Exec producer Julie Plec has said writing the May 10 season finale, ''The Departed,'' was an emotional experience. ''We do flashback to a time when Elena's parents were still alive and when she was a cheerleader dating Matt, the football player, and before Bonnie knew she was a witch and thought she was just uncannily psychically able to predict fashion trends,'' Plec told EW. ''It's just a really poignant, sweet and bittersweet reflection back to a time when life was so much simpler for all of our humans and former humans. I hope it turns out as well as we want it to because it's a really special episode.''