Tonight on the CW The Vampire Diaries starring Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley continues with an all new Thursday October 8, season 7 Premiere called “Day One of Twenty-Two Thousand, Give or Take,” and we have your weekly recap and spoilers below. On tonight’s episode, season 7 begins with Damon (Ian Somerhalder) being forced to navigate his new reality without Elena. (Nina Dobrev)
On the sixth season finale, in the aftermath of Alaric (Matt Davis) and Jo’s (guest star Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) powerful nuptials, things take a dramatic turn when an uninvited guest showed up, leaving Elena (Nina Dobrev) in terrible jeopardy. Despite Matt’s (Zach Roerig) advice to leave town to protect herself, a defiant Bonnie (Kat Graham) took matters into her own hands after finding herself on the receiving end of a twisted plan. As Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Caroline (Candice Accola) reached an emotional crossroad in their relationship, a reunion with Liv (guest star Penelope Mitchell) left Tyler (Michael Trevino) faced with a decision that changed his life forever. Meanwhile, Lily’s (guest star Annie Wersching) reckless actions caused Stefan to realize the lengths to which his mother would go to reunite with her “family.” Finally, after a devastating chain of events, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) was forced to make the most difficult decision of his life. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we recapped it all right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the CW synopsis, “season 7 begins with Damon being forced to navigate his new reality without Elena. Meanwhile, Stefan waits for Caroline to sort out her emotions and tries to protect the town from Lily and her family of Heretics, who are wreaking havoc in Mystic Falls. Elsewhere, Enzo struggles to find his place in Lily’s new life; and Matt teams up with Stefan and Caroline to put a stop to the Heretics.”
You’re not going to want to miss any of the action tonight, so tune in at 8PM EST to the CW to catch the latest. We’ll be live recapping the season 7 premiere for you right here and in the meantime, hit up our comments section and tell us your thoughts on this new season!
[10/8/15, 6:22:23 PM] Rachel Rowan: #VampireDiaries begins with Stefan opening a storage shed with coffins in it – it’s three years from now. He’s panting and looks injured. He opens one coffin and there’s Damon looking ashen. He tells him to wake up and says he needs him. He pours a bag of blood into his brother’s mouth. Damon gasps and sits up. Caroline is scribbling in a journal for Elena to read it and catch up once she wakes. She says Ric and Damon went to Germany to go drinking. Bonnie is there keeping an eye out on them.
Matt is almost done with his deputy training and Caroline says she wishes her mom was there to see it. Her mom has a dedicated bench that Caroline sits on writing. Caroline says she wishes she could heal and move on. Stefan walks up on her. He asks what she’s writing and she asks why he’s there. He says Matt reported blood bags missing from the hospital and they wonder if it’s his mom whom no one has seen in a while. She asks about Damon and he says he’s worried. Caroline says that’s scary.
Stefan says it’s weird since he told her how he felt about her. He says she hates Damon but is using him for small talk. Caroline finally agrees it’s awkward. He tells her they can just be friends while she heals and does her thing. Caroline agrees and Stefan leaves her to her writing. She says things are great. Also writing nearby is Valerie. She is struck by a car while texting and driving. The two people who hit her leave her in the street because the guy is high and doesn’t want a DWI. They drive away.
She’s annoyed and sits up as they drive off. Valerie is annoyed with all of Lily’s people especially Malcolm. The others complain about living on three sips of blood a day. Mary-Louise and Nora fuss. In Amsterdam, Damon asks where they are. Bonnie is writing in the journal about Ric and Damon being constantly drunk. Damon threatens to choke Bonnie who says she’s going to rent a bike and see the town like a normal tourist. Damon says to ride on the train tracks and don’t look both ways.
Ric says he should go with her but Damon won’t leave. Damon says keeping Ric from jumping off a cliff keeps him distracted while waiting for Bonnie to die so Elena comes out of her magical coma. Ric says he’s glad he’s there with him anyway. Lily says she has to go to NYC to see Lorenzo and the others complain about being left behind stuck in the house. Lily reminds the girls that their appetite for murder didn’t work. Mary-Louise complains about her co-existence plan.
They ask about Oscar and where he is. Valerie shows up and says some awful teenagers ran over her and left her for dead like roadkill. She says worse yet, she acted like roadkill because they are governed by a pacifist who doesn’t care about her children. Nora tells her they have each other and don’t need anyone else. Lily tells Valerie she’s proud of her for resisting her urge to fight back and says she’s learning. Valerie walks off annoyed.
