I tend to shy away from new shows, mostly because they often get cancelled so quickly. But I’ve gotta at least give a vampire show from Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson and the network that brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel a shot. Since it is from The CW, I’m certainly hoping it at least sucks less than Moonlight did (admittedly, I only watched one episode of that, mostly because I could only get through one). Besides, since it is The CW, this show would have to average about three viewers to not at least get a full season.
This is the story of a vampire named Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), who’s been invisible for a century, until now.
A couple are driving along through so much fog they look like they’re in London, when they run over a pedestrian. Don’t worry. He’s alive, in a manner of speaking. It was pretty well just a set up. Fresh blood to drink.
So why’d he return here anyway? He has to know her, her being Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrey). When she’s in the car with her friend Bonnie (Katerina Graham), she’s informed that Bonnie is a psychic now, or at least that’s what her grandma says. Well, that could come in handy. Her prediction for Elena: everything will be great.
Stefan’s plan is to enroll in Elena’s school, which totally works for a 27 year old. In addition to his ability to leap off tall buildings, he’s also got a mind control power that allows him to get access without a complete file.
Elena’s little brother Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen, grandson of Steve McQueen) is hanging out with the crackheads and stoned on his first day. After yelling at Jeremy, Elena bumps into Stefan for the first time as she’s leaving the men’s room, something which she can’t quite explain.
After school, Elena heads to the cemetery to write in her diary and visit her parents Grayson and Miranda. She must have said she’s fine 37 times today but didn’t mean it once. People don’t really want an answer to the question “How are you?” While there, she’s greeted by a creepy bird and excessive amounts of fog. Vampire guy to the rescue. They’re having a friendly chat, and he pretty much better bail since she’s bleeding.
Jeremy’s got himself a crush on Vicki Donovan (Kayla Ewell), who apparently just considers him her dealer, with benefits.
That night, Stefan shows up at Elena’s house to apologize for his disappearing act and return her diary. She tells him he doesn’t have to stand out there. He’s gonna need a little more of an invitation than that. They head to the local hangout, where her ex-boyfriend Matt finds it pretty apparent she must be have moved on pretty quickly.
When he returns home, Stefan’s accused of being responsible for the killing of the couple in the paper. He’ll be sticking around, though. If he doesn’t belong there, where does he belong? Then he pulls out a picture from 1864 of a girl, Katherine, who looks remarkably like Elena.
In history class, the teacher’s managed to stump everybody about a battle that’s one of the town’s most significant events. Everybody except the guy who lived it. There were 346 casualties, not including the 27 civilians, which is news to the teacher Mr. Tanner.
When Bonnie touches Elena, she sees a crow and fog. Maybe she is psychic.
Having just narrowly escaped being attacked by Tyler and then telling Jeremy to get lost because she doesn’t want to be used, Vicki heads into the woods. Alone. This won’t end well. As Jeremy’s stumbling about and running away from a lecture from his sister, he trips over a body with a bite mark in her neck, but she’s not dead.
If Stefan’s not doing the attacking, who is? That would be his brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder, who looks a lot different than when he played Boone on Lost). So he’s the one with the creepy crow. They haven’t seen each other in 15 years, so why’s he there? Not answering the question, he knows what Stefan’s doing there: one word, Elena.
Bonnie doesn’t think she’s really psychic, but whatever she saw, she has a feeling it’s just the beginning.
What the arrival of Stefan’s brother does provide is an explanation of what that unusual ring he wears is. It protects him from turning into a big pile of dust in the sun.
Vicki’s in the hospital with Matt watching over her. When she wakes up, she just has one thing to say. Vampire.
Through their ordeals of the past days, Stefan and Elena have both realized that the bad things follow them, and it’s not just as simple as forgetting the past. They’re just waiting for something good to fight the bad.
As the episode concludes, Stefan gets an invite into Elena’s house. That’ll be good until he turns all evil and stuff.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Vampire Diaries Episode 2 Night of the Comet, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on The CW.