POV: It’s 2009. Barack Obama is President. Taylor Swift is in her nation period, and we’re belting out “You Belong With Me” in our rooms whereas Twilight posters enhance our partitions. Fall arrives, and we kick off the knee-high boots that our skinny denims have been tucked into earlier than plopping onto the sofa and diving into CW’s The Vampire Diaries—i.e. the present that can have us in an absolute chokehold for years and years to return. The supernatural tales, the swoon-worthy love, and the questionable (however gratifying!) CGI. Quick ahead to 2022 and Vampire content material nonetheless guidelines the world, although few reveals have been in a position to recreate the soapy, dramatic, and generally gory magic that Elena Gilbert and the Salvatore brothers introduced for eight seasons. Till now. Should you can’t cease rewatching The Vampire Diaries, Netflix’s First Kill is a present you’ll wish to sink your tooth into.
Set in Savannah, Georgia, First Kill follows two teenagers, Calliope Burns aka Cal (Imani Lewis), a monster hunter in coaching, and Juliette Fairmont (Sarah Catherine Hook), a vampire who descends from an extended, female-led line of legacy vamps which might be onerous to kill. Because the title suggests, each are on the hunt for his or her “first kill,” albeit reluctantly for numerous causes. The largest being that they’re extremely attracted to one another. What follows their preliminary assembly is a collection of emotional firsts, together with kisses, dates, and betrayals.
Why Vampire Diaries Followers Will Love It
The highly-entertaining sibling rivalries
I lately rewatched episode one in every of The Vampire Diaries and nearly immediately remembered what drew me in: the competitors between siblings. Very like Stefan and Damon, First Kill options vampire siblings that hardly ever see eye to eye. Juliette is quite a bit like Stefan and doesn’t actually wish to feed on people. Her sister Elinor (performed by Gracie Dzienny) then again is Damon—form of evil and manipulative and can kill with out hesitation. Oh, and who may overlook the drama Elinor’s twin brother (Dylan McNamara) stirs up.
Likewise, Cal’s two older brothers are continually at one another’s throats whereas competing to be the most effective monster hunter. Theo (Phillip Mullings, Jr.) is a trustworthy rule-follower, who prefers combating protected and good. Whereas wild-card Apollo (Dominic Goodman) is flashy and reckless, resulting in all sorts of messy (however extremely entertaining!) household squabbles and conditions.
The world-building and attention-grabbing plots
Sure, at the start, First Kill is a love story, however that doesn’t imply it skimps on non-romance-related plots. Living proof: The Burns household finds themselves caught within the crosshairs of monster hunter politics. Likewise, the Fairmont clan is on the middle of an influence wrestle amongst their elite vampire circle. There’s additionally a romance storyline that includes Juliette’s greatest good friend, Ben (Jonas Dylan Allen), and the very humorous rebellion of the suburban “Moms Towards All Monsters” (MAAM) group led by Ben’s mother, Bunny (Annunziata Gianzero).
And naturally, the sweetness of first loves
The lengthy dramatic stares. The breathy angst. The tacky declarations of affection. You already know, all of the issues we will’t get sufficient of when watching vampire content material. Regardless of their households actually at one another’s throats a la the Montagues and Capulets, Cal and Juliette can’t keep aside. They’re in one another’s desires, working by way of the woods collectively, and emptily exchanging the traditional “we will’t be collectively” traces figuring out rattling properly that nothing goes to cease them from stealing kisses or holding fingers at a second’s discover.
I communicate from expertise: first loves have a method of utterly altering you, your outlook on life, and the way in which you strategy relationships going ahead. The whole lot reminds you of them, and First Kill will get this proper. With out spoiling season one, let me simply say that Cal and Juliette severely undergo it. And although at instances, they query if love is price it, they don’t wish to cease attempting. As , teenagers in love typically don’t. Gotta love that youthful optimism.
Remaining Ideas
As somebody who seen the shortage of range in paranormal tv rising up, First Kill intrigued me from the second I discovered it was an interracial, sapphic vampire story. However what saved me watching was the dedication to giving viewers the precise vampy, campy melodrama, quippy dialogue, and once more, at instances, horrible CGI we’ve liked since 2009. Watch it. It gained’t disappoint.
Stream First Kill on Netflix.
Supply: The Every Girl