The kids clean the blood off their car but then Valerie, Mary-Louise and Nora show up and kill the boy. The girl tries to run and they use a spell to drag her back to them. They tell her that she’s worse than her BF for leaving her there. They lick the blood off her head and then Valerie bites her. She tells them Lily will be furious. They tell her that Lily needs to learn that heretics don’t co-exist. They take a selfie with her body. Stefan and Matt show up to the crime scene later and see the teens strung up dripping blood.
Stefan asks what the hell happened. Stefan and Matt call Damon to report it on their mom’s activities. Stefan says he needs Ric to tell him how to make a bomb. Damon hands the phone to Ric. Stefan says they have to take out all the heretics at once. Ric says he has to call him back from somewhere more private then he’s going to pass out. He staggers away. Bonnie says Lily won – she got her family back. Damon says Stefan’s got this and Bonnie accuses him of continuing his slow descent to rock bottom.
Bonnie tells him that Elena wants him to live his life. Damon drinks Ric’s bourbon and says it’s janky ass. She tastes it and says it’s tea. Ric was only playing drunk. Ric is with a shady guy and asks if he can commune with his wife and tell her that he has it. The man says he needs something tethered to her and Ric offers Jo’s wedding ring. Ric goes off on him for being a fake psychic and the guy says maybe his wife is better off dead. Ric begins to beat him.
Lily is in NYC at a bar. Enzo meets her and says she’s the prettiest girl at the bar. She says she missed him and he asks how the toilet training of her new puppies is going. She reminds him being there would make it harder on them. Lily asks if he can find something for her. She shows him the stone – it’s the one Ric has. He asks why she wants it and she says it’s a family matter. He says he thought he was family. She says they want to believe he’s on their side. Enzo reminds her that he stood with her against her sons.
She asks if he’s still willing to turn his back on Damon. She asks what happened to that boy she met on the boat and never knew kindness before she saved his life. He says that boy is not her errand boy and says to find her own damned rock. He walks away. Caroline reports to Stefan that Enzo and Lily aren’t there but five heretics are there. Stefan is finishing the bomb. She says she has to do this since the heretics know what he looks like. She tells him not to worry about her but he can’t stop.
Caroline shows up with flowers and plays welcome wagon to the heretic house. She says she lives down the block and talks herself inside and compliments the hardwoods. Matt sneaks in the back door with the bomb. Caroline says she brought them a housewarming gift. They tell her Valerie is allergic to nature. She asks where they’re from as Matt starts the timer on the bomb. Mary-Louise and Nora get closer to her and admire her jacket. Matt shows up at the front door and says they need to go.
The lady vamps try to block her and one compels her to hand over her jacket. Caroline does. Then the other compels her to compliment them. She does. Caroline runs like hell and grabs Matt just as the bomb goes off. Damon and Bonnie go looking for Ric and Damon complains she’s a poor tracker. She tells Damon he didn’t even notice that Ric was sober playing drunk. A car is headed for Bonnie as she stands in the street. Damon pulls her out of the way. Bonnie says he hesitated.
Then she says she won’t be resented the rest of her life. Damon says all he sees when he looks at her, he sees “not Elena.” She reminds him that she lost Elena too then says he’s her only reminder of Elena so love or hate her, he’s stuck with her. Lily takes a call from Stefan who asks if she was attached to her house then says he blew it up with her family inside. He tells her to get out of Mystic Falls by tonight or he’ll come after her. Lily says no way did he wipe out heretics then tells him to run.
Matt is at his deputy graduation. Nora and Mary-Louise are there too. They talk about wreaking some havoc and join hands. Mary drops her hand then Nora says it’s the 21st century and it’s okay. Valerie shows up and tells them to focus on revenge. The three start chanting just as Matt’s name is called. The ceremony continues. Caroline is there watching. She smiles as Matt flashes his badge. They keep chanting. Stefan shows up and says they have a problem. The sprinklers go off.
The girls giggle and then Valerie says the magic word to start a fire. One of the new deputies is burned and Matt runs to help him. Chaos ensures. Then the heretics start feeding. Matt looks around in horror. Caroline freaks out and then grabs her head. The witches are using their mojo on her. One attacks Stefan too then Lily is there and tells them to stop. They all do and Lily tells them she fought to reunite them and found ways to coexist in this new world. She says she sacrificed to make them a family. She tells them the bloodshed ends now. The heretics walk out behind Lily. Matt is stunned.
Caroline asks Stefan what happened and how they survived. She says Matt’s class is dead except for him and the new sheriff to. He says he has a splinter in his neck he can’t get out. Caroline comes to help. She says Mystic Falls won’t survive a war between them and the heretics and says Lily can’t control them. Stefan says he thinks he can talk sense to Lily. Caroline writes in her diary about Matt making up a story about a mining fire that forces evacuation of the town.
