The Vampire Diaries (TV series)

The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural-fantasy horror television series developed by Kevin Williamson, based on the book series of the same name by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, 2009. Considering the fact that The Vampire Diaries is currently The CW's best performing show, on October 21, 2009, it was announced that The CW had given the series a full, 22-episode first season. The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), who falls in love with the vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). The series also strongly focuses on the lives of Elena's friends and other inhabitants in the town the series takes place in, dealing with teenage and mainly supernatural issues.

It was originally filmed in Vancouver, but after filming the pilot episode, filming was relocated to Covington and Monroe, Georgia, to take advantage of local tax incentives.

Forbes.com includes the series in a so-called "vampire craze" in entertainment, beginning with HBO's True Blood and the film Twilight, continuing with the film Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, and the upcoming films New Moon and Daybreakers.

Production
On February 6, 2009, Variety announced that The CW greenlit the pilot for The Vampire Diaries with Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec set as the writers and executive producers. On May 19, 2009, the pilot was officially ordered to series for the 2009-2010 season. Owing to strong ratings, the initial 13-episode order was expanded to a full 22-episode season on October 21, 2009. Williamson has stated the series will not focus on high school but is more the story of a small town.

Plot
The story begins as the vampire Stefan Salvatore returns to his ancestral home in Mystic Falls, Virginia, to be near Elena Gilbert, a high school student who bears a resemblance to Katherine, a woman Stefan loved 145 years ago, in the year 1864.

Elena and her brother, Jeremy, struggle to get past the deaths of their parents, which occurred four months prior. Jeremy deals with the loss through drug use, while Elena tries to shut out her feelings. She and Stefan meet, and are instantly attracted to each other.

Trouble starts when the vampire Damon Salvatore, who followed his brother Stefan to Mystic Falls, begins feeding on the townspeople. At a party, he attacks Vicki Donovan. She survives and remembers that a vampire bit her. Stefan attempts to cover his tracks by using his powers to make her believe an animal attacked her. While trying to visit Stefan at his home, Elena meets Damon, who tells her Stefan is still getting over his past love Katherine.

Damon later goes after Elena's friend Caroline Forbes. He feeds off her, but keeps her alive and controls her with his vampire powers. He acts as her boyfriend and uses his relationship with her to interfere with Stefan and Elena by revealing more hints about Katherine. To stop Damon from hurting more people, Stefan and his human relative, Zach Salvatore, work together to drug Damon with vervain, a plant that protects humans from vampire mind magic and weakens vampires if they ingest it. Stefan slips the vervain into Caroline's drink so that when Damon feeds from her, he drinks the herb that is in her system. While he is under the effects of the vervain, Stefan and Zach lock him up in the Salvatore mansion and plan to starve him until he mummifies.

Elena and Stefan's relationship is strained by the secrets he keeps about who he is as well as his past with Katherine. Damon uses his powers to make Caroline come to him and set him free. He kills Zach, who tries to stop her, and later feeds on Vicki again, eventually turning her into a vampire. After seeing Stefan in a video clip from 1953, Elena puts the pieces together about what he really is and goes to confront him. He reveals that he and Damon both loved Katherine, who turned them into vampires in 1864. Elena, overwhelmed by this discovery, promises to keep his secret but chooses to break off their relationship. Stefan fails to help Vicki control herself as a newly made vampire and has to kill her. Damon erases Jeremy's memories of the incident, but also makes him act differently than how he was before.

Damon discovers a secret council made up of Mystic Falls townspeople who know about the existence of vampires and are working to destroy them. He gains their trust by providing them with vervain and killing Stefan's vampire friend Lexi. Furious with rage, Stefan is able to overcome Damon in a fight, but decides to spare his life because Damon had saved his earlier.