Did The Vampire Diaries season 4 premiere last night leave you wanting more? Fear not, showrunner Julie Plec is here to… well, make you want even more!

Plec has spoken to TV Guide, Zap2It and TV Line about the premiere episode. In the three interviews the executive producer reveals a lot about what’s ahead, so buckle up!

Elena’s future explained

Possibly the biggest question following the premiere episode is what’s next for Elena, who is now a vampire.

“She’s terrified of hurting someone. She’s terrified [of] that great fear — ‘What if I’m a ripper just like Stefan is?’ She’s definitely not comfortable with that part of being a vampire, and she’s getting conflicting advice about how she should handle it,” Plec explains. “It doesn’t come easily to her, and she’s not quite sure what kind of vampire she’s supposed to be.”

In this season, “Elena’s going to have to wade through the push and pull between the brothers and their conflict and try to come out the other side of it with a point of view of her own, which is going to take some time.”

Although she seems to be sticking with her human choice of Stefan, Plec warns that Damon will still present a complication for the pair. “Someone asked me what the biggest hurdle would be for Stefan and Elena this year, and it’s Damon,” Plec reveals. “Plain and simple. Damon and Elena’s feelings for Damon continue to be the biggest things that could keep Stefan and Elena from being together forever.”

That “other” triangle

The love triangle of Tyler/Caroline/Klaus also took an interesting turn in the episode, as Klaus not only saved Caroline but also tried to stop her advances while he was Tyler. Still, Caroline seems loyal to her own hybrid – but for how long?

Although Klaus will be ready to leave Mystic Falls, “the incident of episode 2 brings him back around when he realizes that Tyler, one of his small group of remaining hybrids, has been put in danger,” Plec reveals. “So suddenly, he’s the world’s most irritating bodyguard.”

So with Klaus sticking around, there might still be a chance for Carolaus! “As much as she hates him, she also can’t shake him,” Plec says. “Caroline, for all her judgement directed at Elena about having any kind of feelings in the past for Damon, may find herself surprised to be struggling with a similar, dangerous attraction to Klaus.”

What about Bonnie?

Plec also talks about the scary Bonnie development. In the premiere episode Bonnie caused the whatever-it-was that happened to her Grams, and we’ll see the consequences of that very soon. “Now, she has no way of knowing if every time she does magic, the witches on the other side are torturing her grandmother in some unimaginable way,” Plec reveals.

So what’s next for her? “First she has to let herself grieve, which is what happens in the second episode,” Plec says. “Then, when we return to her in the fourth episode, it’s about whether it’s possible to get her magic back in a healthy way.”

This may have to do with the new university professor played by David Alpay, who Bonnie will meet in 4×04 “The Five.” Plec reveals that, “He’ll take on a very clear interest in her as a mentor and she’ll finally find someone who understands her, who she could talk to and he’s going to help her try to heal.”

The strange new threat

Plec also discusses the strange turn the Pastor took when he blew up the group of vampire hunters with the words, “We are the beginning.” She says, “We are to wonder what the hell he was talking about — triple question mark. And we’re going to keep wondering what the hell he’s talking about for several, if not more than several, episodes to come. What happened there, why it happened, what it all means — those are big questions that we’ll keep asking in the first part of the season.”

But yes, they did blow up, giving Elena and the gang a bit of a time out – for the moment. “Peace does not last long when a new vampire hunter arrives in town in the next episode,” Plec says, referring to Connor (played by Todd Williams). “The question of what is different about him, why is he able to deeply, darkly hunt and kill vampires, what drives him, what’s his history, what do other people know about his history and those sequences start to unfold as we get to the flashback in episode 4,” Plec teases. Interestingly this is the flashback to the 12th century, but Connor is human! We’re intrigued.

What did you think about the first episode? We’ll be discussing the episode in depth on the next episode of the Vampire Hype podcast, so stay tuned!