Just when I thought we’d seen every possible pairing of characters on The Vampire Diaries, the Oct. 13 episode introduced me to one I hadn’t even considered before — and now can’t get out of my head: Bonnie (Kat Graham) and Matt (Zach Roerig!) And I’m clearly not alone because, as Kat herself pointed out, “Bonnie and Matt” became a worldwide trend on Twitter.

Now, obviously the big problem with “Batt” is that Bonnie is technically already in a relationship with Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), but I think we’ve seen him with enough ladies by now to know that his relationships don’t tend to last very long. Let’s just hope Bonnie lives through that breakup.

The main reason I love the idea of Bonnie and Matt together is that while most people find Matt’s emo antics adorable — heck, I’ll put myself in that category — Bonnie isn’t afraid to sit him down and tell it like it is. “I know you want to help, and I know you miss your sister, but what you did was reckless and stupid,” she told him after his little dip in the pool last night.

During their little chat, Matt acknowledged how quickly all of their lives have changed. He even used his emotional shovel to dig up the fact that he once dated Elena (Nina Dobrev.) And since he’s clearly working his way through his group of friends, Bonnie does seem like the next logical step after Elena and Caroline (Candice Accola.)

That is, unless he wants to go in a totally different direction and try to steal Tyler (Michael Trevino) from Caroline — but I’ll save that for another “Andy says.”

— Andy Swift

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When Michael Trevino tweeted that the Oct. 13 episode of The Vampire Diaries was going to be a “game-changer,” he wasn’t exaggerating — least of all for his own character, Tyler, who I’m pretty sure is now a hybrid. Klaus (Joseph Morgan) turned Mystic Falls High upside down this week in an intense hour that found Stefan (Paul Wesley) fighting compulsion, Matt (Zach Roerig) seeing ghosts, and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) opening up about his feelings for Elena (Nina Dobrev) — yet again.

So, yes, you read that first sentence correctly: I’m pretty sure Tyler is now a hybrid. Klaus forced him to nom on some of his blood before giving him the old neck-snap routine, and when Tyler awoke, he had the same crazy-colored eyes that Simon Camden had when Klaus turned him a few weeks ago. Klaus also made the shocking discovery that he didn’t need to kill Elena in order to reverse the hybrid curse. He only needed her blood! This is sort of good news for Elena, as she at least got to live to see another day.

Desperate to make contact with Vicki (Kayla Ewell), Matt thought it’d be a great idea to literally drown himself in the school swimming pool, forcing Bonnie (Kat Graham) to revive him — this time with CPR, instead of magic — and grant him a connection to the spirit world. Somehow it worked, though I stand by my statement that Matt should no longer be able to make his own decisions. Ever again.

Also chatting it up with ghosts this week was Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), who Katherine kidnapped — Andy was right! — in order to have him ask Anna (Malese Jow) about the one vampire capable of killing Klaus. Turns out his name is Michael, and he’s Bad News Bears. According to Anna, bringing him back to “life” is a suicide mission, but that didn’t stop Katherine and Jeremy from waking him up at the very end of the episode.

(Side note: Can we talk about how weird it was to see Katherine and Jeremy having a non-threatening interaction? I’m beginning to ship “Jatherine” in my head and it’s freaking me out. She may not be his sister, but she’s basically Elena’s twin. Gross.)

OK, now let’s get to what we all really want to talk about: The epic, albeit brief, scene between Damon and Elena back at the Salvatore mansion. After carrying her home from the hospital — Superman-style, I might add — Damon sat Elena down for a cozy chat by the fireside. He looked at her with those absurdly blue eyes and said, “I promise you I will never leave you again.” She got misty, I got misty; it was an emotional evening all around.

That’s when Stefan showed up and spoiled everybody’s fun. Not only is he sticking around Mystic Falls, but he wanted Elena to know he’s now her special protector, keeping her safe — for Klaus’ return.

It’s freaky how the Salvatore brothers have literally swapped roles this season: Damon is now the sensitive, attentive guy that Elena needs; while Stefan is the reckless, binge-drinking guy that Elena fears.

