The Originals boss on what comes after those midseason finale shockers

Spoiler alert: If you haven’t watched the Dec. 10 episode of The Originals, you might want to stop reading.

So, that was emotional. Not only did Elijah have to dagger his sister, but Freya lost her brother, and Klaus might have lost the woman he only recently confessed to loving. Okay, he didn’t say the “L” word, but that kiss said a lot.

We caught up with The Originals executive producer Michael Narducci to talk about what comes next after the midseason finale. Here’s what you need to know:

Is Cami really dead? Okay, yes, she definitely looked dead. But did she have vampire blood in her system? Did Klaus wake up in enough time to save her? Can she be brought back? This is The Originals, so no death is certain. All Narducci would say was: “We’re all people who love to follow the lives of these fictional characters, and we need to see their successes, we need to see their joys, we need to see their challenges, we need to see their defeats. We need to see how they respond in the midst of utmost despair. We have to believe that there is hope and there is love and there is family and there is the devotion that we have to one another as spirits and human people. That’s the story that we’re telling.”

Furthermore, Narducci remembered a Bible verse that Cami once recited at her brother’s grave: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it.” According to Narducci, “That is a core aspect of who this person is, and it’s something to keep in mind.”

On the kiss that led to tragedy. For Klamille shippers, this episode finally offered the confession they’ve been waiting for … though it was quickly followed by tragedy. That order of events wasn’t always the plan, but when the time came, it was the obvious choice. “We’ve talked a lot over the course of the past three seasons about what would be the unique relationship between this 1,000-year-old vampire and this human woman who was serving as his therapist,” Narducci said. “It was a pretty long process, a slow burn. As we talked about where it would lead, and I have to give credit to Julie [Plec], Julie felt very strongly that the tragedy of what we do in this episode would make a fantastic episode for the midseason finale. It just so happened that that horrific moment lined up perfectly with the moment of romantic realization for these two people.”

Will Elijah daggering Rebekah really solve the “family” portion of the prophecy? “Well, that’s definitely their intention. They know that the three remaining Mikaelson siblings that are vampires, that have sire lines, they will fall my friend, by foe, and by family. And Rebekah says, ‘I’m a mess. I’m cursed. I’m going to spiral out of control. I will be an enemy to this family. You’ve got to put me down and maybe, maybe if you put me down, that will have eliminated one facet of this prophecy, and that would mean that you don’t have to look at Klaus with suspicion anymore, and maybe the two of you united have a chance to deal with everything else,'” Narducci said, adding, “Now, is that going to play out exactly that way?” Yep, that’s to be determined.

Yes, Elijah used a regular dagger (and not that cursed one) on Rebekah. So, as Narducci put it, “Rebekah’s going for a little nap. She will be tucked away and hidden away, but she’s not in pain and she’s safe and we’re going to find a way to cure her and pull that dagger out of her at some point in the future.”

However, odds are we won’t see her until this prophecy mess is over and done with. “We could see her back but it would interrupt that logical thought process that I was describing earlier,” he said. “If she came back, then we would have to be wary of our family again, so they may have motive to allow her to be daggered until this prophecy comes to a head.”

What’s next for Vincent? From bad guy to good guy to regent, Yusuf Gatewood gets yet another role to play as Vincent, for which Narducci credits the actor’s charisma. Narducci said Vincent is “stepping up and realizing, if he wants to protect his city, he’s going to have to get involved and he’s really becoming a strong force on our show. I think he has good principles and a sound moral judgment, and he believes in the kind of justice that you and I might believe in.”

However, that sense of justice doesn’t always have a place in New Orleans. Narducci added, “Of course that may put him at terrible odds with the Mikaelsons, whose beliefs for morality are centered on family above all. So sure, the Mikaelsons are nice as long as you’re not messing with their family, and if you do mess with their family, they’ll wipe out an entire city.” So the question is: Is Vincent friend or foe? And is he part of the prophecy?

There’s hope for Finncent (but also, Finn). “The Finncent possibility is definitely the leverage by which Tristan is trying to control Vincent,” Narducci said. “We kind of suggested in episode 8 that Tristan might have an inside hold on Finn, that they might have a good relationship, and we know Finn has not been above standing against his siblings in the past, so that’s the threat.

“But there’s also the world where we might be seeing more of Finn just on his own. Freya absolutely wants that pendant back, and she wants access to her brother’s spirit, and I think that that’s a big part of the family dynamic, too — the fact that Freya believes Finn can be redeemed and the rest of the siblings probably do not. That’s an interesting conflict that we’ll want to play with.”

The Originals returns Friday, Jan. 29 at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.