Ever for the reason that publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1897, folks have been fascinated with tales of vampires, undead creatures who drink the blood of the residing.
Tales fell out and in of vogue all through literary historical past, crazes reigniting with the publications of books by Anne Rice and Stephanie Meyer.
In tv, two exhibits that come to thoughts when one thinks vampires; cult basic Buffy the Vampire Slayer and well-liked teen drama, The Vampire Diaries.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered in 1997 and centered on a peppy blonde highschool woman who additionally occurred to be a vampire slayer.
The Vampire Diaries premiered in 2009 and centered on two vampire brothers who cherished the identical woman … and her doppelganger.
These exhibits different, each being the product of their time however, which is the superior vampire present?
Our TV Fanatics Paul DailLy and Leora Waltuch sat down to debate how the exhibits differ and to show why Buffy the Vampire Slayer of The Vampire Diaries is the superior vampire present.
Leora: Why do you’re feeling The Vampire Diaries is superior to Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Paul: Each exhibits are totally different in their very own proper, and so they every introduced contemporary and thrilling dynamics to vampire dramas.
Nonetheless, I believe The Vampire Diaries introduced many features of the lore to life in a greater manner.
The Vampire Diaries, at the very least the primary few seasons, stored me on the sting of my seat all through. These preliminary seasons had been constantly good, and whereas it fell off within the later seasons, it was nonetheless a lower above the opposite supernatural exhibits.
Buffy, for me, at the very least, began a lot slower and hit its groove additional into its run.
How about you with Buffy?
Leora: I do agree that Buffy had a slower begin. The Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 1 was positively campier. However they had been in a position to construct on that, and by Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 Episode 14, that they had one thing very deep going for them.
Buffy was all the time about empowerment and conquering the troublesome realities of life by the lens of the supernatural.
The Vampire Diaries appeared to focus on two issues:
One was the love triangle, two brothers who love the identical woman and the dynamic that creates. That grew to become an issue when Elena left the present.
It additionally meant the present was extra about delivery than the rest, and you’ll all the time have this one battle that by no means received resolved.
The second theme was comparatively authentic. As an alternative of the vampires being the dangerous guys, they had been going to be the blokes you might be rooting for.
Because the present advanced, although, and as extra of the characters grew to become vampires, the vampires crossed strains, and it grew to become clear that the vampires had been, the truth is, the dangerous guys.
Whereas rooting for the villain is an attention-grabbing idea, and I applaud the try, it leaves a nasty style in your mouth.
We need to sympathize with the dangerous guys, however we need to relate to and root for the great guys. After all, it is not all the time that black and white.
When Buffy started, the strains drawn had been very black and white. Vampires had been all the time dangerous. You can nearly forgive them for his or her conduct as a result of it was simply their nature to be evil. They could not assist it.
So that you killed them, and also you moved on, versus on The Vampire Diaries, the place vampires are extra like junkies who often select to be evil and heartless as a result of it’s simpler and since they’ll.
Issues did not keep black and white for Buffy although. We had Angel, the exception to the ‘all vampires are evil,’ rule.
We had the way in which Spike and Dru cared for one another. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 Episode 7 was notably poignant in regards to the lack of black and white on this planet.
And because the present advanced, we noticed that each one the characters, good and dangerous, had been multi-layered.
However the monsters they fought had been meant as a metaphor for the struggles folks face daily, and generally you simply want to have the ability to punch these struggles within the face and defeat them with out them having some ethical excessive floor.
Buffy straddled the road between black and white and grey and did so fantastically. And whereas ships existed, and plenty of had been fairly epic, they had been by no means the level of Buffy.
This was a present about folks, particularly ladies, and youngsters, and losers, and outsiders overcoming struggles.
Paul: I positively agree in regards to the strains on Buffy being black and white. That is one of many nice issues that units the 2 exhibits aside.
Nonetheless, I do not agree about The Vampire Diaries solely being a couple of love triangle. There have been some nice themes on the present however, essentially the most recurring was loss.
The jumping-off level was a youngster who misplaced her mother and father, and her life was upended by the arrival of a mysterious vampire.
I could also be within the minority, however I believe the ultimate two seasons of The Vampire Diaries proved that the present was extra in regards to the bond between the 2 brothers than the rest.
Even after they hated one another, they had been drawn again collectively, and the ultimate scene will all the time keep on with me as a result of it was them reuniting within the afterlife.
