Bob Mahoney/The CW The war for New Orleans has officially begun!
Though Klaus (Joseph Morgan) has been attempting to take back control of the Big Easy from Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) since The Originals debuted, it hasn't really been a fair fight considering Marcel had no idea he was involved in a supernatural civil war. That all changed in tonight's outing of the CW's new hit drama as he finally caught on to all of Klaus' secrets and backstabbing and retaliated in a big way: He kidnapped Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin), the werewolf carrying Klaus' baby!
But that isn't all that went down in the French Quarter on Tuesday night as the bond between Hayley and Klaus' brother Elijah (Daniel Gillies) grew even stronger and Rebekah (Claire Holt) decided to leave town after finally hooking up with Marcel. To preview what's ahead, creator Julie Plec and co-executive producer Michael Narducci chatted with reporters about the Original siblings' next move in their fight against Marcel. Plus, they dished on whether or not fans can expect to see Hayley and Elijah hook up and teased the first crossover episode with The Vampire Diaries as Tyler (Michael Trevino) will be making his New Orleans debut very, very soon...
Tyler's Coming to Town: "The crossover is happening very soon," Julie Plec teases of the werewolf's highly anticipated debut in New Orleans. "I'm fairly certain that we will catch our first glimpse of Tyler before November is over."
And it seems Tyler packed a couple of answers along with him on his trip, including "the first piece of the mystery of the protective wolf" looking out for Hayley.
"The whole thing that brought [Hayley] to New Orleans in the first place was trying to get answers about what bloodline she came from, the mystery of what this mark on her shoulder means," Plec explained. "One thing that Tyler does offer as he steps foot into this world is answers and more information. He takes her to a place out in the bayou where she's going to start to understand a little bit of where she comes from."
Fans can also expect the crossover to "shake things up within the core dynamic of the Original family," Narducci previewed.
Haylijah FTW?: Come on, it's not that weird to fall for the girl that's carrying your brother's child, right? OK no, it's so weird, yet we can't help but turn into giggling schoolgirls whenever Elijah and Hayley share a shy smile.
"There's definitely something," Plec teased of the duo. "Elijah, as we know, is a good protector, and tends to be drawn to people in spite of himself. When you have a situation like that, where he cares deeply about that child she's carrying and maybe is starting to have his own level of concern that it's more than just the child that he is protecting and caring for, it's definitely not a good thing." For Hayley, who has gone through life not being able to trust anyone, Narducci explained, "What a great fantasy a guy like Elijah is to someone like Haley, so how could she not be drawn to this protector who's noble and a good man, something she's never seen before? It's real great chemistry."
Too bad Klaus won't be thrilled about his bro and his baby mama making googly eyes. "Klaus is very territorial. He likes what's his to remain his," Plec said. "And so I have a feeling that will stir up a lot of conflicted emotions for him as well, because rational or irrational, he too never felt properly parented, loved, or taken care of, and so when he starts to feel his family slipping away from him or what he claims as his own, quote unquote, finding their interests elsewhere, he tends to act out in ways that aren't necessarily the most mature or appropriate. He will definitely have an opinion."
Marcel's Revenge: After months of deception, Marcel is finally onto Klaus and he is not pleased "As you started to see Marcel is piecing together what's really going on and he's just going to piece together more and more and he's going to start to begin a counter-strategy as he realizes what's going on," Plec said. Phase one? Kidnapping Hayley. Plec explained, "It's just the beginning of the next stretch of Marcel trying to figure out what Klaus's game is and where he fits into all of it. We shall see what he chooses to do about that."
Rebekah's Dilemma: Though she enjoyed one hell of a goodbye with Marcel (Is it hot in here?!) on her way out of town, we're pretty sure our favorite blonde Original won't be leaving New Orleans any time soon.
"Rebekah's predicament is she honestly believes that everything she wants is outside of the family, and in terms of peace, harmony, happiness, sanctity. What she's going to have to come to terms with is the fact that you can't escape this group. No matter what you do, the pull of family is always going to be stronger than your own desire," Plec said. "She's on her way out of town. Haley's missing. We'll see what choice she makes. This is her opportunity for freedom. She could hit the road and be gone...what she's going to have to work through in her own life is to reconcile this belief that the power of this family is consuming her in a bad way, and figure out how she can fit within this family dynamic in a way that makes her happy—or if she can."
What did you think of tonight's episode of The Originals? Sound off in the comments! And make sure to leave your burning questions for the cast as we'll be visiting the show's set later this week!