One word. Holy Originals! Okay, maybe two, but who’s really counting? In this episode we’re treated to some intense flashbacks that finally shed some light on the much-speculated past of the Original family, and we come to find out that the title of this episode, Ordinary People, is very well suited.

First off though I’d like to say, before we delve into the depths of Original history, where in the world is Katherine?! We do eventually see Mikael in this episode, but we never hear a word about Katherine’s whereabouts or if she’s even alive after her little run-in with Mikael. So what’s going on with Kat?! I’m dying to know what happened to her! I just pray that she’s alright and that we haven’t seen the last of her doppleganger hijinks and sassy remarks yet.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, on to the main focus of this episode, the Originals. Let’s start with sorting all of our newly gained Original family information that we learned through Alaric’s decoding of the cave wall and Elena’s persuading of Rebekah. (I would like to give props to Elena for how well she held her own with the centuries old vamp. Rather than being intimidated by her, Elena held firm and somehow persuaded Rebekah to give her the information she needed. You go girl!) Anyway, here’s what we learned about the Originals:

• As many fans guessed, Mikael is in fact the father of the Original family. Or “Papa Original” as Damon would say. And he’s dominated by his pride.

• The Original witch who turned the Original family into vampires and placed the hybrid curse on Klaus is actually the mother of the Original family, Esther.

• After loosing a child to illness, the family moved from Europe to the Mystic Falls area when they heard of the health of its inhabitants from their witch friend, Ayana.

• However, those inhabitants happened to be werewolves, but the Original family lived in peace with them for over 20 years as their family grew, until the day one of the werewolves killed Henrick, a child of the Original family.

• After the death of Henrick, Mikael wanted to become stronger than the wolves so that his family would be safe from them, but Ayana refused to help him because it was against the balance of nature.

• So here’s where the “Original” witch comes in. In order to protect her family, Esther turns them into vampires by calling on the sun for life and the ancient white oak tree for immortality, but she herself cannot be both a witch and a vampire so she does not turn.

• As with any unnatural spell, there are consequences. The vervain that grew at the foot of the ancient white oak tree now burns them, along with the sun, they must be invited into homes, and the worst consequence of all, the uncontrollable bloodlust.

• The family knows the white oak tree can be used to kill them, so they burn it.

• After Klaus becomes a vampire and makes his first kill, his werewolf side is triggered. Mikael then knows that Klaus is not actually his son and that Esther had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. This is when Esther places the hybrid curse on Klaus and turns her back on him.

• In his anger Mikael massacres half of the village and according to what Klaus told Rebekah, he kills Esther.

• But we later find out that according to the cave walls, Klaus is actually the one who killed Esther and that he’s been lying to Rebekah for all of this time.

Whew! That’s enough to make your head spin! Though we now know most of the story of the Originals, we still don’t know about the other 2 Original siblings, or how the doppleganger fits into the story. But I believe we’ve got plenty of new info to ponder and speculate over for now.

Damon & Elena: I absolutely loved them in this episode. The scene in Alaric’s apartment where Damon’s helping Elena “train” is adorable. Their relationship really has grown in leaps and bounds from last season to this season. They’re close enough now for Damon to playfully fake bite Elena, now that’s saying something. And their scene in Elena’s bed together is to die for. They have such a unique bond that allows them to be 100% sincere and real around each other, and that’s one of the things that I love about them.