'The Vampire Diaries' hits a series low with 'Monster's Ball' episode; big deal?

For "," much of its calling card for ratings junkies has been that almost in spite of any obstacle that comes in its way, whether it be sporting events, power outages, or preemptions, the show has always managed to stay with a 1.0 rating or higher in the 18-49 demographic. When you consider that there are some shows on the four major networks with worse series lows than this, it has to be considered a pretty impressive achievement.



However Thursday night for the first time saw an end to the celebration, as "Monster's Ball" officially posted a 0.9 rating in the coveted demo, and just over 2 million viewers. It's the end of an era, but at the same time, this is not a number that we expect the show to be at for the rest of the season.




So is it all Halloween's fault? You at least have to give the holiday a good chunk of the blame, given that October 31 is a time when folks tend to dress up as vampires rather than sit at home and watch them on TV. Many of the 18-25 crowd were probably off at parties, and set the show to DVR. Note that this is the first time that the show has actually aired a new episode on Halloween, and this was the primary consequence of that. Had the show even aired an hour later, it would have likely been okay. "Reign," after all, kept its entire 0.6 rating, even though its lead-in did lose a chunk of steam.



Are there other problems weighing down this vampire drama? Sure, with the biggest one being that it is is suffering by and large from just being confusing with all of the doppeldangers running around, and it becomes difficult at times to know just who is onscreen talking to who. While that may be an intentional move at times, it also feels like this is a show that often chooses to be more complicated than it really needs to be.



This is a show that will bounce back when the dust settles; there may not be a guarantee that it will last beyond a season 6 next year (since that is when many actors could decide to leave), it will at least make it to that point without a problem.



and want to see what is coming up on the show next week.
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