Vampire Diaries' Michael Malarkey Defends Enzo's 'Friendly' Betrayal 

Michael Malarkey knows that Enzo did a bad, bad thing on

‘ season premiere — but before you get all judgy, consider this: Hasn’t everyone else already done much worse?

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“If you think about this show for the past seven seasons, characters have always had dips and dives,” Malarkey reminds TVLine, adding with a laugh, “This was really just a friendly kidnapping.”

Malarkey acknowledges that while Enzo “has chosen his side,” he’s still loyal to Damon and Caroline “to a certain extent,” which will cause plenty of conflict in Thursday’s episode (The CW, 8/7c). “We find out pretty soon how Enzo really feels about everything,” he teases.

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From an acting standpoint, Malarkey explains, “I was excited about the prospect of Enzo going a little dark again. I never judge my character; I just want to have good scenes and work with good actors, so it’s all good.”

And am I the only person curious which Salvatore Mansion boudoir Enzo will claim as his own, now that Lily’s rag-tag gang of “very powerful strangers” (Malarkey’s words, not mine) are moving in? Apparently, “that will become clear in this next episode.”

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Oh, and you can forget about Enzo crashing the upcoming Heaven and Hell Ball, which finds Stefan dancing with an angel-winged Caroline. “Enzo doesn’t normally attend parties, births, marriages or funerals,” Malarkey admits. “He prefers to lurk in the outskirts and observe what’s going on with distaste.”

-ers, have you given up on Enzo? What are your hopes for Damon’s former bestie? Drop ’em in a comment below.

Honestly I’m just thrilled Enzo isn’t stuck in a dead-end plot that won’t go anywhere a la basically all of last season. Like, what even happened to Sarah Salvatore?

They compelled her to forget everything and go back to Duke after her impromptu surgery thanks to humanity off Caroline.

I don’t mind the change, I think the logic Michael has laid out – he’s been loyal and not gotten anything in return – is reason enough to test the waters with the other team. I’m curious to see where it goes.

How is there a ball?Did the residents come back to the town?

Ugh whatevs… enzo is the new klaus… can be bastardly evil but he will always win… when vd ends or before the next “big bad” he’ll get his own spin off…

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