It's been hard for admirers of Elena Gilbert's witchy friend Bonnie on 'The Vampire Diaries.' Sometimes the stern but loving sidekick will take front and center, but frequently -- like, say, the middle-to-end of the show's first season -- little Bonnie Bennett gets put on the backburner. We spoke with Katerina Graham, who plays Bonnie, last week, and she assured us that her character will be involved in many of season 2's storylines. "She'll play a pivotal role throughout the season," Graham told us.

Of course, Bonnie played a major part in last season's finale when she pretended to un-enchant a magical device that would harm vampires. Instead, some major death and destruction went down. Read on to find out what Graham had to say about Bonnie's betrayal of Elena, working with Jasmine Guy and choosing between Team Stefan and Team Damon.

February is Black History Month, and what better way to celebrate than to pay tribute to television's brightest young African-American actors.

Most of you are already fans of critically acclaimed vets like Chandra Wilson ('Grey's Anatomy'), Anthony Anderson ('Law & Order') and Regina King ('Southland'), but there is a new wave of up-and-coming black stars ready to make their mark. Here are 12 of our favorites. Who are yours?

(S01E10) "Too bad I live alone. I'm at the Ramada watching pay-per-view all day eating everything in sight, including the housekeeping." - Logan, since there's no one at his home to invite him in

As you can see, I'm a little crazy for Paul Wesley and all those muscles, so there ya go. Here's another one, in case you missed last week's episode, "History Repeating." He shows more and more skin with each episode.

We got lots more action and intrigue in this episode, involving Logan, the Sheriff, Caroline and of course, Elena, Damon and Stefan. And they certainly couldn't let the vampires-in-the-church storyline just drop, could they? Of course not. More after the jump.

(S01E08) "It's not every day a guy turns 162 years old." - Lexi to Stefan on his birthday

What?! Nooooo! They keep bringing in these great characters and then killing them off! Hopefully, they're just stashing the bodies somewhere for a mass resurrection at some point. And, by the way, I totally did not see that coming.

The Vampire Diaries started out great and continues to get better each week. It's so beautifully dark and gloomy. I love the Salvatore's gothic digs, and Stefan is showing considerable restraint at not offing his bad, bad brother Damon.

(S01E07) "So she's a vampire with issues?" - Elena to Stefan about Vicki

Well! In case you haven't watched this week's episode yet, I'll save the big spoiler for after the jump. Suffice to say that things are jumping in The Vampire Diaries, and for some characters, that's not necessarily a good thing.

I continue to love the show and look forward to it every week (and was seriously bummed when it wasn't on last week!). In a sea of mediocre new shows (well, mediocre to me anyway), that IS a good thing.

(S01E06) "Everything you know and every belief that you have is about to change. Are you ready for that?" - Stefan to Elena

And to finish that thought ... "I'm a vampire." So Elena knows now; no more speculating or wondering. My first thought was that Elena knows that Stefan is a good vampire. He even races to tell her: "I would never hurt you. You're safe with me." So why is she so freaked out? Because he's a vampire, of course, and who wouldn't be freaked out by that?

I'm loving The Vampire Diaries.

(S01E05) "I'm not going to be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy." - Elena to Jenna, about Stefan

Ok, well, we'll see about that. Something tells me that by the next episode or two, Elena's world will indeed stop spinning. And then start spinning wildly out of control. She already knows something's up. She already knows in the darkest part of her heart that Stefan is a vampire. She just needs him to confirm it.

(S01E04) "How do I fight the monster without becoming one myself?" - Stefan

I know The Vampire Diaries has been taking a beating from some TV reviewers, but I'm actually loving it so far. A lot of it has to do with bad-vamp Damon, played so deliciously evil by Ian Somerhalder. He's manipulative and just plain scuzzy, but he's also really cute. That's a bad combo for impressionable girls.

At this point, it's hard to imagine that Elena would fall for any of Damon's tricks. Then again, he did get her to believe that Stefan was actually the manipulative one, dating back to when the two brothers sparred over Katherine. Elena is either really, really stupid or she's being played by a master manipulator in Damon. Maybe a little of both.