Love You to Death Season 1 - Excerpt!

introduction

I’ve never watched a television show the way I do The Vampire Diaries. Each Thursday night, I head over to my friends’ house with two others for dinner and to catch up, and then we tune in to the show. There’s always some Team Stefan versus Team Damon trash-talking, some shrieks, and loads of theorizing during commercial breaks and after the episode ends, inevitably, on a cliffhanger. It’s always a great time, thanks to the brilliance of the show and the company of good friends. But just like the show itself, these evenings together are about more than just light-hearted fun. One of the creators of The Vampire Diaries television series, Julie Plec, said in an interview in the spring of 2010 that the show’s two primary themes are love and loss — and that’s precisely what brings my group of friends together every week.

After an unimaginable loss in the spring of 2009, my dear friend asked if we could have a regular hangout (which came to be known as “knitting club”), to be there for her and her husband, providing distraction, company, and an opportunity to talk openly. In September, we watched as Elena Gilbert tried to return to “normal” after the death of her parents, and it was clear right from The Vampire Diaries’ pilot episode that, for us, this show wasn’t just about hot vampires and teen romance. It resonated.

As I got to know The Vampire Diaries fans online over the course of the first season, I could see how connected we all were to the series. This show isn’t popular because we’re in the throes of a vampire craze. That may be why The CW wanted this show on the network, but the success of Twilight and True Blood didn’t guarantee that The Vampire Diaries would be the runaway hit it is. The series has earned the loyalty of its devoted fan base by being unrelentingly captivating, exciting, and emotionally honest. Stefan, Damon, Elena, and the rest of our friends in Mystic Falls want nothing more than real connections in their lives, and the audience at home responds to how heartfelt and human this supernatural world is. I wanted to write this companion guide to The Vampire Diaries because of that strong reaction we have to the series. Love You to Death is my tribute to a show that’s come to mean quite a lot to me personally in just one season, to the people who create The Vampire Diaries and the audience who keeps the discussion alive offscreen.

In these pages, you’ll find chapters on L.J. Smith and her book series, on the creation of the show and the masterminds behind it, and background on the main cast members. After that is the episode-by-episode companion to the first season. Here’s a mini guide to the guide:

Each episode’s write-up begins with a bit of dialogue that stood out for me either because it captures the episode in a pithy few lines . . . or it was just too well written not to acknowledge. From there, I provide an analysis of the episode, looking at its main themes, the character development, and the questions it raises followed by these sections:

COMPELLING MOMENT: Here I choose one moment that stands out — a turning point, a character standing up for herself, or a long-awaited relationship scene (usually involving kissing).

CIRCLE OF KNOWLEDGE: In my interview at the back of the book with Vampire-Diaries.net’s Red and Vee, Vee talks about the “circle of knowledge”: who in Mystic Falls is in on its supernatural secrets. In this section of the episode guide, you’ll find all the need-to-know info for our circle of knowledge — the details you may have missed on first watch, character insights, the cultural references, and the connections between episodes. Often episode titles are plays on film titles; those are explained in this section.

THE RULES: Any work of fiction relating to the supernatural has its own particular spin on how that world operates. Here I catalog what we’ve learned about what goes bump in the night.

THE DIABOLICAL PLAN: One of The Vampire Diaries’ defining qualities is its lightning-fast pacing, so “The Diabolical Plan” tracks the various forces at work in Mystic Falls and raises questions about what their next steps may be.

HISTORY LESSON: The only class at Mystic Falls High School that gets considerable screen time is history. In the characters’ back stories, the town’s history, and subtle references, history — both real and imaginary — is important in this series, and “History Lesson” is your study aid.

BITE MARKS: Bite marks, stake wounds, necks snapped, and good old-fashioned slaps to the face — this section is all about the violence on the show, cataloguing injuries inflicted by the immortal and mortal.

MEANWHILE IN FELL’S CHURCH: Here we travel from one TVD universe to another and I draw comparisons between L.J. Smith’s original plotting and characterization and that of the TV series. Because production of the TV show was underway before The Vampire Diaries: The Return was published, this section focuses only on The Awakening, The Struggle, The Fury, and Dark Reunion. (Fans of The Return, please don your Wings of Understanding.)

OFF CAMERA: Here we leave the fictional world behind to hear what the cast and crew has to say about filming an episode, or I provide background details on a guest star or other filming details.

FOGGY MOMENTS: Elena, surprised by Stefan in the cemetery in the pilot episode, tells him the fog is making her foggy. “Foggy Moments” is a collection of confusing moments for the viewer. Containing continuity errors, arguable nitpicks, and full-on inconsistencies, this section is not meant as an attack on the show. Few of these inconsistencies make a significant impact on the characters’ behavior. (And it’s comforting to know that even the great Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec aren’t infallible.)

MUSIC: An important part of The Vampire Diaries is its soundtrack, and in this section, I tell you what song is playing in each scene.

Make sure you watch an episode before reading its corresponding guide — it contains spoilers for that episode (but not for anything that follows). Within the pages of the guide, you’ll also find short biographies of the actors who bring the recurring characters to life as well as sidebars about other elements of the show and its influences. After the episode guide, you’ll find an interview section featuring Q&As with three leaders of the fandom, with a fan who works on the show as an extra, and with actors Benjamin Ayres (Coach Tanner) and Malese Jow (Anna). Finally, I’ve pieced together a timeline for the past few hundred years in the TVD universe.

If there’s something you think I missed, or that I completely read your mind about, drop me at a note at crissycalhoun@gmail.com, @reply me on Twitter (@crissycalhoun), and/or stop by my blog at crissycalhoun.com.

xoxo

Crissy Calhoun

July 2010

[Excerpted from Love You to Death Season 1 — see LoveYoutoDeathTVD.com for details on the whole series!]