Morgan takes the reins from Julie Plec for this week's exclusive 'Vampire Diaries' blog

The Originals type TV Show network The CW

Welcome to Julie’s Diary! Every week during the season, Vampire Diaries showrunner Julie Plec will add an entry to her diary. 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.

A weekly blog wouldn’t be a weekly blog without a special GUEST COLUMNIST. In celebration of the colliding worlds of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, I’ve invited two very special guests to take my place. Here to discuss his experience shooting “Moonlight on the Bayou,” (written by Caroline Dries & Brett Matthews and directed by Jeff Hunt) is Mr. Niklaus Mikaelson himself … Joseph Morgan.

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Good evening fang fans. Julie Plec has been generous enough to hand over the reins so I can get up on this soapbox and preach a little. I want to start by thanking each and every one of you for supporting that old dysfunctional bastard Klaus Mikaelson, trust me, he appreciates it. Now open your ears and listen up.

What started as a throwaway comment at dinner became a seed in the dark and wonderful mind of Julie Plec and finally took form as the crossover event spanning both The Vampire Diaries and The Originals on Friday night. For me, this is crossover action at it’s very best.

From the beginning, Stefan and Klaus shared a fascinating bond tempered by love and hate, that both Paul Wesley and I have had a lot of fun playing over the years. Friday’s episode of The Vampire Diaries sees these old drinking pals reunited when Stefan comes seeking sanctuary in New Orleans and instead finds a means to fight back through his old mate/enemy Niklaus.

So let’s talk about what makes Klaus and Stefan’s interactions so bloody appealing, not just to the actors who are lucky enough to play them, nor the writers who revel in the devising of their misdeeds, but also to you, the viewers who have been so generous in expressing your appreciation for these two old devils. Whenever I consider why I’m so fond of them, I keep coming back to these three things:

1) Mutual respect — They may hate each other half the time, they may betray each other over and over, they may have even tried to kill each other more than once, but damn it do they respect each other. I have always personally felt this was the crux of their relationship, an understanding, if not agreement with, each other’s motives.

2) Love of the hunt — There is an appreciation both vamps share for the finer shades of red in life. Stefan may have veered from the bloodthirsty trail but deep down he will always be a ripper (at least as far as Klaus is concerned) and let’s face it, it’s fun to watch these two tear up the town together.

3) They’re always playing the game — Lastly, it’s so pleasing to see them constantly try to one up each other. Neither is willing to show their full hand and that makes for interesting scenes, rich with subtext.

So there you go, that’s my take on “Klefan”, as they have been lovingly dubbed by the insatiable fandom. Thank you for your support, your fan videos and your weird dancing gifs.

Tidbits:

During the first scene Paul and I shot for the episode, we were each presented with a bottle of bourbon wrapped in blood red ribbon — a gift from Julie. The crew surprised us by doing this on camera!

One of the writers of this episode — Caroline Dries — was the person who came up with the idea that Klaus should be a painter.

The crew of The Originals was in full support of me doing an episode of TVD, especially as they had the day off while we shot at The Originals stages.

J x