IT'S HOMECOMING - With Homecoming around the corner, Elena (Nina Dobrev) invites Liam (guest star Marco James) to attend a party at the corn maze with her. Instead of attending the homecoming festivities, Caroline (Candice Accola) is preoccupied after Stefan (Paul Wesley) shows up unexpectedly and needs her help cleaning up a mess created by Enzo (Michael Malarkey). Heeding Elena's advice to be more social, Alaric (Matt Davis) reluctantly attends the party, but a devastating accident quickly leaves him and Jo (guest star Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) rushing to save lives. Elsewhere, Tyler (Michael Trevino) finds himself in a dangerous position when his werewolf curse is put to the test, and an emotionally embattled Stefan comes clean to Caroline about his intent to move on from Mystic Falls. Lastly, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Bonnie (Kat Graham) make an important discovery that affects their quest to get back home.
After a big time jump, the premiere opens with Bonnie (Kat Graham) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) still gone. While their whereabouts will be revealed quickly, the question of what happened while they were there will be a season-long arc. Elena (Nina Dobrev) will be grieving over the loss of Damon by making some surprising choices and bonding with Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Alaric (Matt Davis), who does some bonding of his own with a woman he meets. Get ready for a handful of new faces, including a militia leader (Colin Ferguson) and a tough doctor at the university hospital (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Matt (Zach Roerig) will be thriving as he gets involved in the new magic-less community, while Tyler (Michael Trevino), now back to a human with the werewolf gene, will return to his testosterone-filled, hard-headed personality. Will he reconnect with Caroline (Candice Accola), whom executive producer Julie Plec says will take the loss of Bonnie and Damon "in a weird way the hardest"?
The Vampire Diaries features:
Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert/Katherine Pierce
Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore
Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore
Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert
Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett
Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes
Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan
Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood
Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman
Michael Malarkey as Enzo
The Vampire Diaries returns October 30