Courtesy of the CW

When “The Vampire Diaries” premiered last fall, I just thought it was another show capitalizing on the “Twilight” craze. I was wrong. “The Vampire Diaries” turned out to be great. It is a fresh and realistic teenage show … that just happens to star vampires. Last Thursday’s season two premiere picked up right where last season ended in time, tone and quality.

The show focuses on Elena, a high school student who lives with her aunt and her brother, Jeremy. Last season, Elena fell in love with Stefan Salvatore, a fellow student who happened to be a vampire. Damon, Stefan’s evil brother, always made mischief for the pair while harboring feelings for Elena. The season finale heightened tensions when a bloodbath killed most of the (non-essential) vampires in town. The return of Katherine, Elena’s evil vampire doppelgänger, also raised the stakes, especially when she kissed Damon while pretending to be Elena.

A few more plot points were left dangling. In the season finale, Jeremy attempted to turn himself into a vampire to turn off his pain. We were left all summer wondering if he would wake up dead. The premiere answers this question by dangling Jeremy’s life in balance, only to end the query in a way no one could expect.

At the town mayor’s wake, Katherine tries to fool everyone into believing she is Elena, but does not succeed. Stefan and Damon can tell the difference between their past and present loves, and Bonnie, Elena’s best friend and a powerful witch, figures it out as well. Late in the episode, Katherine reveals that she has come back for Stefan, her one true love.

Elena rejects Damon after he realizes she was not the one who kissed him, and Katherine rejects him, as well. This leads him on a path to self-destruction. He drunkenly decides to stop feeling to escape his pain, and after confronting Elena, snaps her brother’s neck. Luckily, Jeremy had a magical talisman that saved him, but the event brings Elena to hate Damon. The new dynamic between Elena and the vampire brothers will change around the show, but in a good way.

Katherine declares war against the Salvatores by turning one of Elena’s best friends into a vampire, leading the second season in an unexpected direction.

Nina Dobrev plays the roles of both Katherine and Elena beautifully, changing her performance quite a bit between the two. Ian Somerhalter has to play a new side this season as Damon but should excel. Paul Wesley must turn Stefan into more of a rebel this season, and the actor is taking on this challenge nicely. The second season of “The Vampire Diaries” will be darker than the last, but with the twists and turns the premiere provided, this season guarantees to be quite the ride.