Mega Buzz: A Vampire Triangle, Following's Reset, and a Modern Family Rivalry

Every week, editors Adam Bryant and Natalie Abrams satisfy your need for TV scoop. Please send all questions tomega_scoop@tvguide.com or tweet them to @adam_bryant or @NatalieAbrams.
Love that Caroline is helping Stefan through his PTSD! Will anything romantic develop between them on The Vampire Diaries? — Ginger
NATALIE: Do we have a new love triangle on our hands? Not quite -- Stefan will be spending a lot of time with Katherine actually, as they help each other in their darkest moments. Meanwhile, Caroline will have her hands busy with someone else very soon.
How can The Following possibly bring Joe Carroll back this season? — Chris
ADAM: Through the magic of TV, of course! But rest assured, Joe will come out of last season's explosion a changed man. "There's a certain amount of a reset," James Purefoy says. "We'll see him in a different place ... and being a lot more introspective about his life and who he is." But one thing that hasn't changed: his hatred for Kevin Bacon's Ryan Hardy. "[Joe's] goal was never really to take down Ryan... because killing him is just too easy and too nice," Purefoy says. "[He wants to] take a crochet hook into the belly of Ryan Hardy and just tug on his intestines ... for the rest of Ryan's life. Just slow, painful, torture. I don't think that'll ever change."
Any scoop on Modern Family? — Shawn
NATALIE: The holiday season will bring out Gloria's jealous side when her mother returns, but takes an interest in Claire. Stephanie Beatriz may be too busy on Brooklyn Nine-Nine to return as Gloria's sister, but Gloria will find that same sisterly competition in Claire — and it will get dangerously heated. 
Any scoop on The Mentalist? Is Jane really going back to jail? — Elizabeth
ADAM: Get ready for another — albeit less severe — time jump. The next episode skips ahead three months, and Jane has indeed spent the intervening period in detention. (And Lisbon's been writing him letters! Aw...) However, the always wily Jane already has a plan to get out. Let's just say that some pieces of the Red John puzzle from earlier this season may be Jane's saving grace.
What's coming up on Arrow? — Elliot
NATALIE: By the end of the mid-season finale, you'll find out exactly who Brother Blood is working for, but Oliver won't be privy to that information anytime soon. "He finds out about his Brother Blood persona before we wrap the fall run, but he doesn't discover that that person is connected to Sebastian," Stephen Amell says. Complicating matters is Blood's burgeoning relationship with Laurel. "They start running into each other more," Katie Cassidy says. "They do get involved in a certain way." Drama!
Is Castle done with the Sen. Bracken-Beckett story? — Nina
ADAM: Not if the show wants to keep leading lady Stana Katic happy. "I think that story needs really great closure," she tells us of Beckett's series-long search for her mother's killer. "They did a really nice job of developing this 'sleeping dragon' story, and [the end] of that should be done with justice to all of the years that they spent developing that." The good news? Creator Andrew W. Marlowe insists that he has plans to bring Jack Coleman's dirty politician back — but only when the perfect story comes up.
Please tell me the Shane and Cristina thing isn't real on Grey's Anatomy! — Lara
NATALIE: What I can tell you is that Gaius Charles will be channeling his Friday Night Lights character Smash when Shane takes his cockiness to a new level, talking back to doctors and ruffling feathers all over the place. Ruh-roh. Bonus scoop: Sarah Drew's real-life father will be playing her dad in the mid-season finale!
Do I sense some chemistry between Kennex and Stahl on Almost Human? — Jason
NATALIE: You're not the only one. "There's huge potential there," Karl Urban tells me. "There's definitely a spark between those two characters." Co-star Minka Kelly echoes that sentiment, explaining that Stahl really admires Kennex. "She's been a really big fan of his for a really long time, so she's in awe of him returning to the office," she says. "They're very like-minded when it comes to wanting to save the world." Do you want to see them get together?
Anything good coming up on CSI? — Marc
ADAM: I hear that the back half of the season will feature a return appearance by James Callis' John Merchiston, the journalist who last appeared in the season-opener. But this time around, Merchiston will be the subject of the investigation, which Nick is forced to lead after the FBI benches both Russell and Finlay because of their individual connections to the case. For Finn, the connection is more personal than any of the CSIs could have imagined.
How long before people figure out that Peter Pan is in Henry's body on Once Upon a Time? — Missy
NATALIE: It won't be very long at all. "Emma can tell immediately something is off and tries to justify it because he's been through a lot; he's been traumatized in certain ways. He's been with Pan and the Lost Boys in the forest for so long, so there's a lot of justifying going on basically," Jennifer Morrison tells me. "She's not sure what but she knows something's wrong." Look for the famous storybook to help Emma figure it out.
I can't wait a whole year for Boardwalk Empire to come back. Got anything to ease the pain? — Kyle
ADAM: Even though Season 4 ended with Gillian Darmody in jail, don't expect a 1920s take on Orange Is the New Black next season. But creator Terence Winter insists that Gillian will be back in a big way. "Gillian is very much a linchpin on this series," he says. "You can trace Nucky's downward spiral to the fact that he is the one who delivered Gillian to the Commodore. Crossing that line is the one pivotal event in Nucky's life that helped him rise to power and then descend into the hell that he's in now. It's all about that relationship."
Thanks for the scoop on The Walking Dead. More, please! — Paula
NATALIE: I pumped Robert Kirkman for some scoop on the second half of the season and he offered up three interesting tidbits: 1) Carol will definitely return before the end of the season; 2) The Sanctuary, which was discussed in that radio message, will come into play; and 3) Via flashbacks, there will be glimpses into the lives of our favorite characters, likely including Michonne to get an answer about this.
Natalie's Mega Rave: After a subpar start to The Walking Dead's fourth season, the mid-season finale's epic battle between the Governor and the prison gang reaffirmed my faith in the zombie drama.
Adam's Mini Rant: I mostly liked Homeland's "Zero Dark Brody" episode, but I hate what this story line is doing to Saul. I don't want to believe he would ever leave mid-operation to go mope in his office. 
Crave scoop on your favorite TV shows? E-mail Adam and Natalie at mega_scoop@tvguide.com or drop us a line at Twitter.com/TVGuide
(Additional reporting by Liz Raftery and Robyn Ross)