by Amanda Hanes

Created on: November 21, 2009   Last Updated: November 22, 2009

Over the past five years, the world of mythology has captivated teenagers everywhere. The most recent of these fascinations is the new hit television series, The Vampire Diaries. Based on a book series of the same name by bestselling author LJ Smith, the series follows two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore (played by Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder respectively) and their shared love interest, the beautiful human girl, Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev). Now, before you roll your eyes and start your list of Twilight similarities, just relax. It has some parallels, but it is its own series.

Let's take a look at the vampire presence. We have the Salvatore brothers. They are considered "Day Walkers" because with the help of their special rings, they can walk around in the sun. Without them, however, they will turn to dust. Damon turned Vicki into a vampire, however, she died shortly after when Stefan staked her for attacking Elena. We have also met Logan, a TV personality who was turned into a vampire sometime after Damon attacked him. We have not found out for sure who turned him, but he is now dead thanks to another vampire in the series, Alaric Saltzman. Alaric also wears a ring like the Salvatore brothers, however, it doesn't appear the Salvatore's know him. The other vampire in the series so far is Lexy. She was only around for one episode and was said to be over 300 years old, and the oldest friend of Stefan. Lexy's existence comes to an end when Damon kills her as part of his master plan to keep the vampire hunting town folks away from him and his brother.

It turns out that witch as joined the ranks as well. Bonnie, best friend to Elena has discovered her heritage as a decendent from a long line of witches. Will we be seeing werewolves soon? I think it's possible, but so far nothing has been confirmed.

Now, the relationship between Stefan and Elena has shifted over the length of the series. First they liked each other, then Elena became scared when she learned Stefan was a vampire and told him to stay away from her. Eventually they found themselves together again, only for Stefan to decide that he is too dangerous for Elena to be around and walked away from her. Now, Elena has confessed that she loves Stefan and they spent a romantic night together, however, when Elena finds a picture of Stefan's mysterious former lover, who looks just like her, she becomes upset and takes off.

It will be interesting to see where the series heads after this. We have a couple weeks to wait before they play the season finale, but I will be waiting. Do I enjoy the show? Immensely. Is it a Twilight ripoff? No, I find it a lot better than Twilight. Will I watch it again next season? Definitely!

The show is geared towards the teenage audience, but the characters are dark, and that can appeal to anyone.

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