Lily meets with Stefan and they negotiate a deal to buy them time to clear people out. Caroline compels people to leave and they effectively shut down Mystic Falls. To buy this deal, Stefan had to give the heretics the Salvatore mansion. Matt says they have a truce to share the town and Stefan says they have to live side by side with the enemy for as long as it takes. Caroline finds Enzo putting up her mom’s bench for safekeeping. Caroline blames him for all of this.
Enzo says he’s not part of Lily’s circus freaks. She says pick a side – us or them. He says she sounds just like Lily. Caroline says none of them trust him. Stefan is at the Grill moving stuff around a pops a beer. His phone rings. He asks Damon how Europe is and Damon asks how it is there. Stefan says it can wait until it gets back. Damon opens the door of the Grill says he is back and asks who the hell is living in their house. Stefan explains the truce and Damon says he should have tried harder to kill the heretics.
Damon jokes that he should run for mayor. He tells Damon not to mess this up. Damon says this must be Caroline’s idea then says Stefan hung up his hero hair for the girl. Stefan says Elena wanted him to be happy and live his life. Stefan says if Elena wakes and everyone she loves is dead, she won’t be happy with Damon. Stefan says he’s doing this for him. Bonnie tells Matt that surrendering the town is not a solution. Matt says she betrayed Kai and that’s how they all got out.
He tells her the heretics were stopped in 1903 but her actions changed that. He walks off and says he has to go patrol. He drives through the wrecked town that looks like what it is – an abandoned mess. Damon stands on the ledge of the clock tower and surveys the town. Damon takes a bottle of booze and settles in at Elena’s dorm room at the college. But then Bonnie shows up. She asks why he’s there. He asks if she’s been in Mystic Falls. He says he has nowhere else to go.
He says there’s a heretic clipping his nails in his bedroom. Bonnie says it’s a good thing that she’s not dead then says three seconds is a long time to wait in a life and death situation. He says he knows how long three seconds are – he says he thought how great it would be to have Elena in his arms then remembered that she’s his best friend and doesn’t want to lose her. She says she was just checking. Damon says he will wait for Elena and she’ll help him wait.
She says the heretics are out because of her. Damon says that’s not true, it’s his mother’s fault and everyone is too scared to stop her. Bonnie says she’s not scared. A vagrant is trespassing in town and Malcolm eats him. Bonnie is there and Malcolm asks who she is. She says town witch. She tries to use her magic on him then he tries to take her power. While he’s distracted trying to drain her power, Damon rips his heart out. That’s one less heretic in town!
Bonnie asks Stefan if they’re making a huge mistake handing over their home town. He says probably then asks what her mom would have done. Caroline says protect human life at any costs. He says by that measure, they aren’t making a mistake. Caroline says she thought she would heal from her mom’s death and she’d be ready to move on. Caroline says she’s never going to stop missing her mother. Stefan says that’s life. He says you can’t just wait for the good parts to come along.
Stefan says to forgive herself for trying to be happy. They cover up her furniture and he says he’s going to board up the front door. She tells Stefan that he makes her happy no matter all that’s going on. She says he’s right and then she kisses him. Ric comes to see the guy at the hospital morgue. He tells him he wants to see Jo. He’s got the guy keeping Jo in cold storage instead of buried. The guy says he needs to let her go. Ric says he’s planning on bringing her back to life then says he’s joking.
The guy shows Ric to Jo’s body. Valerie tells Beau not to hide his scar. She says he’s a survivor. Mary-Louise and Nora bring in Beau’s body and says he’s dead and they found him in town. Lily is distraught when she sees him. She holds him and calls him her sweet boy. She asks who took him from us. She says who did this? Caroline writes in her Elena journal. Enzo finds her and she says to stop stalking her. Enzo says he came to tell her she’s right then says one of Lily’s heretics lost his heart.
Caroline asks who killed him and says they didn’t do it. Enzo says she’s right and he’s choosing a side. He shoots Caroline full of drugs to knock her out then says he chose Lily. We’re then back to three years in the future when Stefan woke Damon up. Damon says he told him not to bother him until Elena was awake. He says they have to go. Arrows shoot into the side of the coffin. Stefan says she’s back and says his scar opened up again and he knew she was close. Damon says she won’t stop until he’s dead.
The woman fires gunshots at them and Damon takes a shot to the knee. They agree she’s upped her game. We can’t see who it is that’s taking shots at them and trying to kill Stefan. Is it Caroline? Lily?