elena/ Catherine. I have not seen any of her work, and with the story having a bit of a Twilight vibe, I just didn't know what to expect. I certainly don't want to be reminded about Hella... I mean Bella. But a few episodes in, I was sold! Nina can act and she is way better than K-Stew. Nina brings Elena/ Katherine to life. There is something about her, I think she has star quality. If it wasn't her, I would have stopped watching after season one. PS, season one finale did have a pretty good cliffhanger. 

I think TVD cast people who look similar especially the boys. I couldn't tell who was who in the first season and I didn't care -- Tyler, Jeremy and Matt. I guess once there were more meat in the doppleganger story, it got a bit better. As you can imagine, as a fan of something heavier in content and depth such as Lost, 24 and Supernatural, TVD is decaf to me. The whole time I was waiting for this one thing that would me go Google, YouTube and Wiki to find out more about the show -- which is usually a sign of me becoming 'a fan'. I haven't really had that desire to do so at all....

Until the Originals showed up. 

I came in pretty late as a viewer to watch TVD, I know the show has a lot of buzz on Twitter. I know this show is good enough for my tweeps to keep watching and I trust my tweeps. It was a matter of time for me to watch the show. I know a lot of them are diehard Damon and Stefan girls, just like Sam girls and Dean girls. And then you have Castiel, many late-comers watch Supernatural because of Castiel. We watch our shows at different points and for different reasons. I just feel that I was becoming a fan of TVD when the Originals arrived.

I didn't think TVD has much 'meat' until the Originals were introduced. When Elijah first appeared, I was like 'who talked like this?' He turned out to be quite interesting. And then Klaus happened. By the standard of TVD, the whole Original-Hybrid thing was pretty epic. And I love their accent! What I love about the Originals is the backstory and the performance from Joseph Morgan and Daniel Gillies. And then you have Sebastian Roche playing Papa. They have taken TVD to the next level, it was game-changing stuff! There is a reason why Klaus and the Originals have their own show now. They totally deserve it.

And then there is Caroline. OK. I didn't like Caroline until she turned into a vampire. I thought her character didn't have anything worth liking before. But once she turned into a vampire, that's when she started to change and I love it. To me, Caroline is a character with most growth. I think I actually like Caroline more than Elena now. Is it bad? I don't know. I can only voice my opinion based on my experience. Caroline used to be the annoying one, and people say Elena is the annoying one (which I don't quite feel it). If you give Caroline an experience, her character and life will change forever. Her growth is very clean to me. Whereas, I think Elena has always been very confused about a lot of things, and very teenage-y about it.

And then Klaroline happened. 

Holy shit. 

I didn't get it at first. Klaus and Caroline has met before, but where did the flirty feeling come from? When Klaus came to Caroline's house to save her on her birthday, they were playing off as if they had a flirty history already and Klaus didn't want to loose her. That just hit me. Where did this come from? But for some reasons, I love it! The chemistry between Caroline and Klaus in that particular scene was stronger than it should. It just happened. Perhaps it was a vampire thing? 

And then there was a chain of stuff -- the dress, the ball, the dance, the horse, the drawing, the date and the 'I know you are in love with me'. The writers don't give us everything. It's killing us! I think it is save to say, Caroline brings out the other side of Klaus. He didn't know what to do because he accepted himself as pure evil and we see him as pure evil. Caroline has changed him or reminded him what it is like to have feelings and love. But I think Klaus will only make an exception when it comes to Caroline, it's not like he will transform into Mother Teresa. With Caroline in the picture, I don't care if Klaus is a cold-blooded monster, just grab Caroline and leave Mystic Falls already! I find Klaus interesting, and I find Klaroline more interesting.

Going back to the Salvatore Brothers. I just can't find any angle to talk about them. Damon is clearly more interesting to me, the classic bad boy who wears a mask to hide his soft side. His smirk is annoying though. Damon is the smart one, I think. Stefan, to me, is super boring. I get it, I do. I don't hate him. I just don't care. I get the whole thing about not killing human and drinking human blood, blah blah blah... and he was in love with Elena, then his past as the Ripper caught up with him. But I just can't care. Story is well told to a certain degree. And I get why Elena couldn't choose between the brothers, but honestly, I super don't care about the Salvatore Brothers. The Winchester Brothers would kick their asses!

Moving forward, I think I will keep watching TVD depending on the episode of the week, but I will be more interested in The Originals. If/ when Caroline moves to New Orleans, The Originals all the way baby!