‘The Originals’ Preview: 3 Reasons We’re Looking Forward to ‘Long Way Back from Hell’

Tonight brings the closing ceremony of the 2014 Olympics and that means it’s time for our favorite shows to return from hiatus, starting with The Originals, which left us with a major cliffhanger.

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When we were last in New Orleans, Celeste had given Elijah an impossible choice to make: he could save Klaus, Rebekah or Hayley, but he only had time to save one. Elijah rescued Hayley (and baby Mikaelson) from a fire at the plantation house and then ordered Marcel’s vampire army to help him find his siblings.

“Long Way Back from Hell” picks up with Rebekah and Klaus being held prisoner in an abandoned sanatorium where Rebekah worked in 1919 with Genevieve. The witch wants revenge on Rebekah for something the Original sister did to her nearly 100 years earlier and to get that revenge, Genevieve plans on sharing Rebekah’s dark secret with Klaus.

Meanwhile, Elijah needs Marcel and Hayley’s help to find his siblings and for some fantastic reason, that involves the elder Mikaelson brother removing his shirt. Like Hayley in the preview below, we are definitely here for this scene…because of the importance of whatever he needs help with, obviously.

If all of that wasn’t enough, we have three more reasons we’re excited for the new episode:

1. Elijah in BAMF mode

We love all versions of Elijah, but our hands down favorite is when he’s yanking out hearts and tossing around people who get in his way with a flick of his wrist. Elijah will be running on guilt in this episode and we’re looking forward to watching him remind everyone who crosses him that he’s an Original and they need to show some respect. And did we mention that he was going to be shirtless and Hayley will be there? Shipper mode activated.

2. Claire Holt (finally!) getting a chance to shine

There are a lot of sides to Rebekah Mikaelson. We’ve seen the BAMF Original vampire and the oppressed sister/former lover, who just wants a piece of happiness for herself. This episode is going to give us a desperate, emotional Rebekah and that means a fantastic performance from Claire Holt, which we are already applauding since we know what she’s capable of thanks to her time on The Vampire Diaries. We can’t wait to watch Holt bring all her talent to this episode.

3. Klaus learning the truth

It breaks our hearts when the Mikaelson siblings turn against one another. But explosive secrets have a way of coming out, especially when there are witches involved. Once Klaus learns what Rebekah (and Marcel) did in 1919, we fully expect him to lose it and turn on his little sister. The fallout will be ugly and devastating, but we can’t wait to see Joseph Morgan and Holt bringing the scenes to life. And eventually Rebekah and Klaus will reconcile…(right, show?).