There’s another Gilbert coming to Mystic Falls.

Newcomer Lindsey R. Garrett has been cast on The Vampire Diaries as Samantha Gilbert, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.

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Samantha, in her 20s, is described as a bit of a gossip, but don’t expect her to cross paths with Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) anytime soon. She’ll appear only during flashbacks in the episode titled “1912,” airing at the end of February, as one of the town’s founding family members who interacts with both Salvatore brothers.

Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) has one very good reason to return to Mystic Falls, and it goes by the name of Jamie (Robert Ri’chard.) Although Bonnie’s (Kat Graham) alleged “new love interest” didn’t get too much screen time with her on his inaugural episode of The Vampire Diaries, Robert assures HollywoodLife.com he’ll be back to make some magic happen. ”There’s more story to be told, and it’ll drift towards Bonnie because, I guess, she has a pretty flawed love life,” Robert tells me. (Yeah, that’s a bit of an understatement.)

Like most people on the show, Robert is being kept in the dark about Jamie’s future with Bonnie, but he says viewers can likely expect the chemistry to develop between them, especially as he stays close with Bonnie’s mom Abby (Persia White.)

Read Entire Interview Here

Without further ado, let’s make Rippah-like waves and dive into this recap!

The last we had seen, Stefan stopped Damon from killing Klaus because he knew that by killing Klaus Damon would die. In turn, Stefan got his humanity back and picked possibly the least humane thing of all to do – take revenge on Klaus by stealing his family. The choice left both Elena and Damon upset and raging and we all wondered what they’d do next.

"Just give me my family back sweetheart - or I'll dart you."

Now the episode opens with a Bonnie vision – she wanders into the old Lockwood mansion and sees a coffin with Klaus sleeping in it, and his mother’s necklace wrapped around his hand. Bonnie wakes up startled and we all kind of look at each other and go ‘huh?’

Elena’s jogging round the town and gets a surprise stalker in the form of a hunky hybrid (which, let’s admit, no person who jogs with their hoodie up is going to be a nice person). Elena tells Bonnie that she’s spiraling into insanity, she’s feeling so paranoid, and Bonnie brushes off her premonition as “stress”. Damon is drinking away his troubles “It’s the eve of Klaus-aggeden”, while Alaric is mulling over Jeremy’s failed paper.

Meanwhile Jeremy and Tyler are now bff’s and shooting cans together – or apparently Tyler’s as well. Tyler’s being a typical dick and Jeremy is worrying Elena. But he’s not the only one worrying Elena; Damon being a day-drunk causes her older sister side to come out as well (and some flirty closeness). Then, our favorite hybrid (in all his delicious glory) shows up to ask the two where he might find Stefan… and tells them that he’s broadened the scope of it being a Stefan/Klaus problem (oh Joseph. How I missed you being on my screen).

"Nice shot bru." "Yeah bru?" "Yeah."

Bonnie investigates her dream in real life and stumbles across Stefan, who is still a little cold and won’t relinquish his possession of Klaus’ family. Alaric and Elena have a problem with Jeremy hanging out with Tyler, and to irritate them more Jeremy invites Tyler over for dinner. Tyler tries to explain being “sired” as though it’s a religion of sorts – and his blind faith has everyone confused.

Klaus invites himself to have a drink with Damon: “I think it’s about time we have a drink, don’t you?” and the two chat about Stefan’s betrayal and how much they have in common. Klaus tells Damon that his family are the ones who have been stolen (I didn’t think vervain stopped an Original from being able to compel another vampire? Side note). And seeing as we all know that Klaus was bound to try and get someone killed, it should have come as no shock that Jeremy almost gets killed by a car and Alaric gets dead instead (yay for that ring).

Klaus is apparently building a house for himself and his hybrids, and Tyler begins to question the ‘Lord Klaus’ that he has devoted his life to. Damon tries to tell Elena what Klaus’ plan is, while Jeremy shows just how over everything he is. Elena asks Bonnie to find Stefan, to which she replies “You don’t need a locator spell” and Elena and Damon wander over to visit Stefan.

"If you were alive your heart would be pounding like mine right now."

The dead witches ain’t happy to see Damon; and neither is Stefan to see Elena. Turns out Stefan is a dickhead which (while super hot) earns him a slap from Elena. Damon crashes his way into the house and has a chat with our lovely Rippah – which ends in Stefan being staked (is it wrong that I still had a sick satisfaction that despite Stefan’s crazed drinking habits, Damon still managed to stake him? Hmm love you Damon) and his confession that he stopped Damon from killing Klaus to save his brother went down well (another stake in Stefan ha!).

Jeremy educates Tyler on what Klaus normally does when he wants something, and in turn Tyler warns Jeremy to be careful. Ric comes back to life but not like he normally does – which ends in ambulances coming, being compelled away, and Jeremy beheading a hybrid. Wait, hold up. JEREMY BEHEADED A HYBRID?! I need to take a moment.

