'The Vampire Diaries' Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec: Is Damon worthy of Elena?

By Carina Adly MacKenzie
October 11, 2010 1:55 PM ET

It's no secret that a large contingent very vocal "The Vampire Diaries" fans are rooting for Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) to finally get together.

While Damon has admitted his feelings for Elena, she's not exactly his biggest fan at the moment. After all, in the season premiere, he snapped her little brother's neck - which can be kind of a mood killer for a girl.

I was on the scene at New York Comic-Con to chat with executive producers Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson about the future of the duo that a veritable army of Twitter fans refer to as "Delena."

They definitely hear you guys. Plec loves reading fans' tweets, recaps, and reviews about each episode. "One of the greatest things about this experience is that our fan base is very vocal," she says. "The community runs very deep, and they're very very supportive, and that's good."

She admits that occasionally, she has to force herself to take a step away from the computer. "All these girls are like 'Damon and Elena forever! Delena! Ahh! Oh, nothing on the show is working except for Damon and Elena!' and then you take a step back and you're like wait, no, stay off Twitter. "

Williamson finds the Delena fascination intriguing. "It's so interesting. Why? Do they really want them together? Or do they just want to want them together?" he says.

The neck-snapping incident that drove a wedge between the two former friends was arguably the most shocking moment we've seen yet in a series that surprises me in every act. Plec says that she and Williamson were having lunch when he pitched her the idea, and she gasped out loud. "My jaw fell on the floor," she recalls. "That is the most messed up, twisted, ridiculous, horrible thing, that is awesome. And if I'm having a reaction, as someone who's heard everything, and I lose my mind over it - it blew my mind."

It blew Elena's, too, and Damon won't have an easy time redeeming himself.

"He screwed up," Williamson says bluntly. "I'm sorry, everyone loves Damon, but he's not worthy of her, yet, in my opinion. Yet. And that's why we have a show! We can go episode to episode and build toward all sorts of romance and love, and we've got a long way to go."

Largely due to Ian Somerhalder's inherent charm and Damon's sharp one-liners that add edge and intrigue to every script, the fans are willing to forgive his character almost anything. "This is such an unpopular opinion," Plec says cautiously, "but I really feel strongly about everybody's willingness to love Damon no matter what he does. I love Damon. Who doesn't love Damon? But if everybody loves him no matter what he does, then how does what he does have impact? How is there anything profound about your anti-hero or your villain?"

The strong reaction to the season premiere from Damon's fans was exactly what the writers were looking for. "So for him to do something that seriously hardcore, I knew people were going to be upset about it, and it's upsetting, but I felt like it was really important for Damon's character, when all was said and done."

Don't get discouraged, Delena 'shippers. Damon's road to redemption is going to be long and rocky and probably littered with death and bloodshed -- not to mention, there's that whole Stefan thing in the way -- but it'll only make the payoff all the more epic.

"That's why we have a show!" Williamson says. "We can go episode to episode and build toward all sorts of romance and love, and we've got a long way to go. That's the journey. I don't just want to throw them together tomorrow. I'd be sad. I want to see the kiss, I want to see the sweaty palms, I want to see it all go down."
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