Vampires » blood

Blood: The Last Vampire

annimi — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:26:14 +0000

As a big fan of the original film, and the live action film that recently came out, I figured, hey, we’re all about vampires, so why are we only covering American and European vampire contemporaries? Japanese vampires are pretty fabulous too! Let’s roll with it!

Film – Blood: The Last Vampire, 2001 – The film came first, as an anime, and before any of the anime series, or books, or the game, manga, etc., and was fiercely popular. It also had nothing whatsoever to do with the live action film that came out this year. B:tLV follows Saya, the “last original” vampire, who is actually more of a vampire human hybrid, without vulnerability to the sun, but with all kinds of vampire extra-sensory powers, and super-strength. The film is set only months before the Vietnam War, and follows Saya as she hunts chiropterans, blood drinking, winged bat-like monsters, for the secret organization the Red Shield.

Manga & Books – First the manga came to follow up as a sequel, bring Saya to the 21st century in Blood: The Last Vampire 2000, which is a little trippy, because it seems to have inspired bits and pieces of the latest movie, –such as that Saya’s been sent undercover to a high school, where she discovers that the chiropterans are able to transform into human beings. Saya also learns more about her past, but in the manga, Saya has a twin; a chiropteran that can transform, named Maya, who hunts down Saya, –considered by experimental scientists as the perfect one of the pair, –because she wants Saya to eat her, so that together they can become the perfect vampire. The light novels that followed were: Blood: The Last Vampire: Night of the Beasts, Blood: The Last Vampire: The Blood Which Invites the Darkness, and Blood: The Last Vampire: A Tragic Dream in Shanghai.

Anime & Games – The anime, titled simply, “Blood+” used to be a regular on AdultSwim, but got cancelled, boohoo. It wasn’t actually received very well, so, maybe they knew what they were doing when Blood+ bounced off the air and into obscurity. Blood+ is a bizarre, alternate universe, re-telling of the B:tLV original story. In the anime, Saya is an anemic teen with a happy life, until she’s attacked by a chiropteran, and discovers she’s the only one who can defeat them. Not exactly similar to the hardcore style of Saya in the film and manga is it? The game first developed for PS2 wa called by its original title, Blood: The Last Vampire, and was released in Japan in 2001. Dr. Brown of Animerica declared the game boring, and therefore labeled the game as such for everyone else, making it particularly hard to find on this continent. Can we all give a big hand to Dr. Brown? Yes, thank you Dr. Brown, for making life hard for the collecting gamer. The second game to come out was for PSP in 2006, called Yarudora Series Vol. 5: Blood: The Last Vampire, and including several new features for the B:tLV obsessed.

Live Action Film – B:tLV comes to the big screen, and thank god too, because I was dying, DYING, to see it. If you’re a fan, then you understand, if you’re not, then try to imagine a Bleach live-action movie. There, see? Exactly. Jaw dropping extended action scenes, enough blood and gore to make you gag, and a storyline that doesn’t really suck -that much-. What I love most about the movie, is that Saya’s action scenes, and the fight scenes in general, go on -forever-. The story wasn’t great, the character development was minimal, but the action and the cinematography were seizure-inducing gorgeous! If you’re a B:tLV fan, and you’ve been holding out because you think the movie will suck, stop it! You’ll love it, I promise.

The Vampire Diaries, Season 1, Episode 8

annimi — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:14:02 +0000

In this episode we’re introduced to Stefan’s oldest friend; the 350 year old Lexi, –she’s an absolute sweetheart, and the best part is, she’s older and stronger than Damon. So she can kick his ass any time. It’s Stefan’s birthday, and Lexi came to party with him. There’s maintenance to do after Vickie’s death; Matt, Jeremy, Stefan, and Elena all convince the sheriff that Vickie’s just left town. Matt and Elena are both giving Stefan the cold shoulder, but for different reasons; Matt doesn’t trust Stefan’s intentions with his sister in the last episode, and Elena is upset about all the drama following Stefan around.

