‘The Vampire Diaries’: Executive Producer Julie Plec Teases Season 7 Finale

Bonnie Bennett survived those poison pills, but she’s now got a big problem on “The Vampire Diaries” — she’s become the hunter and is out for (vampire) blood.

Kat Graham’s character is now
driven by a need to hunt and kill vampires, including her boyfriend, Enzo, her pal,
Caroline, and even Damon Salvatore. But, Damon and
Enzo aren’t about to let this go on, and Friday night’s Season 7 finale on The
CW should see them taking great risks to try and save her.

Access Hollywood discussed all
things Damon, Bonnie and Enzo when we spoke to Executive Producer Julie Plec
ahead of Friday night’s episode. But first, we had a few Caroline/Stefan/Alaric
questions for the show boss. She also dished on what’s in store for Matt
Donovan too. 

The-Vampire-Diaries-Executive-Producer-Julie-Plec-Teases-Season-7-Finale
‘The Vampire Diaries’: Executive Producer Julie Plec Teases Season 7 Finale (The CW)

PHOTOS: ‘The Vampire Diaries’: Scenes From The Season 7 Finale

AccessHollywood.com: Caroline and Stefan are on the run together, is there more time for them to talk feelings before the end of the season?
Julie Plec:
 Oh yes. Nothin’ but time. It’s funny, I think the trademark of this show is people will always find a moment to have an intense romantic conversation in the midst of extreme chaos.

Access: Will we get to deal with any sort of Caroline/Alaric conversations in the finale of this season at all?
Julie: Yes. There’s a really beautiful scene between Alaric and Caroline where he kind of lays out what he wants out of life and gives her the opportunity to make her own choice as well and so we’ll see what comes out of that.

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Access: [So,] she’s then got a big decision then, in the finale, or is that something that we might be able to see resolution to next season?
Julie: We will know and understand her choice and whether she herself survives and which relationship survives before the season is over.

Access: Bonnie and Damon were pitted against each other [in last week’s episode because of Bonnie now having Rayna’s need to kill vampires]. Were you there when Ian [Somerhalder] and Kat [Graham] got to read that script at the table read?
Julie:
 I actually wasn’t there. I was sad to miss it because when we have big, meaty, emotional episodes, I love to be a fly on the wall at the table read, but unfortunately I was in LA and didn’t have that chance. But I love that scene, I love that speech. Poor Bonnie, if there’s anything that was going to be the right ammunition to get her to be able to fight against this hunter problem, it should have been that, but that just shows how strong the draw of Rayna Cruz’s legacy is and how screwed she is.

Access: Going into the finale, how far is Damon willing to go in order to try and save Bonnie? Obviously when he tried to take the Phoenix stone scar [from his brother], there was a little twist, so just curious, is he all in with Bonnie? Would be willing to die to save Bonnie?
Julie: 
Damon’s willing to do whatever he needs to do because it’s the final piece of what we’ll call his ‘great apology tour.’ He’s recognized that he hurt people who he loved deeply and that his life, as much as Elena takes up the core of his heart, there is still love for other people that he needs to do right by, and that’s his brother, and that’s his friend Bonnie and in a weird way, there’s still even some residual guilt about Enzo from their history and so Damon is ready to step up and be the cowboy. The question is what will that mean for him.

Access: What about Enzo — what kind of a risk is he willing to take? He was the one that gave Bonnie the pills that kind of started this whole thing anyway [unintentionally]?
Julie:
 Enzo is do or die. If Enzo doesn’t live to see the season premiere of Season 8, it’s because he loves her so much that he’s willing to do anything.

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Access: Are we going to get to see more Matt in the finale? I’m curious if we’ll explore some of the demons he’s going through at the minute. He had some big news [two episodes ago]
Julie: Yeah, poor Matt. Poor Matt. He’s had such a rough time and we finally [learned] the history of how he found love and then lost it so tragically and the part he played in it and he’s really struggling with the question of who he’s supposed to be in this core group of friends and as the sheriff of this town and what his future’s supposed to be. And all of that comes to a head in the finale in a really powerful and emotional way.

Access: Let’s talk about the Armory [and] whatever is locked up underneath there. Are we going to see some of the stuff that’s under there?…  What can you sort of hint at about that?
Julie:
 In the final moments of the episode, the audience is going to get just a small little glimpse of… what’s in store for them next year.

Access: Tell us a little bit about how long it took to come up with the concept of the Armory and the stuff that’s going on in there. Was that many weeks [of discussion] by you and the writers?
Julie: It was an evolving conversation because for years we’ve really wanted to do that — really lean into the collectors, the anthropologists, the Indiana Jones’s of the supernatural universe, and with Matt Davis’ character, Alaric, being somebody who embodies that adventurous side, we’ve always wanted to create an environment that he could drop into and this is the first year where we felt like we could actually put a name on it, and give it an identity and so my hope is that there’s still a future with the Armory as it falls into the hands of our heroes and what they can do with it moving forward.

Access: Should we be preparing ourselves for some sort of major death? Season finales, you just don’t know what to expect these days on television [and especially] in your [shows].
Julie: I think you should prepare yourself for anything. I think, as you know, we like to have a high body count on this show. But it could just as easily – the pendulum could swing the other way and everyone could come out with nary a scratch, so we’ll have to wait and see.

“The Vampire Diaries” Season 7 concludes Friday night, at 8/7c on The CW. Season 8 begins in the fall. 

Jolie Lash

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