It seems I Woke Up A Vampire has learned to simply improvise on what was good about the first season to present a new and improved second season. The show about a 13-year-old vampire has a perfectly developed universe and lore around it while still being self-aware, which is right for the younglings of today. I don’t know if it’s okay to admit that, as a 28-year-old, I quite liked the show. Maybe it’s that pang of jealousy that makes me wish I had it back when I was 13. What’s fun about I Woke Up A Vampire is that though it’s set in a fantasy world, there’s so much heart in it with the perfect message that every kid on the internet preaches today. Rather than coming off as preachy, though, the show manages to do a good job of balancing the cringe, the cute, super powers, and the terrible CGI in a way that will keep you invested in Carmie’s story, and you can also take away the message “it’s okay to be different.” Season 1 left us with a couple of questions like: Is Carmie meant to be evil? Will the Collector find his daughter? And what will Carmie choose—mythic or human? Well, bring out your fangs, wings, claws, or simply your imagination to recap the second season of I Woke Up A Vampire.
Spoiler Alert
Has Carmie changed?
The kids are now in their first year of high school, and with that comes a feeling of fear and excitement. Carmie has a lot of dreams for her next journey; however, it proves to be harder than she’d imagined. Initially, Carmie has a wonderful time; she’s coming into her powers nicely, and she doesn’t have to hide from her close friends. She then meets a boy named Tristan, a sophomore, who piques her interest. On the other hand, Kev debuts his first-ever comic book featuring a vampire who doesn’t bite. Sounds familiar, no? However, throughout the series, there’s a running joke that it doesn’t bear any resemblance to Carmie. Leanna is the Sharpay Evans of I Woke Up A Vampire. She works hard to maintain her social media presence as an influencer and uses Carmie and Kev to get more followers. Of course, she doesn’t actually hate anybody, and there aren’t any real bullies or bad guys today, so Leanna is quite the sweetheart who even gives Carmie a makeover, which is only to elevate what she already has in order to impress Tristan at the school dance. While Carmie and Tristan get close, Leanna takes over the role of manager for Kev, and Dylan finds himself lost in the world of high school. Don’t worry. Madison is back too, though she’s now living in her wolf clothing in the forest, where she can be free and truly herself.
Dylan, Kev, and Madison are supportive of Carmie’s every move. She wants to run track; they encourage it; she wants to work on her powers; and they help her. But Carmie, on the other hand, is lovestruck and unbothered. At home, Carmie behaves like a regular teenager, answering back, forgetting the twins’ birthday, and telling her parents they can’t understand her. Her vampirism isn’t something everyone is ready for. On the other hand, the Collector is on the hunt for his daughter and asks Dylan to help him. Dylan discovers a prophecy in his great-great-something grandfather’s notebook, which is written in Goblin. Kev helps him find a goblin, who apparently owed Dylan’s great-great (whatever) grandfather, and so reads the prophecy to him. The goblin tells him that Carmie is set to destroy the human world by siding with the myths.
As if the pressure on Carmie to choose between her human side and her mythic side isn’t enough, Dylan and Kev tell her about the prophecy. They also mess up her perfect date with Tristan by breaking into his locker because they think he’s suspicious; however, he makes it seem like he had planned a surprise for the twins, which the boys ruined.
What’s Tristan’s Role In All Of This?
Tristan is working with the Shapeshifter to bring Carmie to her. Tristan’s a war fairy and shows himself to Carmie on a field trip, where he pretends to fall from a tree so Carmie will save him. I’m still confused why the Shapeshifter didn’t just reach out to Carmie herself, but sure, a cute boy equals more drama, so it’s all good, I suppose. After spending all her time trying to impress Tristan, Carmie ends up having a massive fight with Kev and Dylan, so they go about doing their own thing. Kev is invited to Fan Con (comic con), and Leanna gives him a makeover, too (it’s a blue streak in his hair). After the “you’re different with him” conversation, Carmie blocks Kev and Dylan and disinvites them to her track event, which she wins using her powers. On the other hand, Dylan learns that the Collector is a Gorgon.
What’s So Special About Fan Con?
Fan Con isn’t an ordinary comic book gathering. It’s where anyone who is “different” can simply be themselves without anyone noticing. No cosplay equals the real thing, no? So it seems all the myths gather together at Fan Con to make new friends and be themselves out in the open. Carmie finally swallows her pride and shows up for her best friend, Kev. Strangely, it’s Leanna who patches things up between the best friends by being a great counselor. Carmie gets stormed by some fans who discover she’s “the real Carmela” from Kev’s comic book because she glows in a selfie. Carmie manages to escape them by the skin of her teeth and meets some other fellow Blendeds, all dressed very fashionably. Colored hair, unique clothing, fancy makeup, and extra piercings are all signs of blending, it seems. Her new friends, too, don’t like Tristan’s energy, but Tristan takes Carmie away for yet another surprise.
What’s the Shapeshifter’s real plan?
Dylan makes a pair of glasses, or rather, goggles of gems, that will help him look at a Gorgon without being turned into stone. These glasses also reveal the true identity of Gorgons, so they’ll help him find the Collector’s daughter. However, midway through, Dylan meets the goblin, who tells him that the goggles will help him read the goblin script, and when Dylan reads it, it’s completely opposite of what they thought it meant. At the same time, Carmie finally meets the Shapeshifter, her birth mother. Apparently, the Shapeshifter was keeping all the Blendeds safe from hunters because Carmie’s father died in their hands. It was always humans who were the problem, and Carmie is meant to “end the war” and bring myths and humans together in peace. Tristan is shocked by the revelation because he hates humans and tries to attack the Shapeshifter. Carmie comes in the way and gets hit in the chest, falling unconscious to the floor.
Tristan escapes the Shapeshifter as she tries to bring Carmie back to consciousness, saying she can’t lose her again. In Carmie’s head, all the memories of the past two years play out, and she finally wakes up when her mother uses some of her strength to bring her back to life. Her mother is weak from trying to save her life. Tristan kidnaps all of Carmie’s friends because he knows that’s how he’ll get her to side with him. Carmie finds her new friends, the other Blendeds, who also like humans and don’t want war. They team up and defeat Tristan. I suppose Tristan is trapped in a poster at Fan Con now. Or he’s too weak to do anything as of now, but he’ll probably be back. On the other hand, the Collector’s daughter finds him first and tells him that she wants to live with him. It seems he and her mother were fighting, but she wants to give them another try by living as a real family again. At the same time, Carmie’s human family discovers the Shapeshifter and thinks she’s cosplaying a 5000-year-old vampire. They befriend her and realize she’s a little bit sick, taking her with them.
During I Woke Up A Vampire season 2’s ending, Carmie introduces her biological mother to her adoptive family. They fear she’s going to want to leave them, but to the contrary, this is just the start of Carmie bringing humans and myths together. Now, she knows she has to choose to become a myth in order to save the world from ultimate destruction. Ah, to be the chosen one. In the meantime, Kev’s new comic book stars none other than Madison, the cheerleader-wolf, and Madison appears out of nowhere, greeting everybody at Fan Con. The friends are back together and thick as ever, but most importantly, Carmie knows that she must be who she is rather than who she “should” be. Will she be able to save the world? Maybe we’ll find out in another season of I Woke Up A Vampire.
