Oh, Brother: Finishing "The Vampire Diaries"

After my introduction to the world's favorite slayer, I quickly did some slaying of my own and finished all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and spin-off show Angel. The result? Obsession. Heartache. A renewed affinity for the undead. And a serious dent in my Netflix queue.

As I previously confessed, my devastation after finishing Buffy led me to starting a show that my good friend had been asking me to give a chance: The CW's The Vampire Diaries.

Starting TVD right after Buffy felt like whiplash... vampire mythology whiplash...?

I realized that I had totally internalized all of the Buffyverse rules about the undead. You know, the basic stuff, like how vampires stay away from garlic, can't be seen in mirrors, and burst into a cloud of dust when they're staked in the heart.

So my first instinct was to totally reject the mythos of The Vampire Diaries which seemed to be much more in the vein of Twilight than Buffy.

But the longer that I stuck with TVD, the more fascinated I became by the different influences that seemed to have played a part in creating this show.

After finishing all eight seasons of TVD, I sought out an unlikely ally to help me process my grief: math (who'd have thought?). Having seen the whole show, I asked myself what I'd just watched. The best way I could think to express it would be in some kind of pseudo-equation:

(Twilight - sparkling + self-awareness) + ((Buffy + Angel) - facial prosthetics - classicism) + the essential small-town CW drama = The Vampire Diaries

One of the reasons I was so turned off by TVD originally was because I was convinced it was jut a knockoff of Twilight... but at that time, I didn't realize that Twilight was just a knockoff of some of the greater elements of Buffy and Angel. Ultimately, I assumed that a knockoff wasn't worth my time (I'm way over that now obviously).

So this whole experience has been a totally unanticipated vicious circle in which I am constantly thinking about how Buffy, Angel, Twilight and The Vampire Diaries all share certain elements, and how they are all, also, simultaneously set apart from each other as well.

All of this happening between fits of rage, laughter, and tears, of course. Because the drama in TVD turned out to be too darn good to ignore.

I think the main similarity between Twilight and TVD is obviously the normal girl/broody vampire relationship, which is Stefan/Elena in the TVD universe, Edward/Bella in Twilight and Angel/Buffy in Buffy and Angel. (I feel compelled to point out that Angel and Buffy came first and I feel very strongly about this relationship and I can't help myself)

But where TVD is a departure from Twilight is where it introduces the second love interest in "evil" brother Damon, making the love triangle between one human girl and two vampires. In Twilight, we're talking a love triangle between one human girl, one vampire, and one werewolf.

In Buffy and Angel, the problem is also two vampires competing for the affection of one girl, but it's less of a love triangle and more of a one-vampire-left-to-get-their-own-series-even-though-they're-still-Buffy's-true-love situation with a dark horse in the running (who doesn't love Spike?).

I don't feel too much of a need to discuss the series finale of TVD here... I think the rest of the internet has come to a consensus on that. I will say this, though; I did enjoy the last season's attempt to return to the roots of the show and I think having so many familiar faces return reminded me how unexpectedly attached to TVD I had become. I really cared about the characters much more deeply than I expected to when I started and was pretty wrecked after the finale. Honestly? I'm super impressed.

The CW did it again; they made a believer out of me.

I guess I'm onto the TVD spin-off show The Originals next, as I can never resist seeing how a spin-off continues when its source show has ended.

Wish me monsters!