‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 4 spoilers: Is there any hope for Stefan and Rebekah?

“The Vampire Diaries” could in some ways be renamed “a shippers’ paradise” at this point, mostly because of all of the pairings that have formed there over the course of the past four seasons. There are the conventional ones (Elena / Stefan), the ones that happen over time (Klaus / Rebekah), and the ones that only exist in fanfiction (Caroline / Rebekah, Elena / Elijah, Matt / Bonnie, and so on).

So where does the Stefan and Rebekah pairing fit in? It qualified most for the one that built over time, mostly because there has at least been some chemistry between the two characters in some flashback scenes over the past two years. From the moment these two got together earlier this year, we surprisingly found ourselves rooting for them. Stefan had a different sort of energy around her that was not quite there with Elena, and it allowed for the two to really have a free, no-holds-barred sort of love affair … at least until some other complications got in the way.

Sadly, it is these same consequences that, at least according to executive producer Julie Plec’s new comments to Entertainment Weekly, are going to keep Stefan and Rebekah from having any more trysts in the near future:

“Well, as much as I know people love Stefan and Rebekah — and by all means so do we — her [recent] actions put a little bit of a hold on any future romantic dalliances between them.”

What’s next for Stefan? Surprisingly, a good bit of brother time with Damon. Thanks to Elena letting go of her humanity, neither Ian Somerhalder nor Paul Wesley’s characters have to spend too much time following her every move anymore. Now, they can actually be (gasp!) free to look at what is going on in their lives.

If you want to read more on how this change is going to impact Elena in the long run, be sure to see what Somerhalder had to say here.

Photo: The CW