[PHOTOS] May Sweeps Spoilers: Scoops From Your paborito Finale Episodes | TVLine 

PRE-FINALE: As seen in promos, Oliver accepts the offer to take over for Ra\'s al Ghul. "So the question is, first of all, why the hell would he do that?" says showrunner Marc Guggenheim. "And once he\'s done it, how is there still an Arrow -- both in terms of the hero and, quite frankly, the show itself?" There\'s also the matter of job security ("Once you\'re in, you\'re in [as the new Ra\'s]. But in order to

stay in, you\'ve got to do some stuff") as well as snubbed "heir" Nyssa\'s status as an outcast ("There was an agenda behind her going back to Starling City that we\'re still not aware of," to be revealed April 29, the EP shares). Also to come is (what looks like) a pre-sweeps Oliver/Felicity love scene ("What you saw in the trailer was certainly not the entire story," Guggenheim notes) and a wedding between… well, you\'ll have to wait and see, on May 6.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 13): Guggenheim promises a "very different kind of season finale" for the superhero series, putting not only a button on Seasons 1, 2 and 3, but also offering a "very strong indication of who the Big Bad for Season 4 will be."

PRE-FINALE: Before Red was shot in the April 2 episode, he and Liz were hardly on good terms — and that won\'t change anytime soon, despite Red\'s condition. "She\'s livid at this guy, and they\'re not in a healthy place," creator Jon Bokenkamp says. "They have a lot of baggage to unpack, and we\'re not going to shy away from any of the conflict or open-ended storylines that are still there." What\'s more, the all-important Fulcrum, which Liz handed over to Red just moments before he was gunned down, will "come front and center in these last four episodes," Bokenkamp tells us.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 14): When asked to compare last year\'s finale with this one, Bokenkamp describes Season 2\'s closer as "much messier, much more desperate, much more dissonant. And Liz is going to be confronted with making an incredibly hard choice." As for whether we can expect another major death a la Meera, he hints: "We are certainly not afraid of that kind of storytelling. In fact, we try to embrace it. We\'ve got some really big turns coming."

PRE-FINALE: Trouble is on the horizon as Booth\'s resurfaced gambling addiction poses "a big threat" to his marriage, exec producer Stephen Nathan warns. "All of our stories start to tumble over each other as we approach the end of the season. The episode where Brennan finds out she\'s pregnant is also the episode where Booth is having a relapse. … It\'s a tremendous danger to their relationship and something which, really, there\'s no resolution to. It\'s an ongoing issue." At least Booth\'s still able to help out a friend when he and Cam travel to Iran to bring Arastoo home. Elsewhere, the EP promises a "huge" arc for Angela and Hodgins, who "will be reevaluating the life they want to live and how and where they want to live it." Bonus: We\'ll finally learn Angela\'s real name!

SEASON FINALE (JUNE 4): Given that Bones has yet to be renewed, "it was a bit of fancy footwork, because we had to write a finale that was both a season and series finale from which we could return," Nathan admits. So did he dare leave it on a cliffhanger? "I don\'t know if you could say it\'s a cliffhanger, but there\'s a cliff," he says with a laugh. "There\'s an emotional cliff, and a big bad from the past resurfaces in a way that is surprising." As star Emily Deschanel elaborates: "Pelant, in some way, comes back from beyond the grave."

PRE-FINALE: Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope) arrives on the scene as Dave Major, "the coolest detective in the NYPD," according to showrunner Dan Goor, and when he expresses some interest in Amy, "it activates Jake and prompts some movement in their relationship." Nick Cannon will be back as Rosa\'s boyfriend/Capt. Holt\'s nephew Marcus, leading to what Goor touts as "one of my favorite stories we\'ve ever written." Pressed for details, all Goor will reveal is this: Rosa and Holt, "two people who have trouble talking about anything personal, are forced to talk about the most intimate aspects of their lives."

