Friday, November 5, 2010

Supernatural vs. The Vampire Diaries


Inspired by Zap2it's Debate Club Duel: 'Supernatural' vs. 'The Vampire Diaries'

This is not a competition though, it’s more like a parallel between the shows.

We have two brothers whose names happen to have the same initials: Dean and Sam (SPN) and Damon and Stefan (TVD).

Big Brothers:

I did a whole case study focused on Dean and Damon so I’m not gonna repeat all that. Not much has changed since.

Little Brothers:

SPN – College education. Bad hair. Never quite knows where he stands and who to trust. Full of good intentions.

TVD – College education. Highschool education. Decent hair. Vegetarian. Oops, sorry, wrong movie. Knows what he’s capable of and can control it most of the times.

Brotherly bond:

SPN – Dean sold his soul to bring his brother back. Sam would do anything to protect Dean, or at least he would try.

TVD – There’s still some reluctance, but they got each others’ back. Stefan didn’t kill Damon when he had the chance, and Damon gave up on his new found love because Stefan loves her too, so I guess this has to count for something, right?

Love life:

SPN – Dean is quite the ladies’ man, but once he finds someone who he loves he lets her go in order to protect her. Sam lost the one girl he loved, and all the others died too. Except for the hooker, but that’s understandable.

TVD – Damon loved Katherine for 140 years and it turned out she never loved him back. Now he’s in love with Elena and he knows he doesn’t stand a chance. It doesn’t help the fact that he used to shag everything that moved. Stefan also loved Katherine, but it’s her who claims she loved him all this time. For now he has Elena’s love, still there are hints that this might change in the future. I’m feeling sorry for everyone around plus the ones above.

Addictions:

SPN – Sam’s been hooked on demon blood for a long time.

TVD – As awkward as it might sound Stefan has a problem with people blood.

Crying:

SPN – In all the history of television, there were never other guys to cry so much.

TVD – Damon and Stefan only cried once and each time they broke our hearts.

Shirtless scenes:

SPN – Rare, but when it happens it’s worth it.

TVD – Damon’s a bit of an exhibitionist, Stefan less so. I prefer Dean and Damon’s looks because they don’t look like they spend every free moment in the gym. Still give me the guys in a tux and I’ll take them over the shirtless look any day.

Fathers:

SPN – John Winchester really did a number on his boys with the life he put them through.

TVD – Papa Salvatore shot his boys. I don’t know which is worse.

Mothers:

SPN – Dead, but young Mary was quite awesome.

TVD – Absent, presumptively dead. It’s not hard to notice that none of the living ‘mother’ is good parenting material, neither Jenna, Liz, Carol, Isobel or Matt’s mom. Maybe that’s why everybody is so screwed up.

Third sibling:

SPN – Adam is the half-brother who has been dead all along and took Dean’s place in the end. Boo-hoo!

TVD – None that we’re aware of, but there’s this real life Defan brother who would fit right in. Can I have him instead? I mean he’s got blond hair, blue eyes and that Somerhalder trademark smirk, and since it was only a Halloween costume it means he’s not a vampire, duh!

Closest family member left alive:

SPN – Bobby, and a nice character he is when he’s not all whiny and bitchy, did a better job than their father did.

TVD – Aunt Jenna is more like a clueless butterfly flying around without a care in the world.
Protective gears:

SPN – How about pentagram tattoos and rib branding? Rifles with salt, Colt and knives that can kill angels and demons, and if everything else fails… God.

TVD – Big tacky rings, but at least they work, necklaces and charm bracelets. Vervain. Stakes. Fangs. Come to think of it, the Winchesters should get a hold of some Gilbert rings and give God a break.

Transportation:

SPN – The ’67 Chevy Impala is a star on its own. It should be mentioned in the credits or something.

TVD – Personally, I’d prefer Damon’s ’67 Chevy Camaro. Well, it’s blue, it’s convertible, no one lived in it, and there’d be no problem for Damon to get another one, while Dean would probably just shoot whoever gets anywhere near his beloved Impala.

Flashbacks:

SPN – The writers are greedy when it comes to flashbacks, maybe because they favor full episodes, but they are all great.

TVD – Flashbacks are like pieces of the puzzle helping our understanding of the characters and the plot to progress. We want more.

Lead females:

SPN – What’s that?

TVD – Ah, Elena… she knows where she stands, she know what she wants, and she not just once saved the day. We need more characters like her.

Secondary female characters:

SPN – There were some girls called Ellen, Jo, Bella, season 3 Ruby… All dead, all gone. Sigh. So far only Lisa managed to stay alive and she’s out of the picture too.

TVD – Caroline and Bonnie are all for girl power and really can kick ass. Rose also looks promising.

Side kicks:

SPN – Castiel is hilarious with his attempts of humor and lack of one. Given that he’s currently the ruler in Heaven it would probably come in handy to have him on your side, even if it would require Dean to call him and make him listen in order to get some help. Hey, maybe that’s not such a bad idea…

TVD – Alaric has some cool gadgets and a cool ring, unfortunately he’s kinda underused lately.

Drama:

SPN – It’s the end of the world, people, or at least it was until this season. Not sure what’s going on now. If the writers have figured it out, please let me know.

TVD – Two vampire brothers in love with the same human girl. It can’t get more complicated than that, though for the life of me I will never understand why a 100+ years old vampire would fall for a 17 years old girl.
Humor:

SPN – Not often but when they do it it’s impossible not to roll on the floor laughing. Yellow Fever or Changing Channels everyone?

TVD – Small dozes in each episode to keep them light.

Best one liners:

SPN – Dean has the monopoly in that department.

TVD – Damon must have compelled the writers to give him the best lines.

Journals:

SPN – I’m still waiting for Sam to fill a database with the content of John’s journal in order to make the info more accessible and hand over that said journal to a museum.

TVD – Keeping a journal seems to be quite fashionable in Mystic Falls. Elena and Stefan seem to have stopped writing in theirs after they got together.

Supernatural creatures:

SPN – John Winchester left a journal full of well documented creatures and the one he hadn’t heard about Bobby probably knows of.

TVD – Vampires and werewolves for now, but there’s plenty of room for more.

Vampires:

SPN – The boys fought vampires a couple of times and, men, they were ugly. Still Dean as a vampire was kinda hot.

TVD – Main heroes and antagonists are vampires so… yeah.

Werewolves:

SPN – They had one and, of course, they killed it. Because it was a her and she had dared to sleep with Sam. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

TVD – They had one too and they killed it. Now they have a pup.

Witches:

SPN – There was an episode focused on witches, a rather lame one. The boys are using spells and charms all the time.

TVD – Bree, Bonnie, Lucy… is every which black in TVD universe?

Ghosts:

SPN – Tons. Creepy children were really… creepy.

TVD – Emily Bennet.

Killed too soon characters:

SPN – Any female character that ever was on this show.

TVD – Pearl and Anna. I really liked them and felt they could have been put to better use than be mere plot devices.

Characters who should have died but keep kicking:

SPN – I’m drawing a blank here, but I’m sure there has to be at least one character that annoyed the hell out of me.

TVD – Uncle John, hands down.

Characters who just wouldn’t stay dead:

SPN – Dean and Sam died more times than you can count and they visited both Heaven and Hell. Castiel and Bobby died too and were brought back. The rest are just dispensable.

TVD – Let’s see… Alaric, Uncle John, Jeremy, Caroline, Mason. It seems like it’s really hard to die in this show if you’re a regular.
Villains:

SPN – Sorry, but Sam was a better Lucifer than Lucifer, if you know what I mean. Lilith was creepy and showed potential, but the real baddie was Alistair.

TVD – Damon started as the main villain in the beginning, then as he softened up he was replaced by the tomb vampires. Then Katherine showed up. The thing is Damon mostly killed for fun or protection, the tomb vampire were about brutal force, while Katherine kills with a plan and that’s really scary. It makes you wonder how much worse can be the person she’s afraid of.

Gore:

SPN – Well, it’s a horror series, so there’s a little bit, sometimes a little more, gore in each episode. I don’t like it, and I could very well do without it, thank you very much.

TVD – It does gore in small dosages mostly to make a point and for shock value.

Torture:

SPN – We have lead torturer Dean, who got his training in Hell, it can’t get better than that. Him torturing Alistair still sends chills down my spine.

