The Vampire Diaries

First Impression: Oh this is just some Twilight rip off.

The Truth: Twilight is the one ripping off THIS series.

The Absolute Truth: The Vampire Diaries is infinitely better than Twilight, and no I am not exaggerating.

The plot is as you would have guessed. Elena (Nina Dobrev) is a high school girl who captures the heart of Stefan (Paul Wesley) who of course is a vampire (sounds familiar right?). Later on we get introduced to Stefan's troublesome vampire brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder). Damon also happens to be attracted to Elena and this creates a love triangle that will follow for the remainder of the series.

Of course that's merely a sample of the entire story. There are werewolves, hunters, witches, and even stronger vampires waiting in future episodes to make this one nail biting show.

The acting is also definitely above average, however obviously not enough to make you believe the actors are high school "teenagers".

My advice: Give it a chance. The first few episodes are slow, but a lot of great TV series are. This show will have you on the edge of your seat each week as the plot thickens more and more.

Last Impression: This is one of my favorite shows on TV. 9/10

I thought The Vampire Diaries was going to be a show aimed for tweens but I was wrong. It started off that way for like the first half of Season 1 but around episode 10 or 11 it really picked up and just got better and better. I was ready to give up a few episodes in because it looked like the tv version of Twilight but I read in numerous reviews to get passed the first handful of episodes and I'm so glad I did. What happens after that is it turns into a really good supernatural show. Like any long running show this has better seasons than others but all are worth watching and most are just flat out great. This show is beloved by so many for a reason! If you like supernatural type shows then I highly recommend this for you, just get passed the first half of Season1 and enjoy the ride from there.

It could've got 9 from me but the series was perfect till season 6 after that it is so boring.

When I tuned in to "The Vampire Diaries" for the pilot episode, I expected to watch perhaps six episodes, grow bored, and then drop the show entirely. After all, I was only watching in the first place because it aired before my favorite show of all time, "Supernatural." I'd seen (and read) the "Twilight" series and found the teen vampire romance story lackluster and redundant. It's been done before about a thousand times, right? But I remember reading the original "The Vampire Diaries" books by L.J. Smith and decided it couldn't hurt to give this supernatural soap a try.

The most important thing to know about this show is the first four episodes are seemingly pointless; focused on cheap thrills, romance, and teen drama. Then something magical happens, creeping up silently and latching on without the viewer's notice: interest. By the end of the fourth episode the many story lines pick up and take off, and suddenly a silly or meaningless event becomes important. Things move fast in "The Vampire Diaries." This is a show that takes risks: people die without warning, stories that you thought could go on forever take only a few episodes, characters do and experience things you wouldn't have thought possible. Even better, there is no character who is wholly unlikeable. Everyone in the large ensemble cast has a story and a 3-dimensional structure, and even if the viewer decidedly doesn't like a character, the swing from one storyline to the next never lingers in one place for too long.

Some people have called this show their guilty pleasure. I refer to it as smart writing, good acting, excellent storytelling, and wonderful viewing. As of right now the second season is in the first few episodes of airing and the magic has not gone out. Far from it; this show only gets better. The lesser episodes are still fantastic, and the truly great ones are rich with everything an episode of television could possibly desire. I have yet to finish watching an episode without cursing the screen to give me more - my addiction to such a fresh show sometimes keeps me up at night.

For anyone (yes, even non 18-49 women demographic - we welcome the men!) interested in watching vampires, witches, and more, take the time to view beyond the first four episodes. I can almost safely guarantee anyone who likes vampires and horror (and a lot of dry wit) will not be disappointed.

In this day and age it's the time of the Vampires. You have Twilight and True blood and Vampire Diaries but don't let them keep you from watching. While many tend to compare it with the two, it's actually very different. Vampire Diaries, based off a series written 15 years before Twilight,is about a girl Elena who just lost her parents when a new guy, Stefan Salvatore, comes to town but with Stefan also comes trouble, his brother Damon Salvatore. This show is definitely the middle of Twi and True Blood. It has a romance like Twilight and the intensity of True Blood. What this show has is a lot of twists and turns that you don't expect.

The only flaw may be the characters. While there is a lot of character development, it really only applies to the main ones. The supporting characters like Caroline and Matt seem flat. Even though Matt seems to have some roundness, Caroline just doesn't seem to change, she is always that annoying whiny girl;there are even times when Elena can be naive.

All in all, despite it's flaws, every episode has a mystery to it; it's hard to guess what's going to happen. Believe me at the end of every episode, maybe even in between commercials, you begin to speculate what the end possibilities could be.