MAJOR SPOILERS: After what we thought was the death of her big, bad brother, Rebekah decided it was time to kill Elena. Will she pay for what she did? Plec: “What I’m excited about with Rebekah [in Season 4], specifically, is that we have never had a true antagonist on a human/teenage level,” she noted. “We’ve never had our Valerie [from Beverly Hills, 90210] or our Amanda Woodward [from Melrose Place]. And with Rebekah, who is so vulnerable and damaged but has that tough exterior, we get to see a queen bee in action; we get to see a mean girl. As we get into the second half of their senior year, here’s Rebekah, still in Mystic Falls, heading back to school, completely ostracized from the community of people that she knows because of what she did to Elena and Matt [in the finale]. She’s completely loathed by the one guy [Matt] that she had a crush on, and also by her past love [Stefan]. What’s she going to do about that? How does a vampire, who has all kinds of mind control capabilities and sass, carve her way into the high school world when the people that we love hate her guts? Once she gets over the hump of being “World’s Most Hated” in the yearbook, how will she live? And what will her life be like?”

SPOILER Alert! Katherine fled town when a diabolical plan to kill Klaus backfired. Will she return to Mystic Falls in season 4? “You will not see nor hear of Katherine until Klaus is gone for good,” says Plec. “His survival ties into her appearance, or lack thereof.” As for whether Original vamp Elijah will return this season, Plec coyly offers a “Maybe''