TVD – I know most people mention Mason being tortured, but let’s not forget Damon being repeatedly shot at and being set on fire ‘cause that’s torture too.

Plot:

SPN – I’m sure the writers had an idea for the plot in the beginning, but given the MOTW format of the series you can only at seldom catch a glimpse of it. It’s frustrating to see characters taking ages to evolve even a little bit and be forced to deal with problems that should have been solved like two seasons ago.

TVD – I’m impressed by the fast pace of the show and all the twists and turns they throw at us. It just keeps running and running like the energizer bunny and never slows down to catch your breath, and I love that. This is the main reason why I watch the show (did I mention I don’t like vampires?), beside the brothers’ relationship and the hoot character that is Damon.

Season arch:

SPN – It does have a season arch, though it’s not always reasonably solved. The cliffhanger at the end of each season is terribly annoying most of the time. The only season finale I liked was from season 2. It was the least depressing.

TVD – I’m sure the writers see a season arch somewhere in there, but it’s not so obvious to bug you. The story flows nicely from one point to the next and the one finale we saw so far didn’t leave us cursing the writers and wanting for the summer to end.

Photography:

SPN – Except for the meta episodes, which tend to be pretty colorful, the visuals are usually dark and somber.

TDV – Lots of colors and nice shots, not depressing at all, whee!

Music:

SPN – Classic Rock rocks and “Carry On My Wayward Son” will always have a special place in my heart, but those moment are very rare, especially lately.

TVD – While listening to the TVD soundtrack on repeat could put you in a deep depression, it did bring to my attention about two dozens of good sons I wouldn’t have heard of otherwise.

Costumes:

SPN – Let’s face it, the boys own one bag of clothes, while Castiel has only the clothes on his back. Not much diversity there, is it?

TVD – Many parties, which means lots of tuxes and evening dresses, whether they are contemporary or from the 1800 flashbacks. But this put aside, Katherine’s wardrobe alone is to die for.

Sets:

SPN – The boys travel from town to town all over the US. That could make for some interesting sights, still we mostly see interior of motel rooms, bars, hospitals, morgues, police stations and dark and creepy, abandoned warehouses. By now we’ve seen just as many internal organs as a student would in medical school. We did catch a glimpse of Hell, that was most disturbing, but Heaven was… not what we would have expected.

TVD – With so many parties and community events going on, there’s plenty of nice sets worth checking out. The Salvatore Boarding House is a gem by itself. I mean, did you see that library? I so wanna move in there. Not to mention the fireplaces, chandeliers and antique furniture. And we still have to see Damon’s room. Hmm, I wonder what’s gonna be in there. Moths and coffins? I bet not! He has so much better taste than that.

OK, I’m wrapping up here, this was one long post and I blame @cadlymack for it.

I hope you enjoyed and feel free to disagree.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't help but notice how you antagonize (Is that how you spell it?) Supernatural every chance you get. Oh, and sweetheart, remember Meg? SHE is the only villian to have survived the entire show so far. They don't kill off females. They kill off everyody who isn't Sam, Dean or Bobby. They even killed CAS! I'm guessing that you enjoy TVD more, for some odd reason, and that you're just being biased. I don't care if you do like it better, I just hate the fact that you used every chance you got to make SPN look bad or not as good as TVD.

Weird Vision said...

I had to read the entire post to see if I really was antagonizing Supernatural. Still not sure if I was. The purpose of the post was not to put down one of the two shows. All I can say is that if this post had been written now and not about a year ago, your comment would have been at least twice as long given how bad the last two seasons have been.

As an addenda to the post I'll say the following:

TVD - three seasons and it's still going strong. I don't like vampires, never had, but I keep watching this because they have some awesome characters and the ingenuity of the plot never fails to surprise me. Hats off to the writers.

SPN - I still love the characters, Sam and Dean will always have a special place in my heart, but I fell out of love with the show at the end of season 5. Everything that came after that was a disaster and it keeps getting from bad to worse. I'm still watching, maybe a little part of me is still hoping for the best, but honestly, after so many false hopes and disappointments, I've reached a point where I just don't care what happens to the show anymore. I blame it on the writers, who ruined a great thing. Those writers should be shot... or at least fired. Then we'll talk.

Anonymous said...