Damon heads off to the sheriff’s to deliver a box of vervain; apparently, Stefan and Damon have been telling people that Zach is out-of-town too. Damon is devising a plan to get rid of the hunters and give them a vampire to keep them away from he and Stefan. Bonnie isn’t too thrilled with her crystal, the necklace her ancestor wore, but her Gram convinces her to always wear it. Bonnie heads over to Elena’s house to see what’s going on, and finds the majorly depressed Elena hiding in bed. To cheer her up, Bonnie demonstrates her new witch-y powers. Elena heads over to talk to Stefan, and instead, finds Lexi in her towel; awkward! Meanwhile, Damon is using his vampire Jedi-mind-trick on Caroline to get her to take the necklace from Bonnie, and throw a party that night at the ‘Grill.’

Lexi convinces Stefan to go with her, but he stops at Elena’s first to explain the presence of Lexi, and invite Elena to Caroline’s party. She gets the deal with Lexi, that they’re just friends, but decides she wants to stay home. At the party, Bonnie tries to take the crystal from Bonnie and it shocks her; when she reports what happened to Damon, he calls her shallow, and useless. While Caroline heads off to get wasted, Stefan stops Matt and tries to explain what was going on with him trying to give Vickie an ‘intervention.’ Matt seems to thaw a little, but he’s still angry and upset with Vickie for leaving. Outside, Damon is setting his plans in motion; when he spots a couple kissing nearby, he attacks the boy, and grabs the girl to give her a little brain melting. He goes back in the bar, and talks to Elena for a bit, –who seems to have magically appeared at the party despite not wanting to come, –and she asks if he added anything to Jeremy’s brain when he erased his memory. Damon evasively claims he only took away Jeremy’s suffering.

Outside, the police discover the body of the boy, and the girl sitting beside him. Inside, Lexi approaches Elena, and talks to her a little about love, and loving a vampire as a human. Lexi gets through a bit, Elena thaws toward Stefan, and joins him at the pool table. Lexi heads over to talk to Damon, letting Stefan and Elena have their alone time. Lexi and Damon chat about his diabolical plan, but suddenly, the sheriff enters with the girl, who points out Lexi as the boy’s killer. The sheriff strolls up, shoots up Lexi with vervain, and hauls her out of the bar. Stefan and Elena follow out the back. Lexi attempts to struggle, and the sheriff shoots her; just as Elena and Stefan are coming around the wall, they witness Damon stake Lexi. Though Elena tries to stop him, Stefan confronts Damon, fights him, and stakes him, –but only in the stomach. He tells him they’re even, since Damon saved his life, and he is now sparing Damon’s.

Caroline is carried away by Matt; she’s totally smashed, and he comforts her, and takes her home, then holds her while she sleeps. Elsewhere, Bonnie is having a nightmare, running through the forest, when her ancestor warns her of an “it” coming for her. Bonnie wakes up in the woods, still in her pajamas, out in the cemetery. Phew, what an episode! God, I wish Damon would just give it up, and the two brothers could just bond for god’s sake. And just when things were turning up with Stefan and Elena, Damon has to go and kill someone else, –and possibly brainwash her brother. Jeez; a girl just can’t get a break.

I’m also kind of worried about Caroline. Hopefully, Damon just stays away, because I think her and Matt would make a really sweet couple. She deserves someone to be nice to her, even if she is flawed; it’s a symptom of humanity. I also really liked the Lexi character; totally stupid that she’s already dead, but I guess she also would have been a third wheel in the series. So far it looks like Damon’s “diabolical master plan” is to completely isolate Stefan, and then maybe kill him. Too bad, –Damon is uber-hot, and I want him to stay, and be less of a douche. Just a little less!

