‘Vampire Diaries’ Season 7 Spoilers — Steroline, Bonnie & Damon | TVLine 

It’s safe to say, for so many reasons, that nothing will ever be the same after the events of

‘ sixth season finale — but what exactly

coming up for the people, both human and supernatural, that Elena left behind?

Season Finale Recap: Were You Satisfied With Elena’s ‘Exit’?

TVLine spoke with executive producer Caroline Dries immediately after Thursday’s bloody (so many deaths!) and heartbreaking (#GoodbyeElena) hour for the scoop on what’s to come.

TVLINE | Why, in your mind, why was this the perfect end for Elena?

We knew we didn’t want to kill Elena because we

want her to come back one day, maybe in the series finale. And we didn’t want her to walk off into the sunset and get a job somewhere because that felt fake. We thought, “What could she do that proves to her friends and to the viewers who she is as a person?” And of course she would make a sacrifice so her best friend could live out the rest of her life. We thought it was fitting that, at the end of the day, after all these sacrifices made on her behalf, she takes the bullet for her friend and goes out Sleeping Beauty-style.

TVLINE | Were you at all concerned that fans would feel like Damon was choosing Bonnie over Elena?

It was never about that to me because I knew, personally, that Nina had to leave the show. Keeping Elena was never a choice, so it became more about showing Damon’s growth as a character: How did Damon change from Season — asshole, selfish Damon — and how did Elena affect him? This was the best way for that to manifest. He made the selfless choice, for once, which was also kind of his gift to Elena.

TVLINE | I imagine Bonnie will be feeling a tremendous amount of guilt for Elena’s situation?

That was my thought, too, that Bonnie would be feeling really crappy about this, but then we talked in the writers room about it. Bonnie’s so strong coming out of Season 6; she really became a woman this season. For her to go back on all of that didn’t feel like the story we wanted to see. So we gave Elena that speech at the end where she basically said, “Bonnie, let me do this for you.” Bonnie would be wasting it if she sat around feeling guilty, so she’s going to grab the bull by the horns and be awesome Bonnie Bennett. She’ll start up a fun friendship with Damon, a continuation of what they have now, but she’ll kind of become his moral center as he’s trying to figure out who he is without Elena to impress.

TVLINE | From the brief bit we saw of him, Damon was 

 handling it well. What’s going to be his biggest struggle? Doesn’t he realize that, as long as he’s patient, Elena will eventually come back?

] Patient? How boring! Everything he did, every choice he made, was somehow tied to Elena. Now she’s not there looking over his shoulder every five minutes, so he has to figure out who he is without her and what choices he’s OK making. He’s going to have a rough go at it, and he’s going to get dark and be Bad-Damon. But he’s still got Bonnie there to remind him what Elena would do.

TVLINE | Damon obviously still loves Elena, but he’s also a sexual creature, so is there a chance he could take up with someone else? Is that something you’re willing to embrace?

The problem is that, as you said, he is still so madly in love with her. It would feel false for him to meet someone else and have sparks and fall in love. The viewers also wouldn’t embrace it; any girl who comes close to Damon gets clawed at with their opinions, so it’s not something we’re going to jump into as writers right away. He’s got to be with himself for a bit, and his love story will be based back on Stefan.

TVLINE | Speaking of Stefan, I’m glad he finally dropped the L-bomb, but why not go all out and have Caroline say it back?

We always thought it was more natural for Caroline to deal with the grief she’s feeling and not think that her relationship with Stefan is just a Band-Aid to cover up these tragic feelings she’s been enduring. She wants to come at it from a cleaner place, and she mentioned to him in the last episode that she’s a control freak. She’s still coping after her mother’s death and her humanity being off; she’s not feeling like herself. In Season 7, she’s going to try and figure out if she and Stefan can actually do this.

TVLINE | Stefan’s speech about Elena not being his destiny, that she was merely leading him back to his brother, was also a huge moment. Why was that important to get in there?

It was Stefan saying goodbye to Stefan-and-Elena and being thankful for her presence in his life. He took an adult step back and looked at the big picture and said, “That was a huge part of my life, but at the end of the day, this is the good that came out of it. Now, I’m ready to move on [with Caroline].”

TVLINE | We didn’t find out where Tyler went. Can you say?

We don’t really mean it to be a mystery; the implication is that he took off with Jeremy and we will reference where they are once we start Season 7. They’re off hunting vampires together.

TVLINE | Then I guess it’s helpful Jeremy has an ally who can take a vampire down with one bite.

TVLINE | And then there’s Alaric. How is he possibly going to move on from losing Jo and their twins?

