Another Bite: 'The Vampire Diaries'

| Print Post This | Like (5) | Comments (1)

THANKS TO STEPHANIE MEYER (and, of course, Joss Whedon), vampires are pretty hot right now. The CW's new drama "The Vampire Diaries" capitalizes on that; it's a cross between "Party of Five" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" — except that the only slaying going on in the series pilot is of innocent humans.

In a nutshell, recently-orphaned Elena (Nina Dobrov) is strangely drawn to new-kid-in-school Stefan (Paul Wesley), while trying to watch over her younger, self-medicating brother Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen).

It's your typical teen drama, except that Stefan is also a vampire (which no one else yet knows). That mere fact leaves open enough questions to fill an entire season — why has he returned to Mystic Falls? Why has he chosen to suppress his vampire nature? Who is that mysterious woman from the 1850s who looks so much like Elena?

The Elena/Stefan dynamic is the most obvious angle for the show, but that relationship is far overshadowed by the arrival of Stefan's estranged brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder). The friction between them is palpable; it's like "Buffy's" Angel and Angelus split into two characters, compounded by sibling rivalry. Where Stefan just needs to look brooding and troubled, Damon strikes a balance between scheming and just plain evil; he is the highlight of the pilot and promises many more devilish tricks up his sleeve in episodes to come.

While much of the first episode is forced (awkward dialogue, gratuitous fog and diary-writing), the good-vs-evil fraternal clash bodes well for this series and might be enough to make the inevitably-angsty teen romance angle not seem quite so predictable.

» The CW, Thursdays, starting Sept. 10, 8 p.m.

Written by Express contributor Catherine Lewis
Images courtesy the CW