SEASON FINALE (MAY 17): Goor promises Season 2 will end with "some pretty cool cliffhangers." Specifically, "Someone is forced out of the Nine-Nine. There is a goodbye— not meaning someone is off the show, just out of the [precinct]." There will also be a "locking of lips," as well as an escalation in the ongoing war between Holt and his nemesis Deputy Chief Wuntch (Kyra Sedgwick). "[

creator] Greg Daniels always had a philosophy of writing a cliffhanger that really paints yourself into a corner — and then spending the whole off-season trying to figure out how to get out of that corner," says Goor. "We\'re trying to live by that philosophy."

PRE-FINALE: On April 27, Alexis puts to use some skills she picked up as Lanie\'s intern to help Rick solve the in-flight murder of an Air Marshal -- and hopefully they catch the killer before beverage service starts! "There\'s a ticking clock," warns showrunner David Amann, "because this person may be up to something else, something more cataclysmic." Then on May 4, the SNL-riffing "Dead From New York" offers a "classic, really funny" episode, with guest stars Jaleel "Urkel" White, Gregory Harrison (Falcon Crest) and pop tart Carly Rae Jepsen. Plus, maybe an Easter egg to denote Episode 150? "We might have something…," Amann hints.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 11): In "Hollander\'s Woods," the death of a woman who was found after being chased through the woods prompts Rick to reflect on the titular incident that steered his destiny as a mystery writer. "Castle becomes obsessed with the case, hoping to get answers he wasn\'t able to get when he was a kid," says series creator Andrew W. Marlowe, who penned the episode. Meanwhile, Kate\'s ongoing tussle with both career and family issues comes to a head "when she faces some choices that are a bit unexpected," says Marlowe, "and that" -- as well as Stana Katic\'s status? -- "may change the trajectory of where she\'s going." (Cue Fringe fave Lance Reddick, playing a "mysterious but pivotal role" in Kate\'s conundrum.)

PRE-FINALE: Another crossover with Chicago P.D. and SVU kicks off on April 28 when a Fire victim lands on Benson\'s radar "because there are certain aspects to [the incident] that are very distinctive to a case that she was investigating 10 years prior," exec producer Matt Olmstead previews. (His favorite moment? "When [Benson] comes to Firehouse 51 and she meets Boden for the first time [and] Voight\'s there. You see the three heads of state for the shows.") Meanwhile, Severide and Chicago Med doc April will continue to explore their bond, but a potential move could hinder any romance. "She wants to go see the world," Olmstead says. "Are they going to have their one night before she leaves?"

SEASON FINALE (MAY 12): Fret not, "Dawsey" lovers, Casey\'s "love interest" at the strip club isn\'t a threat. "That place isn\'t what it seems, and it complicates his relationship with Dawson because, at the end of the season, it\'s one of the cliffhangers that they have to make a big decision about whether they\'re going to go forward or not," Olmstead reveals. "That\'s complicated by the fact that Casey is now working with Voight in trying to bring down what\'s going down at Stilettos." The EP also teases "a couple surprise hookups," plus an unexpected answer as to "who\'s going to be here and who\'s not" next season when it comes to new additions Sylvie Brett and Scott Rice.

PRE-FINALE: Sorry, "Lindstead" fans --romance is not at the forefront of Lindsay\'s mind as the season winds down. A fatality in the P.D./Fire/SVU crossover "knocks her sideways to the point of questioning [if] she wants to keep on being a cop," exec producer Matt Olmstead previews. "So Halstead is there for her not as a romantic, on-again, off-again partner, but as a friend." Elsewhere, "because of a little mistake that Atwater makes, Voight has to send him back down to uniform to get his head straight -- and by doing that, he moves Burgess up to Intelligence." The temporary job change makes for some awkward interaction between the cop and her beau Ruzek, who\'s "acting a little bit too weird when she\'s around."

