The Vampire Diaries: 4 misconceptions of how it’s supposedly inferior to True Blood

by Michael Collado | Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 1:35am ET

I remember seeing promos running everywhere for The Vampire Diaries (TVD as I will often refer to it) back in the summer of 2009 and thought to myself how the show would be a great way to curb my cravings for the next season of True Blood during its hiatus. It’s been two years since The Vampire Diaries premiere and, without a doubt, I can tell you that I now use True Blood as my summer filler for the next season of TVD. Personally, I like The CW drama more than the HBO one — but it’s ridiculous to choose favorites because everyone can have their cake and eat it too (an expression which makes no sense… why wouldn’t you eat your own cake?). But to do that, we’ve got to get rid of the silly and widely-believed misconceptions that keep people from watching Diaries and proclaiming that Blood is a much better show.

Here are four popular ones (you’ll notice they all stem from the idea that TVD is amateurish), in no particular order:

1. “It’s a girly, teen soap. True Blood’s for adults!”

I’ve heard this way too often around the Internet and in real life. It’s not hard to look at which network the show is on and pigeonhole it as some teenage melodrama. I won’t lie to you, the first six or so episodes of the series really put on a teenage gothic romance vibe that was undoubtedly hard to shake off. Even I abandoned the series after those first episodes. But the show got rid of the actual diaries, it got rid of Elena and Stefan’s (dreadful) voiceovers as they journaled, and it changed tones completely.

Once someone’s big secret is revealed in that first season, and after a certain someone dies: Vampire Diaries put its game face on. Unfortunately, the show insists on keeping its characters in high school… which I admit plays to the show’s biggest detriments. It’s kind of hard to think about 17 year olds having sex and killing people, but whatever. I just pretend they’re all 25 or so. The real ages of the actors, anyhow.

I’m not saying that the show got rid of romance, that would be ridiculous. Practically every drama has a romance element. I’m saying that True Blood isn’t any less of a romance soap opera than The Vampire Diaries. In fact, it may even be more than one.

Have you ever watched an episode of True Blood and thought, “Why are there, like, four guys that unrequitedly are in love with Sookie (who basically just bitches them out on a weekly basis)?” No? Because it’s true. Bill, Eric, Alcide, and Sam. The Vampire Diaries may be working a love triangle pretty hard but it’s not a love pentagon. Albeit, Sam isn’t much of an “option” anymore on True Blood, but that still leaves a love trapezoid… and that’s still more of a romance melodrama than The Vampire Diaries is. (And yes, Katherine factors somewhere in the love triangle, but it’s a completely one-sided relationship… so actually, no she doesn’t.) The show has just started to ham up the idea of the triangle recently, in any case, which seems on par with True Blood in terms of seasons but is slower-paced episode-wise.

2. “There’s no gore. True Blood rips out spines!”

You’re absolutely right, True Blood has ripped out a news anchor’s spine on television and it rips out hearts. TVD is just a silly, teen show that wouldn’t know what gore and horror is if they watched True Blood themselves!

Wrong.

Now, admittedly, TVD is on at 8pm and is a network television show that cannot get away with (legally) everything True Blood can, which is on HBO. HBO, people! I don’t think we’ll be seeing anyone’s spine on this show for… uh, oh yeah… ever. But we have gotten ripped out hearts plenty of times. The most recent was Damon ripping out the heart of a chained up werewolf just because he wouldn’t give up any information. Bam. A couple of weeks ago, The Vampire Diaries had a scene in which a vampire compelled a human to drink blood from a cup. That scene has gone on my list of all time creepy scenes ever. And I saw the scene where Eric rips out a heart and takes a sip from the superior vena cava! In its first season finale (one of the best season finales of any show ever), The Vampire Diaries chopped off a man’s fingers in one clean swipe!

But I think one of the creepiest ones was in the third season premiere, where Stefan had arranged the bodies of both his victims on their couch; Damon comes to investigate and one of the heads falls off and rolls down to the floor. So, yes, it’s gross enough. (Plus, the regular biting and bleeding and neck-snapping happens practically every single episode. Killing by snapping the neck is sort of a signature Vampire Diaries way to go at this point.)

