Welcome to my first review of The Vampire Diaries. With 24 and Lost both calling it quits last season, leaving Smallville as my lone assignment, I thought I’d add this CW hit show to my line up. While season one got off to a slightly slow start, once it found its footing and the actors became comfortable with their characters, it quickly became one of my two favorite new shows of the season (the other being Modern Family). And it was actually one of the strongest finales of the year. Not to mention that I pegged Nina Dobrev as one of the hottest girls on television when she was a minor character on Degrassi.
Anyway, onto the premiere. The episode kicked off in the style of a classic horror movie, with the killer lurking in the background while the potential victim helplessly attempts to defend herself. Within a matter of minutes, Elena would find her uncle/father lying in a puddle of his own blood (and with only six fingers, by my count) and her brother ODing in his bedroom.
And I’m glad to say, both of these dire issues were resolved relatively quickly. Sure, it provided a cliffhanger to end last season, and a thrill to kick off this one, but I appreciated the fact that they settled these obstacles so that they could move on to the story of this season.
I’m always a sucker for those scenes in which two people claim to love somebody – only for one of those two people to be fooled by an imposter, while the other one isn’t. That sounded a bit disjointed, but I’m referring to how Damon could have a relatively long interaction with “Elena” and not realize that it’s actually Katherine, while Stefan realizes it’s not actually Elena after a hug. It shows that Stefan’s love for Elena is deep and sentimental, while Damon’s affection is superficial.
I’m also really enjoying this twisted four way love web between Elena, Stefan, Katherine, and Damon. You have Stefan who deeply loves Elena, but is being tempted by Katherine. Damon loves Katherine, who is just rejecting his affection. And then you have this resistant attraction between Elena and Damon. And the way it’s playing out is intriguing. Is Katherine rejecting Damon in favor of Stefan because she truly feels that way, or is she just stirring the pot? Will Stefan succumb to Katherine’s constant advances? And are Elena’s feelings for Damon rooted in a sexual attraction?
I will say this, though: It’s always been a pet peeve of mine when two characters, who are separated by a generation are more, are portrayed as being so I identical that they’re portrayed by the same actor/actress. I mean, sure, I understand striking family resemblances, but I’ve seen houses and beds from the 1800’s. People were short. The lack of height difference is bothersome enough.
Oh, and is Caroline dead? No, I do not think so. They hammered the point home so many times that the vampire blood stays in your system for a day that you had to guess that information was going somewhere. So yeah, I’m guessing she’s going to turn into a vampire. Not sure how I feel about that, but we’ll see how it plays out.
However, it is kinda ironic that Damon saved her life, after spending the first half of last season tormenting her.