SEASON FINALE (MAY 20): The ender finds Lindsay trying to decide "whether or not she\'s going to stick it out and remain a cop, or take the easy road and go back to where she came from -- which is, basically, the wrong side of the tracks," Olmstead previews. Meanwhile, Olinsky "gets a call from the past that changes his life," while Ruzek and Burgess will break up... or get engaged.

PRE-FINALE: Coming out of a Matthew Gray Gubler-directed pre-sweeps nightmare, the April 30 episode revolves around a vigilante UnSub and ends with a twist "where you\'ll go away for a week wondering, \'What the hell is going to happen!?\'" says showrunner Erica Messer.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 6): Picking up that cliffhanger and titled "The Hunt," the finale revisits the season-opening storyline about the online auctioning of abducted young women. "It\'s not quite the shoot \'em up thing that we did last year," Messer says, "but still, our BAU team is personally affected by this journey with this UnSub." Messer adds that while the season won\'t end with a festive "party in Rossi\'s backyard," neither will there be any cliffhanger(s) -- save for a happy reveal pegged to cast member A.J. Cook\'s real-life good news. "We\'re able to tease [JJ being pregnant] a little bit…. There\'s a moment where she shares it with Reid, and it\'s really lovely."

PRE-FINALE: Sherlock discovers that his sponsor Alfredo "is engaging in some dangerous behavior, so he will try to approach him as friend and be reminded that they have a pretty strict sponsor/sponsee relationship," exec producer Rob Doherty previews. Another partnership is also in limbo in the penultimate hour when Gregson gets "an opportunity to move onward and upward, and it leads to some interesting conversations between Sherlock and Joan." Meanwhile, Bell gets a wake-up call after Sherlock observes that the detective is, "in his estimation, even lonelier than Sherlock," Doherty describes. "Those words ring false at first, but when it\'s coming from Sherlock Holmes, you have to stop and think about it." Enter Detective Shawna (played by Banshee\'s Afton Williamson).

SEASON FINALE (MAY 14): Alfredo is back again... and then MIA. As the closer progresses, the P.I. discovers that his pal "was taken away by someone who forces Sherlock into a temporary partnership, someone we\'ve seen before, someone who has a lot of complicated feelings about Sherlock," Doherty teases. "[Sherlock] has something he wants, and he thinks Sherlock can help him get it. The assignment is going to send Sherlock down a lot of dark paths, particularly with regards to his sobriety."

PRE-FINALE: On April 28, those in the know about Dr. Wells will "finally decide to do something about" about their suspect mentor by setting a trap, exec producer Andrew Kreisberg previews, adding that Cisco\'s flashes of the alt timeline provide "the key" to that plan. Viewers won\'t have to wait long for Iris to learn Barry\'s secret, and she is most definitely "not happy" with the men in her life for lying. The penultimate episode is quite a Rogues gathering – Captain Cold, Lisa Snart, The Mist, Deathbolt, Peekaboo, The Rainbow Raider and The Weather Wizard all return – that "involves a very strange alliance when Wells\' actions threaten the integrity of the pipeline prison," the EP teases.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 19): Kreisberg promises "a lot more answers and a lot more clarity" about the night that Barry\'s mother died -- and even more importantly, you\'re going to get one of the most powerfully emotional scenes we\'ve ever done." (Judging by his description of the table read – "People were crying all the way throughout it" – have hankies ready.) "It all comes to a head in ways that I think people are expecting, and in ways people couldn\'t possibly be expecting," he adds. But back to those answers: One will be "an explanation for why Cisco is able to access a timeline that no longer exists."

