When Will 'The Originals' Return?

Is this seriously it? Are we already at the very end of The Originals Season 2? It seems like only yesterday that Hayley was giving birth and the coming of Esther was the worst thing to happen to the Mikaelsons since Mikael was on the loose in Mystic Falls. Now we've got mystery sister Freya in the mix; Dahlia is the biggest concern of the moment; and Rebekah isn't even in her same body anymore. OK, I guess I can see how a lot has time has passed, but that doesn't mean that I am anywhere near ready to say goodbye to this show, especially since it will be months (months!) until we see it again. Thank goodness the CW isn't playing games with our hearts and has long since made the announcement that The Originals is renewed for Season 3. Since we already know that we are going to see our favorite vampire family again (sorry Salvatores!) the question is just a matter of when. [UPDATE: The CW has announced that The Originals will premiere on Oct. 8.]

While there is no confirmed start date for for when brand new episodes will air, The Originals will return in Fall 2015. Most likely around the end of September or early October at the very latest, as it did in 2014. What can we expect from the show when it finally (seriously, five months I am not going to make it) returns this fall? Much will hinge on how the season finale goes, but I think we can get a solid idea of what the future episode will look like by looking backward.

The Season 1 premiere "Always and Forever" had it all: Sprawling universe expansion that introduced new characters while catching us up on the remaining Mikaelson drama. We found out about Hayley and the baby (saw our first Halijiah sparks, NBD) and were introduced to the witches as they tried to overthrow Marcel and end his reign of terror. By the close of the pilot the theme was clear: Family was at the center of this world, with the war between witches and vampires as be the driving focus.

And that continued in the following season opener.

Season 2 opened with "Rebirth," in which the Mikaelson family was expanding from the core three, to include the resurrected siblings Finn and Kol. Then their mother Esther was the introduced big bad that they were fighting against. The world had shifted and changed, instead of witches, the new supernatural frenemy would be the werewolves. Yes, in a lot of ways things had changed, but in a larger sense, both season premieres echo one another and that could tell us a great deal about what to expect in Season 3.

For one, the Mikaelsons have some serious family issues and should all be seeing a therapist — a bartender pal is cool, but this stuff requires more heavy lifting. But beyond that, when Season 3 premieres, it will very likely introduce us to a new evil threat they'll spend the first half of the season fighting — and I'm fairly certain that the new supernatural battle will shift away from the werewolves and back onto the witches. There's no doubt in my mind there will be lots of other juicy twists and turns we don't see coming but I have a good feeling that at the end of it all we will be reminded that the original family is fighting against the odds together... always and forever.

Images: Annette Brown (2)/The CW