The Vampire Diaries returns: A refresher on where we left off and teases from EP JuliePlec on where we’re headed

‘Vampire Diaries’: A Look Back…and Ahead!

Mandi Bierly with a refresher on where we left off with the Mystic Falls crew — and new dish from exec producer Julie Plec on what they’ll face next

KLAUS (JOSEPH MORGAN)

Where we left off: When Stefan pulled Damon off Klaus, Klaus seized the stake that was meant for him and put it in Mikael, setting him ablaze. With Mikael dead, Klaus was ready to awaken his siblings. One problem: Stefan now has them. And let us not forget, Klaus doesn’t know that Rebekah has learned the truth about what he did to their mother.

Where he’s headed: ”Klaus is also pissed, for sure,” Plec says. ”He spent a long time trying to gather his family and dispose of his father so that his siblings could be reunited and he could seek their forgiveness, and then Stefan swooped in and stole them all. So he’s angry, and he believes that if he reaches out and threatens the people that surround Elena that she will be highly motivated to get Stefan to do what he wants him to do. Elena’s point over the course of the first episode is ‘You created this monster. You created this person who no longer cares what I think or how I feel. This is your problem.’ Klaus has to start rewriting the rules of his own game when he realizes that Stefan isn’t gonna cave for the sake of Elena or for the sake of Damon, that Stefan is in the driver’s seat and calling all the shots. For Klaus, that’s an uncomfortable position, and their standoff has some fun twists and turns to it.”

Click through the photos to find out what Julie Plec has to say about everyone on the vampire diaries