Thursday, February 11, 2010

The Vampire Diaries, Season 1 Episode 14

Just a few thoughts upon finishing the episode.

The TV show has long played hard and fast with the source material, so that it really doesn't much resemble the original books. This new twist--Katherine, alive, roaming the earth but unconcerned with the Salvatore brothers--really kind of rubs me the wrong way.

Okay, I really didn't like the first book of The Vampire Diaries, by L. J. Smith, which was all I read. Mostly, I just hated Elena. However, I do remember that Katherine, in the books, commits suicide because she can't choose between Stefan and Damon. Far from being a horrible bitchy vampire, she was much more morally ambiguous, causing pain to the brothers, but apparently unable to help herself because of her love.

And in this, and this only, I really think that Smith is trumping the series with a much more complex idea. Evil Katherine vs. good Elena??

In the books, it was morally ambiguous Katherine vs. morally ambiguous Elena.

Don't get me wrong. The book was still horrendously plotted and disgustingly overwritten, but maybe there was a reason I hated Elena. Maybe L. J. Smith was going somewhere.

It's almost enough to get me to pick up The Struggle again. Almost.

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