The Vampire Diaries’ sneak peek: Elijah heats up Mystic Falls

“Vampire Diaries” fans know that when Elijah (Daniel Gillies) is awake, the world is simply a better place. This show has killed and revived the noble Original vampire more times than we’d care to count, so we’re just glad that it appears he’ll survive this week’s mini-hiatus long enough to cause some trouble in episode 313, “Bringing Out the Dead.”

That said, we’re not holding out hope for him to last very long — after all, last time there was a vampire dinner party in Mystic Falls, Elijah died twice. Yes, it’s time for another dinner party. It looks to us like Klaus (Joseph Morgan) is debuting his new fortress/mansion/crypt in true Original style.

This time, everyone’s teaming up against Klaus. Stefan enlists Bonnie and her deadbeat mom, Abby, while Damon turns to Elijah for help. (We’re guessing Klaus’s little matricide secret doesn’t stay secret very long at all.) According to the official episode description, Klaus will be sharing some family stories — so we’re thinking fans can look forward to flashbacks once again.

Judging by the pics from the episode, Klaus and Stefan come to some sort of deal… and then Klaus tries to light Stefan on fire? Yes, that sounds about right, given the mercurial nature of their bromance. Elsewhere, Caroline is going to be devastated once again. (Listen, we know Candice Accola is really good at playing up some major trauma, but can Caroline get a day off from tragedy for once?)

We know, it’s a bummer that they’re skipping a week, but we’ve given up trying to understand the schedulers’ secrets. Hopefully, the photos below will tide you over until February 2, when the show returns with a vengeance. Literally.

view more photos at zap2it.com