The Vampire Diaries: How Will Caroline Handle Her Mom's "Expiration Date"?

The Vampire Diaries' Sheriff Forbes (Marguerite Macintyre) might not be dead yet, but Caroline (Candice Accola) is handling her mom's fatal diagnosis the only way she knows how: Planning ahead.

"We find [Caroline] in [this week's] episode with her mom still fully alive planning the funeral and picking out flower arrangements because she just doesn't know what to do with all this," executive producer Julie Plec tells TVGuide.com in the video above. "In next week's episode, she's looking for the original Miss Cuddles that we learn she had something to do with the demise of back when she and Bonnie were six. She's all over the map having a hard time facing her mom and dealing with the fact that there's an expiration date on her mother's life."

Mega Buzz: Who's ready for another Damon-and-Elena kiss on The Vampire Diaries?

But Caroline won't be the only one rocked by the tragic circumstances.

"It affects Damon a great deal," Ian Somerhalder says. "Damon and Liz Forbes have a total love for each other; she has been very good to him. Damon likes to control things in life by virtue of being hurt... he wants to turn the valve down to [prevent] any other outside forces he can't control come in. Liz is one of those things where the valve is open and gushing and crushes him."

Mega Buzz: Which series regular is leaving The Vampire Diaries?

Adds Plec: "We'll learn that the sheriff was Elena and Jeremy's rock when their parents first passed so in a way Sheriff Forbes has always been a surrogate mother figure to Elena. Everyone has their own personal reaction to the circumstance she's in and it really makes them think and brings them closer together and of course for some people they need to remove themselves."

As for how (and who) it brings together, we know the impact it will have on Damon and Elena, but Plec adds: "We get to see Stefan and Caroline's friendship re-solidify and then confront the feelings they may or may not have for each other. There's a lot of good, happy stuff going on in the midst of this big s--t storm."

Are you sad about Forbes' impending death?

The Vampire Diaries airs on Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS, one of The CW's parent companies.)