The Vampire Diaries – Episode 3.01 “The Birthday” (9/15/11 Air Date; 8:00-9:00 PM): IT’S MY PARTY — On the morning of Elena’s 18th birthday, Caroline is busy planning a party, but Elena is focused on searching for any clues that might help her discover where Stefan is. Damon is also searching for Stefan, while trying to protect Elena and keep her from doing anything that would draw Klaus’ attention. Meanwhile, Klaus and Stefan are busy trailing a werewolf named Ray Sutton. Now working at the Mystic Grill along with Matt , Jeremy is struggling to understand why he keeps seeing the ghosts of Vicki and Anna since he was brought back to life by Bonnie’s magic. Meanwhile Alaric does his best to watch over Elena and Jeremy while dealing with his grief over Jenna’s death. Finally, Caroline and Tyler face a new and unexpected challenge.

Let’s face it, Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) is no white knight. Sure, he’s saved his fair share of damsels in distress (we’re looking at you, Elena!), but when it comes down to it, we all know he’d rather be biting their necks. Yet, with Stefan (Paul Wesley) enjoying a ride on the dark side in season three of “Vampire Diaries,” will Damon be forced into the role of a hero?

We caught up with Ian during Comic-Con, we got all the deets on a potentially kinder, gentler Damon and what it will mean for his relationship (or lack thereof) with Elena (Nina Dobrev).

“I would say anti-hero,” Ian mused (instantly making us feel better because we prefer our Damon with a little edge!). Ian explained that Stefan’s decision to ditch the good guy role in favor of wreaking havoc with Klaus (Joseph Morgan), will cause a lot of headaches for Damon. (more…)