What do you do when you’ve lived for over a century, done all the mistakes imaginable and now suddenly, you find yourself dying?
How do you absolve your mistakes and ask forgiveness from the people you love most, whom you have hurt deeply? What exactly does a man do knowing he’s about to die?
This is the theme of the season two finale of The Vampire Diaries.

Taking it a notch down from the epic penultimate episode, The Sun Also Rises, this episode, grimly titled As I Lay Dying, is almost as epic – albeit being totally different. Leaving most of the supernatural elements to the previous episodes, the creators chose to make As I Lay Dying an episode about the redemptive power of love, regret, strength and courage. It is heartfelt, it seeks closure and at the same time opens up some of the wounds the show’s characters have been trying to hide for many years.

All of the story-lines are well-developed, in pure Vampire Diaries fashion. I would have liked to see some more stuff going on (maybe extending the episode beyond the one hour mark) but that’s just greedy me talking.

There is no other show that does cliffhangers better than The Vampire Diaries. And this season’s cliffhanger is almost as awesome as season one’s finale. It was absolutely smashing. Not only will it leave you in shock, it will also instill the feeling inside you of “how the hell am I supposed to wait till September for this?” It actually makes one of the less important characters vital for next season!

But wait is all we can do. The Vampire Diaries is not perfect. But the speed with which this show moves is what keeps you immersed, add to that the highly interesting storyline. Season three of The Vampire Diaries is said to be the “year of the originals” and this episode sets the mood for that. And let me tell you this, it will be one brilliant season! Don’t let the feeling of wanting something to happen and it not happening deter you from enjoying this awesome TV show.