'The Vampire Diaries' Without Elena -- Is This Really a Bad Thing?

By now you've heard that Nina Dobrev is leaving "The Vampire Diaries" at the end of this season. Considering the fact that Ian Somerhalder (Damon) and Paul Wesley (Stefan) have signed on for Season 7, this makes plotting the series a bit difficult. After all, the series began as a "destined to be together forever" romance between Elena and Stefan. Then it turned into a epic love triangle. And then the "destined to be together forever" Elena and Damon.

Okay, so the show has already turned some of its own mythology on its head. But another issue is that Elena has, for the most part, been the conscience this bloodbath of a show sorely needs. She's also part of that whole doppelganger business that has been a constant thread on "TVD." We can only hope that the writers will at least grace us with some sort of an end for Elena that doesn't completely destroy the point of all we've been through.

A photo posted by The Vampire Diaries (@thecwtvd) on Jan 11, 2015 at 11:01am PST

(Ooops on this promo pic...^^^) 

All of that said, is "The Vampire Diaries" without Elena really so dire? You have to admit, once Katherine was done away with, Dobrev was left with the less interesting character to play. As much as this show needs a moral center, Elena could make that morality seems so whiny and insufferable. Which was partially the writing and partially Dobrev's "huffy spoiled girl" sort of delivery.

I was more disturbed by Caroline (Candice Accola) going dark, because how dare they ruin my perky, sunshine-y, order-keeping Caro? I'd rather see her and Bon-Bon being the high-road-takers on this show, though it looks like Bonnie may have fallen off the good girl wagon as well. So what's good about Elena leaving?

A photo posted by The Vampire Diaries (@thecwtvd) on Aug 1, 2014 at 1:58pm PDT

1. Sultry Seductive Salvatore. Whatever Elena's fate, be it death or return to human form or something else, we don't need to see a grieving Damon. And please, no flipping the humanity switch. We've had enough of that to last a vampire lifetime. Ugh.

No, if Damon is going to be single again, let us enjoy our seductive, ridiculously confident, arched-eyebrow Damon. We want to swoon. We want him to go after unattainable women again, so we can watch him work his sexy magic hardcore. If "The Vampire Diaries" only lasts another year, let it be a year's worth of Damon-inspired drool. Thank you.

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2. Bonnie on Center Stage. Bonnie (Kat Graham) and Damon stuck in limbo and then Kai's (Chris Wood) witchy "Groundhog Day" prison was one of the best storylines "TVD" has ever had. We got to see Bonnie using her wits (and wit), magic, courage, and intense will to deal with her loathsome frenemy, a psycho killer, and then surviving on her own.

Sometimes there's so much twisting, turning, backstabbing, and violence on the show that you get numb. Graham sucked us into Bonnie's plight so well, and it was refreshing to actually give a damn about a character's fate. Now that her powers seem to be at pretty epic levels, it's exciting to think there's room in the show to let her take center stage more often.

I also loved the unexpected friendship and chemistry that developed between Bonnie and Damon. If Damon's sultry self decides to set his eyes on Bonnie...well...there will be no argument from me. That whole love/hate thing they have going could make for some really powerful angry sex. Just sayin'.

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3. Brotherly Love. With so many storylines and so many characters, the brothers Salvatore get separated a lot. The thread of their sibling bond is always there in some form, but it would be nice to get some serious dynamic duo time going on. With the Elena stuff bonding them but now behind them, they could move on to something more entertaining. There's got to be some fun mystery to tackle in their decades of history, and maybe Mommy Dearest is going to provide that. Wherever the story takes them, let's have them do it together.

What do you think, "TVD" fans? Is the show pointless without Elena? Or are you excited to see what such a big change will bring to the series?

"The Vampire Diaries" returns to TV with the remainder of Season 6 on Thursday, April 16, on the CW.

