The Vampire Diaries Season Five
Lacking Originality
Release Date: OUT NOW!
2013- 2014 | 15 | Blu- ray/ DVD Showrunner: Julie Plec Cast: Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Kat Graham, Candice Accola
After ancient vamps the Originals decamped to New Orleans for their spinoff show, The Vampire Diaries was left with a gaping hole to fill for season five. It was still there by the finale.
The main paradigm shift: Damon and Elena are now an official item! Big mistake – lovesick Damon is little fun to watch. The season only steps up a gear when he has a multiepisode hissyfit. Sadly, he gets better.
This is also the season of the doppelganger. Both Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev play three roles each, which becomes simply farcical at times. The two Big Bads that bookend the year – ancient witch Silas and ancient “traveller” Markos – are dull as ditchwater, everyone dies and comes back so often it’s difficult to care, and the dialogue is now 75% exposition.
The Vampire Diaries still has its moments of gory glory, though. Aside from Damon’s Ripper frenzy, the vampires- feeding- on- vampires subplot works well, and the final couple of episodes are full of satisfying shocks.
The show feels like it’s treading water, but the cliffhanger suggests big changes ahead. Here’s hoping.
Extras: The 2013 Comic Con panel ( 30 minutes), 13 minutes of deleted scenes, a five- minute gag reel and three featurettes ( 28 minutes): one celebrates the show reaching 100 episodes; another discusses “the other side”; in the third, Kat Graham takes us on a behind- the- scenes tour. With “Resident Evil”, Paul Wesley ( Stefan) became the first Vampire Diaries cast member to also direct an episode.