When I decided to watch this series, I was told that it was similar to "Twilight", and that sounded an alert in my head. In fact, the first season is a very simplistic, cliché and tasteless novel by a young human and a vampire, tempered by the appearance of his evil brother. But things are gradually getting better and the hooks for the second season were so promising that I continued to see. It was then that the series showed that it had potential, and it only improved, season after season.
Eight seasons later, I saw the end yesterday. It's a long story, as it couldn't be. The skeleton of the plot is based on Elena's melodramatic and sugary romance with two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon (one after the other). In between are immense characters, whose individual stories intertwine. The plot, slightly based on books, is sometimes imaginative and there are a number of unreliable elements such as the siphon witches, strange amulets and deconstructed religious elements (see the example of Cade, or Devil, and the question of life after the death). But as a good part of the final product is based on the charisma and strength of the characters, this ends up being reasonably well swallowed by the audience.
The series is full of strong and dramatic characters, made by actors who have shown talent Nina Dobrev was very good as Elena / Katherine and her disappearance, from the seventh season, was one of the most unfortunate options in the script. Much better was the direction of the brothers, played by Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley. The two actors were incredible and were up to the challenge. In addition, the following actors deserve to be congratulated: Kat Graham, Candice King, Michael Trevino, Matthew Davis, Michael Malarkey Joseph Morgan, Marguerite MacIntyre, Claire Holt, Daniel Gillies, Chris Wood, Elizabeth Blackmore, Torrey DeVitto and Arielle Kebbel. Everyone was committed to their characters, regardless of their importance to the plot, and gave their best. Zach Roerig is a good actor, but his character is not so good and it was only last season that I was able to feel some empathy for him. Steven R. McQueen suffered from the same problem. He was a rebellious and somewhat boring teenager in most of the series, and he suddenly appears full of muscles as an action figure, eager to kill vampires. Sara Canning and Susan Walters are also good, but their respective characters also only become pleasant around the time they must die.
At a technical level, the series has few flaws. Good production values, good special effects, visual and sound, a nice CGI that, despite everything, seems fake at times, good scenarios and costumes, especially in the period scenes, and also a very good soundtrack, full of good songs that are in the ear.