Four Vampire Criminals & Killers

annimi — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:19:01 +0000

1. Marcelo Costa De Andrade – Called “The Rio Vampire”, Andrade grew up in the slums of Rio, was beaten, abused, and eventually became a homosexual prostitute. After a violent childhood, he began a relationship with an older man, and once tried to rape his ten year old brother. Eventually, he began going to church regularly, and to all seemed the model reformed sinner, but when he was 24 he began to kill. Overall, he killed 14 male children, all under the age of 13, because according to his religion, innocent children go to heaven. He raped and strangled them, and later practiced necrophilia. On two occasions, he admitted to drinking their blood because he wanted to be as beautiful as they were. Andrade was caught in 1991, when he fell in love with Altair de Abreu, 10 years old. After strangling and raping his 6-year-old brother, Andrade claimed that he loved Abreu, and asked the boy to live with him. The boy later escaped, and after telling his parents what happened, the police were notified. Andrade was arrested, very calmly, and confessed later, leading investigators to his victims’ remains. His statement, when asked why he killed, was “I liked the boys and I didn’t want them to go to hell.”

2. Rod Ferrell – Rod was the leader of the infamous Kentucky Vampire Clan; here was a boy with charisma. Not only was he a violent, delusional psychopath, but he also had a Manson-Family-esque following of teens ready to follow through with criminal orders. There are numerous speculative theories as to what formed Ferrell’s criminal nature; many point to his mother, who sold drugs and is rumored to have had a sexual relationship with her son. Others place blame on the popular role-playing game Vampire: the Masquerade. For whatever reason, Ferrell eventually became obsessed with vampires, claimed he was one himself, and formed his Clan. Heather Wendorf told Ferrell that her family life was hell, and the Clan was helping her run away from home. Charity Keesee and Dana Cooper drove Heather to her boyfriend’s to say goodbye; they intended to all run away to New Orleans. While the girls were busy, Ferrell and Clan member Scott Anderson drove to the Wendorf home then beat Richard and Ruth to death with a crowbar. Ferrell claimed later that Anderson took no part in the murders. The group of teens was caught in Baton Rouge, Louisiana when Charity called her mother for money, but her mother promptly notified the police. Ferrell and Anderson are both serving Life with no chance of parole.

3. Daniel & Manuela Ruda – A German couple gone berserk; they believed themselves to be vampires, and chose a victim to sacrifice to Satan, –or, other sources say that their victim was chosen because the Devil needed a jester, and the guy they picked was funny. Manuela claimed in court that the Devil himself ordered them to kill the man, and indicated that her husband was possessed when he first struck their victim, Frank Hackerts. They killed him, stabbing the man over 60 times, then drank his blood, and afterward made love in a coffin kept in their home. Daniel was sentenced to 15 years, and Manuela was sentenced to 13 years, in a secure psychiatric hospital, though officials stated that there might be no chance for them to be released, because of the possibility that they may kill again.

The Immortal Vampire

annimi — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:13:38 +0000

What is immortality? And do vampires actually possess this impervious quality? Let’s look at the facts first. What can kill a vampire? According to popular beliefs, or traditional beliefs; not necessarily all of these methods are accurate, it’s all a mater of perspective:

Sunlight
Wooden stake through the heart
Silver
Decapitation
Incineration
Garlic
Religious Artifacts (crosses, holy water, the host)
Starvation
Hive Concept (kill the sire, kill the offspring)

Wow, it sure seems like a lot of things can kill or injure a vampire, and yet they are credited with immortality. Immortality is defined as the concept of living in a physical or spiritual form for an infinite or inconceivably vast length of time. So if vampires can die, then are they actually immortal? Or could hey just be classified as damned hard to kill, considering all their abilities, and supernatural qualities? The concept of an immortal vampire is that since they are the dead risen, they have already died, –now that they are dead, it’s impossible to kill them, or for them to truly die, once again.

