Kevin Williamson: This is a story about Stefan and Elena’s love story. I think it’s fun to watch the twists and turns that we take. Because you know what? She doesn’t know.
Julie Plec: I can only say that it’s a show predicated on a girl (Elena) coming back to life and her development of love for one brother (Stefan) who then, because of who she is, changes the life of the other brother (Damon) and that’s our show.
Kevin Williamson: Is she single right now? Elena is always, no matter how single she is, she’s still standing there with Stefan.
Kevin Williamson: The thing that works so well about this show is that’s a serialized mythology genre love story. It’s about these two lost souls, these two dead souls, one human (Elena) and one a vampire (Stefan), who are together, their love for each other brings them back to life. I mean that’s epic.
Julie Plec: We always said in the Pilot it’s a girl (Elena) who feels dead inside and a boy (Stefan) who is dead inside and how they bring each other back to life.
Kevin Williamson: One of the most important things Julie and I wanted to do this season is cement the love between Stefan and Elena. It’s that love story that will be the ANCHOR of this entire show. We have to earn that.
Kevin Williamson: This show is ALWAYS going to be about Stefan and Elena. It has to be. They’re soulmates.
Paul Wesley: Stelena will always be the core of the show, the show revolves around Stelena.
Nina Dobrev: That’s what it’s about. It’s about Stefan and Elena’s undying love.
Ian Somerhalder: No shit it’s always gonna be Stefan… It’s always gonna be Stefan. I don’t blame her, Stefan’s a better dude.
Julie Plec: The bottom line is that Elena and Stefan are the true epic love story of the show. Damon is the third point of the triangle.
A Vistor's Guide To Mystic Falls: Both the books and the TV series are also, at heart, a love story between Elena and Stefan - a story of events that tie the two characters together. Theirs is a love that should, by all rights, be doomed, and yet their passion for each other helps them overcome the odds, and not even death can keep the pair apart.
Kevin Williamson (about Stelena in the Pilot): The look on her face (Elena), the way they connected in this moment (Stelena), that’s what worked for me.
Ian Somerhalder: Stefan and Elena's first kiss was the most romantic scene of the show.
Paul Wesley: This moment was so intimate and special. Being a vampire is his greatest insecurity, it’s the thing that he runs away from the most, he’s ashamed of it. So the fact that she can accept that and think it's beautiful, to Stefan there is no other closer form of intimacy.
Julie Plec: Last year Stefan didn’t believe he deserved Elena’s love. Right now we’re at a place where Stefan has come to terms with some of his demons and is feeling very strong in his love for Elena and is confident that she loves him.
Julie Plec: That scene is a beautiful commitment in SE relationship. It’s kind of like a monogamy commitment in a way. It was kind of beautiful and special. Their relationship as of that moment has never been stronger.
Paul Wesley: It's the woman that I love, that I've spent this entire existence living for... She's everything to me. And she's leaving my life. How can you not emote?
Julie Plec: Our goal in this particular part of the storyline was actually to bring Stefan and Elena back together. You know, that was the point.
Nina Dobrev: I was really excited for Stefan & Elena when I started reading that script! Actually, it's the best time they've had in a long time. It almost starts to feel like the fairytale that it began as.
Paul Wesley: There's a lovely scene that we do at the lake house discussing the reality of Elena’s mortality. Touching lightly upon it without hitting you over the head. It's really kind of beautiful.
Paul Wesley: "They say 'true love can overcome anything', so we’ll have to wait and see if it’s true love, right?"
Julie Plec: And when she picks up, he’s there, but he doesn’t say anything because he just needs to hear her voice, because it’s the one thing keeping him from completely falling apart. It’s a guy who just needs to hear the voice of his touchstone, of the love of his life, to let him have a better day.
Nina Dobrev: When we locked eyes it really felt like we were locking eyes for the first time. But nothing was said, everything's in the looks, and the feeling, the tension was built up so much and it was palpable, you can feel the love, the fear, the anxiety, the memories and the history between the two.
Paul Wesley: I’ve been compelled by Klaus to turn off all of my feelings, to forget all of my love for Elena and to give into the lust of the blood. I’m doing everything in my power to hold back. Just the idea of having that woman that you love standing in front of you and feeling the need to drain her of her blood, but fighting that and trying to find your humanity... it was pretty demanding.
Julie Plec: This storyline will be a “big deal” for SE relationship, especially as Elena struggles with her desire to help rescue this person that she loved very purely and very deeply, but also learning the lesson that you can’t necessarily let yourself be consumed in your life by saving someone else’s.
Julie Plec: It’s really devastating what he does, and it really cuts right to the core of his love story with Elena. It’s a big Stefan-and-Elena relationship episode in that you get a sense of how tragic and sad it is that such a great love has been ripped apart as a result of everything that Klaus has done.
Julie Plec: And so Elena asks Stefan to the dance. And it’s sweet, and it’s romantic, and it’s them at their best, and it’s them coming back together and having a night.
Julie Plec: It's two people who really just need to hold each other. They need to feel something with each other. It's a beautiful moment, but it's sad.
Julie Plec: We really wanted to see Stefan and Elena come back together after a really long and horrible season. She was his champion and fought for him, even when he didn't deserve to be fought for, she still came back and said "I couldn't stop loving you, I could never stop loving you." That deserved payoff.
Arielle Kebbel: It’s all about Stelena #thatsright #isaidit
Julie Plec: We wanted Stefan to be her [Elena] hero, to really reaffirm all the ways and all the reasons why she chose him at the end of last year
Julie Plec: They (Stefan and Elena) love each other as deeply as two people can love each other, but that doesn’t mean that their relationship is infallible.
Zach Roerig: Stefan honored Elena’s choice to save [Matt] and he’s kind of OK with that because that’s how much he really loves Elena.
Julie Plec: What’s nice about it is that they realize if they want to they can be together forever, so in a small way it’s a small victory in this whole catastrophe.
Julie Plec: mon and Elena’s feelings for Damon continue to be the biggest things that could keep Stefan and Elena from being together forever.
Nina Dobrev: That was definitely a very intense scene, especially because, for the past two years, Paul and I have been working together so closely almost every day. Towards the beginning of the season, we had absolutely no scenes together, so that was actually one of the first scenes where we were working together again. It was such a weird dynamic, and when we locked eyes it really felt like we were locking eyes for the first time. But nothing was said, everything’s in the looks, and the feeling, the tension was built up so much and it was palpable, you can feel the love, the fear, the anxiety, the memories and the history between the two…
ME: WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THIS??
