'Vampire Diaries' first look: Is this Alaric's new love interest?

The Vampire Diaries type TV Show network The CW

When it comes to Alaric Saltzman, a few things are well-known. He hasn’t had the best luck with relationships. He’s had even worse luck with magical rings. Oh, and he’s back from the dead and getting ready to experience being an Original vampire (minus all the hunter qualities) for the first time.

So when we catch up with The Vampire Diaries, where will Alaric be? Well, he won’t be in Mystic Falls, considering that entering the town would enact a spell that would kill him. Instead, it sounds like Alaric gets back into the teaching game and compels himself a job as a professor. And knowing Alaric, it won’t be long before he finds a lady love—something that executive producer Julie Plec teased at Comic-Con.

EW has an exclusive look at Hit the Floor‘s Jodi Lyn O’Keefe in the season-six premiere. O’Keefe is playing Jo, a doctor at the university hospital who’s been described as “tough.” Could this be Alaric’s next girlfriend? Hey, if Elena’s pre-med, she’ll probably approve.

The Vampire Diaries returns for season six on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. on The CW.