PRE-FINALE: As if Ryan weren\'t already chasing too many serial killers (Mark, Daisy, Theo), co-showrunner Alexi Hawley says another big bad awaits in the bloody wings — and we\'ll see evidence of him/her soon (though we may not know it). "We are hinting at a villain that would ultimately play a big role in Season 4," he teases, noting that the new nemesis "won\'t necessarily be as personified" as past murderers. (Make of that what you will.) One signpost will be when Annet Mahendru (The Americans) debuts as Eliza, the public face of this amorphous evil. But enough about the new threat; what about the old, Poe-loving one? Hawley says that Joe\'s serenity in the face of impending execution will begin to slip in the wake of Ryan refusing to attend the big goodbye. "This is, of course, the worst possible thing for Joe, who believes that they are truly bonded" – and an ignored Carroll is an "incredibly dangerous" one. While mum on Joe\'s fate, Hawley allows, "Nobody\'s going to see what we\'re going to do coming. It might be one of the most shocking episodes we\'ve done." Elsewhere: Daisy pops back up like a bad(ass) penny and remaining Gray twin Mark makes a big decision.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 18): Hawley says the fuses lit in Episodes 10-14 explode in the finale, while Ryan\'s relationship with Gwen (which will have taken a beating on April 20) and the Max/Mike/Tom situation "all blows up in a really great way."

PRE-FINALE: Abe\'s legwork regarding Abigail\'s disappearance leads to Henry learning the hard-to-hear particulars about his second wife\'s fate — all of which is "building towards a big, end-of-season mythology piece," series creator Matt Miller says.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 5): That scene between Henry and Jo in the antiques shop at the end of the Jo-skips-Paris episode won\'t be the last intimate moment the two share before the season is up. "We really flirt with the idea of, \'Will Jo learn Henry\'s secret?\'," Miller says, adding that even if Det. Martinez doesn\'t put together the clues, "something happens in a way that makes it seem as if someone\'s definitely going to learn his secret." The hour also features "a satisfying end to some stories," a turn by Fringe favorite John Noble (as an antiques expert likely involved in the story behind Adam\'s Roman dagger), and "one very big cliffhanger at the end, where you think we\'re safe and everything\'s good… and then something happens." Diehard Foreverists also should look for some winks to the pilot, Miller says, "which, hopefully, brings the whole season full-circle."

PRE-FINALE: In the wake of the Democratic machine unexpectedly (and unfairly) accusing her of voter fraud, "You can probably stick a fork" in Alicia\'s dream of being State\'s Attorney, says showrunner Robert King. "She\'s lined up against forces that are so ingrained in Chicago, and there\'s no way to fight them. In an ideal universe, people could go to the press and bring attention to the corruption, but those aren\'t the waters that Alicia and Peter swim in." The sailing may not be any smoother when Alicia returns to Florrick/Agos/Lockhart, either. "That\'s a bit of a gray area," King says, when asked if Alicia is still a partner at the firm that bears her name. "She never signed the exit package, but it was being negotiated. You\'ll see that come up."

SEASON FINALE (MAY 10): With Kalinda and Diane having come clean to the police review board about the altered metadata and Cary having approached ASA Pine about testifying against Lemond Bishop, three key characters enter sweeps at risk of jail time, disbarment or perhaps even an old-fashioned whacking. "You should be somewhat nervous," teases King, recalling the classic film Chinatown and how it plays with the idea of compassion as the root of people\'s biggest woes. "Cary and Kalinda and Diane are at cross-purposes in that they want to correct a problem not just for themselves but for the other person, and people can be dangerous that way."

PRE-FINALE: "The Anvil or the Hammer" (airing April 27) delivers "the final denouement of the Ogre story" guest-starring Milo Ventimiglia, showrunner Bruno Heller shares. Meanwhile for young Master Bruce, "The things that he finds out about his family and what\'s going on inside Wayne Enterprises really changes his mind about where he\'s going and what he\'s doing in the world." Hmm, sounds like the family biz is involved in something quite... insidious? "I would say so!" Heller affirms.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 4): In the freshman closer "All Happy Families Are Alike," "Several storylines come to their massive climax," Heller promises. "There\'s something shocking and revelatory for Bruce, something terrifying for [Leslie] Thompkins, and it\'s the birth of The Riddler" -- meaning, "We\'re revealing Nygma\'s alter ego." All told, "It sets up Season 2 as an even more anarchic, wilder, crazier more dangerous Gotham."

