Pilot

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Marcos Siega

**Pilot** is the first episode of the first season of *The Vampire Diaries* and the first episode of the series overall.

## Summary

**DESIRE, HEARTBREAK, ENVY, REDEMPTION, FEAR, AND RAGE, BEGINS NOW** — Four months after the car accident that killed their parents, Elena and Alex Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and their younger brother, Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), are still trying to move on with their lives. As the school year begins, Alex is intrigued by a handsome and mysterious new student named Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), who came from another school alongside his brother, Theo Salvatore (Cody Christian); and the two are immediately drawn to one another, with Stefan not knowing Alex knows about him and his brothers and that he is a vampire. When Stefan and Theo's older brother, Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), arrives in Mystic Falls, an old rivalry between the three is awakened that could be the ruin of Alex and Elena and the town. Sara Canning, Katerina Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Kayla Ewell, and Michael Trevino also star.

## Cast

* Main Cast
* Guest Cast
* Co-Starring
* Uncredited

* Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert/Alex Gilbert
* Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore
* Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore
* Cody Christian as Theo Salvatore
* Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert
* Sara Canning as Jenna Sommers
* Katerina Graham as Bonnie Bennett
* Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes
* Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan
* Kayla Ewell as Vicki Donovan
* Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood

* Chris William Martin as Zach Salvatore

* Steve Belford as Darren Malloy
* Cindy Busby as Brooke Fenton
* Benjamin Ayres as William Tanner
* Marci T. House as Mrs. Clarke
* Wesley R. MacInnes as Peeing Guy #1
* Curtis Lum as Peeing Guy #2

* Rhys Williams as Student

## Trivia

* This is the pilot/first episode of *The Vampire Diaries*.
* Antagonist: Damon Salvatore.
	+ This episode marks the first time a main character is an antagonist.
* Alex and Damon share no scenes in this episode.
* Darren Malloy and Brooke Fenton are the first characters to be seen in the series and first characters to be killed on the show. Their names appear on the television behind Elena in a news broadcast.
* Brooke Fenton appears to be carried off, suggesting her attacker had limited flight.
	+ This is a supernatural ability that vampires no longer have, though they do have the strength and ability to jump extremely high.
* This is the first episode to feature all main characters.
* The main characters are introduced in the following order Damon, Stefan, Theo, Alex, Elena, Jenna, Jeremy, Tyler, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, and Vicki.
* According to Alex's phone when she's reading Bonnie's text, the date displayed on the phone says September 7, 2009, which is a Monday. Thus the first episode takes place over a three day period, September 6–8, 2009.
* The front door of Alex's house has a window in it only in this episode because filming of the series moved from Vancouver, Canada (where the pilot was filmed) to Atlanta, Georgia (for the rest of the series thus far).
* 935 is the house number of the Gilbert House.
* Nina Dobrev portrayed Katherine in this episode, but only in a photograph; she doesn't actually appear as Katherine for the first time in flashbacks until *Lost Girls*.
* This is the first episode of the first chapter of Season One, **The Vicki Chapter**.
* In this episode, it is revealed that the car accident that killed Elena and Alex's parents occurred four months prior.
* In this episode, Damon uses a crow to spy on Alex. However, we don't ever see this event happen again and was only used in the first episode.