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'The Vampire Diaries' Season 3 preview: Ian Somerhalder tells us why Damon might let Stefan go
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Just a little over a month until "The Vampire Diaries" Season 3 premieres on Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. on The CW. The first episode, "The Birthday," takes place on Elena's 18th -- but she's having a tough time celebrating with her friends while her boyfriend is indulging his monster instincts all over the country.The new trailer released is positively sizzling (Hello, Caroline jumping into bed with Tyler. Hello. Rewind. Pause. Hello.) and gives away some juicy moments from the first episode. In it, we see Damon tell Elena, "Stefan's gone, Elena. You can forget about him. He's not coming back."
Has Damon given up on Stefan? We talked to Ian Somerhalder to get the scoop.
"Damon knows this cycle with his brother," Somerhalder tells us. "He's seen it before, totally. He says to Elena, 'Stefan's not coming back. Not in your lifetime.' I mean, she's young, but human beings only live maybe eighty years. For Stefan and Damon, that's nothing. Unless Klaus rips their hearts out, they're going to live for another thousand years."
Damon still has some hope that Stefan will eventually be Stefan again, but in the meantime, he's been tracking his brother's progress with newspaper clippings that hint at the havoc that Stefan and Klaus are wreaking. In the beginning of the season premiere, though, Damon isn't actively searching for Stefan.
"I don't think that Damon's focus is really to save Stefan, because he understands that if Stefan doesn't want to be found, he's not going to be, and in some weird way Damon respects that. He's been there, too, not very long ago," he says.
Despite everything, though, Somerhalder says that Damon isn't aggressively pursuing Elena in his brother's absence. "He wants Elena to be happy and he wants her to be safe," he explains, "and she'll try anything crazy to find Stefan, so he's looking out for her."
Judging by the trailer below, Damon and Stefan aren't exactly giving each other man-hugs when they do finally reunite. "Oh, make no mistake about it, Damon's pissed off at Stefan," Somerhalder laughs. "For two seasons he tried to get Stefan to do exactly what he's doing now, to drink blood, with Damon. And now he's running off doing exactly that thing, but with some a**hole that Damon can't stand. A guy that tried to kill Damon and everyone they care about."
Is Damon feeling a little jealous of Klaus, perhaps? "Stefan's left Damon here in Mystic Falls. Now he's got to protect this girl that he loves, but that he can't have, because it's his brother's girl -- and even though it's Damon, he can't do that to his brother," Somerhalder says. "And even if he could, she doesn't love him anyway. She wants his brother. So when he finally sees Stefan, it's like, 'I tried for two seasons to get you to do this and now you're off running around with this idiot.' That's all Damon wanted in Season 1, was his brother to run around with him and munch on sorority girls and bring down the house wherever they went, and Stefan said no. Now he's left Damon here all by himself, to fend for himself, and protect this girl who is 150 years his junior. He's not happy about it."
On some level, Stefan is enjoying the ripping -- he had to work so hard to be noble and good for so long that giving in to his weaknesses now takes a bit of a weight off his shoulders. As you'll see in the first few episodes of the season, Stefan doesn't plan on coming back for Elena. He thinks she's better off without him... and when he's in this state, he's probably right.
There's been a definite role reversal -- though we will say that Stefan's "ripper" rampage is much bloodier than the spree of killings we saw from Damon in Season 1 -- and we couldn't help but wonder if Somerhalder misses the days when Damon was bloodthirsty, reckless, and a little unhinged.
"I do, a lot, but I realize that there are ebbs and flows," he says. "This is a hundred-episode arc of a character, and he can't just be one dimensional. I was worried that Damon was becoming this hero, and Kevin [Williamson] said 'No, he's not the hero. He needs to be, but he's the anti-hero, because he's supposed to be not hurting people, but that's not his nature.' So he slips, and his response is 'Screw this.' Now, I think that struggle, that push and pull for Damon is what's going to make this season interesting for me as an actor and interesting for Damon as a character. I don't want to lose that quote-unquote 'bad' side of Damon."
He pauses, then adds, "You're not going to see Damon crying this season. Trust me."
