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It’s pretty clear by now that you just can’t kill vampires, teenage soap operas, or (especially) teenage soap operas about vampires. The Vampire Diaries has kept coming back for six seasons now, and it shows little sign of ever slowing down. While it never reaches the metaphorical brilliance of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it’s still far more lively and ambitious than the love triangle-obsessed Twilight Saga. Under the guidance of show runner Julie Plec, the sixth season continues the show’s trademark fast plotting and witty characterizations, even as it groans a bit under the weight of wrapping up several dangling storylines.
As is usually the case, the season begins by dealing with the fallout from the previous year. The town of Mystic Falls has been rendered a strict no-magic zone, effectively killing any vampire who crosses into its borders. Vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) has split for parts unknown, while his brother and fellow vampire, Damon (Ian Somerholder), and witch Bonnie (Kat Graham) remain dead and trapped in a magical purgatory along with psychopathic superwitch Kai (Chris Wood). Meanwhile, vampire Elena (Nina Dobrev) and the rest of the gang are trying to return to normal lives with various degrees of success (read: not much).
The Vampire Diaries has never been at a loss for interesting characters spread out over multiple storylines, and that’s a quality that works both for and against them here as the series ages. Both writers and actors have grown into the characters, and the snappy dialogue between them remains one of the show’s greatest joys. In some ways, you can gauge the success of a show by how much you want to spend more time with the people in it, and the cast they’ve assembled here is extremely likeable.
In order to manage and include such a large group in only 45 minutes a week, The Vampire Diaries has always told stories around quick mini-arcs that are occasionally arranged around a seasonal storyline. Nobody burns through storylines at the pace this show does, and while it keeps things interesting, it’s also helped to create a tangled web of mythology that can quickly grow cumbersome. It also shows signs of weakness when a season lacks a strong central antagonist, and, in this case, the gleefully evil Kai just isn’t a compelling enough villain to tie everything together.
These are weaknesses that the show does seem to be addressing, as the season wraps up several of these dangling storylines and trims its cast a bit on the way out the door, with four long-running actors making their exit. Overall, it gives the season a feeling of transition as the show figures out what it’s going to be when it returns this fall.
The fact that I’m still excited to see what this year brings speaks to the balancing act that The Vampire Diaries has been able to pull off for over half a decade. By moving along quickly and trusting the audience to keep up, it’s able to pay homage to many different inspirations while carving out its own place in a crowded genre. Season six works through some changes along the way, but if there’s anything that a show about vampires, werewolves, and the supernatural should be comfortable with, it’s change.
Blu-ray Review:
The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season brings together all 22 episodes, along with a handful of deleted scenes and a commentary from Julie Plec on a pivotal midseason entry. While the commentary gives some nice insight into her own creative process, many of the other special features included spend more time just letting the cast goof off—whether it’s responding to fan tweets, recording farewells for the departing members, or adding material to the inevitable gag reel. It’s not the most insightful collection, but it’s still plenty of fun.
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