As we break Alaric’s story [for Season 7], we’re thinking, “How would you actually feel if that happened? How would you get over it?” And we decided you

get over it. He’s deeply wounded and he needs Damon, who also lost the love of his life, at least for 60 or 70 years. He’s sort of the one person who can relate to him most. He’s going to rest on Damon’s shoulder, and we’re going to find them growing up together in the premiere. There’s no fix to what happened to Alaric. He’s going to be a mess when he starts the new season.

TVLINE | As for the time jump, have you figured out how far into the future it is?

We have figured it out — I’m writing the premiere as we speak — but we’re kind of keeping it a mystery for fans to mull over. It’ll all become clear in the premiere what’s actually happening.

TVLINE | I saw that Matt’s a full-fledged offer now, so I’m thinking of my own brother and how long it took him to get through the police academy.

That’s interesting. Matt’s been doing that police training class, so he already had a couple months under his belt.

TVLINE | Lily has also been reunited with her “family.” Was this her happy ending, or the beginning of a new nightmare?

This will be the nightmare of Season 7. It’s going to be the Salvatore brothers vs. the Salvatore mom and her adopted family of heretics, who are known to be sociopaths who have killed thousands of people.

TVLINE | OK, so she’s definitely back. Is Annie Wersching a series regular?

She’s not going to be a series regular, but she’s going to be the villain, you could say, when we start Season 7.

send-off. What was your goal when wrapping his story?

We wanted to show the audience how the heretics work, so we turned him into one. We wanted to personify the villains for next year, which is why we went through the stages — so to speak — of becoming a vampire who can do magic. We also needed a villain to pay off the entire mythology of the season. We knew we wanted to make it a big Kai villain-centric story. It just happened that he was available, and he’s been the most awesome villain we’ve had on the show. It worked really well.

fans, once you recover from information-overload, drop a comment with your thoughts on the finale and your hopes for Season 7 below.

Thank you for always asking about Steroline! Can’t wait to see what comes for them in season 7!

Damon dark and twister and reckless again? For the 191581582585282 time.

Lol .they talk about character development on one hand and on the other hand they say Damon is going to be dark again.And Stefan and Caroline make me vomit.It’s like watching brother and sister together.

To be honest Tvd writers and producers don’t have brains.

Maybe you are the one who needs a brain. Damon’s character development came mostly from his relationship with Elena and now he has to build on that change without her. That is what the writer is saying and it makes sense to me. And Stefan and Caroline have never been siblingsesque lol? Caroline had a crush on him the moment she saw him.

First learn to understand what’s written .I never said stefen and Caroline are brother and sister I said their relationship is platonic like a brother and sister.And you pathetic fangirls are the reason the show took a turn for the worse because you girls watch it for the romance not actual story.I bet you don’t even understand half of the stuff that goes on in an episode .you are OK with it as long as there is shirtless damon or your delena anf steroline happens.

Totally agree with you.These delena shippers and poor quality writing ruined the show.

I am going to agree with you on this… Because I was hoping caroline would leave vampire dairies and show up on Originals to be Klaus’s Pillar like she was before and not Cammie… No Offense to Cammie but…. Ya not like those two together either.. Though I also thought Kai’s outting should of been a little more involved.. He’s a good actor.. I really liked him. Damon needed to go back to I am a bad ass dark guy. Alaric and Damon again. I like that. Though honestly I hope the ‘vilians’ are more powerful then what I was expecting out of Kai. I was sorta expecting an epic battle and some serious damon and bonnie fight to happen against kai.. Lots of magic lots of vampire fight almost unbeatable thing.. but Maybe what was in the episode was a little bit undershadowed by Alena going sleeping beauty… I dunno just my thoughts. Agree don’t agree its kewl :)

I love TVP so much I cry almost every episode cause I’m so emotionally invested i the show. I can’t wait for season 7 so I can find out what has happened with everyone’s lives without Elana in it she was everyone’s rock and the centre of the show in my eyes so it will b interesting to see how use go when she’s no longer there lighting up the screen. Thank you so much to the producers, writers, actors and whoever else that had something to do with the production of this brilliant show please keep it coming (:

Pretty interesting way to write Elena out, but I’m not sure I’ll stick with the show. Will watch the first couple eps next season to see. I’m not into Stefan and Caroline, and the heretics don’t interest me. Damon and Bonnie as friends, yeah, maybe.

Re: Kai: “he’s been the most awesome villain we’ve had on the show.”

Are you serious? I strongly disagree. That goes to that guy over on The Originals.

Agreed. I loved Chris Wood on Carrie Diaries, but I hate Kai. Klaus was their best villian. And Meredith was not killed off, in one of the first episodes this season, Ric mentioned she got married and moved to Alaska.

Elena was the weakest part of the show. Now this can be an action series without her whining.