They fought like loopy over the affections of Elena and Katherine however nonetheless managed to let the previous be the previous.
Leora: I agree that the bond between the brothers was on the middle of the present, however that is what made the love triangle so tragic. As a result of it is not only a love triangle, it is a love triangle between two brothers.
Now, I have not seen The Vampire Diaries Season 8 but, however there have been positively earlier situations that proved the significance of the connection, like how Stefan reacted on The Vampire Diaries Season 6 when Damon and Bonnie had been trapped in that 1990s hell-world.
Loss performed its function in each exhibits, however I’d argue that it had extra affect on Buffy. In The Vampire Diaries, a lot of the characters got here again from the lifeless two, three, 4 instances.
I swear Bonnie was resurrected seven or eight instances. Demise stopped that means something and that actually soured me on the present.
On Buffy, there was plenty of loss. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 Episode 2 had Xander pressured to stake certainly one of his two greatest mates since childhood; I believe you’ll be able to draw a line between his black and white hatred of all vampires, together with Spike, to that have.
When Jenny died on Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 Episode 17, the viewers realized that even an everyday may very well be killed off, and the demise meant one thing as a result of it caught.
Joyce’s demise was like dropping a mother for the viewers. It was such a pure, human factor that had nothing to do with vampires and that Buffy could not combat, even with all her powers.
The Vampire Diaries did one thing related with Caroline’s mother, and no query it was transferring, however Buffy did it higher, I believe. Plus, they did it first. There have been typically instances when it felt lie The Vampire Diaries was copying one thing from Buffy.
After all, when Buffy died, they needed to deliver her again. Nonetheless, they did it in a manner that had such intense ramifications.
All of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6 was in regards to the characters getting back from Buffy’s demise and resurrection on an emotional degree. This was notably true of Buffy herself, and Willow, who had crossed a line in resurrecting her pal.
Then the Huge Unhealthy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7 was solely in a position to floor and be a risk to the world at giant as a result of the slayer had died and are available again.
In the meantime, the lack of Tara was devastating to followers and characters alike. It additionally led to the conclusion of Willow’s arc the entire season, which outlined her path transferring ahead.
Loss was a giant a part of Buffy, however they stored the numerous losses to a decrease quantity, so they really meant one thing.
It wasn’t all people dies and comes again or turns into a vampire on a regular basis like on the Vampire Diaries. Then there have been Elena’s mother and father who we by no means met and weren’t even her beginning mother and father, after which there was Aunt Jenna, who no person ever talked about once more.
The Vampire Diaries could have included loss, however they did it a disservice most of the time.
How do you’re feeling about the way in which each exhibits dealt with loss and demise?
Paul: You recognize what, I agree about Buffy dealing with loss higher.
The Vampire Diaries began to go off the rails the second they introduced characters again, and whereas I believe they might have closed The Different Facet sooner to stop lifeless characters returning, some deaths did stick.
I really feel like some deaths allowed characters to do issues they would not usually do. For example, you had Caroline going solely off the rails, introducing us to a complete new facet of her.
The lack of Buffy was uncooked and emotional as a result of there was a higher sense of finality as a result of characters typically did not pop again up from the lifeless.
Nonetheless, my largest gripe with Buffy was the way in which she was killed off on the finish of Season 5.
She was all the time going to return, and provided that she had already died earlier than, I’d have a lot rathered that sort of improvement to occur within the collection finale.
Joyce’s demise was probably the most gut-wrenching on TV. That being mentioned, the Vampire Diaries delivered extra shock worth when it killed folks off. For instance, Kai killing the complete Gemini Coven at Jo and Alaric’s marriage ceremony.
I do know it is not all about shock worth, however that episode propelled the story ahead in an emotional manner, what with Elena being put in a magical coma, and Alaric being pressured to resist the truth that he could not save his household.
Leora: I imply, in plenty of these instances, you are coping with behind-the-scenes stuff.
Elena had to enter a magical coma as a result of the actress needed to go away the collection if reminiscence serves.
Buffy’s demise on Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5 Episode 22 almost was the collection finale. I believe they thought it is likely to be on the time as a result of the community had canceled the present.
Fortunately, it was then picked up by one other community. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to see within the writing the way it was arrange like an finish.
Generally I believe it will have been higher if it ended there. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6 is my favourite season, and I would hate to reside in a world with out it, however a lot of the characters had been higher off on the finish of Season 5 than they had been on the finish of the collection.
