Spoiler From EW - 13th March 2013

Any chance we’re going to see more Stefan and Rebekah? I loved those two!

I’ll let boss Julie Plec take this one directly: “Well, as much as I know people love Stefan and Rebekah -- and by all means so do we -- her recent actions put a little bit of a hold on any future romantic dalliances between them.” Personally, a bit of a hold is better than an indefinite end.

Vampire Diaries Bite - 13th March 2013

Ian Somerhalder Interview

You were on Live with Kelly and Michael this morning, talking about how you've recently realized TVD is basically a soap opera. Can you expand upon that?
My grandmother was this unbelievably smart, phenomenally cool woman and soap operas were just always on in her house. My foundation is building this animal sanctuary and youth education facility where she lived so I was there two weeks ago and those feelings are just so deeply embedded in me that I instantly had those memories being there. So this morning, that all came to me after watching the clip of Damon and Klaus talking they showed. I just realized that I live in a soap opera, and it's awesome.

How do you think the show is able to have soap opera elements without veering into the negative attributes often associated with soaps?
Honestly, I think it's because the writing and the performances are grounded in truth. We ultimately have to find truth in the material, and I think that transfers onto the screen. Obviously there's varying degrees of it, and we don't get it right all the time [laughs], but I think when it feels grounded, it's because we recognize the truth in the material.

I think the show has really gotten it right this season with Damon and Elena's romantic journey. What's been your take on it all?
It's been kind of tragic. I mean, Damon finally got the girl he loves and it's totally tragic that he has this moment of happiness and clarity only to learn that it's fake. I did a show recently where they were talking about Catfish. It's something I never realized is going on, but there's this entire world out there about people falling in love with one another digitally only to find out it's not real. I could have sympathized with that before, but through this storyline, I can also empathize with that. When you go through that emotion on screen you take a piece of it with you. I have such great respect for the people coming out to tell their story because it's an awful feeling.

It's also got to be exciting as an actor that TVD allows you to play your character at various points in their life. We've seen Damon throughout the decades, and next week shows him circa 1970.
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Our artisans and production design team went in and not only re-built CBGB's but recreated the feeling of the '70s in Because the Night, airing March 21. It's so cool because you get to experience so many times in Damon's life. Now mind you, because there were so many decades, I think he evolved slower than most. I also love that because we get to go back and romanticize the social happenings of that time, we're really reminded of The United States' deep history and what Damon lived through is just a drop in the bucket compared to the other characters, who can go back thousands of years.

That episode also features the return of Lexi, a character Damon shares a very tumultuous history with. What's it like this time around?
What's cool about it is that you see how long and turbulent their history is. There are just so many different agendas and egos at play, but at the end of the day, both Lexi and Damon love Stefan, so to see them interacting throughout an episode where they're not trying to kill each other or making derogatory jokes to one another the entire time is amazing. There was a real relationship there, so it was fun to explore.

I'd also imagine that this new layer to their relationship makes the fact he killed her more significant.
Totally. I think if you go back to that episode after seeing next week's, the look of betrayal on her face, the shock of it all, is recontextualized. Which I think is a great way to elaborate or, at times, strengthen or fix a storyline that maybe didn't work as well. It's an added bonus to the structure of how our show works.

Looking at what's to come with Damon and Stefan's struggle over Elena's humanity, what are you excited for fans to see?
I'm excited for fans to see Elena have some fun, which means we don't have to worry about her getting killed every waking moment. She's a lot stronger now, Elena is kicking our asses so it's like the tables have turned a bit. But it's interesting because there's this amazing push/pull between Stefan and Damon as they try to figure everything out. Damon has no desire for Elena to take the cure because it means he'll lose her while Stefan definitely wants her to. Ultimately Damon realizes Elena is a lunatic bitch when she has no humanity, and I don't know if the world can handle her. The problem is, he cares so deeply for Elena yet knows she can't keep going down this path. So it's this tragedy of, "Oh man, if I could just get her humanity back, but keep her a vampire, we could have a great life ... or we could at least run around and eat some people all over the world." But I don't know if that's a real option for Damon any more because he's going to have to give her the cure and Stefan only stands to gain from that.

Switching gears for a second, you just came back from SXSW, where you spoke at several panels dealing with the environment and met Grumpy Cat.
Meeting Grumpy Cat was definitely a highlight [laughs]! I'm so grateful to Warner Brothers and The CW for hooking up that whole SXSW event -- they saw value in giving people a space for people to interact. I have to give them kudos for having that foresight and making that investment.