That said, neither of these shows will beat The Walking Dead. Just sayin’.

3. “It’s a copycat. True Blood was here first!”

I’m not even arguing this one. People can’t google, apparently. The Vampire Diaries Wikipedia page. The Sookie Stackhouse Novels wikipedia page. Shut up.

4. “It’s stupid. True Blood is a smarter show!”

I don’t really understand this one. What exactly about True Blood is “smarter?” If you believe it’s because the show is allegorically speaking to some other sort of truth, like maybe LGBT rights, well, then… you’re wrong. Alan Ball, creator and exec producer of True Blood, has said plenty of times that it’s simply not true. In fact, in the New York Post, Ball said thinking about it that was “lazy.”

So don’t get suckered into thinking you’re watching something with any deeper meaning. True Blood is just a soap opera. And when it comes to the show that has thought about its mythos more, Diaries blows Blood out of the water.

The Vampire Diaries has spent an abundance of time explaining how the characters have led us to the events currently transpiring, the episodes I like to call History Lessons. True Blood has done this as well, but not to this extent. And beyond that, the show is based around Elena, the doppelganger, who is key in one central aspect that has been the basis for the entire series. True Blood has about two series-long arcs. One is vampires trying to keep their coming out of the coffin intact to the public, which is a story that requires absolutely no mythology. The second is Sookie being a fairy, which requires a bucket load of mythology and of which we’ve gotten a respectable amount.

But Diaries has spent its time explaining exactly how its universe works — and beyond just History Lessons, something True Blood doesn’t touch upon much. Every aspect of “hybrids” had to be explained, the doppelganger’s usefulness, and The Originals, the Founders of Mystic Falls and their secret meetings, witches’ spells, rings[*], and even being able to resist compulsion?! All of it and more delves within the show’s mythology.

[*] Speaking of the rings, many people say this is stupid. It’s not. Magic has been a part of The Vampire Diaries since minute one. Well, actually more like minute seven. And I’m not kidding. True Blood just decided to add magic to its roster of supernatural elements.

In short…

It bears repeating: there’s no need to choose one or the other. Both shows never air in the same season, let alone on same night! But if you were on the fence, or even completely deluded on what Diaries is about, now you know the truth. The Vampire Diaries can get a bit too engulfed in high school issues (the last episode was the first day of senior year, ick!). But it’s not about that — and to believe that True Blood is exceptionally better is a grave mistake.

So now that you know, go fire up Netflix to watch the first couple of seasons. And catch up to tune in to the third season, because unlike True Blood, The Vampire Diaries just keeps getting better. And it never stops accelerating.

We’ll be waiting to welcome you into the fandom.

Shows: , | Categories: Opinion

Michael Collado

Michael Collado

Creator / Editor-in-Chief | Michael is the creator of NoWhiteNoise. What began as a blog written solely by him with 10 pageviews a week has slowly grown into a fun and adventurous — albeit small — television site. His current favorites on television now are Chuck (he's in denial that it's over), The Vampire Diaries, and Cougar Town. View Michael Collado's check-ins on GetGlue.
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  • Sophiaskiddles

    Thanks for this article, I too always thought that I was in the minority in that I’ve watched both, yet enjoy Vampire Diaries a lot more. Apart from a rocky start, it really is a fantastic show.

    • http://nowhitenoise.com Michael Collado

      You are not in the minority! According to @ab10403d9e33149a5a5055dfe3b43cf3:disqus , more people actually think TVD is better. The start WAS pretty rocky.

  • SugarTeets

    I would say that if you judged your opinions on true blood the tv show rather than the book series it can look like random elements are just thrown in. However, the books are very different from the show which is what i personally prefer. Saying that, i have never read the vampire diaries books (as of yet) and assume the tv show is diff. Either way, i like them both equally. Ive never really understood why anyone feels the need to have an either,or, situation.  Anyways you did a good job highlighting the less teen angsty parts of vampire diaries although i think true blood shares similar angst aswell just not in a high school sitation.

    • http://nowhitenoise.com Michael Collado

      Yeah, I’ve read that the books are different. I’ve never read either of the series of books, but if I had, I would want them to be different. A film adaptation, you’d probably want to keep the same, but when it comes to a series — something you’ll hopefully be watching for YEARS — you can’t have it be to a tee.

