Julie's Diary: Vampire Diaries boss says that shocking death will come back to bite Damon 

Julie's Diary: 'Vampire Diaries' boss explains the origins of that pregnancy bombshell

Julie's Diary: 'Vampire Diaries' boss talks her favorite Salvatore scene of the season

Welcome to Julie’s Diary! Every week during the season, 

showrunner Julie Plec will add an entry to her diary. From answering burning questions to giving behind-the-scenes stories and more, this is a place for fans to hear directly from Plec about the episode they just watched. 

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

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.

Annie Wersching has been a dream come true during her run as Lily Salvatore. As a big fan of

, I was extremely excited to be one degree separated from Jack Bauer. She is so good in every scene that all our actors study their lines extra hard when they have to act with her, because they want to be working at her level.

Under the category of mothers and sons and tragedies, the estate we shot the engagement party at was the gift of a successful son to his mother, and is an exact recreation of the plantation house she worked in when she was younger. He always said he’d buy it for her one day when he became successful. Sadly, the mother died right before construction was completed.

DP Darren Genet spent some time in his early career making diamond commercials. I learned this last year when Alaric proposed to Jo and we had to do a special Darren-run diamond insert unit to make sure the ring sparkled in just the right way. He also is the master of “Golden Hour,” as evidenced by the Mary-Louise and Nora proposal. Here’s the secret of Golden Hour (that time of day right before sunset when the sky is gold and warm and beautiful): It’s really like Golden 22 Minutes. That’s not a lot of time to shoot an emotional scene. Screw up, and the sun is gone before you know it. But the end result is always gorgeous.

Next week’s episode is our fall (and Thursday) finale. It contains two big twists, five holiday carols, and 83 Santas. Tell a friend.

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