Example; you’re a vampire of the most basic sense. You can be killed by decapitation, starvation, –or prolonged denial of blood, exposure to direct sunlight, and incineration; you have severe allergies to garlic, Christian accessories, and silver. What are the chances you’ll be able to avoid these things for an infinite span of time, whether your death occurs by accident or is an act of premeditated murder? Pretty bleak. So before you set your heart on becoming a vampire, be sure to read the fine print. There are plenty of things that can disrupt your afterlife, including religious fundamentalists.

Renfield Syndrome

annimi — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:05:49 +0000

The official status of clinical vampirism, otherwise called Renfield Syndrome, is currently popularized, though rarely emulated by criminals. Unfortunately, because of its rare appearance in society, it doesn’t actually appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The current version, the DSM-IV is a list of all mental disorders, that includes the criteria necessary for diagnosis; in other words, Renfield Syndrome aka clinical vampirism, is not recognized as an official illness, despite the active term being applied to occasional cases of psychiatric interest. The cases the term is applied to are usual those of serial killers and violent criminals who drink their victims’ blood. However, there are psychiatric references made to the disease.

For example, you may find the works of Richard Noll especially intriguing; he coined the term Renfield Syndrome, and discusses it in his book, Bizarre Diseases of the Mind. Noll named the disease after Dracula’s deranged victim, Dr. Renfield, who spent his time in the story locked within a prison-like mental facility, eating insects because he craved their life force. Noll claims that males are most often affected by the disease, and that it runs in stages. The first stage is an event in the male’s life before puberty, in which he is sexually excited by a bloody injury, or ingestion of the blood. The second stage is sexual fantasies about drinking blood during puberty, which eventually becomes auto-vampirism, –drinking one’s own blood. Inevitably, the individual suffering from Renfield Syndrome is tempted to try this on animals, which leads to drinking the blood of human beings.

There are only a few case files with which to study, making the disease rare, and hard to investigate, in terms of psychological interest. The book also touched on other extremely rare personality disorders, such as possession, and split- or multiple personalities, disease that modern psychiatry knows very little about. The sad fact is that for Renfield Syndrome to be more identifiable, and more easily diagnosed, there would have to be more cases of the illness to study. The more disturbing question lies in the modern vampire community; are these people suffering from a mental illness, or are they simply following a lifestyle that makes them happy? This editor plans to bring back a favorite interview subject; the vampire Merticus, to answer that question, and discover how the modern vampire community feels about the disease.

Vampires: The Hive Concept

annimi — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:59:12 +0000

The Hive Concept applies to vampires in some cases, as far as my dedicated research into theatrical examples goes. Surely, a few of you have seen The Forsaken, circa 2001. This movie’s vampire traditions were that if you killed the lead vampire, then the curse would vanish in all of his progeny. This is the Hive Concept; –kill the Queen, and eventually, all the worker bees will die. The fact is, for this vampire theory to work, the vampire curse would have to be something a little more supernaturally inclined than just a virus, contained with a combination of antibiotics, as shown in the film. To be dedicated to this theory is to be dedicated to the demonic vampire theory, –that after a vampire is created, there is no soul or personality, and the real person has already died; a demon now inhabits the body.

If vampirism was just a disease, would not the same person exist in the same body, except, now with a disease that makes them aggressively pursue blood? Like a bee, aggressively pursuing honey, and going about its daily errands. There is no way to logically combine hive vampirism with viral vampirism, because the hive concept indicates that the others are soulless, and mindless, –not diseased. Another example of hive vampirism can be found in The Lost Boys, and –eek, god, the unfortunate sequel. The protagonists are convinced that by killing the Master Vampire, the rest of them will either die, or return to normal. Well, why? Because he’s spread a disease to them that will somehow be eradicated once he dies? No; because he’s spread his curse, his intangible evil, into his progeny, with the giving of his blood. Traditionally, once his life force has been snuffed, his blood will become totally lifeless as well, and will be either flushed from the body, leaving the cursed people clean and healthy and alive again.

