After a much too long hiatus, The Vampire Diaries season 5, episode 1 “I Know What You Did Last Summer” finally airs tonight.
When we last left the Mystic Falls residents, we already knew that nothing would ever be the same.
Ahead of tonight’s The Vampire Diaries season 5 premiere episode, we’ll catch you up on the past season, and share some exciting teasers about what’s to come.
‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 4 finale refresher
Silas (Paul Wesley) revealed that Stefan is a doppelganger, and proceeded to trap the youngest Salvatore brother in the lake.
The older Salvatore, Damon (Ian Somerhalder), finally got the girl, and he and Elena (Nina Dobrev) seemed like they’d have a bright future ahead of them – even brighter because Elena’s brother Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) had come back to life.
Of course what they didn’t realise was that Jeremy’s resurrection came at the expense of Bonnie (Kat Graham)’s life; the former witch is now a ghost.
The Original vampires have packed up and left town, but not before Klaus (Joseph Morgan) allowed Tyler (Michael Trevino) to return to town, where Caroline (Candice Accola) is waiting for him.
Related: ‘The Vampire Diaries’ star Candice Accola teases changing Caroline/Tyler relationship
Matt (Zach Roerig) also ended the season on a high note, leaving to see the world with Rebekah (Claire Holt).
And finally, Elena’s doppelganger Katherine Pierce received the cure for vampirism, and was turned into a human.
She and Silas might have a thing going on in the premiere episode… but that could end very badly indeed!
Whew. Deep breaths, everyone.
‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 5: What happens next?
When The Vampire Diaries season 5, episode 1 opens, a couple of months have passed since the events of the season 4 finale.
Check out this intriguing promo for the first episode, released by The CW:
In “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” Elena and Caroline are preparing to start college, leaving Damon in Mystic Falls, where he’s living with Jeremy.
Silas is still at large wearing Stefan’s face, with Stefan’s friends none the wiser about what has happened.
Related: ‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 5: New posters of Silas, Stefan released – spot the difference!
Similarly, Bonnie’s death is still a secret to everyone but Jeremy; in a sneak peek from the episode, Jeremy urges her to finally allow everyone to find out, but she doesn’t want to ruin her friends’ rare moment of normalcy:
As season 5 progresses, we’ll meet a number of new characters, including potential new love interests for both Caroline and Elena.
Kendrick Sampson will be playing the role of Jesse, while Shaun Sipos will be newcomer Aaron.
Olga Fonda and Janina Gavankar are also joining the cast as intriguing recurring characters, with links to the Salvatore brothers and the Silas mythology.
Related: ‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 5 images: First looks at Olga Fonda, Janina Gavankar in ‘Original Sin’
Want more ‘The Vampire Diaries’?
If you want more spoilers, there’s plenty of teasers from the cast and crew available to read in Hypable.com’s The Vampire Diaries news hub.
You can also listen to our Vampire Hype podcast, which has recently released a pre-premiere breakdown episode!
And finally, feast your eyes on these final three new character posters for season 5, showing Elena (left), Katherine and Damon:
The Vampire Diaries season 5, episode 1 “I Know What You Did Last Summer” airs tonight at 8/7c on The CW!
Don’t forget to stay on the channel to catch the premiere episode of The Originals.
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