The Vampire Diaries
Season 7 Episode 6: “Best Served Cold”
Directed by Darren Genet
Written by Caroline Dries
Created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec
Starring Paul Wesley, Iam Somerhalder, Kat Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Matthew Davis, Michael Malarkey, Annie Wersching, Elizabeth Blackmore, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Todd Lasance, Scarlett Byrne, Teressa Liane
The CW
Air Date: Thursday, November 12, 2015, 8pm

Children. This episode is all about children. HERE’S YOUR CHANCE; IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE VAMPIRE DIARIES EPISODE 7.6 “Best Served Cold,” READ NO FURTHER!

But yeah. Lily’s (Annie Wersching) children (of all varieties). Alaric’s (Matthew Davis) children. Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Valerie’s (Elizabeth Blackmore) child. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) fantasy child. Caroline’s (Candice Accola King) fateful baby transference situation. More on that later.

As usual, an opening scene unfolds of three years from now. Children’s drawings are shown on Alaric’s fridge and Damon is grilling Alaric about the whereabouts of his fiancée. When we see a bloodied Caroline on the news broadcast saying she has “an urgent message for Stefan Salvatore,” it all clicks. Alaric is engaged to Caroline. WHAT?! This feels so beyond creepy to me. The writers are just messing with us!

The Vampire Diaries
Season 7 Episode 1: “Day One of Twenty-Two Thousand, Give or Take”
Directed by Pascal Verschooris
Written by Caroline Dries
Created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec
Starring Paul Wesley, Ian Somehalder, Kat Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Matthew Davis, Michael Malarkey, Annie Wersching, Elizabeth Blackmore, Scarlett Byrne, Teressa Liane, Justice Leak, Jaiden Kaine
The CW
Air Date: Thursday, October 8, 2015, 8pm

Who else is still reeling from the season six finale of The Vampire Diaries? The tearjerker episode capping off a twisty-turny, dramatic, exciting season saw the end of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev). After finding out early on that this was Dobrev’s last season and making my way through the episodes, I remember asking myself: Can a show go on without its main character? But, as I thought about those she left behind, I felt myself caring so deeply about what happens to them, particularly Alaric (Matthew Davis). This guy is arguably the most tragic character in the entire series, and that’s saying a lot since they have all had some pretty bad things happen to them. I found myself describing the main group of young friends — Elena, Jeremy (Steven McQueen), Matt (Zach Roerig), Tyler (Michael Trevino), Bonnie (Kat Graham), and now Caroline (Candice Accola) — as a “generation of orphans.” Thank God they have Alaric…but will he be able to fulfill his fatherly role through all of his understandable grief?