'The Vampire Diaries' Tops List of Best TV Series with Worst First Episodes

Some TV shows, like long-running series "Friends" and cult fave "Firefly," are captivating right out of the starting gate. (And yes, Joss Whedon's sci-fi western series was amazing whether you count the actual pilot or the later episode FOX aired first.) Many television shows operate on a slow burn, however, and take awhile to overcome a clunky pilot or even several episodes of their debut season. Considering the "good ratings or die" attitude of most TV networks, it's amazing some of these entertaining series survived after their dismal beginnings.

"The Vampire Diaries": This CW melodrama still has its flaws, but it's transformed from an eye roll extravaganza to a truly entertaining guilty pleasure. The pilot's problems were numerous, the big offender being obviously adult actors woodenly reciting chirpy Valley Girl "OMG!" dialogue about deep things like having a "kick-ass" school year. Moody, diary-writing vampire Stefan (Paul Wesley) came across as a dumb jock who would scrawl "Duh!" at the start of every entry, if in some universe a guy like that would actually keep a journal.

Luckily for this fledgling show, there was enough of an intriguing mystery buried in the plot, and "Lost" actor Ian Somerhalder showed up at the end of the pilot to add some smoldering, hypnotic bad boy goodness that female viewers were willing to tune in again for. As the season progressed, the writing tightened up and the acting appeared more natural. Wesley warmed up to his character, no pun intended, and Nina Dobrev upped her skills to give us two distinctive doppelgangers, Elena and Katherine. If we'd given up after the pilot, we never would have been able to enjoy the enticing vampire/human love triangles and suspenseful, angsty adventures of "The Vampire Diaries."

"Without a Trace": It was yet another cop show from CBS in 2002, and this one was really bad. The pilot episode tried way too hard to be hip and edgy, and dumped way too many "married to the job veteran detective" and "hothead Latino" stereotypes on us at once. Lead Anthony LaPaglia looked uncomfortable, and Poppy Montgomery's acting ranked right up there with Paris Hilton. The whole series seemed stilted with largely unlikable characters, and if CBS had killed it after a few episodes, it wouldn't have been missed.

The show's main advantage was its focus on tracking down missing persons, rather than uncovering murderers and violent offenders every week. The chance for a happy ending made "Without a Trace" stand out from its more depressing counterparts, and thankfully the series smoothed out into a solid drama with some truly standout episodes. Montgomery improved dramatically and LaPaglia turned in some of his finest acting performances, earning him both an Emmy nomination and Golden Globe win in 2004.

"Star Trek: The Next Generation": The pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint (Part I)," was a truly clunky start to what would become a beloved series amongst "Star Trek" fans. The most jarring element was that Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) was not only the anti-Kirk, but he was a rather unlikable jerk. The pilot episode also crumbled under the weight of combining a space plot, gratuitous CGI (including some less than stellar SFX) and introducing a parade of characters.

The entire cast seemed lost in space, searching for their characters' vibes and motivations, with Marina Sirtis (Troi) falling victim to the "shout out obvious things" role. Stewart himself later said that he had no idea how to portray his character at the start, and thought he would get fired.

Luckily for us, he didn't, and the series eventually found its stride. Picard retained his practical, intellectual, and cultured personality, but warmed considerably. The characters developed into a family, and "The Next Generation" successfully melded entertaining space adventures with forays into philosophical and forward-thinking debates that "Star Trek" fans have always loved.

"Doctor Who": The first "Doctor Who" TV series, like the original "Star Trek," had a rep for low budgets but intriguing sci-fi storylines and beloved characters that earned a rabid fanbase. With a 2005 reboot, excited viewers were hoping those good stories would now be accompanied by better effects and a little more sophistication. Instead, our new doctor and his future companion faced off in the pilot episode with an attacking mannequin arm--that mostly involved the actors holding a plastic arm and pretending to fight with it. Then there was the unbelievable scenario where our heroine's boyfriend turns into a mannequin, and she doesn't notice the difference.

"Who" fans aren't really afraid of a few corny scenarios, however, and Christopher Eccleston successfully combined charm and childlike whimsy with a mysteriously dangerous vibe to create a Doctor worth watching. Billie Piper added the fiery passion and heart to the duo, and each successive episode became richer in storytelling and presentation.

