The Vampire Diaries Review: The Old College Die

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Forget the Freshman 15. The Vampire Diaries Season 5 premiere introduced viewers to the Freshman Fif... SCREAM!

Indeed, "I Know What You Did Last Summer" took Caroline, Elena and millions of fans to Whitmore College, a university where the only thing more dangerous than the dining hall lunch is being roommates with two secret blood suckers.

What do we make of Megan's demise? How awesome is Paul Wesley as Silas? How hilarious will Jeremy and Damon be as roommates?

With the countdown to TVD's return finally over, let's answer all these questions and pose many more in the following countup. Come along and join me, won't you? I promise it'll be safer than a Mystic Falls town square celebration...

Ready to Move In

ONE: The number of threesomes depicted in the episode's opening few minutes. Damn, Matt! You go, boy!

Of course, there may truly be no such thing as safe sex, not when it involves a mysterious European woman named Nadia who then shows back up in Mystic Falls to return your magic ring and help knock you out because... who the heck knows why?!? But isn't it refreshing to see Matt get some action? Both of the screen variety and the HAWT bedroom variety?

TWO: The number of deaths on the premiere. Yes, Mayor Bennett's was more emotional, as it's hard enough to imagine losing one's father and even harder still to imagine losing one's father when you're a ghost and no one can hear you scream or be a shoulder for you to cry on. But we barely knew the Mayor himself. His arrival was almost comical, with Bonnie's dad just showing up out of nowhere and somehow being elected to high office.

So it's Megan's death that is truly most interesting. Why was there Vervain in her water bottle? Did her killer put it there? Did she put it there? And who is her killer? And is the campus police covering up the murder? And how in the world is Elena's father tangled up in all of this? Lots of questions. Lots of place for this storyline to go.

THREE: The number of months that went by since events on The Vampire Diaries Season 4 finale in May went down. Stefan is still stuck under water (and help me on this one, TVD Fanatics: Is Damon subconsciously encouraging him to turn off his humanity so he can escape? Or just so he can stop feeling pain down there?)... we know where Matt spent his time (ooohhh, yeah!)... Bonnie was supposedly traveling the world (and pretending to still exist, via emails through Jeremy)... and Delena?

They have been going very, very, very, VERY strong. We're talking sex-all-throughout-the-house and dropping the L Word to each other strong. Is it everything you ever wanted and more, Delena fans? Let's just hope the writers keep these two together. There's been enough back and forth in the past. No more wavering over Stefan and no new college upperclassman to steal away Elena's attention, please. She has enough to worry about at Whitmore with that whole my-roommate-was-murdered thing going on.

And also Psych 101. That class can be tough. 

SEVENTEEN: The number of small appliances Caroline can apparently fit into the world's biggest dorm room. My goodness! And I thought the kids on Saved By the Bell: The College Years had it lucky.

FIVE: The number of times I marveled at Wesley's depiction of Silas. Approximately. The actor has said many times in the past - including to TV Fanatic - that he embraces a chance to play a darker role and it really is clear by the way he oozes charisma and shadiness as Silas. You can just see a satisfied glint in the star's eye that he's getting a break from playing his typically moral, upstanding character of Stefan Salvatore.

SIX: The number of questions I have coming out of a strong premiere:

  1. When will we see Tyler again? And what has he really been up to out there?
  2. What's the deal with Jesse? Anything aside from having an (understandable) attraction to Caroline?
  3. Why is Silas seeking out Katherine?
  4. How are the chores doled out in Casa Salvatore now? Does Jeremy take out the garbage and Damon do the dishes?
  5. How did Elena's father know Megan and what is Mr. Gilbert's connection to her death?
  6. Seriously, what does Nadia want?!?

Overall, a very entertaining opening episode. The Vampire Diaries Season 5 has a fresh feel to it, with plenty of new territory to mine at Whitmore, Delena as a certified couple and Silas as a fun, threatening villain.

What did everyone else think? Make like a college professor and grade the premiere now:

I Know What You Did Last Summer Review

Editor Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.2 / 5.0 (907 Votes)

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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The Vampire Diaries Season 5 Episode 1 Quotes

That pit is called guilt. You feel terrible because you broke Stefan's heart. And that nagging feeling is your brain waking up to tell you that you've made a horrible, yet completely reversible, mistake.

Caroline

You brought a panini press?

Elena [to Caroline]