      I agree. TB is very ansgty/soapish.

      • schmooble

        I was a fan of the books of both series well before either were TV shows, and the books of TVD are very soapy teenage angst basically pre-twilight twilight.  You had Elena, the dreamy sad girl who lost her family, who fell in love with the dark dreamy sad boy who didn’t seem to eat anything… and then is threatened in turn by Damon (the bad brother) and Katherine (the bad bad ex-girlfriend).  It’s enjoyable escapism, which LJ Smith is very good at, but it’s not in-depth.  The books for True Blood on the other hand are a bit grittier, a bit bloodier, a bit sexier… typically revolving around some sort of a murder mystery to begin with but then moving deeper into the vamp and then the were and the fairy politics as time goes on.  These books have suffered from what I would call character trauma – Sookie goes through so much that there’s a couple of books where she’s really damaged and depressed, but I guess at least that reflects somewhat the reality of the world she’s experiencing.

        I love both TV series for very different reasons.  I think True Blood has taken itself to a very kitsch, fun but dark, place – you don’t have to take it so seriously, it’s really just sex and gore for adults who don’t want to be grown-up about everything.  Who wants to watch serious drama all the time?  It helps that there’s always a rotating roll call of characters to spice things up and serve as foils to our characters (and cannon-fodder to the plot lines as well), but it suffers when it takes itself too seriously.   Whereas TVD I think does the drama-humour line in a much more successful way.  Whilst I was suffering a bit from death-tedium last season especially (how often can a show introduce more and more characters, and then kill them off, and then have them come back in one way or another??) but I think if you switch off the inner critic, it’s a hell of a ride.  And it works because the characters are immersed in their drama, and the drama (unlike most teenage TV shows) is based on ever present and real threat within the characters’ lives.  It changes, as it should, the ways they engage with things like school dances and things.  And I think, because it started with teen characters who have gradually become immersed in a supernatural, dangerous world, the fact they still want to do prank night and have slumber parties and first kisses still makes sense.  They might have to grow up fast, but they’re still going through only their 17th year of life (for the most part)!  And having some grown-up counterparts like Alaric and Jenna helped lift the show from the teenage setting.  The only thing that doesn’t ring true is the idea that so many flipping vampires would want to come and hang around in high school – which to be fair, is only Stefan and Rebekah.  Caroline at least has the excuse that she hasn’t done it before.  But I guess that’s a thing that also bugs me about the Twilight series – seriously, you go to college a few times, I get, but high school???  Why?

        Anyway, they’re both great escapism, and I find TVD far superior to a lot of the hugely contrived teen dramas out there – and True Blood far less adult than many other dramas (excepting of course, for the naked quota). It would be easy to equate sex with “adult drama” and high school setting with “teen drama”, but actually both are simply good entertainment – neither as simperingly teenage as Twilight or One Tree Hill or as wide-ranging in scope as Buffy (at least, not yet)

        • http://nowhitenoise.com Michael Collado

          I completely agree with your comment, sans the book stuff since I’ve never actually read any of the books. I don’t think dramas have to be smart and dramatic all the time. That seems to be a litmus test for people of whether or not a show is good: “Oh, it’s not SMART enough!” Who cares? Not everything needs to be so smart all the time. And I can appreciate that. Heck, I LOVE a couple of reality shows because it has that sense of escapism.

          Also, your middle paragraph is absolute perfection. I’m just not a fan of all of these shows always starting at high school because it feels a little contrived sometimes with their storytelling. I would have liked for TVD to start in college, and therefore the question of whether or not they *could* or *should* be doing something wouldn’t come up so often for me. But nevertheless, I can let that stuff go.

  • Will

    However, it is always good to get the word out. So, carry on!

  • Will

    No one says these things. I thought it was widely acknowledge, amongst critics and otherwise, that TVD is streets ahead of True Blood.