You are right Kai has nothing on Klaus… Klaus was so bad he needed his own show to be bad in… Caroline is more believable with Klaus than Stephan ..yuk

Killing Alaric’s wife and unborn child was just too much, like… ugh. They already killed like two or three of his other love interests too. Anyway, I enjoyed the finale and am excited for Steroline next season. Their story really slowed down as Nina’s exit loomed so I’m hoping to see it pick up again next season.

I agree…I thought that was taking things a bit far, even for this show. Killing a mother and her unborn babies.

I like how elaina is still alive. Very good way to keep the show going. BOut time she loses something for bonnie. It’s fair and interesting. Sad when she comes back we lose bonnie. Maybe we can have her and damon be somthing. I’d like to see that. I’m also glad the brothers are reverting back to season 1 roles. Stefan the romantic only with Caroline and damon the bad ass crow. Good! I say good riddance to Kai and Liv and the rest of there dumb coven. The originals out awesomed Kai. He was cute but dang he’s no Klaus or Rebecca and Elijah. I feel this is an opportunity to be fresh again. I look forward to season 7.

I thought the finale was great! It was so sad…in a loving way, well not Kai, I hated to see him go, he was definitely the best villain but i loved the fact everyone got to say good bye and that they all had those moments with Elena, I hate to read bad Damon is back, but I expected it:(… It will seem really different with so many of the cast members gone… I really want Stefan and Caroline to work, I love them together,! So excited for next season

They should have just killed off Elena. I hate Nina leaving, but because she did it so last minute, I don’t think she deserves the chance to go back to the show if she can’t get work elsewhere.

Last minute? NO. Nina dobrev mentioned numerous times in interviews that she didn’t want this to continue past a certain point it wasn’t set in stone originally. However, the cast and producers knew for a long time. She most likely didn’t say anything sooner to fans because she didn’t want the entire season to be compromised by the lingering anticipation of her character leaving. Most shows don’t announce a person leaving the show until a few episodes before their write off OR after they die, leave, etc

It wasn’t last minute. They’ve known since last year, maybe even before then due to times Nina had said she was only doing 6 years! Fans just never looked into that fact until it was definitely confirmed in February. She was leaving and they all knew. They had enough time to write her farewell and tbh, I think it was a good way to keep the show going without her.

But I really hope that Steroline works out! The show has been blowing holes in my ship at every turn but this episode makes me hopeful.

I didnt like alarics fiance so oh well. Hes better and more interesting as an obsessive drunk. Bonnie is beautiful she can carry on in the lovely elaina wake. Caroline is best as a secondary character. Let’s focus on bon bon!

Killing Jo was just too much, they’ve killed off all of alarics women so far. I honestly probably won’t continue watching the show, without Tyler liv Elena or Jo all that’s left is momma Salvatore and she doesn’t interest me too much, nor does her “family” and neither does Caroline and Stefan. This used to be my favorite show now I’m nothing but disappointed. And as for Kai being the best villain?? Um no that was definitely klaus. At least I’m still enjoying the originals!

I thought Jo was one of the better additions this cast has seen in recent years. It was a waste to kill her off IMO and now it’s back to brooding, drunk-all-the-time Alaric; sorry, but Matt Davis deserves SO much better than having to play that beat ALL THE TIME.

I agree. I really liked Jo as an individual and Jo & Alaric as a couple. Sad and disappointing end for them.

Agreed. I hate Steroli , and not bc I ship Stelena. I hate Lilly.

I think we all know Stefan and Elena get back together.

I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the Season 6 Finale. I was very disappointed in the way they portrayed Elena’s departure and I almost would say it was an insult to Nina Dobrev.

I will continue watching the show because it’s one of my favorites. I’m excited to see what happens with Damon and Rick, but I’m not at all excited to see what happens with Stefan and Caroline. They act like they’ve had to participate in an arranged marriage.

How is it in insult to keep her character alive because the fans/show-runner loves her and her character so much they want her to come back one day and tie up the story? That seems like a HUGE compliment to her, how key her character is, how much they like her and want her back. An insult to Nina would have been just having her character walk into the sunset or simply die. Instead shes still alive, and got closure with every character on the show currently alive.

I’m the opposite, i’m excited for Caroline and Stefan and a “bad guy” Damon and Rick don’t interest me in the least bit.

Wow Damon turning bad again. Like I didn’t see that coming. I’m guessing he turns his humanity off. Shouldn’t be too much of a time jump. Prolly about a few months atleast.

To be fair, what stopped him from being “bad” was Elena and her constant oversight and expectations and making him become a better guy, now shes gone and all we know is hes not doing great, we dont know hes running around shredding people and has his humanity switched off. Plec clearly says they need to realistically show what Damon is like when the person who was keeping him in check with her love is gone.

