"The Vampire Diaries" Season 8 returned to The CW on Friday night with episode 8 and received impressive ratings.
According to Deadline, episode 8 received similar ratings and audience share with its final episode in December 2016. However, season after season, "The Vampire Diaries" is still down a tenth from its Season 7 winter premiere episode that aired on Jan. 29, 2016.
"The Vampire Diaries" Season 8 has already been canceled on The CW, but there are rumors saying that it could be picked up by another network. Unfortunately, it seems that The CW and executive producer Julie Plec are not open to the idea of re-opening the franchise just for it to have more seasons.
Plec has also written the finale episode for "The Vampire Diaries" Season 8, and she said that it is something that all of the fans would love. While speaking with Nerdist, the exec said that she tried to make sure that all of the unresolved issues in the show will be resolved in the finale.
"The content of it has definitely had to shift as a result of Nina Dobrev leaving the show and the disintegration of the Other Side as a story concept. When we got rid of those two things, Kevin's and my original pitch definitely had to adapt to the new world that we were working in. But thematically and emotionally, it is still incredibly similar to what he and I always talked about," she explained.
Meanwhile, Plec also responded to the rumors that Dobrev will return to "The Vampire Diaries" Season 8. The exec is positive that it will happen as long as Dobrev's schedule permits.
"The only thing I have been saying and will continue to say is that she is 100 percent committed to coming and we are 100 percent committed to having her. At this point, it is just logistics and I do not want to speak too soon because that would be crushing if we could not figure it out, but we are all extremely determined to," she said.
"The Vampire Diaries" Season 8 airs Fridays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.