Give it a shot; you will not be disappointed!

My initial reaction was, "Oh, this is yet another Twilight rip-off."

The Reality: Twilight is the one who plagiarizes THIS series.

The Absolute Truth: This show is incomparably superior to Twilight, and no, I'm not joking.

The story is just what you'd expect. Elena (Nina Dobrev) is a high school student who falls in love with Stefan (Paul Wesley), who happens to be a vampire (sounds familiar?). Damon, Stefan's troublesome vampire brother, is added later (Ian Somerhalder). Damon is also drawn to Elena, resulting in a love triangle that will play out over the rest of the season.

Of course, that is just a portion of the story. Werewolves, hunters, witches, and even more powerful await in future episodes, ensuring that this is one nail-biting show.

The acting is also above average, just not good enough to convince you that the actors are high school "teenagers."

Give it a shot, in my opinion. The first few episodes are sluggish, but that's true of a lot of great TV shows. As the plot thickens, this show will keep you on the edge of your seat each week.

The most important thing to note about this show is that the first four episodes seem to be meaningless, with cheap thrills, romance, and teen drama dominating. Then something magical happens: curiosity creeps up behind the scenes and latches on without the viewer's knowledge. By the fourth episode, several plot lines have picked up and taken off, and a seemingly insignificant incident has suddenly become significant. This is a good example. This is a show that takes chances: characters die unexpectedly, stories that seemed to go on forever are cut short after just a few episodes, and characters do and encounter things they never imagined possible. Even better, no character is completely dislikeable. Everyone in the huge ensemble cast has a story and a three-dimensional structure, and even if the audience doesn't like a character, he or she has a story and a three-dimensional structure.

The script is fantastic; it's packed with thrilling and unexpected plot twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat and gasping for the next episode.

Unfortunately, it is judged solely on the basis of its title;and therefore dismissed, but I strongly encourage you to give this show a chance.

Last Thoughts: This is one of my favorite television shows. 9 out of 10