Vampire Diaries: Paul Wesley On Stefans Descent Into Darkness

Minor spoilers for season three

“There will be a surprising thing that happens a few episodes in that will cause Stefan to turn the corner fully and really absorb himself in this darkness with absolutely no sense of conscience and no predisposed history of his prior empathy and his prior life as a ‘good’ so to speak,” says Wesley. “Damon, in comparison to what Stefan is morphing into, is a puppy.”

Equating Stefan’s lapse to that of a recovering drug addict who’s back to using again (oh, like that metaphor hasn’t been done to death with vampires) Wesley reckons he’s cool with suddenly being the bad guy: “Not every character has to be likable, [but] every character should have empathy. I think viewers should watch Stefan and feel [for him], whether they agree or disagree with what he’s doing.”

The show’s executive producer Julie Plec, meanwhile, hints that Damon may take advantage of the situation. Sure he’d like to save his brother, but what their ongoing tug-of-love with Elena? “Does he go back to his crazy, wild ways as a way of making a point that he feels no guilt for no man? Or is he being driven by his need to bring his brother back? Or does he say, ‘Screw it, I’m going after the girl I love’? [He starts to think] ‘Well hang on, I thought maybe I never had a chance with his girl because how could she love a monster like me? But hey if you stack a monster and a monster, I ain’t so bad.”

Dave is a TV and film journalist who specializes in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He's written books about film posters and post-apocalypses, alongside writing for SFX Magazine for many years.