— Andy Swift

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Katherine (Nina Dobrev) has a little surprise in her trunk for Damon (Ian Somerhalder) on the Oct. 13 episode of The Vampire Diaries, and while I’d like to think it’s just a spare tire, I have a feeling it’s something a little more brooding. Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), perhaps?

My logic behind this is two-fold: First, Katherine tells Damon she learned something useful from Bonnie (Kat Graham) when she stole Elena’s necklace. And what useful piece of information did Bonnie recently learn upon her return to Mystic Falls? Why, her boyfriend’s newfound ghost whispering abilities, of course!

The second clue, which is admittedly more obvious, comes when Katherine tells Damon her little surprise “isn’t going to win [him] any points at home.” Assuming the trunk contains neither Elena nor the rotting corpse of Aunt Jenna (Sara Canning), I think it’s safe to assume Katherine’s precious cargo is none other than sweet, sweet Jeremy Gilbert.

But the question is: How does Jeremy fit into Katherine’s plan to take down Klaus (Joseph Morgan)?

Watch the clip and get to theorizing, friends!

Click here to view the embedded video.

— Andy Swift

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Aside from the hot-and-heavy pairing of Tyler (Michael Trevino) and Caroline (Candice Accola), every other couple in Mystic Falls was put to the test on the Oct. 6 episode of The Vampire Diaries. Elena (Nina Dobrev) continued flirting with Damon (Ian Somerhalder), while Stefan (Paul Wesley) swapped spit with Rebecca (Claire Holt), and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) had to choose between Anna the Friendly Ghost (Malese Jow) or Bonnie the Teenage Witch (Kat Graham.) Let’s talk about each of their poor life choices, shall we?

Still determined to locate Rebecca’s necklace, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) had Gloria probe Stefan’s mind for the truth. And by “probe,” I mean strap him down and torture the answer out of him. She ultimately discovered that Elena was in possession of the missing bling — and alive, by the way — but one swift stab from Katherine took care of Klaus’ witchy BFF once and for all. Stefan tried to flirt with Rebecca to distract her, but she saw right through his crocodile kiss, and Klaus quickly realized he was no longer on their side.

Back to Stefan, though: The show was clearly trying to paint him in a Jesus-y light this week by (1) making his torture sesh with Gloria look like a crucification, and (2) making it clear that he was only enduring all that pain to keep Elena safe. It almost made it hard for me to enjoy Elena’s flirty scenes with Damon, knowing that Stefan was off being poked and prodded for her. Almost.

The best moment of the night, in my humble Delena-shipping opinion, was when Caroline asked Elena point-blank if she had feelings for Damon. “Just admit you’re attracted to him,” she said — at which point fans everywhere thanked Caroline for finally saying what we’ve all been thinking for the past two seasons.

And even better, Elena didn’t even deny it! She simply responded, “I can’t. … If I do, what kind of person does that make me?” So she basically admitted it without actually admitting it. She always was good at finding loopholes.

Bonnie also made her highly anticipated return to Mystic Falls this week, and her timing couldn’t have been any better, as Jeremy was starting to see and speak to Anna more often. We learned he has full control over his interaction with his ghostly exes, and the more he thinks about them, the more they appear. Since Vicki (Kayla Ewell) was M.I.A. this week, I guess it’s safe to assume he’s totes over that one. And Bonnie being back in town has all but taken away Jeremy’s need for Anna, though I have to admit, it was pretty heartbreaking watching her beg him not to shut her out. (“I’m all alone!”)

One more thing of note: Anna warned Jeremy that “the darkness” is now in Mystic Falls. What darkness could she be referring to? I mean, sure, there’s always darkness in Mystic Falls. But what new darkness are we about to meet in the coming weeks? I’m all a-tingles with anticipation!

OK, now it’s your turn to rant! Should Elena feel guilty for flirting with Damon while Stefan is off literally sacrificing himself for her? And what’s this “darkness” that poor Anna was referring to? Another week, another mountain of questions to be answered.

— Andy Swift

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Bonnie makes her long-awaited return to Mystic Falls on the Oct. 6 episode of The Vampire Diaries – and she’s got some serious catching up to do. “All Bonnie knows is that Jeremy’s acting a little weird,” Kat Graham tells HollywoodLife.com. “She doesn’t know he’s seeing ghosts, and she definitely doesn’t know they’re his ex-girlfriends who just passed away.”

