Pilot (10 Sep. 2009)

In the small town of Mystic Falls, teenager Elena Gilbert and her younger brother, Jeremy, struggle to come to terms with the recent death of their parents. Elena is popular amongst her ... See full summary »

Director:

Marcos Siega

Writers:

Kevin Williamson (teleplay), L.J. Smith (book),

Stars:

Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Nina Dobrev	...	Elena Gilbert
Paul Wesley	...	Stefan Salvatore
Ian Somerhalder	...	Damon Salvatore
Steven R. McQueen	...	Jeremy Gilbert
Sara Canning	...	Jenna Sommers
Kat Graham	...	Bonnie Bennett (as Katerina Graham)
Candice Accola	...	Caroline Forbes
Zach Roerig	...	Matt Donovan
Kayla Ewell	...	Vicki Donovan
Michael Trevino	...	Tyler Lockwood
Chris William Martin	...	Zach Salvatore
Steve Belford	...	Darren Malloy
Cindy Busby	...	Brooke Fenton
Benjamin Ayres	...	William Tanner
Marci T. House	...	Mrs. Clarke

Storyline

In the small town of Mystic Falls, teenager Elena Gilbert and her younger brother, Jeremy, struggle to come to terms with the recent death of their parents. Elena is popular amongst her peers and the perfect straight-A student. However, she has difficulties hiding her grief from the world. Meanwhile, Jeremy treads on a dangerous path of using drugs to ease his pain. The arrival of new student Stefan Salvatore, makes Elena think about romantic possibilities. Elena is unaware about Stefan's mysterious origins as well as his brother Damon.

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Plot Keywords:

small town | bar | psychic girl | interracial friendship | murder

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 September 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Templeton Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alloy Entertainment, Outerbanks Entertainment, Bonanza Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the only episode shot in Vancouver, the rest of the show has been filmed in Georgia.

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Goofs

During the history class when they are talking about he Battle of Willow Creek the blackboard says the battle was in 1865, but throughout the rest of the show it is always said that it happened in 1864.

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Quotes

Caroline Forbes: His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with his uncle up at the old Salvatore boarding house. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini and his favorite color is blue.
Bonnie Bennett: You got all of that in one day?
Caroline Forbes: Oh, please. I got all of that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding.

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Connections

References The Birds (1963)

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Soundtracks

"Say (All I Need)"
(uncredited)
Performed by OneRepublic

User Reviews

Truly the worst episode of the series.

The Vampire Diaries seems to be a show that gets better along the way. The Beginning of season 1 was mediocre. The second half was good, showing true potential. The second season was great. And so far the third season is even better.

And, oh dear god, was it ever bad at the beginning.

The first episode is crammed with bad acting, cheesy dialogue, interactions, writing, special effects, etc. Full of clichés. The characters are mostly all annoying or at least you don't care about them. The acting is wooden a lot of the time. It resembles 90210 more than it resembles a Vampire/Horror show.

Good News: It only gets better from here. The acting does get better, you start to actually care for most of the characters, clichés and cheesy things are thrown out almost immediately (like the fog and the bird...) and the story lines become less simple and more intricate.