    • http://nowhitenoise.com Michael Collado

      Unfortunately, I see/hear this ALL THE TIME. I need to start hanging out in your circle of friends. :D

      • http://cadencegtv.blogspot.com/ Cadence

        If you follow a bunch of legitimate TV Critics (sepinwall, hitfixdaniel, tvoti, televisionary, etc), you’ll find that TVD is their guilty pleasure, while True Blood is something they watch if only to see how much it falls apart. There’s an unfortunate amount of “True Blood is on HBO so it MUST be great” going around, when the truth is that HBO pumps out True Blood due to ratings in order to have money to work on prestige projects like Treme or The Wire.

        • http://nowhitenoise.com Michael Collado

          Oh, yeah, I know that in critics’ circles that Vampire Diaries is mostly seen as the more superior show, but that doesn’t stop an abundance of common commenters from spreading the myths about TVD. I see those types of comments around *all the time*.

  • Geniewiz

    The Vampire Diaries has superior music too!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ombeline-Michelin/751976392 Ombeline Michelin

    You’re soooooo right.

  • http://twitter.com/momina95 Momina Amjad

    “unlike True Blood, The Vampire Diaries just keeps getting better. And it never stops accelerating.” Touche. It won’t be wrong to say that True Blood is a show that keeps getting worse. 

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  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the article.
    It’s funny because I remember clearly when True Blood became the filler series for Vampire Diaries when I intended to see Vampire Diaries to fill the hiatus of True Blood. Now I’m not even sure if I’ll see the next season of True Blood. It’s tiring to convince other people that they should watch VD, too and give it a shot. Because it is not just another vampire show.

  • Piseogabui

    IMO True Blood is getting worse and I can find way more faults with that compared to the almost perfect Vampire Diaries. VD is much better.  Who cares if they show less skin and gore.

  • JenniferH

    I agree with the overall concept, but do have a few issues with your take on this.  Namely from number one: It did not take “six or so episodes” before it found its footing.  By episode four the diary entries were dropped, the Founder’s council was introduced and and the crow/fog, etc. was dropped. Episode six is when the first flashbacks were introduced, and episode seven is when the character mentioned was killed.  

    Also, just because they are teenagers doesn’t make it any less than.   A lot of 17 year olds (and younger unfortunately) do have sex, drink and party.   (And only half of the actors playing teenagers are older than 22 — which for a teen show nowadays is actually a lot closer to the teenage age than most.)

    I just point these two out because I think it’s more likely to get someone watching the show if they only have to sit through 3 so-so episodes before the good stuff starts (it’s in episode 4 that Elena actually tells Stefan trust has to be earned … which is shocking coming from a 17-year old girl smitten with a cute boy), as opposed to “six or so” episodes.

    Unfortunately, you are right – and I’m not sure where the other commenters are hearing things, but I wish I could too — because all I hear is how great TB is while bashing on TVD (mostly because of the network it’s on) without even watching it.

  • http://twitter.com/xonoda noda

    TVD is my fave show,but i love True blood 2 <3i don't think that tb is better than tvd

  • http://leanan-sidhe.tumblr.com Leanan-Sidhe

    AMEN! Thanks for writing this!!

  • Kat

    Vampire Diaries all the way! :D

  • Rachel

    I pretty much agree with you. While I love both shows, TVD is, imo, the better of the two. I remember it was my filler show too while I waited for TB to come back but then I later realised I prefered TVD. I suppose it’s easy to look at the show from the sidelines and think that it’s just trashy teen crap but it’s actually a lot more than that. It does feel a lot better planned out that TB too, and it’s funny; TB is the one on HBO, yet I happen to think the overall tone of TVD is much darker. TB is light, cracky fun. TVD has a grimmer tone. And I don’t know if it’s just me but I feel more connected to the characters and their relationships over those in TB.. but maybe that’s just because I get sick of everyone being in love with Sookie and her precious fairy vagina (lol).

  • Foreverchillinn

    I watched the first 10 episodes of TVD thinking maybe one day when its 5 seasons in I’ll jump back on board..maybe when Supernatural is done. Never thought the show was bad..it just took itself too seriously. True Blood did the same thing..but now entering it’s 5th season, the show yes still has drama and is intriguing, it knows when to throw some laughs and WTF’s in there. It’s always good when a show knows when to throw a joke in there every now and then. I understand i’m 2 seasons behind on TVD…but thats one reason why I like TB better.