Vampire Diaries a guilty pleasure

Vampire Diaries a guilty pleasure

The Vampire Diaries consistently surprises, with enough twists and turns in one hour to fill half a season of Lost. And, most important, viewers are rewarded with actual answers. Plot lines don't take weeks to play out and fundamental questions are answered regularly, even as new ones are posed.

The show is built around three characters in a dangerous, ever-complicated love triangle: twin vampire brothers Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley); and Canadian actress Nina Dobrev as Elena, a young woman unintentionally drawn into the world of the undead.

The Salvatores were both initially attracted to Elena because she looked identical to Katherine, their vampire lover from their own mortal days. Katherine's sensual, violent appearance in the closing minutes of last season's finale provides the cornerstone for Season 2.

The episode picks up right where last year's closer left off -- mere moments after the shock-filled finale, as Elena comes home to learn the grisly fates of her uncle (brutally attacked by Katherine, pretending to be Elena) and her brother Jeremy.

The Vampire Diaries is not the best show on television, and is, admittedly, a guilty pleasure. It will never have True Blood's critical respect or the fan base of Twilight, but it might be the most satisfying of them all to sink your teeth into.