PRE-FINALE: Those hoping for a happy ending to Nick and Juliette\'s recent struggles — her acclimating to her Hexenbiestiality, his trying to stand by her — should temper expectations, co-creators James Kouf and David Greenwalt advise. "She\'s out of control," Greenwalt notes, laughing. "Imagine a baby with a bottle and a gun." That\'ll leave Juliette free to, perhaps, re- start her fling with a certain police captain? "They might make hate at some point," Greenwalt jokes. (But somehow, we don\'t think Renard is the ally Ju\'s rumored to side with in the closing episodes.) Meanwhile, the investigation into a Jack the Ripper copycat will span multiple episodes and place one of Portland\'s Finest in grave danger. Plus: Trubel\'s back, "but you don\'t really know it\'s her," Greenwalt teases. (Uh, sure?) And "Baby Diana will be seen, but not in the same form as before." Elsewhere: Adalind works with Rosalee and Monroe on a last-ditch cure for Juliette. (Hey, magical transformations make for strange bedfellows.)

SEASON FINALE (MAY 15): An insane discovery sends Nick hurtling down a path of revenge, aimed straight for the Royals. And having rejected help from Monroe and Rosalee, Juliette spirals faster into the \'biest abyss. All that\'s fine, but what we\'re dying to know is: Will Nick end the season knowing he\'s the father of Adalind\'s baby? "That would be a yes," Kouf says.

PRE-FINALE: Jane and Rafael\'s recent split will make things quite awkward at their upcoming baby shower. "Everyone is there to celebrate the happy couple, and they\'re not feeling as happy as they might expect," exec producer Jennie Urman previews. While Michael will learn about the lovebirds\' woes "sooner rather than later" -- possibly giving him a glimmer of hope for reconciliation -- Urman warns that Jane and Rafael "have a few breakthroughs, so you can\'t count them out yet." Also complicating matters: Petra\'s feelings for Rafael, which are "a pivotal point" in the love square. Speaking of Petra, her family and Jane\'s are pitted against each other when Alba remembers the circumstances of her accident. "That leads to some exciting and tense developments," Urman teases.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 11): The arrival of Jane and Rafael\'s baby will have "ripple effects on everyone," Urman says. As for the titular heroine\'s romantic status, "She\'s in a relationship in the end, but it might be unexpected who with." A certain villainess will also play a part in the closer. "You will feel the effects of Sin Rostro," teases the EP, who rules out a death but promises plenty of crazy twists for all the characters. "There\'s a bunch of cliffhangers, including two really, really shocking or surprising ones, and then a lot of people in limbo as a result."

PRE-FINALE: On April 28, Ned Dorneget (Matt Jones) -- now a part of NCIS\' cyber division -- returns for a multi-episode arc about a terrorist organization that\'s recruiting young people online. In the same hour, showrunner Gary Glasberg says, "We play with the idea that a bit of a friendship is happening with Gibbs and [Bishop\'s husband] Jake, and that throws everybody for a loop" -- including a "fascinated" DiNozzo. On May 5, in "The Lost Boys," Gibbs connects with a lad caught in the middle of the online recruitment (and possessing intel about a looming event), Mimi Rogers debuts as a CIA agent and McGee and Dorneget are sent "on a bit of an adventure, to Cairo, Egypt." Oh, one more thing: "We will suffer a very significant loss," Glasberg forewarns, "that will emotionally drive us into the finale."

SEASON FINALE (MAY 12): Titled "Neverland," the closer sends the team scrambling to prevent a cataclysmic event, serves up "a big, action-packed" sequence and ends with "a big Gibbs moment, that Mr. [Mark] Harmon is enthusiastic about," Glasberg says.

