Carmilla (series)

Carmilla is a Canadian web series starring Elise Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis, based on the novella of the same name by Sheridan Le Fanu. The series aired on the Vervegirl YouTube channel on August 19, 2014.^[1]

The series takes place at the fictional Silas University in Styria, Austria, where more strange things happen than normal. The series is told from the perspective of Laura, a freshman student who is investigating the disappearance of her roommate, when she is suddenly assigned a mysterious new roommate named Carmilla.^[2]

The series is a multi-platform digital media experience with many outlets on social media sites, where fans can follow the characters' stories when they are not on-screen. Currently boasting over 10 million views, the first season consists of 36 three to seven minute episodes. A Christmas special was aired on December 24, 2014. On December 9, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season, which is set to premiere in spring 2015.^[3] The series is executively produced by the tampon brand U by Kotex.^[3]

Carmilla has been highly praised for its near all-female cast and representation of various queer characters.^[4]

Plot

The series begins as a "vlog" of a plucky, tenacious, and somewhat naive freshman student, Laura Hollis (Bauman), at the fictional Silas University. When her party-going roommate Betty (Glowicki) suddenly goes missing, Laura is assigned a new roommate, the dark and broody Carmilla Karnstein (Negovanlis). After being refused any information on the whereabouts of Betty, Laura, aided by her friends, discovers that her former roommate is not the only girl to have abruptly gone missing from Silas, and that Carmilla may be behind the disappearances.

As the series progresses, it is revealed that Carmilla is a vampire who has been commanded by her mother, the Dean of Silas University, to supply her with virgin sacrifices. However, Carmilla does not agree with her mother's actions and agrees to help save Betty. Laura, who is one of the Dean's next targets, finds herself slowly falling for her roommate as Carmilla goes to great lengths to protect her and recover the missing girls.

Cast and characters

Main characters

• Laura Hollis (played by Elise Bauman)^[5] is the 19-year-old sheltered and courageous protagonist. She is a journalism major and grew up with an over-protective father who goes to great measures to protect his only child. Despite her love of sugary foods, Laura is tiny, and, as a child, was signed up for Krav Maga classes by her father so she could learn how to defend herself. Though she is somewhat bookish and dorky, she is adorable and fiercely loyal to her friends. Laura enjoys various forms of pop culture, including Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who, and is deeply inspired by historical strong female icons. Laura does not hide her initial dislike towards Carmilla, but as the series progresses and after discovering who Carmilla truly is, she finds herself falling in love with her. It is implied that Laura does not have a mother, and if her family correlates with her character's family in the original novella, Laura's mother died when she was young.

• Carmilla Karnstein (played by Natasha Negovanlis)^[6] is Laura's new roommate. Born in Styria in 1680 as Mircalla Karnstein, the daughter of a Count, Carmilla was murdered at a ball and resurrected as a vampire, eternally aging her at 18. She is the "adopted" daughter of the Dean of Silas University (also a vampire), who forces Carmilla to bring her virgin sacrifices. During the 1800s, Carmilla fell deeply in love with Ell, one of her mother's targets. She tried to protect Ell from her mother, but when her mother revealed to Ell that Carmilla is a vampire, Ell rejected Carmilla. Carmilla was tortured and buried underground for several decades in a coffin of blood for disobeying her mother. She was freed during the second World War by a bomb exploding and unearthing her coffin. Carmilla was eventually found by her mother and forced back into her enslavement of luring girls. She was brought to Silas University and eventually becomes roommates with Laura Hollis, one of her mother's next targets. However, Carmilla becomes passionately drawn to Laura and vows not to let her mother harm her. Carmilla is a strong willed, sarcastic, philosophy student who consistently fails to clean up after herself and often uses Laura's possessions without permission. She possesses supernatural strength and speed, and can transform into a black cat.