Or it will instantly kill them, considering that most vampires have to die in order to become vampires. Or because the blood of the Master Vampire itself is poison, and kills them, so that they are now the walking dead. It’s all very confusing; so can’t we cut right to the chase and keep hive vampirism in the same cabinet as theological vampirism? What do you think?

Upcoming Vampire Book Printed With Real Blood

Moonlight — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:39 +0000

Yes, you read that title correctly. There is a new book coming out about vampires…printed with real human blood. The controversial book is Silentheart by Roberta Hoffer and it is due to hit bookshelves some time in November. Since this book is just coming into the open, exact dates and such details are a little sketchy at the moment. But we do know that a handful of copies of the book will be printed in blood, these copies wont be sold in stores though. And not only will you have books printed in blood but the author herself will also be signing books with her own blood at book signings. According to author Roberta Hoffer, “When I wrote Silentheart, I put my sweat and tears into it. It’s only fitting that now I’m literally putting my blood into it.”

Once you have gotten over the initial shock of a book being printed in blood you probably start to wonder, “what the hell is the book even about?” Well, the book is about a woman whose family is full of vampires. Not only her family though, but also the man she loves. Her vampire lover tries to give up his vampire life for her, with surprising consequences.

Sounds like a decent enough story, but you have to admit that there are countless stories out there that sound the same. The difference between those books and this new one is, of course, the blood. The blood bit will cause such a stir that it’ll give this book and nice publicity boost. We’ll just have to wait and see if it’s worthy of all the hype though. Personally I have high hopes.

Hoffer’s Silentheart is also aiming to catch the attention of the vampire community as well. Drawing on “personal experiences,” apparently Hoffer’s vampires don’t conform to the typical vampire mold.

Now, as you can imagine this book is already causing a hell of a controversy storm. It hasn’t even been published yet and it’s already pissing people off. “Personally, I’m disgusted. I implore parents to keep their kids away from this filth,” said the Reverand T.E. Whiteman of the Decency League. “The book is an abomination against morality. We are working long hours to ban this book from every possible outlet.” I doubt he is the only one out there with plans like this. This book is going to stir a lot of questions like “is that even sanitary” and the likes. Heads will no doubt roll.

But what do you readers think? Good idea, bad idea, gross, cool? Leave a comment and let us know.

As I mentioned above we don’t have any exact dates for the book and it’s official website is currently under construction, but once we know more we’ll make sure to fill you in.

- Moonlight

The Vampire Diaries, Season 1 Episode 7

annimi — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:15:35 +0000

This episode moves pretty fast; they pack a hell of a lot of stuff into forty minutes of action. After Vickie attacks Ty in his car, Damon and Stefan reign her in; mostly Stefan, of course. He keeps her in the house and tries to get her accustomed to a non-human diet, and make her understand why feeding on humans is bad news, while Damon constantly antagonizes the situation. Elena arrives later to learn what she can about Vickie’s condition. In a moment alone with Vickie, Elena learns that Vickie’s no one to mess with. After warning Vickie to stay away from Jeremy, Elena is thrust against a wall and half strangled, while Vickie makes her point.

We finally learn what Bonnie’s been up to; she was staying the weekend with her grandma, who’s been teaching her all about their family history and witchcraft. Apparently, they come from a long line of witches who managed to escape the massacre in Salem, in 1692. Later on, Caroline gives Bonnie her costume at school, –a witch’s outfit, of course, and also, the necklace she got from Damon, expressing interest in finally leaving Damon behind. Mayor Lockwood and his wife discuss the missing compass, and Logan’s death, while Damon eavesdrops. At the Salvatore house, Damon decides to teach Vickie some of the tricks of the trade, despite Stefan’s misgivings, and of course, Vickie escapes.