PRE-FINALE: Jess is "in a place in her life where she is OK being alone for a second, and is more interested in helping other people find love," says creator Liz Meriwether -- and that altruistic bent will prove beneficial to Cece in the April 28 installment. "Jess says, \'Maybe the reason [for my experiences] is to be able to help my friends through their love problems instead of meeting the man of my dreams?\'" And if Jess attacks Cece\'s sitch with even half the zeal she applies to her crafting projects… well, watch out, Schmidt (and

SEASON FINALE (MAY 5): But wait: Jess might just have her own love issues to sort out, after all. "There\'s a moment between her and Nick where they admit some of the feelings that they\'ve had all year but they haven\'t talked about with each other, which sets us up nicely for next season," Meriwether says. Elsewhere, Coach says farewell to the lofties when he follows girlfriend May to her out-of-town job, while Schmidt tries to banish his residual feelings for Cece by donating a box of mementos from their relationship… only to then battle a collections-center employee (30 Rock\'s Jack McBrayer) when he reconsiders. Everything builds to a giant Schmidt-Cece reunion. "If you\'ve been following that relationship, it\'s a must-watch episode," Meriwether says, promising with a laugh, "No badgers, and no Taylor Swift. They avoid those two obstacles."

PRE-FINALE: The cold-blooded killing of Cruella, coupled with her riff with the \'rents, make for an ever-unseemly Savior. "The reverberations of Emma\'s dark action become the driving force for what happens in the next two episodes followed by the two-hour finale," says co-creator Adam Horowitz. "Emma has crossed a line." In the April 26 episode, "Lily," Emma reconnects with her child- hood friend (played by Agnes Bruckner), who viewers know is Maleficent\'s "lost" daughter. That reunion, however, "is not all deathly conflict," Horowitz notes. "There are moments of warmth, and there are moments of bonding." "And there\'s a lot of emotion," adds Eddy Kitsis. "It\'s a real story of friendship." Also ahead: We\'ll get a clearer picture of what the Author can and cannot do (and who can or can\'t make him do it), while Barbara Hershey\'s encore as Cora sets the stage for learning more about Regina\'s past as well as "her present relationship with Robin," Kitsis says.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 10): Among Season 4B\'s ongoing agendas, "We make good on what Regina was after, in the sense that she wanted to find the Author and have him rewrite endings," Kitsis shares. But compared to recent finales, "Nobody is coming out of an urn and freezing people," quips Horowitz. Says Kitsis: "Usually we\'re like, \'Hey, we\'re going to a new land,\' but this is much more in the vein of when Gold looked up [at the end of Season 1] and said, \'Magic is coming,\' where a condition on the show changed as opposed to the characters changing."

PRE-FINALE: "Every single character is in a dire, Dahlia-related situation," warns executive producer Michael Narducci. "Nobody is safe." That includes Hayley, who will risk "alienating and/or losing some of the people she loves" in order to protect her child, and Cami, who returns to the fold to get Klaus back on track. As the finale draws near, "Characters will die, and several characters will be changed in ways that are horrifying and/or life altering."

SEASON FINALE (MAY 11): How\'s this for a tease? Per Narducci, just when it appears all is lost for the Mikaelsons, "A desperate plan, a moment of trust, a final sacrifice and a surprising twist may give the family a final shot to save themselves — or damn them for all time."

PRE-FINALE: In "Asylum" (airing April 28), Reese and Fusco track POIs Elias and Dominic, Finch and Root chase a new clue to Shaw\'s whereabouts ("Root has not given up hope," asserts Amy Acker) and Control goes rogue to uncover Samaritan\'s true agenda. "One of the most interesting aspects of our show," says showrunner Greg Plageman, "is to take someone who appears to be a Big Bad, a total villain, and as they start to understand that something else in play, they come over to another perspective."

