‘The Vampire Diaries’ Season 8 has Lesser Episodes, Premieres with “Hello, Brother”; Nina Dobrev Finally Returns as Elena?

‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 8 is revealed to have lesser episodes than its predecessors. It is set to kick-off with an episode called “Hello, Brother” teasing a possible reunion between Stefan and Damon. Meanwhile, showrunner Julie Plec teased Nina Dobrev’s return as Elena in the final season.

According to TV Fanatic, the incoming and final season of the long-running supernatural drama television show is set to have less episodes that its predecessors. Instead of the usual 22-episode run per season, it will only air 16 episodes in total before finally closing off on the small screen.

It was also reported that season 8’s first episode will be entitled “Hello, Brother”, suggesting a possible reunion between Ian Somerhalder’s Damon Salvatore and Paul Wesley’s Stefan Salvatore.

Showrunner and executive producer Julie Plec previously announced they plan to pay homage to the series’ first season in the final season and that all of the episode titles will be lines from season 1.

According to Collider, Plec said, “We are just in the early stages of writing the scripts, but every day in the room, we talk about different ways we can celebrate the first season. There’s a pitch on the table now about the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, the Decade Dance and the Founder’s Day, going back to the idea of the root of the founding families and seeing the history of Season 1 played out from a different perspective. There are all kinds of different tricks and tools and fun things we’re trying to do. We’ll see if we actually do them, but that’s definitely our intention.”

When asked about possible spin-off ideas following the end of ‘The Vampire Diaries’, she said, “I have nuggets of ideas about, wouldn’t it be fun to do this, or wouldn’t it be neat to try that. There’s nothing that’s cemented enough to say that I’ve got something in the works. But I do think that when you stumble upon a world that makes so many people happy, and in this case that’s the world of Mystic Falls, you should always keep your mind open to exploring it in other ways.”

It was revealed that Nathalie Kelley of ‘unReal’ will be playing the final villain in the series. It was also speculated that Nina Dobrev, who played the main protagonist Elena Gilbert from seasons 1 through 6, may be returning for a final run on the show. According to Buddy TV, Plec hinted that the 27-year old actress’ return is a possibility.

Plec said, "All I can say, because there is nothing written in stone, but Nina made me a promise when she left that she would come back and be part of the goodbye, and I intend on holding her to that, and I'm sure she intends on living up to it as well. We just have to figure it out: the how, the when, the what. But it would be a real tragedy if we couldn't bring that story back around full-circle."

‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 8 is slated to premiere on The CW on October 21, 2016.