I’m still wiping away my tears here at the end of “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” written by Brett Matthews and directed by Leslie Libman. Though Stefan was able to come to terms with his mom before she died, Damon basically spit in her face. This choice to not absolve his mother of her past sins will definitely come back to bite Damon in the ass — stay tuned for our winter premiere on Jan. 29 to see just how extreme this punishment will be.

Speaking of our winter premiere, the CW announced last week that both TVD and The Originals are moving to Friday nights in 2016. People keep asking me how I feel about it, as though it’s supposed to be some tragic kiss of death. On the contrary, I think it’s a new lease on life for both shows. Fans watch the Vampire-verse in many, many ways, the least of which is live. Every year I meet new fans who have just discovered the show via cwtv.com, Netflix, DVD’s, etc. This new fandom is as excited and passionate about the show as our original fandom was seven years ago. The screaming hordes of international fans camped outside hotel rooms in Europe, the tweens at Comic-Con who just discovered it and binge-watched six seasons in a month, the original die-hard fans — it’s because of them that we want to keep making these shows as long as we know we can tell good stories. That could be soon, or it could be a long time away, but Friday nights gives us a chance to be a part of the decisions about the end.