Tag: Steven R. McQueen
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Test Pilot: File #54, The Vampire Diaries
Test Pilot #54: The Vampire Diaries Debut date: September 10, 2009 Series legacy: An exciting show that became so good it went from “criminally underrated” to properly celebrated in relatively short fashion First impressions mean a lot in television, and that’s why writers, producers, studios, networks, etc. put more time, effort and money into pilots…
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Review: The Vampire Diaries, “Homecoming”
Let me just put this out front: I enjoyed the fall finale of The Vampire Diaries’ third season. “Homecoming” was an entertaining episode with a number of truly fun and thrilling moments. If this were just about any other series, I’d be talking about how insane and well-plotted this episode was. But this isn’t any…
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Review: The Vampire Diaries, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
I haven’t discussed the last two episodes of The Vampire Diaries here on the blog, but you probably don’t have to make much of a guess about how they were received in the Barker Complex. If anyone was concerned about how Stefan’s departure from Mystic Falls would be handled, you’re probably laughing at your past…
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Review: The Vampire Diaries, “The End of the Affair”
Ed note: Hey folks, I’m very, very short on time today, so this review is going to be shorter than normal. Apologies. I’ll be honest with you folks: I grew a little tired of the flashbacks during the second season of Vampire Diaries. The trips back to 1864 were fine and generally purposeful, but for…
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Review: The Vampire Diaries, “The Hybrid”
After a slightly slower, more character-based season premiere, The Vampire Diaries wasted no time jumping into some big ideas in this week’s episode, “The Hybrid.” This episode introduced us to what will probably be the primary narrative for at least the first half of the season (Klaus building a hybrid army), jump-started a few supporting…
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Controlled madness: On The Vampire Diaries, Nikita and narrative pacing
This summer, I made my way through the first season of Nikita, a series I liked in the early part of last season but one I ultimately lost touch with because I was already watching 71 other things at the same time. Thursday nights are tough, you all know this. Generally speaking, I very much…
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2010-2011 season wrap: The Vampire Diaries
With the 2010-2011 television season officially over, I’ll be taking some time over the next week or so to look back on how some of television’s best and worst fared this season. General thoughts: I burned through the first season of The Vampire Diaries in very quick fashion last August in preparation for the second season.…
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Season Finale — The Vampire Diaries, “As I Lay Dying”
When you’re a series that’s almost entirely defined by your ability to come up with the most insane twists (in a good way), sometimes expectations for that kind of thing get too high. At the time, the end of The Vampire Diaries first season seemed like the most wild thing ever and throughout the series’ second…
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The Vampire Diaries, “The Sun Also Rises”
Well, that was just miserable. The Vampire Diaries is a series that primarily works based on its ability to speed up the narrative so fast that the twists and turns come so quickly, it’s too difficult to even think about how telegraphed they may or may not be. Everything is shocking on this series because it…
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The Vampire Diaries, “The Last Dance”
With Klaus ready to make his move, everyone on Team Elena has their own opinion on not only how to kill him, but the best way to protect Elena in the interim. Different perspectives and plans of course brings conflict, and that’s really what this whole episode is about. All season has been about protecting…
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The Vampire Diaries, “Know Thy Enemy”
I’ll be honest: There have been a lot of television series off the air over the past month or so, but there are none I missed more than The Vampire Diaries. It’s certainly not the “best” series I watch, but it’s certainly the most watchable and enjoyable so it is very, very fantastic to have…
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The Vampire Diaries, “The House Guest”
As the last episode of The Vampire Diaries until APRIL MOTHER-FREAKING 7TH, “The House Guest” should probably semi-wrap up some of the threads the series has been dealing with here in the first episodes of 2011 while obviously also set up things for the final six episodes in the spring. Thankfully, The Vampire Diaries is…
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The Vampire Diaries, “The Dinner Party”
Sometimes, like I’ve done with the last few episodes, it’s interesting to talk about some of the emotional states of characters, trust and all that nonsense. But when The Vampire Diaries gives us an episode like “The Dinner Party” it’s hard not to just pump my fist with adrenaline-boosted excitement. This episode is jam-packed full of…
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The Vampire Diaries, “Crying Wolf”
Trust is hardly earned in The Vampire Diaries universe. Deals are constantly being struck and destroyed and even the person closest to you probably isn’t telling the whole truth. It’s not always intentional, sometimes the lies for someone else’s one good. Other times, a lack of information flow is fully purposeful and ultimately, dangerous. “Crying…
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The Vampire Diaries, “Daddy Issues”
It sucks being Tyler Lockwood. Not only did he not ask to be born into the werewolf gene pool, but he did his damnedest to avoid actually triggering the curse that would turn him into a monster. And when that didn’t work, he thought he’d found a friend, confidant and lover in Caroline who could protect him…
CB, PhD 