Well, I’m going to go out on a limb here. With ‘creatures of the night’ being all the rage nowadays thanks to Stephenie Meyer and her band of wacky, glittery vamps and muscle-toned, shirtless werewolves, the last thing I wanted to see was another teenage angst ridden vampire story. I avoided both the books and the TV series of “The Vampire Diaries” like the plague. I had my fill of the “Twilight” books and movies and figured that I would just be in for more of the same. BUT… I received the Bluray set for the first season of “The Vampire Diaries” and opted to give it a try… and I am SO glad I did. I was hesitant, as I mentioned, having heard a few things about the series that weren’t too promising. Then add in the fact that it was overseen by Kevin Williamson and I expected “Dawson’s Creek” with fangs. And admittedly, the first couple of episodes gave me the impression that it might go that way, but once you get past the third episode… all bets are off.

The series looked great, was very well-written and the characters weren’t as one dimensional as those from earlier Williamson projects or Meyer’s “Twilight” denizens. These vamps are interesting, and their relationships and actions… sometimes downright shocking.

“The Vampire Diaries” Introduces us to Mystic Falls, Virgina and one Elena Gilbert. Elena’s life of late, kept up to date in her diaries, hasn’t been the best. When we meet her, she has already lost both her parents and is on the verge of losing her little brother to drugs as he tries to face the loss his own way. Elena has regressed from life, her friends and anything positive. Enter Stefan (Paul Wesley), a 150 year old vampire who, as an eternally young 17 returns to Mystic Falls and enrolls in school in order to lead a ‘normal’ life. He has suffered his own losses over the years and is as much introverted as Elena. When the two meet, sparks smolder.

I know that so far this sounds alls sappy and soap opera-ey but surprisingly “The Vampire Diaries”, while a dark soap opera at heart, doesn’t succumb to a lot of the trappings that make most shows in the genre fail. Once past the point of the first couple of episodes, a lot of the audience induced eye-rolling starts to fade. The storyline begins to move at a fast pace, especially revolving around the entrance of Stefan’s brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder). While Stefan prefers to feed off of the animals around him, Stefan prefers human blood and doesn’t hesitate to snatch it without warning. Somerhalder’s performance in this series is absolutely mesmerizing. Where he was a rather weak lead in “Lost”, here he almost steals the show as the ‘evil’ in the town.

Not to sell anyone short, the entire cast is very strong in this series which only lends itself to the above par writing. Make no mistake, the series is not silly. It is not campy. It’s not even necessarily scary. But it is… interesting. And as much as I didn’t want to even watch a single episode, I am now clamoring for more and was glad to hear it made it to a 2nd season.

Warner Brother’s Bluray release of the 1st season looks and sounds terrific. The video is nearly flawless and accentuates the cinematography. The colors are vibrant when necessary and cool and creepy at other times. The audio was a bit of a surprise, as it really took over our sound system. The mix of music, ambient sounds and dialogue was perfect and actually shook the walls a few times.

Special features abound her as well, one of which was an especially nice addition. This of course… was the .mp4 audiobook of the first book of the series on which the show was based “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening.” I love audiobooks, and downloaded it to my iPod right away. Haven’t listened yet, but I have an extended car ride coming up. Features include commentary by the creative team of Williamson, Julie Plec and Marcos Siega. Most of their discussion is technical in nature so it will appeal to the techo-geeks out there. There are also some deleted scenes, which as usual I can take or leave. Much better are “Into Mystic Falls”, which covers pretty much everything about how the series came to be and “When Vampires Don’t Suck” which focuses more on the fans of the books and series. “A Darker Truth” is made up of a series of webisodes… these were a bad idea. Poorly created and executed… skip them. Additionally, there is a feature on the casting of the series which includes some audition tapes, a quick take on the rules of vampires according to “Vampire Diaries”, and a short Gag Reel.

Ultimately, I’m sure there will be those who won’t give “The Vampire Diaries” a try. I would have been one of them, but am glad I took the plunge.

Episodes:
Pilot
The Night of the Comet
Friday Night Bites
Familty Ties
You’re Undead to Me
Lost Girls
Haunted
162 Candles
History Repeating
The Turning Point
Bloodlines
Unpleasantville
Children of the Damned
Fool Me Once
A Few Good Men
There Goes the Neighborhood
Let the Right One In
Under Control
Miss Mystic Falls
Blood Brothers
Isobel
Founder’s Day

Starring: Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Katherine Pierce, Paul Wesley, Matthew Davis
Extras: Into Mystic Falls; When Vampires Don’t Suck!; A New Breed of Vampires; Unaired Scenes; Vampires 101; Pilot Commentary; A Darker Truth Webisodes; Gag Reel; Downloadable Audiobook of the Novel “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L.J. Smith.
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 8/31/2010
MPAA Rating: NR
http://www.wbtvondvd.com

We'll give The Vampire Diaries: Season 1 (Bluray) an A.