The new season of the Vampire Diaries is almost here with it’s premiere September 9th on the CW with other countries set to follow the next week, it airs on Australia’s GO! network just 4 days later which confirms it’s popularity.
Shot in and around Atlanta, Georgia and British Columbia, the locations are the setting of the fictional town of Mystic Falls in Virginia’s deep south. Their unique look capture the heritage style authenticity which is often crucial to the narrative which jumps between different time periods. The show is in stark contrast to the love fueled Twilight series which offer a different take on the mythos and make some considerable changes to vampire lore. Whilst Twilight has it’s vamps walking around in the sun with only a sparkling skin as their tell, Diaries stays true to the classic virtues but has the vamps wearing enchanted rings to allow them to pass as humans. The vampire lore explored in Diaries makes the show exciting for fans and new audiences alike; instead of changing the rules to suit their own purpose, Diaries takes the mythos and embraces it, taking a bite out of classic Ann Rice whilst still adhering to the rules of the original Bram Stoker design.
The show scored strong ratings during the first season with each new ep adding to it’s appeal and despite the lackluster pilot, the show managed to pick up significant steam and was given a full episode order as well as garnering positive reviews throughout the season. Based upon the bestselling novels of the same name by writer L. J. Smith in 1991, it was originally conceived as a trilogy but the positive reception demanded a fourth book and after a few years the author penned a new trilogy with the final chapter scheduled to hit shelves in March 2011.
Exec producer and writer Kevin Williamson
When executive producer and writer Julie Plec approached Kevin Williamson to help bring the story to TV, he was somewhat hesitant though after reading the books became interested in the classic take on vampires which was not as romanticized as the Twilight series. Starring Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder they play characters Elena Gilbert, Stefan Salvatore and Damon Salvatore. The characters featured in the show are similar to the novels though some significant changes were made with regard to Elana’s family and friends and the Salvatore brother’s age. The similarity in appearance between Elana and Katherine is part of the novels though she meets her doom at Elana’s hands who later becomes part of the vamp supernatural world. The question of how much these novels will intertwine with the TV series is unknown and the changes made from the get go by Williamson and Plec will likely continue throughout as significant shifts in narrative and character in other TV shows usually spell doom and result in jumping the shark.
When Interviewed about the new season Kevin Williamson talked frankly about the challenges of the show and the mythology of this vampire world.
It’s a very hard show to write, I’ve discovered, because there’s so much genre mixed with relationships and characters. I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be. But, I do think we’ve found a rhythm to our show, which is some sort of human relationship and a mythology that runs concurrently……We’re going back to zero and telling a new story, but it’s the story that you already know half of because you’ve watched the first season…….There’s so much to still know about 1864. What happened? Why wasn’t Katherine in the tomb? How did she escape? Where did she go? Why did she come to Mystic Falls, to begin with? What brought her to Mystic Falls? There’s all those fun questions that we’re going to explore, and how the Lockwood curse figures into it. It will be fun.
Get a recap of the shocking season finale here…
[jwplayer config=”tv_wide” mediaid=”1308″] Season 1 cliffhanger. Property of Warner Bros
Watch the new season trailer if you haven’t already seen it.
Sharpen your fangs, The Vampire Diaries returns this week on the CW and next week on GO!…
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