Particularly, the Willow/Tara and Anya/Xander of all of it. We might simply think about all of it labored out for them. Would not be honest to the others, I suppose.
I agree that what Kai did on the marriage ceremony was a giant deal. Jo died (kind of), and Carolina ended up with the twins, which is how Legacies is a factor now.
I have not seen it but, nevertheless it seems like an important present, even when they did should kill off Hope’s mother and father and Elijah to make it occur.
However Kai was an excellent villain, one of many higher ones that they had, and the actor did an important job with the function. I’d have appreciated them to discover his psychological/emotional state extra. Possibly they do in Legacies.
Talking of, each exhibits had spin-off(s) that continued on the universe. I have not actually seen The Originals or Legacies, although I need to, and I’ve heard good issues.
Angel I’ve seen, and it’s so totally different than Buffy, but so good. It says one thing in regards to the exhibits that they had been in a position to proceed on in different exhibits like that.
Paul: I’d say The Originals is to The Vampire Diaries what Angel was to Buffy; darker and edgier.
Leora: Good to know.
As for Buffy having died earlier than, I by no means actually counted her first demise. It meant one thing clearly, due to Kendra/Religion, however I really feel like in the event you might be introduced again by medical means, that is not a resurrection.
That is simply science. I imply, she was solely lifeless for a minute.
Additionally, one of many issues with Buffy versus Angel was a distinction within the gender of the lead. I am undecided that applies as a lot to The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.
I assume Elena was a lead on The Vampire Diaries, however so had been the brothers and, as you identified, they had been the fixed relationship we noticed undergo ups and downs. Elena was even written out, and the present stored going.
Now, you say The Vampire Diaries is not a couple of love triangle, however there was one entrance and middle with Stefan/Elena/Damon and a few say it mirrors Angel/Buffy/Spike.
Personally, I’ve by no means felt that Angel/Buffy/Spike was technically a love triangle, however I would love your ideas on the dynamics of that and the way they evaluate earlier than I am going into my causes. In spite of everything, delivery is not every little thing, nevertheless it positive as heck ain’t nothing.
Paul: I believe with Buffy and Angel specifically, that they had their time, and Buffy and Spike occurred whereas she and Angel had been aside.
The gradual burn of Buffy and Spike’s relationship was one of many higher features of Buffy in my e book. I’d have appreciated it extra if Angel and Spike weren’t adversaries, I believe.
I would not say it mirrors the Damon/Elena/Stefan due to the entire doppelganger factor.
I believe it comes all the way down to the 2 instances the exhibits aired. Social media was barely a factor when Buffy aired, however there was nonetheless a legion of followers worldwide.
It broke out in a manner most exhibits couldn’t, and one factor that sticks with me is Sarah Michelle Gellar saying in an interview that folks appeared down on it in her social circle as a result of it was a midseason substitute.
The Vampire Diaries, nevertheless, was coming off the success of Twilight, and other people had been searching for the subsequent massive vampire romance.
In a roundabout way, The Vampire Diaries performed into that early on, however after we had been launched to the broader mythology, and the larger image, it grew to become much less about that.
Leora: Honest sufficient. At all times enjoyable to study the historical past and context of a present.
I agree that Spuffy and Bangle had been two separate issues at two separate instances.
That is kind of what I meant about it not being a love triangle. It was by no means a alternative as a result of by the point Spike was a risk for Buffy, Angel was out of the image.
As for the rivalry, that was there from Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, at which level, I do not assume Spuffy was even a thought in Joss Whedon’s thoughts.
It got here earlier than Buffy was on the desk. If one is nice and one is evil, or they’re each evil, or they’re each good, there was all the time this difficult relationship between them.
In a manner, that’s what is most just like The Vampire Diaries in regards to the dynamic as a result of there’s something shut, and complex, and nearly familial about Spike and Angel’s relationship, although you see it extra on Angel Season 5 than some other time.
Now, what about every present’s HBIC; the horrible well-liked woman who turns into deep and a fan favourite? Is Caroline Forbes for you, or Cordelia Chase?
Paul: Cordelia versus Caroline is a tricky one. On the one hand, Cordelia was constant all through her time on Buffy, however I’d say her ultimate arc was dealt with terribly on Angel.
Caroline, however, had a constant arc and was all the time rising as a personality. On The Vampire Diaries, she discovered herself in plenty of troubling conditions and managed to come back out the opposite facet stronger. However, very similar to Cordelia, she was ruined on a spin-off of the present she originated from.