While Vickie and Jeremy organize a secret meeting at the school’s haunted Halloween event, Damon is learning all kinds of interesting things about the town’s vampire hunters. Mayor Lockwood’s wife is flush on martinis, and spills a lot of details. She tells him that Zach was supplying a mysterious town ‘Council’ with vervain. At the high school, everyone shows up for a big scary Halloween party, and with Vickie losing her mind to her hunger, there might be more scares than they planned. Matt confronts Stefan and Elena about the weird stuff going on with his sister, Vickie. Vickie takes off, but not before she tells Matt that Stefan is bothering her, sparking a quick scuffle while she sneaks off to meet Matt.

Vickie and Jeremy leave to make out, while outside, Damon finds out what happened to his yellow crystal, and tries to take it from Bonnie. The necklace burns his hand when he touches it; Bonnie runs home to her grandmother’s and explains what happened. Her grandmother reveals that the necklace belonged to one of the most powerful witches in their family, Emily Bennet. In the high school’s parking lot, things heat up between Vickie and Jeremy, and before too long, she’s ready to eat. Elena and Stefan try to hold her off, but Vickie evades capture, and attacks Elena, attempting to feed on her. Stefan stakes her with a broken board, and Vickie turns gross, and really… just, ew, immediately. Stefan takes Jeremy away, and Elena waits for Damon to come and take care of the body.

Damon sends away an angry Elena, who tempted him with her bleeding injuries. At the Gilbert home, Elena comforts Jeremy, and then asks Stefan to erase his memory. Stefan admits that because of his lifestyle, his powers aren’t strong enough to completely erase Jeremy’s memory, –Damon arrives and offers to do it. Elena tells Damon what she wants Jeremy to know, and while Damon is upstairs, Elena admits to Stefan that she still has feelings for him. Aww! Perhaps in the next episode, things between them might get a little less angry and weird? And Damon has also done his one token good deed for the episode.

This episode went by fast; too fast! We had to wait two whole weeks for this episode, the least they could do was make it a little longer! But no, still only forty minutes of vampire fun. It’s great to see Bonnie again, but wow, the grandmother actress needs some serious work, –I notice though, that when new characters are introduced mid-show, like in True Blood, it takes them a little while to be more comfortable in their roles. If she has any skill at all, she’ll be more natural in a couple more episodes. Early on in the episode, it looked like Elena and Matt might hook back up, but thank god, no… I wasn’t ready to see them get back together, and for Elena to just blow off Stefan for the sake of normality.

Notice, for some reason, Aunt Jenna didn’t appear in this episode, –these producers need to add that extra ten minutes, or learn how to put these characters in the show and condense it a bit more. Skipping the follow-up on the supporting actors is kind of a dick move. In an interesting way, Elena seems to be bringing the Salvatore brothers closer together, but it might just be temporary, –they do seem to be on better terms than they were in the first few episodes. And we also get the extra added bonus of more romance in the future, –Elena admits that even though they’ve been through hell, she doesn’t want to lose her feelings for Stefan. Who knows, maybe some romance will crop up between Bonnie and Damon? Or maybe things between Damon, Stefan, and Elena will just get more convoluted and angry. Le sigh. Drama.

Vampire Diaries, Season 1 Episode 6

annimi — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:35:36 +0000

In this episode, Elena finds out Stefan and Damon’s dirty secret; they’re vampires, and she learns later, after she initially runs from Stefan, through Stefan’s patient explaining, the whole story; the nature of the beast, so to speak. There are a few flashback scenes, and we find out more about Katherine; in Mystic Falls, 1864, Damon and Stefan were close, until Katherine arrived on the scene. We find out later in the show, that it was Katherine Pierce who was the vampire. Her plan was to turn Damon and Stefan, and keep them with her as one big happy family, before her violent death.

Apparently, Vickie is one hell of a survivor; she lived through Damon’s attack, so he decides to keep her, so to speak, after he kills her friends and disposes of their bodies, and demands via cell phone that Stefan returns his ring. It’s painfully obvious that Stefan cares for Elena; he guards her house the whole night after his secret is revealed. The next day, he explains vampires, Damon’s deal with Caroline, and convinces her to give him a day to explain things fully. While Damon gives Vickie his blood to perk her up, Damon’s mess is discovered by Logan and the sheriff, who know it was a vampire attack.

