San Diego Comic-Con 2010: The Vampire Diaries Panel and Season 2 Premiere Video Descriptions
One panel we were really looking forward to at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con was “The Vampire Diaries” on Saturday, July 24th; and while the cast and crew who participated were great, most of the questions asked by the fans during the Q&A didn’t do much in the way of gleaning info on the upcoming season. Luckily the powers-that-be provided those of us in attendance with a montage clip of the Season 2 premiere, which we have a description of following the session’s highlights.
Things kicked off with a sizzle reel that recapped the events of Season One, followed by an introduction of the panel participants by the moderator, “TVD” director/co-executive producer Marcos Siega: Michael Trevino (Tyler), Kevin Williamson (executive producer/writer), Ian Somerhalder (Damon), Nina Dobrev (Elena/Katherine), Paul Wesley (Stefan), Julie Plec (executive producer/writer), Matt Davis (Alaric), and surprise guest Steven R. McQueen (Jeremy), who we were originally told wouldn’t be taking part.
First off Marcos tried to tie up a few loose ends from the multi-cliffhanger Season One finale, but Williamson and Plec were pretty tight-lipped other than to say that:
Fans of Aunt Jenna will be happy to learn that yes, she will finally get some with Alaric. After all, it’s time for someone new to take their clothes off besides just Stefan and Damon. However, we got more of the “I can’t say at this time” dodge from Williamson when he was asked if Damon and Elena might be getting together or if Stefan might get together with Katherine, thinking it’s Elena.
Nina was asked if she prefers playing Katherine or Elena, and her diplomatic response was that it depends on the day, but she did go on to say that it’s always fun to play the mean, bad girl. Speaking of bad, will we see more of out-of-control Stefan quenching his desire to drink human blood? Probably. He can never escape it – it’s the theme of his character. He has to accept what he is. As for “nice” Damon, Somerhalder said, “He freaks me out.”
Then we got a round of rather silly, time killing questions:
To Julie Plec: Who has the best hair? “Paul Wesley.” It even has it’s own slot on the call sheet.
To Kevin Williamson: Who has the best abs? Paul wins again. (Ian adds that of course he does — “I’m too lazy. I like food too much.”)
To Michael Trevino: Matt’s sister or his mom? His reply, “How about both?”
To S.R. McQueen: If you had to, Bonnie or Caroline? He seemed a bit uncomfortable and said, “Caroline … next question!”
To Nina Dobrev: Better kisser, Paul or Ian? First she said she’d let us wonder but, after some nudging from the crowd, added, “Okay, both!” She then told us she’d written on Wesley’s and Somerhalder’s wrists “Team Elena” and “Team Katherine”, respectively.
To Ian Somerhalder: Katherine or Elena? First he said, “Katherine” but then amended it to, “Or why not both?”
To Matt Davis: Aliens or Jedi? The answer of course was “Jedi”.
Finally we got into more meaty issues with talk about Tyler’s transformation. They don’t want it to be corny or too derivative of other werewolves so are working on it really, really hard according to Williamson. There will be a transformation this season … just not right away.
What about the next big death? Ian joked, “Anyone I date!”, and Williamson promised that yes, people are going to die, but he stressed that they don’t kill just to kill. For instance the repercussions from Anna’s death, while heartbreaking to most of the fans, will carry forward into Season Two as part of Damon’s journey.
Next came another softball to the actors: If you could compel Kevin and Julie to write something for your character, what would it be?
Williamson followed up those comments with an assurance that we will be delving into the past as there’s much more to the story than just the present. For instance, where has Katherine been, and why is she back in Mystic Falls?
Nina got the bulk of the audience questions like which brother is more attractive and why, and which brother is least like his character in real life? She played diplomat again by staying both are attractive but for different reasons. Stefan is protective, committed, and will do anything for her whereas Damon is fun and spontaneous, which is exciting. With regard to question #2, she said Paul is much funnier than Stefan, but Ian is “exactly” like Damon.
For the rest, including a brief discussion about the difficulties of reciting dialogue with fangs in place, check out our recorded livestream below. We know what you’re most interested in is the snippets from the premiere that were shown at the conclusion of the panel. Shooting had ended just the day before, and since he knew he wouldn’t be giving up any real spoilers, Kevin decided to cut it together just for the Comic-Con crowd:
It opens with Katherine telling someone offscreen that it was about time they met. Then it shows her confronting Bonnie and saying she never has liked witches. Cut to Damon telling Stefan he kissed Elena and Stefan not being very happy about it. Stefan sees Katherine for the first time. Damon asks Katherine for the truth for once. She tells him, “I never loved you.” Katherine tells Stefan that she came back for him, but he say, “I hate you.” She replies, “That sounds like the beginning of a love story, Stefan, not the end of one.”
And with that we were done until the show’s Season Two premiere on September 9th.
LIVESTREAM from the panel:
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