Leora: Caroline was a shock firstly of The Vampire Diaries as a result of I used to be anticipating her to be like Cordelia or all the opposite horrible, well-liked cliches, however she was truly a extremely loyal pal.
There was an episode early on, The Vampire Diaries Season 1 Episode 9, the place Caroline did not even learn about magic however she had a seance with Bonnie and Elena as a result of Bonnie was upset about Emily’s ghost haunting her.
We noticed Caroline as having extra depth than I’d have anticipated even from The Vampire Diaries Season 1 Episode 1, and he or she grew to be extra likable than the lead.
I can not say a lot about what the spin-offs did to her character as a result of I have not seen them, however I did learn your post about why she must be killed off on Legacies.
Cordelia’s improvement was a extra gradual development. To start with, she appeared actually horrible and in no way sympathetic, however she grew over time. I actually appreciated her arc in Angel Seasons 1-3, however the later seasons actually screwed together with her and screwed her over. Even the actress admitted that.
I assume Cordelia was extra of a bitch than Caroline ever was. I discovered it actually attention-grabbing that the factor that actually developed Caroline’s character and allowed her to develop was turning right into a vampire on The Vampire Diaries Season 2 Episode 1.
The factor is, on Buffy, Cordelia wasn’t a lot Buffy’s pal as a mirror of who she was earlier than she grew to become The Slayer. She was within the group, however she additionally wasn’t. She wasn’t a member of the core 4. She did not actually stand on her personal till Angel.
I believe if we’re simply speaking in regards to the character and their improvement within the authentic collection, I desire Caroline. Nonetheless, if we’re together with evolution on each exhibits, its a a lot nearer race.
Cordelia wasn’t purported to overshadow Buffy on her personal present, and he or she by no means did. I do not know if Caroline was purported to overshadow Elena or not, however she positively did.
The ships additionally inform a story. In each instances, the man who had the ‘epic love’ with the principle woman developed a gradual, sudden, mates to greater than relationship with these Queens Cs.
Each ladies had nice improvement. I concede that Caroline was in all probability my favourite factor about The Vampire Diaries.
I do not know that The Vampire Diaries ever addressed social points the way in which Buffy did, similar to suicide makes an attempt, gun violence, and sexuality.
That being mentioned, what was groundbreaking and earth shatterings within the early 2000s is just a little behind the instances and the motion now. Do you assume there was something notably, for lack of a greater time period, ‘woke’ about The Vampire Diaries?
Paul: Actually, for as a lot as I cherished The Vampire Diaries, I would not say it was ‘woke.’ It was extra in regards to the gang grappling with the newest massive dangerous and all their minions.
Buffy, I believe, was positively forward of its time in addressing social points. What The Vampire Diaries did deal with was simply par for the course with teen dramas on the time.
I do not assume there have been any exhibits on the air on the time of Buffy that addressed these essential points, and I believe that was a part of the attraction for lots of followers.
Leora: You talked earlier than about vampire mythos a bit.
I do not assume both present did bats. The Vampire Diaries gave the impression to be implying one thing with crows and fog at first that they by no means actually adopted up on.
Each burn within the solar, although the rings all people appeared to have on The Vampire Diaries form of took away from that, nevertheless it was an attention-grabbing take.
I keep in mind vampires might eat garlic on The Vampire Diaries and, I do not keep in mind if they’ve reflections.
And naturally, the lore on the place vampires come from could be very totally different.
Do you assume both is extra true to basic tales, or if not, do you assume it introduced one thing to the desk that was new and higher?
Paul: I positively assume Buffy was more true to these basic tales.
The Vampire Diaries appeared to need to do one thing totally different with the style, so it allowed them to eat like people, and I discovered that fascinating as a result of it was not what I anticipated.
I even cherished the entire vervain factor. I believe, provided that The Vampire Diaries premiered after the market had grow to be saturated, it did properly to set itself aside, and a few issues labored higher.
However deep down, the 2 exhibits got here out at totally different instances, so I’d say each did in addition to one another on that entrance.
Leora: Let’s discuss villains.
So vampire Diaries had Kai, Katherine, and Klaus. All their villains who began with the letter Ok had been nice. The remainder do not stand out in my reminiscence a lot.
Buffy began off with the campiest villain ever within the grasp, however that gave them one thing to work as much as, and when season two introduced us Angelous, they actually delivered.