What new Ian Somerhalder Foundation initiatives are you excited about?
We're buying this piece of land that will serve as an animal sanctuary, but will also be a green child education camp. It's a completely sustainable agriculture farm, which is exciting because our natural resources are going out the window as we use them at an exponential rate. If you want change, it has to be generational. The bureaucracy that's already in place is not going to change, but if you can empower and educate the next generation, you've built an entire generation of compassionate, activated people who want sustainability in their world. We're also in the LED business with Go Green Mobile Power. The company that builds our lights, CREE, just invented an LED lightbulb that looks like the incandescent we're so used to seeing but uses 84 percent less energy. You get a 10 year warranty on a lightbulb that costs $10. I'm partnering with them to launch it because I believe in them so much. It's honestly the coolest invention since the lightbulb. These innovations are literally going to change the world.

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4x16 'Bring It On' Webclip 3

Spoiler From E! Online - 12th March 2013

So excited that The Vampire Diaries is coming back this week. Got any scoop on what we can expect from Elena now that she's flipped the switch? 

Well, we can tell you that Ian Somerhalder is definitely enjoying the new Elena. "Now she's a badass and she can crack jokes," he says of Elena with her humanity turned off. "Every time she walks out of the house we're not biting our nails thinking someone is going to come kill her. She can fight for herself."

4x16 'Bring It On' Webclip 2

4x16 'Bring It On' Australian Promo

4x16 'Bring It On' Webclip

Vampire Diaries 4x18 Official Synopsis

Ep 18 'American Gothic'

RACE FOR THE CURE — Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Rebekah (Claire Holt) take off in search of Katherine (also played by Nina Dobrev) and find themselves in a small town in Pennsylvania, where Elena has a surprising encounter with another old acquaintance -- Elijah (guest star Daniel Gillies). Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) are both concerned about Elena’s state of mind and are determined to do what’s best for her, but she makes it clear that helping her will be difficult. Damon is not sure how to react when Stefan reveals his unexpected plan for the future. Meanwhile, in Mystic Falls, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) receives Caroline’s (Candice Accola) reluctant help and comes to a new understanding of Silas’ powers. Kellie Cyrus directed the episode written by Evan Bleiweiss & Jose Molina (#418).

Elena's New Look

Elena + pink streaks? It’s true! But this new ‘do is only part of the Elena makeover fans will be seeing from the sans-humanity Elena, reveals executive producer Julie Plec.

“I said to the wardrobe people and Nina Dobrev, ‘We’re burning everything. So if there are one or two things that you’re damn sure you want to keep, she better be wearing them when she walks out the door.’ I think Nina chose a jacket and a pair of boots and we called it a day,” she says.

The fun of this mini-reinvention, says Plec, is that they’ve been wanting to sort of evolve Elena’s look in recent years, and now they have their chance. “She had a very, very, very specific and safe style for the first three seasons, and this year, we evolved it a little bit when she became a vampire and had a little more freedom in her choices. But now we literally packed up all her clothes and put them into storage and bought her a new wardrobe.”

So how’s it going to look? “It’s just a little hipper, a little more contemporary — more skirts and belts and accessories, and she gets a great new haircut in two episodes and has a little fun with hair color. It’s been really fun to give her a new attitude,” Plec adds.

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Spoiler From TV Guide - 5th March 2013

What can you say about Vampire Diaries' return next week?

The new and maybe not so improved Elena is going to be one feisty vampire. Not only will she taunt both Salvatores with her nakedness (sounds a little Katherine-esque, right?), but she'll get in a major fight with her BFF Caroline. And we're not talking a war of the words, but an all-out physical brawl. Who do you think wins?

4x17 'Because The Night' Stills

4x16 'Bring It On' Stills

Vampire Diaries 4x17 Official Synopsis

Ep 17 'Because The Night'

FLASHBACK TO DAMON’S LIFE IN 1970s NEW YORK / THE BAND DEAD SARA PERFORMS — Realizing that Elena (Nina Dobrev) needs some time away from Mystic Falls, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) takes her to New York City, where he lived and partied hard in the 1970s. When Rebekah (Claire Holt) also shows up in New York, she’s impressed with Elena’s secret agenda. Flashbacks reveal Damon’s hedonistic life in the underground club scene and a complicated encounter with Lexi (guest star Arielle Kebbel). Meanwhile, Caroline (Candice Accola) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) try to convince Klaus (Joseph Morgan) that it would be in his own best interest to help them track Silas down, and Bonnie (Kat Graham) struggles to keep her grasp on reality and do the right thing. Garreth Stover directed the episode written by Brian Young & Charlie Charbonneau (#417).

