The Vampire Diaries, Volume II.......By Gina Bofina

Ahhh yes the ever popular teen vampire genre returns to our screens, No I’m not talking about the fourth edition of the much (over rated?) loved Twilight series, or the fantastically gratuitous True Blood. I am of course referring to the second season of The Vampire Diaries (TVD).
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that when I started watching TVD I was more than sceptical, shit, I’ll go so far as to say I went into it with the intention of hating it. Already a lover of such vampirical classics as ‘The Lost Boys’ (1987), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BTVS) and the recent True Blood the last thing I needed in my life was more vampire related angst, and sappy, indulgent angst at that, or so I thought. I, like many others, already believed that, excuse the heinous use of pun here, the genre had been done to death and that no more energy or time should be spent on the subject. However TVD had me sort of transfixed, compelled even, by the end of season one I found myself as eager for its return as I once had for BTVS and still am for True Blood. Although it’s unknown how much my new found eagerness is to do with the story and how much is down to a certain Damon Salvatore, the absurdly handsome, oddly camp, resident bad boy who injects much needed comedy into the show as well as off the scale amounts of general sexyness (technical term), played by the talented and, in my opinion under used Hollywood star, Ian Somerhalder.Now I know a big deal has been made over all this Twilight Saga crap with Team Edward Team Jacob etc and as yet I haven't picked, so it's only fair that I choose sides, so here goes, I am officially, 100% a firm, die hard Team.....TVD/Damon Salvatore!
I have come to this decision, of picking TVD over Twilight for some v.simple reasons. Unlike Twilight, TVD has oodles of chemistry and charisma especially between our tragic and morose lead trio. And again, sorry for comparing the two, unlike Twilight, TVD gets the balance between action, romance, comedy and drama just right, not one of the above aspects gets ignored or forgotten in order for the other to succeed. Lastly, and this is a biggie, TVD has BITE! Yes unlike the wet and depressing folk over at Twilight, TVD actually has heart and personality, and it's audience seem to genuinely care about what happens to the characters.
But for those of you that have been stuck in an ancient hidden tomb and missed season one, get off this page! For those of you that have developed a drink/drug problem since the show ended and the memories aint coming as freely as they used to, here’s a quick synopsis of TVD:

The Salvatore Bros.

The place is Mystic Falls, the time is present day (well 2009). In roll’s two obscenely handsome Vampire Brother’s. Stefan, the younger of the two Salvatore’s, is controlled and noble, he is tortured by his existence and denies himself human blood to avoid killing, instead choosing to survive on the blood of woodland animals. He has come back to Mystic Falls after falling in love with a high school girl. Enter Elena Gilbert. Elena and her younger brother Jeremy live with their Aunt Jenna after losing both their parents in a freak car accident. Stefan, determined to lead a normal life and hang on to his humanity enrols at the local high school, the very same one that Elena attends. ‘True love’ soon ensues between this good looking pair and things seem to be going well, but for how long....Meet Damon Salvatore, Stefan’s older, absurdly handsome, wickedly charming dangerous brother. Damon is the polar opposite of Stefan, though he could if wanted Damonn chooses to exercise no control over his vampire related desires and subsequently leaves a trail of death and destruction wherever he goes, not good for Stefan who is trying to keep a low profile. Damon has one goal, he wants to bring back a tomb full of trapped vampires imprisoned beneath the inhabitants of Mystic Falls very feet by a Witch way back when in 1864. Amongst such vampire’s is Damon’s one true love and the vampire who turned him and Stefan, Katherine, who don’t ‘alf look like Elena. The only problem is that in order to free Katherine all the other blood hungry vamps co-habiting with Katherine will be set free too, plus Damon doesn’t exactly know how to go about releasing a bunch of cursed vampires. So whilst Damon does whatever he deems necessary in order to reunite with Katherine, and Stefan tries to keep his ‘evil’ brother under control Elena and her high school chums are sucked into a world where the supernatural rules out. Along the way we of course encounter the odd love triangle. In his quest to find Katherine with the help of Stefan and his girl friend Eleana, Damon can’t help but start to develop feelings for her either and we begin to see some of Damon’s own humanity resurfacing.
With confusing emotions, hidden talents, supernatural abilities cropping up, and deep rooted secrets being exposed along the way we at long last reached the season finale.
In last season’s final episode we were left wondering a myriad of things; whether Caroline, Elena’s slightly bitchy, controlling neurotic friend, had survived the car crash caused by Uncle John Gilbert’s use of the supernatural devise designed to expose vampires, if Tyler Lockwood wasn’t a vampire then why had he been affected by the devise, had Elena’s misguided, tortured brother Jeremy’s attempt at becoming a vampire by killing himself with the blood of his dead vampire lover’s blood in his system a success, if ‘success’ is even the right word for what he was trying to do, and was Uncle John dead? But the big gun, the totally unpredictable, didn’t see that happening at all twist to end all twists came when an unsuspecting Damon finally bore the soul we all suspected he had hidden under those black gaping shirts and pale, pale, pale chest, and professed his love for Elena with a kiss. That was not the shock twist of course, that came when Elena, who was supposedly truly, madly, deeply in love with Stefan, Damon’s younger broodier much more predictable brother, kissed him back. Wait! I’m still not done, there was one final twist, the return of Katherine! Elena’s Doppelganger vampire ancestor returned from god knows where and begun reaping dopplegangeresque mayhem. You know, that old chestnut. So that’s where those crazy people down at the CW left us hanging.
And now the season premiere of The Vampire Diaries.
Sorry, I was trying to be all dramatic like those voiceovers you get just before the show starts...I don’t actually have the episode I have been lucky enough to see the opening couple of episodes and I can say that this season look like it is going to be fang-tastic (sorry had to be done!) but seriously the season does look like it is going to pretty spectacular!  But for you unlucky ones out there yet to see the awesomeness that is TVD here’s a nice trailer to wet your appetites...

By Gina Bofina