The Originals' Joseph Morgan Returns To TV For A Role Even Less Stable Than Klaus

Joseph Morgan Klaus Mikaelson smiles The Originals The CW

He's baaaack! We said goodbye to Joseph Morgan's Klaus Mikaelson on The Originals series finale one year ago as of August 1. We are always and forever fans of the British Vampire Diaries alum, and it's exciting to hear that he has two big TV projects coming up -- including one that starts airing next week.

You probably heard about Joseph Morgan's series regular role in Brave New World, which he just started filming and is very excited about. But he already filmed his appearance as Jed on Animal Kingdom Season 4. That episode, "SHTF," airs next Tuesday, July 23 on TNT.

We previously mentioned Joseph Morgan's role in Animal Kingdom's new season, but now we have more details about his role as Colin’s brother, Jed, plus an exclusive photo from TVLine:

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Joseph Morgan's Jed looks mighty fine there, but TVLine warned that we shouldn't be deceived by his smile. Jed is described as unstable, and lives off the grid. He's "rejected mainstream society and chooses to live in isolation on a rural compound with his beleaguered wife and three children." Poor family. It's never a good sign when a wife is called "beleaguered."

Jed will appear in the Tuesday, July 23 episode "SHTF," as part of the show's continuing flashbacks to 1977 showing the origin story of Ellen Barkin's Smurf. Jed is brother to Colin, an emotionally damaged Vietnam War veteran who was part of an armed robbery crew with Smurf in 1977.

Here's TNT's synopsis for the July 23 episode featuring Joseph Morgan:

J (Finn Cole) faces the consequences of his missteps with Mia (Sohvi Rodriguez). Pope (Shawn Hatosy) worries about Smurf's (Ellen Barkin) disappearance, while Smurf visits someone from her past. Craig (Ben Robson) grows frustrated with Deran's (Jake Weary) secrecy after Deran recruits him for a dangerous assignment.

It's possible older 2019 Jed is who Smurf visits in the episode, with Joseph Morgan playing him in the '70s flashbacks.

Joseph Morgan certainly knows his way around a complicated character after playing Niklaus Mikaelson on The Vampire Diaries and then in the spinoff The Originals.

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Klaus was a villain fans loved to never-quite-hate. Now Klaus' daughter Hope Mikaelson is the lead character of Vampire Diaries' second spinoff, Legacies. Julie Plec had said Hope's Malivore storyline in Legacies Season 2 was shaping up as a natural fit for some characters to return from The Originals. Klaus got some name-drops in Legacies Season 1, and we got an update on his status in the afterlife, but will we get a chance to see Joseph Morgan's Klaus in person?

Joseph Morgan may be too busy with Brave New World, but then again that series could finish filming before Legacies Season 2 finishes taping its 2019-2020 season. We'll see.

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Animal Kingdom Season 4, Episode 9, featuring Joseph Morgan, airs Tuesday, July 23 at 9 p.m. ET on TNT. Legacies Season 2 premieres Thursday, October 10 on The CW.

Gina Carbone

Gina grew up in Massachusetts and California in her own version of The Parent Trap. She went to three different middle schools, four high schools, and three universities -- including half a year in Perth, Western Australia. She currently lives in a small town in Maine, the kind Stephen King regularly sets terrible things in, so this may be the last you hear from her.