What age is The Vampire Diaries appropriate for?

16 alone, 15 with a parent; 16 in France. All 30 episodes of the 2 seasons, watched one by one: what's in it, and how to talk about it with your child.

Why is The Vampire Diaries not recommended under 16?

What's in it: an attempted assault, in the pilot; blood in close-up, deaths shown; a parent's death, told by the one who lived it; drink and drugs among high schoolers; a series shot in the dark. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · series · what age

The Vampire Diaries: what age is it for? 16 alone, 15 with a parent

16 alone, 15 with a parent.

Series · 2009 · reading of seasons 1 to 2, out of 8 · 30 episodes · drama, sci-fi & fantasy

YRS

The trailer

Alone, or with you

89101112131415161718

not yetwith an adult, or to talk about afteralone

Alone from 16; from 15, with an adult or by talking about it afterwards. Our reading covers seasons 1 to 2; the series has 8. Our reading, episode by episode, refines that single number: season 2 reads at 14, season 1 at the top, 16.

In France, zinema would say 16.

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Where to watch itWhere to watch

Included withWith a subscriptionHBO Max Amazon Channel · Peacock Premium · HBO Max · Peacock Premium Plus
BuyTo buyAmazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · Fandango At Home

Offers in the United States, collected automatically. Catalogues change often.

What it's about

The story of two vampire brothers obsessed with the same girl, who bears a striking resemblance to the beautiful but ruthless vampire they knew and loved in 1864.

Why 16

An attempted assault, in the pilotA high school boy tries to force himself on a drunk classmate against her repeated refusal. She says no four times, says he is hurting her, and another student has to step in and pull him off. He then mocks her for having refused.
Blood in close-up, deaths shownThe bites open wounds filmed close up, and the deaths are not merely spoken about. On the heaviest episodes the blood returns across some twenty scenes.
A parent's death, told by the one who lived itThe heroine lost her parents in a crash four months earlier and tells it in the first person, more than once. Her younger brother answers it with drugs.
Drink and drugs among high schoolersThere is a lot of drinking, at parties and away from them, and the heroine's younger brother uses openly through the whole first season. None of it is framed as a problem for a long while.
A series shot in the darkMore than half the frames are dark and the episodes almost always close on a threat left hanging, with no let-up.

What the series brings

Grief is handled at length and head-on, from the side of the one left behind: a teenager who decides to stop being the sad girl, and does not manage it straight away.
Two brothers who have done each other the worst possible harm and keep seeking each other out: the series rests on that grudge more than on the fangs.
A friendship between girls that survives the secrets, and a heroine who asks questions rather than submitting.

Watching it together

Before

The engine of the series is that a vampire can compel a human to obey or to forget, and it happens mostly to girls. Say that this power is written as a plot convenience, never as a relationship.

After

at 16 and up

After the first episode, ask what your teenager made of the scene by the trees, and of what the boy says afterwards to the girl who refused.

Season by season

the reading per season, episode by episode · expand

Season 1 · 22 episodes, 42 min on average · zinema reading 16, 15 with a parent · France 16 · the hardest

1 episode out of 22 at the top of the series. What's in each episode, without telling the story:

Episode	What's in it
1 · Pilot	Nearly half in the dark; deaths shown; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; sexual violence.
2 · The Night of the Comet	Nearly half in the dark; deaths told; scary music and jump scares; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol.
3 · Friday Night Bites	Blood, for a long time on screen; deaths told; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol.
4 · Family Ties	Many dark scenes; deaths told; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol.
5 · You're Undead to Me	Many dark scenes; deaths shown; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; drugs mentioned.
6 · Lost Girls	Many dark scenes; deaths shown; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol.
7 · Haunted	Many dark scenes; deaths told; meanness; a child put in danger; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol.
8 · 162 Candles	More than half the episode in the dark; deaths told; frightening images; meanness; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; ends on a tense note.
9 · History Repeating	Many dark scenes; deaths shown; frightening images; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; some swearing; ends on a tense note.
10 · The Turning Point	Nearly half in the dark; deaths told; meanness; a child put in danger; some swearing; ends on a tense note.
11 · Bloodlines	Many dark scenes; deaths told; meanness; alcohol.
12 · Unpleasantville	Many dark scenes; deaths told; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; alcohol.
13 · Children of the Damned	Many dark scenes; deaths told; meanness; a child put in danger; some swearing.
14 · Fool Me Once	More than half the episode in the dark; deaths told; bullying; a child put in danger; drugs mentioned; alcohol; ends on a tense note.
15 · A Few Good Men	Many dark scenes; deaths told; a scene of cruelty; alcohol; ends on a tense note.
16 · There Goes the Neighborhood	Nearly half in the dark; deaths told; meanness; a child put in danger; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol.
17 · Let the Right One In	Nearly half in the dark; deaths told; frightening images; lots of weapons; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; alcohol; ends on a tense note.
18 · Under Control	More than half the episode in the dark; deaths told; meanness; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; ends on a tense note.
19 · Miss Mystic Falls	Deaths told; frightening images; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; drugs mentioned; alcohol.
20 · Blood Brothers	More than half the episode in the dark; blood, for a long time on screen; deaths shown; a scene of cruelty; alcohol; ends on a tense note.
21 · Isobel	Many dark scenes; blood, for a long time on screen; deaths shown; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; some swearing.
22 · Founder's Day	Many dark scenes; deaths told; fights; a scene of cruelty; some swearing.

Season 2 · 8 episodes, 42 min on average · zinema reading 14, 13 with a parent · France 15 · the gentlest

no episode at the top of the series. What's in each episode, without telling the story:

Episode	What's in it
2 · Brave New World	Blood, for a long time on screen; deaths shown; meanness; a child put in danger; some swearing; alcohol; ends on a tense note.
3 · Bad Moon Rising	More than half the episode in the dark; deaths told; the monster in plain sight; meanness; some swearing; alcohol; ends on a tense note.
4 · Memory Lane	Nearly half in the dark; deaths told; meanness; alcohol.
8 · Rose	Deaths told; scary music; lots of weapons; meanness; some swearing; alcohol; ends on a tense note.
11 · By the Light of the Moon	More than half the episode in the dark; deaths told; frightening images; bullying; a child put in danger; alcohol.
16 · The House Guest	More than half the episode in the dark; deaths told; frightening images; meanness; a child put in danger; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol.
19 · Klaus	Deaths told; meanness.
22 · As I Lay Dying	More than half the episode in the dark; blood, for a long time on screen; deaths shown; frightening images; a scene of cruelty; a child put in danger; alcohol; ends on a tense note.

See the facts

For the same age, on zinema

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A zinema reading from September 9, 2026 · the 30 episodes of 2 seasons, watched one by one · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made