Thursday’s episode of Legacies (The CW, 9/8c) puts Chris Wood through the wringer like never before — but don’t just take our word for it. “I texted Julie Plec after filming and said, ‘This is hands down the worst thing I’ve had to do for any job ever,'” the actor tells TVLine.

To avoid spoiling that specific moment, we can’t provide any more details (for now!), but just know that Kai Parker’s return to the Vampire Diaries universe is everything you could possibly hope it would be. As for reacquainting himself with the vile-yet-beloved character — last seen on TVD in 2017 — Wood says it only took about 10 minutes to slip back into the familiar rhythm.

“It feels completely familiar, like not a day has passed, even though it also kind of feels like another lifetime ago,” Wood says. “Before I got [to set], I was wondering how difficult it would be to drop back in. Thankfully, the writing does a lot of the work for me. He just says such snide, cutting, sarcastic comments, which helped me find my place really quickly.”

Most of Wood’s scenes are opposite Kaylee Bryant, which is only fair, as the actress has been asking about (slash begging for) Kai’s inevitable arrival since Day 1. “She told me that on my last day of filming,” Wood says. “I was like, ‘I didn’t realize this was a Make-A-Wish situation, but I’m happy to be here!'”

As for Kai and Josie’s fiery confrontations this week, Wood admits, “Uncle Kai would be proud of her craftiness. In fact, there are a couple of moments in the episode where you can see that, in spite of himself, he knows that some props are deserved. He has a twisted sense of pride in her.”

And before you start asking how Kai has a beard, just know that Wood had a long talk about it with the episode’s writers, Thomas Brandon and executive producer Brett Matthews. “I was like, ‘Is the beard thing a problem? Can he grow facial hair?'” Wood recalls. “And they were like, ‘Yes. We figured out you can.’ I was like, ‘I don’t really understand it, but I’m just going to go along with it.’ Honestly, I think beards in the prison world are the least of our worries.”

Browse our gallery of other major Vampire Diaries universe crossovers — you can click here for direct access — then drop a comment with your hopes for Legacies‘ remaining Season 2 episodes below.