The Vampire Diaries Season 1 Ep 1

4/8 Best scene: Stefan saves Elena from a car crash using vampire speed. She asks “How did you do that?” He says “I don’t know.” Sir. You’re lying.

Dobrev’s Elena is not a damsel. She’s a grieving honors student trying to hold her life together. She fights with her aunt, harbors guilt over being the sole survivor of the car crash, and writes in her journal as a form of therapy. In lesser hands, Elena could have been a passive love interest. Instead, the pilot gives her agency: she confronts Stefan about his mysterious behavior, she stands up to her ex-boyfriend Tyler Lockwood, and she refuses to be pitied. The Vampire Diaries Season 1 Ep 1

Continuity and future implications