I honestly don’t know how I survived the past five months without The Vampire Diaries in my life. Now that it’s back, I can finally get my weekly dose of jaw-dropping supernatural drama and shirtless men. After last season’s game-changing finale, I wasn’t sure what to expect of tonight’s premiere, but here are my initial thoughts about the episode (this goes without saying, but SPOILERS):

• Holy balls, Klaus is AWESOME. I’m so glad he’s, a) alive, and b) back in his own body.

• Flashback to Damon’s profession of love in “Rose,” AKA my favorite scene ever? YES PLEASE. (P.S. Break out the tissues.)

• I kind of hope Bonnie becomes addicted to black magic. At least then maybe she’d be interesting. (Side note: her life sucks almost as much as Matt’s. They should start a club or something.)

• These new douchebag Council members are making me seriously miss our old incompetent Council members.

• Michael Trevino. Shirtless. In the woods. (In related news, I think I may have finally found the meaning of life.)

• So, I guess Jeremy’s new role is to be the guy who stands around going, “This is a terrible idea!” while everyone else makes bad choices? Good for you, Jer. Somebody’s gotta do it.

• They are really running low on normal humans left on this show. Remember when Stefan and Damon were the only vampires, and werewolves weren’t even a thing? And they still did those annoying “Dear diary” voice-overs? Good times.

• This would be a good time to bring back Katherine. Scratch that, anytime ever would be a good time to bring back Katherine. But you should probably wait until sweeps, just to make it worth her while.

• Is Meredith dead? I honestly wasn’t paying attention. Something about finding a new job? Does that mean she’s gone? What a shame. (Except not at all.)

• Brb I have to go rewind the scene where Klaus/Tyler takes his shirt off and rewatch it a dozen more times.

What did you think of the Vampire Diaries season premiere? What heart-stopping surprises does this season have in store? Will Elena become more of a badass now that she’s a vampire? Were you excited to see Grams? Was I the only one that felt a little sexual tension between Matt and Stefan? Maybe it was just their shared guilt about Elena becoming a vampire. They should probably make out anyway, just to be sure. Weigh in on this and any other topic in the comments section, or tweet us @PopCultureNexus!

-L