Julie Plec Interview

Is there any hope for Tyler to return?
Tyler had to leave in the same way Katherine had to leave. When Klaus puts his mark on you, you're pretty f---ed. So we do not have any plans to bring him back until there is a resolution to his Klaus problem and with Katherine it took her out for two years. Tyler does appear in one episode this season, but it's not his "return."

When the show returns, it seems Caroline and Elena might go head-to-head.
Caroline in her darkest day has never been anything but a fixer, and her efforts to fix Elena and try to get her on the right track are not going to go over so well. These girls are peers and best friends, but one of their behaviors has changed, so it's a real world paradigm of high school friendships, with one friend getting out of control and what you try to do about it and how they respond to you.

What can we expect from Caroline and Klaus' relationship?
We haven't seen the end of the strange and somewhat perverse and beautiful and horrific and amazing and awful dynamic between Caroline and Klaus. Even if the spin-off does happen and we have two shows, I don't predict that that would be the end of that relationship.

Some people haven't loved the direction that Bonnie's character has gone this season. What can you say about her future?
I think everyone has an opinion about Bonnie. Some love her, some hate her, some love to hate her, some defend her with everything they have and some yawn and say, "Who cares?" She's one character that never had one singular point of view from the fan base. But for us she has always been the one who's caught in between what's right and what's wrong and what her heritage calls for and what she wants to do in the name of her friends. Now she's under extreme manipulation by Shane or Silas, whatever you want to call him right now, yet she's really just being driven by a desperate desire to bring Jeremy back from the dead. So he's exploiting that emotional drive she has and taking it to the next level and I don't even know if Bonnie right now is aware of how insane she is! Her mind has a very clear drive which is, "I can bring Jeremy back."

The second half the season will be more grounded in high school. What can we expect?
We just started shooting the prom episode, which is episode 19 and graduation is going to be the finale. We'll get to end the season with all of those great questions of who's going to be where, who's going to be with who, who's going to do what.

So when will we know who Elena is taking to prom?
You may have to wait until someone puts up the wrong photos or I accidentally slip and say something in the press.

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Spoiler From TV Line - 26th February 2013

Any scoop on the upcoming Klaus sex scene on The Vampire Diaries?

There will be blood ink. Teases exec producer Julie Plec of the anticipated coitus session in Episode 16 (airing March 14): “I will say that Joseph Morgan has some tattoos that I didn’t know he had until shooting this scene.” (BTW, Plec wouldn’t say if his partner in fornication was someone we’ve met before).

Any scoop on Elijah’s Vampire Diaries return?

Plec confirms that viewers will get “a little Elijah flavor” before the planted Originals spin-off airs in April. “It’ll be fun to have him back in our Mystic Falls universe,” she adds. “We finally get a sense of what he’s been doing during his whole absence from our world.”

Can you give us any Vampire Diaries scoop on Silas?

Plec will eventually put a face to the name, telling TVLine, “We do plan at some point to meet the real Silas.”

4x16 'Bring It On' New Promo

4x15 'Stand By Me' Rehash

Spoiler From Zap2It - 25th February 2013

We visited the set last week and -- in addition to getting some scoop on Tyler's return -- we also got to watch Nina Dobrev pull double-duty as she filmed a scene for episode 4x18, "American Gothic." In the past, we've seen Katherine pretend to be Elena plenty of times, but now, we'll get to see Elena's best impression of Katherine. Katherine didn't seem too impressed by the likeness, though... she thinks Elena's innocence will be a dead giveaway. (Not to mention her haircut.)

10 Things To Discuss And Think About From 'Stand By Me'

1. Nina Dobrev is a gift. I'd be remiss not to make this priority one on the things-to-discuss list. Who knew that "Degrassi's" most annoying teen mom ever would grow up to do this? From her stubborn resolve as she waited for Jeremy to wake up, to her crumpled face and horrified wailing as she finally let the news sink in, Elena was laid bare tonight. Nerve endings exposed, Dobrev brought Elena's emotional rollercoaster to life so vividly that it was impossible not to ride it with her; I felt positively battered by the time the credits rolled. If major awards showed acknowledged The CW, this would be a performance of note for them.