The series truly took flight when David Tennant took over as Doctor Number 10, and the series began to weave the individual episodes into larger, overarching plots that spanned one or more years. Though it started small, "Doctor Who" is now one of the finest, most thoughtful series on television.

"Castle": This series still isn't brain surgery by any means, but it's definitely upped its game since the first episode. With a pretty contrived scenario to base a series on, "Castle" immediately struggled to make the idea of a crime novelist helping out the police a believable one. It didn't help that Castle was a bit too much of a caricature, the sexual tension got ramped up to 11 from the moment he met Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), and the other guys in the police squad were merely a peanut gallery behind the two leads' banter.

The ridiculous amounts of charm Nathan Fillion possesses helped keep "Castle" on the air, hobbling along on good will until the series finally started to gel. The writing helped develop all of the characters into actual individuals we cared about, and the weekly mysteries became more intricate and less predictable. The series writers also found a way to better balance the macabre nature of a crime with the jokes that inevitably accompanied it.

Which of your favorite series had terrible pilots, or even terrible first years?

Vampire Diaries -- Pilot

Ergh. We all know how much I love Boone from Lost. So when I heard Ian Somerhalder had a new series coming out, Vampire Diaries, I knew I would be all over that. Then I saw the previews for the show, mostly featuring Paul Wesley, who plays Stefan, and Nina Dobrev, who plays Elena. And I started to feel less excited.

While the story is not exactly the same, the pilot episode of Vampire Diaries unfortunately feels like a pale reproduction of Twilight--and not in a cool, sparkly pale vampire way. I thought Pattinson and Stewart had great chemistry in Twilight, and really sold the angsty teenager overwrought love story for maximum guilty pleasure goodness. In contrast, Wesley and Dobrev don't feel all that intense or cosmically destined. Elena doesn't seem all that deep, and the 27 year old Wesley sticks out as way too adult to be in a high school setting. Sure, Stefan's an ages old vampire, so he's bound to seem more mature, but it just throws off the teeny melodrama mood.

Wesley also has this tough edge to him, more suited to a Brando-on-a-motorcycle vibe rather than a tortured broken-hearted lover who pours his heart out in a diary every night. It's possible that Somerhalder would have been better in the sensitive role, with his tousled hair, ever-rosy cheeks, and sparkling eyes. (And on a purely superficial note, I have to say that Somerhalder is not quite as striking with dark hair--it's too bad the dark broody vampire look doesn't lend itself to a few blonde streaks to play his eyes up better.) Somerhalder does the arch-eyebrowed villian well, though, and I'm hoping things will heat up for all the characters in later installments.

Vampires are hot right now, but there's always the danger of it becoming boring. After you've seen Moonlight, and Twilight, and True Blood, and now Vampire Diaries, the mythologies overlap and you feel like you've seen it all before. I did like in this episode a return to older vampire lore, where Stefan couldn't cross the threshold until Elena specifically invited him in. There's also a new twist, whereby Stefan needs a special ring to be able to venture out in daylight.


My first impression is that Vampire Diaries is going to be a somewhat insubstantial teen drama. But it's difficult to judge an entire series on the pilot alone, so I'm willing to stick with it for another episode or two. Stefan and brother Damon (Somerhalder) have a century and a half of sibling rivalry to explore, and there's the mystery of Elena's striking resemblance to Stefan's love from the 1850s. Plus there's biting and blood and murder and all that scary vampire stuff.

My beloved Gossip Girl players were a little stiff and caricatured in the beginning of the first season, and then developed into far more complex, interesting, and delicious characters as the series progressed. Here's hoping that Vampire Diaries can do the same, and that we can get into some interesting history, vampire lore, and hopefully some pretty boy love triangles.

Vampire Diaries continues next Thursday, September 17, at 8/7c.



PHOTOS: Ian Somerhalder as Damon, Paul Wesley as Stefan, Vampire Diaries Pilot screencaps, c2009 Alloy Entertainment, CBS Television Studios, CW Television Network.