‘The Vampire Diaries’ Season 8, Episode 1 Airs In October? Nina Dobrev Returns For Series Finale
With The Vampire Diaries Season 8 being the last season for Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore) and Kat Graham (Bonnie Bennett), multiple reports predicted that The CW will have no choice but to cancel the show soon after. While Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore) and Candice King (Caroline Forbes) may be willing to reprise their respective roles for a couple more years, rumors claim that their storyline may not be enough to sustain the interest of fans.
Back in April, Us Weekly reported that Kat Graham is returning for one last season. While the actress did not explain the reason behind her decision to leave The Vampire Diaries, Graham said that she will definitely miss seeing everyone.
“The crew is going to be the hardest thing to let go, because we are a family. But you know what, another season is a whole other year, and we’re going to blow it out,” she shared.
Just a couple of weeks after Graham confirmed that she is leaving The Vampire Diaries after Season 8, fellow co-star Ian Somerhalder also revealed that he, too, will be reprising his role as Damon Salvatore one last time. He, however, pointed out that everyone should take it one step at a time. Somerhalder also remained optimistic that in the end that he truly decided to leave after Season 8, the show will go on without him.
“So let’s take things one step at a time: Season 7 wrap, vacation, lots of sleep, let the writers get started on Season 8, and then we’ll all see where we go from there.”
Zap2It reported that the finale episode of The Vampire Diaries Season 7 has recorded an all-time lowest finale rating for the show. While The CW is not a network that typically cancels a show based on ratings alone, the recent TVD numbers may just be a cause for alarm.
The outlet pointed out that cast members leaving the show one by one is clearly not a good indication for renewal. The Vampire Diaries showrunner Julie Plec admitted that they were stuck waiting for an announcement when filming for the Season 7 finale. While they wanted to give fans a strong ending, they also wanted to make room for a few cliffhangers in case they get picked up for another season.
“This year’s finale was really interesting because we didn’t know when we were shooting this season if we were going to have another season. The burden became, ‘How do we make this as twisty and turny and as epic as we have in the past when 85 percent of it could have operated as a series finale if it had to?'” Plec recounted.
While The CW has yet to announce the premiere of The Vampire Diaries Season 8, Cartermatt predicted that it will return sometime in October. The outlet, however, pointed out that the network may end up shaking things up
“We’re not ruling out the network doing something crazy and unorthdox when you consider that they ordered three new shows, canceled Containment, and are bringing over Supergirl from CBS. Given that they didn’t cancel anything else, that’s a lot of real estate,” the author explained.
Meanwhile, if there is one thing that fans are looking forward to seeing in the last season of The Vampire Diaries, it is the return of Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert.
In an interview with TV Line, Julie Plec confirmed that TVD fans will get to see Dobrev again in the finale. The showrunner explained that while they considered bringing her back earlier, if she wanted to, they ultimately decided that it would be best if Dobrev will only return “at the very end.”
Do you think The Vampire Diaries should end after Season 8? Are you excited for Nina Dobrev’s return? Sound off in the comments below!
[Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]
