Did you watch the PaleyFest panel featuring the stars of The Vampire Diaries? We’ve got the details of what went down last night, so read ahead for spoilers!
The panel featured executive producer Julie Plec, and most of the cast: Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Candice Accola, Kat Graham and Matt Davis. Predictably, they talked a lot about romance, both the central triangle and the potential Klaus/Caroline pairing. They also got a fair number of Match.com and fanfiction jokes in there!
Julie Plec previewed a “big choice” which Elena will have to make this season as her love triangle with Stefan and Damon comes to a head. She said:
There are a lot of people who are very moved by the Stefan and Elena relationship, and there are a lot of people moved by the Damon and Elena budding relationship. And one of the things that we do as storytellers is just try to send Elena down a road and let her live her journey as to what type of person she needs in her life and why. And I think that both sides of the coin, actually still have some really good stuff coming.
Julie reaffirmed that there is definitely hope for Stefan and Elena, although Nina Dobrev cautioned that what Stefan’s done won’t be forgotten. She wondered if they’d be able to get back to a good place after everything that had happened this year.
On the Damon and Stefan relationship, they teased next Thursday’s episode ‘1912’ and how it’ll bring their shared journey back to the forefront of the story. “Damon is no more good than Stefan is evil,” Julie Plec said, and also hinted that Stefan will be getting less evil in upcoming episodes.
They also talk about a possible Elena/Elijah pairing, and Julie said that he’d have to get in line behind Alaric! But don’t worry, she was only joking – they all agree that an Alaric/Elena pairing would be bad.
A fan favourite pairing from the books is Damon and Bonnie, but of course that connection is non-existant in the TV show. When asked if something could develop between them, Kat Graham said that, “There’s a lot of hate there,” but Julie Plec did say that their hatred was born out of equal love for Elena:
Bonnie will do anything for Elena. Damon will do anything for Elena; so the times when they can find common ground are usually because of her.
They also confirmed the return of both Jeremy and Tyler. Tyler and Caroline of course will be facing yet another obstacle because of Caroline’s growing connection to Klaus. But while Candice Accola admitted that Klaus is “hard to resist,” she said:
She’s not going to fall so fast for the charm of a murderous vampire. I don’t think she’s going to shut him down cold, but he has a tough mountain to climb if he wants to win her heart.
They also hinted at Dr. Fell’s ulterior motives for getting close to Alaric (we think we kind of figured that out when she shot him!), and Matt Davis’ presence at the panel pretty much confirms that no, he’s not dead.
Finally, Julie Plec confirmed that the characters will be graduating high school in season 4.
We’re hoping that the video will be online soon so anyone who missed the panel can watch it!