The Night of the Comet

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Marcos Siega

**The Night of the Comet** is the second episode of the first season of *The Vampire Diaries* and the second episode of the series overall.

## Summary

**ALEX MEETS DAMON AND LEARNS ABOUT STEFAN'S PAST LOVE** — As Mystic Falls prepares for a festival to celebrate the passing of a comet, Vicki is in the hospital recovering from the attack that she can barely remember. Stefan goes to the hospital and tries to use his abilities to make sure Vicki doesn't remember what really happened, his attempt is cut short when Vicki’s brother Matt arrives. Jeremy continues to struggle at school and with his feelings for Vicki. At a parent-teacher conference, Mr. Tanner makes Jenna feel that she is failing as a surrogate parent, especially when it comes to Jeremy. Alex decides to go to the Salvatore house to meet Stefan, but finds his charming brother Damon instead. Damon reveals some surprising information about Stefan’s past and when Stefan arrives home, Alex is confused and embarrassed when she realizes that he isn't happy to see her there. Meanwhile, Vicki’s memory of the attack begins to come back to her.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Nina Dobrev as Alexandria Gilbert
* Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert
* Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore
* Ian Somerhalder as Damon 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

### Recurring Cast

* Chris William Martin as Zach Salvatore
* Benjamin Ayres as William Tanner

### Co-Starring

* Peyton Lee as Guy
* Elizabeth Lynn Hingley as Girl

### Uncredited

* Terri James as Nurse Haynes
* Sapphire as Nurse Taking Blood from Patient

## Trivia

* Antagonist: Damon Salvatore.
* This was the first episode to show witch powers used, not counting Bonnie's vision in the *Pilot* episode.
* This episode establishes that it's the third day school by Mr. Tanner telling Jenna that it's only the third day school and Jeremy has already skipped classes and gotten into trouble.
	+ This indicates that the episode takes place on September 10, 2009. The same date as the series premiere.
* The "previously" sequence hints at Alex and Stefan's first encounter when he saved her and her sister after their parents' car went over Wickery Bridge. After Alex tells Stefan that they have history class together, it cuts to her revealing her parents' accident and how she survived.
* Compulsion is used for the first time in the series, by both Stefan and Damon on Vicki following her attack.
	+ It's revealed that if a vampire isn't strong enough, particularly if they do not partake in drinking human blood, then their compulsion and other vampire abilities will not work properly.
* Alex and Stefan have their first kiss in this episode.
* Alex and Damon meet for the second time at the Salvatore Boarding House, though as far as Alex is concerned this is their first meeting.
	+ It's revealed in a flashback in the *The Departed*, that they first met the night that Alex's parents died, (May 23, 2009), right before they got into their car accident.
* All main characters were present in this episode.
* Damon begins his abusive relationship with Caroline in this episode.
	+ He also demonstrated questionable behavior when he purposely scared Vicki with the intention of manipulating his brother into feeding on her. However, Stefan called his bluff, and Damon compelled Vicki to forget their encounter. After the debacle, Damon claims he is going to stay in town for a while.

## Locations

Mystic Falls, Virginia

* The Woods
* Gilbert House
* Salvatore Boarding House
* Mystic Falls Hospital
* Mystic Falls High School
* Mystic Grill
* Town Square
* Forbes House

## Body Count

* Unknown Couple - drained of blood, killed by Damon Salvatore.

## Production Notes

* Although credited as "co-starring" in *Pilot*, Benjamin Ayres (William Tanner) is credited from this episode onwards as "guest starring".

## Cultural References

* Night of the Comet, a 1984 zombie apocalypse B-movie.
* Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë's only novel, originally published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell.

## Continuity

* Although she was unseen until *Bloodlines*, Anna arrives in town in this episode.
* Elena meets Damon for the second time. The first time was just a few hours before her parents were killed in the car accident. Damon compelled her to forget their first meeting.
	+ As shown in *The Departed*, Elena believed that this was this first time she ever met Damon until *Growing Pains* during her transition, when everything she had been compelled to forget had returned to her memory.
* Kelly Donovan, Matt and Vicki's mother, is mentioned for the first time in this episode.
	+ She first appears in *A Few Good Men*.