The Vampire Diaries Season 2, Ep. 02 “Brave New World”

Caroline, a newly-turned vampire, awakens in the hospital craving blood and she quickly begins to realize what she is. Mason quizzes Tyler about his bursts of anger. Elena and Stefan try to lead normal lives, unaware of Caroline's transformation. Jeremy confronts Damon about attempting to kill him the night before. Tyler catches Mason searching for a family heirloom, a moonstone, which Mason claims he wants for sentimental value. At the carnival, Damon compels a boy named Carter into picking a fight with Tyler to provoke Tyler's bursts of anger. Mason intervenes and breaks up the fight using his abilities, proving that he is indeed a werewolf. Caroline arrives from the hospital to confront Damon for his abusive treatment of her and she forcibly lifts and throws him to the floor. After this he realizes that she has been turned into one of of the undead. He alerts Elena and Stefan as a ravenous Caroline attacks and drains Carter. Damon wants to kill Caroline, but Elena and Stefan refuse to let him. Stefan promises Caroline he will guide her through the vampiric journey. The vampire-hating Bonnie is horrified to learn what has become of Caroline, and what she did to Carter. This causes Bonnie to lash out at Damon, blaming him for all the misery that has occurred in Mystic Falls. She also almost kills him but is stopped by Elena. Tyler confronts Mason back at home, but Mason denies anything happened. This leads Tyler to take matters into his own hands; he retrieves the moonstone which Mason has been seeking. Matt notices Caroline's erratic behavior, but admits that he loves her.

The Vampire Diaries Season 2, Ep. 01 “The Return”

Picking up where the first season left off, Elena arrives home to discover Uncle John's and Jeremy's fates. At the hospital, Sheriff Forbes waits to hear if Caroline will survive the car accident. Damon, Bonnie, and Elena agree that Caroline needs some of Damon's blood in her system to make sure she pulls through. Stefan is the first to realize that Katherine has returned and is now impersonating Elena. At the Lockwood house, Bonnie meets Katherine and a short fight ensues; Stefan breaks it up. Both Stefan and Damon try to find out what Katherine wants, why she's back, and how much of a threat she is to the people they love. Tyler is surprised when his uncle, Mason Lockwood, arrives in town to console him. Katherine and Damon nearly sleep together, but Katherine tells Damon that she never loved him and that she had always loved Stefan. Distraught, Damon goes to see Elena, who resists his attempt to kiss her. Angry that Elena also loves Stefan, Damon snaps Jeremy's neck to get back at her. Jeremy survives because he is wearing John's ring, which protects him from death from supernatural forces. Katherine later goes to the hospital to see Caroline, who mistakes her for Elena, and uses a pillow to smother Caroline. Before Caroline dies, Katherine introduces herself and tells Caroline to deliver a message to the Salvatore brothers - "Game on".

The Vampire Diaries Season 1, Ep. 22 “Founders day”

It's Founder's Day, and everyone is preparing for floats and fireworks. Jeremy, still alienated from Elena for lying to him about everything, seeks Anna's company; Anna gives him a vial of her blood and offers him the choice of becoming a vampire. Though Damon and Alaric team up to try to stop John Gilbert from utilizing the mysterious device to kill vampires, John sets his plan in motion, leading to a chaotic, destructive, and deadly end to the Founder's Day celebration. Caroline is severely injured in a car accident involving Tyler when he loses control of the car he, Caroline and Matt are in when Tyler suddenly sucumbs to the device being activated which generates a high-piched hertz signal, while his father Mayor Lockwood, also falls to the device signal. John kills Anna and burns many of the tomb vampires alive in the basement of an old building. Tyler's father dies along with them. Stefan realizes that, despite everything Damon has done, he does love his brother. Elena confronts John with the knowledge that he is her father, Stefan having informed her so. Bonnie saves Stefan and Damon from John's rampage for Elena's sake but tells Stefan that if Damon kills another innocent person, she will not hesitate to take him or Stefan down. Damon finally realizes that there is some good in him, and that he may actually want to become a better person. Jeremy learns of Anna's death; he drinks Anna's blood and overdoses on pain pills, hoping that his emotional pain will ease if he becomes a vampire. Damon kisses a person whom he believes to be Elena, who is then invited into Elena's house by Jenna and stabs John Gilbert, who recognizes her as Katherine, pretending to be Elena. The season ends with the real Elena entering the house and going toward the kitchen, where Katherine is...

