Insider + Witchy JuJu With
Entertainment Weekly
The Vampire Diaries returned with one of it's most jaw-dropping episodes to date last night as Bonnie & Stefan teamed up to keep Klaus' coffins hidden, Tyler continued to let the original vampire work him like a puppet, Elena went to shocking lengths to keep Jeremy safe and Damon finally said screw it when he laid a big, internet-shocking kiss on his modern day love.
To help make sense of it all and find out what's next for The CW's best show -- and one of TheInsider.com's 11 Best Shows of 2011 -- I caught up with Kat Graham to talk all about Bonnie's new partnership, and why it could spell doom for Mystic Falls' most fierce witch.
Insider.com: Last night's episode saw Bonnie have a prophetic dream. Is that a new "power?"
Kat Graham: It'll happen a little bit more of it in terms of trying to crack the code, which I think it so interesting because you see so much of the supernatural in the actual Mystic Falls world, but you don't really see it in terms of a subconscious way. I thought it was really cool that they gave Bonnie that.
Insider: It's the latest example of her forming an uneasy alliance with The Salvatore brothers. Why do you think she continues to team up with them when they've caused her so much personal pain?
Kat: I think that all Bonnie really wants to do is protect the greater good and because of that she's gone against so many of her instincts.
Insider: In this dream, she saw Klaus lying in the coffin that in reality can't be opened. How long will it remain sealed?
Kat: I can't say how long it will be but I can tell you that whatever is in that coffin is extremely important to the future of what's happening in Mystic Falls – and the show in general. There's a lot of weight to that reveal.
Insider: Suffice it to say, the reveal will be, in true TVD fashion, shocking?
Kat: So shocking. I thought that by season three they wouldn't be able to shock me anymore, but that has not been the case at all. It's always said that a third season is the best season, and in our case, that's so true. This year is so incredibly shocking. It's a mind f*** and I love it [laughs]. People will not believe what's coming and the degree of twists and turns with how they interlock the originals with other things and how their relationships with everyone in Mystic Falls is going to play out.
Insider: Last night didn't really deal with this, but where is Bonnie's head at in terms of Jeremy after the whole Anna thing?
Kat: If you really love somebody, I don't think you could ever get over a pain like that and I think Bonnie was opening herself up to him, in spite of her trust issues [laughs]. So I think it was devastating for her. I also think she knows that Jeremy is young and people make mistakes, so it's half and half.
Insider: In next week's episode, titled Our Town, Bonnie finds out Elena had Damon compel Jeremy into leaving Mystic Falls. How does she react?
Kat: It's shocking – I don't know if I can say that she's happy or sad about [him leaving], it's a lot of mixed emotions. Which I like. She kind of wanted him to leave town because of everything that happened but now that he's gone, she's sad. It's that thing where you want something to happen but when it does, you're no longer sure you wanted it to happen. If anything, she's more shocked by Elena's choice to compel Jeremy to leave. Her reaction to that is very interesting.
Insider: Caroline's birthday is the big event in next week's episode and the group throws her a birthday party in a tomb. Whose idea was that?
Kat: [laughs] It wasn't Bonnie’s idea! It wasn't Bonnie’s idea! She's not that creepy. But I will tell you that it's a very cool location we've never filmed in before and it's important that people pay attention. You should pay attention to everything on this show because it always circles back into play somehow.
Insider: What else should people look out for next week?
Kat: What I love next week is the way Caroline was written. Her take on being a vampire is something that hasn't been explored and I love how [co-creator] Julie Plec chose to explore being a young adult as a vampire and that transition. It's so genius how she so subtlety did it – there's so much depth to it.
Insider: Whenever The CW sets up a big round of phoners for you, it's because Bonnie is quickly put in a life or death situation. Safe to say that's the case here?
Kat: I love that she's always in danger of dying. Half of me doesn't want to be killed off the show, but I want people to be nervous – I don't want anyone to get comfortable with the mortality of these characters. I love my fans and I love this show, but because of her fearlessness and self-sacrificing nature, it doesn't have to be a killer that takes her out. It could be herself.
Insider: If Bonnie does die, is that how you'd like her to go out?
Kat: I would prefer a big, huge, blow-out self-sacrificial death. That's who she is. Bonnie is a powerhouse character and if it were to come to death one day, I would hope it was a choice she made to die.
