Kevin Williamson teases an explosive 'Vampire Diaries' finale

Kevin Williamson teases an explosive 'Vampire Diaries' finale



My adoration of Kevin Williamson and the by-products of his brain are well covered territory on PopWrap -- "Scream," "Dawson's Creek," "I Know What You Did Last Summer," and "The Faculty" have all earned ink. But then he went and launched "The Vampire Diaries" which kicked over the well and ran away with all the ink.

2010's Best New Drama premieres its penultimate episode tonight titled "Isobel" and promises to crank up Elena's mama drama in a big way. And "big" is the word du jour next week as well when the season finale takes a page out of Daniel Day Lewis' playbook. Oh yes, there will be blood.

I caught up with Kevin as he put the finishing touches on next week's episode, titled "Founder's Day," for a frank chat about the show's first year. What worked, what didn't and what fans will have to wait for next season to see.

PopWrap: First off, I just have to say how much I've enjoyed this season of "Vampire Diaries." Easily the best new drama on TV right now.
Kevin Williamson: It’s been really hard so that’s nice to hear. We’re exhausted. First year shows are very difficult. There are just so many elements in the storytelling aspect. Thank goodness all the other stuff -- casting, directing, production -- fell into place from the very beginning.

PW: I know you're still editing the finale, but can you look at the season objectively yet?
Kevin: I can look back and think, oy! There’s not much going on there that some time wouldn't have fixed. We're on the TV schedule – there’s no time to say, "gee, another re-write might help that."

PW: What specifically would you like to get a "do over" on?
Kevin: You’re talking to me – I’m never happy. I want to rewrite everything. I could sit in a room by myself and rewrite forever and ever and never send it to Atlanta. There are characters and situations I wish I could have explored more. We just weren't able to properly introduce a lot, so we just held back. But that's OK, it'll give us a richer second season.



PW: When did you start plotting out a second season?
Kevin: As soon as they [renewed] us, we started mapping out the second and third season. And when I say mapping out, I mean, we’d say “that’d be great in season three after we do this." Once we start talking globally like that, the pieces fall into place. We’ve got long term goals in regards to arcs, but then we also have short term immediate plans.

PW: Speaking of immediacy, tonight Elena meets her real mother Isobel. What can you tell us about this character?
Kevin: Isobel being Elena’s mother was a twist that we sort of sat in the room and just broke it as a twist. "OMG, her mother isn’t her mother!" We wanted to bring her back in a more layered and complex way. Here’s a woman who, from Alaric’s standpoint, set out to become a vampire. She sought Damon out. There are so many questions -- why did she become a vampire? -- and we’ll toy with the answers. Isobel comes in with a motive and an agenda, and that gets challenged from everyone around her. She’s kind of badass.

PW: Will we see Katherine in modern day times in these last two episodes?
Kevin: Nah, that’s another season.

PW: Last week Anna's mother Pearl was killed -- how does that play out?
Kevin: It’s so tragic, to have poor Anna finally reunited only to lose her mother again. It’s interesting to see Anna react like a young girl would. If you’ve noticed our vampires are the most emotional characters on the show. So it’s interesting that their Achilles heel is love. But watch for how Jeremy responds.



PW: Jeremy had a lot to do in the beginning and end of the season, but not so much the middle. Is he, or Tyler, who you were talking about having difficulty weaving in?
Kevin: Yes, had there been more time, I would have figured out how to interweave their storylines in a more fluid way. But once the genre element takes off and we’re trying to get into that tomb, what do you do with Caroline and Matt if they don’t know about vampires? And poor Tyler, he is an extension of those two, so that’s been one of my regrets in season one – not being able to explore our supporting cast., but that’s all going to change though in the second season.

PW: You started to hint at Tyler's true nature in the Miss Mystic Falls episode -- will season two deal with that?
Kevin: I would without question say that Tyler will have his journey in season two. We’ll definitely be exploring the Lockwood curse next year, which, if you’ve read the books, you know there’s something that triggers it and it simply hasn’t been triggered yet.

PW: Next week is the season finale and I'm hearing there are lots and lots of cliffhangers.
Kevin: [laughs] The fans are gunna hate us a little bit, but I hope it’s in good fun. The Isobel episode actually answers a lot of questions .. but raises a couple too. That leads us into the finale, which is founders day and we bring this chapter of the show – the tomb vampire – to a close.

PW: Season finales tend to either prolong season one storylines or set up season two -- which is this?
Kevin: It’s a little bit of both. We close the door on a couple chapters – some things are very, very final [laughs] and won’t be coming back.

PW: Some things or some people won't be coming back, Kevin?
Kevin: Well, who knows. Things are left hanging and others are introduced. We don’t introduce a whole new storyline in the last moment, but we do 100 percent tease several roads we’ll be going down next season.



PW: Will you continue to use flashbacks next season?
Kevin: Probably periodically – just not the Civil War era. It’s been fun and a way that I can enjoy flashbacks, because I’m not that guy. I typically hate them, so the fact that there’s vampire mythology involved makes it easier for me to swallow. We’re just telling the complete story.

PW: What about Melinda Clarke -- will we be seeing Kelly Donovan again?
Kevin: That depends on her CW pilot. But she was very much one of the characters we didn’t get to fully explore, so I would welcome her back. We have a whole backstory to her character and her involvement with Mayor Lockwood that we just never ever began to touch on because of time. If she’s willing to come play, we have more story to tell with her.