‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 7, and how ‘Game of Thrones’ is in part a template

While there are some story questions that are floating around out there prior to the premiere of “The Vampire Diaries” season 7, we feel like the one that is on the minds of many right now more than any other is a logistic one. How in the world is a show like this going to move on from losing its biggest star in Nina Dobrev? Elena was front and center for most stories about the show, and clearly Nina Dobrev had the attention of many in the press as well. We don’t fault her for wanting to move on, but at the same time it is clear that the show does have to figure out a few things that it wants to do in the event it wants to continue to stand out.

Ultimately, one of the real priorities for Julie Plec and the producers is to create a story that is so interesting, nobody will really spend that much time thinking about what happened previously. It is for that reason that Plec tells Entertainment Weekly that her strategy going into this season was to look at a certain HBO series for inspiration:

“I always look back at Game of Thrones … At first I said well, ‘How could there be a show without Ned Stark?’ And then by season 2 I was like, ‘Ned who?’ And then after the Red Wedding I was like, ‘How could there be a show without the Starks?’ And then by season 4 I was just as invested in other characters, so there’s a way there that if you can tell good stories, people can survive the loss of their favorite. And we may come to learn that that’s not true for our show, we’ll see, but it feels good.”

In terms of quality, we feel like “The Vampire Diaries” will be fine; the same writers are for the most part there, and this could give them flexibility to try new things. The challenge is more getting the same people to watch who were around the first time.

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