‘The Vampire Diaries’ Could Be In For Some Trouble

The Vampire Diaries could be in for some trouble with the network. The episode that was expected to draw in numbers turned out to be the lowest rated of all time. It sends the message to the CW channel that people simply do not want to watch the once highly-rated vampire show.

Last Thursday, fans said goodbye to Sheriff Liz Forbes. In a twist for the show, the sheriff died of natural causes and had a full funeral for characters and fans to say goodbye. It offered similarities to Buffy the Vampire Slayer when fans had to say goodbye to Buffy’s mom, Joyce Summers, in Season 5.

However, only 1.41 million viewers tuned in for The Vampire Diaries last week. That was down from 1.52 million from the week before, according to Movie Pilot.

The news that Julie Plec was finally directing an episode of her TV show was not enough to draw in the viewers. When speaking about finally directing an episode, Plec told Variety that she has unintentionally been directing, anyway. It was time to do it officially, but it was nerve-wracking.

Usually, that could certainly spell trouble for a TV show. There were already rumors that Season 6 was going to be the last, since the actors’ contracts all came to an end this year. However, the CW announced at the start of the year that all eight of its fall shows were getting an early renewal. The Vampire Diaries will definitely have a seventh season, but the network may consider cancelling it after that.

There is hope that more viewers will tune in once the mini hiatus is over. The show took a mini break after “Stay,” last week’s episode, but will return on March 12. There was a cliffhanger at the end, but would it be enough to bring the fans back. Caroline Forbes turned off her humanity, something that many fans of the show never thought would happen.

If that is not enough, the show has now brought Lily Salvatore—Damon and Stefan’s mom—back. She was supposed to be dead, so there are now many questions that fans have. Finding out the answers and seeing the reactions from the Salvatore brothers who have believed their mom was dead for so long could be enough to tempt people back in.

When the storylines are not enough to pull the ratings back up, networks often have to make a difficult decision. There may be fans who want to see The Vampire Diaries continue, but it is a matter of business and the show is not going to be attracting enough people for advertisers.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]