Vampire Diaries

The return of dead vampires Anna and Vicki has turned the world on The Vampire Diaries upside down. Although both have shown very different motives, the consequences of their arrival have yet to be revealed. Both Malese Jow (Anna) and Kayla Ewell (Vicki) tell TVGuide.com that Thursday's episode "Ghost World" (8/7c, CW) will answer many lingering questions. Plus: The actresses share their thoughts on their arcs and why neither sees their character as evil.

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Good ghost vs. evil ghost

Upon their arrival as ghosts, Anna warned Jeremy that Vicki was surrounded by darkness. As Jow points out, "If people were gray about it before, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' made it black and white. Vicki had ulterior motives that weren't very good." But Ewell begs to differ. "Vicki has the best intentions, but doesn't always handle them correctly," she says. "It comes down to the fact that any of us would do anything to survive and if your life has been taken away and you get another chance at it, then you're going to pretty much do anything," she says.

For Jow, she says there's no question about Anna's intentions. "Anna was never diabolical in the first place. She's powerful and has the wisdom of 100 years, but she's never evil [and] above all else she just wants Jeremy to be happy. I think selfless is definitely a quality Anna has."

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Reasons for returning

Both Jow and Ewell believe a major reason for their characters' returns was to fulfill a love story — but different ones. "The first season we had such a great bond and it got cut off so short, so the people who were invested in that are getting more of what could've happened if Anna were to continue throughout Season 2," Jow says. "Jeremy and Anna have an amazing relationship whether it's romantically or within a friendship."

Vicki, on the other hand, reappeared primarily to connect with her brother Matt. "[Executive producer] Julie Plec explained to me that it's like a love story between brother and sister," Ewell says. From the beginning one of the strongest relationships [on the show] is Vicki and Matt."

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"Tease" for Thursday's episode

Both actresses agree that "Ghost World" will be redeeming for viewers. "It's all really coming to a head. The question everyone's been having this whole time — 'Do they have the capability to come back?' — we're getting closer and closer to that answer," Jow says. Ewell adds: "This one answers pretty much everything."

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Future on the show

Luckily ghosts are immortal spirits, which means the two actresses can pop up at any time. "They've created this portal to allow Anna and Vicki to come and go," Ewell says. But will we see Vicki, who was forced to "leave" last week, any time soon? "I'm going back to Atlanta [where Vampire Diaries films] next week," she says.

Watch this week's Vampire Diaries Bite for more on the ghostly love affairs: