Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

 is the first episode of the seventh season of The Vampire Diaries and the one hundred and thirty-fourth episode of the series.

Summary
HOW TO DEAL – In wake of Elena’s vulnerable situation, Damon is heartbroken. Still trying to bring his brother back to his home town, Stefan has also trouble dealing with the faith of his friend. Caroline tries to cope with Stefan’s confession, especially since one of her best friends is gone. Alaric tries to keep his life as normal as he can, but that proves to be difficult. Matt has a run-in with a blast from the past. As Bonnie tries to keep tabs on what is happening with people around her, dire circumstances are bound to happen.

Main Cast

 * Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert
 * Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore
 * Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore
 * Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett
 * Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes
 * Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan
 * Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman
 * Michael Malarkey as Lorenzo

Special Guest Starring

 * Annie Wersching as Lillian Salvatore

Recurring Cast

 * Justice Leak as Malcolm
 * Elizabeth Blackmore as Valerie
 * Jaiden Kaine as Beau
 * Scarlett Byrne as Nora
 * Teressa Liane as Mary-Louise
 * Tim King as Oscar
 * Luke Benward as William Duncan
 * Adam Gregory as Ethan Crane

Guest Cast

 * Ahna O'Reilly as Debbie
 * Matthew Underwood as Mikky

Trivia

 * Antagonist: the Heretics (Valerie, Nora, Malcolm, Beau and Mary Louise)
 * This is the seventh season premiere. It continued the cliffhanger final episode of Season 6.
 * This episode is revealed to be eight weeks after the events in I'm Thinking Of You All The While.
 * Bonnie has been having trouble with her magic due to what Kai did to her in I'm Thinking Of You All The While. She also holds herself responsible for what happened to Elena.
 * Caroline has been keeping Stefan's confession a secret. She finally shared it with Bonnie.
 * Damon has been killing vampires who have killed girls like Elena or just innocent bystanders.
 * Stefan has been searching Damon for the whole summer in Europe. He has seen the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
 * Alaric has been drunk all summer to drown the pain of losing his wife and unborn children.
 * Elena wakes up in an unknown location.
 * The Heretics want to make Mystic Falls their town.

Continuity

 * Elena was last seen in I'm Thinking Of You All The While in her magically induced sleep, by Kai, preserved as she is in the moment he used the spell on her.
 * Both Bonnie and Caroline are writing things down in a diary that she promised to Elena she would keep in I'm Thinking Of You All The While so Elena will know what happened while she was sleeping.

Cultural References

 * "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" is a song with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart with additions from Richard Stilgoe. It was written for the 1986 musical version of The Phantom of the Opera.
 * "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story of speculative fiction by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Along with Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity, especially during the Halloween season. The story and its main character, Ichabod Crane is mentioned by Matt.