If you’ve at all followed my reviews of The Vampire Diaries this season, you’ll know how my optimistic skepticism (I would have been crazy to embrace another vamp series right away, right?) evolved into respect and enjoyment, and eventually the admission that The Vampire Diaries is my guilty pleasure of this television season. A large part of that credit goes to Julie Plec, the developer, writer and executive producer of the series (and previously Kyle XY), and the direction she and cohort Kevin Williamson have so artfully woven for the show.
Julie graciously answered some of my questions — and neglected to reply to others, which I’ll also share with you — about the series in general and where we might see some of the characters going this season and next. Beware, teasers follow!
DEB: Will we see more of Stefan and Damon changing roles as the series continues? I’ve loved Stefan on human blood and I’m hoping we get a little more Damon redemption from time to time as well, to keep it interesting. What can we expect?
JULIE: Stefan and Damon are ever-evolving characters. Stefan’s been a hero for many decades and will always struggle with the darker side of being a vampire. It will never be easy for him. Damon is on a hero’s journey of his own that we’ll see in big ways in the season finale.
DEB: I never read The Vampire Diaries books, mostly because Charlaine Harris‘s amazing books ruined True Blood for me — I literally cannot watch what the series has done to my beloved characters. How closely are you following the books, and what sort of feedback do you get from the die-hard fans of the novels?
JULIE: The books have been a sensational springboard for our world, our characters and our mythology. We’ll continue to draw details and stories from the book series, but the TV series is on its own creative path. The book fans have been surprisingly supportive of this and we’re grateful to them, knowing it could just have easily gone the other way.
DEB: The addition of David Anders to the cast as Jonathan Gilbert was quite a coup in my opinion (as if I needed something else to be excited about on The Vampire Diaries!). Can you give us a teaser of what’s in store for him?
JULIE: We’ll start to see parts of Uncle John that reveal his own humanity and his protectiveness of his family. As is true with most villains on our show, their motives come from a deeply emotional place. Even if it’s not always in the best interest of our heroes.
DEB: About Kyle XY, in some ways, it was nice that you got to provide a narrative on the DVD sets of how Kyle XY would have ended if it continued. Excuse me for saying so, but it was not enough! How did you feel about not getting a TV movie for the wrap-up, and if you did, what would you have included that didn’t make it to the DVD segment?
JULIE: If I had any control over how and when Kyle XY ended, things would have been handled differently. But I, like all of us involved with the show, had to stop when we were told to stop. It was disappointing knowing that we couldn’t deliver a final chapter to our story.
DEB: One last Vampire Diaries question: One of my favorite things about the show is the fact that just about anyone is fair game for being killed off. Can we expect any more shocking deaths coming up?
JULIE: Kevin and I like to say all the time, no one is safe on the show. Sometimes the death of a favorite character is necessary to achieve the best emotional and dramatic punch. By the time season one ends, we’ll have lost even more characters we care about.
Ah-ha! More deaths in the next three episodes … looking forward to them! Now, the questions she chose not to answer are interesting … I’d like to think that her choosing not to answer these questions tells us nearly as much as if she did answer them:
Will we meet Elena’s father this season, and is it someone we already know?
If I were Julie Plec, I probably wouldn’t have answered this one either, but I really want to make the leap and say that her silence means that we do know who her father is. Could it be Uncle John?
C’mon, throw the fans a bone — is Jeremy going to be turned or what?
Now, why not answer this question? Do you think Anna will eventually turn Jeremy? They seem to be getting closer to reconciling. I wonder if Jeremy will still want to be turned now that he knows Vicki is dead … so many questions, so much fun!
As a fan of Kyle XY, I love seeing Marguerite MacIntyre in her recurring role as Sheriff Forbes. Will we see any other Kyle XY alums popping in for a visit?
OK, I can’t read a heck of a lot into this one. Either no one’s coming up, or it’s so huge she didn’t want to divulge, or maybe they are in the middle of signing someone but it’s not a done deal yet. We’ll just have to watch that casting news closely.
Again, I’m so grateful to Julie Plec for taking her time to answer some of my questions and getting me even more excited for the last three episodes of The Vampire Diaries successful first season.
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Apr 26, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
It’s really tough to get anything very juicy in terms of possible spoilers and such when you’re relying on email interviews. It gives them too much time to look over and reconsider what they might have slipped to you, had you been talking with them on the phone. :)
*POST AUTHOR*
In her defense, I know it was a time thing too, so she answered the ones she knew she had stuff to say about. She gave us some fun teasers without coming right out and answering my spoilery questions … very diplomatic of her, and gracious too!