The Mikaelson family is extremely complicated, and who better to untangle that drama than Julie Plec? The Originals showrunner will blog each week’s installment throughout the season exclusively for EW. From answering burning questions to giving behind-the-scenes stories and more, this is a place for fans to hear directly from Plec about the episode they just watched.

Tonight’s episode, “A Walk on the Wild Side,” written by Ashley Lyle & Bart Nickerson and directed by Matt Hastings, takes us inside the world of The Strix, a secret society of vampires. I love secret societies. In my opinion, all good vampire stories need a mysterious secret society lurking somewhere in the shadows. But between the Volturi of Twilight and True Blood’s Vampire Authority, we never felt comfortable diving into that kind of mythology on TVD or early Originals seasons for fear of drawing comparisons. This year we felt like enough time had passed to give it a shot. We chose the name based on a mythological bird of ill omen that fed on human flesh and blood (thank you, Wikipedia). In Greek, the word is “owl.” Hence the design on the calling card. Plus, with Halloween around the corner, the Strix provided us the perfect opportunity for a costume party.