At this point, you've likely read interviews, cycled through spoilers and viewed photos from The Vampire Diaries season three premiere.

But The CW has released its official synopsis for the episode, titled "The Birthday," which is posted below and sheds a lot of light on events to come this September 15. To wit: Jeremy has a new job, and there's the tease of an "unexpected challenge" for a burgeoning couple...

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.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.