SEASON FINALE (MAY 5): "We always aim to outdo ourselves" at season\'s end, says showrunner Jonah Nolan, and as such the episode "YHWH" is "pretty extraordinary," as Finch and Root endeavor to save The Machine from Samaritan, who has finally located its rival, while Reese gets caught in a showdown between Elias and Dominic. Is now the time for Team Machine, after so many setbacks, to rally? "Yes," says Nolan, "but in the way that you rally as the f—king world explodes into a billion pieces around you, and you cling to the wreckage." Adds cast member Kevin Chapman: "The finale\'s just remarkable. The audience will be blown away by some of what we\'re able to pull off!"

PRE-FINALE: Despite the (faint) possibility of a fifth season, showrunner Sunil Nayar promises "huge amounts of resolution" in the final episodes of Season 4 – including a "compelling" return from Charlotte, a "life-changing event" on the horizon for David, a "calling on the carpet" for all of Amanda\'s past misdeeds and a "definitive change" in her fluctuating relationship with Jack. As for the Conrad resurrection fans have been speculating about allllll season, Nayar reminds us that the Grayson patriarch looked "convincingly dead" at the end of Season 3. "But then again," he teases, "so was David Clarke…."

SEASON FINALE (MAY 10): Ominously titled "Two Graves," the final episode of Season 4 (and potentially the series) will force Amanda to \'fess up to her past misdeeds. But will she follow Victoria\'s lead and go out on her own terms?

SEASON FINALE (APRIL 20): The freshman drama\'s season ender actually airs before May sweeps starts, but sounds too dynamite to pass up. Interestingly, it won\'t leave too many loose threads hanging, even though the show\'s early Season 2 renewal left the opportunity for a cliffhanger. "We wanted to wrap things up for the viewers, but at the same time leave them with a promise of lots more to come with respect to the characters\' relationships," Santora explains. And if you think Scorpion can\'t possibly outdo the airplane stunt it pulled in the pilot, EP Nick Wootton wants you to think again. "I can safely say that nobody on TV is doing what we\'re doing in our finale," he teases. "It\'s something we\'ve been looking forward to for about six months, and we\'re very, very excited about it. We present our ultimate adventure, with our highest stakes of the season."

PRE-FINALE: "We\'re happily building towards the first wedding on our show," executive producer Caroline Dries shares. "So we\'re looking forward to the pre-wedding rituals that go along with the big day. You know, strippers, bachelor parties, wedding dresses… bloodshed -- those sorts of things." Meanwhile, we\'ll learn more about Mama Salvatore\'s "layered" history, Stefan will attempt to stop a dehumanized Caroline from leading a "path of destruction," and Bonnie\'s recent actions will yield "shocking and terrifying" consequences.

SEASON FINALE (MAY 14): Yes, it\'s terribly true: Nina Dobrev takes her final bow in the season finale, but the circumstances of her exit rest solely on Damon\'s shoulders. "We\'re building towards the outcome of Damon\'s decision [whether or not to give Elena the cure] and the massive fallout this decision will have on Elena, as well as on everyone else," Dries says.

PRE-FINALE: As seen in promos, Oliver accepts the offer to take over for Ra\'s al Ghul. "So the question is, first of all, why the hell would he do that?" says showrunner Marc Guggenheim. "And once he\'s done it, how is there still an Arrow -- both in terms of the hero and, quite frankly, the show itself?" There\'s also the matter of job security ("Once you\'re in, you\'re in [as the new Ra\'s]. But in order to stay in, you\'ve got to do some stuff") as well as snubbed "heir" Nyssa\'s status as an outcast ("There was an agenda behind her going back to Starling City that we\'re still not aware of," to be revealed April 29, the EP shares). Also to come is (what looks like) a pre-sweeps Oliver/Felicity love scene ("What you saw in the trailer was certainly not the entire story," Guggenheim notes) and a wedding between… well, you\'ll have to wait and see, on May 6.