• LaFontaine (played by Kaitlyn Alexander)^[7] is a non-binary student at Silas University and is Perry's best friend. They go by their last name, and are quick to correct anyone who calls them 'Susan.' After episode 26, creators and cast confirmed on tumblr that preferred pronouns are they/them/their. They are a biology major and one of the few characters not put off by the supernatural and strange aspects of Silas University. LaFontaine is the first to accuse Carmilla of being a vampire. During season 1, they were kidnapped by the Dean as a message to Laura. Laura mentions that she thinks LaFontaine and J.P. are dating, but it is never confirmed by LaFontaine.

• Lola Perry (played by Annie Briggs)^[7] is a German major at Silas University, LaFontaine's roommate, and Laura and Carmilla's floor don. Regularly referred to as simply 'Perry', she is caring and nurturing, and often mothering her friends and classmates. She has a strong urge for constant order and fiercely believes in normality. She initially refuses to believe that Carmilla is a vampire, coming up with various excuses for Carmilla's strange behavior. She states in the Christmas Special that she celebrates Chanukah, making her the only explicitly non-Christian character on the show to date.

• Danny Lawrence (played by Sharon Belle)^[8] is a third year student and English Literature TA at Silas. She is a member of the Summer Society at the university and has a strong will to protect those she cares about. Danny shows a romantic interest in Laura, which appeared to be returned in the beginning of the series, but as season one progresses, Laura finds Danny's overprotectiveness to be suffocating and reminds her too much of her father. Danny doesn't often get along with Carmilla, finding her to be rude and messy, but tries to put her feelings of dislike behind her for Laura.

Supporting characters

• Kirsch (played by Matt O'Connor) is a student at Silas University and a member of the Zeta Omega Mu fraternity. Kirsch has a desire to protect others, and upon meeting Laura, nicknames her "Little Nerd" and designates himself as her "Zeta Omega Mu safety companion". He joins Laura and her friends in the search for the missing girls at Silas.

• Will (played by Aaron Chartrand)^[7] is a vampire, Zeta Omega Mu fraternity brother, and Kirsch's best friend. Also resurrected by the Dean, Will is Carmilla's younger brother. He refers to his sister as 'Kitty', and in return, is called 'Mama's Boy' for fulfilling the Dean's every request. Midway through season one, he attempts to attack Laura, but she is defended by Carmilla. He gets staked by Perry at the end of season one.

• Elizabeth "Betty" Spielsdorf (played by Grace Glowicki) is Laura's original roommate. Betty, who initially appeared to be a care-free party girl was kidnapped by the Dean in the first episode of season one. After her disappearance, Laura vows to discover what happened to Betty. When Betty is finally rescued, it is revealed that she was brainwashed into coming to Silas, is very neat and intelligent, and was her high school valedictorian. After her return, she comes off as slightly rude and is attempting to transfer to Princeton University.

• Sarah Jane (played by Breton Lalama) is a pre-med student at Silas University. Sarah Jane was attending a swim team party when she went missing. She later reappeared, but couldn't remember what happened to her and eventually turned into a party animal. She began dating Kirsch, and while attending a party with him fell out of a third floor window during a botched attempt to summon her to the Dean. The fall killed her.

• Natalie (played by Lisa Truong) is a student at Silas University and one of the girls who went missing. After initially returning, like Sarah Jane, she could not remember what happened to her and eventually turned into a party animal. She was attending the Peace Augsburg Luau when she went missing again. She was eventually saved by Laura and her friends at the end of season one.

• Elsie (played by Paige Haight) is a student at Silas University, Carmilla's 'study-buddy' in the beginning of the first season, and one of the girls who eventually went missing.

• J.P. Armitage (played by Dillon Taylor) is a student of Silas from the 1800s who was sucked into the computer system. J.P. originally resided in the library, but was transferred onto a flash drive by LaFontaine and is brought back to Laura's room. He aids Laura and her friends when they are researching information in order to find out how to stops the Dean's evil plan. His flash drive is destroyed by Carmilla's mom, but later it's revealed that LaFontaine make a backup of him. He and LaFontaine start to spend time in the library and are "sort of dating" at the end of the season one, much to Perry's dismay.

Awards

References

External links

• Carmilla at the Internet Movie Database