‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 8 spoilers: The search for Ian Somerhalder’s Damon in premiere

The eighth season of “The Vampire Diaries” will kick off with new episodes on Friday, October 21, and it is fair to stay that the stakes are just a little bit higher than usual. After all, we’re kicking off the final season for the show. This is a chance for it to cement its legacy, and set in motion the course of events that will carry it to its end.

The premiere episode is entitled “Hello, Brother,” a name that certainly makes sense given that the relationship between Damon and Stefan is at present the central touchstone of the series. The synopsis below via The CW does a good job of setting up further the conflict that is there, which stems in turn from the events at the Armory near the end of season 7:

“Months after Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Enzo (Michael Malarkey) mysteriously vanished from the Armory vault, Stefan (Paul Wesley) tirelessly pushes forward with their search, while Bonnie (Kat Graham) struggles holding onto hope that they will be found. Meanwhile, a dangerous encounter with an unexpected visitor leaves Caroline (Candice King) and Alaric (Matt Davis) fearing that someone – or something – may be targeting their family. Finally, after following some mysterious clues, Stefan realizes that whatever has a hold of his brother may have a more damaging grip over him than he could have ever imagined.”

If the final sentence of this synopsis has you worried, we’d ask you to remember this: Since when does “The Vampire Diaries” give you good news for characters during the premiere? It’s almost certainly going to get worse before it gets better, and the excitement for us as a viewer is seeing where things progress and how we get from point A to point B.