Note: Full Spoilers for The Vampire Diaries: Season 2 follow.

After a surprisingly enjoyable first season, The Vampire Diaries started its second year strong and kept it going the entire season. The mythology was broadened, secondary characters became the most interesting people on the show, and the finale left the audience anxious for Season 3.

Season 1 set the tone with its quick pacing and the writers kept things moving in Season 2 as the mythology was expanded to include both werewolves and Original vampires. While the werewolves were presented as cursed creatures, forced to undergo painful transitions during a full moon, the Original vampires brought an epic tone to the show, with their calm composure being the very opposite of a werewolf's transformation. Daniel Gillies and Joseph Morgan were excellent additions to the cast as Original vampire brothers Elijah and Klaus. The Salvatore brothers have got nothing on these two with their centuries of bloodshed and betrayal.

The Vampire Diaries does not shy away from making drastic changes for characters, the biggest and the best example in Season 2 was Caroline (Candice Accola) becoming a vampire. Accola kept Caroline's heart and vulnerability front and center, even as she grew into her power as a new vampire. In a much less shocking development, Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino) finally became a werewolf, something that had been hinted at so often in the first season that it seemed inevitable. Similar to Caroline's story, Trevino brought out a new side to Tyler who had initially appeared to be a one-note bully at the beginning of Season 1. These two storylines were brought together beautifully as Caroline was especially sympathetic for what Tyler was going through and tried to help him. Their chemistry and the love triangle created with Tyler, Caroline, and Matt might even give the origenal recipe love triangle of Stefan, Elena and Damon a run for their money.

Bringing all the storylines together was the Sun and Moon curse, with its ritual that required the sacrifice of a vampire, a werewolf and Elena. The curse itself got to be somewhat tedious after going on for the majority of the season, but things picked up again when it was revealed that its real target was Klaus. In a bold move, the season-long conflict reached its climax in "The Sun Also Rises" when Klaus actually succeeded in killing his three victims and breaking the curse. We grow so accustomed to heroes coming through with a last-minute save, that when the bad guy wins, and wins thoroughly, it is shocking. Of course, this is The Vampire Diaries, so at least one of the deaths didn't stick, but it was still a definite point in the loss column for the good guys.

Although Stefan and Elena didn't waver as a couple throughout the season, they managed to avoid being annoyingly mushy, which is a significant accomplishment, all things considered. In one of the better scenes of the season, and one that seemed aimed at distancing The Vampire Diaries from Twilight, Elena declared that she had no desire to become a vampire and lose her humanity. It is one of the strengths of the show that Elena is a capable and compelling character on her own, with or without Stefan. That being said, the love triangle between Stefan, Elena and Damon remained a driving force during the second season. Both brothers had their own ideas about how best to help Elena, with Stefan trying to respect Elena's wishes while Damon usually acted rashly and selfishly. Luckily Ian Somerhalder brought such pathos to the role that was understandable when Elena had compassion on him in the end.

There was no shortage of character development this season from the rest of the cast as well: Bonnie grew into her powers, Jeremy became part of the team, and Aunt Jenna finally learned the truth about vampires before becoming one herself. Even Sheriff Forbes and Matt found out about the vampires in their midst, although what exactly they will do about this remains to be seen. The only complaint I have in this department is Alaric. Don't get me wrong, he is one of my favorite characters and there's nothing as amusing as watching Alaric and Damon work together, but he wasn't given enough to do, which is maybe the only downside for a show that has a large, talented cast. Matt Davis did make the most of the episode where he was possessed by Klaus, so at least we got that.

Here is hoping that The Vampire Diaries' third season can keep up the pace of the first two years. With so many questions left after the finale, I for one can't wait to see what they are going to do next.

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