Stefan shows Elena the ruins of his family home, tells of how things were with him, Damon, and Katherine. At the Salvatore home, Damon explains exactly what happened to Vickie, who seems totally unperturbed, and asks for more of his blood. They feed mutually off one another, while at the site of their original home, Stefan tells Elena of Katherine’s manipulating he and Damon against each other. Stefan reveals that if he doesn’t return Damon’s ring, he’ll retaliate by harming Elena; meanwhile, Elena’s hysterics meter is gradually filling up. Mayor Lockwood, in the company of Logan Fell and the sheriff, assembles something like a compass that will lead them to the vampires.

Shortly after the hottest moment in the entire show so far, Vickie cries on Damon’s shoulder, about how horrible her life is; to alleviate the situation, Damon snaps her neck. Soon after, she wakes up. Vickie is now among the undead! At least, she will be when she feeds; Damon explains, she blows him off as high and takes off. He suggests she go by her boyfriend’s house, no doubt in order to stir some shit. At the Gilbert home, Matt and Jeremy watch Vickie as she transforms, thinking she’s on drugs. Elena and Stefan arrive, and he tells them how to help her, and explains to Elena what Damon did, and that if Vickie doesn’t feed, she’ll die. Vickie runs away after almost feeding on Jeremy, but Matt and Stefan follow her.

The town’s vampire hunters are also tracking vampires that night, and Logan heads to the old cemetery just as Damon shows up at Elena’s door. He wants Stefan, and his ring, no doubt for a good long fight over locking him in the basement. Damon indicates in his short talk with Elena that maybe there’s more to his story. Stefan finds Vickie in the cemetery, and comforts her, explains her situation, but before Stefan can take her home, Logan shoots him with a wooden bullet. Before Logan can stake Stefan, Damon attacks him and saves his brother, digging the bullet out of Stefan. They now know that the town is hunting them. Vickie feeds from Logan while he’s down, then runs away. Damon now has his ring, and the mysterious vampire hunting compass; the sheriff and a deputy, –apparently more people are vampire hunters than we thought! –find Logan’s body and note the missing watch. After Stefan tells Elena about Vickie, she sadly gives him her verdict: she’ll keep his secret but she can’t be with him.

Oh, another really sad episode. In some ways, there were a lot of really interesting and somewhat relieving scenes here too though. We didn’t see anything on Caroline, or Bonnie; this show mostly revolved around Vickie, Damon, Stefan, Katherine, Elena, and a dash of Matt and jeremy for seasoning. Oh and we can’t forget the fearless vampire hunters, who seem to be multiplying rapidly. Just how many people in Mystic Falls are into hunting vampires as a hobby? So far we have the mayor, a news anchor, the sheriff, one deputy, and possibly the mayor’s wife. I’m dying to know a little more about what’s going on with this mysterious group of vampire hunters, as well as where the hell Bonnie and Caroline are.

More interesting yet, is Damon’s foggy history with Katherine; I want to know more about his side of the story, and what happened to make him so bitter. Also, it seems that maybe things might be a little more complicated than we thought with he and Stefan; he did save his brother’s life. Was it because maybe, Damon still loves his brother, or does he just want to keep Stefan alive so he can continue to torment him? I know one thing; with Vickie’s crazy emotional issues, and volatile personality, she’s going to make a very nteresting vampire. Stefan’s going to have to keep her on a short leash. And oh, if you haven’t heard yet, horror of horrors, they’re going to make us wait a whole extra week for the next show!

