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Elena is hellbent on killing Katherine, once and for all.
As The Vampire Diaries gears up for the final two episodes of the season, the action in Mystic Falls is ramping up. In the penultimate episode, Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) obsession with successfully killing her archnemesis proves problematic.
Here, Plec chats with THR about Matt’s near-death in last week’s episode, what Elena’s new mission means for the remaining episodes and who may be returning by season’s end.
The Hollywood Reporter: You nearly gave everyone heart attacks when it seemed like Matt (Zach Roerig) was dead. Why did you decide to have him be the catalyst for Elena turning her humanity back on?
Julie Plec: Yeah. [Laughs] When we started the season this year, we knew that Elena was going to turn her humanity off. We had a lot of discussions about who the vehicle of getting her humanity turned back on would ultimately be. We knew from the beginning how it played out that it had to be Matt, because he is the one who felt the burden of her sacrifice at the beginning of the season. Stefan said when he was feeling bad for himself in the premiere, “If you want to be grateful for your life then earn it.” We always knew Matt would be a very important element of Elena’s vampirism and in ultimately getting her humanity back.
We wanted each of the brothers to have a role in that too. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) in being bold enough to take the risk that it would work and Stefan (Paul Wesley) that he would use his own experiences — the emotions of [vampirism] being overwhelming and turning his humanity back on — to give her the coping mechanism on how to handle it. This week’s episode is the fallout of all those decisions as Elena has stated very clearly, “Yeah, I might be back on but I’m pissed.”
THR: Elena’s new goal is to kill Katherine. What does this mean for her now that she’s set her sights on an extremely dangerous target?
Plec: She’s definitely desperate to do it and it’s making her not herself. She’s not allowing any other emotions in. She’s still very blocked up and closed off because she’s turning everything she has into rage. But her friends, specifically her brothers, are not on board with this plan. They think she’s going to get herself killed and they think even by some miracle if she can successfully defeat Katherine, that cold-blooded murder is not necessarily the best route back to compassionate Elena. She’s on her own on this mission and that makes her feel more isolated and more lost for a while.
THR: What are their encounters like?
Plec: Yeah, there are a couple moments that lead up to the end of the season. She’s a little bit on a suicide mission. All she cares about at this moment is getting her revenge on this girl who has destroyed her life in so many different ways. How that goes, how that falls out over the next few episodes, you’ll have to wait and see.
THR: Ghosts play a pivotal part in the remaining episodes of the season.
Plec: The big agenda of Silas is that he wants to drop the veil to the other side and allow ghosts to roam freely all over the world. Bonnie (Kat Graham), among others, is intent on making sure that that doesn’t happen. From the episode description, that clues us in that something is going on and something’s going wrong. We will see what happens there. But definitely the ghosts provide the antagonist and nostalgic relationships coming back into our world as well. It’s a little bit of both.
THR: More familiar faces?
Plec: Yup, I can definitely say that there’ll be a familiar face or two before the season’s out. (A preview of Thursday’s episode features the return of Original vampire Kol. Watch below.)
THR: Will we see Klaus (Joseph Morgan) again before the end of the season before he heads over to The Originals?
Plec: We’ll get one more chance to pay a little visit with Klaus. He’ll make his way back to Mystic Falls.
THR: You’re in the midst of having three shows next season with The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and Tomorrow People. Is that mind-boggling for you?
Plec: Yeah! [Laughs] It’s so mind-boggling that I actually find it to be comical. All I can say is I think I’m having a moment and I’m going to enjoy it. Everything is cyclical. Who knows, I could be down to zero [shows] in a year. I’m going to enjoy every moment.
Watch a preview of Thursday’s “The Walking Dead” below:
The Vampire Diaries airs at 8 p.m. Thursdays on The CW.
Email: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
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