I agree with anonymous when she says that you are really really antagonizing SPN! It's in your opinion that SPN is doing horrible, boo hoo, that's your problem not anyone else's. Your comparison for little brother's is horrible. Don't you realize that everything Stephan ends up doing, Sam did first and did it better! Then there's their bond and there's no stronger bond than Sam and Dean. Hell I bet those vampires wouldn't hesitate to sell each other out if they had the chance. As for crying. They are human so they do cry. The other two are vampires and they don't have a soul. But you say you aren't playing favoritism so okay, but it shows here. At every opportunity you favor TVD whenever you can and just plain bash on SPN. What season are you even up to anyhow? Season 7 is still kicking and they're taking away all their safety nets making it a lot like season one when the boys were on their own. They killed off Bobby for good too. Castiel is coming back but it's only because he wasn't exactly killed off. If you ask a lot of people, they say that they just can't follow TVD and they prefer SPN any day so before you open your trap and start bashing our favortie show, actually get some good facts! And if you bash one show, make it equally fair so it doesn't look like favoritism to others!!!!

Weird Vision said...

You are every right to agree with the other commenter, just like I have all the rights to state my opinion. I'm watching season 7 too and I still think the writing sucks. The characterization and the plot have been all over the place for the past couple of seasons. I don't like that they stripped all the fun out of the show. It's turning into the most depressing thing I have ever seen and I get no enjoyment out of watching it. It's not even interesting anymore. Frankly, I feel very sorry for Jared and Jensen that they're stuck with it. For their sake, I hope the show ends soon and they'll get better credits on their resumes.

Unknown said...

Hey I know this must have been an year ago... But i don't care... I don't mean to go around saying TVD sucks cause that is my own damn personal opinion. So if you can manage to do that, I'll be quite thankful. And there are a few things i would like to correct you on, your English at times.. anyways... and as for sets.. can you please tell me how can hunters who are always in some mess go to parties??? And Miss, have you seen Season 5 finale? it might be depressing, but it was the most amazingly plotted finale, and plus it shows a bond between the brothers which I don't think any damn other character has. And as for love lives, I don't think Sam and Dean go around loving each others dates. And yeah for lead females, you expect such two guys to have a girl tagging with them??? Girls are trouble magnet, villains attack them first in order to get what they want from the men, so they don't want anyone to fall in problem because of them, do Stefan and Damon have that much of sense?? And for the music.. *whistle* I don't care how rare their music is, but you know what, their music is the best collection I have ever heard. Weird Vision, I think you should change the firs line. You make it sound as if it IS a damn competition and you know what? You don't know what brotherly bond is. I'm sorry to make it long but one more point, they use one set again and again and us people don't even get to know it. That's set magic, girl. Yeah did i mention charachters getting killed too early thingie?? Well, Bela had to die, or else how would Dean know about Lilth?
And yes how can I miss this-
Have you ever seen the gag reel?? Or the conventions? Well, you should.. and yes, please start keeping your opinions to yourself if you can't keep your article balanced but if you can keep it, then please you are free to tell the damn world, or else the other party people are just gonna haunt you for the rest of your life (even after death as ghosts).. Well, like I am. And then don't you remember Damon and Stefan cause they can't save you from ghosts, they only know how to wad off werewolves and vampires., well in that case you should ask Sam and Dean for help, they are quite pros in it.
Well, you know i could make you read more, but i guess, that's it. Cause all I know I'm a supernatural Die hard fan and proud to be one and would never back down from taking supernatural's side

Unknown said...

sorry for a bit of bad English.
wad is ward.
and firs is First

Weird Vision said...

For the record, this post was written at a time when I was miffed with how bad SPN was getting (since then I got over it) and I was excited about TVD after having recently discovered it.

Looking back, I'm still more attached to the SPN characters, even if I didn't care for the last three seasons, but I think TVD has better plotting.

And just like you have the right to express your opinion, so do I. At the end of the day, neither of us holds the absolute truth. It's only our opinion.

Unknown said...

As i said, opinions should be kept to oursleves. Anyways, you a writer??

Weird Vision said...

I beg to differ, opinions can be expressed publicly as long as it's done in a polite manner and without hurting anyone.

Yes, I'm a writer.

Anonymous said...

