The Vampire Diaries Midseason Finale Postmortem: What Does "Supercharged" Kai Want?

[Spoiler alert: The following interview reveals important plot points from Thursday's episode of The Vampire Diaries. Read at your own risk!]

Magic has been restored in Mystic Falls — but it's not without major consequences.

On The Vampire Diaries midseason finale, the villainous Kai (Chris Wood) discovered he could suck all of the magic out of the Travelers' spell, reinstating it, but it also made him more powerful than ever. And in a twist, Kai put a cloaking spell on Elena (Nina Dobrev), making her invisible to everyone but him.

On the Set: Take a tour of The Vampire Diaries (Damon's bedroom included!)

Find out what Kai's new power means, what's ahead when the show returns next year and more from executive producer Caroline Dries.

Why bring back magic at this point in the season?
Caroline Dries: It takes away that border that has been the bane of our existence and it allows our people to come home, which was their goal, at least for Caroline (Candice Accola) and a few others. It helps create a more unified bond that people can sleep in their own bed and hang out at the Salvatore house, but what it does for the mythology is now Kai is supercharged and can kind of do whatever he wants, which makes him the most violent villain in town.

So what does it mean for everyone and especially Elena who's under his cloaking spell?
Dries: It creates more problems for Matt (Zach Roerig), who didn't want vampires to come back to town or didn't want supernatural to return, and it makes Kai a supercharged witch who will put all of our characters' lives in jeopardy. The real question is, why does he want Elena when he's so focused on merging with Jo? And how are we going to save Elena? [But] Kai siphoning up all this magic is a challenge even for him because he's never had access to so much magic.

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Because of magic returning, Enzo miraculously survived. What's next for him?
Dries: Enzo (Michael Malarkey) has always had a grudge against Stefan (Paul Wesley), but this Sarah story has piqued his interest and he becomes a little bit more of a villain moving forward.

Looking to the second half of the season, what are you most excited about?
Dries: I'm excited for the audience to see how this Gemini mythology works itself out because I think it's one of our more interesting mythologies and [it] affects all of our characters with different stakes for each of them, and we're rooting for everyone in this weird way.

For Dries' thoughts on what's next for Caroline after her heartbreaking news, go here. 

Go behind the scenes of this week's episode with Nina and Candice below:

The Vampire Diaries returns on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 8/7c on The CW.
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