Look, we finally found Caroline! The Vampire Diaries may be over, but fans could watch two former stars Thursday night -- Candice King (Caroline Forbes Salvatore) guest starring on Fox's The Orville, and Nina Dobrev (Elena Gilbert Salvatore) launching her new CBS sitcom Fam.
The Vampire Diaries spinoff Legacies is returning next Thursday, and Caroline has been name-dropped several times. There is definitely a storyline waiting for her, should Candice King elect to return. But it was just great to see her back on TV in general in The Orville Season 2, Episode 3, "Home." Candice King previewed her appearance in the January 10 episode with this Instagram photo showing her character Solana Kitan, a member of the Xelayan race:
Candice King played Solana Kitan, the newly engaged older sister of Lieutenant Alara Kitan, the Orville's chief of security. The January 10 episode was a big showcase for Halston Sage's Alara, and it ended with the very strong suggestion that Sage/Alara would be leaving the show entirely. It's possible Alara will come back later, if she decides to return to the Orville, but for now it looks like she's out.
For Alara's at least temporary goodbye episode, Candice King had a fairly big role. It was her first on-screen role since the end of both The Vampire Diaries in 2017 and The Originals in 2018. Her Caroline was a main character of TVD and became a highly anticipated character on The Originals thanks to the Klaroline storyline.
Legacies follows Klaus' daughter Hope Mikaelson and Caroline's twins Josie and Lizzie Saltzman. Caroline's absence from the joint spinoff has been explained in that she's off on a mission trying to find a way to help the twins avoid the Gemini Coven Merge ritual.
Fans would love to see Caroline on Legacies, but it's also understandable why Candice King would want to take a break from the character she started playing in 2009. But since it took much less time to watch The Vampire Diaries and The Originals than it took to film the episodes, it's also understandable why fans would NOT be ready for a break and wish more TVD and Originals stars would jump into the spinoff.
Legacies already has several Vampire Diaries stars in residence, including Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman, but also Demetrius Bridges as Dorian Williams, Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan, Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert, and even the undead Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as the twins' OTHER mother, Josette "Jo" Laughlin.
Legacies is set in Mystic Falls, and The Vampire Diaries series finale ended with Elena and the newly human Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) still living there. Elena now works as a doctor, and her Dr. Salvatore has a practice in town. But Ian Somerhalder is now busy with his new vampire show coming to Netflix, and Nina Dobrev's new comedy Fam will actually compete against Legacies on Thursday nights.
It's not clear if Candice King will ever bring Caroline to Legacies, but it was certainly a treat for fans to see her in this guest role on The Orville.
The Orville, Fam, and Legacies all air Thursdays on Fox, CBS, and The CW, respectively. Good luck to all. Find out what else is airing on the packed midseason 2019 schedule.
