S1 E1: Pilot

Season 1 Episode 1: Pilot 

Content Warning: Language, Innuendo, Drug Use, Heavy Make out scenes, Violence (TV-14)

Hello Readers! I have finally started to rewatch The Vampire Diaries again and I am so excited to start doing reviews for each episode. I am warning you however that if you have not seen this

particular episode: THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR THIS EPISODE AHEAD. Due to the fact that I have seen the show before I will try to avoid putting spoilers about the future in any of my reviews. If I choose to do so I will put something like "Spoiler Ahead." Now with that out of the way this first episode is exactly how I remember it: Insanely Cheesy. Corny. Brings me back to my Twilight days.  Let me paint this picture for you: insanely gorgeous guy shows up at the highschool. He and the main girl meet in some super cute/awkward way and then they can't stop staring at each other. Basically love at first sight. But let me back up and explain the whole story to give some background. At the very beginning of the show we see a couple who is killed by someone which if you haven't guessed it is a vampire I wonder just what you think this show is. Anyway with that hanging over us the story begins. We meet Elena Gilbert--a high schooler who is still trying to get back to normal life after the death of her parents a little over a year ago. On her first day of school she meets the incredibly good looking Stefan Salvatore who just moved back to Mystic Falls. After running into each other--literally--outside of the men's bathroom it is very much love at first sight for these two. A lot of other things occur as well and here is a numbered list of a few:

1. Jeremy Gilbert (Elena's younger brother) is addicted to drugs. And not only is he addicted to drugs he is dealing in them too. His main customer (I don't know if that is the right term.) is Vicki Donovan who he apparently really likes for some reason. 
2. Vicki Donovan is the sister of Matt Donovan who is Elena's Ex-boyfriend. She is also dating Tyler Lockwood
3. Bonnie Bennett who is Elena's best friend is going through some weird stuff. Her grandma said she is psychic and considering some weird stuff that has happened Bonnie is starting to question if her grandma is really crazy
4. Damon Salvatore, Stefan's brother, also shows up and basically admits that he kills people and he is not going to let Stefan live comfortably
5. We also learn that there is someone named Katherine in both Stefan and Damon's past. Who looks exactly like Elena
6. Caroline Forbes is also Elena's friend and she is like the super pretty, gossipy girl
7. Jenna is the aunt taking care of Elena and Jeremy
8. The episode ends with Vicki getting attacked and saying the word, "vampire" to Matt (her brother)

Now I'm going to give my opinion so if you have no interest in that then you can just skip over this section. First I want to address the whole Stefan and Elena thing. Yes, like I mentioned in my intro post I am a Team Damon but I still appreciate Stefan and Elena as a couple. But how they are in this episode is very corny. Like they keep staring at each other but it is borderline creepy. Like Edward staring at Bella creepy. And he just shows up outside of her house, not once but twice. It is just a little awkward. But if that is what is making you hesitate PLEASE KEEP WATCHING. This show does not continue like Twilight. Secondly I'd like to talk a bit about Damon. First of all how on earth does he control that bird and the fog? I cannot remember if that was ever explained and now I really want to know. He is also the only one with a sense of humor in this episode and I appreciate that. Just based on what you see in the first episode he promises to at least be an interesting character. The whole thing with Katherine is interesting too--why does she look like Elena? And how is she connected with both Stefan and Damon? Third, I'm sorry but I do not like Vicki Donovan. She just uses other people and is messed up. But all of these things aside and the cheesiness of the episode aside this is a strong first episode. It sets up a lot of threads so there is some curiosity on the viewers part. You want to keep going because at the very least you want answers. So like I said before if you are wavering based on this episode if you want to keep watching: keep going and give it a chance. 

I'm going to finish off with this incredibly relatable quote from Caroline: 

"Why didn't he go for me? How come the guys I want never want me? I'm inappropriate, always say the wrong thing and Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try, and he just picks her. And she's always the one that everybody picks. For everything. And I try so hard and I'm never the one..."

Here is a link to my favorite youtuber who also reviewed this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PGlvbYc8o0&t=518s