2. Elena turns off her humanity. Even as a vampire, Elena has been the humanity of the show. While her earnestness can be irritating at times, her bleeding heart and undeniable compassion has kept the rest of her friends from steering too far off course. With Katherine back on the prowl, Elena's disconnect from the core of her character will be especially interesting, and will undoubtedly present a new challenge for Dobrev. It's also interesting because, presumably, a vampire without humanity might not be capable of the same love, at least not to the same depths, as a vampire with humanity. This might be pretty crippling to her romance with Damon.

3. That pesky sire bond. There's been a lot of discussion amongst "TVD" fans this season about Elena's agency or lack thereof. Her lack of control over certain aspects of her life doesn't necessarily pose a problem for me as a viewer, though; I appreciate it as a metaphor for what love can do to a person, particularly a young person experiencing personal turmoil. In this case, it's a pretty brilliant storytelling device. It prevents us from needing a time-jump in order to get Elena past being completely paralyzed with grief.

4. Brothers. Seeing Elena lose Jeremy reminded Stefan and Damon that, through everything, they're lucky -- because they still have each other. Stefan has been holding a grudge against Damon for presumably taking advantage of the sire bond; Damon has been holding a grudge against Stefan for not being the comrade he wants him to be. But they still have each other, and their unspoken appreciation for that was a pivotal moment in their relationship. It doesn't mean they're going to get bunk beds and start a book club together, but it does mean that they're back on solid ground, allies instead of competitors.

5. Tyler remains gone, for now. It was absolutely heartbreaking to listen to Caroline plead with Tyler to get in touch while he ignores her calls. He promised to forget about her if they couldn't find a way to get rid of Klaus -- not ignore her immediately and stop trying to find a way within 24 hours. Bummer. I do have a little good news for Forwood shippers, though. The outcry over Michael Trevino's understated, anti-climactic exit seems to have had an impact on the writers of the show. They've changed their minds! I can reveal that he will be back to share one more pivotal moment with Caroline this season. Your voices have been heard!

6. Silas is Shane! Kind of? We've seen witches do some blood-magic body-swapping on "The Vampire Diaries" before, but we've never seen someone completely shift into the image of another person before. It's a nice way to show off Silas' incomparable power right off the bat, and also to put David Alpay's talents to better use. Here's hoping that Rebekah manages to get that particular piece of information back to Mystic Falls ASAP.

7. Bonnie is bad news. Sigh. If I had one gripe about the episode, Bonnie was it. I'm hoping it's soon revealed that Silas used some sort of magic persuasion to turn Bonnie into such a brainwashed follower, because this season we've watched her become stronger and more intelligent, and it was frustrating to watch her backpedal so much. Even Elena managed to immediately accept that sacrificing 12 people and raising all the dead monsters to save Jeremy wasn't an option; why was Bonnie so easily convinced otherwise? It felt rushed. That said, I am intrigued by the idea of a darker Bonnie, and I do see how Jeremy's death could be the trigger.

8. Matt Donovan, ladies and gentlemen. I've been crowing about how awesome Matt Donovan is for years, so I felt particularly vindicated tonight. One of my favorite moments of the series was when Matt fell apart in Elena's arms upon learning of Vicki's death. Tonight was a perfect mirror of that as he went to great lengths to keep her propped up in the wake of devastation. Their little trip to the stoner pit and his subsequent breakdown, alone in his truck, drove home the human side of the tragedy. A teenage boy died. A kid who liked to draw and occasionally smoke pot and play X-Box, who had just managed to patch his life up, who video-chatted with girls and dug the batting cages. Matt was there to remind us that at his core Jeremy wasn't a powerful hunter; Jeremy was a kid.

9. The Gilbert house is gone. Losing the house marked the end of an era for "The Vampire Diaries." Elena literally can't go home again. It probably wasn't a bad idea to char the place; after all, literally all of the people who have lived there have died at some point or another. That's a lot of bad vibes. I hear Elena will officially be moving in to the Salvatore house... again. Even though Stefan and Damon have had a bro-bonding moment, having Elena living down the hall probably won't make things particularly easy on Stefan.

10. Goodbye, Jeremy. Kudos to Steven R. McQueen for a heck of a performance over the course of four years. Jeremy has changed and grown beautifully. We've seen him experience love and loss, sacrifice and triumph, and we've seen it take a toll and make him stronger. The work that McQueen put into this season definitely showed -- and I'm not just talking about his arms. (But I am talking about his arms a little bit.) We'll all miss him.

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