And now that Bonnie’s back in the fold, Kat says she can’t wait for the audience to see how she reacts to Vicki (Kayla Ewell) and Anna (Malese Jow) being a part of Jeremy’s (Steven R. McQueen) life again.

“That’ll be a really cool reveal when it happens,” Kat tells us. “And it’ll be cool to see how Jeremy reacts to her finding out. Obviously that’s going to affect the future of their relationship.”

OK, Kat has clearly taken Julie Plec‘s crash course in the art of the tease. And speaking of Ms. Plec, she recently hinted that Jeremy will be seeing a lot more of Anna and begins to question who he really has feelings for. So, of course, I had to ask Kat how Bonnie will respond to all that noise.

“Her reaction is dependent on how Jeremy chooses to deal with the ghosts,” says. “So I can’t really say what her reaction is, but I can say that what she did — bringing Jeremy back from the dead — has done more than I think anyone can fathom.”

Ooh, spooky!

— Andy Swift

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Watch a sneak peek of tomorrow night’s episode below, featuring Bonnie’s big return:

Click here to view the embedded video.

While last week’s season premiere of The Vampire Diaries was basically an hour-long love letter to fans of Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) rocky romance, the Sept. 22 episode was definitely more of a treat for those fans pining for her connection with Damon (Ian Somerhalder). She may gave “given up” on Damon this week, but we all know that was really just a lead-in for their intense final bedroom scene.

This week, Elena’s search for Stefan led her — along with Alaric (Matt Davis) and Damon — to the Tennessee mountains, where they encountered everyone’s favorite preacher’s kid-turned-werewolf-turned-hybrid, Ray Sutton (David Gallagher)! Unfortunately, when Ray was turned by Klaus (Joseph Morgan) he also went a little cray-cray, so he wasn’t exactly a sight for sore eyes. After biting Stefan, he went after Damon, who was ultimately saved by his little brother when he ripped Ray’s heart out — Mason-style.

Now, back to that whole “giving up” on Damon thing: When Elena first learned of Stefan’s whereabouts, Alaric tried to deter her from putting herself in harm’s way. But as Elena said, Stefan wouldn’t give up on her, so she had to save him. Now let’s fast forward to Ray’s attack on Damon: When Alaric told Elena it was too dangerous to stay on the mountain, she hesitated for a minute, but ultimately agreed and left Damon behind.

So did she totally give up on him?

Well, yes and no. Damon confronted Elena in her bedroom later that night — God, I love those scenes — and she said she only left the mountain because she didn’t want to see him get hurt. “I worry about you,” she told him. “Why do you even have to hear me say it?”

Those two — you just gotta love ‘em.

In other relationship news, Tyler (Michael Trevino) came clean to his crazy mom about being a werewolf after she told him he couldn’t date Caroline (Candice Accola), because she was a “monster.” And while I’m surprised she had absolutely no idea about his furrier side, I suppose moms have the uncanny ability to overlook anything that would make their kid seem less than perfect.

Unfortunately for Tyler, his confession might not have been enough to save Caroline, who he also explained is “not a prostitute.” She’s still chained up in a basement, and about to be killed by a highly unlikely new foe — her dad, Bill (Jack Coleman, sans the horn-rimmed glasses)!

And how ’bout them ghosts? Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) told Matt (Zach Roerig) about Vicki’s (Kayla Ewell) plea for help, just as she visited him again and told him “I can come back.” But wait, Anna (Malese Jow) also came back and told Jeremy not to trust Vicki! So who should Jeremy trust — his dead vampire ex-girlfriend or his other dead vampire ex-girlfriend?

And where the heck is his live non-vampire girlfriend, Bonnie (Kat Graham)?

— Andy Swift

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Considering Stefan (Paul Wesley) is now in full-on Ripper mode, I was sure the third season of The Vampire Diaries would be all about Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) giving into their sweet, nasty passions. But man, was I wrong! The Sept. 15 season premiere was loaded with enough Stefan-Elena moments to convert my Delena-shipping heart. Well… almost.