I like sadistic villains, and Angelous was an artist. Plus, it tugged on the heartstrings with the drama of him being the evil alter-ego of Buffy’s outdated flame.
A few of their villains, afterward, had been extra humorous than scary, like The Mayor, or Glory, or the trio, however they had been highly effective sufficient. Adam was laughable.
And naturally, the most effective villains had been after they took a personality we knew and made them evil, like with Angel of Willow. I additionally thought The First was fairly good.
It was kind of what I imagined The Supply in Charmed can be like, after which they took off his hood. He was a giant let down.
However one present at a time.
Anyway, The First was fairly iconic, and Caleb was a bastard. I felt like even when not all of the villains had been scary, most had been memorable, and so they supplied for fights with ever-increasing stakes with out having to fall again on the resurrection subject we mentioned The Vampire Diaries having.
I additionally keep in mind studying somebody say one thing about how Warren was a extremely good villain as a result of he’s precisely the kind of villain that exists in the true world.
Folks and weapons. It is a massive subject, and because the particular characteristic on The Buffy Season 6 DVD says, life was the massive dangerous for that season.
You will should refresh my reminiscence on the non-Ok Vampire Diary villains, however the truth that most had been forgettable to me says one thing.
I believe I learn someplace that they might by no means actually prime Klaus, and so they spent too lengthy attempting. All although Klaus did lack depth till the spin-off.
Katherine was superior and having her performed by the identical actress as Elena made a giant distinction. It goes again to what you mentioned in regards to the present specializing in brothers and what tore them aside and put them again collectively.
Paul: I’ve to agree in regards to the Klaus, Katherine, and Kai. The three of them had been the most effective, for positive.
The opposite villains struggled to interrupt out and show they had been forces to be reckoned with. What was fascinating, nevertheless, was the way in which The Vampire Diaries Season 5 flatlined due to Silas and Markos — two of the worst villains on TV, like ever.
However the writers took notice and launched Kai the next 12 months, and it was excellent to deliver Katherine again as the ultimate villain. For her flaws, there was development, however all bets had been off when she received some semblance of energy.
If I have a look at Buffy, none of these villains stick out to me as a lot as Klaus, Katherine, and Kai. The First Evil wasn’t scary the primary time, however the second, it was, as a result of it might legitimately tear the world aside.
Nonetheless, a lot of the villains had been too sappy for me to care about. I believe my largest subject was that they tried to the villain of the week, and it grew to become troublesome to prime a few of the earlier ones.
Leora: I keep in mind Silas now that you simply deliver him up, however I don’t keep in mind Markos in any respect. it was good to lastly have some rationalization for the entire doppelganger factor, which was authentic to the present and in no way from the books.
I ponder if that they had deliberate that rationalization from the start or if they simply pulled it out of their you recognize the place.
I can concede that, excluding Angelous, The Vampire Diaries had higher villains.
Possibly it wasn’t a lot about villains for Buffy. They had been specializing in the battle on a extra metaphorical degree and the event of the characters.
It wasn’t about whom they had been combating, it was about them, why they had been combating, what they had been combating for, how the combat affected them 12 months after 12 months.
Regardless of higher villains general, I stand by Buffy as the higher present. It had all of the essential issues that I search for in a present, and I needed to look at repeatedly, which I simply cannot say is true about The Vampire Diaries.
Whereas The Vampire Diaries positively had some issues to supply the style in addition to some actually memorable characters, I stand by my evaluation that Buffy is the superior present.
It highlighted life and demise, love and loss, energy and weak spot, good, evil, and every little thing in between.
It had robust characters to admire and relate to, and its mythos is now taught in theology programs at some universities. All Hail Buffy The Vampire Slayer, She Saved The Style A Lot!
Paul: I do assume each exhibits had been going for one thing totally different with villains, and perhaps that is one other factor that helps set them aside.
I can not deny that TVD towered above Buffy in these earlier seasons. The villains had been higher fleshed out, and every introduced one thing new and thrilling to the collection, and that made it extra worthwhile to look at for me.
I agree that Buffy saved the style again then, however I stand by my evaluation that The Vampire Diaries is the most effective.
Each exhibits did lots for the style, however I can not deny that TVD towered above Buffy in these earlier seasons. The villains had been higher fleshed out, and every introduced one thing new and thrilling to the collection.
What do you assume TV Fanatics? Which is the superior present, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or The Vampire Diaries?
Tell us within the feedback and take our ballot proper right here!
Leora W is a employees author for TV Fanatic..