It might go down as one of the best premieres in the show's history.

The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 1 threw us straight into a Mystic Falls absolutely NO ONE wants to visit. Except the supernaturals who live there. (Okay, okay, we'd still totally probably visit...)

What did the TV Fanatic Round Table think of last Thursday night's events? We're glad you asked!

Join Carissa Pavlica, Amanda Steinmetz, Paul Dailly, and Miranda Wicker of TV Fanatic and Ruthie Heard of The Vampire Diaires Online as we break down everything from "Day One of Twenty-Two Thousand..."

What was your favorite scene from The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 1?

Carissa: Damon apologizing to Bonnie for going off on her earlier about their shared loss of Elena. Their friendship is so natural. They can get angry and later make up just as dramatically. It's the real deal.

Amanda: The flash forward ending. It set up a long term mystery that I'm genuinely excited about and that hasn't happened for me for a long time on this show. 

Paul: The heretics turning deadly. That was cray cray and it showed how much power they really have.

Ruthie: Stefan and Caroline's makeout sesh was pretty awesome. Mainly because Paul Wesley, in my opinion, really excels at those types of scenes. Perfect kisses, longing looks into her eyes...sigh.

Miranda: I did love when the Heretics showed up at the graduation ceremony and just destroyed it, but I think my favorite scene goes to that ending. WHAT IS HAPPENING OMG! And how great is it that Damon, even though he asked to sleep for 60 years, woke up and instantly jumped to his brother's side? I love those two.

Riskier plan: raising Jo from the dead or trying to blow up a house of Heretics?

Carissa: Definitely raising Jo from the dead. Nobody raised from the dead ever returns quite like they were before. It never turns out as it was intended. Am I the only one who watched Pet Cemetery?? 

Amanda: Ric needs to learn to let go because his plan to bring Jo back to life will end terribly. I know this show stopped caring about the finality of death years ago, but I have a feeling this particular resurrection would be bad. 

Paul: Raising Jo from the dead. I get that he is lonely, but he obviously knows the risks of resurrection and as Carissa said, they are never the same.

Ruthie: Just because I really would love to see Jodi Lyn O'Keefe back on TVD, I'd say blowing up the Heretics was the riskiest. It instigated the war between the two groups and resulted in that horrific scene at Matt's graduation and now they've lost their town over it.

Miranda: I'm with Ruthie. I really want to Jody Lyn O'Keefe back, especially if she's some messed up sort-of ghost and all crazy. Thinking they could just blow up a house of vampire witches? Have these guys not learned anything in the past six seasons?

How did Matt Donovan survive that massacre?

Carissa: Oh, that's easy. They cannot possibly send off another character this quickly no matter how badly they're torn up, so even he could have probably taken out Heretic single handedly without damage. Nobody told him that secret yet, though.

Amanda: How has Matt survived this long, period? I'll tell you how. They can't kill those beautiful blue eyes. They're too powerful! 

Paul: He's the Sheriff!  Of course they aren't going to kill him.

Ruthie: He's our Matty Blue Blue of course. The writers would never kill him off. If they did, they'd have to answer to ME.

Miranda: I absolutely love Zach Roerig and think Matt Donovan is one of the luckiest humans alive, but I am so, so unclear how he managed to get out of that without so much as a scratch unless Valerie has somehow claimed him. He does have a way with the scary ladies and making them fall for him.

What's your reaction to the flash forwards?

Carissa: Intrigued. Although I wouldn't mind a full blown flash forward midway though the season to get us a little closer to the end of the mystery. Is that coming? Waddya know Miranda?

Amanda: Excitement. I want to know who the woman chasing after Stefan is and why Damon wanted to be left in the coffin until Elena woke up. I just hope the writers give us answers at a good pace and don't drag out our questions past the point of caring. 

Paul: They've injected new life into the show and I'm very happy with that. The past few seasons haven't been great, with little to no direction, so at least we know this time round we are working toward something.

Ruthie: I'm loving it! Very intrigued, there are some theories/spoilers floating around that I won't divulge here, but sounds like we are really in for some shocks!

Miranda: I don't know anything for certain, or even a timeline, but I do know that at some point our present and future storylines are going to converge. Whether that means TVD gets a three-year time jump (thus breaking it forever with TO) or the two stories meet up and then we keep going back and forth, I don't know. But as for the flash forwards, I'm fascinated and in love with them.

Who is hunting Stefan and what does that mark mean?

Carissa: I have no idea. My initial reaction was Lily, but if it was her she wouldn't have been in the shadows. So, my more realistic reaction is it's someone we know, but we're not supposed to know who she is at this point. But I want to know now, dammit! By the mark, do you mean Stefan's bleeding scar? No idea. He was branded with a lovely shining star?

Amanda: I have no idea on either front, but wouldn't it be interesting if the woman turned out to be Caroline or Bonnie? That would be a great twist!

Paul: It's Buffy! I kid. I have no idea who it was, but I'm guessing it will be someone we've seen on the show before.

Ruthie: I've already seen many theories floating around on Twitter. The number one is Elena...but wouldn't it be awesome if it was Katherine back from the dead. Her revenge for Stefan being the one to put her down? I know, I'm dreaming. That would mean we wouldn't know until the end of the series, because Nina Dobrev said she'd only come back for the series finale. As for the mark, it was mentioned in a recent post-mortem that it is similar to the mark that our mute Heretic Beau has on his neck. Who knows what it means, but I can't wait to find out!

Miranda: I love the idea that it's Caroline and the Heretics have somehow brainwashed her, but that seems risky since the mark seems to be what draws the hunter to the targets and Beau has a mark. I'm thinking it's someone we've never met before.

Did Enzo choose Team Lily?

Carissa: For now. But Enzo is like Italy. Not only does he feel more affection from Lily, he thinks she's winning. If the wind blows those two things into another direction, so will Enzo's choice go.

Amanda: It seems so. I'm sure he'll switch sides eventually, but for now he's more interested in staying by Lily's side.

Paul: Yes. The dude needs a family and he got one with her.

Ruthie: I think so. Part of me wonders if Enzo is "sired" to Lily. Anyone thought of that?

Miranda: Ruthie, I have thought of that, but judging from both Michael Malarkey and Annie Wersching's interviews, I don't think it's quite that simple. We all know Enzo is pretty smart, so my money is on the fact that he's playing the inside man for Team Good Guy. He's captured Caroline for Lily so Lily will think he's on the Heretics' side, but he's really planning to keep Caroline safe and feed information to Stefan. I hope.

Grade The Vampire Diaries Season 7 premiere:

Carissa: B  The only thing I'd toss are the incessant in-their-head ramblings to diaries or Elena. Enough already.

Amanda: I'll give it a solid A. The premiere had reset button feeling which was desperately needed. Don't get me wrong, I loved me some Delena, but now that Elena is gone, we can focus on the relationship that really matters: Damon and Stefan. 

Paul: B. It had its moment, but overall it was pretty good. They've done well right some of the wrongs.

Ruthie: I'm going with an A. I personally loved the diary entries. It pays homage in a way to the original first four books when Elena "died" in them and Bonnie was the narrator writing in her journal. I like that it's not only Bonnie, we have Caroline and the new girl Valerie writing as well. I loved how her entry gave us an introduction to the Heretics, with a little character trait added.

Miranda: I'm also going with an A. It felt fresh and exciting for a change. Ditch those letters to Elena and we're golden.

The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 2 airs Thursday night at 8/7c on The CW. You can watch The Vampire Diaries online right here at TV Fanatic!

Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.