You supernatural fans are so hypocrite. I have seen and read all kind of posts which bash TVD and everyone is praising the writer. Have you ever seen TVD? If not, stop saying that it is a version of Twilight because Twilight was nothing but a story of romance between a human girl and a vampire on animal blood diet while TVD is completely different from it. It has amazing and flawless storylines which have no comparison. Spn is just a show featuring 'hot' cast which I don't find attractive by the way; this is entirely the reason why the show is famous. Lets be honest! How long can you put up with two always crying brothers with daddy issues and crappy emotional stuff which is annoying to say the least. The elder one needs to take anger management classes while TVD features two brothers who grew apart due to a manipulative vampire but still in the end consider family important. Flashbacks in tvd actually are amazing taking us back into the past telling us about how it all started while flashbacks in spn lead us to high school highways telling us how the brothers were brought up and how they suffered from bullying and how they cheated on their girlfriend. Seriously?
The writers of spn are pitiable because they kill off every female character because the fangirls are JEALOUS while tvd writers are not afraid to take risks! To keep the show going, the writers are desperately trying to find a balance between the myths which the story actually was about, and actual historial facts which is so PATHETIC. The acting in TVD is so great and actors have such great chemistry which makes the CONTINUING story lines more interesting and worth-watching while in spn the brothers are running of to kill a new baddie each week. The season finales of tvds are way better than the spn finales which send a brother to hell every time. Atleast Damon does not punches Stefan every other episode. TVD soundtrack is so great and perfect, who can forget the scene in 3x19 where Damon and Elena kiss and the background song. SPN's camera setup and lights system is plain depressing. There is no suspense because at the end of the day both Winchester brothers are gonna be alive while TVD always keeps us worried about our favorite characters. TVD explores the concepts of love, friendship, heart ache, helplessness, addiction, family, loyalty, danger, instability! The story line of Katherine being on the run for 500 years has no parallel nor would spn ever be able to offer one. The nights of Mystic Falls are so mystic and enchanting completely better than nights spent in motels. The Winchester brothers co-dependency on each other is so irritating.
As far as cast is concerned, Ackles reaction when THAT bi-sexual girl asked about Dean being.....I'm sorry what? Oh wait! He did not have the decency to let her finish! Neither did the fans! explains it all. While Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley easily joke about gay rumors about THEMSELVES.

Weird Vision said...

Dear Anonymous, please don't call people names on my blog.

The comments before yours expressed dislike because it seemed I was putting SPN down in favor of TVD in this post, so I don't know what caused this strong reaction from your part.

If you care to look at the date of the post, it was written back in 2010. At the time, I wasn't happy with the direction SPN was going and I was just getting into TVD so it is quite possible I was more excited about TVD.

But now the time has passed, and I moved on so I won't get into a debate with you. I still watch SPN and TVD every week, the good and the bad episodes, too, but I don't hold my breath until the next episode anymore. Ackles and Somerhalder are great actors, and I wish them all the best. I'm sure their shows can survive even without my support as they both have a great following. It doesn't mean some of us can't enjoy both shows... the way I do.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry. I was greatly annoyed by the reaction of spn fans to your blog while you were completely unbiased. They do have hypocritical behavior, I still stand by what I said about the shows and Ian and Ackles. I can't bring myself to like a man who would insult his fan after she spent quite a lot of money just to see him. The question was about Dean, not him. Anyhow, I still despise spn and love tvd and its casts because they are famous because of acting not looks. If anyone has a problem, I don't care!

Weird Vision said...

Oh, so your comment wasn't addressed to me but to the authors of the other comments? I missed that. Since you started with 'You Supernatural fans...', I thought that included me too since regardless of what happened to the show during the past few years I am still a fan at the core. Glad you cleared that up!

Anonymous said...

i did not express my opinion before because i did not want the ganging up of others on me but that anonymous is right. supernatural fan girls are so annoying and so easily jealoused. they are so pitiable,yelling and screeching and defending someone who does not knows them, does not care and is not afraid of hurting of their feelings. ROFL.I HATE THAT GUY HE GRATES ON MY NERVES LIKE NO ONE ELSE. GO AHEAD CALL ME A HATER,YOU ARE ALL PATHETIC.

Weird Vision said...

Dear (new) Anonymous, please don't shout and call people names. And I think hate is a bit too much... :)