The episode began, as expected, with Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and his new bestie Stefan literally killing their way up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Apparently they don’t call Stefan “the Ripper” for nothing. He straight-up rips people’s body parts off, then feels guilty and tries to re-assemble them like they’re freakin’ Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s kind of hot.

Back in Mystic Falls, Caroline (Candice Accola) threw Elena a bitchin’ 18th birthday kegger to help get her mind off of her M.I.A. boyfriend. But sweet baby vamp Caroline had her own relationship drama to deal with, as her feelings for Tyler (Michael Trevino) were intensifying, and Matt (Zach Roerig) continued to pine for her from a distance.

Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) — who appears to have spent all summer at the gym — remained haunted by the ghosts of Anna (Malese Jow) and Vicki (Kayla Ewell), who we heard utter “help me” before a clueless Matt entered the frame and sat on her. But when Jeremy wasn’t playing Ghost Whisperer — move the eff over, Jennifer Love Hewitt – he was getting stoned with his new BFF. (And honestly, even if you’ve never smoked a joint once in your life, don’t tell me you wouldn’t love to light one up with Matt and Jeremy.)

While the Mystic Falls gang got its party on, Klaus and Stefan played a nasty game of darts with a werewolf named Ray Sutton (David Gallagher) so he would tell them the whereabouts of his pack. When he refused to comply, Klaus forced Ray to nom on his blood, then killed him, effectively turning him into — you guessed it — a hybrid! (Seriously, was anyone else totally disturbed watching Simon Camden bleeding and tied to a pool table? Happy have mercy on us all!)

Now here’s the part that really got to me: In an attempt to shake Damon off their backs, Klaus and Stefan returned to Mystic Falls and compelled ace reporter Andie Star (Dawn Olivieri) to jump off a high platform at the local news studio. Damon helplessly watched as his fake/compelled girlfriend lept to her untimely death. Honestly, I’m mostly pissed that she’s dead because now I won’t be able to pretend Damon talks to me through the TV. (He says “Andie,” but I hear “Andy.”)

While Damon broke some chairs in a fit of rage, a super-emotional Stefan decided to give Elena a call. But he couldn’t bring himself to talk to her, so he was forced to stand there while she poured her heart out to the silence. She cried, he cried, and you know what? I almost did, too. “Stelena” fans, this season is still yours — for now!

The episode ended, just as last season premiere’s did, with a tweet-worthy twist: When Caroline tried to sneak out of Chez Lockwood — apparently vampires are also familiar with the walk of shame — she was confronted by Tyler’s mom (Susan Walters), who shot her with tranquilizer darts! Possibly filled with vervain! Damn you Carol Lockwood and your beautiful blue eyes of death!

P.S. Where the heck was Bonnie (Kat Graham)?

OK, now YOU talk: What did you think of tonight’s big premiere? Was that heart-wrenching moment between Elena and Stefan enough to make you think they actually belong together?

— Andy Swift

Follow Andy on Twitter for more Vampire Diaries

A brand-new batch of stills from The CW reveal what Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Klaus (Joseph Morgan) are up to on the third season premiere of The Vampire Diaries! You know, while Damon (Ian Somerhalder) is busy relishing his alone time with Elena (Nina Dobrev) back in Mystic Falls.

It appears Klaus and Stefan really are off on a tour of terror, and their journey brings them to a young werewolf played by 7th Heaven‘s David Gallagher! (I can’t help but imagine Happy giving Simon lessons in how to act like a dog, maybe I might be losing my mind.)

Meanwhile, it looks like Caroline (Candice Accola) and Tyler (Michael Trevino) have their respective paws and fangs in some serious relationship drama. They seem to be sharing a nice moment as they set up for Elena’s party, but once the festivities begin, the conversation tenses up.

Caroline’s tension parade continue, as she shares a seemingly awkward moment with recent ex-boyfriend, Matt (Zach Roerig.)

Sadly, there’s still no sign of Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), Bonnie (Kat Graham), or either of Jeremy’s ghostly exes (Kayla Ewell and Malese Jow.) But something tells me they’re saving that quartet in the shadows for a reason.

— Andy Swift

Follow Andy on Twitter for more Vampire Diaries

The third season of The Vampire Diaries premieres Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. on The CW!