Vampire Diaries, Season 1 Episode 5

annimi — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:23:58 +0000

After Stefan’s cunning capture of Damon, he locks him down in the basement; the plan is to allow Damon to mummify, as a living corpse, then move him to the family tomb, and re-evaluate Damon in fifty years. Meanwhile, things between Stefan and Elena are getting strained; after four days of absence dealing with Damon, Stefan finally returns to school, and promises to explain himself at the Grill later. He doesn’t show until Elena’s ready to leave, and a strange old man claims that he knew Stefan, years ago; he’s shocked that Stefan hasn’t aged. When Stefan denies Elena an explanation, she leaves, tired of the mystery. At the Salvatore home, Zach tries telling Damon goodbye, and Damon almost kills him, –Stefan saves Zach, probably the reason he was late to his meeting with Elena.

In desperation, Damon turns to Caroline, and calls her to him. That night, she manages to ignore it. The same night, Jeremy helps Stefan arrange a romantic dinner for two for he and Elena, in which Stefan manages to share a little more of himself with her. Jeremy is going through his own romantic problems with Vickie, who loves getting high a little too much. The next day at a fundraiser carwash, Caroline follows Damon’s calls. After Caroline leaves, Elena speaks again to the old man who recognized Stefan. She follows up on his story of the Salvatore brothers and their murdered uncle by getting a favor from Logan Fell. Logan is the news anchor who dates Aunt Jenna, but is also part of a clandestine group of vampire hunters that includes the sheriff, and the mayor.

At the station, Elena manages to find an archive video of the news feature covering the death of Stefan’s uncle in June of 1953. Sure enough, in the old black and white video, Stefan lurks in the doorway, in shadows, while the dead body of his uncle is wheeled past on a gurney. Caroline has freed Damon at the Salvatore house, but Zach urges her to run, holding off Damon just long enough, until Damon can escape. Damon kills Zach and chases Caroline, but she manages to escape. At the carwash, Bonnie falls into a trance and sets a nearby car ablaze; the second demonstration of her power that day. Stefan shakes her from the trance, the fire is extinguished instantly, and he agrees to tell no one that she did it. Later that night, Bonnie goes to her grandmother’s house, and doesn’t appear again, –not even in the next episode.

Jeremy leaves Vickie in the cemetery to do drugs with her loser friends, not able to reconcile himself to her self-destructive personality. That night, Caroline sleeps sadly under the sign of a pentagram from the moonlight shining through the mysterious yellow crystal. Logan steals the pocketwatch while at the Gilbert house visiting Jenna, while Stefan discovers Zach, and mourns the death of his uncle. In her room, Elena puts all the pieces together and realizes what Stefan is. And in the cemetery, Damon attacks Vickie and it looks like this time, she might not survive.

This has been a really depressing episode; for starters, Matt is barely in it, and even though he hardly qualifies as a supporting actor it seems like he deserves to have a little bit more of a role. What was at first a love triangle is now a love… square? Elena is pretty popular; Damon would kill to have her, Stefan would kill to protect her, and Matt is just trying to be a supportive friend. The whole vampire thing is definitely going to put a big dent in what was already a strained relationship, with obvious trust issues. It seems like these human girls who manage to fall in love with vampires, are always incredibly unsupportive, and almost always refuse to understand the plight of their taciturn undead lovers. If you date a vampire, try to be a more understanding girlfriend!

So aside from watching Stefan strive to hold together his and Elena’s fraying relationship, we’re also treated to Zach’s death. How do they plan to explain that to the authorities? And we didn’t really have time to develop many feelings for Zach, but really, how is the Salvatore family managing to stay alive anyway? Just when we’re starting to feel a little sympathetic towards Damon, he goes and kills a bunch of people. Jeez. And what’s with the necklace? Is the pentagram thing good or bad, and what does it do? I kind of hope it protects Caroline, because she’s such a sad little thing. We’re all hoping to find out more in the next episode, especially if we get to know more about the rag-tag group of vampire hunters, the yellow crystal, and whether Vickie survives. Sadly, I’ll warn you now, that Bonnie remains absent from the next episode.

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