The CW’s “Vampire Diaries” took a turn for the insane last season when Elena (Nina Dobrev) lost her soulmate Damon (Ian Somerhalder) to the “Other Side” and Mystic Falls fell to the spell that declared the town magic-free.
The good news for “Delena” fans is the show’s co-executive producer Caroline Dries assured TheWrap that the characters’ love was “meant to be,” even if they won’t be reunited in Thursday’s Season 6 opener.
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Damon will begin Season 6 somewhere with Bonnie (Kat Graham), though Dries played coy on where exactly they are and what exactly the nature of their often contentious relationship will be.
“I can say exploring their dynamic as a duo has opened up this new world of the show by exploring their dynamic as a duo,” Dries said.
Elsewhere, complicated love lives are as complicated as ever.
Dries spoke with TheWrap about how Julie Plec is juggling “Vampire Diaries” and “The Originals,” which Mystic Falls resident she’d trade for someone from New Orleans, and the challenges of wrangling such a huge cast of supernatural characters.
See video: ‘Vampire Diaries’ Elena Has Trouble Moving On in New Trailer
Here are five things TheWrap learned from Dries:
1. Bonnie and Damon are finally getting alone time
The two characters haven’t exactly been friends since their Season 1 introduction, but after the Season 5 finale saw Bonnie and Damon banished to some unknown otherworldly dimension, they’re about to suddenly get some alone time.
“It’s super fun and its making the show feel very fresh,” she continued. “It feels like brand new material we have not explored. The two actors are such a pleasure to see on camera, it has just been a joy this season.”
2. Co-creator Julie Plec will be as involved as ever with Season 6, kind of
Julie Plec created “The Vampire Diaries” along with Kevin Williamson back in 2009, but after spin-off series “The Originals” launched in 2013 she suddenly had double the work on her plate.
But Dries insists Plec is still as involved as possible with both shows’ day-to-day duties. “She’s still heavily involved in ‘TVD.’ She’s more of an overseer, but she weighs in a lot,” Dries said.
“The reason I’ve stayed employed for so long is because I’m able to carry the torch of [Julie’s] vision, so it’s not like I’m trying to hijack the show or change the vision — I’m basically just leading it down the path she would’ve wanted it to go,” she continued.
See video: ‘Vampire Diaries’ Nina Dobrev Weeps for Ian Somerhalder in First Trailer for Season 6
3. The Stefan/Elena/Damon triangle may be over, but love in Mystic Falls is still complicated
“One off the strongest elements of the show in all of the different story-lines is the love story,” Dries said. “The Elena-Damon love story is really the key to the series at this point. It’s not something we’ll end because he’s dead.”
Stefan and Elena’s relationship, on the other hand, took a turn for the platonic after she got vamped and according to Dries the flames of their romance may never be rekindled.
“Setfan and Elena morphed into a really soulful friendship when she became a vampire,” Dries explained. “Elena as a human was meant to be with Stefan, but Elena as a vampire was meant to be with Damon.”
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But Stefan fans shouldn’t feel too bad for him yet as show trailers have teased that he’ll be finding a fresh love interest this season in newcomer Ivy (Emily Chang). And of course, there’s still Caroline (Candice Accola), who admitted she had feelings for Stefan last season.
“Caroline has unresolved, confusing friend feelings with Stefan in the beginning of the season that she’s trying to compartmentalize,” Dries said. “But he’s not making that easy on her because he’s so emotionally distraught over losing Damon that he can’t mentally, psychologically or emotionally fathom the idea of starting something beyond a friendship with anyone.” But that could change as the season goes on, Dries teased.
4. Stefan is Mystic Falls’ most expendable resident
When forced to answer TheWrap’s hypothetical question about which “Vampire Diaries” character she’d swap for a character from “The Originals,” Dries’ answer was surprising.
“I would want Rebekah [played by Claire Holt] in a heartbeat,” she said without hesitation. “In a heartbeat.”
Then she paused. “Who would I give [to ‘The Originals’]? Um, I would probably give them Stefan,” she said. “I just really like the Stefan-Klaus relationship. They can go on a little romp together.”
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5. Writing for “The Vampire Diaries” ever-expanding cast has been Season 6’s biggest challenge
It’s not easy writing for such a large cast of characters, each with their own set of powers and supernatural elements that make the fantastical well within limits. “Our biggest challenge is the abundance of characters that we have,” said Dries.
“[There] isn’t much to time to tell really compelling stories with the 500,000 characters we have on the show,” she continued. “You don’t have a lot of wiggle room.”
Dries also revealed it’s difficult to always be coming up with fresh spells for her characters to cast. “We’ve seen so many spells,” she said. “It’s like, what haven’t we done?”
Season 6 of “The Vampire Diaries” begins Thursday, Oct. 2 at 8 pm ET on The CW.