October 19th, 2012 | 4:14 pm by Sabrina Rojas Weiss (@shalapitcher)

The Vampire Diaries Is Doing Its Darndest To Make You Team Damon

Ian Somerhalder

There was a while when The Vampire Diaries did its best to keep us just as torn between Salvatore brothers as Elena herself was (and Katherine before her!). We were equally in love with Stefan’s sweet nature (not to mention those perfectly sculpted shoulders), as we were with Damon’s wry humor and piercing eyes. Not so much, anymore. Elena said she chose Stefan once and for all last week — but her rationale was super shaky. She chose him because he would have saved Matt first, whereas Damon would have ignored her wishes and saved her? The path of “good” can only take you so far, hon. By last night’s “Memorial,” we were convinced that Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec and company are going to spend a lot of time building the case for Elena to change her mind. Here’s how:

1. Oh, god, that scene of Elena drinking his blood nearly gave us a heart attack. The chemistry between Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder CANNOT be hidden.

Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder

2. Damon’s no longer the voice of unchecked impulses but of reason. “Vampires eat people. It’s part of the natural food pyramid,” he says. Stefan’s so intent on protecting Elena from his own “Ripper” fate, he’s blind to the consequences.
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July 17th, 2012 | 5:50 pm by Sabrina Rojas Weiss (@shalapitcher)

Cult Stars Alona Tal, Robert Knepper Lure Us Into Their Show

The appropriateness of promoting a show called Cult at Comic-Con, the headquarters of devoted followers of cult TV shows and movies, was not lost on the stars of the CW’s suspenseful midseason drama. “I can’t wait to hear the reaction from the crowd,” said Robert Knepper, who’d been there before during his Heroes days. And sure the audience there is always eager for a new complicated mystery to unravel. Indeed, the show’s complicated premise — the fanatical followers of a TV show about a dangerous cult are themselves falling victim to some kind of dangerous plot — seems tailor-made for this kind of crowd. They were also excited to see the return of cult-TV vets Knepper (who also starred in Oz), Alona Tal (Supernatural) and Matt Davis (The Vampire Diaries). But what about the rest of the world? Will we all be sucked in?

OK, sorry, we’re not even going to try to answer that in this space. Instead, we tackled another tricky subject with Knepper, who plays the cult leader on the show within the show, and Tal, who plays the show within the show’s escaped cult member-turned-detective: What draws people to cults themselves?

“My husband says this: Everybody wants to be invited to the party,” Tal told VH1. “Everybody wants to be a part of [something]. Everybody wants to be accepted and loved. That’s part of the security blanket that cults, I would assume, offer. You’re part of something so secure and supporting, it could be appealing.”
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July 14th, 2012 | 1:23 pm by Sabrina Rojas Weiss (@shalapitcher)

Vampire Diaries Alum Matt Davis Mixes Old “Family” With New At Comic-Con

If you’re like me, you haven’t entirely come to terms with the loss of Alaric on The Vampire Diaries. Good thing we don’t have to miss actor Matt Davis for very long: He’s got the lead in the CW’s mid-season drama Cult. The suspenseful mystery is hard to summarize, even for its stars, but let’s just say it’s a show about a TV show about a cult, whose superfans suddenly appear to be in grave danger. The Lost-like air of mystery already has the show gaining buzz at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, which gave Davis the perfect excuse to get to hang out with his Vampire Diaries pals while promoting his new gig. Not to make him feel sad or anything, but I had to ask him what he misses most about being in Mystic Falls.

“My friends. My family. After three years, I’ve become so close with everyone, it breaks my heart to think that I’m not out with them right now,” he told me, a little wistfully. “I’ll see them here, which is great. I love that [Cult] has come as far as it has, that it’s being well received, that we’re at Comic-Con so it’s paralleling them. It’s a good way to segue out of a show like Vampire Diaries.”
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