Spin-Off Goals: Should ‘The Vampire Diaries’ do more with Valerie, Nora, Mary Louise?
Who knew that “The Vampire Diaries” would have such an interesting roster of recurring guest stars for season 7? We it is definitely not a surprise to see the show introduce people, but Julie Plec and Caroline Dries struck a little bit of gold with Valerie, Nora, and Mary Louise. These three women may have started out as Heretics, but we really wouldn’t mind if they ended up being series regulars … or even the stars of a separate show in the future.
As for how that would work, we hope to dive into that further as a part of the latest chapter of our Spin-Off Goals article series.
Why these three? – One simple reason is this: It’d be great to see The CW have a little more focus on female vampires these day. Damon and Stefan are really the leads on “The Vampire Diaries” now, while “The Originals” is more of the story of Klaus and Elijah. In Valerie, the show has an interesting character with a history tied to Stefan, but also more than a decade removed from him and plenty of trauma thanks to Julian. In Nora and Mary Louise, you have the show’s most prominent same-sex couple, even if their relationship is hot-and-cold.
The idea – After everything that we’ve seen these ladies go through in between Lily’s death and the constant chaos in Mystic Falls death, why not jump forward and give them a new start somewhere else? Personally, we’d like to see vampires more in a cold-weather climate given that most shows seem to fancy them in warmer places. Or, how about a vampire show that shows the full scope of the world more where the three move from place to place, trying to find somewhere that they feel is their home.
Could it happen? – It’s really unlikely, given that the flagship show is hardly a ratings monster at the moment, and even if it were, it’s already got one spin-off. The CW’s not going to be devoting three hours of programming to vampires, even if we do like these three characters and would be thrilled to see more of their own personal stories rather than just them tangentially tied to Stefan or Bonnie.