hi, shannen. it's been a minute, but i was reliving some buffy nostalgia today and wondering if watching tvd for the first time at 28 is worth it lol. and by this i mean that i remember you saying a while back that tvd is one of those shows that might not hit for you the same way if you saw it for the first time now. i realized today that at the end of the day i'll always kind of be "meh" about btvs since all the platonic relationships (i.e. buffy and giles, dawn, faith, etc.) always grabbed me more than the love triangle. is it worth it starting tvd after liking but not necessarily loving btvs? is it worth it just to see what everyone on this site is talking about (i use the word is because of legacies lol)? some of it looks interesting but i'm not looking forward to the love triangle.
Hey Fatmia! It has been a while. I hope you’ve been well.
Tbh, there’s no simple answer to your question because there’s so many factors to take into consideration when deciding whether or not to watch TVD. So please bear with me whilst I break this down.
TVD has a lot of great aspects to it:
A strong cast of characters
Well written character arcs
A distinct TVD aesthetc that I just love in terms of music, tone, setting and production
Lots of great relationships (platonic and romantic)
Intruiging lore and perspectives on the supernatural
If you’re a fan of the vampire genre, TVD is well worth a watch because it plays with the genre in a fun way and does some interesting stuff with it. Although it’s commonly perceived as a typical “teen” show, it goes beyond that. @sulietsexual watched TVD for the first time two years ago and it was interesting to see her views as someone going in to the show with a completely fresh perspective. She made a great video essay on this topic and spoke about how her perceptions of TVD changed after she watched the show. She also addresses the triangle and how she felt that it was written and handled well. Although I don’t necessarily agree with all her views, my history with the fandom and attachment to Stelena as a ship is so entrenched that this hugely impacts my perspective of the triangle so I’m really not the best person to ask. So if you don’t mind spoilers, I’d recommend watching the video to get an idea of the redeeming qualities of TVD.
But like any show, for all its good, there’s also bad:
The quality goes downhill from Season 4 onwards
A lot of the original cast (and best characters) leave
Some characters are done a huge injustice
Some poor relationship choices
If you are a big shipper and strongly dislike triangles, that in itself might be a reason not to watch. Although there’s a triangle on BTVS, it exists more within the fandom than on the show itself. When Buffy is with Angel, they’re exclusive and Spike is a supporting character. By the time Buffy and Spike become canon, Angel has moved to L.A and has his own show, so the two relationships exist separately from one another. In comparison, the triangle on TVD is established in Season 1 and continues until Season 4 and there’s a lot of emphasis on it, particularly in Seasons 3 and 4. The triangle is used as a way to provide the Salvatore brothers with character development and is very central to their relationship with each other. Whereas the BTVS triangle is never really part of the narrative or development of the characters in the same way.
However, I do feel that the triangle in TVD is handled well in a lot of ways. I just personally didn’t like the way it was handled from Season 4 onwards. And that’s not just because my ship wasn’t endgame but for a lot of other reasons. Putting that aside, it is an interesting, well-built triangle and the dynamics between Elena, Damon and Stefan are fascinating and believable. I actually really liked the triangle in some ways (and wrote a whole fanfiction about it!) but there were some choices were made that I disliked.
In terms of comparing TVD and BTVS as a whole, they are very different shows and your feelings towards BTVS won’t necessarily have any impact on your enjoyment of TVD. I like both shows but for very different reasons. BTVS is an older show (it aired in 1997 and TVD in 2009) with a more comedic, young and simplistic tone and premise. TVD feels like a more mature, complex show to me. It also has a more developed lore and nuanced perspective on morality and vampires. Overall, if you’re looking at the two shows in their entirety I’d say BTVS is stronger because I really dislike the later seasons of TVD, but I think that Seasons 1-3 of TVD are better than the whole of BTVS. There’s genuinely not a single thing I dislike about the early seasons of TVD but with BTVS, I love a handful of episodes and the rest is just a middle of the ground “good” for me.
I still think TVD is worth the watch. The fandom soured a lot of things for me back in the day, but it has changed a lot over the years and is a generally positive fandom to be part of. Watching it now so many years after it ended and when the fandom is less active will all work in your favour. Although the triangle might be off-putting, it is one of the better triangle’s I’ve seen in terms of the perspective it brings to the characters and their relationships. There are also a lot of other things to love about the show. Despite not enjoying the later seasons, I’m glad I watched the show if only for the great characters like Katherine, Klaus, Rebekah and Stefan. There are also a lot of incredible platonic ships on the show, so if you’re a fan of platonic ships, there’s a lot of them for you to enjoy. If you dislike it or the triangle becomes too much, you can stop watching. But if you’re curious about the show I say give it a go and see what you think.
