“Smaller” Stories..

The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Will Tell “Smaller” Stories

Vampire Diaries executive producer Julie Plec seems determined to keep away from mythology-heavy storylines inSeason 6 of the vampire drama — to which we say, “Huzzah!” Last season of TVD spent too much time on doppelgangers, curses, and the two-dimensional Travelers and not enough time on developing its characters in compelling and realistic ways. Here’s what Julie told Zap2it on telling “smaller” stories in Season 6.

“For me and all the writers, we're so excited because we're telling stories that are driven by character, that are rooted in mystery and suspense more so than big, massive mythology,” Julie said in response to the question of which aspect of the upcoming season she’s most excited about. “We've got a great mystery for the year, we've got a great mythology that is just simple enough so that you feel like all the characters are going to be directly impacted by it. It's going to unfold piece by piece over the course of the season. And instead of getting bigger, we're getting smaller in all the right ways.”

We’re glad to hear that TVD is conscious of the ways it struggled in Season 5. The best shows are the ones that aren’t afraid to take chances with characters and storylines, but that are brave enough to admit when and how they’ve failed, and course correct effectively. This is why TVD is one of the best, and we have a lot of confidence in this show to improve upon any missteps of the previous season — a confidence only bolstered by all of the exciting casting news out of the TVD camp in recent weeks.

When asked what she and the rest of the TVD writers have learned over the past five seasons, Julie replied: “[Laughs] Every year we start by saying, ‘This is the year that we're not going to let the mythology come in like a tsunami in the last four episodes.’ And every year, the tsunami comes upon us in the last four episodes. [laughs] So we'll see. Maybe this will finally be the year that we finally figure it out.”

We’re game to find out if you are, Plec!