The Vampire Diaries Season 1, Ep. 21 “Isobel”

Isobel returns to town and surprises Alaric with her new cynical and cruel attitude and her demand that he arrange for her to meet Elena; despite her seeming indifference toward him, it appears that she still loves him and that she is not truly happy with her life as a vampire. When Elena and Isobel finally meet, Isobel refuses to answer most of Elena's questions, but states that she is also looking for the mysterious invention that John Gilbert has been seeking. Upon learning that Damon has the device, Isobel orders Elena to obtain the device from Damon and threatens to kill everyone Elena knows if she refuses. It soon becomes apparent that both Isobel and John are working for Katherine. Isobel attempts to intimidate Damon into giving her the device and offers to reveal Katherine's whereabouts in return, but he makes it clear that he will not tolerate her threatening him or the people he cares about, and that he no longer wants anything to do with Katherine. Isobel later kidnaps Jeremy in order to force Elena's hand, and Elena implores Damon to give her the device, which he does. Bonnie offers to remove the spell from the device, which can supposedly kill vampires; it is later revealed that Bonnie only pretended to deactivate the device, due to her vendetta against all vampires.

Elena gives the device to Isobel, who reveals that she knew Damon would surrender the device to Elena because he's in love with her. It is revealed that John is Elena's biological father, and that he and Isobel had dated in high school. John plans to use the device to kill all the vampires in Mystic Falls, including Stefan and Damon. Before leaving town, Isobel, who appears to care for Elena after all, expresses her fear that the Salvatore brothers may eventually turn Elena into a vampire - a life that she doesn't want for Elena - and that getting rid of them is the best thing she and John could do for their daughter. Anna appears and tells Jeremy that her mother was killed, and that she knows she should not be there, but she has nowhere else to go. Jeremy hugs her and attempts to comfort her.

The Vampire Diaries Season 1, Ep. 20 “Blood Brothers”

‘Blood Brothers’ revealed so much about the relationship the Salvatore brothers share with each other. The complexity which this episode has added to Vampire Diaries makes other shows look like child’s play … and this is exactly why I like the show so much!
As Stefan is getting over his blood thirst locked up in the basement, he drifts into past memories… of the events that lead to their transition in the first place. We find out that the brothers are discovered and shot as they try to help Katherine escape the vampire hunt. They both again regain consciousness under Emily’s care who later tells them that the two of them are transitioning as they both have Katherine’s blood in their system.
We find out that Damon willingly drinks Katherine’s blood while Stefan was forced to. Now all they have to do is feed on some human blood to complete their transition. But neither of them really wants that life now that Katherine is dead (or so they think.) So Stefan goes to meet his father and say goodbye. And here’s the biggest shocker of the episode: Stefan finds out that it was their father who had shot them and in fact he looks ashamed to see Stefan alive again! He tries to attack Stefan again while the latter resorts to self-defense. Without realizing his strength, Stefan throws his father against a wall and he ends up landing on a stake and starts to bleed. As soon as Stefan smells the blood he is overcome by an uncontrollable urge to feed and he ends up feeding on his father!!
Back at Emily’s house, Damon still doesn’t want o go on living without Katherine. Stefan feeling alive and powerful brings back a human girl and bites into her neck. Now its Damon’s turn to experience the urge to feed and eventually he also turns! This back story tells us so much about the love-hate relationship that the brothers share.
Stefan’s beef is more of a self-loathing one than about what Damon did to him although I’m sure he resents the fact that Katherine ‘chose’ to turn Damon while he was just a by product. He also feels responsible for all of Damon’s killings over the years and of course his own father’s death which I guess is the biggest blow to his will. While Damon plainly has a reason to hold a grudge against Stefan – Stefan turned him completely, against his will.
Back in the present day Mystic falls Stefan ends up spilling his guts to Elena. Stefan is consumed by self-hatred and decides to put an end to his own life. He walks out under sunlight without his ring… Elena soon finds him and convinces him not to go through with his plan. There were several conversations that I really liked at this point… They were very insightful! Damon later tells Stefan: “You brood too much… My actions, they belong to me. I own them.” I love the depth that such dialogues add to characters!
What’s even more interesting with the development of this new dimension is that Damon is somehow becoming more and more human while Stefan is taking over the beast role. I wonder if this new information about Stefan will end up changing things with him and Elena. I suppose no one missed the scene in which Damon casually sits on the couch and puts Elena’s feet on his lap…
Things changed drastically in other storylines as well. I guess Anna’s not going to take very well to losing her mother all over again. We find out that John is in control of the vampires that escaped from the tomb. He also ends up staking Pearl who later dies in Harper’s arms. John subsequently escapes and places a call to the Sheriff saying he has some useful information about the vampires in Mystic Falls. And here’s another shocker: Isobel is back in town!