Damon convinces Stefan to be in on his plan; cut-throat and devious – “I am so much better at that than you”. Stefan reveals the hidden coffins to Damon (turns out witch spirits are using their joo-joo to hide them from sight). Meanwhile Torrey DeVito makes her appearance as Meredith (Dr Fell) and I’m wondering what she’s up to. While I’m wondering that, Elena invites Klaus over and gives him Rebekah (whhaaattt Elena?!) and she tells him that she may not be so forgiving of him once he wakes her (one up on Klaus heh heh).

A warm welcome to Torrey DeVitto, cast as Meredith

After all of Jeremy’s moaning, Elena makes the heartbreaking decision to let Damon compel him out of town (mega sad face). Damon is Elena’s shoulder to cry on and their zingyness is practically killing me (little did I know what was to come ).

Klaus decides NOT to wake Rebekah (no, I want Claire Holt back!) and Bonnie and Stefan mull over the mystery that is the fourth coffin. Then comes a much-awaited Delena scene – after Damon confesses that Stefan saved him, he decided that he would feel guilty over doing something worth being guilty over – A KISS. And Delena fans die of happiness across the entire planet – while our poor SE’ers groan in heartache. Oh, so very torn Elena is right now.

And there you have it! So what did you guys think? Did you love The New Deal? Was it worth the wait? Are you going to miss Jeremy? What do you think is in the fourth coffin? Will Klaus awaken Rebekah – and just what is his plan now? Do you love dickhead Stefan or detest him? And was it just me, or did you miss Caroline this episode? And most of all – what do you think of the KISS?! Sound off in the comments below!

I had to put it in here. FINALLY. <3

At 8pm The Vampire Diaries returned to The CW from the mid-season break with The New Deal as Mystic Falls dealt with the consequences of Stefan’s (Paul Wesley) quest for revenge against Klaus (Joseph Morgan). The episode pulled in 3.1 million viewers with a 1.4 18-49 rating – holding steady on its mid-season finale Homecoming

Are you ready for clue number-two, Vampire Diaries fans?

As previously detailed, I was fortunate enough to watch the winter premiere, “The New Deal,” over the weekend. Leading up to Thursday’s airing of the episode, I’ll be posting one tease per day related to events from the terrific installment, the first of which had to do with a character departing Mystic Falls for an undetermined amount of time.

Now, on to the next spoiler…

A major secret will be revealed.

By whom? To whom? You’ll need to tune in and find out. But I can say that it changes one character’s outlook and plays a role in the final scene of the episode.

Once again, let the guessing games – and the countdown to the return of TVD – begin!

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.

In the CW series’ midseason finale, Elena (Nina Dobrev) proved that she, too, was capable of killing when she stabbed and killed Rebekah (Claire Holt) as she prepared for the homecoming dance. But since when has being dead stopped a vampire?

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“We haven’t seen the last of Rebekah,” executive producer Julie Plec tells TVGuide.com. “The fact that Elena killed Rebekah is going to come back to bite her in the butt.”

When the series picks up in January, not only does the Original sister return in a flashback, but she also makes her presence felt in the present day.

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“I’m not going to say when she makes her reappearance, but certainly her being undaggered is not in Elena’s best interest,” Plec teases.

We know how well mysterious strangers usually fare on TVD, and considering Newman has roles in The Great Gatsby and The Dark Knight Rises coming up, it seems unlikely that this newcomer will be cooling his heels at the Grill for long.

Miss any episodes this season, such as the most recent flashback installment? Watch The Vampire Diaries online now!

Klaus and Rebekah’s brother, his name will be Finn and he’ll have gotten very close to Katherine on at least one occasion… if you know what we mean!

Mystic Falls is weird, you guys.

As first reported by E!, Robert Ri’chard will play Jamie, a new hottie in town who catches Bonnie’s eye, and has a surprising connection to her mother, Abby (Persia White). Don’t worry… we’re hearing there’s no love connection there. This isn’t “90210.”

We’re hoping Jamie doesn’t turn out to be a witch, but given Mystic Falls’ history, the “new hottie in town” always spells trouble. If you ask us, it’s about time Bonnie gets a story of her own and some fleshed-out history, so we’re glad to hear that she’s going to have family trouble and new romance prospects all at once.

Of course, we can’t help but wonder how Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) will feel about Jamie. After all, men with their eye on our resident witch haven’t tended toward being trustworthy, upstanding citizens. He doesn’t have much room to be jealous, of course, given his recent conduct.

Ri’chard is familiar to CW audiences from a recurring arc during the “Veronica Mars” college year, but we love him best as the guy who hooked up with Paris Hilton in “House of Wax.” Before her tragic death-by-pipe-through-the-brain. Hate when that happens.