The Vampire Diaries is one of The CW’s new shows this season.  Now I don’t expect much out of the CW, especially after killing Veronica Mars, so I wasn’t expecting much out of this show either.  I mean it’s an obvious grab at some of that Twilight market.  This too is based on a series of books.  Also it’s run by Kevin Williamson.  My disdain for that man runs deep.

But before we get to into things let’s go over the basic premise of the show.  The main character is 17 year old (looks 25) Elena, who’s parents recently died in a car accident.  She now lives with her young aunt, along with he r 15 year old brother.  They live in the small town of Mystic Falls (groans are appropriate here).  When the new school year starts a mysterious new student appears.  He’s Stefan and he’s a vampire who’s creepily stalking Elena because she looks like a girl he once loved.  He’s a good vampire who doesn’t eat people though (reminding you of any books/movies yet?).  But people are being attacked in a vampire like way and we learn by the end of the first episode that that’s because his brother, Damon, also a vampire (not the good kind) is in town and wants to ruin things for Stefan.  I’m told along the way this is supposed to turn into a love triangle.  Anyway there’s also Elena’s friends of whom one is a witch (what no werewolves? How about a mummy?).

OK so I’ve done my due diligence and watched more than the standard 3 episodes, in fact I’ve watched every episode so far except for the most recent.  So I feel adequately equipped to make some remarks about this show so far.  Most shockingly is the fact that I don’t hate it.  Let’s be clear, in no way is this good tv.  Almost every single thing about this show is shitty.  But there’s something about it that keeps you coming back.  But if it wasn’t for my 3 episode rule I wouldn’t have.

Some of the female cast members (at a spray tan factory?)

The first few episodes are painfully boring and offer little incentive to return.  However things actually started getting interesting.  Once the whole business of Stefan trying to keep his secret from Elena is dropped the show got much better.  I’m gonna get a tad bit spoilery here but if you tune in anything I say is gonna be shown in the previouslys.  But this is where you might wanna stop reading and skip to the bottom if you wanna go in cold.  Anyway they also reveal that a bunch of the town members know about the existence of vampires and are now out to hunt them down (they don’t know who they are, apparently this is passed down from generation to generation).  That little subplot kicks things into gear fast.  Now we have something more than a boring love plot that really comes from nothing in the first place, to something where things are happening.  Then they take the most interesting character in the show, Vicki, and have Damon turn her into a vampire because he’s bored.

Kayla Ewell as Vicki

This instantly makes the show about 100% more interesting.  Watching this girl, who is the “wild girl” on the show, go through the transition to a vampire and how she and those around her deal with it is infinitely entertaining and is a plot line I could watch for weeks.  [spoiler effect="slide" show="Spoiler"]Too bad they kill her off after one episode of it.[/spoiler]

I haven’t watched the show since then (that was the episode before the most recent) but it seems like all the positive momentum the show had was killed in its tracks.  I’m unsure how I feel about going forward with a show that’s writers obviously can’t identify interesting story lines.

The Vampire brothers

Now I’m at a point with this show where I’ve encountered it being interesting and actually starting to find myself enjoying it in all it’s shitty glory but I’m not sure if that will continue.  It might just be too bad with a writing staff, network, and cast that doesn’t give a shit to change it.

When all is said and done I don’t know how to feel about The Vampire Diaries.  I’d recommend it if you tend to enjoy typical CW type fare, or if your big into vampires or Twilight, but overall there’s not much there and it seems like they don’t know a good thing when they have it.  Have you seen this?  How do you feel?