The Vampire Diaries Season 1, Ep. 19 “Miss Mystic Falls”

This episode titled ‘Miss Mystic Falls’ may have started out slow but it soon geared up to its usual pace and style. In fact, I thought this week’s episode was exceptional in how it portrayed Stefan’s addiction and struggle. I must say Paul Wesley slipped into the scary vampire character flawlessly! It was rather interesting to watch the Salvatore brothers playing reverse roles in this one… with Stefan being the fun-loving scary vamp and Damon being the responsible one!

So Elena confronts Stefan who tries his best to convince Elena that he’s fine but in vain. He leaves the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant in a huff and on the way convinces Amber to go with him. Now this is one of the things I like most about Vampire Diaries. Unlike other TV shows that just don’t let their hero character go too far in the wrong, Vampire Diaries boldly crosses that line! Stefan takes Amber with him into the woods and bites her!

So let’s recap. Earlier on in the show Uncle John tells Damon what he’s really after – an invention that the actual John Gilbert had created. He goes on to ask Damon if he knows a vampire named Pearl who might know a thing or two about the invention’s whereabouts. But just as soon as Uncle John asks about Pearl, Damon gets a clue that he’s full of crap. So Damon tells him just that and says if John really knew Katherine then he would’ve known that Pearl was her best friend. So Damon throw John out and even threatens to kill every member of the founder’s family if he told anyone about his identity.
And this week, Pearl approaches Damon trying to make peace and remain in Mystic Falls. As a peace offering she gives Damon one of John Gilbert’s inventions! She says she stole it a while ago thinking it was the vampire finder he had invented, but it wasn’t. So, do you think this is the same invention that Uncle John was after? I’m pretty sure it is…
In the main storyline, it turns out that Stefan has more of a drinking problem than he let on last week. Damon finds out that Stefan was the one responsible for the blood banks running dry and also that he has been lying to Elena about his problem. Damon tries to help his brother by keeping this to himself but ends up spilling the beans to Elena when it all gets too much for him to handle.
When Elena and Damon realize Amber has gone missing they go looking for her and fins Stefan feeding on her in the woods. They try to scare him off but to no avail… as viewers wonder if Stefan will actually kill Amber, in comes Bonnie with a new haircut and a whole new attitude. It’s good to have Bonnie back on the show… I actually started missing the witch’s storyline. So Bonnie uses her powers to finally drive Stefan away.
Elena then follows Stefan home and tries to tell him she can help him in vain. She then has no choice but to trick Stefan and inject him with a vervain filled dart. Damon then carries him down to the basement where they lock him in and hope this would help him get off human blood.
In other storylines, Anna and Jeremy get closer as Jeremy tells her he knows the secrets of Mystic Falls. And Anna admits that she has feelings for Jeremy. Anna also tells Damon later on that all the vampires (except Harper) from the tomb were kicked out of their house… well, I sure hope they come back at some later point in the show. It’ll be quite lame if the past week’s villains were so easily written off.