by Jacob Condo, Staff Writer
Heads up creampuffs! September 15 is the day the third (and last) season of the web series Carmilla is set to drop. As long as I’ve been waiting for this next chapter, I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s making sure to stock up on tissues.
Now for those uninitiated among us, perhaps this is the first time you’ve even heard of this show, or you’ve heard about it but never tried it out. If so, then you have no idea what I’m talking about.
To put it simply, Carmilla is an adaptation of a nineteenth century novella about feminism, gender, sexuality, and vampires.
Interested? I hoped you’d be.
Told through video journals, the show takes place in the paranormal hotspot that is Silas University, where you can learn liberal arts and siege tactics, but you can’t call administration for anything. Students consider it a good day when only one nightmarish, freaky thing happens to them in a day.
The main characters are Laura Hollis and the story’s namesake: Carmilla Karnstein. At the start of our story, they’re the typical pair that can’t stand each other at first: butting heads as Laura tries to find the truth behind the disappearance of her old roommate and other girls on campus.
Eventually however (spoiler alert), they realize that they are absolutely head-over-heels in love with each other, but we’ll get to that later.
Laura, played by Elise Bauman, a formerly sheltered but now wholly independent young nerd, is a go-get-’em journalism major who believes in “right and wrong” and that the world is a good place if given a chance.
Naïve? Sure. But we need people like her to remind us not to be jerks to each other.
Carmilla, played by Natasha Negovanlis, is her edgy and mysterious roommate, who’s incredibly old and likes O+ in her cereal. She’s brooding and pessimistic, and gave up on being a hero a long time ago.
That is, until Laura nagged her way into her heart. Now spurred on by love she’s vowed to help Laura, whether she thinks the nerd is right or wrong.
Laura and her cast of friends delve into the mystery of the vanishing girls, all the while dealing with the problems all college students deal with: crushes, relationships, and homework. The only difference is that now they’ve got to figure out how to fight vampires and ancient deities.
This show isn’t a high-budget CGI-extravaganza, and they’re not hitting the silver screen any time soon. It’s a project that brims with the enthusiasm and quirky charm that only web shows have.
The series was created by Jordan Hall and Ellen Simpson for the YouTube channel “Kinda TV” and is executively produced by U by Kotex. The creators also produce additional content starring the main cast of the show, focusing on women’s hygiene issues.
Another great thing about their channel on YouTube is that they make strides to include programming that focuses on yet normalizes LGBTQIA+ relationships and lifestyles. In a society with thousands of heterosexual male protagonists, this is a nice breath of fresh comedy-infused air.
In the years since it first aired, the show has amassed a devoted following on YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr. In fact, as of January 2016 Carmilla had over 35 million views and hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide, lovingly called “creampuffs.”
The series has been going strong since 2014 and has even won a Canadian Screen Award this year at the Banff World Media Festival. The actors involved have all enjoyed working on the project, and are anxious for the release of the first half of the new season.
They aren’t the only ones.
After last season’s events, where the Dean returned wearing a Perry-Meat-Puppet-suit that brought Danny and Belmonde back to undeath, I’m pretty sure that this new season will be even better.
I’m sure I can speak for all of my fellow creampuffs when I say that this has been a long journey.
From the first three episodes that hooked us in, to replaying that one part of episode 36 ten thousand times, to the Christmas special and the bloopers, to the angst of season two and the good times in the bunker: we’ve been enthralled and delighted by the little show that could.
With all of the show thus far behind us, this season is going to get crazy. Which is why I, for one, will be in agony until I’m finally finished with classes for the day so I can curl up in bed and blubber about whatever happens.