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Well, Stefan had a choice in the first 2 seasons to not do it & chose not to. I don't think he really has a choice here since Klaus is making him by what they have said in interviews. I mean I know Stefan on blood starts to like it but in interviews, he says he does not want to at first and as I said, he chose not to in the first two seasons, which is his choice, so not really getting the comparison "Damon" is talking about - the thing about Damon being mad because he always wanted Stefan to do this and would not with him but is with Klaus, as if he had a choice this time???? Just did not get that comparison is all.
EVERYTHING IS FORWOOD AND NOTHING HURTS! That Tyler & Caroline moment... OMG! She launches herself at Tyler... finally a girl in this show does what I would do to TVD boys.
EVERYTHING IS FORWOOD AND NOTHING HURTS! That Tyler & Caroline moment... OMG! She launches herself at Tyler... finally a girl in this show does what I would do to TVD boys.
Well.... I'm excited.
@ Janie- What Ian was saying was that Damon has seen Stefan behave this way before.....we knew Stefan had been on benders with blood before....that's they guy Damon wanted in early season 1. Damon wanted Stefan to come out and play with him basically. But as we know, that didn't happen because Stefan had chosed a differnt life style. Damon is a bit irritaed that Stefan is doing this with Klaus and not with him....as far as Elena is concerned, Damon is simply telling her that Stefan may not come back to himself in her life time.
Can't wait for the new season to start up.....I have missed my TVD!!!
@Janine- Also, before saying Stefan doesn't have a choice, wait and see what the writers present. I'm not sure that is exactly the case, but we will see.
@SA: I do agree with you SA. You put a little different spin & I agree but I still do think his (Damon) reasoning is a little messed up because Stefan still did not, at least in the beginning, have a choice. But I know you are saying regardless of whether he had/has a choice or not, Damon is kind of a little mad they are not doing it together even if that is the case. And just some other things that seem off in the reasoning - and does not matter if a Stefan fan or a Damon fan - Damon has not exactly been this role model for Elena in S1 & S2 but yet Elena stuck with him as a friend, etc. I mean we know all the stuff he did but then thinks Elena needs to move on & be happy all of a sudden and not try to save him? I mean, he was not exactly doing stuff to insure her happiness the first 2 seasons, LOL - snapping her brothers neck, etc (well you know the stuff). Nor was he really trying to insure her safety then either as he mentions (with some of the stuff he did and caused I mean) as he is just trying to do now he is claiming.
However, I guess he could have changed and wants her happiness now but we really don't think that is or will stay 100% true do we with these writers?? Plus, he could have run off anytime he wanted without Stefan to do these types of rampages but wanted to stay to try and get Elena I think??!! I don't think he was staying for Stefan but to get Elena is my take??!!
In fact, truth be told, neither are probably particularly good for her being what they are and how they seem to convert back to old ways, which causes her ongoing danger it seems, but Elena made the choice to love Stefan, so far, and still wants to try and help him so don't think that is really that unusual for her based on how they have written her to date.
Anyway, I know he is probably speaking from how the writers say where the character is coming from but still just seems like some reasoning is off here (on the character's part I mean - not the actor).
Does not matter though. That is how they have written it all and appears S3 is going to be so good.
@SA Well, I think it was kind of clear that he did not have a choice at first - end of S2 because we know he left to keep Elena and all safe since their plan did not work out. And by interviews by Paul, he has said Klaus is making him at first but he agreed he did not know how they would write it for further into the season (I mean on how much he embraces it and Klaus). So yes, he may stay by choice by now or in the future but I still think it was pretty clear he did not do it by choice at first.
I love my Damon badass. This sitting home babysitting Damon is BORING. Please bring back my Season 1 Damon
@Janie
I think when Ian says Damon wants Elena to move on, he means he wants her to move on with a human boyfriend. The article says Damon is not going to pursue Elena, which means he's not telling her to move on with him! He's just stuck in Mystic Falls to protect Elena because he cares, but he's not actively chasing her.
I can undertand that Damon has Elena's best interests at heart when he's telling her to forget Stefan and move on. Stefan is doing that too, basically, by not coming back to Elena.