NGTV Guide: Thursday, September 9

The Vampire Diaries – the CW 8/7c – SEASON PREMIERE
“The Return” – Picking up on the same night as last season’s finale, Elena (Nina Dobrev) arrives home to a nightmare as she discovers Uncle John’s and Jeremy’s fate. At the hospital, Sheriff Forbes (guest star Marguerite MacIntyre) is comforted by Matt (Zach Roering), Bonnie (Katerina Graham) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) while she waits to hear if Caroline (Candice Accola) will survive the car accident. After a confusing conversation with Elena about the night’s events, Damon is the first to realize that Katherine (also played by Nina Dobrev) has returned. Katherine’s arrival sends Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon on a path to find out what she wants, why she’s back, and how much of a threat she is to the people they love. Meanwhile, still reeling from his father’s death, Tyler (Michael Trevino) is surprised when his charming and mysterious uncle, Mason Lockwood (guest star Taylor Kinney, “Trauma”), arrives to console the family.

Nikita – the CW 9/8c- SERIES PREMIERE
“Pilot” – When she was a deeply troubled teenager, Nikita (Maggie Q, “Mission Impossible III”) was rescued from death row by a secret U.S. agency known only as Division, who trained her as a spy and assassin. Nikita was eventually betrayed by the only people she thought she could trust. Now, after three years in hiding, Nikita is seeking retribution and making it clear to her former boss, Percy (Xander Berkeley, “24”) and her former friends Michael (Shane West, “E.R.”) and Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford, “X-Men: The Last Stand) that she will stop at nothing to expose and destroy their covert operation. Division continues to recruit and train other young people, among them Jaden (Tiffany Hines, “Bones”) and Thom (Ashton Holmes, “Boston Legal”), erasing all evidence of their former lives and turning them into cold and efficient killers. One of these new recruits, Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca, “Kick-Ass”) is a beautiful girl with a violent past and a story not so different from Nikita’s. The recruits all spend part of their training with Amanda (Melinda Clarke, “The O.C.”), a master manipulator who can turn any ugly duckling into a swan and any bleeding heart into a killer.