The Vampire Diaries

Ian as Boone Carlyle on LOST

Welcome to the world of Mystic Falls, Virginia. Population: vampires, werewolves and witches, oh my! It’s a world of love triangles, betrayal and vampire revenge. If you haven’t watched a single episode of The Vampire Diaries, here’s your chance to get caught up on one of the most popular TV shows on right now.

To begin your Vampire Diaries education, the first thing you need to know is The Vampire Diaries was originally created as a book series by the New York Times #1 best selling author L.J. Smith. There have been six major novels and two companion books written in the series, and the seventh novel, The Return: Midnight, is set to be released in March 2011. But if you have read these novels and not seen the TV show, viewer be warned: it is quite a bit different to the books. Not that the changes have been worse, but I can say that I still Twitter scream from time to time, “That’s not what they do in the book!” I have learned, however, that the TV series, now in the middle of its second season, is just as good as the books, thanks in major part to the genius of writers/producers Kevin Williamson (Dawson’s Creek, Scream) and Julie Plec (Kyle XY, Scream).

Since this is Lostblog.com’s “TV shows Like LOST that LOSTies Like” site, I want to quickly share the importance of why fans of LOST would enjoy this show. First of all, when the cast of TVD was announced, I was thrilled (yes, I did a happy dance) when I found out that Ian Somerhalder was cast as the dashing, tortured and often mischievous (one might call him evil, but I won’t go there) Damon Salvatore. Damon is the older brother of the brooding love of Elena, Stefan Salvatore.

Most of us Losties know Ian as Boone Carlyle, who was the brother of Shannon and was sadly sacrificed for the sake of the Island by Locke in Season 1 of LOST. I will admit that initially the only reason I was sucked into the world of LOST was because of Ian’s character. (I watched in reruns in the summer after the first season). When Boone was killed off the show, I was crushed, and for a while after, I had a hard time watching the show without being really mad. That was 2004. Flash forward to 2009, and Ian is now a member of the undead on TVD. Kind of fitting after all that happened on LOST, huh?

Anyway, in an interview regarding his character on TVD, Ian once said that he looked to Josh Holloway and his portrayal of James “Sawyer” Ford as inspiration for Damon. In my estimation, Damon and Sawyer do have quite a few similarities.Because I was have always been a big Sawyer fan, I enjoy Damon’s sarcastic quips, his nicknames for others and the fact that on the other side of that high wall that Damon built to protect himself from hurt, there is a person that is loyal to the ones he loves the most and will protect Elena when all hell breaks loose. Also on the show is several flashbacks of events that happen and now they even have an online interactive game, The Vampire Diaries: Bloodlines Revealed, that goes along with the events from the second season. It give clips of what is to come in this season as well as giving the player a chance to get a deeper look into the TVD world and its characters.

Along with the great actors on the show, the music of The Vampire Diaries is just as amazing. Harking on the same dark themes as the music of the Twilight saga, The Vampire Diaries soundtrack gleans from artists like Smashing Pumpkins, Placebo, Gorillaz, and Bat for Lashes to deliver the raw emotions of love, betrayal and teenage angst that make TVD so popular.

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