It is messed up how they killed jo. Alaric can’t get a dam break. But she was gonna die regardless. As long as kai was alive she was dead. Even if he hadn’t have stabbed her she would’ve died when he killed himself. And plus I like how they left a loophole. All bonnie has to do is become a vampire and than elena will wake up. But since nina dobrev left the show that prolly won’t happen till the series finale.

Gotta love how a CW show at 8pm can show a human decapitation but show a butt cheek or nipple and people are freaking out and the CW is getting fined by the FCC (sarcasm). Sad.

Think it’s time for Candice Accola to be a lead on this show.Almost as underused as Bonnie XD.

Wow! What a great episode. I was indifferent to Nina leaving but after the season 6 finale it’s pretty clear TVD w/out Elena is gonna leave a gaping hole… Looking forward to season 7.

Can’t wait for Elena & Stefan to eventually get back together. The creator said they are meant to be.

I agree that Kai was the most awesome villain the show’s ever had. I think I’m going to miss him more that Elena.

Actually guys, i don’t necessarily think Damon is Dark “Again” I think that last scene is the hell that’s been unleashed by the (Heretics) #Vamptics I percieve it as Matt being human boy wonder cop searching for the Vamptics and that’s Damon Helping. We’ll see. #Steroline #TVD #Delena #TillNextSeason

Ha! Was just remembering how in Season 1 of TVD Caroline kept flirting with Stefan and he told her they were never going to happen or be a thing and now in the last episode of Season 6 he’s the one telling Caroline that he’ll wait for her.

I can’t wait to see how the relationship between Bonnie and Damon plays out, I mean if Bonnie and Damon get into a relationship eventually it’ll be interesting to see how they change each other. It’s either Bonnie changes Damon, and makes him more of a Soft hearted kind person again or Evil Damon, turn good old Bonnie into the witch not to be trifled with like he did with Elena when she first turned into a vampire.

I loved how they took nina out….it could not have been better. Although all this chat about bad damon, yeah so what hes back to himself before elena but seeing as how bonnie is his moral compass maybe he is trying to help matt from all that mayhem the queeny salvadore has brought to mystic falls. So needless to say maybe we have it all wrong cuz if stefan and caroline r together we all know that will never work in the enviroment portrayed in season 6 finale…..they r all hearts and flowers. So i cant wait wait for 7 to be here already….

He just got his head ripped clean off by damon.. so i kinda doubt it..

But who knows.. maybe with some body jumping tricks like in the originals..

I glad Elena has gone, found her part the most annoying, VD will be a much better program without her,

I like what she has to say. Damon and Bonnie plus Damon and Alaric are things I have wanted more of so I am glad we are getting both friendships focused on next year.

I don’t think I’ll be tuning in next season. Not because of Elena (cause she bugged me), but because it feels as if the villains are somehow the same every time. It’s almost tedious.

I would be ok with the episode if it were not for Jo’s death. That really wasn’t necessary. She could have lost the twins and survived. There should be some bright spot going into season 7. And I’m sorry, Stefan and Caroline just do not fill that role for me. I see zero credibility in their relationship and I have zero emotional response to it. I’m not saying deny that to the people that see it. What I am saying is that the emotional story for Alaric and Jo that could have been told with her survival would have been one of the best of the entire series. And Elena’s story itself? Well done. Best episode of the series to date — with the really glaring exception of Jo dying and Jo and Alaric’s love story coming to an end.

How freaking stupid to have her linked to Bonnie. Punk a$$ writers should have actually killed her off. This is a supernatural show; they could have found another way to bring her back for the finale. Instead, we have to always think about Bonnie’s mortality and how as soon as she’s gone, sleeping vampire beauty wakes up. Blah! What drivel. Grow some nads. I hope something happens and Bonnie becomes a vampire. I know there were complications with the witch/vampire thing, but it can be done. If they want Elena back for the finale or the actress ever wants to return full time, they can do some sort of magic something or other and make it happen. The beauty of this show, and also its downfall, is literally ANYTHING can happen.

I find myself wondering if they might bring Jo back next season. With Kai and Liv dead, there’s room for a magic loophole where her twins become the Gemini leaders and heal her from within. Plus I don’t remember them showing Papa Gemini fully dying right? And we didn’t see Alaric bury Jo (and TVD LOVES their funeral scenes). To me it seems like they left a little room for a happy Season Premiere surprise. I agree with you all that Rick being a mess is totally played out. The writers have to know that we’re tired of that.

im soooo sorry for Alaric like wth!! how could they kill off his love interest again!!!…. Alaric will go back to being a drunk and for sure he’ll never marry again poor thing. And kai should of lived even though he’s so evil i love him. Stefan and Caroline needs to get together asap <3

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