vampire diaries
The Vampire DiariesFacebook/The Vampire Diaries

After a short hiatus, CW's "The Vampire Diaries" will return on Thursday with "The Downward Spiral," which will mark actor Ian Somerhalder's debut as director.

Episode 16 will will pick up directly from the events of the previous episode that saw Somerhalder's character Damon finding out that his mother was still alive. But sadly, she is a prisoner in the prison world, and first and foremost on Damon's mind is to find out the circumstances that led to his mother's incarceration. 

Explaining what's going through Damon's mind after finding that Lily is alive, Somerhalder said his character was going to feel abandoned.  

"After finding out his mother is alive and didn't want him? Think about this: Basically, the two most important women in his life — his mother and Katherine, the love of his life, or so he thought — both abandoned him. So he's thinking, "There's no way this happened to me twice. And not only did they abandon me, but they did it with a smile." That, I think, is a really huge thing for him. A huge, huge, huge crush," he told TVLine.

On a positive note, the next few episodes might feature Alaric's wedding to Jo, and when asked if Damon would take inspiration from his friend and pop the question to Nina Dobrev's Elena, the actor answered in the negative.

"Nope. Think about it this way: Damon's 173 and Elena's 18 or 19. I mean, come on. Something tells me that's not the best idea." Somerhalder also hinted that the good patch Damon and Elena are enjoying won't last long.

This news has a section of fans, especially Bamon shippers, rejoicing as they still have hopes for Damon and Bonnie (Kat Graham). Their reunion scene in the previous episode has been cited as one of the best Bamon scenes of the season, and fans feel Damon seems more happy and positive when he's with the young witch.

Although it's too early to say if there will be a romantic relationship between the two, Somerhalder did admit that there are chances the two could get together.

"There's an extraordinarily thin line between love and hate," Somerhalder told TVLine in an earlier interview. "Due to the fact that these two hated each other, and had so many connections … it only seemed appropriate that they would be given a chance, due to the dynamics of their relationship."

"The Vampire Diaries" returns to the CW on Thursday.